"Ugh, that was the worst movie night of my life," Tracy groaned as she sat up in bed, clutching her forehead.

"It wasn't that bad," I blurted out without thinking as I pulled on a cute lightning top.

"Are you kidding?" Tracy scoffed, getting up and starting to change. "I almost got busted because of stupid Mason."

"Yeah, you're right," I replied, feeling guilty. I had been thinking of Javi the whole night until we got high. It got my mind off of him for a little but when I got up I continued to think about him. And this time, the thoughts were more negative than positive. "Let's check on the spoons we left in the fridge yesterday."

"Um, okay," Tracy responded with a shrug of her shoulders. Yesterday, we left a couple of spoons in the fridge before going to the movies. Brooke did it every morning to get rid of her eye bags so I thought we could try it out. "Maybe Conrad will call me today."

"Conrad?" I repeated, grinning teasingly and turning around. "So you did talk to him when you left for the sodas."

"Um—yeah," Tracy confirmed with a blush. "I got his cell and, um, we might start talking more."

"Oh my God!" I squealed excitedly, grabbing her and embracing her in a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks," she replied shyly. "But...what if Javi finds out?"

"He won't, trust me," I reassured her soothingly. "Even if he does, Javi's a nice guy. I'm sure he'll get over it."

"Yeah," Tracy said a little more confidently.

Her bringing up Javi made the thoughts come back again. An inexplicable guilt had settled in the bottom of my stomach since the fun I've had yesterday and it was chewing on my insides. I felt like shit.

But...now that I know that Tracy's cheating—or planning to, anyway—on Javi, it makes me feel a lot better. Kind of.

"'Kay, let's go!" Tracy urged, grabbing my arm and dragging me to the kitchen, where Mel and her friend Cynthia were talking.

"Hey," I greeted with a smile. Mel and Cynthia instantaneously halted their discussion.

"Oh hi, I didn't know you girls were up," Mel said, staring at Tracy out of the corner of her eye a little awkwardly.

"Hi Cynthia," Tracy said, leaning against the counter and examining her nails.

"Hey, let's continue this discussion somewhere else, shall we?" Cynthia suggested, turning to Mel.

"Sure," Mel replied, and the two women headed off.

"What do you think they were talking about?" I inquired as I poured myself a glass of iced water.

"Probably Cynthia's last date or something," Tracy answered, letting out a chuckle. I laughed.

"Did Conrad call you yet?" I asked in our secret language, taking a sip of my cold water.

"No, I gave him your number," Tracy said, also speaking in our secret language. "I don't want my mom to see."

"Okay," I responded (in English this time), putting down my glass of water and heading over to the fridge to check up on the spoons.

"So what's with the spoons?" Tracy questioned as I got out the two freezing spoons.

"Just go like this," I said, placing one spoon under my eye and the other under Tracy's.

"It's really cold," Tracy chuckled, and I giggled. We then started talking in Trevieish, which is the name of our secret language.

"I really wanna go out with Conrad sometime, but I'm scared Javi will find out," Tracy told me. "He'll so kill me if he does."

"Calm down, Trace, nothing'll happen," I assured her. "Trust me, I went out with other guys all the time and Ruben still doesn't know."

"Yeah, but then I'll feel so guilty. I feel guilty right now," Tracy complained. "I just started going out with Javi and I really like him and I'm already cheating on him."

"A girl should be able to have some fun once in a while," I said, as Cynthia walked past us, calling out for Mason. "Trust me, nothing will happen. He'll never know."

I put down the spoons after I finished talking and then put them back under my eyes, switching back from Trevieish to English.

"Brooke does this every morning and she still has huge bags," I giggled.

"I wonder how much of this you have to swallow for it to kill you," Tracy commented as she held up the large bottle of bleach she was holding and made a drinking motion with it.

We laughed and I lowered my spoons, glancing down at the bleach bottle wonderingly, as Cynthia sauntered into the kitchen with Mason.

"This family needs some healing," she announced, putting her hand on Mason's shoulder and then strutting away to some other place.

"Who bought you that wetsuit?" Tracy said, eyeing Mason up and down as he walked past us.

"Fuck you," Mason mumbled as Mel approached me with a telephone in her hands.

"Evie, your mother's phone has been disconnected," she said, coming to stand in front of me.

"Mel, she's not my mom, she's my cousin," I corrected, getting a little vexed. "My mom was a crack whore."

