I was making breakfast in the kitchen when my cell phone rang.  "Can you grab that, Grandma?" I called, since she was closer.  

"Alright."  She picked up the phone and cut the ring tone off as she answered.  "Hello?"

A moment of pause.  "Sorry."  My Grandmother said.  "I can't here you."  She turned the volume up as high as it went.  

"Hello."  Taki's amplified voice said, and it was loud enough for me to hear it.  "Is Ethan there?"

My grandmother looked at me.  "No, this is his sister's phone."  She said, while using charades to tell me, "there's a boy on the phone!"

"Well, do you know what number I can use to contact him.  He's my best friend, you see, and I haven't see him in a week.  Nii-chan's private jet isn't leaving til tomorrow, and so I wanted to--"

"You don't have to tell me your life story, young man."  My grandmother told him. "Here's Ethan's sister to give you his number."  She held out my phone.

"Hey."  I said in a slightly higher than normal voice, trying to sound as much like a girl as possible.

"ETHAN!" Taki yelled, and I had to hold the phone about a foot away from my ear.  I turned down the volume.  

"I'm Ethan's sister."  I explained.  

"You sound just like him on the phone."

"That's what everyone says."  I ended up giving Taki a totally random number and told him to have a nice vacation.

"You sounded rather stressed talking to that boy."  Grandma commented when I hung up.

"Really?"

"Yes.  Do you two have a history?"  

I laughed. "You could say that."  Not so much a history as a soap opera, only he didn't know it yet.  

Patrick and I exchanged phone numbers today.  It was extremely awkward.  Grandmother had sent me over to give Emmett (his grandfather) some of the extra food we had.  (She said it tasted bad reheated.  I think she just wanted Patrick and I to see each other.) But, whatever the reasons, Patrick was home alone and welcomed me inside.

I told him that I trusted him completely, but I had always been taught to never enter a boy's house without at least two chaperons.

He laughed.  "OK.  We can stand here."

I held out the Tupperware.  "I brought food.  There was too much, and Grandma thought that you guys would be hungry and..."

He laughed again.  "Thanks.  I love spaghetti."

I laughed nervously.  "Good.  I would have called, except--"

"You don't have my number."  Patrick finished for me.  "Here, where's your phone?"

I pulled it out of my pocket.  "Will you put it in under Patrick or Torarin?"

"Which would you prefer?"  He asked, quickly pressing the keys.  

"Either."

"Then I'll surprise you."  He handed back my phone and whipped out his own.  "And your number is?"

I gave it to him. 

"I think that you're the first girl who's number I have.  Besides my mom, of course."  He laughed awkwardly.

"Really?"  I asked.  Yes, this was pathetic flirting on my part.  "I would have never guessed.  I feel honored."

And then we just stood there an embarrassing silence, until I said, very quickly, "Well, got to be going now.  Bye."

He waved as I dashed down the hall, my face bright red and my phone clutched tightly in my hand.  I checked my new contact, and found that Patrick had put is name in as "That Guy." I shook my head and laughed.  

Adam became the local eye candy for the beach.  Everywhere he went, girls' heads turned to follow his every move.  And who wouldn't?  With his wavy blond hair tossed by the breeze off the ocean, and his eyes the color of the cloudless sky, not to mention his perfectly tanned skin, and a body any girl would die to embrace, he was the ne plus ultra of all men, except maybe Neil, who looked more or less like a Greek god.

So today, when the model-quality, capricious hunk was walking on the beach in orange swim trunks and sunglasses, everyone, and I mean everyone (yes, everyone includes me), turned to stare.  He smiled at a few girls, gave is hair a sexy toss, and pushed his sunglasses up.  He stood there looking like a particularly attractive statue, until Tiberius and Genghis Khan, the sheep, raced up to him, jumping and kicking and making the occasional bathroom stop.  

At that instant, the girls lost interest.  

I chuckled to myself and turned over, trying to dry myself in the sun, and hoped that he didn't see me.  

"Ethan, what are you doing here?"

Just ignore it, and maybe it will go away.  I reminded myself.  

"Ethan."

I can't hear you.

