Mori and Honey would graduate in March, so Tamaki decided to recruit a few new members. It was club day at the middle school after all, and as an active club at Ouran Academy, we were obligated to attend. We sat there for hours, only receiving five people willing to sign up. Three boys and two girls, all in their last year of middle school. Tamaki was eager to accept anyone who wanted to join him, but Haruhi and I constantly had to remind him that we were only accepting four people (his rules, not ours) and that there were first year students who were interested, too. We left the middle school with a solid plan...well, Tamaki's plan. Friday all of the middle schoolers and high schoolers who wanted to join were going to come to the host club during club hours and would be given mentors. All of the girls would be with me, of course. They would then spend the day as hosts and hostesses; we would literally do nothing but watch over them. It was settled.

"What do you think about Jess?" I asked Haruhi as we walked back to school. The school day was over, but Aunt Jeanie would be waiting for us at the high school. "Which one was she?" Haruhi responded, swinging her backpack absentmindedly. "The redhead, maybe about as tall as Tamaki. She seems very athletic-- I bet the guys would really like her," I commented, twirling my ponytail around my fingers. "I think the tiny girl with black hair would bring a lot of guys in. She kind of reminds me of a porcelain doll, all sweet and frail. Guys like girls that seem helpless, like it's a big ego boost for them," she mused. We glanced at each other for a moment then just busted out laughing. We weren't usually into all the girly stuff, but here we were, gossiping like any other girls. "What about the girl with blue hair? And the white contacts?" I snickered. "She scared me, yeah." Haruhi nodded in agreement. Auntie was waiting for us when we made it to the front of the school. I hopped over the side and jumped into the back seat, letting Haruhi ride shot gun. I lit a cigarette and leaned back in my seat, relaxing as we rode to Haruhi's house. "How was school?" Auntie asked. We exchanged a glance and the laughter started again. She rose an eyebrow, staring incredulously at me in the rearview mirror. "Qu'est-ce que?" she asked. "Tamaki wants to recruit some new kids for the host club next year and we were just having a nice talk about our...choices," I giggled. "Ah, I see," Auntie murmured. We dropped Haruhi off at home and made our way to our empty apartment. It was lonely there. Too big and not enough people. "Well, it's been an hour and my phone ain't gone off yet, so how 'bout we go out for dinner?" Auntie offered. I mumbled an agreement and went to my room to change.

I looked at my reflection for what felt like hours. I didn't even recognize myself. I seemed to radiate joy, and I didn't understand it. I stared hard at my eyes, the swirl of sage and moss. They had a light-- a spark-- that had never been there before. The girl that stared back at me was not the Adrienne that came here almost six months ago, and for that I was glad. "You comin' or what?" Auntie yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned away from the mirror and ran to the living room, snatching up my purse on the way out. We walked out of the front door arm in arm and headed for the elevator. We went to a small restaurant downtown. It was nice; we lost ourselves in conversation, completely forgetting about the time. When we finally left, we were surprised to see it was dark outside. Not only was it dark, it was almost eleven. The ride home was quiet, and the minute I walked into my room, I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep.

*Friday*

Jess and the ravenette, whose name I learned was Sakura, were the only girls from the middle school to show up. A couple of first years trailed in last. Mina and Natalie, I think their names were. The boys had their hands full, and I was really glad that only four girls showed up. The boys divided into pairs and followed their mentors, fourteen boys total, and maybe only 5 were from the high school. I don't think I'd have been able to handle that many girls.

The day dragged on endlessly from that point on, until finally school was over and we were lounging in the music room. "The votes are all in for the boys," Haruhi sighed, "now what about the girls?" Kyoya pushed his glasses up a bit and smirked at me. "I don't know. Perhaps Adrienne should decide. She was their mentor today after all," he answered softly. I leaned back and closed my eyes, thinking hard about my decision. Only two boys, a middle schooler named Jared and a first year named Michael, had been chosen, now it was up to me to choose two girls. They were all sweet, kind, and more than capable to be a part of the host club. "To be fair, I think it should be one high schooler and one middle schooler, because that's what you guys picked," I sighed. I opened my eyes and smiled at my friends when I came to my decision. "Jess and Natalie," I answered. "Nadine (a/n: It's pronounced Nay-deen)," Haruhi interjected. "Yeah, Nadine," I quickly corrected myself. "Then it's settled! Our new host club members next school year will be Jared, Michael, Jess, and Nadine!" Tamaki exclaimed. I was off of the couch and my breath was being squeezed from my lungs before I could even blink. Tamaki had trapped me in one of his bear hugs again. "Oh, my baby girl making her first active decision in the host club! I'm so proud of you!!" he cried. "Lemme go, lemme go," I groaned as I wriggled around, but my attempts at escape were futile. Finally he let me go and I skittered across the room, hiding behind Mori. "Warn me before you do that, dammit! You gon' mess around and break my back!" I hissed at Tamaki. As usual, he went to his little corner. The twins and Haruhi laughed. Starting next April, our club would introduce its new members. We still had to work out the details of the "ceremony", but we were excited nonetheless.

I know it's been a while, but here you go. Here's chapter 14. ^_^ I'm already working on the sequel so to those who have been reading, thank you for sticking with me and enjoying my story so far.