Care-Bear

“Take a picture it will last longer.” I said snottily.

“Okay, can you pose?” The hottest one asked.

“No.” I answered.

“Okay. Just stay still. My name is Sean by the way.” He said.

“Great, now are you done?” I asked Sean.

“What’s your name?”

“Ashley.” I said, saying the first thing that popped into my head.

“No it’s not.”

“Can I dry off?” I asked.

“Sure, don’t mind me.” Sean said, “Watch out.”

“Wake up.” Patrick said.

“OH MY GOD, YOU IDIOT!” I screamed as Patrick poured more water on me. I took my jeans off and laid them next to my hoodie so I was wearing my black lace bra and my matching boy shorts.

“Oh my god. Don’t move.” Sean said.

“Why don’t you just shove it?” I asked him, “Thanks Patrick.” I said to him as I turned around and slapped him on the face. Then I asked Kelsey to get me a towel and once she threw it out to me, I laid it down and laid down on it. I took my sunglasses off of my head and put them on.

“Hey Kerri, right? Where are you sitting on the jet?” Sean asked.

“What’s it to you?” I asked him.

“I want to sit next to you.” He said calmly smiling.

“WHAT?” I shouted.

“Well I’m going to the same boarding school as you so I figured we might as well get to know each other.” He said.

“Oh my god. PATRICK!” I screamed. I grabbed my clothes and my towel and stormed away, “PUT YOUR CELLPHONE DOWN.” I yelled at Sean.

“Sorry, your butt just looks so cute in those shorts.” He said.

“Bet she’d look even hotter without them.” One of Sean’s friends said.

“UGHHHHHH!” I shouted. When I got on the plane, Susan was waiting for me.

“That’s Sean McCarter, Patrick’s nephew by marriage. What size do you wear?” Susan asked me.

“Size 1 in pants and small or extra small in shirts.” I answered her, still fuming. She disappeared into her room coming back out with black short shorts and a lime green camisole.

“Here,” She said handing them to me.

“Thanks.” I said. I went into my room and put them on. Then I took my still slightly damp clothes and laid them out on the bed. When I turned, Sean was standing right there. He gently put his lips on mine. I so badly wanted to just give up and kiss him back, but instead I pushed him away.

“What the hell was that?” I asked him.

“I like you. I was just trying to see if you like me too.” He said then he turned around and started to walk out the door.

“Wait. I…” I started. He stopped walking, “I do like you, I’m just not ready for that kind of relationship yet. This is a big change and my family was just uprooted. I just met you and maybe if we get to know each other and then…” I stopped as he put his finger on my lips.

“Okay. Okay.” Sean said as he chuckled, “We can take it slow. Just wondering, what lip-gloss is that? It’s delicious.”

“Slice of heaven. Want another taste?” I asked giving up.

“Yes.” Sean slowly put his lips on mine again and this time I kissed him back. He put his hands around my waist and pulled me close. I put my hands around his neck and came up for a breath. When he looked into my eyes, I saw the most gorgeous brown eyes I had ever seen. I know it’s corny, but it was love at first, I mean second, sight.

“SEAN! KERRI!” Patrick yelled. We jumped away from each other fast, “What the hell is going on in here? Secret romance? You too know each other or are you just making out for the fun of it? Get out here and get buckled.”

“Sorry Uncle Pat.” Sean said.

“Sorry Pat.” I said.

“Come on, I was just kidding. I don’t care if you’re in here kissing, just get buckled. We’re behind schedule.” Patrick said.

“Okay.” I said as we went out and sat down. I made Kelsey move so Sean and I could sit next to each other in the most comfortable seats. I took out my notebook and Sean and I started writing back and forth while listening to our iPods. I found out that he’s 17 and his mom is really sick and his dad had died when he was little. His mom went to the hospital and has to stay in the extensive care unit, then she is going home with a live-in nurse and there was no room for him. So his “great” Uncle Patrick asked his sister-in-law if she wanted him to find a boarding school and she said yes. That was when he found out about me and found that boarding school for me, but decided Sean could go there too. Sean is obviously single and loves girls who aren’t what they appear to be. I couldn’t help but think that’s definitely me, I don’t even look like myself. He likes Fall Out Boy, same as me, but can’t stand chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. He’d rather have black raspberry, which is my second favorite. His favorite color is green, which is one of my favorites. His second favorite is orange which is my favorite. All in all we’d make a perfect match. Sean wrote that I look nothing like the picture Patrick took of me. Déjà vu.