I realized that the ignoring thing only works when the person you're ignoring is smaller and weaker than you.  Adam picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and carried me to the water.  I kicked and pounded his back the whole way, until he dumped me underwater and I had to worry about not swallowing salt water.  

Adam stood triumphantly over me, smiling.  He tsk-ed, shaking his head.  "You can't beat me, little Ethan."  He said.  "Just give up."

"Why would I do something stupid like that?"  I asked innocently.  

Adam splashed me with his foot.  "Neil will be at his Florida villa next week.  He asked that I tell you to visit him."  He snapped his fingers, and a man in a suit and dark sunglasses hurried to his side, handed him a slip of paper, and left.  "This is the address."  Adam explained.  "Be there around eleven and you might be gone a while."

"What do you mean?" I asked.  

Adam just grinned.  "His father's crazy, you know.  A genius, but absolutely insane."

Working at Adam's father's restaurant wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.  My job was pretty easy, and, as a waitress, I got a decent tip.  In fact, it was more than decent.  I was pretty proud of myself, and, at the end of the day, Patrick/Torarin came to pick me up.  Grandfather's order.

"Ready?"  He asked, standing awkwardly in the doorway.  

"Just a minute."  I told him and went over to where Adam was sitting, typing on a high-tech laptop.  The eyes of every girl in the building were practically glued to him.  I wondered if he even noticed.  "I'm leaving now."  I told him.

"Sure."  He didn't look up.  "Do you have a ride?"

"I'm walking back with Patrick."

Adam snapped his laptop closed.  "You're walking with a boy?"

"Yeah."  I told him.  "I am a girl in the prime of her life, if you haven't noticed."

"I'll come with you."

"No, you will not."  I replied.  "You may be able to bully me around at school, but this is summer, and--"

"Is there a problem with an upperclassman just wanting to look after his junior?"

"Yes!"  I said loudly.  "If that upperclassman is you."  

"Let's go, Nathalie."  Patrick said, coming over to Adam's table and standing by my side. 

There was a stare down between the two boys.  Adam won and ended up walking all the way back to Grandma's condo with us.  Patrick looked annoyed.  I was used to it.  

Alex called today around noon.  I was walking on the beach in my swimsuit, looking for the perfect place for a picnic.  

"What's up?"  I said when I answered the phone.  

"Hey Ethan."  Alex said.  "I wanted to see you before I left Lakewood, but I had a three O clock flight."

"No problem."  I said.  "We'll see each other in a few months anyway."

"That was what I wanted to see you about."

"What do you mean?"

"I won't be returning to Lakewood."

"What?  You have to return.  I mean, you're one of the Four Lords.  You can't not come back."

"Sorry."  Alex said sadly, and the dial tone came on as he hung up.

"Damn it."  I shouted at my phone.  "Does this mean that we'll never see each other again?  You can't do this to me.  I didn't even get to say good bye."

"Nathi?"  Patrick/Torarin asked.  "Why are you talking to yourself?"

"I never got to say good bye."  I said, sniffling.  

"Hey, hey."  Patrick said gently.  "Don't cry.  Please don't cry." 

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.  "I'm not crying.  I just have something in my eye."

"Nathi, Nathi."  Patrick shook his head, smiling.  "You're not a boy right now.  You're a girl.  You can cry all you want."

Maybe it was just the wrong time of the month for one of my friends to leave forever, but I ended up crying for several minutes on Patrick's t-shirt.  I thought about crying a little longer, just so he would hold me, but then I heard the unattractive, hiccuping noises I was making and pulled away from him.  "How about here for a picnic?"  I asked, fully recovered.  

"Sure.  Should we wait for the grandparents?"  He spread out one of those gigantic beach towels on the white sand.

"No.  They probably won't come anyway."  I opened the picnic basket and started setting out the sandwiches and fruit.  "I'm sorry I got your shirt all wet."

"It's no problem."  He replied.  "I was thinking about taking it off anyway."

And he did, revealing such beautiful muscles that I really wanted nothing more but to stare at them.  He was like a David or some Adonis, under that shirt.  I blushed.  Was that really the chest that I had been cradled against?!  In order to avoid turning as red as Taki did, I turned my attention to the food.  

