I SAW TWILIGHT TODAY, FRIDAY 21st AT 10:50! I AM SOOO HAPPY! All you fellow Twilight lovers who haven't seen it, I urge you to go see it immediately! There are good points and a few bad points but I swear you won't be disappointed!

*Avani's POV

By Monday morning everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE knew the story of our field trip. Rachel had made sure of that. She put special emphasis on the whole 'witchcraft' portion of it which made things even worse. In silent disbelief, I plopped down on my seat in English. Almost instantly I could hear the buzz of muted voices. I didn't need to see the future to know that they were all discussing me.

I couldn't believe how gullible these people were. I didn't even LOOK like a witch, despite my choosing to wear dark colors. I made sure that my outfit was bright and sunny today. I wore a pink off the shoulder three quarter length shirt, light blue jeans, and casual white sandals. I looked the very image of your typical, blonde teenage girl. I even smiled at everyone I came in contact with. K.J. asked if I were smoking something.

Despite my stressed attempts at normalcy, I knew that Rachel's influence was powerful. Her cronies were trying harder than ever.

Oh joy.

"Hey!" a loud voice called. I looked up to see K.J. grinning down at me, unperturbed by the stares and obvious attention. "Guess what? You're a witch now!"

I winced at her words, not daring to turn around to face our audience.

K.J. continued, her grin never faltering, "It's amazing what these simple-minded teenagers believe now. I mean, anyone can tell that Rachel is a liar. Who believes in witchcraft anyway?" she shook her head despairingly "They've been reading far too much Harry Potter."

I smiled at her encouragement. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to abate the attacks of said simple-minded teenagers. 'Thanks' I mouthed. "Aren't you in the wrong class?" I asked aloud.

She looked around and shrugged. "Maybe…"

"You'd best go before a teacher catches you." I warned.

"Ah teachers, who needs them?" she shrugged again, although her bright blue eyes were scanning the hallway through the open door. "Fine I'll leave now. See you in Study Hall." With one final dramatic wave, she was off, leaving me to my witchcraft accusations and loneliness. Huh. It looks like today was going to be another exciting day.

I rested my chin on my hand, staring thoughtfully into the distance. Part of my future blotted out, which personally frightened me. Then I remembered how Darren was like a blind spot for me. I was going to have some kind of interaction with Darren! Yes! I was so excited I actually giggled aloud.

The whole classroom went silent.

"Uh…" I fiddled with my platinum blond hair "Funny joke?"

I practically skipped out of class, I was so happy. I guess my suddenly elated expression didn't do much for the gossip. A group of girls dressed in all pink instantly began chattering as soon as I passed. Ah well, I shrugged to myself. You can't win everyone.

"Nice outfit." Landon commented as he brushed by. It always surprised me how much he and Trent looked alike, despite Landon having his skin a shade or two lighter and his hair buzzed short. A boy with dark blonde hair and familiar chocolate eyes stood beside him.

"Hey." The guy grinned, not wasting any time.

I blinked, slightly taken aback. I was not used to random people greeting me in the halls. I preferred to stay invisible. Anonymity fits me better than this sudden burst of negative attention. I smiled tentatively. "Um… hello."

"You're that new girl aren't you?" His grin grew even wider as he took a step closer. Wow, he was tall. "Everyone says you're a witch or something. Apparently you killed some old guy with your powers."

I shrunk back. Great, now I would spend the rest of my stay here known as 'that witch kid'. I really didn't want this kind of attention. To make things worse, I couldn't really see the future clearly since this guy, whoever he was, was keeping me preoccupied. "Um yes I'm the new girl and no I didn't kill anyone. It was a big mix up and Rachel's bitching."

Wow. I think that was the first time I've sworn since seventh grade. I must've been really stressed.

The guy nodded his head appreciatively "Awesome. I'm Austin." He extended his hand, which I quickly accepted for politeness' sake. "You probably know my cousin Darren."

That really surprised me there. I probably could've seen this coming if I tried… it's just that seeing the future and conversing at the same time is too much of a strain. I shook my head slightly in a futile attempt to clear it. "Really?" Now that I looked at him, they did share the same height and eye color. "Wow. I probably shouldn't have said that about Rachel then."

Austin laughed loudly, making Landon and I jump in surprise. He casually leaned against a locker, his dark brown eyes never leaving mine. "Nah it's fine. Everyone hates Rachel, and those who don't hate her are too big of suck ups to do anything in life."

This conversation was going nowhere. Why was he keeping me here? It wasn't that I didn't like Austin; I just didn't want to lose my chance at Darren-Avani interaction. These may be the only chances that I get. "Um, nice… well I have to go meet a friend in Study Hall…" my voice trailed off.

"Okay cool. Actually the reason I wanted to talk to you was because I needed to ask you something."