I didn’t know Patrick took a picture of me, I wrote.

I had one of my friends go with him and take a picture with my phone, Sean said.

Oh let me see it, I wrote. When he showed me the picture I gasped. I looked hideous. My long brown hair was swept up into a messy bun and I had no makeup on. I was wearing my black mesh boy shorts and a white camisole. My green eyes were wide with fear and I remember that was when I noticed Patrick was from child services. Just when I was about to scream, the seat buckle light went on. So I shut my mouth, buckled my seatbelt and turned away.

“Are you okay?” Sean asked.

“Yeah, just sad.” I answered. I had pushed down all my feelings from the US and now they were all surfacing. I had to push them down again because I had to be strong for the girls and duh, I was trying to be cool for gosh sakes.

“Okay.” He said.

“Kerri, are you ready to go shopping or what?” Kelsey asked.

“Yeah, totally.” I said.

“Good because I can’t wait. I am so sick of sharing clothes.” Sam said.

“Okay.” I said wanting them to shut up.

“We’ll be at my boutique in about 30 minutes, once we land.” Susan said.

“Okay, we have to make a stop at the bank first though. I need a credit card too.” I said to Susan, trying to revive myself.

“Okay, I’ll tell Eskabol.” Susan said. When we landed, I got up and got my bag from my room and put my sweatshirt on, on top of Susan’s camisole. I grabbed my jeans and cami from my bed. Once I came out of my room everyone had deserted the plane. I asked Eskabol where they went and he pointed to a car service sign. It said Hertz and when I looked where he pointed I could make out Kelsey and Sam’s matching striped tees. I ran over to them and ten minutes later we had a giant limousine, which we loaded with our entire luggage. Then we all hopped in and about twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of a medium sized store named MEANAGER BOUTIQUE. We had made a small stop to the bank and I had a credit card with 100,000 dollars on it. I figured that was a good sum to start with.

“Isn’t a boutique supposed to be small.” Kelsey asked.

“No it doesn’t have a size.” Susan answered.

“Oh.” Sam said. You know twin telepathy. Always thinking the same things, “Okay, let’s shop!”

“Come on Sean, you have to make sure things look good on me.” I said in a sleazy tone.

“Okay.” Sean said willingly. We all trooped into the store except for Patrick and Eskabol.

“Oh my god. This is so cute. I love it. Kerri?” Kelsey and Sam both saw the exact same thing and it came in their favorite colors. Pink and blue. It was a striped tube top and an army style midriff cover-up. Susan said that would look great with a pair of low slung jeans.

“Sure, try it on first though.” I said as I eyed the miniskirts on the left side of the door. I went over to the racks and pulled a camouflage skirt off. I tried it on and frowned. It was really uncomfortable. So I put that back and saw the cutest white miniskirt. It was a hip hugger and I loved it. I paired that with gray tights and a black camisole. It looked really cute. Susan, however, said I would freeze to death, so she added a light orange jacket that went to my belly button. With white flats, it was adorable. Sean even whistled.

Once fifteen minutes passed in the store Kelsey had seven pairs of jeans, six tops, two jackets, two skirts, one pair of leggings, two pairs of tights, ten pairs of shoes, five hoodies, a hat, four belts, and two pairs of gloves. Sam had the same only they were in different colors. They had the same everything only different colors. I had ten pairs of jeans, seven hoodies, seven tops, four skirts, three jackets, fourteen pair of shoes, two hats, five pairs of tights, three pairs of leggings, and seven pairs of gloves. Sean had even thrown in an old black leather jacket. We’d all gotten at least a shirt out of the festive section. Just in case we wanted to go to a Spanish Fiesta. I’d say we did pretty well, but we hadn’t even hit a quarter million yet. We had like six thousand tops.

