Piper Belle-Harwood.

Six Years Prior

"Stop being such a bitch. I need to see her, Piper."

I cocked my head to the side and leaned against the beautiful dorm that stood behind me.

In front of me stood a desperate looking nineteen-year-old man. His dark hair, only a few shades darker than my own deep chocolate brown loose curls, was shaggy and hung in his face –he obviously hadn't gotten it cut in a while. He narrowed his dark green eyes at me and I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze –the only visible sign that he intimated me.

"Well, you're shit out of luck then because that's simply not going to happen."

Ryder growled and took another step toward me moments before a dainty hand shot out and grabbed his leather jacket-clad arm. I stiffened as the blonde stepped beside Ryder. Up until now, I had refused to acknowledge her and she knew better than to try and speak to me.

However, now Zoe seemed to be undergoing a temporary lack in judgment as she lifted her light brown eyes up to meet my steely grey ones.

"Please. We flew all the way out here so Ryder would get a chance to talk to her. New York City is not the easiest place to navigate and do you know how it expensive it was to take a cab from the airport to Columbia's campus?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes –it's not like anyone asked these two to come out here.

"Well excuse me for not being at the airport, waiting to pick you two up," I shrugged and crossed my arms as I looked towards Ryder. "Kind of figured you'd still be in rehab or at least too drugged out to know the difference between an airplane and a car." Ryder's eyes darkened and he clenched his fists, a sign that he was barely containing his anger. I decided not to push him and instead turned my sights on the blonde. "Then again, you must be drugged out if you thought for even a second that bringing this slut to my school was a good idea. I swear I'm getting herpes just looking at her."

Ryder scoffed.

"Trust me. She's only here because she signed me out of rehab as my guardian for the day. I can't stand the bitch, either," he hissed.

Zoe looked away from us and shifted her feet before she looked back up at me; my 5' 5" had exactly one inch on her and that one inch had never made me feel so powerful in my life.

"Listen, I know you have every right to be angry with me," damn straight I do, "but please just let Ryder up to talk to her. Piper-"

"Don't call me that," I snapped. She recoiled a bit and stared at me, open-mouthed. "You lost the right to call me that the moment you even thought about sleeping with my boyfriend. Well, I guess now he's my ex-boyfriend. Whatever. I-"

"God, I'm sorry, Piper! I've-"

"What did I say about calling me that?"

"-never seen him so miserable! He won't talk to anyone and only gives me the time of day when I approach him about the bab-"

"DON'T MENTION THAT TO ME!" I screamed, reaching up to grab at my dark hair. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to block out all thoughts of my former boyfriend and former best friends. I looked up and saw that Zoe had her left hand lying protectively over her belly and I had to swallow in order to keep the vomit from making its way up and through my mouth. I shook my head and walked backed up towards the door. "You two get do whatever the hell you want but you're not getting near me or my sister again. You can go back to whatever fucking drugs you were shooting up and you can go back to do whatever it is that people do after getting knocked up by their best friends boyfriend. Just leave me and my sister out of it."

Ryder tried to get into the building as I slipped inside, but I quickly slammed the door and he had no access to get in otherwise. He swore loudly and pounded his hand against the door, but I ran up the stairs and to my dorm without giving him a second thought.

I found my twin sister –the person Ryder was so desperate to see- sitting outside my room. Her long, porcelain legs reached the opposite wall in the dorm hallway and her dark brown curls sat messily atop her head in a lazy bun. Her grey eyes searched my face as I neared her and her pink lips were set in a straight line. I plopped down next to her and she rested her head on my shoulder; while we looked exactly alike, our personalities were on opposite ends of the spectrum.

"What did he want?" she asked, quietly. I scoffed and shook my head as it rested against the wall.

"To see you, obviously." That's all Ryder Rustin has ever wanted. "And you'll never guess who he had the gall the bring with him. He brought Zoe!" I heard Fleur's quick intake of breath and continued. "Zoe Garnet! What the hell was he thinking?"

Fleur didn't respond for a moment as she took my hand in her and squeezed it. She lifted her head from my shoulder and I automatically took it as an invitation to drop my own onto her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

I found myself blinking back tears and took a few deep breaths.

