An- Sorry for the slow updates...Thanks for the reviews! Tell your friends, and tell them to tell their friends...and so on! I need reviews!

Chapter 2: The Meeting.

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! What the hell was that? I know it was a Saturday, and I know that Jess had his chores today, not me. And I know that that damn buzzing could NOT possibly be my alarm clock. I just know it.

From beside me, Anna reached a flailing arm and hit her wrist against the snooze button on my 'M&M's' alarm clock. I groaned, immediately slapping my hand to my head. My hair was wet, and sticking up like a porcupine.

Why the hell was Anna in my bed? Wait, here is a better question. Why the hell am I waking up at 8 in the morning?! And then it hit me.

All the moping around, the groaning and complaining, the cleaning! All of it was for today. The day my life turned to a puddle of doodoo!

I flung the covers off of my legs and stood up, lifting both my hands to my sopping wet hair. I'd been so tired from swimming the night before that I didn't even care enough to blow dry my hair. And why should I? It's not like I wanted to make myself look any more pleasing to my "relatives". They were...were snobs! They didn't want to be here anymore than I wanted them to be! They were going to look down at me and us for living in Alabama...They were-

DING!

"THEY'RE HERE!" I cried, springing back into bed to hide under my covers. Through the trembling and nearly sobbing, Anna raised up and flung the blankets off, groaning at me. "I was having a perfect dream you know. It was about you know who-" The 'you know who' would be Jess, by the way. "-and we were swimming in our pool and all of a sudden that Octopus-woman from the Little Mermaid was there and she wanted to kill me!" I stared unblinking at her as she retold her dream, animatedly. "But Jess stepped, or well, swam up and stabbed her with the skimmer! Even though it was blunt, he killed her with it and she-"

"Did you NOT just hear me shout that my dreaded family was here?" I asked, interrupting her before she got to the make-out scene that happened in all of her dreams with Jess. At first, Anna glared at me for butting in, but soon, my words registered in her head. She jumped up, her bare feet hitting our hard wood floors so hard that the walls rumbled.

I slapped my palm to my forehead. Now, their first impression of us was that we had Elephants living in the attic.

"You dumbass! Why didn't you tell me!"

"I DID!" I screeched, trying to defend myself. Anna merely glared at me, searching through my basket of 'hair supplies' for her clip. The basket was home to many things, such as twelve month old Coca-cola cans, pony tail holders dating back to my preschool days, and rusted clips with the hinges broken. She would search for hours sometimes and only decide to wear her hair down in the end. If you can't tell, I really don't care about my appearance.

Slowly, I stood and began raking my brush through the tangled mass I liked to call my hair. The water still in it made my hair appear almost black, when in reality it was a crap brown. Relentlessly, I combed through it, managing to scream only once as a tangle was ripped straight out of my scalp. I quickly rushed to Ann and told her to look over my head. "I know I have a bald spot!" I shouted, my eyes still holding the painful tears.

"You do not!" She hissed, pulling on a pair of blue jeans. They were mine, and they dragged the ground seeing as how I'm a few inches taller than she. But, still, she buttoned them and looped a belt through the proper loops.

My hair was finally tamed! And up in a clip I had stepped on. It was quite a painful find, mind you.

As soon as the jungle I call my head was properly combed, I threw on my nearest black T-shirt, which just happened to be my Led Zepplin tee, and a pair of capris. Jeans were entirely too hot to wear in summers in Alabama. I looked at Anna just as she glanced back at me. We were both in black...Both in band tee's. Her's being The Beatles, though.

"Well, it's now or never." She said, shrugging as she reached for the brass doorknob. I stopped her and groaned. "I pick never."

"C'mon! You don't even know them yet. What if they're great?"

"How COULD they be, Ann? They're aristocrats. We're rednecks." She narrowed her eyes, not believing me. I didn't even believe me. I knew I wasn't a redneck, but still, I had a point to prove! "You'd be a good lawyer, Sam."

I smiled and tilted my head to the side, staring into her blue eyes. They were dark today. "What makes you say that?"

"You can't lose an argument, you're stubborn and bull-headed. And you lie to prove a point." My smile vanished as she wrenched open my bedroom door and strolled down the winding staircase of our house. I groaned, knowing that if I didn't go now, I never would...But, what would be so bad about that? I could be like Quasimodo in his little bell tower. But in my case, it would be my...bedroom...I need a tower.

"SAM! You're stalling!" Anna called up the stairs, jolting me from my musings. I widened my eyes, and sped out of my doorway, catching up to my best friend on the stairs. By the time we reached the main floor, my mother hadn't realized we were up. So, when we were right behind her as she spoke to a lady we couldn't see yet, she yelled. "SAM! Get down here!"

My ears rang as my mother's voice echoed in my head. You know in the cartoons where a guy will crash cymbils on some other guy's head? Yea, well this was ten times worse.

I stuck my finger in my ear and hissed as I turned the corner, glaring at my mother. She smiled, not knowing that me and my best friend could no longer hear. As soon as my mother pulled me into her arms, I spotted the woman she had been speaking to. She was tall...Uber tall.

Like supermodel tall. And blonde. Her eyes were a dusty grey, and were hidden behind a pair of cat-eye glasses. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun with the ends curling out from her scalp. Her make up: flawless

Her smile: actress gorgeous

Her attire: Straight from Paris or Milan.

I swear, were all women in Massachusettes this...model-like? I could see Anna out of the corner of my eye. Her jaw was slack and her eyes were wide as we both stared incredulously at the lady in my kitchen. Still, she smiled and extended her hand to me. I took it and looked up finally.