I froze. Contrary to my previous caution, I quickly shut my eyes.

Oh crap.

"See…" he went on, oblivious to my sudden panic attack "I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime this weekend…"

Again I say, oh crap.

I informed K.J. of my current plight.

She burst into loud laugher.

Great. Just when I needed moral support too. I wasn't used to being asked out by guys, so I quickly accepted, more to get him off my back than anything else. K.J. on the other hand thought that I had some ulterior motive.

"You want to use him to make Darren jealous don't you?" she whispered conspiratorially, her eyes flashing merrily. "Girl, you are too much!"

I groaned, burying my face in my hands. I didn't need this kind of drama. I just wanted to make Darren mine, was it too much to ask for?

Shelly smiled at me from across the table. Thankfully K.J. had kept her voice hushed so she had no idea what we were talking about. I had a feeling that Shelly had a hard time keeping secrets. I returned her smile, although weakly "Do you have any dirt on Rachel yet?" I asked, hoping that the change of topic would catch K.J.'s interest.

K.J.'s face lit up like a little kid on Christmas. Perfect. "You guys are going through the trash?" her voice was full of awe "You guys are awesome!"

"Thank you." Shelly nodded her head in false-humility. She quickly turned to me "Not yet, she covers her trails better than anyone I know. Going against her is like going against Barbie, you know all her secrets but she's too perfect to destroy."

K.J. rolled her eyes "That didn't even make any sense."

"Well… neither does your face!" Shelly cried in mock-outrage, causing all of us to burst into laughter.

Despite the added drama, I had to admit that I hadn't had this much fun in years. Maybe High school isn't so bad after all.

*Darren's POV

Word spreads around here, especially concerning Austin. His popularity almost outshines my own, not like I'm jealous or anything. I personally don't care. Why try to build yourself up in the eyes of people who after two more years I will never see, or contact again? If we ever do contact it'll be ten years from now at a lame-ass reunion where half of us will be dead, or strung out on drugs. The only successful ones will be those who we made fun of.

Anyways, apparently Austin had a date. With the new girl. Figures. I recalled him saying that he would make her his next prey. I could only hope that this relationship would not end as disastrously as the previous. Two words. Psycho. Stalker.

Sometimes we still get calls from the girl, even though Austin had to have a restraining order. I thought it was strange since he was the one who broke her heart out in public yet she still pursued him faithfully. This is why I don't like girls. No I am not gay, despite Trent's constant jibes.

"You're dating Austin?" Carter asked, staring at Avani from under his shaggy brown hair. We were at the cafeteria table, again. Ever since Avani moved in my whole entire social life revolved around lunch time.

Avani blushed "No not really… he asked me out and-"

"-she was too stunned to say anything else." Landon deadpanned. Avani blushed even harder, her gray eyes fixed on her sandwich. She was the only person at the table who brought their own lunch today. Smart girl.

"Poor you." Shelly said sympathetically "He's such a douche-bag-player, I'm surprised anyone dates him, even if he IS cute."

"Hey," I lifted my head in protest "That's my cousin you're talking about."

"Oops. Sorry for calling him a douche bag."

"No, I meant I don't like hearing girls talk about how 'cute' he is."

Shelly and Brianna giggled, while Avani and K.J. shrugged. The others talked on while I kept an eye on Avani. What would a girl like her see in a guy like him? He'd crush her. There's no way she could handle the way he treats girls. One minute he's a dedicated boyfriend, and the next he's crushing her feelings in public. He always made sure that the girl was humiliated in the breakup. "That way," he explained, "No one will think that she dumped me!"

I could never understand his twisted logic, and thinking about it now just made me feel sick. I cleared my head and tried to pay attention to the current conversation topic. They were talking about dating histories now.

Trent was busy counting off girls on his fingers, his hazel eyes fixed on a passing female, while Brianna looked murderous. I smirked she was too obvious sometimes. Landon tiredly listed five different girls names, Max stared at Landon like he was his new hero, John made up a couple girls' names, and Carter pled the Fifth.

"What about you ladies?" Max asked, turning to the girl's end of the table. Somehow we had unconsciously discriminated the table by genders. How weird "How many boys' hearts have you broken?"

Brianna looked smug "Too many to count."

"That's because you can't count to zero." Trent joked, earning a smack in the arm.

I joined in the laughter, although mine was slightly forced. I still felt somewhat out of place here. It served me right though, ditching them just because I became popular. "What about you Avani?" I asked, genuinely curious. She seemed like the type of girl who'd been in one or two serious relationships.

She looked slightly embarrassed at the sudden attention but didn't blush this time. Her eyes darted around nervously "I um, have never been in a relationship before…" she practically mumbled.

My eyes widened along with everyone else's at the table. "Are you for real?" Trent asked in blatant disbelief.

