3 Stepbrothers

It's a Strawberry!

I sneezed. Again.

"Bless you." The three chorused at the same time.

I sniffled and reached for another tissue. "You guys are creeping me out with that triplet telepathy thing you got going on." I blew my nose and groaned to myself. My nose was already irritated and red. Not to mention that every time I rubbed it with a tissue the material felt like sandpaper against my raw skin.

I had slept in all day yesterday. It had been a long night, the only thing that had kept me awake was the sheer cold. It had been freezing, the rain hadn't helped much either. But when Blake found me I was too shocked and cold to register what was going on. Now it all made sense why he hated me. Every little piece of the jigsaw puzzle was put together to find the picture. All the bricks that formed that wall of mystery over him, toppled over. Sure he still had his secrets and he wasn't exactly nice like Cole and Shawn, but he was working his way.

Destroying Mr. Cuddles meant a lot to me. He knew that and that's why I was even more  shocked when he gave me his fathers ring. Blake probably expected me to destroy it, to just hide it and never give it back. Truth be told, I was never going to take it off. Just because he did something bad to me doesn't mean I have to repay the favor. I wasn't going to stoop down to his level. When he cut Mr. Cuddles up he was at level negative infinity, now I'd say he's on level zero. Working his way up with his brothers, even though they were always going to be a step ahead.

Blake the Cake couldn't get out of my mind though. Everything I had remembered from elementary I had tried blocking out because it reminded me of my mom. All I remembered was Mark being my best friend, the shoulder to cry on. He is still my best friend and no one was going to change that. I love him too much to let him go to easily.

But when Blake told me he remembered, everything came back. The days him and I would lay down on the hill and watch the clouds. Or play hopscotch and jump rope. He'd sometimes play basketball with his guy friends and I'd join in. But Blake was right, I went distant in second grade. I wasn't sure why, mom hadn't even died then but it had something to do with Chief Deliv and dads job.

How could I have forgotten? Cake had been his nickname after I had stuffed a handful of cake on his face. Some kid in our class had his birthday at school and decided to bring in his birthday cake. I 'accidently' shoved some in Blake's face and was he angry. It almost made me laugh at the memory, knowing that even then he had that scowl on his face.

Cole chuckled and glanced over at Shawn. "You keeping score?"

About an hour ago Cole carried me downstairs to the basement where we all sat around watching a movie in the theater. Shawn had picked it out, which meant watching an animated movie. He chose Ice Age.

"Yup," Shawn clicked his pen and wrote another dash on his hand. The guys thought it'd be funny to keep track of how many times I've sneezed. "That's fifteen in twenty minutes. Now shush. I love Sid."

Blake smirked, "Course you do. He's your great great great great great ancestor."

"That means he's yours too." I said in a duh tone. My voice came out weird like someone was pinching my nose. I hated having a cold.

Blake laughed again, "Please I'm obviously Diego."

"Why do you get to be Diego?" Cole whined. "I want to be Diego."

"You can't be Diego." Blake said matter of factly, "I'm the sexy cool one. You can be the big fluffy elephant."

"His name is Manny." I told him.

"Why am I Manny?" Cole asked.

"Because your nice." Blake said. "And...you have brown hair. So ha! I win."

"You're a loser." Cole muttered.

"Tell that to all the girls that love me." Blake stretched his arms until they laid behind his head. Even in the dark room I saw him wink at Cole. Everyone rolled their eyes except Shawn, his eyes were glued on the Doo-doo birds that were trying to defend a watermelon.

"Shhhh!" Shawn said waving his arms at us. He placed his head back on his hands while his elbows rested on the knees. "I'm trying to watch a movie. Geez why are you guys so talkative? I mean you're worse than me. And that's saying something." We all stopped talking but Shawn kept going. "I mean seriously who has a right to call about who's who? Sure maybe when I was a kid I was jealous when Blake got to be a Power Ranger for Halloween. Then Cole was Peter Pan. Do you know what I was? I was a freaking paper boy. Mom wanted us to all go as something that started with a P. So I got the lame costume with the soot on my face."

Cole turned to me with a devious grin. "He pulled the shortest straw. At least he got to choose between a paper boy or Pooh. Could you imagine Shawn in a Pooh bear outfit? He'd roll down the hills."

I laughed at that which turned into a headache. I groaned, laying my head down on the arm rest. The blankets were pulled close around me while the mini trashcan beside me was polluted with over flowing tissues. The boy's went back to watching the movie while I closed my eyes trying to sleep. My head was throbbing and my nose was so stuffy it was hard to breathe. The cold medicine wasn't taking much effect, even though I've been taking the amount said between the times.

Suzie had been upstairs helping Lilly trying to recreate the Thanksgiving dinner. After sleeping all day yesterday everyone was still disappointed we weren't able to celebrate Thanksgiving like every other family in the country. After all they had bought all the foods we had asked for. Even from the basement and my congested nose, I was able to sniff a bit of the roasting turkey in the oven. I could only imagine how intense the smell was to the boys.

Everything around me was a haze though. I lost track of time when I'd slip in and out of conciseness. One minute the screen had Ice Age the next I thought I saw a panda with noodles like a mustache. Someone shook my shoulder softly so I opened my eyes and saw Shawn. "Dinner time Miss Gorilla."

