Classes continued into the afternoon. Jason was still moving slowly from his injuries over Christmas break. Everyone was joking with him because his girlfriend was carrying his books for a change. Pushing his brown hair out of his eyes, Jason had to laugh at himself. "You go to see your Grandma and get ran over by a four-wheeler!" he thought. He did not even mention the part about seeing a supposed big bug named Moth Man. That was going to be a secret between the brothers and their parents until the day they died. The couple was making their way to English class. Jason wondered how things were going for Adam, but Adam was on the bottom floor by now to ask.

"Jason Kramer, where is that good looking brother of yours!" a very irritating voice boomed from behind. He did not even have to turn around to know who it was.

Giving his most polite smile a try, he turned around to face his nightmare, a green-eyed blond that stood about 5 foot 7. " Hello Christine, I heard that you were back in town," Jason said. Kara spun around as well. She also knew Christine, but not as well as Jason. She did however know that Jason despised her, and for good reasons.

"Yep, dad temporarily moved us back here until we find something more permanent. The mining business has slowed down you know so he has been working for a company over the net. Now his office could be anywhere so I begged him to come back here," Christine said, holding her books up. She had not changed a bit. She still had those sneaky eyes, even though the last time he saw her was when his brother and Christine were twelve.

"What a joy for Emerald Beach," Jason smirked. "So how is your step-brother? Is he with you?"

Ignoring the first jab, Christine just smiled, "Yeah, Nathan is with us. He is looking into some colleges. Hey, maybe he can talk to your mom about UCSD. She is still teaching history or something like that, right?"

Jason was still trying to be polite at Christine's prying questions. Jason often felt sorry for Nathan. His father married Christine's mother. After Christine's mother was found dead from an overdose when Christine was twelve and Nathan was seventeen, the family packed up and moved one night. No one had heard from them since. That was the best news since they used to live just down the road from the Kramers.

"Yes, she teaches archeology. Why is he interested in that as a major or minor?" Jason asked. Kara was still there waiting patiently. He flashed her a smile to let her know that he appreciated her presence.

"What is your dad doing these days?" Christine pried again.

"He is an investigator with the state," Jason answered.

"He was a great guy. He really helped our family out when mom passed on," Christine said. A glum look came over her face. But then it lit up again. "So who is this?"

"This is my girlfriend Kara Dobbins. Kara, this is Christine Micheals," Jason said introducing the girls to each other. Kara smiled and as Christine nodded.

"Nice to meet you. I used to live next to them a while back. Adam and I were very close," Christine said, smiling with that untrusting face again. "Where is Adam?"

"He is here, but look Christine. Things are not the same. Things have changed and have happened since you saw him. Let's just keep things simple. He does not need the trouble," Jason finally said in a low voice. Adam's life was coming together. He did not want to see Christine mess it up like she always tried to do in the past. It was not that she meant to, but she always had a thing for Adam. Adam, who did like her as a friend, did not share the same feelings. At twelve, Adam was not interested in girls. But that did not stop Christine from making every attempt to get his attention and getting him into trouble. Adam was a sucker for Christine's pity me attitude. Another factor was that Christine was insanely jealous of Jason's relationship with Adam. She tested that bond several times and Jason was not in the mood for it five years later.

"I am not going to start anything. I have a right to see him. You just see me as a threat. That has always been your problem. I know things have changed, but I am sure that it has not changed so much that he will not remember me, his old flame," Christine snorted, getting a little testy.

"Old flame? Christine, he was more interested in cars and surfing than you. You were not his girlfriend," Jason fired back.

"How do YOU know?" she sniped back. Jason knew that she was just pushing his buttons. He knew that Adam had never considered Christine in that manner. "We did share the first kiss."

"Only because he was dared in a game of Truth or Dare to kiss you. He was not going to lose to Chuck for nothing," Jason retorted back.

"It still counts."

"He washed his mouth out with ocean water afterwards. Besides, Emerald Beach is a small town. He had nothing else to do."

"He was young and Chuck was there. How could he resist this California girl? For which I have to ask, is Chuck still around?"

Jason stopped and calmed himself down. "Yeah, he is around. You are wasting your time with Adam. He has a new life and a great girlfriend."