"I'm Adelaide." Her hands were soft, as if she kept them in lotion twenty-four-seven. I nodded, clearing my throat to speak. "Sam."

She introduced herself to Anna, who nodded and couldn't speak. We had a model in our kitchen...

Mother smiled and lead the woman between us as more strangers waltzed in from the backdoor. The patio was connected to our driveway, so this would be where all the newcomers would pass through. I decided to stay and prove to Anna that my cousin would NOT be drop-dead gorgeous. There had to be an unwritten law somewhere that stated that anyone who I hate, has to be nasty.

That was very immature of me...

The next person to greet me was a man who I had never seen but in pictures. He was tan, and looked almost like my father, except his hair wasn't greying at the roots. He extended his meaty hand and shook mine vigrously. My entire shoulder seemed to tremble as he did this. "She looks nothing like you, Adam." My father, who was behind him, just laughed. My uncle leaned down and whispered, "Be thankful!" before he passed by, greeted Anna, and followed his wife and Mamma to where they would stay.

Bringing up the rear was Jess. He was not looking too happy, but when did he ever? He stopped beside me and grinned wolfishly. I frowned. "Guess our little cousin will be staying in your room. Seeing as how Dad's office couch has no bed." My face paled visibly. Was Jess right?

He was screwing with me, right? Like always?

I turned to Anna and shook her shoulders violently. "Can I live with you? I know your mom doesn't really like me, but she can get over it. I can't live with...with this boy! What if he's obsessed with Star Wars and talks about science fiction in his sleep? What if he has a pet Hermit Crab? What if he TALKS to it?!" My eyes were wide with fear, and I kept shaking her, wondering why the hell she wasn't looking at me!

"ANNA!"

Without answering me, the girl took my shoulders and turned me around sharply. That was when my chest slammed into someone else's. I stumbled back, hitting the kitchen wall as I glanced up at with whom I collided. Before me, stood a boy. His hair, unlike Adelaide's was brown...the brownest of brown, actually. It was spiked, towering over his head like the Statue of Liberty's crown on her head.

My eyes widened, as I let my eyes drift down his designer clothes. A black wife beater lined his torso while an opened, button-up shirt was over that. I noticed that it was a Ralph Lauren. I narrowed my eyes on the little symbol on the boy's chest pocket. It was dark green, darker than the rest of the shirt.

Then came his pants. Dark, baggy, blue jeans that barely covered his crisp, white K-swiss'. My insides went all jello-like. From behind me, I heard Anna sigh as if she had just entered the gates of Heaven. Then, horribly, I did the same.

Almost after I heard the little whisper escape my lips, I blushed, wishing I could reverse time. Or, make it so this boy was temporarily deaf so he didn't hear that slip up.

The talking of our parents, the happy minglings, all swam in my head as I screamed at myself for...for SIGHING! It was all too much to handle!

"I'm Sebastien." His voice was whisper-soft, but very deep and rough. My jaw dropped, and all I could do was gulp my words. I wished I could just choke on them! Choke and relieve myself of this...this stupid day! Hmpf!

"And, to answer your questions. I don't like Star Wars very much, I've only read a few 'science fiction' novels...and...I don't like Hermit Crabs. So, that pretty much goes without saying that I don't talk to one. And, I think your brother was kidding with you. I'm sharing a room with him." And with that, my step-cousin stepped by me, his over-stuffed backpack following closely (since it WAS attatched to his shoulders) and he disappeared around the corner. A second later, the heavy footsteps of two boys sounded all the way up the stairs.

"H-h-h." Was all Anna could say. I turned around, my face taking on a very, very worried expression.

"What?" I asked, seeing her face very flushed. It made me nervous.

"Hunk!"

"Oh, good grief! Next thing I know you'll be passing glances at my uncle and Dad!" I threw my hands up and walked to the fridge, begging for a glass of water. The girl followed me, her hands on her hips. "If you're going to speak to me like that, then I'll just go home."

"No you won't." I said, taking a sip before searching the medicine cabinet for some Tylenol's.

"Oh? How are you so certain?" Her voice dropped to a hiss. I turned and grinned over my shoulder.

"Because, you find my brother and step-cousin to be 'hunky'. And, with Jess, you're here constantly, but with two boys...you'll never step foot outside again.." I downed the pills and stared up at the ceiling. "That is, unless they go outside." I finished, grinning at her. Anna opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, and closed it sharply before glaring at me. She was an open book! I knew her all too well.

"Yea...well...At least...You..suck, did you know that?" And before I could even put my water down, we both erupted into fits of giggles. The adults, still talking in the adjoining room, stopped to look at us oddly as we leaned across the counters as our giggling continued on.

It wasn't even funny...but I had to vent somehow. I had just sighed over my freaking cousin, ok? I need a way of release!

I stood up, clutching my sides as our laughter died down. Anna leaned against the cold surface of the fridge, letting her head fall against it. "This sucks, huh?" She whispered, eyeing the adults as if they were trying to spy on us. No, this did not suck. This was a catastrophe.

But, to explain that, I had to give examples...and right now, I couldn't tell you why it was so horrible. So, instead, I nodded. My headache, or the one I caused for myself by laughing, didn't seem like it was going to give up...And something, in the back of my mind, told me that I would be needing these Tylenol's much, much more than I can ever imagine.

AN- Thanks! Once again, sorry for the slow reviews