Give Me Envy, Give Me Malice, Give Me Your Attention

"I'm so sorry that you had to be in the middle of that," Sam apologized, as she and I walked down the street.

After the 'incident,' we left Sam's house and decided to walk down to the park about two blocks away.

"It's fine. It reminded me of when me and Danny fight. Of course, thats usually over something stupid."

"Like that was?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "I swear, he's always making Brendon seem like some drug-addicted kleptomaniac to my parents."

I looked at her, wondering if I should tell her what Sammy had said.

"What if I told you I kn-"

"Sam!" a voice called from behind us. Sam and I turned.

"Kayla!"

A girl about our age walked towards us. She had light brown hair, green eyes and an olive complexion. She was smiling as she got closer, pushing her hair out of her face and dragging a little girl about 4 years old with her. Behind her were Danny and a boy about his age who seemed to be Kayla's brother. He had the same light brown hair, green eyes and olive complexion as Kayla.

"Who's this?" Kayla asked when she caught up, looking at me.

"This is my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Adrienne. Adrie for short."

Sam hugged me as she said this. I hugged her back.I noticed Kayla's smile slightly faltered as we did.

"Oh, hi, Adrienne."

Her eyes narrowed and her teeth slightly clenched as she said this. I could already tell she hated me. I've been here for about 18 hours and I already have two enemies. So far, Vegas was just a big bag of sunshine.

"Hi, Kayla. Nice to meet you," I answered, hoping we could at least be civil towards each other.

Sam was beaming. She probably thinks that her two best friends are getting along nicely. More like plotting each other's deaths.

"Well, here's the park!"

Sam skipped onto the grass of the tiny neighborhood park. Suddenly, she waved around a red basket with black bows.

"This is our table! If any of you get lost, remember to look for the red basket!"

She set the basket down on a nearby table and smiled.

"Whatever," Danny and Kayla's brother, who was named Joseph, replied, walking away.

"Kawa, can I go pway?" Kaylas little sister, Lily, asked. She was pulling at Kayla's pant leg and looking sad.

"Sure, go ahead. Don't go running off, though. Stay where I can see you."

"Yay! Picnic time!" Sam announced as Lily ran off, opening the basket, which was filled with food.

"One question. Where did the basket come from?" I asked, as Sam began munching on Cheetos.

"I brought it from home, silly. Where else?"

"I didnt see you carrying it though..."

I was completely confused. Kayla shook her head, grabbing a random sandwich out of the basket. I don't think she understood either.

"Come on, Adrie. Dig in!"

Sam pushed the basket over to me. I grabbed a sandwich and began eating. We sat in silence for a few moments while we ate. I began to realize how hungry I was, and grabbed another sandwich.

"So, Kayla... How was your day today?"

Sam tried starting a conversation. Have I mentioned silence is deafening to her?

"It was fine. I did what I do everyday. Baby-sit," Kayla responded, turning to look at me.

"Adrienne, why are you here anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

I looked at her with a quizzical look. I already knew what she meant, but I hoped Sam would get the hint that Kayla didn't like me.

"I mean, why did you move here?"

I took a deep breath. Why was I about to tell a total stranger, who didn't even like me, my life story? Well, not my whole life story, but a very important turning point.

"Where to start on the story of my moving... hmm... Well, first of all, my dad's company opened a new branch down here and they wanted someone experienced to come down and start it up. Basically, get it running smoothly and keep it that way. My dad was asked to come, and we obliged. My mom thought California was going down the drain anyway, with prices on everything going up. So that is why we're here. Any questions?"

I challenged her with a look. She glared back.

"Just one," Sam interrupted, not noticing the animosity between Kayla and I. "Are you going to finish those Cheetos?"

I threw the Cheetos at Sam, who caught them and began pigging out. Kayla stared at me for a while.

"We have to go. It's getting dark," she finally said, getting up and dragging Lily off. Sam and I watched Kayla drag her crying sister back down the street.

"Interesting," I said, breaking what seemed like the millionth awkward silence that had occurred there in the park.

"It's not that late. It's only 6:30 pm," Sam replied, checking her watch and cell phone. "And it's not even close to dark yet."

"Hey, didn't Kayla forget her brother?"

"Oh yeah," Sam said, scratching her head. "Oh well. He's a big boy. He'll get home."

"Whatever," I said, getting up to throw the trash away. "I won't be surprised if he ends up staying at my house."

I walked over to the tree where Danny and Joseph where playing on their Game-Boys.

"Come on, let's go home," I said, kicking Danny in the side. I'm not cruel to my (half-) brother, but that is the only way to get his attention when he's playing a video game.

"Wait!" Danny and Joseph chorused, staying focused on their games.

I rolled my eyes and walked back over to where Sam was waiting.

"They're busy playing their game, aren't they?" she asked, fixing the red basket.

"Yeah. I remember when Spencer and Ryan were like that. They wouldn't play Barbies with me," I smiled, reminiscing on the simple days. "When they did play with me, my Barbies always went on adventures where they all ended up dying."

"What wonderful children they were," Sam laughed.

"Yep. Boys will be boys."