I nodded and got up putting the blanket over my shoulders like a cloak. "Need a ride up the stairs?" Cole asked me while I stumbled over the blanket. I had just realized I hadn't eaten all day. Most of the time I was sleeping and drinking water to get rid of this cold as soon as possible. I simply nodded and Cole picked me up with ease.

"She looks pretty light for a gorilla." Shawn muttered as we made our way upstairs. I smiled at that and when we reached the dining table it was nicely set up with fall decorations. Lilly had even put candles which were covered in red and yellow plastic leaves. Blake was helping with setting the dishes around the table. Cole set me down on my usual chair while Shawn helped Suzie get the drinks. I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to stay sitting up before my head would hurt more.

"How are you feeling?" Dad asked looking directly at me.

I shrugged keeping the box of tissues at my feet. "Better than this morning but I still feel sick."

"Of course," Lilly said, "You were in the rain all night. How would you not get sick?"

"Maybe if we dipped her in radioactive power she'd be fine!" Shawn blurted out with a crazed expression. "That is so going on one of my lists!"

"Dip Tori in some radioactive bucket of power?" Suzie asked confused.

Shawn nodded like a five year old, "Yeah!"

"I worry sometimes." Cole muttered. He took a seat beside me after helping setting the table. I had wanted to help because I felt useless doing nothing but every time I'd try to stand up Blake would push me back down on the chair and say he didn't want my infected germs over everything.

When everyone was sitting down I looked up to see all the food in front of me. The turkey was resting in the middle of the table while other side dishes went around. There was mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, gravy, mac n' cheese, vegetables, and cranberry sauce. Everything made my mouth water, the steam rising from the big turkey as we all sat around while dad poured our drinks.

"No wine for us?" Cole asked. I had forgotten it was already dark outside and when I looked out I felt a chill going down my spine like I could already feel the cold from outside.

Dad raised an eyebrow while he poured the wine in his glass along with moms. I smirked at the question knowing what my dad's answer would be. "Are you older than twenty one?" He asked. Cole shook his head. "Then you can't have any."

"But..." Cole sighed using his fork to push an asparagus back up the pot where it had fallen, "Stupid police dads."

Dad laughed and took a seat beside mom, "I'm just doing my job."

"Well?" Mom said looking at us. "Happy Thanksgiving redo."

We all smiled and started helping ourselves with all the food.

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

School was not gladly welcomed when vacation was over. Everyone was walking down the pale hallways, half asleep and tired from waking up early. Everyone's grave expressions made them look like zombies.There were yawns being passed down from person to person like it was some sort of contagious disease. Although the week off was a break from school, it didn't exactly relax me the way I had wanted it too.

I stood in front of my locker thankful that my cold had gone away. Pulling my books out I placed them in my empty backpack and swung it over my shoulder. "Are you headed to lunch?" I heard someone say. I looked over my shoulder and saw Hayden with his flashy smile.

I shut my locker and turned to face him, "Yeah, you?"

"Same," He looked down at his shoe for a second before looking back up at me with that same smile, "So can I walk you there?"

I gladly nodded and couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips. "What class were you at?" I asked as we walked with the other students.

"History." He answered with another shrug.

My eyebrows knitted together. All the history classes were at the end of the school. "How'd you get to my locker so fast?" I asked before another thought popped up, "How'd you know that was my locker?"

Hayden blushed slightly, "Well usually I see you at your locker when I'm walking down the halls." He finally looked at me, with a goofy smile. "Besides I jogged today so I could catch up with you before you left. I needed some Tori time after that fatting week." He patted his stomach.

I shook my head even though I couldn't shake off the smile. "Tori time?"

He nodded, "Time with the princess."

Suddenly my shoes seemed to be very interesting. I didn't know I had white shoe laces. They always seemed to be a little beige to me. When I thought I knew what to say to Hayden, the familiar ring of the intercom went off. "Hello?" Someone said, "If everyone could be quiet to listen." I nearly face palmed.

"Is that..." Hayden pointed at the ceiling where the voice was coming from, "Shawn?"

I nodded. The hallway went silent but everyone was still walking to the cafeteria. "Well for those that don't know me," Shawn spoke again, "Though I'm pretty sure a lot of you do. I'm Shawn Parris. Shawn Parris? Ring a bell? No, yes. Nah I'm pretty sure you know who I am. I'm the weirdo kid that sat crossed-legged on the water fountain trying to test if the water could go over my legs and not get me wet. Well it didn't work, in fact it got my jeans went making it look like a had a wee-wee. Which I totally didn't. Well now that I think about it, even if I did have a spill it wouldn't matter because you all think it was the water fountain. Totally adding that to my list of-"

"Get to the point." A different voice said from the intercom. It sounded like Blake. "I didn't get you in here just so you can rant about pointless stuff."

Definitely Blake. "Ok ok," Shawn said. "Well, one of my friends dared me. Because we were playing truth or dare. He chose truth, which is wimpy, I mean sure my dare consisted on running down the football field butt naked but still. Anyways, because I have balls I decided on dare. He said I have to go on the intercom and tell one of my most embarrassing...encounters."

