Broken Bridge

7

"Um, Willow? You there?"

No response.

"Hey Willow!" I shouted. "Dinner's ready! Our family is coming over!"

"Okay." Willow called back finally. "I'll be there in a sec." I turned and walked away.

"Where's Willow?" Mom asked.

"She's almost done." I said.

"Good." Mom said.

They arrived soon after and the party started. All the adults were in the living room chatting.

"School here is great." Rose said. "I meet this really nice guy named Shawn. He even got me a seat at a table." She went into a big detail about lunch and Shawn.

"Ugh." Leo whispered to the others. "She won't shut up about him any time soon."

"I don't think she'll shut up at all about him." Willow said.

"He has that particular affect on most girls." Aurora said.

"How many girlfriends has he had?" Leo asked.

"Strangely he's not dating." Jack said. "He's flirted with every girl but never gone out with one."

"Like a lone wolf." Leo said.

"Yeah, like a lone wolf." Olive said.

"Can we please stop having this conversation, it's getting weird." I said. They all shrugged.

"Sure."

"Thanks."

The party was fine but everyone was happy to head off to bed. Since there was school tomorrow, everyone wanted good sleep. As they left, you heard Rose talking to Marc and Autumn all about Shawn. They seemed to be guzzling up all the information. God, I can't wait for summer. I thought. I miss Cassie.

The school year dragged on by and sometime in the middle some shocking news spread around the school. Shawn had finally got a girlfriend. Can you guess who it was? Congrats if you guessed Rose, 'cause you got it right. One day at school after the news had been spread around Shawn came in with Rose hanging on his arm. Girls looked at her jealously and the boys just watched.

"I get that Shawn's popular and it's his first girlfriend that we can remember but why is everyone making a big fuss about it?" Leo asked.

"Shawn's popular." Leo's friend Aric said. He had started hanging out with your family a while ago. "So is your cousin. And they're both pretty, and I'm pretty sure rich."

"Yeah they're both definitely rich." Aurora said.

"Just watching them makes me sick." I said. "Rose is mean, and I'm sure Shawn is too. They're perfect for each other."

"And that's the problem." Willow said. "They're like the dynamic duo of meanies."

"Come on, we have to get to class." Olive said. "And besides, I don't want to get held up in the crowd trying to get a good view of the new couple on the way to class." We all agreed and went to our respective classes.

In science, my science teacher announced that this class was going to participate in a science competition. All the classes were.

"I'll pare each of you into groups of two or three." My teacher said. He started reading off the names and when he got to mine I almost gagged. "Luna Chryses and Shawn Heart." I saw out of the corner of my eye that Shawn had looked my way. So he actually knew who I am. When we all went to our groups Shawn walked right up to my desk.

"The Chryses family sure is big." He said, putting his hands in front of me, on my desk.

"Don't let Rose see you." I said. "She'll go bonkers." Shawn stood up.

"So, what are we going to do? Volcano?"

"A lot of people are going to make a volcano." I said. "We have to think of something original." 

"Rocket?" Shawn said, pulling up a chair.

"That sounds good." I said. "But we can't make it like kids our age make them."

"How do 'kids our age' make rockets?" Shawn asked.

"With paper." I said. Shawn gave me a 'what else are we supposed to make it out of' look. "I don't know, cardboard? Plastic? As much metal as we can get?" Shawn laughed.

"I like you." Shawn said. "Rose lied when she said you were a horrible little witch." I gave him a questioning look. "Her words not mine."

Rose went bonkers when she heard I had been pared with Shawn. She stormed over to my table.

"Shawn is my boyfriend." She hissed. "You will not talk to him." 

"Well, after we finish the project we'll stop talking." I promised.

"I don't trust you." Rose said. "I mean, why should I?"

"Why should I trust you." I said. "After all you did try to kill me." Rose hissed and stormed back to Shawn.

"So you really got paired with Shawn?" Olive asked.

"It wasn't my choice." I said. "He did say that Rose called me a horrible with though."

"He did?" Aurora said. "That little bitch."

"You can beat her up later." Willow said. "But please don't embarrass yourself."

"Don't worry, I'm not planning on it." Aurora said darkly.