*A/N: Okay, this chapter might confuse a few people, cuz it was confusing for me to write. But my friend gets it! Anyway .... so, I wanted to write the reactions of all four characters (Joel, Benji, Anna and Kaylei) after the announcement Patty makes, but I couldnt do it all at once. So, the little squiggly lines and stars pattern ( ~*~*~ ) just indicates that everything is happening all at the same time, I'm just switching to another characters point of view. Does that make sense? I hope so. If not, hopefully you'll get what I'm trying to say when you read more. Alrighty-o?! Okay then!*

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Joel sat in class, not doing anything since school had just started less than five minutes ago. He drew imaginary shapes on the desk with his finger, occasionaly laughing at something his buddy Ryan would say. He really wasn't paying attention to Ryan though, his mind was elsewhere, wondering what Patty had meant by her comment this morning when she walked by with Brandon.

He shrugged it off as the tv switched on (*a/n: once again, the announcements being on a tv that is in every room is something my school does, since I dont know anything about La Plata!), signaling that announcements were about to begin. His school was different than most schools - announcements were on a television that was in every room, and they were broadcasted schoolwide. There were two people, the 'broadcasters', that read from a typed script of all the happenings of the school for the students to know about. Occasionally, there was a 'special announcement', usually done by a club on campus or a sports team. Apparently, Patty was making one of these.

Joel turned all of his attention to the tv when he saw Patty on there. Just a few members of the cheerleading squad were there, Joel only recognizing three. There was, of course, Patty, and her friends Lacey and Vicky.

"Hey everyone!" Patty began, "the cheerleaders are gonna be at the basketball game tonight, it's at home at 7:00 in the gym. Everyone should try to come out to support your team and cheer them on with us!" Patty paused, as if she wanted to say something else, but was hesitant. Suddenly, the hesitated look slipped away, to be replaced by a mischevious smile, and she began speaking again. "And this is to Joel Combs ..." she giggled her high pitched, obnoxious laugh, "sorry, but our little 'relationship' is over. My friends here dared me to go out with you for at least a month, and now my month is up ... and I can't stand you anymore!" Her friends and her giggled one last time and bounced off the camera.

Joel sunk as low as he could into his seat as the entire class looked his way. He could feel his face turning red, and he wished he could just crawl into a corner and stay there until the entire event had been forgotten. He knew this was going to be the talk of the school for the rest of the week. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Benji stopped his attemept to flirt with a girl he thought was cute in his English class as soon as he heard Patty on the televeision screen. He was just as curious as Joel was when Patty had walked by that morning with her snotty attitude as to what her remark meant.

He watched intently, thinking that no matter how hot she was, there was just something about Patty that Benji didn't like. When she finished her part on the announcements, Benji was furious. It didn't matter how much of a bitch she was, that was totally un-necessary for Patty to break up with Joel in front of the entire student body.

"Dude, isn't Joel your brother?" asked Cassie, the girl Benji was talking to just before Patty came on.

"Uh huh." Benji replied, staring at the blank televesion, still shocked by what Patty had just done.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Brianna was talking to Kaylei about the early Christmas present her dad had given her, which was a glitter lamp that Brianna thought was pretty cool. She said that it seemed as if he was trying to make up for the absense in her and her brothers lives after her parents' divorce by sending them gifts to compensate. Kaylei interrupted her and pointed to the television when Patty came on the screen. Brianna watched, but didn't pay much attention. When Patty finished her little announcement (<~ ugh! I'm so sick of that word!! But I can't think of anything else for it!) , Brianna didn't exactly comprehend what was said, considering she didn't even really listen.

Kaylei's jaw dropped a bit from surprise, and Brianna finally came back to reality from blanking out for a minute.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"Patty just dumped Joel, claiming that it was a dare to go out with him, and now she's sick of him!"

Brianna's eyes widened. "Just now? On the announcements?" Kaylei shook her head. "Are you serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack."

"No way. Oh, she is going to hear it from me!"

Kaylei shook her head. "No, Anna. It's none of our business. Don't start anything."

Brianna looked at Kaylei. "I dont think so. It just became my business. No one messes with my friends like that and gets away with it. You should know that. I'm not gonna do anything to her, she'll just be gettin' a piece of my mind." she assured.

"How has it become your business?" Kaylei wondered.

"Um, have you not seen who she's been all up on?" Brianna asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah."

"Now that she's on the market, guess who her next target is gonna be, Lei. Guess."

Kaylei looked down at her notebook, whoch showed a handmade collage of her friends. "Brandon."

"You got it. And you know Patty ... once she sets her sights on someone, she'll do anything in her precious power to get that someone. And in this case, it's Brandon. Well, she's got another thing coming."

"Alright class," Mrs. Tillman began the day in her usual cheery mood, "today we'll be learning about the constillations!"

Brianna sat back in her chair and contemplated what she would say to Patty when she had the chance.