"Hey Cosmo, who's your friend?"
"Oh, hey Xav, this is Lisa. Lisa, this is my brother Xavier." Lisa looked up and her eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open to scream, but no sound came out.
"What's a matter? Trying to catch flies?" Xavier teased, gently. "Nah, I'm just kidding. Well, Lisa, I'm very glad to meet you." He reached his arms around her and gave her a big hug, and then backed off to let Cosmo calm the poor, hyperventilating girl down. He handed her a tissue to wipe the tears away from her eyes.
"It's okay, Lisa, it's just my brother, he's no big deal."
"Hey!" Xavier objected, feigning insult. She giggled a little, and he sat down next to her.
"So you're a fan, huh?" She nodded. "Well, that's pretty cool. So tell me, what's a pretty girl like you doing around a dork like my brother?" She giggled.
"He's my friend."
"Hmm, your friend or your boyfriend?" he teased.
"Just my friend," she giggled, "for now."
"Well," Cosmo butted it, "I love how you're talking about me as if I'm not here." They all laughed. In the end, Xavier signed a few autographs for Lisa, and they had fun working on homework together. But at supper, everyone had something to say about school.
"Hey mum, guess what?" Esme said, excitedly.
"What, Esme?"
"I tried out for the cheerleading squad, and I made the first cut. Tomorrow I'll find out if I make the squad, after the second try-out."
"That's great, honey." Unlike her twin, Esme was incredibly thin, and, in some opinions, drop dead gorgeous. She was also the only teenaged Hanson who had never dyed her hair, but had almost white-blonde hair down to her bum. She also loved to dance and do gymnastics, so cheerleading wasn't that much of a stretch for her. But Esme wasn't the only one who had an interesting day.
"How was everyone else's day?" Ike asked.
"I joined the art club," Toby said excitedly. Everyone knew how much he liked to sketch and draw, something he got from the Hanson side of the family.
Apparently everyone had an interesting day. Carmen loved her music history class of course, and had managed to correct the teacher twice already on the first day. Duke was already dating a cheerleader, something that actually worried Babsie a little bit, since they had only known each other for about six hours. Matt tried out for and made the track team, showing his love for running. Rogue and Storm had both joined the marching band, Rogue on trombone and Storm on euphonium. And Cyke and Lockie were both on the middle school newspaper staff.
Supper went by quickly, as it always did in the Hanson family, and before they new it the day was over and the next had begun. The second day of school was just as exhausting as the first for the Hansons. Esme made the cheerleading squad, Duke got rather cosy with his girlfriend Mindy, who soon became Esme's best friend. And everyone went on with their lives. Before anyone even realized how much time had passed, it was almost time for Homecoming. The oldest four were all hoping to go to the dance, and Rogue and Storm were playing for the Homecoming game, with the rest of the band.
Now, a bout three weeks before Homecoming weekend, Cosmo sat down next to Lisa during lunch.
"So, Lisa, are you going to go to Homecoming with me? I mean, considering you're my girlfriend and all that?" She giggled.
"Why of course, my dear Cosmo. Does anyone else have a date yet?"
"Well, Esme's already been asked out by four football players, two soccer players and three preps. Duke's going with 'Mindy,'" Cosmo rolled his eyes, because for some reason, Cosmo, the friendliest guy in the school didn't like Mindy all that much, "and Matt's trying to get up the courage to ask Charlene. Carmen hasn't been asked by anyone yet." Cosmos sighed. Carmen was the sister he was closest to, and it made him so sad to see how ostracized Carmem was at school. Despite all the attributes of her mother Carmen had, she was still rather shy. Plus she was really uncomfortable about her weight. She and Esme had been growing apart lately, since Esme joined the cheerleading squad, and as a result of that Carmen was using food to try and make herself feel better. Plus she was just the average teenaged girl. Her one solace was in music, in listening to it and writing about it.
"I just wish someone would ask Carmen to Homecoming," Cosmo sighed.
"I know you do, hon, I do too."