It was a fantastic day in Pleasantview and the third grade class of Sunset Elementary School was taking full advantage of that to enjoy recess. This particular day, however, a group of boys had come up with a way to “surf down the slide” and they had taken over the best slide on the playground, refusing to let anyone outside of their group on it, especially the girls. There was no way Lilith was going to let them push her around. She dealt with enough of that stuff at home. What they were doing was so cool she had to try it, and she wasn't going to let a group of bullies tell her what to do.

    She made her way over to the slide despite the looks from her class mates, and climbed up to the top, practically shoving boys out of her way. She took off her shoes, stood on the slide and coasted down on her socks, standing the entire way down, which was more then some of the boys had done. But when she got to the bottom, she was greeted by the meanest boy, who all but pinned Lilith to the slide.

    “What do you think you're doing Pleasant?” he growled in her face. “This is our slide, and I can't have any girl come on here and do better than my friends.” He looked at a boy at the top of the slide. “Take her shoes!” Lilith couldn't see what was going on behind her as the boy firmly held her in place. For what felt like a very long time, she struggled to free herself from his grasp, but he just gripped her tighter. His lame sneer loomed over her face, making it very clear that he didn't care that she was in pain from the way he was holding her. She desperately wanted to pry herself free and give this boy a piece of her mind, but even if she could, she knew what would happen next – she'd get in trouble and her parents would ask her why she couldn't just behave herself for the hundredth time. Lilith knew how to handle bullies thanks to Angela's constant teasing, but now that she was faced with a real threat, the only thing she could do was freeze, her heart pounding harder than she'd ever felt it before. ”Now if you think this is funny, just wait until...”

    “Leave her alone!” a voice suddenly called from her left. She turned her head to see Dirk Dreamer headed right for them, a determined look in his eyes. “She has just as much right to use that slide as you do.” Lilith didn't know Dirk that well, she had only been his partner for a couple of math sheets, but she knew this wasn't like him. For the last month and a half, he had pretty much shut down. He didn't really talk to anyone, and he spent recess sitting on the bench by the playground. Was he really standing up for her?

    “Whose side are you on, Dirk?” the other boy shouted while still managing to keep a firm hold on Lilith.

    “I'm not on yours, that's for sure.”

    In that moment, Lilith felt something change within her. Energy surged throughout her body and she tried again to free herself. It didn't work, but she no longer felt deflated. Instead... well, she didn't really know what she was feeling, but she knew it certainly was unfamiliar.

    “You'd better watch it Dreamer. You have ten seconds to back off before I send you running home crying to your mommy. Oh, wait... that's right.”

    Lilith felt her jaw hit the floor, stunned that this boy was really willing go that far. She glanced at Dirk, who maintained his composure, but even Lilith could tell that he was fighting the salt that had been rubbed in his open wound. Putting herself in his situation, Lilith had to admit that she probably would have just broken down crying, but Dirk was still there, fighting off all of his emotions. For her.

    Lilith was finally able to free her arm from the other boy's grasp, but before she was able to do anything else, a playground monitor rushed up to them.

    “That's enough,” she told the mean boy, pulling him away from Lilith. “I'm sure the principal won't find this amusing once you explain yourself to her.”

    As the playground monitor hauled the boy away, Dirk walked up to her.

    “Are you okay?” he asked.

    “Yeah,” Lilith replied rubbing the spot on her wrist where the boy had grabbed her. “What about you?”

    “I'll be fine now that you're okay.” He sat next to her on the slide. That was very brave, Lilith. I've never seen anyone challenge that kid like you just did.” His words struck her. Looking back on what had just happened, she couldn't help but wish she had fought harder.

    “Thanks,” she told him, sighing. She saw a few tears escape from his eyes, and she knew that he hadn't ignored his emotions either.

    “Anyone would have been scared,” Dirk told her. “I would have been. I probably wouldn't have even stood up to him.”

    “But you did, Dirk,” Lilith replied. “You were brave too. I've never had anyone stand up for me like that.”

    “Well,” Dirk told her, drying his eyes, “now you do.” She smiled at him and he took her hand. “Come on. I'll help you get your shoes back.”    

 

    “I never get to do anything like this,” Lilith said as her feet soaked. It was her last day in town, so Kelly and Joanna had taken her to the spa and were treating themselves to a manicure/pedicure. Randy had lost it when he found out about those plans. He had grumbled about needing more guy friends before Jill had offered to skip the spa to keep him company.

