Christina yawned and opened her eyes. She sat up half-way and her eyes darted to the clock by her bed. It was 5:00 AM. She was famous in her family for being the first person up.
She still had a couple of hours until her first *official* day on the MMC.
She rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of cut-offs and a tank top that read ~*Christina*~ on the front in fancy lettering.
She went to the mirror and made a face. She generally thought she was pretty but she really wished that she looked older. She ran her fingers through her straight hair and made another face, then pulled it back with a clip and made a mental note to try and make it look better for the day. Then she washed her face in the bathroom slipped into a pair of sandalls, went downstairs, and grabbed a bagel.
She stuck a note on the fridge:
Mom,
I went for a walk. I�ll be back soon.
Love You,
Christina
When she got outside she walked slowly down the sidewalk as she took in everything around her.
She had almost walked to the end of the block when she came to a nearly vacant field with a large shed in the middle that sort of looked like a small house.
She carefully stepped through the field and looked inside the shed. It was empty except for a few cans of paint and a really big chair that looked like it could fit a giant easily. The shed overlooked the highway and was close to a forest.
Christina propped open the doors and sat in the doorway. She nibbled a little on her bagel and watched the early morning traffic go by, then sighed happily and was eating her bagel when a dark figure jumped down from the sheds roof!
"Hey Sugar! What�s up?" Justin said plopping down beside her.
"Not much except you a minute ago!" Christina laughed. "You scared me half to death!"
Justin laughed.
" What were you doing on the roof?" She asked.
"I was relaxing-and spying on you!" He joked. Christina blushed and then laughed.
"So," She said changing the subject. "What are you doing around here?"
"I live right over there." He said, pointing to a street a block over from hers.
"Really? I live right down there. I just moved here a few days ago."
"My family moved here about two and a half weeks ago." Justin said.
"That's so cool that we live so close, maybe we can carpool!" Christina joked.
Justin laughed. "Oh yeah! Did I tell you Ryan is living with us?"
"Really? Why?"
"His family lives way up in Canada so he�s gonna live with us for awhile."
"That's cool, kinda like a live-in friend." Christina laughed.
They sat in silence for awhile, watching the morning traffic roll in.
"I was going to have this shed for my secret hideaway but I guess you found it first," Christina observed.
"I�m willing to share." Justin smiled at her. "We could make it our hangout. You know a place to go when our families are driving us crazy. And we could share it with Ryan and your friend you met the other day."
"Britney, yeah but it could still be a secret. I�m sure the others wouldn�t come-."
"All the time." Justin finished.
"Speaking of time, I have to go home and get ready. It�s already 6:15."
"Oh I better head home ,too. My Mama will start freakin if I�m not home for breakfast." Justin said.
"Oh so you're a mama�s boy, huh?"
"No I�m not...okay...I guess I am!" He laughed
"Okay see you in awhile." Christina said getting up.
"Later!" Justin waved.
As Christina walked down the street, she couldn't help thinking how much she liked the confident jokester Justin better than the nervous, shy Justin she�d first met. She quietly laughed to herself.
She couldn't believe she was making friends so easily. Why hadn't it been this easy before?