"I…I just hate her. So much. And I can't believe…I can't believe she's…with Alex's child…she's…" I couldn't bring myself to say the 'P' word.

"I'm so sorry, Piper," Fleur spoke quietly as she leaned her head atop mine and stroked my dark hair. "You don't deserve this. You never deserved this."

"Just like you deserve more than a drugged out boyfriend," I muttered into her shoulder. The stroking of my hair paused for a moment before continuing.

"…So I definitely shouldn't have gone down to see him?" she asked, hesitantly. I scoffed.

"Fleur, not only did he keep Zoe and Alexander's transgressions a secret from you -his girlfriend of four years- but he then proceeded to overdose on cocaine. You were right to listen to me when I told you to end things with him and you were right to not go down to see him. You can –and will- do so much better," I ranted, standing up and waving my hands around to get my point across. Fleur looked up at me from the ground and frowned.

"Piper, you guys used to be best friends-"

"We were also best friends with Alexander and Zoe. Lets face it Fleur –we've all grown up and maybe it's about time we all moved on. I get the feeling that childhood friendship isn't all its fucked up to be."

"Chalked up to be," she corrected, a tiny smile on her face.

I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. The point is that we're not talking to any of them anymore and from what it seemed like when I was taking to Ryder and Zoe, they're all on rocky terms right now too. We're here at Columbia and they're all at the University of Michigan. We'll never have to see them ever again if so choose. Plus, we're only eighteen years old and have plenty of time to move on and-"

"I thought I heard you bitching about something, Piper." I stopped talking and Fleur and I turned to the left where a tall man was walking down the hallway towards us. He smiled and scratched the back of his blonde head as he reached us.

"Hi, Michael," Fleur greeted, smiling slightly at him.

"Yeah. Hi," I mumbled. Michael and I didn't really get along much but we tried to be civil since he and Fleur were friends.

"Hello, ladies. Well, I bought a large pizza and was planning on spending the day playing video games with my roommate before heading out tonight, but he ended up having to meet his study group. Could I interest any of you in joining me?"

"Video games aren't really my thing," I informed him.

"Mine either, unfortunately. We have four younger sisters-"

"-and our mother is Tracy Belle," I finished, referring to our Oscar winning mother.

"Yeah, but your dad is Owen Harwood! He played professional football for years! One of the best running backs I've ever seen!" Michael argued.

"And why would our dad sit around playing video games with us? We Harwood girls can throw a perfect spiral football but, for the most part, don't know an X-box from a PlayStation," I admitted with a shrug of my shoulders.

Michael rolled his eyes.

"Sorry I don't stalk your family and only know whatever information I get out of People Magazine when I'm waiting in line at the grocery store. But how about instead of video games, we'll watch movies?" he offered.

I saw that Fleur looked genuinely interested in taking up his offer, so I too took a moment to think about it before I shook my head.

"I'm kind of beat. I think I'll just go mope in my room for a bit."

Fleur looked at me in concern, all eagerness to watch movies and eat pizza wiped from her face.

"I'll join yo-"

"No, no," I cut in. "Don't say no on my account because I'm probably going to pass out the moment my head hits my pillow."

Fleur looked unsure.

"I'm serious, Fleur."

"But I don't want you to be alone and-"

"Fleur. Just go. I could actually use the alone time right now, you know?" She bit her bottom lip and watched me for a moment before she finally nodded.

"If you're sure…" she trailed off.

"I am." Michael rolled his eyes at our conversation and threw an arm around Fleur's shoulders. "And don't forget what I said…about how we're only eighteen…" and need to move on. Fleur's eyes got wide at my silent suggestion and I held back a quiet laugh. I may not love –or really like- Michael, but Fleur did and that was enough for me.

Michael turned Fleur around and started to lead them away from me and to his dorm room.

"Later, Piper," he called over his shoulder.

I watched them go.

"Yeah. Later."

And they were gone.

xx

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Please Review?

In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of just messing around with all these new stories. By the end of the April, I'll make a decision regarding my newer stories to: 1. Work solely on My Sleepless Summer; 2. Work solely on this story; or 3. Work on both.