The halls laughed a bit at the dare. By now Hayden and I were walking slowly just as everyone else was. The slow walking only seemed to add to my theory of being a zombie. We looked possessed as we kept looking up at the speaker as if it would hurry faster in talking. Shawn finally found his voice and kept speaking, "I was going to tell the story when I caught Blake and this girl-"

"What's the story!" Blake shouted at Shawn. Everyone laughed at how Blake had interrupted the story.

Shawn chuckled and repeated, "Ok ok." Before beginning is encounter. "I was showering one day. And this little girl was over because she's a daughter of a friends. Yeah she was so occupied with her sisters phone that she didn't hear the shower was running. Yup, she walked right in while I was showering." Everyone laughed except for me. I knew this story.

"Yeah..." Shawn said, "She wasn't scared. She didn't get my...front side. She got the moon. But it gets worse." The laughing at this point was so severe you could barely hear what Shawn was saying. "So she screamed, I got out as soon as I could, but when I was outside with her in the hallways I saw her laughing. Yeah, she was like seriously laughing. So I asked, 'What's so funny? I just mooned you!' She said, 'You have a triangle on your butt!'"

At this point I couldn't contain my laughter and broke down with the rest of the students. There was a muffled noise at the end of the speaker and we all realized the principle was trying to get her mike back. So Shawn quickly kept talking, "It's not a triangle! It's a strawberry shaped birthmark on my left cheek. I swear it's a strawberry!"

"Ok Shawn that's enough." Our principle said.

"Two more minutes." Shawn said ignoring the warning. "I named it Herbert and I have a freckle right next to it, he's Herbert Jr. So just so you know, it's a strawberry. And to all the guys that are in the locker room with me, I'd appreciate it if you didn't look at Herbert and Herbert Jr. when I get out of the showers. That's all." Before the microphone was snatched out of his hand he gave one last war cry, "It's a strawberry!"

The halls were filled with laughter while everyone tried fast walking to the cafeteria. Hayden had taken my hand and was guiding me through the crowd as we passed by everyone. When we did reach the cafeteria he didn't let go of my hand. "Look no line." He pointed with the free hand. "Made it just on time."

I looked up from his and my hand and noticed he was right. Usually there'd be a long line but now there was only three or four kids that were in front of us. We moved in behind them and Hayden finally let go when he went to grab a fork and some napkins. All I could say was his hand felt strange in mine, like I didn't know how to exactly think of it. It wasn't alien, but it didn't feel good in my hand either, so it was just strange. "I'll pay for you. What'd you want?" He asked me.

"You really don't have too." I said to him while I reached for the spare cash in my back pocket.

"I insist. Just pick some food Tori." He let me step in front of him. I got my usual sandwich with a side of baby carrots and an apple. Just as I was about to pay, because I felt bad if Hayden had to pay for me, he beat me to it and told the lady at the counter to include both meals into the price.

"You really didn't have to." I told him again as he finished paying.

"Honestly, Tori it's fine." He smiled at me and I looked down. It's that smile, with those shiny white teeth. It's like looking into a light or something. "So where do you sit?"

I looked over at the table where Mark and Em were sitting at. Cali was probably sitting with her other friends. Hayden followed my gaze and elbowed me lightly, "Those your friends?" He asked.

I nodded and started heading that way. Hayden followed me there, sitting beside me when I took a seat. "I'm pretty sure you know everyone here right?"

Hayden nodded, "Sup Mark."

"Nothing much," Mark lent over and fist bumped Hayden.

"Pleasure to finally speak to Shawn's lady friend." Hayden said shaking Em's hand.

"I don't know you. But I like you already." Emily shook her head a bit before turning her attention to me, "So I was wondering what you were doing this weekend?"

I shrugged, "Not a lot. Why?"

"Because I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me."

Mark laughed, "Tori and shopping? That's like putting a pack of piranhas in a pool with one piece of meat."

"So are you two really good friends?" Hayden asked me as he pointed at Em and I.

Em nodded, "Yeah we've gotten to know each other a lot in Home Ec."

"Yup," I chimed in, "Burning blueberry muffins with someone sure tells you what kind of person they are."

"One time," Em held up her index finger to show her emphasis, "One time I didn't read the instructions and you're haunting me like the ghost of Christmas past."

Mark chuckled, "I remember when Tori and I almost burnt the house down."

I covered my eyes with my hands and groaned. "Don't remind me. It was awful."

We both started to laugh and Mark shook his head, "See the way the story goes is-"

Shawn came from behind and wacked the side of Mark's head. "You are such a weirdo."

Mark started rubbing his head where he had been hit. Then his lips curled in a smile. "You agreed to it."

I sat there chewing on my baby carrot unsure what was going on. Were Mark and Shawn...friends? Did this mean I could tell Mark? Shawn would definitely take my side now. If he knew what kind of person Mark was, he'd know that Mark would never tell a soul if we asked him not too. I trust Mark with my life, he could keep a small secret.

"Wait," Em looked at Mark, "You dared him to do that?"

He nodded, "Yeah we were playing Truth or Dare in history."

"So a triangle Shawn?" A group of girls walked by and the one the middle had said that.

"It's a strawberry!" Shawn lifted his hands in the air with an annoyed expression. He turned himself around so his butt was pointed at the girls. "Would you like to see Herbert?" They giggled and walked off.

"I'd prefer you didn't show those girls your butt." Em muttered while pushing some yogurt up her spoon.