Mel and Mason stared at me, looking slightly shocked, while that Cynthia lady inhaled deeply.

"Okay, everybody just take a deep breath," she advised, before taking away the two spoons from my fingers and putting them away. "Evie, honey, do you have a friend that you could go and stay with for a few days? I think this family needs some alone time."

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and pursed my lips discontentedly. This Cynthia woman was really starting to annoy me. Good thing I stole her money.

"Cynthia, I'm the one that's here everyday trying to make the situation better," I snapped, glancing over at Mel momentarily. "Ask Mel."

Mel got off the counter she was leaning against and stared at me for a couple of seconds before switching her gaze back to Tracy.

"Look, mom, there's a huge swell and I—I gotta get poundin'," Mason proclaimed, slowly backing away with one of his loser friends.

"That's okay, baby, just go," Mel instructed, before leaning against the fridge.

As Mason left, my phone suddenly rang, causing Tracy to dart to my side immediately. With all of this adult talk going on, I had almost forgotten about Tracy and Conrad.

"Phone!" Tracy said excitedly, grinning broadly as she nearly started jumping with joy.

"Wait, wait, wait," Cynthia interjected, looking slightly exasperated. I just ignored her and pressed the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I greeted, smirking teasingly at Tracy.

"Hold on, hold on," Cynthia continued, but we just ignored her, of course.

"Allo?" I giggled, before hearing Conrad's voice on the other line and pulling the phone away from me. "Conrad."

Tracy started screaming enthusiastically and jumping in ecstasy, before snatching the phone away from me and running off.

"Hey, Spidey!" she screeched into the phone, sprinting away from the kitchen. I pushed her away jokingly and laughed, before Cynthia took me by my hands.

"Evie, honey, let's talk about you for just a minute, okay?" she began, and I, finally done with her, grabbed her by the shoulders and backed her into a corner. "I need to make sure—"

"Cynthia, are you a board licensed therapist?" I questioned.

"She's done a lot of really great things for me," Mel said defensively, as Tracy walked over to us, still on the phone.

"She's a psychic," Tracy said with a small chuckle. "Cynthia, do you remember when you tried to bring back Grandma and Hampton ended up humping your leg?"

I laughed and stared at Cynthia a little spitefully. She was really starting to annoy me.

Then Mel stalked over to us and lead Cynthia out of the kitchen apologetically. "Cynthia, I can handle this."

"You know, I—I should be getting back to work, I mean, I could be selling houses right now," Cynthia said as she grabbed her bag and walked out.

I took a cookbook off the counter and sat down at the table, flipping through the pages absentmindedly. That is, until Tracy strode into the kitchen with Mel on her tail, asking "What is that?" repeatedly.

"No, mom, what is it with you and poking me?" Tracy shrilled as Mel grabbed her, trying to escape Mel's clutch.

"I just wanna see what you've got there," Mel said calmly, trying to pull Tracy's shirt up. Oh no. I closed the cookbook and set it down on the table.

"Mom, stop!" Tracy screamed as Mel finally managed to pull up Tracy's shirt, revealing the belly button ring underneath.

Mel covered her mouth with her lips, staring at the piercing for a while as if she couldn't decipher what it was.

"What the hell is that?" Mel asked, licking her lips unsurely as Tracy walked around mindlessly, running a hand through her hair. "I'm talking to you."

I watched intently as Tracy rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"It's a belly button ring," Tracy whispered annoyedly.

"Speak up, I can't hear you," Mel retorted.

"It's a belly button ring!" Tracy snapped, throwing her hands in the air. "How else can I say it? I don't speak no other languages!"

I resisted the urge to smile as Tracy laughed and pointing to her mouth.

"Oh, and you wanna know what that is?" she chuckled, before taking out her tongue mockingly. "That is a tongue ring."

I grinned proudly as I chewed on my gum. Tracy leaned against the counter as Mel stared at her in utter disbelief.

"When did you do all this, baby?" Mel asked quietly.

"Oh, Mom!" Tracy laughed as my grin broadened. "Two thousand years ago, I'm a mummy, I was born two thousand years ago! Wooh!"

She did a little jumpy spinning thing and I giggled quietly.

"Tracy, Tracy, Tracy, I'm really starting to lose it," Mel said, shaking her head. "Stop it, please."

Tracy backed her into a corner, gesturing to her chest and hips as she repeatedly chanted, "No bra, no panties."

I smiled slightly. Tracy was starting to become bold and fearless.

