A/N: Brand spankin' new story. Hope you like it.

I stared in awe as we pulled up to the new house. This was the first time I had actually seen it. My parents had only hinted about what it looked like to my brothers and me. I clambered out of the car, raced up the rickety steps, and yanked the front screen door open. And right off its hinges. My eyes widened and I gently sat the door against the railing of the porch, and then backed away slowly.

"Did you do that, Lyla?" my dad asked as he came up the steps.

"Do what?" I asked innocently. He stared me down.

"Fine, yeah I did it. I guess I just don't know my own strength," I joked. He smiled and unlocked the door.

"Just be careful, this house is old." I stepped in, anxious to see what the house looked like inside.

The entry way opened up into a large sitting room, which was full of furniture covered by white sheets to keep the dust off. I peeked under the sheets; it wasn't the furniture that had come from our old house. It was uncomfortable looking Victorian furniture that, I assumed, had come with the house. I walked into the kitchen and saw my mother already unpacking a box of dishes.

"Oh Lyla, I just love this kitchen. These cabinets need a little attention, but they'll be gorgeous when I'm done with them," she said excitedly. As an interior designer, she really loved fixing up stuff like that.. She grabbed a glass and turned the faucet on. I watched as slightly rust colored water poured into her glass. Mom wrinkled her nose and quickly turned the faucet off.

"We'll just have to have your father fix that."

'Calling a plumber would probably be easier, even if it is expensive,' I thought.

I grimaced and headed out of the kitchen and into the den. There were no windows but there was a huge brick fireplace in the back corner. It seemed dark yet inviting. The walls were paneled with mahogany wood and there was a medium sized chandelier hanging in the middle of the ceiling. The whole room had a comforting aura.

I strolled out to the hallway, went up the squeaky stairs, and poked my head into each of the rooms. All three of them were already decorated and already had my brothers' stuff in them and then the master bedroom had my parent's stuff. I frowned. Where was my room?

As my dad came up the stairs he asked, "Hey sweetie, do you like the place?" I nodded.

"Good. We've already got your room set up, as we did with the boys'. It's down in the basement."

"Oh goody," I said sarcastically. "I've always wanted to sleep in a basement."

"Just go look at it; I'm sure you'll like it."

I clomped down the steps to the basement and entered the room. I screamed excitedly.

"Daddy! It's perfect! Thank you so much." The room was decorated exactly like I had always wanted. Bright electric blue walls and white carpet. My bed was already set up, the blue and white and black comforter already on it. I surveyed the room, all my crazy little knick knacks were already set up.

"I'm glad you like it sweetie," he said from the top of the stairs. I had been begging my mom to remodel my room in the old house, but I had had to wait when I found out we were moving to a bigger house.

I ran and threw myself onto my bed and buried my face into my pillows. This was perfect. Except for the no windows part. I rolled over onto my side and came face to face with a rather large creamy tan teddy bear.

"Hey mom!" I called.

"Yeah?" Her voice came floating down from the kitchen.

"Where did this bear come from?"

"Oh," She was walking down the stairs now, "it was here when we bought the house. I didn't know if you'd want it or not so I just left it in here." She knew I loved teddy bears, even though I was seventeen years old.

I frowned. The bear looked somewhat worn down and… well, sad. His beady little black eyes looked as if they had once been shiny, but had long ago lost their gleam. I tugged at the black bow tied around its neck and dragged it to me. I hugged it to my chest. It smelled kind of moldy. I immediately pushed it away.

"Can you wash it for me?"

"Sure, honey." I threw it to her; she caught it and headed back upstairs.

Benji, one of my best friends, picked me up the next morning. Before the move, I had lived across town and rode the bus to school, but now I lived just a few miles away. Benji, who was lucky enough to have his own car, was now able to pick me up on his way to school.

I sat beside him in the front, his bulky backpack taking up most of my leg space. I scowled and while he was fiddling with his rearview mirror, I unzipped the pocket where I knew he kept his homework and pulled it out. As I zipped it up, I felt the car jiggling. I raised an eyebrow when I saw Benji. He was bouncing wildly in his seat and swaying back and forth to the music. I stared at him until he realized I was watching him.

"Jealous?" He grinned.

"You know it," I said.

When our English teacher, Mrs. Kingsley was asking for homework in our first period, I smirked. Benji couldn't find his.

"Mrs. Kingsley, I swear on my comic book collection that I had it!" He exclaimed.

Mrs. Kingsley gave him an irritated look and told him to go sit down. I smirked knowingly as he slid into the seat beside me. Benji scowled at me.

"You stole my homework again," He said.

"What? Why would I ever do something so… so absurd?" I asked with an innocent look. This had to be the third or fourth time I had stolen his homework.

"You harlot," He muttered. I grinned, got up and turned in both of our homework papers.

"You secretly hate me, don't you?" He asked as he swiped his curly hair out of his face. I gasped mockingly and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

"Why would you ever say such a thing? I love you!" I exclaimed. Benji sighed and slumped back in his seat. I turned to the front and stared blankly at the teacher as she droned on about our next research paper.

When it was finally time for lunch, I bought a cheeseburger from the line and sat down at my table full of friends. I was greeted by a chorus of hellos.

"So, the new house is anything but new. It's pretty and all, but it's just… old." I laughed, telling my friends about the house.

"And there's this teddy bear my parents found in my room when they bought the house. It looks sad and worn out."

"He sounds like Morris," Benji muttered, raising an eyebrow. Morris was his mildly entertaining miniature pincher. When Benji and I gotten high for the very first time, we spent a good chunk of our time watching his dog mope around his room, whining whenever he saw his reflection in one of the many mirrors around Benji's room. Morris also had a depressed look about him, most likely from the crazy outfits with which Benji's mom tortured him.

"You're right," I told him, "You guys should all come over this weekend. You can come see the new house and then we can go to Frankie's." Many kids from my school, Naman Forest, go to Frankie's.

"Okay, but I'm bringing Ellie," Kenny said. Kenny was a teammate of mine. We had been swimming competitively together since freshman year. Ellie, his newest flavor of the week, had to be the most annoying person I'd ever met. She had a painfully high voice and asked the most ignorant questions.

I didn't bother hiding my snort of disgust. Kenny shot me a glare and cleared his throat, "Is that a problem, Lyla?"

"Of course it is. Ellie is a fuc-" Before I could finish my sentence, Benji had smacked his hand of my mouth.

"What she means is it's no problem if Ellie comes." I rolled my eyes, and then bit Benji's hand. He yanked it away.

"Ouch. Save that rough stuff for the bedroom, hun."

"Whatever," I said.

Later that night I was sitting in my room, doing calculus homework. My mom had come down about an hour earlier and sat the now clean-smelling, but slightly damp teddy bear on my dresser.

"Do you know what it's like to be washed in a washing machine?"

I froze. It was a soothing, yet rough male voice that had spoken. A voice that didn't belong to anyone I knew. I looked up from my homework and scanned the room. I didn't see anyone.

"I asked you a question, girl."

"Who's there?" I asked, keeping my voice calm even though my insides were jumping around inside me.

"Over here, girl." I glanced around the room. There wasn't anyone. Until I saw him. The creamy tan bear, sitting on the edge of my bed, waving its short little arm in the air.

"Oh god. The bear's alive…" I whispered to myself.

A/N: Her name is pronounced Lie-luh. Review if you wish.