Shawn smiled and sat beside his girlfriend kissing her cheek. "I won't. Herbert and I promise." Shawn swung his arm around Emily and pulled her closer to his side. Her cheeks turned rosy but her expression seemed happy and pleased by Shawn's action.

"Ew." Someone said behind me. I looked up and saw Cole. "You're not seriously that kind of couple are you?"

"Go away Cole," Shawn reached onto my tray and picked a baby carrot throwing it at his brother. "We don't need your Herbert-less butt at this table."

Cole looked at is brother with a weird expression. There were just some things that Shawn would say or do that made everyone question what his sanity level is. "I saw you here so I came over. Why are you here?" Cole took a seat on my empty side and pulled out a brown paper bag.

"Getting to know my girlfriends friends." Shawn answered casually.

"Ok um..." Mark said awkwardly, "Tori's my best friend, Em is my friend, I can understand Shawn because he's my friend and he's Em's boyfriend, Hayden came to say hi because again he's somewhat a friend. So don't take this badly but, why are you sitting here Cole? Minus that Shawn is sitting here."

He shrugged, "Tori's my friend. Ain't that right?" Cole pushed my shoulder with his.

"Yeah," I said with my eyebrows linked together. "Yeah Cole's ok."

"Just ok?" He shook his head, "You're mean."

"Nah, she's more of a cutie." Hayden answered taking a sip from his orange juice.

 I felt the blood rush to my face and I looked back down at my sandwich. I saw the inside was filled with mayonnaise. I didn't know mayonnaise was white. It always had a more beige color to me. I guess that really depended on the brand, and if the it was spoiled or not.

"More like a pain in the ass." Blake said from behind me. I wanted to smack my head on the table at this point. "Why are you two sitting here?" He asked his brothers.

"I'm with my girlfriend." Shawn answered.

"I pretty much know most of the people here. Except for Mark." Cole said with a shrug.

"Uh huh..." Blake raised his eyebrow before sitting across from me, between Mark and Em. "Well I guess I'll be here too." Mark started playing around with his food. I wasn't even sure if he's eaten anything since Cole sat down.

"I'm not a pain in the ass," I said taking a bite of my sandwich, "If anyone is inflicting ass pain it'd be you?"

"Me?" Blake said with an expression of disbelief shown across his face. It seemed like I just suggested the stupidest thing in the world. "The only ass pain inflictor here is you. You're also so annoying."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"You're mental."

"You're mental." He mimicked.

"Flamingo."

"Smurf."

"Pizza licker."

"Showoff."

"Mr. Think-I'm-All-That."

"Miss I-Can-Flip-People."

"Cake."

"It's Blake!"

"I win!"

"No you don't Tobi."

"It's To-ri."

"I win"

"No you don't you dog."

"Yes I do you bitch."

"Stuffed animal killer!"

"Gorilla!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Shawn said, "That is my insult to Tori. Back off Blake."

"That escalated quickly," Hayden added in.

"Ok I got half of what those names meant," Cole said, "Can you explain the rest?"

"No." Blake fumed while I bit my into my apple hastily.

"Geez," Em muttered, "It sounds like you live together like...man that got intense."

Blake and I weren't on bad terms, but we both agreed that being nice to each other was too weird. We've already broken the barrier of hatred, now we were just step-siblings. I wasn't able to accept Blake as a brother like I could with Cole and Shawn, I was trying to but he's just too distant and stubborn to actually try and get to know. And he wouldn't even let me tell Mark about this stupid secret.

When I looked up at Mark he was just staring off into his food like he wasn't sure what was going on. This was the first time all three of the Parris brothers were sitting at our table. Mark was fine when Shawn was sitting here, apparently they're friends. But when Cole and Blake appeared he seemed to have tensed.

I must have been studying him too hard, he looked up at me and gave me a reassuring smile that made my heart melt. "Yes or no?" Hayden asked.

"What?" I snapped my attention back to reality. Hayden must have asked me a question.

"I was wondering if you were going to eat those." He pointed at the rest of my baby carrots. I shook my head and he started stealing them from my tray.

Everyone seemed to be doing their own little thing. Cole had chopsticks in his lunch and given them to Shawn so he could pretend he was drummer. While Shawn drummed against the table, he and Em talked to their selves. Cole kept pulling his phone out to text someone. Blake was stealing looks at girls that walked by, causing them to giggle or signify for him to call them. Mark was still tense as he sat between Blake and Hayden.

"Are you listening Tori?" Hayden asked me again.

I must have black out again while I was watching Mark's reactions. "No I'm sorry. Can you repeat it?"

He shook his head, smiling nevertheless. "You have some mayo on your nose." My nose? Was I really that hazed that I got mayo on my nose? I reached up to wipe it off but Hayden beat me to it. "I got it," He leaned over and kissed my nose.

 I was frozen in spot while I tried to process what happened. Sure it was a little kiss on the nose but it had my stomach erupting into butterflies. All I could do was sit in place and concentrate my gaze on Hayden's eyes. They were so dark, almost black. I found it fascinating how someone's eyes could be dark like that. Mine were just a simple brown, light like milk chocolate.

Was that a white shirt he was wearing? In the hallway it had seemed a bit beige to me.

"Aw that was cute," I turned around to see the source of the voice. "Do it again." Cali said with a smile. Hayden turned his attention back to his food with a small blush forming on his neck. I followed pursuit not wanting people to see my face.

