Carrie opened her eyes to a rude awakening. The sun was dancing in her face, which was not comforting. She rolled over to look at the clock: 7:01 a.m. "Oooooohhhhh," she grunted, another day of school ahead of her. She got up, yawned, stretched and went to go get ready for another long day.

"Hurry up honey, your breakfast is getting cold and you only have a half-hour before we leave!" her mom shouted up the stairs.

Carrie was in a bad mood. She lazily slithered down the stairs and rubbed her eyes, and stretched once again before she slumped down in her chair with her food before her. Pancakes. Again. She looked at it, picked up her fork, and started jabbing it into her pancakes, repeatedly. "Mom, I just had pancakes yesterday." She yawned again and started taking little nibbles off of the pancakes.

"Well, I can see that you're already in a bad mood today."

"No, I'm just sick of pancakes." But she knew she was in a bad mood, and she knew her mother was right. She hated it when her mother was right.

"Just eat. We have to hurry up." Another scowl came from Carrie. She was so tired. She had been up late studying for her algebra test last night. The test was today, and Carrie knew she wasn't ready for it either. But she looked on the bright side--this was the last test of the school year, and summer was only a week away. She couldn't wait to sleep in, go to the beach, hang with friends, listen to music, and watch T.V. She was day-dreaming it was summer already. . . .

"Come on, snap out of it, we gotta go."

"I'm not ready yet!"

"Well, you had better get going!"

Carrie looked down at her plate. Half of a pancake was gone, and she wa still hungry, but she didn't have any time. "Here we go again. Another day." She quickly made her way upstairs, grabbed some clothes, slipped them on, and ran to the bathroom to do her little tid-bits. She started combing her blond hair. She loved her thick hair, but not today. It just wouldn't cooperate with her. She put on a little eye shadow, and put on a layer of mascara, and brushed some blush on. She brushed her teeth, and then gave the mirror a quick smile. "I look great today," she thought. This put her in a better mood. She was the most eyecatching girl at school. She had thick blond hair, a little past her shoulders, big, ice blue eyes, long legs, and stood 5'5". And she had such a beautiful smile, with cute little dimples on the sides. And she was right, she did look good today. She slapped on some Vanilla Fields, grabbed her backpack, and ran down the stairs again.

Her mother was already in the car waiting for her. As Carrie stepped in, her mother said, "We need to talk."

Carrie wasn't sure what this would be about. They had already had the "birds and the bees talk," but her mother sounded uneasy. Carrie knew this wasn't good. "Yeah?"

"Grandma Pierce has taken a turn for the worse. She's in the hospital now, and the cancer has come back." Carrie's spirits sunk down once again, and she stared blankly out the window, tears brushing up to the brim of her eyes. Her father had died just two years ago, when Carrie was only 12. He died at work. He was a pilot and had crashed. The crash was so bad that not one person survived. A few months later, Grandpa Pierce died from a stroke, and now, Grandma Pierce. Carrie started to get the same dull, blank, and irritating feeling on the inside as she always did when she got bad news.

Her mother kept on talking. "The day after you get out of school, we are heading down there, and we are visiting her until she gets better, or until she. . . ." Her mother started sobbing, for it was her own mother that was dying.

Carrie turned back to her mother and came out of her daze, enveloping her mother in her arms. "She'll be okay, mom." Carrie started to cry too, not caring if her make-up was smudging. Her mom took a deep breath, wiped her tears, and continued driving her daughter to school, the only close relative she had. All of Carrie's relatives, besides her mom, lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They had moved to Denver seven years ago because of her dad's job. After he died, they had decided to stay there for a while and then move back to Tulsa, but it hadn't even crossed their minds for a year and a half now. They soon arrived at Carrie's school. As she hopped out of the car, she once again assured her mom that everything was going to be all right, but she didn't even believe it herself.

Her whole day was bad. On her algebra test she felt she at least got a "B." It was easier than she had expected. She told a few of her friends about her grandma, and going to Tulsa for a while. She had saved telling Becky, her best friend, for that night, because she didn't want to start choking up and crying at school. She was grieving through the whole day, and was just happy that the day was nearly over when she started walking home with Becky. Carrie decided to tell her then. No one was around in case she started crying. She took the same approach as her mother. "Becky, we need to talk." Becky looked over at Carrie a little surprised. Carrie hadn't said anything at all, and they were already half-way home. "What is it?" Carrie took a deep breath and grabbed a tissue, just so she would be prepared. "My grandma. She's got the cancer back again, and she's not doing too well. She's in the hospital. My mother and I are leaving on the first day of summer." A breeze swirled by them, and a wave of tears was getting ready to roll over Carrie's eyes. One by one they came strolling down, flooding her face. Becky noticed this, said something, but Carrie's sobs were drowning her out.