So Susan decided we needed some more dressy stuff, so she took Kelsey and put a little black number on her, but Kelsey hated it. She picked out a hot pink tube top mini dress that looked great on her. Susan said it did look great, it just made her look like a showoff. Susan said she could make it great though. She handed the pink dress to her assistant and told her to dye it darker pink. While her assistant was doing the dying, Susan picked out white knee boots, a white hat, a brown cover-up with three-quarter sleeves, and white gloves. When Susan’s assistant came back, Kelsey tried it on and she loved it! So Susan moved to Sam next.

Since Susan knew Sam and Kelsey loved to match she had her assistant dye the same dress a brown and gave Sam the same white boots, white hat, and white gloves as Kelsey. However instead of a brown cover-up, Susan gave Sam a pink cover-up with three-quarter sleeves to try on. It was adorable and Sam loved it too. So Susan moved on.

“Now, you need something that says I am the best, but in an un-showoff way. So I was thinking something sexy, but business too.” Susan said to me. She handed me gray business slacks and a white camisole. I put that on and then she handed me a plain black tie and I said no.

“Why not?” She asked me.

“Because I said so.” I answered.

“Put it on.” Susan glared at me.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Fine. I’ll try it.” I said reluctantly, but once I put it on and she handed me a tight black jacket, I actually liked it. Susan said I could wear the jacket and a miniskirt and it would still look sexy. The slacks were so comfortable too. So I caved in.

Once I knew we had hit at least 15,000 dollars, we headed into Susan’s office. It was huge in there. I took my two giant suitcases, two smaller suitcases and sat on the floor in the corner. Kelsey called another corner, and Sam called the last corner that the door wasn’t in. We all had assistants of Susan’s come sit with us with a calculator. As we folded the clothes and put them into the suitcases, the women punched in the prices. In the end we had like 20,000 dollars of clothes. I paid with my credit card.

We all piled into the limousine once we made sure all of our suitcases made it into the U-haul. When we pulled up in front of the school I thought Patrick was kidding. It was supergiant! It had to be on at least a 125-acre lot and the school itself looked like a college. It was awesome! When we got out of the car, a woman came out with tear streaked cheeks and tear filled green eyes, and greeted us like she knew us. I didn’t remember her, but oh well, some people are a little crazy.

“Hello, Kerri, right?” The woman asked me, her brown hair swaying as she walked toward us with a ballerina’s walk.

“Yeah, and you are?” I asked her.

“Oh I’m your godmother. Vanessa Tyco.” She said.

“Vanessa say what?” Sam said. She has these ways of saying things that are polite but totally offensive at the same time.

“Oh, Madeline didn’t tell you?” She looked hurt and new tears streamed down her face at her mention of my mother.

“Umm… right. No. Sorry.” I said, not really feeling sorry at all. I wondered if she was feeling all right. Emotionally…and mentally.

“Well… hmmm… let’s see. I knew your mother from the time we were in diapers. We were inseparable all throughout elementary and middle school. Then in high school, we went to different schools because our parents thought we were too close. But then, when college rolled around, we convinced our parents to let us go to the same school. That’s when Madeline met your father, Paul, and got pregnant with you, Kerri. My mother didn’t want me associated with someone ‘like that’ so she transferred me to a college here.

“Madeline and I kept in touch and she told me that she wanted me to take care of you when she died. Then like three days ago I got a memo that your mother had passed away some time ago. Following her wishes, I ordered to be with you. That’s when Child Services investigated and found out about your dad’s ‘problem.’ Then they brought you here.” She finished with a final flourish of her perfectly manicured hand.

“So you are responsible for dragging us away from our home. Hmmm. Where’s my dorm?” I said with obvious distaste in my voice.

“Oh. Umm… well it’s only natural you’d want a tour. Follow me.” She couldn’t disguise the hurt in her voice as she said that, but what do I care? She dragged me across the country when I, we I mean, were doing fine. She led us into a big open room. I’m gathering that it was the space for parents and siblings and god knows what else kind of trash to visit us. Then from there we went through a set of double doors and into a big wide pointy meadow. I didn’t understand it until she said, “If you are in a helicopter or on top of the building and you look down, the buildings all form a star.”

Then that made a little more sense. So this was one point of the star. She told us that this was the “business” point. There was the big mess hall for bigger meetings between the entire school, the lodge for visitors if they want to stay overnight, and all the staff’s offices. Then she led us into a huge meadow. I assumed it was the middle of the star.