"Did I miss it?" Em nearly shouted. Then she groaned, "Aw man! I wanted to see the kiss."

Cole looked up, "What kiss?"

"There was a kiss?" Blake asked looking back at us.

"Hayden kissed you?" Mark asked, his eyebrows knitted.

"No PDA!" Shawn shouted before pointing an accusative finger at us. "PDA! PDA!" He kept shouting until people started to stare. "Public display of affection! Hello! There's PDA!"

I could feel my cheeks burning and Hayden shifted in his seat awkwardly trying to get away from Shawn's finger. "There wasn't a kiss." He mumbled under his breath.

Cali giggled and sat beside me. The table was becoming more and more crowded by the minute. Any moment now I was thinking someone else I knew was going to sit beside us. At this point Shawn decided to pull Emily onto his lap to make more room, it only gave us a little space, everyone's elbows were still toughing if we placed them on the table. "What's up?" Cali asked me.

I shrugged not sure how to respond. Sure she still talks to me, it's just been a lot less comfortable to be around her. I used to be able to tell her anything, now I wasn't so sure. There were things I knew she was hiding from me, but why should I trust her if she doesn't trust me? Nowadays I'd go to Em if I needed help with something, there was just no way I could even dream about telling Cali.

"Just chilling with the guys." I answered, then Emily coughed. I added in quickly, "And Em of course."

When I glanced over at Mark I could see he was very uncomfortable. Just the way he was sitting with his arms at his side as if he was trying to press his shoulders in together. I looked up from his T-shirt that had a stick of butter with an angry face. It read in bold letters, You butter back off, Pal. When I reached Mark's eyes I noticed he was looking directly at me.

Shawn was now ranting to Cole about texting and PDA, while Blake hardly listened in. Cali and Em were making small talk and Hayden ate his food calmly. "Can we talk?" Mark asked me seriously. Everyone acknowledged what he had said and looked between him and I. "Please," He said a bit more desperately, "In private."

I nodded and got up following after Mark. He grabbed my hand and led me to the hall where there were a few students that were messing around, talking, or in some cases, making out with their boyfriend or girlfriend. "What's up?" I asked leaning against the wall by the water fountain.

He didn't say anything at first. Instead he leaned beside me his back propped on the wall. Mark looked ahead of us his jaw clenching and unclenching like he was thinking on what do say. "I don't understand..." He finally said turning his head to look at me. I met his gaze looking into his eyes. They were the same simple green I've grown up with for the last ten years.

Although Mark was confused, his words were making no sense to me. So I asked, "What do you mean?"

He sighed and looked ahead again. "Shawn and I are buddies. I guess...I don't really know what we are. But I did give him that dare."

I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest before looking up at the ceiling light. It was buzzing with electricity and I could faintly make out the shadows of bugs that had died inside the light. "Why did you do that?" I asked.

Mark laughed a bit. "I don't know. I thought it'd be funny."

"Which it was." I remarked quickly.

"Yeah well...we were playing Truth or Dare." Mark shook his head with an amused expression.

New curiosity bubbled inside me. "What'd he make you do?"

"I chose truth actually."

"What'd he ask then?"

Mark didn't answer for a full minute. There was a silence between us but the small laughter that the other students were making, didn't allow the hallway to be quiet. Not to mention the talking coming from the cafeteria. "I still don't understand." He finally said off subject. I let this one slide and waited for him to continue talking. "Why are the Trips sitting with us?"

In full honestly I didn't know either. Like Mark had said, it made sense if Shawn sat with us but Cole and Blake? Maybe I can make something up for Cole, but Blake I surely didn't know why. He always seemed to steer clear from me. Never has he been this close to me at school unless he was pushing me around. "I don't know," I muttered softly. "Maybe Cole came to sit by Shawn, but you know how the Trips are inseparable. So Blake decided to join...?" It sounded more like a question.

Mark sighed, "Yeah I guess it makes sense."

"Hey," I hugged his arm sensing his distress. "Why are you so upset?"

He shrugged and I felt his lips kiss the top of my head. "I just don't trust him...but you're growing fond of them. So just tell me. Can they be trusted?"

"Yes." I said with no hesitation. The boys may not be the most trustworthy people I've known, but I was slowly learning to trust them. Already they seemed like real brothers to me. Shawn would always find a way to make me smile or laugh. Cole is nice to me and tries to help me with anything possible. As for Blake, he was more like the obnoxious brother. The one that makes me pull my hair and want to strangle to death.

Mark nodded, "Ok." We stood quiet for another minute, enjoying each others company before he decided we better go finish our lunch. It was almost time to head back to class, but apparently he hadn't eaten much. "Can I have the rest of your apple?" He asked when we took our seats back with the group.

"Sure," I handed him the apple while listening to Cole and Shawn argue.

"Cole and Mystery Girl sitting in a tree," Shawn sang, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"Oh my god you're so annoying." Cole muttered never taking his eyes off his phone screen. He quickly glanced at Em, "Why do you date him?"

"Because I'm a crack." Shawn said with a grin.

"More like you're on crack." Blake muttered quietly but loud enough for all of us to hear. Everyone laughed softly while Shawn glared at his brother.