Mel shook her head in shock and then walked away, looking extremely disappointed. Tracy stared after her for about a minute or two, before turning to me and rolling her eyes.

"My family can be so annoying sometimes," she sighed, sitting down on a chair. "I wish you were my sister."

"Yeah, me too," I agreed, before an idea suddenly entered my mind. "Wait, what if...?"

"What?" Tracy asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's kind of silly, but what if you—well, Mel—adopted me?" I suggested, a little shyly. This was the best opportunity for me—I wanted to stay at their house for the rest of my life and maybe this was it.

Tracy blinked and stared at me for a couple of seconds, and I feared I'd said the wrong thing, before she jumped up in excitement.

"Oh my gosh! That'd be so cool!" Tracy whisper-shouted. "But, I don't think my mom'll ever agree."

"Well, I think she might," I said, before telling her all about my abuse story. Well, it was kind of fake, and I told her that I was safe now since Brooke dumped him, but we could use that to gain Mel's sympathy and get her to adopt me.

She looked surprised and skeptical at first, before hugging me and telling me she was sorry for what I went through—and that my plan was genius.

"Okay, let's go to my room," Tracy suggested, taking my wrist and leading me to her room, where we both flopped on the bed, before she looked up at me. "I think your plan will work. I mean, my mom always lets people stay at our house — it's practically a hotel in here."

I chuckled.

"I really hope so, Trace," I said, squeezing her hand. "Then we can...really be sisters."

And sisters always forgive each other, right? If she finds out about Javi, she'll find a way to forgive me.

One morning a few days after that day, Tracy shook me awake. I groaned and sat up in bed, exhausted because we had stayed up all night yesterday. We had snuck to the park with Malcolm and Conrad—well, I said I was going somewhere to meet up with Malcolm, but I was actually going to meet up with Javi. Conrad and Tracy had stayed at the park.

"What is it, Tracy?" I inquired groggily, rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"I think we should do it today," Tracy whispered seriously, talking in Trevieish.

"Do what?" I asked in English, running a hand through my hair.

"You know...ask my mom to adopt you," she replied quietly, still in Trevieish. As soon as those words left her lips, my eyes opened widely. She smirked. "Well, you're awake now."

"Really?" I questioned, starting to talk Trevieish, feeling excitement and anxiety at the same time. "You're serious?"

"Totally serious," Tracy replied. She was already dressed; she was wearing her usual bracelets, jeans paired with a blue belt, and a light blue star tank top. "Get up, come on."

"Okay," I obeyed, jumping off the bed and putting on my clothes. I opted for a pair of cute jeans with a heart on the back pocket and a pink shirt with a sparkly heart design on it.

I stopped Tracy just as we were about to leave the room.

"You're sure about this?" I questioned, looking up at her earnestly.

"Yes," she replied. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course," I answered, feeling surprised that she would even ask that.

"Okay, let's go," she commanded, before grabbing my wrist and leading me to Mel's room.

As soon as we walked in, Tracy spun around and said, "Good morning, Mom!" loudly.

I peeked through her shoulder to see Mel lying in bed with Brady, who was shirtless. I guess I could see why Tracy was so embarrassed.

"Whoa, hey," Brady cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Knocking's real good," Mel said, but she didn't seem angry.

"Uh, mom, we have something really important that I need to talk to you about, okay?" Tracy began, grasping my hand and pulling me forward.

"Okay," Mel answered simply.

Tracy looked back at me for a split second as if expecting me to say something but I just stood there silently.

"Um...I think that, I would get a long a lot better...with...everybody, if Evie just lived with us," Tracy said, causing both Mel and Brady to stare at us in shock.

"Brooke will pay you to take me," Evie added quickly.

"She won't be like all the other freeloaders," Tracy said. "She was abused...by her uncle—when she was nice."

"Mel...he put things inside me," I elaborated, with a little quiver in my voice. "And he pushed me into a fire."

"Okay," Mel spoke at last, looking down thoughtfully.

"Mel, you could really help me if I lived here," I said quietly. "You could maybe even save me."

"Okay, I'll—think about it," Mel proclaimed, leaning forward to kiss Tracy.

"You're so cool," Tracy whispered as she hugged Mel tightly.

We then left the room.

"D'you think it worked?" I asked in our secret language.

"I think so," Tracy responded, turning to me with a smile. "It'll be so cool to have you as a sister."

We beamed at each other and hugged.

I really hope Mel says yes.