One of the points was a hangout type point. A club, a mall, some boutiques, swimming pool, work-out gym, etc. Three of the other points were different groups of dorms. She explained that the boys had one and a half and the girls had one and a half.

“See all the boys in the ‘in’ crowd have their own point. The others just stay in the half. Same with the girls. You, Kerri, have been invited to join the full point. Kelsey and Sam you are in the half.”

“Umm… no. You see, if you are going to drag us out of our country and put us somewhere we never asked to be we are at least going to be together. We need two rooms. One for me and one for them. I don’t care if I have a roommate, but their room is going to be right next to mine. Got it?” I asked her.

“Umm… sure. October Ford is in need of a roommate and the two girls in the room across from her just graduated so there, perfect. I’ll just have to inform Angela that she isn’t getting a room of her own.” Vanessa said.

“Who’s Angela?” Kelsey asked.

“Oh, my daughter. She’s just like me. You’ll like her.”

“I know for sure I won’t like her if she is just like you.” I said very rudely.

“Kerri, be nice.” Patrick said. I had forgotten that he was there. Oh well.

“No, you know why? Because this woman is the reason that we were dragged out of our home. And you know why else? Because I don’t like her. And I am not about to lead her on thinking we could be friends.” With my little monologue done, I strode toward the point she said was the girl’s full point. That’s when I ran smack into Skye.

Well at least that’s what her shirt said. Skye Bullian. What a dumb name.

“Hola. Quien y como estas tu en?” The girl said in Spanish.

“No comprehende.” I said.

“Oh sorry,” Skye said, “I said, Hello, who and how are you?”

“What do you care?” I asked.

“I am the girls boarding attendant.” Skye said.

“Sorry,” I said, “I’m not having the best day. My name’s Kerri Smith. We just showed up. Can you show me to October’s room?”

“You met October?” Skye asked.

“No. I just know that I’m boarding with her and my sister’s will be across the hall.” I answered.

“Oh, you mean your sister is bunking with Angela?” Skye asked befuddled.

“No, my sisters are getting a room of their own and I’m staying with October. Angela is staying in her current room.”

“Well I don’t know about that. You’ll have to talk to Skinny Psycho, I mean Mrs. Tyco.”

“I like that. Skinny Psycho. Suits her well. Anyway I already talked to her.” I said.

“Oh really? How? I heard you have to have an appointment.” Skye said, suddenly dropping to a gossip tone. I could tell we would be good friends.

“No, well at least not for me. She’s my godmother. Keep that on the DL though,” I said, “Can you show me my dorm?”

“Sure. This dorm building is yours. Building K. My dorm is across the hall and one down from yours,” She said with a twinkle in her eye, “The rules are the same for everyone. You’ll get a handbook soon.”

“What are they?” I asked.

“Rule number one is no music louder than a half knot, and…”

“What’s half knot?” I asked, interrupting her.

“Half knot is only your room can hear it, unless you have parties. Then you have to get a party relot. That’s a dorm term. Anyway, rule number two is you have to get your parties certified by your dorm attendant, a party relot. Your dorm attendant is me. And lastly, rule number three, nobody of the opposite sex can spend the night. That’s what most people get incides for.”

“Incides?” I asked, confused again.

“An incide is like a detention, but worse. You have to tell your whole incide group why you’re there in vivid detail. Quite gross actually.”

"Couldn't you just lie?" I asked.

"Yeah. I guess. I don't know. A lot of people brag about what they did though, so..."

"Oh.” I said as I followed her into a glass and chrome building. There was an ultra cool lounge when you walk in and two elevators. On one side of the elevators were necessities, Skye said, and on the other, miscellaneous. The necessities turned out to be a giant kitchen, a big dining room type thing, two pairs of bathrooms, and a washing room. The miscellaneous was a game room, pool, and library. The game room was complete with every game system ever made and four bookcases full of games. On the couch that faced a big screen TV sat two guys and one girl.

“I thought you said no guys?” I asked Skye.

“No guys are allowed to spend the night is what I said.” Skye said, “That’s Angela, she’s the girl version of a player. Then again, her mother thinks she’s the bestest angel in the whole world. Ugh.”

