Rodrik Black, Greg's cousin.

Wow… I thought to myself as I trudged slowly behind Greg. We were walking on the road parallel to Greg's house, and the boy hadn't spoken to me since that little … scene … in his house.

My mind flashed back to what had happened, sending unwelcome cold shivers down my spine.

^_^_^_^_^_^ (Flashback begins now) ^_^_^_^_^_^

I looked uncertainly at the youth peeking at me from behind Greg's back. Green eyes met brown and colour rose to my cheeks.

'Oh god!' I remember myself thinking, 'This can NOT be happening…'

But it was happening. There stood Rodrik (a.k.a. Rider) behind Greg. Rider…Greg's cousin.

Oh brother!

Rider lifted an eyebrow, and for a second his facial expression convinced me that he had completely forgotten me. But then his beautiful green eyes lit up in recognition.

"Kyra forty-nine!" he exclaimed happily, and pushing Greg aside as if he didn't exist, he stepped towards me and stuck out his hand.

I smiled weakly and shook his outstretched hand. Then I looked quietly at Greg. His thick eyebrows were furrowed up, and he said, "You two…know each other?"

The shock in is voice made me shudder visibly, and I felt something rear in me. So what if I knew his cousin? I wasn't sneaking around, I wasn't stalking him. I just happened to meet Rider, without even knowing he was even related to Greg. And why should it even affect me?

Exactly!

"Yeah," I said, rather defiantly, "Rider and I actually have met before."

Greg's face turned into a scowl, sending sad shivers down my spine. I knew that this was affecting Greg, and yet I played along. What sort of idiot had I turned into?

"I'll meet you later, Rodrik," I said, smiling tightly. Suddenly, I wanted to be out of this older boy's presence as soon as possible.

"We've got an assignment waiting," I sing-songed, then pulling Greg's hand, I let ourselves out of the hallway.

As soon as I heard the big oak door close behind us, I let go of Greg's hand and turned to him.

"Look," he began, but I stopped him. I needed to apologize…big time!

"You look," I said, surprised at the force in my voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be bitter. I don't know what's gotten into me. I shouldn't have said that stuff to you. And about Rider…"

I trailed off helplessly, and he looked at me. His pitch-black eyes met my brown ones, and I suddenly felt warm all over.

"It's okay," he said softly. "I'm not exactly fond of Rider…we have our differences. He is more of a …let's not talk about him."

He said Rider's name as mirthlessly as humanly possible. I winced, but was glad. Maybe if Greg wanted to tell me about Rider…maybe he cared after all.

And about Rider being so bad that Greg didn't want to talk about him…hmm, I'm rather glad with this space between us.

"You're a straightforward girl," he continued, "I don't want you… getting hurt."

At those last words, he looked up at me, and I smiled at him, as warmly as I could. I felt this horrible guilt swelling up in my chest.

Guilt for having been bitter at him just because he had a big house. Guilt for being prejudiced against him just because he sucked at Math. Guilt for hating him for no reason whatsoever.

And before I knew it, tears had welled up in my eyes, and were cascading down my cheek.

"Hey!" he said, quietly, then wiped away my tears with his hand. The soft touch of his hand sent warm tingles down my back, making my stomach hurt and my mouth dry.

I looked up at him and smiled through my tears.

This evening was making me feel special… very special.

THE END

Yes, yes, I know. I am a horrible person for ending it this way, yada yada yada. Sorry, okay?

Writing this story has been awesome, but I don't think I have the courage to continue any more. I know that the future of Kyra and Greg (and anything possibly happening between them) lies solely in me and my choice. But I don't want to spoil it. Everything's in this nice little bubble, and it seems insanely mean to ruin it.

So I won't. I'm ending this story here, but I swear, I'm starting a new story with older characters…around the age of 15 and 16. The next one is also gonna be a Romance story, because I'm a Romantic at heart. And I'm proud of it.

I'm 13, in case you're wondering…but I'm pretty mature for my age. I want to try my hand at something I've only attempted in my diary. I need you guys' support, but tell me where I go wrong.

This next story is going to be a replica of my life. But I feel profound things, so it seems fair to base it on elder people.

This story has meant a lot to me, and I want it to end anyway you'd like. Just write out a chapter to wrap up this story. It can be anything.

Send it to me at .

Brickbats, bouquets and even critical remarks are accepted and expected. A true writer would get what I mean. I love you guys, because I honestly feel me and my stories aren't worth the minutes you're spending reading this. It's a dream come true to feel special on fictionpress.

I love you, each and every one of you. I hope and pray for the best, and end this with virtual hugs and flying kisses

Love, peace and laughs forever,

Apolline Dumbledore (that's my new penname in case you're wondering..well, I'll get around to changing it sooner or later.. I hope you'll be around when I finally do so…don't forget me!)