"It'll be okay. I know this is tough on you." This made Carrie burst out with even more tears. They stopped walking and wrapped their arms around each other. Becky hated seeing her friend like this and she, too, started to cry. They just stood there, crying.

"I have to get home, so we have to keep going." Becky said. For no reason, Carrie started to laugh and Becky did the same. They started on their way again, and walked on silently. They reached Becky's house and Becky walked up the steps to her porch.

Carrie stood there for awile, staring up at the sky. She wiped her tears, and started home, for she had a lot of packing to do.

After she did her homework and packed a little bit, she ate some supper. A few minutes later the phone rang...it was Becky.

"Hello?"

"Hey," she said. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess. It took a lot longer to pack than I thought it would." She quickly looked at the clock: 6:03. "Hey, I'm really sorry, but I have to get ready for gymnastics. Can I let you go?"

"Hey sure, just call me when you get home."

"Okay, talk to you then, bye."

"Bye."

She had about a half hour to get ready for gymnastics. Carrie was a good gymnast, especially on beam. She had won 3 state titles on that event. She slipped on a leotard, put her hair up, and then her mom took her to the gym. She had forgotten that she had yet to tell her gym buds about her grandma...here came another river of tears. She hopped out of the car, and into the gym, and she and the rest of the group started by running around the floor for 10 minutes. After warm-up, they went to the beam. When they were doing drills, Carrie's mind drifted off, about her dad, and the crash....

"Carrie, get working. Nice form Emily..." Carrie snapped out of her daze that time very quickly, and the rest of the workout went slow.

She really didn't have any close friends at the gym, but after practice decided to tell some people about her grandma, including her coaches. But this time she was strong, and did not shed a tear.

She walked in the door, went straight to her room, and plopped down on her bed. She lay there for a few minutes, and then remembered that she had to call Becky. But she decided to just give it a few more minutes, and then, Carrie silently drifted asleep. She had had a busy day, full of disappointments.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" That stupid alarm clock. 7:00 a.m. Time for another day. Carrie got up and did the usual. The whole rest of the week just fell into place, and yet Carrie still had her grandma in the back of her mind. Friday soon came, and tomorrow they were leaving. Everything needed was packed, and the only thing left was to say goodbye to friends. The whole day she was crying and saying farewell to her friends, but the worst was yet to come: Becky. Becky was coming over in the morning to say goodbye, and the walk home on Friday was sad, too.

"Nothing's going to change, Carrie. We'll write every day and we'll call every other day."

"I guess you are right, but I don't really know anyone in Tulsa."

Becky made Carrie stop, and they turned to each other. "You will be fine. Just keep on thinking positively." Another batch of tears came strolling down Carrie's face, and once again, they hugged.

They found themselves at Becky's house. "I'll be at your house tomorrow morning."

"Okay, see ya later." Carrie took a long look at Becky's house. It would be a long time before she would see it again.

In the morning the sun was up, which made things a little bit better. Everything was ready to go. The truck with all of their "big things" had already left. They were staying in a little place, an empty, little, cozy place that was down the road of Grandma's house. She owned it and it was always nice to use for visitors.

Carrie was standing outside waiting for Becky to arrive, when soon she saw her turn the corner. They started smiling after they saw each other, and then they just stared at one another. Their smiles disappeared, and a glossy look covered their eyes.

"Are you ready?" Carrie's mom questioned?

"Just give us a minute mom."

"Okay, take as much time as you need."

Carrie's mom disappeared into the house, and Becky reached over to give Carrie a hug.

"I'll miss you." Becky managed to choke out.

"I'll miss you too." Now they started to cry heavy tears.

"It's hard ya know? I mean the first day of summer is supposed to be a happy one. But my best friend is leaving and I won't see her for a long time. This is really tough..." she started crying harder.

"I know, but we can make it." They stopped hugging, and Becky held out a bracelet.

"Here, it's a frendship bracelet. I have one too. Think of me when you look at it."

"Honey, we have to go." Carrie's mom said. "I'm sorry."

"Okay, well, I guess this is it."

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, we will write and call."

"Okay, call me the second you get there."

"I will." Now Carrie felt awkward. "Well," she didn't know what to say. "Bye."

"Bye." The hugged once more, and then, Carrie found herself waving to a lonesome, crying Becky.

