bffpartone1

Wednesday Morning:

Trixie sat up in bed with a start. She quickly scanned her dorm room. Nothing appeared to be amiss with her surroundings so she slowly relaxed back into a light doze. For the past couple of months she'd been plagued by an odd sense of suffocation that would attack at random times, with no discernible reason. Solving the mystery of these panic attacks appeared to be beyond her legendary detecting abilities. She'd already spent many a precious hour of possible study time contemplating them.

As she began to wake up, she looked thoughtfully around her room. Against the wall perpendicular to her was another bed covered with a thick down comforter encased in green velvet. This was where her roommate Willa Kerns slept. Some dried roses sat in a vase on Willa�s desk next to the bed�another gift from her most recent secret admirer. The rest of Willa�s belongings were neatly placed away in her drawers and closet. Trixie shook her head in wonderment; it constantly baffled her that someone who was every inch the talented artist, could be so neat and organized. Willa once laughingly told her, "It's all about balance Trix my dear�I have such a chaotic, cluttered brain that I�d go completely over the edge if I couldn�t make sense of something. My art I let run free, my clothes I do not.� And with a twirl she�d been out of the room and on her way to dance class, long auburn hair flowing behind her. Trixie smiled ruefully remembering the conversation. �I wish I could say the same of my clothes and living area� she laughed to herself.

Twenty year old Beatrix Belden, in her third year at NYU as a Criminal Law and Investigations Major, was the complete opposite of her roommate. She had a brilliant and organized mind when it came to the complexities of law and criminal investigations. However, organization of a household nature was a skill she completely lacked. Her clothes, books, and papers were scattered about the room, and she considered it a good day when a piece of molding fruit wasn�t discovered in some new hiding place. Her eyes lit on a recent picture of her and Willa, taken at a fall fundraiser the previous semester. She and Willa were the top layer of a pyramid of women clad in shorts and t-shirts. All were soaking wet and had flushed cheeks from the excitement of the day long carwash. Trixie�s smile grew broad as she got lost in memories of that day.

Several minutes passed before she managed to shake herself out of her reverie and her mind turned once again to the question at hand, what might be causing the panic attacks. Vowing to let it go for the day she jumped out of bed, threw together an outfit from what she hoped was the clean pile of clothes and rushed off to her first class. The Criminal Mind and Capital Punishment had fast become her favorite class as it always satisfied her burning desire to learn new things. Today was no exception and the hour flew by. The rest of her classes passed less quickly and enjoyably, but eventually they too were over. She went straight back to her dorm room and was able to get a fair portion of her homework out of the way quickly.

It was important to Trixie to keep Wednesday evenings free as they were generally set aside to spend time with Lanie. Elaina Cardoza, was an 8 year old girl that Trixie had befriended through the Big Sister organization. They bonded instantly at an orientation gathering for newcomers, where Lanie�s incessant questions had reminded Trixie of herself, and had won her heart.

Trixie got involved with the Big Sister program through one of her best friends, Daniel Mangan. Dan had just graduated from the Police Academy the previous spring and was now one of New York City�s finest. He did a lot of work with troubled youth in his free time and correctly guessed that Trixie would jump at the chance to be involved in something similar. Dan was also the one non family member of the Bob-Whites of the Glen � a childhood club, she her brothers and best friends had been in, that she was in touch with on a regular basis. He and Trixie had a standing weekly �date�, which usually consisted of beer, pizza, and talking about their love lives, or lack thereof.

As she headed out to meet Lanie, Trixie thought about how differently her friendships with Dan and Honey had turned out. She and Honey Wheeler, her childhood best friend and fellow Bob-White, hadn�t been in touch in a very long time. Trixie knew she would have to address the situation soon but wasn�t looking forward to it. Their last few conversations had grown increasingly more awkward in nature and had dwindled away to the recent silence of the last six months. In theory, they were still planning on opening a detective agency together after college, but the chances of it actually happening were growing slimmer as the two friends grew apart. Trixie clung to the idea though. It was as much a part of her as curly blond hair or blue eyes�

**************************************************************

After taking a short ride to a station in the mid-Bronx and walking a bit, Trixie was at Lanie�s house. Tonight was �Lanie�s Choice�, which meant that the little 8 year old girl got to pick the evening�s activity. Her choices ran the gamut from movies to the zoo to all sorts of museums, but more often than not she preferred to go to a quiet park and have picnics with Trixie. However, with winter beginning, the daylight hours were growing shorter and Trixie knew they�d have to find other things to do. She mused over different activities that the two could do as she stepped up the two short steps to the Cardozas� small apartment. She knocked quickly on the door and stepped back to wait the few minutes it would take for Esther Cardoza, Lanie�s grandmother, to shuffle to the front of the house. She hummed to herself as she looked around the desolate deserted street. Papers and other garbage swirled around carried on gusts of the strong November winds. Trixie could only imagine what it would be like to live here and renewed her silent vow to spend as much time with Lanie as possible. The door opened soundlessly and a wrinkled smiling face peered around the corner.

�Miss Beatrix, come in.�

�Thanks Mrs. Cardoza, how are you feeling tonight?�

Disclaimers: I do not own these characters (unfortunately!) and am using them without permission. They are the property of Random House. Also - this story deals with topics that are mature in nature. It's also non-tradtional so if you don't want to read about a Bob-White doing something that seems out of character you probably shouldn't read this!