This time Avani did blush. She nodded, looking miserable. "I just never had the time for it. Besides, no one's really caught my attention." For some reason, her eyes quickly flitted to me before going back to her fascinating sandwich.

"Wow." K.J. said, summing up all our emotions "Again I say, wow. Never? Haven't guys asked you out?"

She shook her head again. "How many guys have YOU dated?" She quickly turned the conversation to her lively friend.

K.J. smiled smugly, patting Avani on the head. "I've had a few flings here and there, nothing serious though. I just can't see myself in a committed relationship."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. This was obviously an uncomfortable subject for her. "It's a puzzlement." She declared wisely.

Avani gave her a sharp glance "You stole that line!"

"No I didn't!"

I had to hand it to the new chick; she sure knew how to change subjects from awkward back to comfortable. It was like she knew exactly what would make people feel better. "Yes you did!" she argued heatedly "You stole it straight from Yul Brynner in 'The King and I'!"

K.J. looked completely baffled "Who the hell is Yul Brynner!" she waved her hands wildly, nearly clipping a passing person on the back.

"He's a bald actor from back then!" Avani glared, now getting into the argument. Her hands seemed to be crushing her cookie. "He always played fierce men! Haven't you even seen 'The Ten Commandments'?"

I was flabbergasted. This girl really knew her movies "You watch old movies?" I asked.

She suddenly became aware of the attention and reverted back to her usual quiet self. "Um yes, I love them. My Mom and I watch TCM all the time."

I smiled at her, feeling myself warm up to the new chick. Maybe she wasn't all that bad. "Me too. What's your favorite musical?"

Avani's face by now was practically glowing. The other's stared at us in silence but we ignored them. "It's somewhere between 'GiGi' and 'Hello Dolly.'"

I threw back my head and laughed. That girl was out of this world. "My Mom always walks around singing that one song about the Sunday clothes."

"It's my favorite song in the world. I love Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies even more than I love musicals, if possible."

We quickly launched into a discussion on our favorite old movies, completely ignoring our stunned audience. We continued talking, even after the bell rang and as I dumped my tray off while she politely waited. I had to hand it to her she had some awesome taste. We began conversing over favorite oldies and shared the same dislike of all seventies music besides Billy Joel.

After walking her to her classroom and slipping into mine which was across the hall, I decided that Avani was pretty cool. I couldn't believe it; I was actually warming up to the new chick.

Avani's POV

I was in a literal haze for the rest of the day. I barely noticed time slipping by me, and K.J. told me that I looked like I was stoned.

I didn't care. He actually talked to me! We shared the same opinions! If there was any doubt on the whole soul mate theory, it was gone now. There was no other way to explain it. We were perfect together. Now if only he could see that.

Unfortunately for the rest of that week we had minimal interaction. Besides the cordial greeting, and polite small talk we made no further progress, a fact that irritated me to no end.

To make matters worse, Rachel decided to join us at our table. The day she first did that the whole table instantly fell silent. K.J. broke the quiet "Who forgot to take out the trash?"

Let's just say, things haven't gotten any less tense. We no longer converse as freely, and now even Austin stops by to say hello. Shelly says he's totally into me, but I think she needs to get her eyes checked. I would be able to tell if something serious were to come from all this.

The weekend came much faster than I expected it to. Somehow I managed to survive the gossip, and evil stares. It was only until Friday morning as the final bell rang that I realized I had a date that evening. My first date.

"Oh God…" my voice was a breathless whisper.

K.J. raised an eyebrow and Amber looked confused. "What's wrong now, brat?" the former drawled impatiently. Both girls had already disposed of their books and were waiting for me to hurry up.

I turned to face them, frowning thoughtfully "I just remembered that I have a date this evening."

K.J. laughed aloud. "You are so stupid!"

Amber patted my shoulder with a sympathetic smile. "Avani I hate to say this but, duh! The whole friggin' school knows about your date with Austin. How could you forget?"

"I don't know." In truth I did know. I was too busy plotting Rachel's downfall, my future with Darren, and scanning the future to be concerned with something as trivial as a date. Just thinking the word was enough to make me blush. Avani Edwards did not go on dates. Avani Edwards spent her weekend watching movies on TCM, reading books, and looking into the future for recreational purposes. To be honest, the thought of going on a date scared me. What if by going out with Darren's cousin, I became listed as a whore? I couldn't deal with the shame.

I know, I know… just look into the future, right? Well it's not quite that simple. The future is more fickle than a teenage girl in Macy's.

"Don't worry." Amber reassured me, oblivious to my mental battle "We'll help you find something cute to wear."

"Thanks…" I glanced at Amber's torn jeans, black shirt with 'Bite Me' in blood red letters, and multiple bangles. K.J.'s outfit was even more dangerous, with accessories that could pass as weapons in some countries. "I think."