Carrie was lying on her bed listening to music and looking at her magazines. "Set your spirits free, it's the only way to be..." Carrie sang to the Spice Girls. Carrie hadn't met anyone for friends in Tulsa yet, she was mostly unpacking or in her room or on the beach. Carrie had done a lot of thinking in the last week and she felt she had grown from it all. There were some new neighbors moving in next door. Well, next door wasn't exactly the term. Everyone lived far apart and their were only three houses down the road with Grandma's around the corner.

She was bored, it was a Sunday, and it was a nice day out. Carrie didn't want to go swimming at the lake. She had just done that yesterday. Her mother had bought her a dog. It was a golden retriever and it was full grown. Carrie loved it and its name was Peaches. Her mom had bought Carrie Peaches so that she would have someone by her side instead of nothing.

"Honey, you'd better go walk Peaches, you haven't yet today."

"Okay mom, just a sec."

Carrie hopped off her bed and turned her CD player off. She grabbed Peaches' leash, called her dog, and they strolled outside. Carrie sniffed the fresh air, and started to think about the days at home. She hadn't written to Becky lately, but just called her yesterday. She missed her a lot, but what could she do? The new neighbors' kids were out on their front lawn. They were doing cartwheels and just playing around like kids. They were screaming, but Carrie ignored it and started thinking about home again....

"What's its name?"

"Huh?" Carrie snapped out of her daze right away and found herself in front of the new neighbors house, with a little girl gazing up at her.

"Whats the cute little doggies name?"

"Oh. Yes. His name is Peaches." Carrie said with a smile.

The girl, who looked no older than 7, responded, "Oh, well, hello there, Peaches. You are just the cutest little puppy I have ever seen." Her voice was sweet just like a little girls' and Carrie laughed at her comment...the dog was bigger than she was but she was calling it a little puppy.

"Dddddoooooooggggggiiiieeeeeee!!!!" a voice screamed. Carrie looked in the direction it was coming from....it was a little boy running and looked anxious to pet Peaches. Soon, the other girl that was playing on the lawn came over too.

The boy looked about 3 or 4, and the other girl was about 8 or 9. "Isn't he cute Jessica?" the middle one asked.

"Oh yes, look at his tail, it's wagging, I think he likes us!"

The younger boy was getting a face wash. "Ewwwww, get it away from me!"

"Oh it's okay...he won't hurt you." Carrie responded. "So are you guys just moving in?"

"Yup, this is our new house." The eldest one said pointing to the HUGE house.

"Wow, that's a big house!" Carrie said with expression.

"Yeah, I know, it's even bigger than our other house!"

"Oh." Carrie said...she didn't know what to say next. "What are your names?"

"Oh, well my MY name is Jessica, and I am 8. He's Mackie, ummm, he's..."

"3. And I am Avery. I'm a girl, and I'm 6." the middle one cut in.

"Oh, you have such pretty names Jessica and Avery."

"Thank you." Avery said, trying to sound sophistocated.

"What's your name?" Jessica said as she licked her lips...which were covered with fake lipstick.

"My name is Carrie, and I am 14."

"Oh, I like that name, it's pretty. And you are pretty too." Jessica said.

"Well thank you, you two look like Princesses, with Mackie your Prince."

They both giggled, and Mackie soon caught on, and giggled too. Soon, a woman came walking out.

"Come on, we have to go inside now, it's time for supper." Carrie assumed it was their mother.

"Mom, this is Carrie, and she is nice and she thinks we are Princesses and she is pretty. She can babysit us sometime." Avery said.

"Yeah!" Jessica screamed. "You and dad and the boys go out somewhere and she can babysit us!" Carrie smiled, and so did the mother.

"Go on inside, and we can talk about it later." The 3 kids obediantly ran inside and got ready for supper. "Well, the kids seem to like you a lot." Carrie grinned. "Do you babysit?"

"Yeah, I did when I lived in Denver."

"Did you just move here?"

"Yeah, about a week ago. I'm here because my Grandma is sick, so we are visiting. I'm staying in that house over there." Carrie said pointing to the house.

"Oh, well, the boys are going to an interview tomorrow, I know this is short notice, but would you like to babysit? It would be at around 5:00 in the afternoon to maybe 10:00...the interview is about a 2 hour drive...and then the interview itself, is about an hour. We were going to take the kids, but if we could find a baby sitter before then we weren't going to."

"Oh, that would be fine." Carrie responded.

"Okay, so then about 4:30 do you want to start heading over?"

"Sure, that sounds great."

"Okay well it was nice meeting you, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye." Then she walked into the house.

"What a nice lady." Carrie thought. But who were THE BOYS? She had heard it from the mother and the kids. THE BOYS. Carrie had no idea.

"Well, good news, I found a babysitter for tomorrow."

