Ariel stepped forward to get by her. "No we don't –"

Paige held her hands out, stopping Ariel from breaking past her barrier. "Yes, we do! I can't do this anymore, Ariel. I've tried to keep you out of this world, but you keep shoving your stupid head back in."

"What are you talking about?" Ariel stared, sure Paige was going mad.

"I mean about Cara and her friends," Paige said, exasperated. "I've attempted to be subtle, but since that hasn't worked, I'm going to say it outright – stay. Away. From. Them!"

"Who are you to tell me who to hang out with?" Ariel scoffed. "And what do you mean, subtle? It was obvious you didn't want me hanging out with your precious group of 'friends'. Your insecurity that they might like me better –"

"They wouldn't like you, Ariel!" Paige's voice rose in anger. "They don't even like each other! You still think like a kid; that friends are friends because they like the other person. We are 'friends' because it is beneficial for all of us. There is no liking each other, just advantages to be had from knowing one another."

"Yeah right," Ariel rolled her eyes. "Do you really think I would believe that?"

"Yes," Paige's voice dropped in defeat. "Do you really think I would want to hang out with those girls on a Saturday morning watching cartoons or arguing about who gets the last of the choc mint ice cream?" She snorted, a sound Ariel hadn't heard her sister make in a long time. "Hell, they wouldn't even eat ice cream from fear of bloating."

Stepping back, Ariel leaned against the sink. "Are you seriously trying to tell me you've been faking this for the last two years? Pretending to be a socialite, or whatever."

"Not all of it has been fake," Paige whispered. "But everything to do with those girls – yeah. It's been pretty fake."

"You sound insane."

"I know, but you still don't understand, Ariel," she pressed. "You think I wanted to do this? I only started doing it because Dad forced me."

"Dad forced you to be a stuck up cow?"

She rolled her eyes. "I sucked at school. I'm sure you remember that much. My grades were always disappointing to Dad and when my enter score proved I had the intelligence of a fig newton, Dad started introducing me to the daughters of his business associates. Then encouraging me to go these stupid dinners, and mingle with guys who were so full of themselves and their family importance, I wanted to stick my finger in the nearest electrical socket just to get away from them. Through me, Dad meets potential clients as I meet their children."

"So, what Dad is essentially pimping you out?"

"Pretty much."

A small niggle of doubt was starting to form in Ariel's mind. She tried to squash it even as it continued to grow. "You've been doing this for two years?"

She nodded. "I don't want to sound arrogant, but I'm good at it. I used to be horrible, but I've gotten used to putting my game face on, so to speak and figuring out who has potential and pointing them out to Dad."

"Pimp Daddy must be pleased." Paige sighed as Ariel raised an eyebrow. "I still don't see how I come into this yet."

Paige shot forward, grabbing Ariel's arms and giving her a small shake. "Ariel, you're smart. You were helping me with my homework when you were fourteen. This life – the parties, the people – it's not you. You can do whatever you want. Just don't become me."

The doubt was the size of a golf ball. Up close, Ariel could see the desperation in her sister's eyes. Everything she said was making a made sort of sense. It was something she could certainly see their father doing. Paige had been terrible at school, but Ariel hadn't thought she was that bad.

"If this is true," she said slowly, "then why wouldn't you tell me about it? Why keep it a secret for two years?"

"I didn't want you to know," she whispered. "I didn't want you think less of me for what I was doing."

"It's not like you were actually prostituting yourself," Ariel snapped. "If that was the case, sure I could understand why you would want to keep it from me, but this? What a load of crap! You should have told me!" Her voice grew higher and she shoved Paige away. "If you had told me, none of this would have happened!"

"You don't think I know that?" Paige cried. "I know it's my fault! That night I thought I was doing the right thing. I could see how uncomfortable you were playing that stupid game! I thought if I made you do it then you would realize how horrible those girls were and you would stop trying to join their clique. I had no idea that that would – that he would..."

She trailed off as tears poured down her face. Ariel stared in shock. It was like she was talking to a completely different person. For two years, she'd been living with a stranger. "Are you sure you aren't bipolar?" She blurted out.

A loud sob tore from Paige's throat and she covered her mouth. Ariel didn't step forward to offer comfort. Her feet felt glued to the floor as she watched this version of her sister that she kind of remembered.

Knock knock.

Ariel watched in fascination as a mask seemed to slip into place on Paige's face. It looked broken in places, but the person walking towards the door – that was the Paige she had come to know and loathe. She shook her head in disbelief.

As Paige unlocked the door, she stumbled back as it flew open. Lainie barged in, slamming it shut and locking it behind her.

"Oh thank god," she gasped. "Those friends of yours have been following me around for ten minutes, wanting to know where I got my dress from! They thought I was joking when I said Target and have been trying to make me 'fess up'."

She said the last two words in a drawled out voice that reminded Ariel of Cara's right hand sorority sister.

"Why didn't you leave?" Ariel asked.