    “Not even with your girlfriends?” Joanna asked.

    “I don't have any girlfriends back home,” Lilith replied. “Every time I try to make new ones they usually like Angela more.”

    “But at least you have a boyfriend,” Kelly said. “That's more than we've got.”

    “I know, and I'm sure he would join me at the spa, it just wouldn't be fun for him.”

    “Hey are you wearing a new bracelet?” Kelly asked. In addition to her usual black cuffs, today Lilith wore a new rope bracelet with a word made out of curved metal. “'Dreamer.' I like it.”

    “Thanks,” Lilith replied. “I found it in the water park gift shop and I had to get it.”

    “Does that word appeal to you?” Joanna asked.

    “It's my boyfriend's name,” Lilith told them.

    “That's romantic,” Joanna observed.

    “You know, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of your boyfriend,” Kelly said. “And this is after sending him like, five videos yesterday.”

    “Let's fix that,” Lilith said, pulling out her phone.     “There's a few there if you want to scroll through them.”

    “He's cute!”

    “Kelly!” Joanna said from the other side of Lilith. “You don't say that about another girl's boyfriend!”

    “Okay, just because I have different eyes than you doesn't mean I can't see,” Kelly retorted as she looked through the photos. “Really, Lilith, you guys look great together... You dressed up as Kim Possible?”

    “That's not me.”

    “Then why is this on your phone?” Joanna asked.

    “Because I had to prove to Mom and Dad somehow that she took my shirt.” Lilith took her phone back and promptly deleted the image.

    “You mean she didn't ask you?” Kelly said.

    “She did,” Lilith replied, “and I told her to get lost. She still took it.” Lilith's heart sank as she said those words. That had happened months ago. Why was she feeling guilty about it now?

    “What's wrong?” Joanna asked as the staff started working on their nails.

    “It's nothing,” Lilith replied, staring into the bottle of nail polish she had picked out. It looked black, but once the right amount of light hit it, it turned a deep purple.

    “It's okay to feel bad about being mean to your sister,” Kelly said.

    “I feel bad every time I'm mean to mine,” Joanna added.

    “Yeah, but you actually like each other,” Lilith pointed out. “Angela and I have been constantly fighting since we were seven or eight. And I've never felt like I did after what happened the other day.”

    “What did she do to you?” Joanna asked.

    “Yeah, she had to have done something,” Kelly said. “Or is it so long ago that you don't even remember?”

    “Nothing,” Lilith responded, knowing immediately that it was the truth. Dirk was right – she was jealous of her sister. Bella was right – none of this had been Angela's fault. “Other than start fights, which now that I think about it, every sibling does, she's done nothing. I've spent years resenting her and hating her, but she never really did anything to me. Both Bella and Dirk have been telling me that this week, and I've just been too stupid to listen. When did everyone get so smart about everything?”

    “That's part of growing up,” Kelly explained. “You think you know it all, but in reality, it's everyone else that has all the answers.”

    “How in the world did you figure that out?” Lilith asked.

    “My dad's a scientist,” Kelly told her, laughing slightly. “He actually does have all the answers. Maybe not about important stuff, but if you ever want to know anything about aliens, he's your guy.”

    “I guess if I want to blame someone, it would be my parents,” Lilith said.

    “No parents are perfect, Lilith,” Joanna reassured her.

    “Have you ever gotten mad at yours?” Lilith asked.

    “Only every time my dad does something embarrassing when my friends are about to come over,” Kelly replied. “Which is every time they come over.”

    “Every time?”

    “Okay, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration,” Kelly confessed.

    “I've met your dad, Kelly,” Joanna said. “That's not an exaggeration.”

    “When does he come home?” Lilith asked Kelly.

    “Tomorrow,” she replied, “so I guess you won't get to meet him.”

    “That might just be a good thing,” Joanna said lightheartedly.

    “Yeah, my dad's definitely weirded some people out, and at times he's down right embarrassing,” Kelly said, laughing again. “But he keeps a roof over my head and if it wasn't for his nerdiness, I wouldn't be here. I can tell that he wants the best for me, even if the number of things he knows about teenage girls can be counted on one hand. I guess we're just learning together. That's what families do.”

    “I'd ask you how you got so smart,” Joanna butted in, “but I think we already know.” Kelly laughed even harder.

