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On a normal day, Tina would’ve waited for A.J. before walking to school. She really didn’t feel like talking to him, so she took her Pop Tarts with her and walked out of the house before he even came down for breakfast. She stopped by Lizzie’s house before going to school. Lizzie’s mother answered the door and smiled.

“Good morning, hon!”

“Hi, Mary.”

“Come on in. I think Lizzie’s almost ready. Have a seat.”

“Thanks,” Tina said as she stepped inside.

“You’re early this morning.”

“Yeah, I actually had a head start.”

“Well, that’s always a good way to start the day,” she said with a smile. “Would you like some juice?”

“Sure,” she said as she followed her into the kitchen.

“So, I hear Alex is going away for the month,” she said as she poured Tina a glass of grape juice.

Tina frowned as she took the glass from her. “Yeah.”

“That sounds exciting. Tell him he needs to stop by before he leaves.”

“I will,” she said as she took a sip of her juice.

“Mom, is that Tina?” Lizzie called from upstairs.

“Yes, she’s in the kitchen.”

“Get your butt up here!” Lizzie shouted from her room.

Tina laughed. “I better go see what she wants. She must be in crisis.”

Lizzie’s mother laughed. “Probably some boy,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “Go help her.”

Tina smiled and went upstairs to Lizzie’s room. She grinned at the poster on her door that said “Beware of the Diva” with a picture of a kitten wearing a crown. Tina didn’t bother to knock. They had been barging into each other’s room since preschool. She heard the familiar sounds of Joey Lawrence coming from Lizzie’s boom box. She couldn’t help but laugh. Lizzie was the definition of a teeny bopper. She was into anything that was considered “cool.” Lizzie turned down the volume on her boom box and grinned at Tina.

“You’re early,” she said as she combed out her hair.

“Yeah, I got a head start this morning,” she said as she plopped down on Lizzie’s bed.

She glanced at Lizzie and frowned. Lizzie had always been the pretty one. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she pranced around in a short, denim skirt and still in her B-cup bra.

“I can’t decide on which shirt to wear,” she said as she pulled out two tank tops from her closet. “Blue or pink?” she said as she held them both up.

“This is your crisis?” Tina said with a snicker.

“Shut up and choose,” she said with a playful glare.

“Blue,” she said as she picked up Lizzie’s puppy, Misty. “She’s getting fat,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh, I know. It’s ridiculous,” Lizzie said as she put on the blue tank top. “Perfect,” she continued as she applied her make up.

“You’re lucky,” Tina said as she scratched Misty behind the ears.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you get to wear make up.”

Lizzie turned around and grinned at Tina. “What your mom doesn’t know, won’t hurt her,” she said as handed Tina a tube of lip gloss.

“I don’t know,” Tina said as she timidly took the tube from her.

“Oh, stop being such a goody goody. It’s only lip gloss. Besides, you can take it off before you go home anyway.”

“Okay, fine,” she said as she put it on. “How does it look?”

“Hot,” Lizzie said with a grin.

“I could never look hot,” she said while rolling her eyes.

“Not with that dorky shirt you have on,” Lizzie said as she tossed her the pink tank top she had been holding. “Put this on.”

“Liz--”

“Just put it on. Trust me, you’re mother will never find out. Just put your other shirt in your bag and change before you go home.”

Tina sighed and changed her shirt. Lizzie yanked her off the bed and forced her to sit in the chair in front of her vanity table. She pulled her back into pig tails that draped over her shoulders and continued to put foundation on Tina’s face. She gave her a pair of pink dangly earrings with a matching necklace and some jelly bracelets to match. Lizzie smiled at her work and turned Tina toward the mirror. Tina stared at herself in shock. She almost looked…grown up.

“See? You can look hot. Now, let’s go before we’re late,” she said as she grabbed her bag.

Tina followed Lizzie out of the house and they walked down the street to school. They were waiting at the crosswalk when she heard A.J. calling her name. Tina pursed her lips and turned around to see him jogging up toward her.

“Why didn’t wait for me?” he asked.

Tina shrugged. “I didn’t think about it.”

“I hope you plan on washing your face before you go home. Mom will kill you if she sees you wearing that make up.”

“You’re not going to squeal, are you?”

“No, I don’t suppose,” he said as he playfully yanked on her pig tails then looked at Lizzie. “What did you do to my baby sister?”

“You’re blaming me for this?” she said with an innocent smile.

“Yes, I know you too well. Besides, she looks like you.”

“You make that sound like a bad thing?” Lizzie said with a flirtatious grin.

A.J. raised his eyebrows and offered his arm to Lizzie. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

Tina rolled her eyes and followed behind them. If there was one thing she hated about Lizzie, it was the fact that she was in love with her brother. Of course, A.J. flirting back didn’t make things any easier.

A.J. turned around and motioned for her to walk next to him. She let out a frustrated groan and walked beside him. A.J. smiled and put his arm around her shoulders as they walked up the pathway to the school. They got to the main entrance and A.J. waved then went the opposite direction. He was a freshman and attended classes on the other wing of the school. Tina and Lizzie walked to their lockers and Tina caught a glimpse of Corey Anderson in the mirror of her locker door. She sighed as the butterflies formed in her stomach. She saw him coming in their direction and she quickly shut her locker. She watched him walk over to Lizzie and smile at her. Her heart sunk as she watched him lean against her locker and stared at Lizzie.

“What do you want, Anderson?” Lizzie said in a snooty tone.

“Got any plans for Saturday night?”

“Not with you,” she said as she pushed him aside to get into her locker.

“Oh, come on. A bunch of us are going to the beach Saturday afternoon. You should come with us. My dad’s letting my brother take the boat.”

“Oh, how thrilling,” she said as she sarcastically.

“Oh, it’s a thrill alright.”

Lizzie snorted and shook her head in disbelief. “Get lost, Anderson.”

“One day you’re going to get tired of hanging with the dweebs and hang out with a real man.”

“I do hang out with a real man,” Lizzie said in an icy tone.

“Who? McLean? Yeah, he’s a real winner.’

“Hey!” Tina defended.

“Oh, and look it’s the other one,” he said with a laugh. “Hey, Tina, I heard your brother is joining some gay boy band.”

“It’s not a gay boy band!”

He laughed and walked away from us. “Whatever you say.”

Tina groaned in disgust. “Damn him!”

Lizzie rolled her eyes and took Tina by the arm. “I don’t know why you like him. He’s a jerk.”

“A cute jerk,” she mumbled.

“Don’t waste your time with him. Come on, the bell is about to ring.” Lizzie said as they went into homeroom.