"Because I couldn't get to my bag," she complained. "Every time I got close, I was accosted by someone. I don't think they plan on letting us leave. Oh by the way, Paige –" she glanced strangely at her "– there's some weird looking dude out there trying to find you."

Paige winced. "Let me guess; blond hair, crooked nose and has a piece of some sort of food stuck in his teeth?"

"Wow, you're good, are you psychic?"

"No," she sighed. She saw Ariel's questioning glance. "To allow you to go to that Sherwood place, Dad made me agree to start seeing Chuck Smithers, heir to the Smithers Oiling conglomerate –"

"What do you mean, allow me to go to Sherwood?" Ariel interrupted.

Paige frowned. "I found the place after doing some research. Dad didn't want you to go anywhere; I think he was going to pull some sort of reclusive daughter act. You know, like you'd developed some disease that kept you confined to your room for the rest of your life? Anyway, I found out about Sherwood and he agreed to let you go as long as I did this..." she trailed off at Ariel's anger.

"He didn't tell you," she whispered. "He said he told you everything."

"Really?" Ariel spat. "Since when did you start believing all the garbage he tells you?"

"I don't know – I just thought –" she sighed. "This certainly explains a lot."

Lainie looked between the two of them, confused. "You guys do realize you're going to need to fill me in at some point? Getting a bit tired of being in the dark here."

Ariel nodded. "I know. As soon as we manage to escape the Barbie squad, I'll show you."

Lainie's confusion increased. "Show me?"

Ariel glanced at the door, trying to think of a way to slip out the front door unnoticed. All plans were dashed as she watched Paige brush by her, and stand on the toilet. "Uh, Paige?"

"Hang on –" she reached up, unlatching the window and shoving it open. She carefully hopped off the toilet, dusting her hands. "There. You two go through there. I'll grab your things when I leave, Lainie."

Not needing to be told twice, Lainie jumped up on the toilet and started to shimmy out the window. Ariel looked back at the door. "What about Amelia?"

"I'll let her know you've gone back home," Paige insisted. She looked at the bag in Ariel's hands. "Have you got your...?"

"Yeah," her fingers wrapped around the leather tighter. "I've got it."

Climbing up, she slipped out the window, noting that her sister didn't leave the bathroom until she jumped the few feet to the ground.

"Unreal." Lainie said for the fifteenth time.

Getting a tram back to her house, Ariel had tried to formulate how she was going to tell Lainie the truth. A million different scenarios had tumbled through her head until they reached her doorstep. As soon as they crossed that threshold, all her planning went out the window as her tongue became a tangle of knots.

Dragging Lainie to her room, she'd sat her down and spilled everything that had happened. It was a garbled mess of curses, glass hearts, Sherwood and Paige. Needless to say, it had taken three attempts to explain it in a way Lainie would understand. Then another four times for Lainie to stop saying she was insane and then finally, once more - with a session of show and tell of her heart and scar - before Lainie was finally a believer.

The chest sat open between them on the bed. Lainie had been touching it on and off, only stopping when Ariel told her it felt weird. The crack twinkled in the afternoon sun, causing a large lump to form in Ariel's throat. She tried not to look at it but her eyes were constantly drawn to the jagged line. Fortunately Lainie hadn't noticed it. Or she had, but thought it was something normal. She kept glancing at Lainie anxiously, worried that she might suddenly grab it and throw it out the window. Even though it was a ridiculous thought ignited by exhaustion and nerves, it wouldn't go away. Subconsciously she placed her hand on the lid, ready to close it, just in case.

A knock sounded at her door and she quickly slammed the chest shut, causing Lainie to jump in surprise.

Amelia poked her head in, face scrubbed clean. "How ya doin'? Ya sister said you'd both pulled a great escape. Nice girl, that sister of your's." She opened the door wider, leaning against the frame. "I know you two don't get along and all that, but she was nice to me – even gave me some wipes to clean me face. You shoulda told me, me face was bonkers! What ya family musta thought."

"I wouldn't worry about what my family think," Ariel said grimly. "I know I don't."

"Right." Amelia looked around her room. "Nice digs. Who's the new girl?"

Ariel made introductions and Amelia barged all the way in, jolting Lainie's whole body with her enthusiastic handshake. "Bloody good to meet ya! It's so nice to meet some of Ariel's friends! I know she needs them right now, especially with –" a large sob tore through her throat and Lainie glanced at Ariel in alarm.

Ariel patted her arm. "It's okay, Amelia. Thank you for coming with me today, by the way. I know you've been busy with your mafia infiltrating or whatever it is."

Amelia waved her hand, still overcome. "It's nothing, hun. Don't gotta thank me for nothing. I'm happy to help. Oh! Speaking of –" she pulled a small box out of her jacket, and two chains, one with a key and the other with a crystal.

She passed the box and the chain with the key to Ariel. "I got you a new box for your... you know what."