Ciao

A.D.

(oh yeah, about Liz Sully…OH WAIT wasn't I supposed to do a character sketch of everyone? Well, here it is: I owe you guys this much)

KYRA MATTHEWS: she's 13, and independent. This character is mainly based on me…although she's pretty dense (NOT me!) AND she's got quite a temper, which you've seen in the starting of this chappy (again, NOT me!). Once again, Kyra's based on me (she's even got almost the same name as me) but, as a fellow writer Living Mercy, would put it, she's not a wishful character thingy (you mentioned it in your Anti-Twilight rant..) I just decided that it would feel nice to write a lead role after someone I knew so well…well, I'm not that perfect anyway, but I don't want to be that perfect…

GREG: well, I haven't really gotten around to giving him a surname. But I guess it would be Black. He's Rodrik's cousin, and always had a bit of a crush on Kyra. He's a new student, and keeps mainly to himself. He's got a sweet personality though, and really and truly cares for Kyra, as we find out in the end

REBECCA AND RACHEL: haha, I haven't really given them a personality yet. I guess they're pretty nice, although I've got a bad feeling about Rebecca…haha, atleast I wont have to deal with her anymore! :)

RODRIK BLACK: da da duuunnnn… I hate this guy…I initially made him out to be a playboy, but decided that would be too rough in the story..after all, Kyra's 13. So I settled for Greg not wanting to talk about his cousin, and Dominic and Kyra agreed he isn't really a good guy. There, enough said. I rest my case.

DOMINIC: Dom is based on one of my best friends ever, who just happens to be a guy. We're best friends, although in the situation between Kyra and Dom, Dom's also got a bit of a crush on Kyra. I was supposed to elaborate on that, but I didn't want you guys to get a 'everyone loves Kyra' gist going on here. Kyra has her flaws, and I liked the way Dom accepted her for all of them…it's beautiful: their friendship…

TIA: well, I was supposed to write a Kyra and Tia feud. I liked Tia, but she's far too bouncy for I'm-not-a-morning-person Kyra. Kyra was supposed to get angry with Tia…more like irritated. Then Rodrik would step in between and cool things down. Then I decided I didn't like Rodrik. Then I decided to end things early. Well, Tia plays quite an important role in the whole Kyra-and-Greg process though

LIZ SULLY: I'll be honest. Liz Sully is one of my favourite characters in the whole story, because she doesn't know anything that's going on in Kyra's life, but senses it all the same. She's based on my buddy and most awesome reviewer: tictackid. Yes, that reviewer really is my friend from school. She rocks to the core, much like Liz. I wanted Liz to be the one to knock some sense into Kyra after the argument with Tia, but then…

KENNETH: he's a sweet guy, blissfully unaware of… of basically everything. He cares. That's what I like most about this guy. I was gonna write a Kenneth and Kyra story, but then got carried away with the entrance of Greg. But I liked the way Ken was always so peaceful. And even though he really was a prefect, he knew how to have some good fun

SHY/SHERRY: well, I hardly wrote about poor Sherry. She's a nice gal, and is pretty sweet, blah blah. Frankly I was ultra bored with this Shy character, and sad to say, she is my least character of all. She is based on a girl nicknamed Shy in my school. But my Shy is anything but Shy. Haha, that's just the way I role~~

STEPHEN: sadly, I really have a Stephen in my life. When I created this character, it was solely to rat out on Stephen, something I couldn't ever do to the Stephen in real life. This guy was supposed to just be in the background irritating Kyra now and then…but then in the 'Hey, Stephen' chapter, we found out he took a step further…well, the textbooks really gave him a good sounding

Overall, these are mostly my most important characters. Their families are important, though remotely mentioned.

Kyra's got a sister (like me). I was supposed to elaborate on her but *sigh*.

Dom's got 3 elder sisters (much like my friend…okay, EXACTLY like my friend) and Kenneth and Tia have each other.

Liz doesn't have siblings, but she has her guitar and her cat (named Sunset..sorry, just had to include that) and, contrary to some beliefs, Liz's guitar makes everything fine in the end.

Oh, did I mention she has a pet monkey too?

Ciao!

Apolline Dumbledore

(p.s., Living Mercy, in case you're reading this, your Anti Twilight Rant has probably been the most helpful thing ever…it made me a bit conscious of how I base my characters, and I was scared Kyra would be another Bella…I hope it's alright and tell me what you think)

EACH REVIEW MATTERS and if you guys keep telling me to continue this story…

Well, never know

Okay, enough with the blabbering

See ya