 "You're so mean to me." Shawn faked a heart break and put his hand over his heart. "And to think I told everyone about Herbert instead of my incident with you."

Blake grinned and looked up from his lunch. "You just love me a lot."

"You're right," Shawn shrugged, "I Loathe Only Vital Excuses."

Everyone gazed at Shawn. "What?" Hayden asked as he chewed his sandwich.

"That doesn't make sense." Cali added in.

"Yeah it does." Shawn said confidently.

Em raised an eyebrow, "So when you say 'I love you' to me, it's just a vital excuse that you loathe?"

"Yes." Shawn said without hesitation. He gained a glare from Em while the rest of the table laughed with wide eyes. "I mean no!" He added quickly, "I just mean-"

"Yeah exactly what do you mean?" Em put her chin in her hand as she leaned on the table with her elbow. Her glare was directed at Shawn as we all laughed. He seemed slightly nervous like he didn't know what to do. For once Shawn was speechless.

"I uh..." He said nervously, then coughed and stared at Cole. "Would you put that phone down?"

"No," Cole muttered still staring at the screen. "Don't change the subject."

"What's Mystery Girl saying anyways?" Shawn asked ignoring Cole's request.

"She invited me to go ice skating today." Cole said with a shrug.

"Aw," I said with a face, "Does Cole have a date?"

He shook his head talking matter of factly. "It's not a date."

"Right," Shawn stretched the word out. "Does that mean I could go too?"

"If you want." Cole muttered.

"Sweet! Em you wanna go?" Shawn asked.

Emily sighed, "I don't know. I have a lot of homework Shawn."

He gave her a puppy face, "Please." His arm wrapped around her and nuzzled his head into her neck. Emily turned a shade of red while everyone at the table smirked at her. She muttered something so quiet no one could hear her. Shawn broke into a smile, "That's why I love baby."

"Well I loathe your vital excuses too." She replied quietly.

"Are you going or not?" Cole asked. "Because I need to tell Mystery Girl."

"Yeah we're going." Em answered before looking at me with a grin. "Why don't you come too Tori?"

Before I could answer Mark bursted out laughing. "Tori ice skating? Last time we went she fell every single time. It was hilarious."

"You can ice skate?" Blake asked Mark.

He nodded, "My little brother plays hockey. I might as well have learned, right?"

Blake didn't answer. He just went back to his food. It was at this moment that I realized people were staring. When I turned to look over my shoulder, I saw Blake's previous table had its eyes locked on us. They hardly looked at Em, Cali, Hayden, or the guys. Their gazes were directed at Mark and I.  I shot the boys a glare. Some smiled back while others looked down at their food. Mark and I were more of the strangers in a way. Everyone else seemed to be well known.

"Are you listening?" I heard Shawn say before a carrot hit my cheek.

I just keep blacking out today.

"What?" I turned back to my table. My voice came harsher than I had intended so everyone gave me a weird look. "Sorry," I sighed, "What were you saying?"

"Everyone wants to go." Cole said tapping on his phone.

I frowned unsure what we were talking about. "Go where?"

"Ice skating," Blake said with a roll of his eyes. "Maybe if you got your head out of the clouds you'd know."

"Maybe if you got your head out of a girls mouth people like me would respect you." I shot back.

"Burn!" Shawn and Hayden shouted at the same time. They laughed and gave each other a fist bump.

I will never understand guys. I thought to myself as I watched them laugh. Except Blake, he just seemed angry. Then again, when wasn't he mad?

"So who's going?" Cole asked with agitation. "My siblings, Em, Mark, Hayden, and Cali?"

"Don't forget Tori." Hayden said slinging his arm across my shoulders.

Cole tensed a bit. "Right. And Tori."

Cali looked toward me with a smile. "Just like old times, huh?"

Except the Trips are here and Hayden who, by the way, has a crush on me. Plus Emily, but she's my friend. I sighed inwardly. Emily was cool, and she acted like a better friend than Cali sometimes. Cali hasn't spoken to me in weeks. Then suddenly, poof. She wants to go ice skating with us. Maybe I should be overjoyed, happy because finally she was accepting me again. I knew otherwise though. All she ever does is talk to me in Home Ec. We decided on taking the class together because it was an easy A. It is our senior year, we didn't find it necessary to have to pick an elective that involved work.

But even so, she rarely talks to me. I've gotten to know Emily in a short amount of time. It was impressive, how I could trust Emily with something's more than I could trust Cali with. And I've only known Emily for a month or two. Replacing Cali was impossible though, she helped me though a lot of things, yet it seems like she easily found someone to replace me. Or some people, she didn't have one friend anymore. She had several.

Even her hair style and clothing took an unexpected turn. She'd always wear pony tails or braids. Now she always had her hair curled or straightened. Highlights reflected off of her blonde hair and her make up had gotten thicker. She wore shorts even though it's winter. Not to mention the tight leather jacket that showed her cleavage.

"Yeah." I finally said before looking down. "Just like old times..."

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

"So I still can't tell him?" I asked as I got in the car. For some weird reason Blake had suggested Cole, I, and himself should drive in the same car. Mark was going to take his pick up with Cali while Hayden had his car with Em and Shawn. It was a very complicated system and I was shocked when Blake pulled at my arm and hauled me to his car before I could say anything else.

