"Thank you so much Mrs E for letting me stay here." I say again and Mrs E smiles.

"It's no problem dear, Keagon loves you. And call me Jenny." She says and I nod.

"Sara and Kyle can share Kara's room and Sara can show you the guest room." Jenny smiles and I nod.

"Come on." Sara calls out to me and I follow her up the stairs.

She stops in front of the second room. "This is your room, the one to your left is Keagon's, mine is the last one and mom's room is down. Call me if you need anything." She tells me and I nod as she walks away.

I take a deep breath as I open the door. A twin bed sits in the middle. A vanity table with a decent sized wardrobe and an attached bathroom.

There's a door leading to the balcony. I walk to the balcony and breath in the fresh evening air. I can look out at the garden - a small park with a slide, a double swing and a see-saw. And then my eyes fall on the swimming pool. The water looks beautiful.

Yup, Mrs E owns a pool.

I yawn as tiredness takes over my body. The door opens and Kyle walks in.

"Hey, what're you thinking about?" He asks me.

"Just tired." I mumble.

"Here are some pajamas of Sara, there are pretty comfy." He tells me as he places a pair of pajamas on the bed.

"Uh, what about my clothes?"

"We'll go shopping tomorrow. We'll get everything new." Kyle says dismissively.

"What about dad?" I persist.

"What about him?" Kyle shoots me a glare and I stay silent.

Kyle eyes soften as he looks at me.

"Don't think about him, okay. Just forget about him. It's going to be okay." Kyle assures me and I nod.

"Good night. Sleep tight 'kay." Kyle says and presses a kiss to my head before leaving the room.

_

The next day as promised Kyle wanted to take me shopping. Of course I resisted, I didn't want him to pay for me. Even though I worked all the time, they were minimum wages and all of it went to feeding my dad, and paying the bills.

I had no savings left except for the trust fund my mom left me and I can't access it till I am eighteen.

I am seventeen right now and Kyle is nineteen. I will turn eighteen in about two months.

"Come on. We're going to get new clothes for you. I am paying." Kyle says and I follow him reluctantly.

"Uh Kyle, can you lend me your hoodie?"I ask hesitant.

"What for?" Kyle asks glancing at me suspiciously.

"Because I always wear a hoodie when I am out." I mumble.

It takes more than a second for Kyle to register my words.

"You mean you hide your face even at school?" He asks looking at me incredulously and I nod meekly.

"No more hoodies for you. We're going shopping and you're not wearing a hoodie." Kyle says with finalty in his voice and drags me out of the house.

Sara sits in her silver mustang, in which Kyle and Sara drove themselves over.

Sara smiles when she sees me. I was wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top that Sara had let me wear for today.

"Shopping is going to be so much fun." Sara grins at me.

Oh yeah. Totally.

Note the sarcasm.

-

It's been four hours, I am not going to lie - shopping with Sara wasn't as bad as I had imagined.

We were in a spa right now and we were both getting Avacoda facials.

Kyle had handed Sara his card once we were in the mall and had went off to the gaming store.

Sara and I shopped for hours - she didn't even bother looking at the price tags.

Once we had removed the facials, Sara turns to me.

"How're you feeling?" She asks me smiling.

"Better, I guess," I answer honestly. Years ago, when my mother was still alive we would go on shopping sprees and this reminded me so much of it.

"Thanks." I mumble shyly and Sara waves a hand dismissively as we get out of the spa room.

"I am going to get a haircut. You want one?" She asks me and I shake my head as I stare at my face in one of the mirrors.

I have black hair, green eyes and pale skin.

Pretty boring.

"You know, I have the perfect idea. You should dye your hair." Sara smiles at me showing all her pearly whites.

"What? No. I am brunette. I can't pull off blonde hair." I protest but a lady is already pushing me into a chair and is wrapping a cloth around my neck.

"Oh nonsense. You'll see. You'll look amazing in blonde not that you don't look beautiful now dear." An elderly lady wearing jeans and a modest top says.

"But I have never dyed my hair before." I say desperately trying to get off the chair. Sara has seated herself in the chair next to me and a younger looking girl is cutting Sara's blonde hair.

"Well sometimes, change is good for one," the elderly lady says and I look into her eyes in the mirror. "Just close your eyes and let me work my magic."

And I do.

-

"You can open your eyes now." The elderly voice says after nearly an hour.

I peek out through one eye. A beautiful blonde stares at me from the mirror. I blink and she blinks too.

Oh my gosh, that's me!

"I told you didn't I? You look so much better." The elderly lady says and I send her a real smile.

"I am Alice." She says and I nod thanking her.

Soon Sara has swiped Kyle's card again and we are ready to go.

How come his card still hasn't maxed out, I have no idea.