Patrick looked in the basket to help me get more stuff out, and removed a note from the inside.  "Have fun, kids."  He read aloud.  "Signed, the Grandparents."

I put my head in my hand.  These old people were really looking forward to great-grand kids. 

Later that day, I applied for a job at one of the local ocean-side restaurants, where you just walked up in your swimsuit and ate lunch or dinner or whatever.  They said they'd call me back.  They didn't.  Adam did.

"So you're working at one of Daddy's restaurants?"  He said over the phone.  "You start tomorrow.  Ten o clock."

I groaned into the receiver.  "You own that place?  I'll chose a different job."  

"I told you that you start tomorrow, E-than."  Adam said, and there was no joking in his tone.  "I'll see you there."

Would I ever escape him?

My grandmother threw a fit when she saw my hair.  

"It makes you look like a boy, dear."  She said.

"That's kinda the point, Grandma."  I replied under my breath.

"But it was so beautiful long."  She said, fingering my short hair.  

"It'll grow back."  I reminded her.  "Don't you have Bingo Thursday nights?"  

"Right."  Grandma grabbed her jacket.  I don't know why she needed it; it was like eighty degrees outside.  "You be a good girl, now."  She told me.  "Emmett will be along any moment to pick me up.  He's bringing his grandson for you to meet."

"I really don't need to meet anymore guys."  I told her. 

"Well, you aren't going out with that Evan boy, are you?"  

"No, but--"

"You should be looking to find yourself a good husband."

"But I'm fifteen!"

"Right.  You're almost past your prime."

The doorbell rang, and Grandma opened it.   Standing in the door frame was an old man with grey hair and a cane and--

"Patrick!"  I shouted.  "What are you doing here?"  

"You!"  Patrick pointed a finger and shouted back.  "You!"

"Looks like they know each other."  The old man said to my grandmother.  "Have fun kids."  

"See you later, Torarin and Nathalie."  My grandmother called and she pushed Patrick inside.   "Don't get pregnant."

They shut the door and were gone.

Patrick and I immediately started yelling at each other.  

"You're a girl?! You told me you were a guy! What are you doing at Lakewood if you're a girl?  I can't believe you're not a guy!"

"What are you doing here?  I can't believe you saw me dressed as a girl.  What am I going to do now?!"

There was a moment of silence during which each others words sunk in.

"So your real name is Torarin?"  I asked him.

Patrick nodded.  "Patrick is my middle name.  My parents were suckers for mythology.  Your real name is Nathalie, right?"

"Yeah.  I got into Lakewood on a scholarship.  Please don't tell anyone."

"Why would I do something like that?"  Patrick--Torarin--asked.  "I'll keep it a secret for you."

"Really?"  I looked up at him.  "Thank you so much."  

"No problem."  He laughed nervously and ran a hand through his chestnut colored hair.  

I stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a tray of chocolate chip cookies that my grandmother had made for my arrival.  "Want a cookie?"  I asked.

Torarin/Patrick and I spent the evening watching reruns of Star Trek and eating food.  I fell asleep at some point, and didn't wake up until Torarin/Patrick was leaving, his grandfather berating him loudly about decency to women and telling him that, though he had said to have fun, it did not mean get someone pregnant.  I had to explain to him that all we did was watch TV.  The grandparents seemed to be a little let down.  

Taki cried this morning when the taxi arrived to take me to the airport.  He hugged me like girls do, and, after several moments, I said, "Hey, you can let go now."

"But I'm going to miss you, Ethan."  Taki sniffled.  

"You know,"  Neil said from a few feet away.  "Any person would think you're gay if they say you holding Ethan like that."

Taki immediately let go.  "I'm not gay."  He said, crossing his arms defiantly.  

I got in the car.  "Bye, guys."

"See you."  Neil waved as Taki cried out, "No! Don't leave me!"

I looked out the back window, and the last thing I saw before we pulled away was Taki trying to convince Neil that he wasn't gay, Edmund talking on his cell phone, and Neil laughing.  I sniffled.  I'd definitely miss those guys.  

"You want to battle Neil?"  Adam laughed.  "You're a hundred years too early, kid."