"No." He said flatly. I sighed and placed my head on the window. Cole had taken shot gun, leaving me in the back with the duffel bags that had god knows what. I was scared that if I opened one of the bags, green smelly odor would leak out like in the cartoons.

"Why?" I snapped. "Why can't I?"

"Because I said so."

I gawked at Blake. Because he said so. I was in disbelief when he said that. Who did he think he was? Thinking he could control me like that! Maybe it's true. Maybe he is Blake Parris, but that doesn't give him the right think he can control what I say and don't say. "Are you serious?" I asked with my mouth hanging open. "Just because you're Blake Parris doesn't mean you can order me around!"

"Are you two seriously going to fight?" Cole looked up from his phone. "Again?" He added.

 "Put in your ear buds and stay out of this Cole." Blake snapped at his brother.

Cole sighed deeply before plugging his ear buds into his phone and blasting music into his ears. "I'm only doing it because I don't want to hear another fight," He murmured his eyes closing as he lent his head on the window, "Not because you told me so."

His music was so loud I could hear it from the back seat, I wished I could tune myself out like that right now. Instead Blake shot me a glare through the rearview mirror. "So if I can't order you around why haven't you gone behind my back and told Mark?"

I opened my mouth trying to think of a witty answer but then closed it again. Because what if your right. I thought to myself. What if Mark does end up hating me for lying? But of course I can't tell Blake that I think he's right. It'll just give him a bigger ego. And his ego is higher than the Empire State Building.

The car went silent for a couple minutes. All I could hear was the whirling of air that whipped its way around the car as we drove on. Cole's ear buds were blasting what seemed to be rock music, but it was hard to tell. Although I could hear it, I couldn't make out many words. Blake would keep glancing in the rearview mirror, but I kept my gaze looking at the trees that kept passing by.

All the trees had already lost their leaves and seemed to be dead. Without the leaves, each tree looked like a ghost. Dark and lifeless. There were no birds, seeing too that they migrated or were hibernating. The nights were now silent while all the crickets took shelter from the cold. When I pressed my hand to the window, it was like ice and a small ring of humidity formed around my hand.

"Just wait till after December." Blake said in the silence.

I looked up from my hand and brought it onto my lap. "What?" I asked as I tried warming my fingers. The print of where my hand had been was starting to fade away.

"You're barely going to see him this month anyway." He said, "So just wait till the end of the month."

My eyebrows knitted together. "Why?"

"Because."

"Because isn't a sufficient answer Cake."

Blake muttered something under his breath before talking regularly. "Don't call me that. It's Blake."

"Stop changing the subject." Irritation started growing inside me. "Why can't I tell him? What do you have to loose? He won't tell anyone."

"How would I know? I don't know him like you do."

"Then take my word on it."

He was silent. Ten seconds passed by with nothing but the sound of Cole's ear buds. "No." Blake finally answered.

I threw my hands in the air, slouching back in my seat groaning into my hands. "You're such an asshole."

He smirked. "Aren't I suppose to be? It's in the job description of being a brother."

"A good brother would let me tell Mark."

"A great brother wouldn't because he's trying to keep you away from guys."

I laughed. "Are you serious? You're going to be that overly protective brother? Well that's just wonderful."

Blake chuckled a smile forming on his lips. "I told you it's in my job description."

I snorted. "I find that hard to believe considering you tried getting me laid by Trent."

He shrugged, "I had a brain fart. Can you blame me?"

"Well I do blame you. So your question is irreverent."

"You're so weird." Blake shook his head. He stopped at a red light waiting for it to turn green. Behind us I could see Mark's red pick up truck. When I glanced at Cole I saw his breathing had slowed indicating he had fallen asleep. "Just give me a month." Blake said when the light turned green a minute later.

"A month?" I asked a bit confused.

"To show you I can be your brother." He said a bit hesitant.

I frowned and looked down at my hands. Maybe if I just agreed to this, we wouldn't have to bicker so often. Then when the month is up he'll let me tell Mark. A win win. I get to freely tell Mark and Blake will know I didn't go behind his back because he agreed to it. "Fine."

Blake's lips curled into a smile and his eyes appeared on the rearview mirror. "Hey," He said getting my attention, "I'll be by your side when you tell him. So he's not mad ok? I got your back Tobi."

I rolled my eyes, "For a second I thought you were being nice. Your last words totally ruined it."

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

"We're here." I shook Cole's arm trying to wake him up. His ear buds were already off and he groaned rubbing his eyes trying to wake up.

"What time is it?" He asked with a yawn. "It's not even dark."

"It's only five o'clock Cole." I said rolling my eyes. "You fell asleep."

He took his seatbelt off and joined me outside the car. "I didn't sleep much last night," He said while stretching his arms. "Is Jodee here?"

"So that's Mystery Girls name." Shawn said as he walked towards us, Emily under his arm. He snickered, "Cole your hair is like everywhere."

"What?" Cole asked with a bit of fear. He started patting his hair down making everyone laugh. "Laugh it up," Cole said with a glare, "This is a pre-interview for me so leave me alone."

"Interview?" I asked.

He nodded, "For a job at Hollister."

"Ooh," Cali said while she took a stand beside Mark, "Hollister models are hot."

It was hard to say they weren't. "Nah Abercrombie has some pretty hot guys also." I said.