"She knows," Ariel glanced at Lainie. "You don't have to be secretive with Lainie."

"Ah good! Well I noticed your chest ya got there is really old and seen better days and thought I'd get ya a new one. Made of strong iron with all the silver trimmings."

Ariel held the small box in her palm. It was the size of a small notebook and the width of her thumbnail. "That was very nice of you," Amelia, she said slowly, "but I'm one hundred percent sure my heart won't fit in here."

"Of course it will!" Snatching it back, Amelia put the key in the lock and opened it. Without waiting, she snapped her fingers and Ariel jumped as the chest on the bed snapped open.

"Hey!" She gasped as Amelia gently grabbed her heart and watched in wonder as she placed it in the new box, her hand disappearing entirely. When it reappeared without her heart, she flew off the bed and snatched the box from Amelia. "How did you do that?"

Looking inside, she could see her heart sitting perfectly safe in cushions, which appeared to wrap themselves around it. Reaching in hesitantly, she touched it, making sure it was real. Her body throbbed with the beat of her heart, a lingering pain flaring to life and she quickly let go and glared at Amelia, waiting for an explanation.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Amelia looked chuffed. "Made it me self. Looks like a book and it's easier to lug around than that large box. It looks big on the inside and all, but once ya heart's in there it won't move an inch until ya lift it out."

Ariel ran her fingers along the edges, feeling oddly touched. "Thank you, Amelia."

"Can I see?" Laini leaned over for a better look.

She passed the box carefully to Lainie and glanced back at Amelia who was still holding another chain. "What is that?"

"Ah, this is another gift." She passed the necklace to Ariel. It held a small clear quartz crystal. "This is like one of those emergency buzzers old cranks have. Ya know the ones I mean? They press it if they hurt themselves and an ambulance comes."

"Um... okay." She held it up awkwardly. "I don't know if I really need one of these –"

"It's not for that spefici – speci – It's not that exactly," Amelia frowned. "Three hundred years and still can't say that bloody word. Anyway, if ever ya need my help, simply break the crystal – just smash it on the floor or something – and I'll know and come running."

"Thank you?" Ariel lifted it over her head, tucking it beneath her shirt with her new key. "I'm not sure I'll ever need it, but guess it can't hurt."

"Exactly!" Amelia grinned. "I've been meaning to give one to all the others but it keeps slipping me damn mind."

Lainie nudged Ariel, whispering in her ear. "What does she mean, three hundred years?"

"No idea," Ariel muttered, distracted by her new gifts. "Probably some strange witch metaphor or something."

Amelia excused herself to go and get a drink and the two girls sat in silence. Lainie was staring at the new case, as if she could see the heart inside. Ariel watched her, biting her tongue. There was a question she had been dying to ask Lainie, but held of from fear of the answer and what it would bring up. She knew she couldn't put it off much longer and her mouth opened before she could try to buy more time – "Are we friends?"

Lainie's eyes tore away from the case to look at her. "What?"

Stomach churning, Ariel continued. "Why are you friends with me? I mean I'm horrible. I basically ditched you for those girls you saw today. I thought I needed to be them and I never listened to you when you tried to stop me. I mean if you're just here because of my Grandad, then it's fine. You've done your good deed and you can go."

As she talked, Lainie's expression had gone from confusion, annoyance, to ticked off. Before she knew what was happening, Lainie's hand shot up and flicked her on the forehead. The sharp pain made her jump and she glared at her. "What the hell was that for?"

"You're an idiot! You think I would show up today just to throw you a pity party? I came because my friend's Grandpa had died and I thought she would need the moral support since her family is nuttier than nutella." Her expression softened. "You don't think I remember you ditching me? The day I lost my best friend? I do, and it still hurts. I believe in second chances though, and anyone who knows you can see that you're using yours. You made a bad life choice and now you're trying to make it right. Anyway, you know me; I'm terrible at holding grudges. I'm too lazy for it."

A hot tear slid down Ariel's cheek and she looked down, letting her hair fall around her face. "Thanks, Lainie. I'm sorry for everything."

Lainie wrapped her arm around Ariel's shoulder and gave it a small rub. "I know. It's okay. However if you ever pull something stupid like that again, can I please have permission to slap you silly until you see the light?"

She laughed. "Permission granted."

The door opened again and Amelia awkwardly entered, arms laden with what appeared to be everything from the pantry. She grinned widely. "I thought we could do all the fun sleepover stuff, like eating junk food." Ariel started to protest but Amelia continued. "I've never done a sleepover before. This should be fun!"

"Sure," Ariel replied weakly, her stomach already protesting the weird assortment of chips, biscuits and oddly enough, pickles, in Amelia's arms. "So much fun."

Hey guys! I know my update schedule is still ridonkulous. Life is annoying at the moment, but I am determined to get this story done, or rather Ariel is determined to get out of my head and onto paper haha, she's been bugging me for days! Anyways, thoughts?