"I'm not a kid."  Evan snapped.  "I'm going to beat his sorry little ass and send him home crying to his mother."

"I don't think that's possible."  Neil said lightly.  "My mother's been dead for eight years."

There was an awkward moment of silence, followed by another moment of silence.  "OK."  Adam broke it.  "Reining champ, C. Blake, battling E. Hart of Amethyst Drive."  

And then it began.  Watching from a back corner of the stage, I noticed that Neil's abilities were just as good, if not better, the Evan's.  The problem was that neither one was screwing up or doing something much better.  If Evan added a complex rhythm, Neil matched it and did a cool slide.  Or something.  It was intense, like camping intense.  Just watching it made you glad that it wasn't you under those bright lights facing someone you could neither lose to or beat.

After a while, Adam called a halt and brought Damien out from behind the stage.  He finished buttoning his pants and did a little guitar solo before returning to the girl.  

"Hey Neil."  I said.  "Let's go get some food."

"I'm not hungry."  He said, not looking at me but glaring at Evan.  

"Alright, then."  I said and crossed the gym, hid behind several groups to avoid Caroline, and was holding a glass of punch when men in suits began clearing the stage of the band stuff.  "What's going on?"  I asked Adam, who was closest.

"What's your favorite song, little Ethan?"  He asked, ignoring my question.  

"Vienna, by Billy Joel."  I replied automatically.  "Why do you ask?"

Adam smiled and winked.  "You needn't worry about things like that."  He put a hand on my hair and ruffled it.  

"Hey."  I knocked his arm out of the way and attempted to flatten my hair.  "Leave me alone, will you?"  

Adam smiled again and climbed onto the stage, where a grand piano now stood.  There was no introduction.  He just sat down and played like a master.  And the song he played was no other that Billy Joel's Vienna.  And then Adam sang along, and his god-like voice rand out across the now silent gym. 

"I am in love."  Xoi whispered to my left, staring at Adam with her big green eyes.  

"I'm leaving." I said.  "I'll see you this summer."

In the hallway, I ran into my least favorite person in the world.  "Evan."  I said with disdain.  "What are you doing here?"

"What's he to you?"  Evan said.  Was it just something about me that made people ignore what I say?  

"What's who to me?"  I asked.  

"That bastard Neil."  Evan shouted, grabbing my by the shoulders.  "Nathi, what's he to you?"

"My roommate?"  I answered cautiously.  "My good friend."

"Does he know?  He does, doesn't he?"

"I'm sure he doesn't know."  I said soothingly.  Evan seemed really agitated.   Then I realized that I didn't care whether he was agitated or not, because I hated him with a passion that fuels my soul.  Well, maybe not that much.  

"Good."  He release my shoulders.  "I'm leaving."

"Fine with me."  I said, and he walked away moodily.

"I came to rescue you."  The Second Violin said, coming from around the bend.  "But you really didn't need it.  So your real name is Nathi."

"Nathalie."  I corrected.  "And I thought I told you to stop talking about it."

"I think I missed that."  The Second Violin said.  "Did that occur when our faces were about an inch apart, because I was thinking about other things at that time?"

"Are you a pervert and a mask wearing lunatic?"  I asked and dashed away before he could answer.  

One year down.  I repeated to myself on the way back to my dorm.  One year down.  Three to go.  

From today onward, I am free. No longer bound by the rigorous schedule of school, no longer forced to attend to Adam's every whim, and in less than twenty-four hours, I would be on a plane to Florida and could wear a dress without being called a transvestite. I was in my own private paradise, until Adam broke into the office and said over the intercom, "Hello, everybody. The girls from Saint Catherine's will be here shortly. Please go to the gymnasium for the Seniors graduation party."

"Come on, Ethan." Neil said, when I was protesting his decision to go.

"No way." I clung onto the door frame, just in case he tried to force me. "It sounds suspicious."

"I swear, it's nothing but a graduation party. They have one every year."

"If it's just a regular party, why are you bringing your guitar?"

Neil looked at his back, where the case for his Gibson was slung over his shoulder. "I never said it was a usual party. Now come on."

"Dude!" A familiar voice said from down the hall.