Not even acting like she was intimidated at Jason's statement she replied, "Look, I am not hear to relive our glorious memories together. I will just find him myself." Then she looked over at Kara and then back at Jason and smiled. "I bid you both a good day."

Jason just glared as Christine made her way down the hallway and down the stairs. She was right. Adam was going to meet up with her sometime. He just hoped that for once, Adam's memory would not work as well. But he knew that was not likely. The accident that left Adam with brain trauma mostly effected his short-term memory, not his long-term memory.

"Maybe she has changed Jason," Kara added as they started to walk towards their classroom. Jason looked back at her with a dirty look. "Ohh Kaaaaaaay." Kara came back, seeing Jason's face.

The couple went into the classroom and sat down in their usual seat. The English teacher, Mrs. Robison did not assign seats, but everyone always sat in the same seat everyday. That is unless someone was feuding.

A few minutes on the bottom floor, Alyssa was washing her hands after using the bathroom. She wished that the school would get rails in their handicap restrooms, but her fortunately her arms were very strong. Alyssa was throwing away her towel when a blond girl stepped in the way. The towel bounced off of her face and onto the floor. Alyssa was immediately embarrassed.

"I am so sorry, I just did not feel like wheeling over there and I didn't see you there," dark- haired and seventeen Alyssa said in a sincere tone.

The blond girl just made a face at her as she applied her lipstick in the mirror. The bell rang to signal the beginning of the next period, but that did not seem to rush the tall girl from her primping.

Alyssa thought to herself that this girl has to be trouble, but thought she should still be friendly.

"Are you new here? I don't remember seeing your face around here," Alyssa asked.

Looking over from the mirror with an irritated glance, the girl replied, "I have been around and now I have someone to meet if you don't mind."

"Sorry, I was just trying to be nice," Alyssa stated as she started to wheel towards the door.

"Well, you are not exactly my type and you are not going to get any sympathy from me. I am sick of you handicapped people making the rest of us kiss your bottoms. You want to be equal, so be it. But I am not going to hang around with you losers. It is not my fault your momma drank or whatever," the girl sneered back.

Alyssa was just about to make a comment when she heard a familiar voice call out.

"Alyssa, did you fall in or something? Gee whiz! I have been waiting out here forever!"

"Coming dear," Alyssa said as she wheeled towards the exit to the bathroom. When she reached the door, she knocked to let her boyfriend know she was there. The door immediately opened and before Alyssa could do anything, the "make-up" girl stormed her way past her, basically climbing over her knees.

"Get out of my way you stupid invalid!" the girl yelled. But then she stopped short when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

"That was not a very nice thing to say," A voice boomed. Alyssa grinned knowing it was Adam. He will tell her. But she was not expecting what she saw next. Instead of the girl stomping off or making another rude comment, she walked right up to Adam and planted her lips firmly on his in a manner that he could not escape. After finally escaping the girl's chokehold, Adam glared at her and wiped his mouth off like he had something dirty touch his lips.

"Don't you know who I am?" the girl said excitedly.

Adam just stood there. He was in shock. All he did was open the door and wham! Some unknown girl kissed him right in front of his own girlfriend. Then the girl did an innocent little smile and curled her lip up into a flirtatious pucker.

"Christine?" Adam said softly.

"In the flesh! I have been searching for you all morning!" she said, walking towards him for a hug. But a wheelchair cut in between, hitting her in the calf of the leg.

"What was that for? Who do YOU think YOU are? Don't you have a space to take up somewhere?" Christine sneered at Alyssa.

"I don't think I have to explain who I am. Tell her Adam," Alyssa said, looking up at her blond haired boyfriend. But Adam was still in shock. Then he felt a slap on his side.

"Oh, sorry, this is my girlfriend Alyssa Clarke," Adam finally said after he came back to reality. Then he pointed to Christine. "This is Christine Micheals. She used to live next to us and we were friends before she moved. You really should not talk to her that way though. Alyssa IS the love of my life"

Christine just looked at Alyssa, who smiled a mischievous grin. At least Adam made that point clear, but Alyssa knew that this was not going to be the last time that they met. As far as she was concerned, Christine was not a threat, but a force to be dealt with and she was up for the challenge.