"Ilyse! Please help me...please! I'm begging here and you know I never beg!" It was true, Maggie never begged for anything but I couldn't bring myself to agree to her demands. It wasn't so much that I hated Maggie and wanted to see her suffer or fail, it was that I strongly disliked her and swore off ever helping her after that one time.

She left me hanging so bad that I still felt the burn of shame at having to explain why I was at the junior dance with the dorkiest guy in our class. Of course now he wasn't so dorky looking, Maggie had gobbled him up fast and they had been dating ever since he'd gotten 'hot' and she loved to rub that fact in my face so many damn times that I had developed a strong dislike for her.

"No, I'm not mentoring that guy so you're just going to have to suck it up and deal with him. I've already got too many people to mentor so why don't you actually try and mentor him, that's what we do here anyway." Maggie hated this mentoring program with a passion but it was all to make her records look better for that Ivy league college she'd been dreaming of since she could read.

It was pretty obvious to me that Maggie was only going to find a wealthy husband, she had absolutely no interest in studying beyond high school. I had to give it to her though, she put on a damn good act with everything..if her parents and teachers could be fooled that well then she belonged in Hollywood not Harvard.

"Seriously? You don't even care? Oh my god, how selfish can you be?" Maggie didn't give me any time to respond as she stomped off towards her second class for the day. There was no way in all heck I was taking on a difficult case.

Besides, it was the last Monday of the school year, summer was already here and I wasn't looking forward to spending my summer stuck with some guy who cracked even the toughest people...who was he anyway?

I watched as Maggie stomped away, her hair flaring dramatically behind her as she stomped.

"Ilyse! Come sit with me at lunch time, okay?" Natty asked, she sounded like she was almost begging me to sit with her. I kind of felt sorry for Natty, she was so pretty but had no friends because every girl in our high school was close to being a raging bitch that judged way too much and gave very few people a chance to prove themselves wrong.

Okay, maybe not every girl but there were more like that than any 'normal' people and it was so weird to see it. "Sure Natty, save us a table!" I had secretly mentored Natty for a few months now, she was so insecure about herself, any other girl would have been comfortable in their skin but not Nat, she was the total opposite.

She waved before turning to go to class, how odd that today of all days she would want to hang out.

But I didn't think further on how odd the day had been as I continued on with my day, it was the last week of school for the year and nothing could or would dampen my spirits. I mean sure, Syl leaving was still a huge downer but she had already text me about the place she'd moved to and she seemed happy so I couldn't stay upset.

When lunch came around my stomach was protesting the lack of food, I was looking forward to my home made sandwiches like I did every other day. Today would only differ from all other days because of the company I was supposedly having...and the fact that I couldn't continue on reading the book that I had started some weeks ago.

"Ilyse! Over here!" I hadn't realized how anxious I was about being ditched that when I heard Natty calling out I smiled with such relief that a weight off my shoulders had been lifted.

"I thought you had forgotten so I was getting ready to pack up," Natty began saying nervously as I approached the table she shared with no one. I shrugged my shoulders though as I set my bag down beside me, my lunch bag in the other hand.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit late Natty, I didn't mean to make you worry. So, how is everything?" It was hard sometimes, to always be the mature person in a given situation. But Mrs. Gasfell said that I was mature for my age, that I always listened and thought things through thoroughly before responding and that...I don't know, maybe she thought those were all good traits for someone to council on the mentoring program.

I don't know what she was thinking when she added Maggie to the group of mentors but she always seemed to be trying to rid herself of her charges or yelling at them. I don't know if Mrs. Gasfell was aware of Maggie, if she was then I had little respect for her but if Maggie was being fake around adults then I figure it was almost time to expose her.

"It's okay Ilyse, if you hadn't shown up I figured it would be for a good reason. You're not like those other students that like standing people up or make fake commitments, ya know? And I don't know, I feel like I had to talk to someone. My mom and dad are coming down really heavy on my brother Keelan for things that he shouldn't even be getting in trouble for. And I know that if Corlan or I did some of the things that Kee does then we wouldn't get in half as much trouble. I keep finding myself wanting to yell at them but then I wimp out and just go into my room." Sometimes Natty threw total curve balls my way, this was one of them.

Sibling issues wasn't something I knew much about...I mean, at one time in my life I did have siblings but that was a fair few years ago and we had never really gotten into much trouble.

"I think Natty that maybe you need to talk to your parents? Like actually sit them down and tell them what's been bugging you, otherwise it's going to eat you alive and you're going to end up snapping and saying things you don't mean. Will your parents be open to doing that? Or are you open to doing it?" Here I was at seventeen years of age, giving a slightly younger seventeen year old some advice that was probably wrong.

"My mom won't sit and listen to me, she always thinks that she is right and that kids shouldn't have opinions of any importance. My dad though is pretty cool, he sits and listens to all of us when he can...but he works away a lot and mom is at home with us so yeah." That was kind of a tough thing, I knew what it was like to loathe one parent and miss the other.

Sure, I lived with my aunt B but she wasn't my mom's sibling...she was my mom's cousin and she had only taken me in because my dad had fled to another country to marry the lady he'd been sleeping with since I was five or so years old.

"That sucks, maybe you should try and talk to your mom though? I mean, there's no harm in actually trying to make her understand that you're having trouble...right?" Natty bit her lip, I could see the cogs turning in her head as she thought things over.

"Hey Natty, it's just a suggestion. You don't have to do anything I say. Okay? Just think on it and if, at a time you feel like doing it then do it? Otherwise just don't worry about it." The last thing I wanted was for Natty to mull over it for the next few weeks.

Natty only nodded, she didn't seem to relax though, "so what else is new with you?" I ask to try and distract Natty from her inner turmoil.

The question seems to do the right thing, it brings a blush to her face and she smiles shyly down at the table like I've caught onto one of her deepest secrets. It makes me smile a little in anticipation of whatever she's going to say.

"Simon asked me out yesterday, I said yes. We're going to the fair next week, want to come? Please? I can see if my brother will come along too. I need some moral support on this." I groaned inwardly, of course Natty would want me to come along on her date.

Before Natty had asked me to come a small part of me assumed that I was going, now that the invitation was out though I kind of wasn't so sure anymore. Corlan and I tagging along on Natty's date didn't sound all that fun. But when Natty batted her eyelids and looked nervous as heck I couldn't help but nod my head.

It would have to be a cheap date on my part, I wasn't made of money like Natty and her family were but I didn't want to let her down either.

"Thank you Ilyse! I'll make sure Keelan picks you up nice and early so you can come over to my place and get dressed!" I was sure my mouth dropped open at the mention of her other brothers name, why had I assumed Corlan was who she had been talking about?

"Yeah, okay then." I felt like I had just been played as I watched Natty get up from the table, come around and hug me before skipping off to her next class.

What just happened?