"Is it Carrie mommy?" an excited Avery asked.

"Yes it's Carrie" the mother said in the same voice her daughter asked.

"Who's Carrie?" a voice came from a chair that was up close to the t.v. He started spinning in the chair...there was a commercial on now.

"Zac, I told you not to do that, it'll wreck the chair! And Carrie is a girl that lives down the road and is babysitting tomorrow."

"Oh, you mean the one that sits in her house all day and only comes out to water the flowers?"

"No, the one on the other side of the road."

"Somebody lives there?" Isaac said. He too was watching the T.V. with Zac.

"Yes, Carrie and her mom just moved in about a week ago. They are here because her grandma is sick."

"Oh. Well, how old is she?" Isaac asked, hoping for a girl 15 or 16.

"Oh, I don't know... 13 or 14."

"14. She told us." Jessica bragged.

"Man! Taylor always gets the girls that are his age!" said Zac. "Does she have a younger sister?"

"Or an older one?" Isaac smiled.

"Not that I know of boys, sorry."

"Well, I am going to go tell Tay. Where is he anyway?" Zac questioned.

"Down by the beach."

"With who?"

"Just him. He's a little tired and wants to be alone."

"Well, I'm going down there too." said Zac. He ran out of the room and grabbed some shoes. Ran out of the door, and slammed it...HARD. Then he peeked his head in and said, "Sorry." and then he was off again.

When he reached the beach, Taylor was awhile away, so he started running towards him. "Hey Tay..........Tay!.........Tay!..........TAY!!!!!!!!!!"

"What?"

"Tay, ya see that house over there?" Zac grabbed his brothers shoulders and turned him to the house and pointed to Carrie's house. "Tell me you see it, man."

"Yeah, I see it, what about it?"

"Taylor, you are going to love it here. A 14 year old girl LIVES there. AND she is coming over tomorrow to babysit the other three while we are doing our interview. Mom talked to her."

"Zac, it's probably just another obsessed fan or something. Don't get so hyper about it."

"Tay, hyper is my middle name, you should know be by now. Girls make me go nuts!" Then he started to giggle. Taylor jokeingly punched his brother in the arm. "Hey!" They started to fight playfully, when Zac spotted something. "Look, I think that's her...with the dog!"

"Zac...that.....is it really her?"

"Gee bud, I dunno, I mean, we have a weird lady that comes out to only water the flowers, then there is another grandma that's in the hospital, and then there's a girl with her mom. This girl IS NOT a grandma, and she IS NOT a mom, so I'm just taking a stab that it IS HER."

"No way...she..."

"She what lover boy?"

"Shut up Zac. I don't even know her."

"Yeah, but, LOOK at that." Carrie was still walking Peaches, and was at her house now. She decided to go swimming, she also wanted to get a tan. She brought Peaches in their house, and soon came out in a suit with a towel. Zac and Tay were still sitting there, talking.

"Oh no, here she comes! What do we do? Help! Mommy!!! I'm scared!" Zac joked.

"Come on, just pretend we are going for a walk." They started walking and met with Carrie.

"Hi." she said.

"Hi, umm, we are the new neighbors from over there." Taylor said pointing to the HUGE house.

"Oh, yeah, I'm babysitting for some people that live there tomorrow."

"Oh, you mean Jessica, Avery and Mackie? Those are our brothers and sisters."

"Oh, are you THE BOYS?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, we are Hanson." Tay said expecting a scream or something from Carrie. Carrie stopped for a minute, and then took a better look at them. She looked puzzled.

"Ya know...MMMBop ba duba dop...." Zac sang.

"Yeah I know, I just never thought this would happen. You guys are really awesome....I have your CD and stuff. So you are REALLY Hanson?"

"No, we are just look-a-likes."

"Zac, shut-up. Yes, we are Hanson." Carrie liked Hanson but wasn't obsessed with them but she was very excited to meet them. They both had their hair back, and for some reason Carrie never would have guessed that they were Hanson if they hadn't told her.

"Well, I don't know what to say. Ummm, I was just about to go swimming...wanna come?"

"Sure, we'll have to go get our stuff, so...we'll be right back, okay?"

"Oh, that's fine." Carrie was trying hard to remember the older guys name...."Ummm, Isaac, you can ask him if he wants to come too."

"Okay, we'll be back in a few minutes. Bye!"

"Bye."

"Wow, she was nice, and she didn't freak!" Taylor said.

"I told you, I think we are going to like it here."

"No, no, I am going to like it here."

"No fair, you always get the good ones!" Zac screamed

"And that, my friend, is the beauty of it all," Taylor laughed.

"Shut up." Zac scowled.