Before I could wiggle away, they looped their arms through mine and practically dragged me out of school, and down the street.

"Whoa… your house is nice."

"Um, thank you?" I wasn't quite sure what to say. My house certainly wasn't Bill Gate's mansion, but I supposed it did have a certain charm about it. Almost like it was the place you've always been looking for, even though you didn't' even know it. I'm not sure if that even made any sense.

Amber gave me an approving thumbs up as she removed her shoes without bending over. I guess that's one way to dispose of footwear, I was always somewhat particular on tying and untying my shoelaces. Amber's method made sense though. I mean, what if you were in a rush or something?

I waved a hand carelessly as I led them past the kitchen and into my bedroom. Both girls looked around as if they were stepping into a celebrity's room. "Um…" I wrung my hands "So this is my room."

"I'm Kassandra Jolie Smith, and I approve this bedroom." K.J. deadpanned in a perfect politician imitation. Amber burst out laughing and I couldn't resist giggling.

I gave a small curtsy. "Thank you."

We giggled a little more before getting down to business. K.J. and Amber almost instantly raided my closet. I felt a little nervous, I mean I trusted K.J. but I barely knew Amber, for all I knew she could pick something completely hideous. I blanched as I foresaw what she would pick out. "Don't even think about it Amber!" I cried out as her hand rested on the hated green blouse.

She wrinkled her nose at me but kept searching anyway. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was safe…for the minute.

"How about his?" K.J. dangled a purple halter top in my face. That was even worse than the green blouse. I absolutely hated revealing more skin than necessary.

"Uh… how about not?"

K.J. shook her head despairingly. "You're hopeless…"

"I like being hopeless." My voice sounded hollow as the words came out. Was I truly hopeless? Would I never fully understand Darren's importance in my life? I shook my head sharply, an effective method of clearing one's head. I wouldn't worry about him now. I had more important things, like burning that halter top before K.J. changed her mind.

I closed my eyes… they were still undecided which was fine with me. I wanted to rest anyway. The date tonight was going to take all of my energy. It looked like Austin was going to bring me half a dozen pink roses. The gesture was sweet but did nothing for me. He might as well be giving me ashes. As long as it wasn't Darren, I was dissatisfied. I felt ashamed of myself for being so heartless and tried to feel a little bit excited.

"What about this?" Sequined jeans and a tan peasant top with rich brown designs across it. I stared at the outfit in consideration as Amber pulled out a pair of platform shoes I didn't know I owned. Well, at least it wasn't too skimpy. The shoulders were kind of wide, but nothing I couldn't deal with.

I shrugged. I didn't want to admit defeat yet, but Austin was going to be here in thirty minutes. They still needed to do my hair. I shuddered at the mere thought. That was going to be one experience I could miss. "I guess it'll do…" I said half heartedly.

K.J. grinned and literally threw the outfit in my face. "Get going! You only have" she paused to think about it "…a few minutes!"

I rolled my eyes "I have half an hour, K.J."

"Whatever. We still need to fix your hair and makeup."

I eyed her heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick questioningly. She caught the direction of her gaze and sighed. "I can do girly makeup if I want!"

"Yeah," Amber chimed in "She used to be the queen of girly-girls."

"I don't want to be a girly-girl." I protested feebly.

K.J. fixed me with a look. Her bright blue eyes dared me to contradict her. "You'd best prepare yourself honey, 'cuz Barbie will look like a tomboy in comparison with you once I'm done."

The words struck fear in my heart. She wasn't joking. I was shoved into the bathroom and given the strict deadline of five minutes to be fully changed and cheerful looking. I caught sight of my gloomy reflection in the mirror. What had I gotten myself into?

Sucking up what was left of my courage, I slowly got dressed, dreading every minuet to come.

*End Chapter

Not my favorite chapter in the world, but it'll have to do. I apologize for taking so long to update. The pre-Twilight movie hype, and my Great-Grandma (who I barely knew) dying kept me occupied. If you have an idea for a name for this story, please let me know!

Twilight is in theaters, and we have our first African American President of the United States. I couldn't be happier if I tried!

Thanks to anyone who has reviewed/read my story! I love you so much! To you who read but haven't reviewed, you know you kinda suck for not reviewing right? I mean I still love you but its kinda mean of you… -pokes out lower lip-

Oh to my reviewer Nikki: We have so much in common! We're both from Jersey and we're both light-skinned black hotties, lol. Nice to meet you! PM me okay?

Random Quote (Several reviewers mentioned this one): Whoever said nothing's impossible never tried nailing jello to a tree.

Random Question: Vampires or Werewolves? (I'm genuinely curious about this one)

Check out my other story 'Operation: Happily Ever After' and tell me what you think! Pretty please? Oh don't forget to review!