"Xoi!" I exclaimed. "Are you here for the party?"

"Yeah. It sound great."

"Neil and I were just going. Right, Neil?" I said, and had to punch him in the side for laughing.

Xoi laughed, and then realized that there was an amazingly hot guy in her presence. She leaned closer and whispered in my ear, "His hotness is practically blinding. How can you live with it?"

"It takes serious skill." I told her, and the three of us went to the gym together.

"Welcome, welcome." Adam was saying as we entered. He stood on the stage where several trap sets, guitar amps, microphones, and keyboards were set up.

"Oh, no." I said, but no one heard me above the yammering of the students.

Adam spoke again. "This year's party is a battle of the bands. It works like this. A single band will start out playing and anyone from the audience can challenge them by bringing up their own instrument and playing better than the member of the band. If there is no one who plays your instrument, feel free to just jump in." He smiled and I'm pretty sure that Xoi was trying really hard to to melt into a puddle of happiness. "Everyone," Adam called. "Let's rock."

There were screams as several seniors took the stage and began to play a jam session.  It was pretty good, for high schoolers, but soon someone jumped onto the stage, grabbed drum sticks and challenged the drummer. It became a sort of one-on-one, but with the other band members providing a sort of melody for the two drummers. The first drummer lost when he screwed up when the other drummer was banging out a solo. I couldn't help thinking that if this was all this party was going to be, I'd be better off in my room reading, but then I noticed that Neil had left my side and was standing on the edge of the stage, waiting for a chance to jump into the musical battle.

It's hard to explain what happened next, but for thirty or so minutes, it was pandemonium. Eventually, Butterfly ended up playing the drums, Neil had the guitar position along with an unknown--but insanely good-looking--Senior, Alex was playing the keyboard, and Adam strummed a bass guitar.

"O my God." Xoi said. "He's a left handed bass."

"What?"

"A lefty and a bass player. I think I'm in love."

"Hang on." I checked the stage. "Are you talking about Adam?"

"You mean the glorious left handed bass player up there, wearing sunglasses?" Xoi took a big bite out of her hunk of bread. "Of course, it's Adam."

"Are you kidding me?" I took her by the shoulders. "You can't like Adam. Sure, he's so hot he makes you practically wet your pants, but behind that beautiful face is a monster, a capricious, semi-sadistic monster! As a friend, I could never allow you to date him."

"That's alright." Xoi said, gazing raptly at Adam and eating her bread. "We can skip those unimportant steps and just get married."

"I'm going to get food." I told her. I had just found the punch table when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"How are we this fine evening?" The Second Violin said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I do go to school here."

"Are you graduating?"

"No, not this year." The Second Violin adjusted his mask, and this time is was a black satin party mask.  He pointed to the stage, where The unknown senior was doing a guitar solo.  "Do you want to go up there?"  He asked me.

"I don't want to kick Alex off the keyboard."  I replied.

"I think you're forgetting a key instrument."

"The flute?"

"No, the violin, silly girl."

I grabbed his tie and pulled his head down so I could whisper in his ear, "Don't call me that.  Ever."  Then I realized how close his face was to mine and how totally awkward the position was, and I let go of his tie quickly and took two steps forward so he couldn't see how red my face was.

"Alright." The Second Violin straightened his tie.  "If you're so upset, I guess I won't be able to offer you one of my electric violins."

"Electric violins?"  I repeated.  "Really?"

"Of course.  Didn't you know that you can add a violin solo into just about any song?"

And that was how I ended up on the stage with the Second Violin and the rest of the band.  

((THERE WILL BE MORE LATER, PROBABLY AT LEAST TWO MORE POSTS.))

"How was it?" Taki asked as soon as I emerged from my chemistry final. Since he had study hall that period, he had waited anxiously outside the classroom.

"Not something I ever want to experience again." I said, sighing and leaning against the wall for support. That test had been as physically draining as the gym final.

"Is there anything I can do to assist you, O great and noble Ethan?" Cole suddenly appeared by my side.

"Here." I held out my backpack. "I'm too tired to carry this."

Cole flung it onto his back, right over his own, and grinned energetically. "Anything else, Great One? Perhaps a massage to ease the tension in your shoulders?"

