Peter studied the beautiful woman wlaking near then, then whispered to Zach. "Probably. Doesn't look familiar."
When she got closer, Peter could not help but laugh under his breath at Johnny's awkward greeting. He whispered to Johnny, "Tell her you think she's cute."
Miley looked to Peter and Zach, motioning for them to follow her to teh rest of the teens.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jen sighed, when Syd was being friendly to Ally. She wasn't sure of Ally was being friendly or a total jerk. She chuckled at Declan's greeting. Leave it to Declan to lighten the mood.

Sydney chuckled lightly at Ally's greeting. "I'm Sydney, and I'm 16."

Then Declan came over, followed by a girl with blonde, wavy hair. Declan gave a greeting. Sydney grinned. "Nice to meet you, Declan, breather of air. I'm Sydney...I also breathe air and eat food. And, yes, I'm new here. Very new, actually. I just moved here like...half an hour ago."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bridget was slightly surprised when the man introduced himself suddenly. When he said he hadn't ever seen her around, she said, "That's probably because you haven't. I'm Bridget West; I just moved here with my sister, Sydney. You probably saw her walk by...It's kind of hard to miss her with her fiery orange and red hair..." Bridget chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rosamunde smiled at Sydney. "I'm Rosamunde, but you can call me Ro."

Ally whistled. "Half an hour isn't a long time, you know." She straightened. "Are you hungry?"

^v^v^v^v^v^v

Johnny's answer to his teasing cousin came in the form of a firm foot on Peter's toes. "I'm not good at complimenting women," he whispered back. "I'm only useful for my looks and singing voice."

"Thomas." His thoughts drifted back to the Agency handbook. Spot, assess, recruit. He shook his head. This was NOT the time to think about spotting, assessing, or recruiting.

Bridget looked at him, a bit confused.

"I mean -- that's my last name! My first name is Johnny. My last name is Thomas," Johnny explained, hoping his first agent-recruiting would not turn out this awkward.

Sydney shrugged. "A lot can happen in half an hour, actually." Her voice was low as she spoke.

But she shook her head and tried to put on a smile. "I just ate a little while ago, but thanks."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bridget laughed lightly. "Johnny Thomas," she tried the two names together. "A pleasure to meet you, Johnny."

Peter winced at the feeling of Johnny's foot on his toes. He whispered, "Ow."
Then, Johnny told him he wasn't good at complimenting women, so Peter decided to help. "He likes to write songs and play guitar."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jen was relieved Sydney didn't agree to go. Ally was trouble and Jen wanted Ally nowhere near Syd and would not let Ally corrupt her.

The teen next to Johnny spoke up. "Really?" Bridget asked, flashing a smile in Johnny's direction. "You'd get along with my sister. She's an aspiring musician."

Peter thought about this for a mintue. Bridget was his age, too young for Johnny. Still..if Johnny tutored her, it could allow time for him and Bridget. He looked at his older cousin, then at Bridget. Then, he got Miley and Zach to follow him to the rest of the teens. When they got there, Peter put his arms around Jen, then looked up at the orange haired girl. "Hey, I'm Peter. Jen's boyfriend."

Sydney rolled her eyes in a playful manner. "Anyone else want to introduce themselves while I'm here?"

She ran a hand through her hair, spreading her side-swept bangs everywhere. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sydney."

"Is she? That's...nice," Johnny said, while trying to think of something less moronic to say. Peter and Zach had abandoned him for their own friends. Cowards. Or maybe it was a more strategic move than one thought...

--------

"Zach!" Ally beamed at the boy and waved. "Glad to see me?"

Zach glanced at her short skirt, extremely inadequate for such a nippy autumn day. "I wish I weren't seeing quite so much of you," he said dryly.

Ally ignored the insult. "It's too bad we don't have so many classes together like eighth grade."

Peter rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he is doing just fine, Ally. Why don't you and Stacey go bug someone else?"
Stacey pouted her lips. "But...we saw a couple cute guys skating..."
Peter shook his head. "Logan, I'd watch yoru hair if I were you."
Stacey said, "AHA! It's not my fault Jen's psycho dad pulled your hair out last year!"
Peter said, "Why are you embarrasing Jen like that? Why are you calling her out?"
Stacey pointed her finger at Peter, "You started it! Besides your hair grew back, didn't it?"
Peter sighed, "Why are we even having this conversation? All I did as warn Logan about you."
Stacey said, "But you ask Ally to leave and not me?"
Jen turned to Syd and whispered, "Ally is trouble. So is Stacey. THey both are. Ally is the worse one of the two."

Bridget nodded, trying to think of a new topic. She looked at her cup and then at him with a smile. "Have you lived here long?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sydney arched a brow in Ally's direction. It was obvious that the boy didn't want her near him.

Jen spoke to her. Sydney smiled lightly. "Don't worry. I can take care of myself."

Sydney could tell that Zach was being annoyed by Ally. She rolled her eyes and said, "Hey, Ally, um...I was wondering if you knew of any good clothing stores around here..." Clothes shopping wasn't something Sydney enjoyed, but if it meant helping a fellow teen from the talkative girl, she would do it. Besides, she did need some new clothes.

Stacey squealed, "Shopping! OH I wanna come!"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jen sighed, hoping Syd was right. She asked God to protect Syd.

Sydney looked at Stacey and shrugged. "You can come if you want."

What am I doing? Sydney thought to herself.

"I have to disagree on the 'Half an hour isn't long.' A lot of things can be done in a half an hour." Declan said, "For instance Rocky Balboa won back the Heavy Weight Championship from Clubber Lang in way less time. I can also make this noise-" Declan began to make a low buzzing noise, "for 30 minutes, Which won myself popularity in middle school. Don't be hating on the 30 minutes."

Peter and Jen chuckled, despite the tense circumstances surrounding them this afternoon. Peter said, "I was not popular in middle school at all."
Jen answered, "Me either. But I was cute."
She gave Peter a playful grin, glad he didn't let Stacey insult her or her dad.
Peter smiled at his girlfriend. "And you still are."
Jen said, "I'm so glad middle school is behind us now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stacey squealed, "YAY! SHOOPING WIHT MY BESTIES! She grabbed Syd's arm. "You will get along with us great! I can show you the latest styles, give the best fashion advice...."