***AUTHORESS NOTES*** W00 w00, Torchick has a new region under her belt! Wow, I feel smart! I made up this region for the sequel to "Sapphire Sunsets" but I'd like to start using it. The majority of the Pokemon either belong to Twisted Alyx or Nintendo, but I do have a few... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 01: Miss Perfect All she wanted to do was break the vanity. Break the mirror, break the image, break what was sitting in front of her. She had the urge to do something radical to herself, to show that she was different, like get a tattoo, or get her nose pierced, or dye her hair neon pink. But it would never happen. Her parents would kill her, and then themselves. Nobody did things like that in the Labyrinth Terrace. Absolutely nobody. Candace brushed her wavy brown hair back one last time and looked woefully in the mirror. Her emerald eyes sparkled and her hair gleamed. Her nails were untouched, well of course, why wouldn't they be? She had them done yesterday. Her white tank top accentuated her tan skin. She put on a little more lip gloss, and began to wait. Ben walked past her room, keeping his eyes on her. On the hemline of her skirt. She hated when he did that, it made her feel like she had done something wrong. And after all, it wasn't her fault, right? Her brother was sick, and she hated him for ruining her. "Nice outfit, sis. Going out tonight?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, his eyes still never leaving her. At 5'10", Ben was taller than his petite 5'4" sister and he was the kind of guy that her eighth grade friends dreamed about. He had brown hair, darker than his sister's lighter locks, brown eyes that sparkled even more than her's did, and he excelled in everything that he did. Quarterback on the football team, junior class president, varsity basketball player, the guy that girls flocked to. Ben Parker? Yep, definitely Candace's brother. She flinched a bit and secretly thought how she couldn't wait for Ben to graduate and leave her in peace. "Why do you want to know?" she asked him, slipping on one of many pairs of sandals. "Because you're all dressed up. Who are you going with? Where are you going?" He was routinely interested in her and it bothered her. "I'll ask you again. Why do you want to know?" "I'm playing the big brother gig," he informed her. He was hardly the normal big brother. Even compared to the other boys in Labyrinth Terrace. She sighed impatiently. "If you must know, there's a band playing that I like at a club in Borrego and I'm going with Astrid, Alana, Bree, Emily and Jenna." She stared at the window, as if just looking at it would make Astrid's BMW would appear. She hoped that Astrid wouldn't bring along her younger sister Tori. Tori was fourteen and was in most of Candace's classes. She couldn't stand her. She was hardly like her sixteen year old gym leader sister. As if Candace liked her much anyways. But she was better than nothing. Ben opened his mouth to say something else, but then a car horn honked outside. Candace looked out the window. So they were finally here! Ben looked her up and down again and she was extremely glad to leave him behind and go to Borrego with her friends. "Candace, hi," greeted Astrid once she had taken her place inside, squeezed between the car door and Emily. Astrid's long blond locks hung down until the middle of her back. She looked perfect, but what was new? None of them looked too different from what you would expect from the ritzy Labyrinth Terrace. "Hey Astrid," she replied, wishing that she were anywhere but where she was. Well, except home. Ben was home alone now. Their father was at work, as usual, and their mother was playing tennis with her friends. She was nearly out as often as her husband. "How are you, Candace?" asked Emily casually. Candace envied her long, straight, red hair, before she figured that she wouldn't look good with it either. "Fine, and you?" Candace knew neither of them cared about what they were asking. They were more focused on pretending that they cared about each other. In the Terrace, nothing was real. She let her thoughts travel to her brother. She remembered the days when they were younger. Before he turned fourteen... He had been the only one in her family that she could turn to. She felt like he had been the only one who loved her. It seemed so long ago, but in reality, it wasn't. He had been the age she was now when everything changed between them. He had taken dire advantage of his little sister, who had been eleven at the time. He had asked her if she wanted to play a new game... If only she had known what he was talking about. And then afterwards, she had run to her mother. She called her a dirty little liar and punished her. And she had been punished everyday after that, though it wasn't her mother who was doing the punishing now. "Candace? Are you paying any attention back there?" questioned Astrid, who has focused her deep blue eyes on her while she was stopped at a red light. "No, I'm sorry. I wasn't," she apologized. "What were we talking about?" "Steven is bringing a friend for you to meet," Astrid told her and then focused on the road ahead of her. But hadn't Candace JUST broken up with Jake? She suddenly felt used and dirty, like all her life was men and nothing else. ***** The room was spinning and the band was playing loud as Candace took another drink. Neon lights flashed around her and the intensity was giving her a headache. Astrid, the perfect designated driver who wouldn't let anything touch her precious vehicle, stood by the bar, talking to Steven, a Diet Pepsi in her hand. "Shit," she muttered. "I have to do some work at the gym tomorrow." She searched around the club for her friends, and eventually gathered them all. Most were drunk, with the exception of Astrid and Emily, who had only had one beer. But Candace, on the other hand, had lost count after three. She felt a bit queasy but kept it inside. But the moment that she walked inside, she bolted up the stairs and into the bathroom and barely made it. She got up, but found the room spun. Ben walked in the bathroom door, his shirt off and abs gleaming in the fluorescent bathroom light. "Oh shit, it's a good thing for you that Mom and Dad aren't home," he said happily at her condition. She meekly nodded and was a bit afraid of him, but mostly, she was completely out of it. He helped her limp out of the bathroom, but instead of leading Candace to her own room, he lead her to his.