“Wait. Angela Tyco?” I asked incredulously. The girl was gorgeous. She had long blond hair that fell into ringlets to the middle of her back. Her green eyes were like fresh cut grass and her boobs were huge! Not kidding, no wonder she was a player.

“Yeah. She dresses like a slut and then covers up when her mom comes around. She gets all the guys and the word on the street is that she’s after Sean McCarter.” Skye said.

“No she isn’t.” I said matter-of-factly.

“Ummm…yes she is.” Skye said confused.

“No she isn’t.”

“Explain.” Skye said, giving up.

“Sean is mine.”

“Oh, wait, how? You just got here.” Skye said, once again confused.

“We met on my private jet. Since he was going here, I figured I’d stop and give him a lift. His uncle came with us and I was really tired so he poured water on my head. Sean’s already seen me in my bra and undies. Oh well.” I said, watching Skye’s face turn pink, “Where’s my room?”

“Up on the ummm…top floor.” Skye said. I walked towards the elevator and was cut off by Angela.

“Who are you?” She asked. I guess she couldn’t speak Spanish, or she could tell I only spoke English.

“Your godsister.” I said, watching her face turn into confused amusement.

“I understand that you little girls look up to me and all, but if you were my godsister, that would mean my mom had godchildren, meaning she was your godmother, which she’s not. So, once again, who are you?” She asked.

“Your godsister.” I answered in a smart-ass tone.

“Don’t make me go get my boyfriend to beat you up, it’s not against the rules.” She threatened.

“Who’s your boyfriend?” I asked.

“Sean McCarter.”

“I don’t think so, but you can call him and ask him to beat me up, be my guest. Oh, and do it now.” I said.

“Okay, you asked for it.” She said. She pulled out an EnV and dialed a number. After a couple of rings, someone answered, “Sean?… hey honeybee… yeah, fine, but I’ve got a girl here who has major attitude and she needs a session with my favorite psychiatrist… Can you come over?… Great, see you soon.” She hung up the phone and looked me in the eye, “Done. We can wait up in my room.”

“Okay.”

“Follow me.” She said. I followed her into the elevator, waving bye to Skye and then once it landed on the third floor, turned right, towards the end of the hall. She got down to the last door and turned to the one on the left. She opened it and gasped.

“What are you doing in here you twerps?” Angela asked. Kelsey and Sam were sitting on the beds discussing decorations.

“How did you guys get in here? I’ve been in the lobby forever.” I said, shoving past Angela.

“You know these mini twerps that are in my room?” Angela asked.

“Yeah, they’re my sisters.” I said.

“We took the back way and wanted to surprise you.” Kelsey said, then she turned to Angela, “You must be Angela. Nice to meet you. Not, get out of our room! Now, you idiotic godsister crap of a person. Please?” Kelsey was all rude, then all angelic, please? Lol.

“Are you kidding me? Angela asked.

“No this is their room, and I’m across the hall. Your mom said that you’d just have to stay in your room now. Sorry Angie.” I said, then I walked into the hall with Angela following me.

“Angie?”

“I figured if we’re gonna be godsisters then we should have nicknames. My sisters and brother call me Care-bear. So does my boyfriend, those are the only four people.” I said. Then we noticed Sean coming down the hall.

“Hey Care-bear.” He said. I walked towards him too and threw my arms around his neck, giving him a long spiral staircase type kiss. When I pulled back and turned around, Angela was looking at Sean and me with wonderment on her face.

“You called her Care-bear.” Angela said, “How…what…when…huh?”

“Angie, meet my boyfriend, Sean.” I said, batting my eyelashes. I turned and saw Sean’s face. He was still trying to grasp the edge of the world after that kiss, “Seanie, you okay?”

“Yeah. I think.” He said. God, he’s cute. Angela stormed past us and went downstairs. I sent Sean back to his dorm about fifteen minutes later, but I’m not telling you what happened in those fifteen minutes. Muhahaha!

Then I adjusted my hoodie and knocked on dorm room number 36. Mine. I’m assuming it was October who answered the door. She had long brown hair and green eyes. She was super skinny, but not anorexic skinny. Just little.