    “My parents are separating,” Lilith admitted.

    “Because of your dad jumping in bed with the maid?” Kelly asked her.

    “That was really the last straw,” Lilith said. “They've been arguing for quite a while now.”

    “Is that why you ran away?” Joanna inquired.

    “Partly,” Lilith replied. “I just didn't want to be around people who treated me like I was nothing.”

    “But you can change that Lilith,” Kelly told her. “You can start with your sister, and maybe once things are better with her, you'll be able to forgive your parents.”

    “It's weird,” Lilith said. “I've never really had a good relationship with anyone in my family, but I don't want it to break apart. I don't know what living with just Mom and Angela will be like. For all I know, it could be worse.”

    “It was sad when my uncle moved out,” Kelly offered. “He was a part of my family for so long and I didn't know what it would be like living without him. He was the fun one.” This time, Joanna and Lilith started laughing. “But he was happy with his new wife and we couldn't help but be happy for him as well.”

    “Change is hard,” Joanna said. “Take it from someone who moved halfway across the country.”

    “But if you didn't move, you wouldn't have gotten your fifteen minutes of fame,” Kelly countered.

    “It was more like fifteen weeks,” Joanna reminded her.

    “And speaking of which,” Kelly added, “look at the Goths and how much they've been through,”

    “You know Anne is Amanda's aunt, even though she's a couple months younger?” Joanna said. “If anyone knows about change and it's affect on families, it's them.”

    “But they got through it by sticking together,” Kelly added. “You need your mother and sister now more than ever, Lilith. Now's the perfect time to make amends.”

    Lilith closed her eyes. It would be nice to have a family she could count on. A sister she could talk to without starting a fight. She didn't think they would ever be the best of friends, but if they worked at it, they might be able to get along. It was worth trying.

    “You're not the first person to tell me that,” Lilith said softly, “But I guess you're right. Both you and Bella can't be wrong, can you?”

    “That's the spirit,” Kelly encouraged.

    “Anyway,” Lilith continued, “I do owe you a big thank you for never asking any of those annoying twin questions.”

    “What annoying twin questions?” Kelly wanted to know.

    “You're a twin?” asked the woman doing Lilith's nails.

    “That would be one of them,” Lilith explained.

    “Can you read each others minds?” Joanna teased.

    “And there's another,” Lilith responded. “No, I can't read her mind. And even if I could, I wouldn't want to.”

    “Because if you could, you wouldn't have hit her in the face at Spritzkies,” Kelly said.

    “Kelly,” Lilith groaned. She put her head in her hands, or she would have if she wasn't getting her nails done.

    “Wait, that was you?” asked the woman doing her nails.

    “No,” Lilith said sarcastically, “that was my identical twin.”

    Kelly burst out laughing. “That's funny, because you actually have...” Joanna glared at her. “...okay, I'm going to shut up now.”

    “Yeah you can't say anything about that especially after not realizing that you weren't looking at Lilith,” Joanna replied. “Seriously, Kelly. How did you not figure that out? We know she has a twin.”

    “She said twin,” Kelly replied. “She said nothing about them being identical.”

    “Wait,” Lilith said, “You actually thought Angela was me?”

    “Well, someone came into the building looking exactly like you. What did you expect me to think?”

    “I would expect you to wonder why I was wearing pastels.”

    “Yeah, that totally slipped my mind,” Kelly said.

    “I take it people don't really confuse you?” Joanna asked.

    “Not often,” Lilith responded. “If they do, it's usually someone who's new in town. I remember the first day of eighth grade, this one girl stared at me for a good fifteen seconds before saying 'you were not wearing that this morning' and I had no idea what was going on until she started talking about the dress that Angela was wearing and I realized this girl thought she was looking at her.” Joanna and Kelly burst out laughing again.

    “So what'd you do?” Joanna asked.

    “I said, this may bow your mind, but I'm not Angela. And then I just walked away.”

    “Mysterious,” Kelly said with an approving smile on her face.

    “That was a little rude, though,” Joanna told her.

    “Well, I was a little annoyed,” Lilith explained. “And my class was on the other side of the school. I didn't really have time to explain it to her.”

    “I take it she figured it out?” Kelly asked.

    “Dirk did overhear her asking a classmate if Angela had a twin.”