"Hey." Taki stepped between us. "I though we already established this. If anyone's going to give Ethan a back rubs, it's going to be me."

"Listen to what you're saying." Cole said. "Are you in love with him or something?"

"Look at yourself. Are you in love with Ethan?" Taki snorted. "Ethan is my best friend. Of course I feel something for him. Best friends like him fit into the fondest place of your heart. Best friends want to do things with each other, right? Like give each other presents and take them on trips and hold hands."

"I owe my entire existence to Ethan, but I've never wanted to hold his hand."

"Ethan!" Neil called my name from down the hallway, coming out of his own class. "Why are you hitting your head against the wall. You know that's bad for your health."

"No reason." I replied, talking over Taki, who was explaining the depths of male companionship to Cole, who was arguing his every point.

"Let's go." Neil offered. "They don't look like they need us very much."

"Yeah." I agreed, and we were half way down the hall when Taki cried out loudly, presumably to himself, "I'm not gay!"

I was laughing when we rounded a corner. "Sorry," I said to the person I narrowly avoided hitting.

"You again?" Evan sneered down at me. "Do you always laugh so vacuously that you run into people?"

"Do you even know what vacuous means?" I retorted. "Let's go, Neil."

But my roommate was having a stare down with the rock star and couldn't come. I waited for the whole male dominance thing to be over. Even with my new found knowledge of the hierarchy, I still couldn't tell who was the winner. Maybe they'd just have to beat each other up, and the guy less bloody at the end would be the top dog. That was a good plan, I thought, until I remembered that Evan had no reason to fight with Neil.

If that was true, why was Evan glaring at him so viciously?

For the Physical Education final, we played soccer. Thankfully, I was on the same team as Jake, a jock, and Neil, who's just good at everything. We got graded on our participation, skill level, and kicking accuracy. I'm sure the kid who kicked the ball into the place where it should of hurt, had I been a guy, got full points.

Several boys winced. I guess the impact had sounded really bad, and Taki cried out what he thought was my name in a voice that held all the agony I should have been in.

"Oh, God." I moaned, faking as best I could. "It hurts. It hurts. Dear God in heaven. It burns."

"Tough it out, Smith." The coach shouted from the sidelines. "Are you a man or not?"

I smiled secretly to myself and continued playing.

Today, I realized that I no longer hated Adam. I then spent thirty or so minutes, in the middle of my math final, wondering when this happened. I missed the last problem on the free response section (worth seven points) because I ran out of time. I decided to hate Adam again.

Hans and Frans left today. Apparently, they were too busy to bother with getting new tickets to Germany after the three snow days and, through family connections, became exempt from their other finals. I decided to hate them too.

"We're sorry that we can't see you this summer." Hans said as he sat behind the wheel of his bright yellow Porsche.

"Yeah." Frans agreed. "We really wanted to see what kind of dwellings commoners live in. Too bad Oma wouldn't let us."

"You'll have to come visit us once you have your passport."

"Sure." I told them. "Have a great summer."

"Whatever, losers." Frans gave us the classic L on the forehead as his brother drove off.

"So much for a sweet good-bye." I mumbled and Neil, Taki, Edmund, and I went back into the school.

"Did we ever tell you that your aura looks different?"

I jumped about a foot in the air. "Remember the bubble, Zaak, Zack, and Zach. And stop creeping up on me like that."

The trio ignored my comments. "Ethan, your aura is unlike the others."

"Hey." Neil cut in. "Stop scaring my roommate."

"Our apologizes." The Zachs said together.

"I wonder why, though." One of the Zachs said.

"Let us create something that explains it."

"Something that explains the unexplainable?"

"Right." All three smiled at each other and walked off.

"That was a little weird." I said to Neil.

"Just a bit." Neil put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. No one cares if your aura looks different."

"Yeah." I laughed. "Who can even tell what it looks like?"

"Rin can." Taki cut in. "That's how she names people."

"So that's why her name for you is Lilac?" Neil asked.

Taki looked embarrassed and mumbled something about needing to use the restroom. I burst into laughter as soon as he was out of sight.