    “Let's talk about something else,” Kelly said. “What did you do for your sweet sixteen party, because I need ideas for mine.”

    “I didn't have one,” Lilith told her.

    “You're kidding,” Joanna responded.

    “You didn't have a party for your own sixteenth birthday?” Kelly asked.

    “There was a party,” Lilith explained. “It was Angela's. It could have been mine too, but I knew it would just end up like all the other birthdays we had. Angela would be the center of attention and no one would notice me. So I didn't go. Dirk and I celebrated quietly over pizza and video games.” And quite a few heavy kissing sessions, although Lilith didn't admit that. Still she felt herself blushing, so she was sure her friends had figured it out.

    “Well, tell you what,” Kelly told her. “You and Dirk come back this summer, and we will throw you your own sweet sixteen party.”

    “That's a great idea!” Joanna said excitedly.

    “It will be amazing!” Kelly added. “Johnny and Ophelia are great at planning parties. You should have seen their wedding.”

    “Yeah, that was fun,” Joanna said.

    “You crashed it,” Kelly said back.

    “Well, what did you expect me to do, sit on my butt all day while you got to have fun? That's totally not fair!”

    “Welcome to my world,” Lilith said having gained some new respect for Joanna.

    “See, she gets it,” Joanna said. “And it's not like your cousin cared. And Jenny did say it was fine.”

    “Anyway,” Kelly continued, “we get them to help with the planing, and it's guaranteed to be a success. All you have to do is show up, Lilith. We can have a DJ, a bonfire, chocolate fountains, the works. What do you say?”

    “You'd really throw a party, for me?” Lilith asked.

    “That's what friends do,” Kelly told her.

    “I... I love it!” Lilith exclaimed. “Remind me to give you a hug once our nails are done. But skip the bonfire. Dirk will freak if I get anywhere near that thing.”

    “Okay, no bonfire,” Kelly said. “We'll have to think of something else instead.”

    “And there will be tons of other cool stuff we can do while you're here,” Joanna suggested.

    “Like the 3 AM challenge at Randy's house,” Kelly added.

    “Isn't doing that in a hunted house kinda cheating?” Joanna asked.

    “I was kidding,” Kelly replied. “You know our parents would never let us do that, right?”

    “My mom won't even let me sleep over at another girl's house.”

    “I don't even have another girl's house to sleep over at,” Lilith admitted.

    “You mean you've never been to a sleepover?” Kelly asked.

    “Not unless you count the night I stayed over at Dirk's.”

    “And your parents let you?” Joanna inquired.

    “They didn't exactly know I was there.” Joanna and Kelly looked shocked. “It was when I took off.” Kelly nodded.

    “Well, that will have to change,” Joanna said. “I've never been to a sleepover, but I've hosted them a few times with my cousins.” Lilith could feel her eyes beginning to water. She wanted to wipe her tears away, but her hands weren’t available and she didn't want to get make up on her arm.

    “Oh, Lilith, don't cry,” Kelly told her. “What's wrong?”

    “Nothing,” Lilith responded. “It's just... every time I thought I'd made friends, they ended up not being true ones.”

    “I've had to deal with those too,” Joanna said.

    “The only real friend I've ever had was Dirk. He was there to pick up the pieces every time.”

    “Well he won't have to do anything this time,” Kelly told her. “We're nothing like those losers.”

    “Yeah, we've got your back, Lilith,” Joanna added. “And we'll throw you a party that will blow the one your sister had out of the water.”

    Lilith couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her own party. With her own friends. One her parents or sister couldn't screw up. It was a dream come true. The only thing missing was Dirk to celebrate with.

 

Dirk: Busy day?

Lilith: Yeah. We got our nails done and then spent the afternoon on Joanna's trampoline.

Dirk: Sounds like fun.

Lilith: What about you?

Dirk: Homework.

 

Dirk: You okay?

Lilith: Just thinking.

Dirk: About what?

Lilith: I think it might be a good idea to work things out with Angela. I've realized that our issues have caused so many other problems, and I just want them to stop.

Lilith: I don't know about my mom though. I just can't see myself ever getting along with her after everything she's done.

Lilith: It would be nice though. What do you think?

Dirk: With the exception of her ghost, I'm never going to see my mother again. You still have yours. Don't take her for granted.

 

Lilith: I can't wait to finally see you tomorrow.

Dirk: Same here. Sending you a kiss.