Emily laughed at us, "Heck no. Channing Tatum beats all of them."

"Oh my god," Cali turned to look at me placing her hand on my arm. "Like when we saw Magic Mike."

Em squealed like a fan girl, "That movie was plain sexy!"

I laughed a bit not sure what to say. In all honesty, I didn't really see why girls fantasized over Channing Tatum. Maybe it was because too many fantasized over him that other girls decided to join in the 'trend'. His ego probably sky rocketed from all his fans, maybe it was just as large as Blake's. He had a great body and all, I just don't understand the obsession. Not just Channing Tatum, but other actors, or singers. The whole, fan girl thing, was alien to me. "All I got from the movie was these guys who work at a bachelorette place." I answered smugly.

Em gawked at me, "That's all you got?! What about Channing's abs and rock hard body!"

Shawn interfered, "I swear to god if I ever see Channing Tatum I'm going to punch him in the face." This caused everyone to laugh while we walked towards the enterance to the ice rink. Inside, everything had a little dull taste to it. Gray walls, with white floors. Those were the colors of everything. The concession stand seem to be the only thing with any color to it. Although there was a small shop to the left of us, it was painted with the same placid tone.

"How can I help you?" A girl said at the booth. At entering the building, there was a small stand where we had to pay for wrist bands. After we all got the red paper band on our wrists, we headed to the shop to find the rentals section where we'd try on for our size.

"This is just like bowling." Mark huffed as he tried to squeeze his feet into the skate. He had his own pair of skates at home, but because of the short notice he hadn't had time to go get them.

Shawn snorted, "Yeah except the temperature here is freezing so there's not bacteria crawling in these shoes."

"That's the smartest thing I've ever heard him say." Hayden muttered while he tied his own skate.

I looked down at the complex system of sting on the top of my skate. Why couldn't it just be like the figure skaters? There's just looked like a shoe on a blade. The ones I had on had latches, velcro, and string. If they thought we might fall out of the skates, they could just warn us to tie them harder.

"Lemme help." Blake sat down in front of me his legs to the side. I placed my foot in front of him as he started connecting everything to where it belonged. A smirk formed om his lips, "It's been a while since I've tied someone shoes." He said just above a whisper.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a pain in the butt for being a brother, you know that?"

He laughed a bit. It was still odd seeing Blake smile and laugh more. It was a lot more friendly now though, even if we do fight a lot, he's not a complete and total jerk. "Well sorry Tobi."

I rolled my eyes and decided against replying, we'd simply start another fued. When he was done he got up and gave me his hand to take. Just as I was about to take it he whisked it away leaving me to glare at him for his child play. As I stood up I realized it wasn't difficult walking with these. "Where are your skates?" I asked Blake just as I realized his feet were covered in the same shoes he'd been wearing all day.

He shrugged, "Skating's for wimps."

Everyone seemed to have heard this because they turned to look at him. Mark was the first to speak, "So hockey players are wimps? Have you seen what they can do in the rink?"

Blake shrugged, "It's cool and all. Plus a sport, but I mean on ice. It's like those weird Disney On Ice figure skating shows they have. It's not my thing."

"So you're not going to skate?" Cole raised his eyebrows at his brother. Before Blake could answer two hands fell onto of Cole's eyes blocking his view. We all turned to look at the girl behind him who gave us a look that read Shh don't say anything.

"Guess who?" She said in what I assumed was a man's voice.

Cole smiled before pretending like he was thinking. "Um...Santa?"

"I do not have a basketball sized stomach!" The girl shrieked.

Cole laughed and turned around to give the girl a hug. "What up Jojo?"

She rolled her eyes, "Don't call me that. It's annoying."

"Sorry Jojo." He said with a wink. Shawn put his finger in his mouth poking it inside his cheek and started bobbing his head while Cole wasn't looking. Everyone laughed at Shawn's vulgar motions but then came to a stop when Cole turned around to face us with a confused expression. "What'd he do?"

"What makes you think it was me?" Shawn gave a smile that held no innocence behind it. He walked up to the girl and stuck his hand out. "It's a pleasure to meet the Mystery Girl. But I swear I've seen you before."

"Same." I added when I looked at her again. She had strawberry blonde hair reaching her shoulders. She wore a sweater with a beanie on her head and a heavy coat folded over her arms for when she got cold.

She looked directly at me before answering. "Yeah I helped you buy some shoes at the sports store." Then she turned to Shawn. "So you're the white girl that was obsessing over the frap?"

Shawn grinned, "And you're the one that's going to give my brother a hard head."

Cole shook his head before slinging his arm around the girl. "She's a friend. And stop calling her Mystery Girl. It sounds weird."

"I kinda like it," Jodee said, "Makes me sound mysterious."

Blake had his eyes narrowed at her. I felt an arm brush against mine and looked up to see Mark who held a smirk on his face. "Aren't you the girl that rammed the door in Cole's face?" Blake asked her.

She grinned. "Yes. But he stalks me."

"I do not stalk you." Cole sneered at her.

Jodee snorted. "Uhm I beg to differ."

Shawn elbowed Cole's side, "See she's already begging."

Everyone laughed as Shawn tried running away from Cole before he could get him. Shawn wobbled as he tried running, a string of curses leaving his mouth as he finally reached the glass door that led to the rink.

Mark took my hand with a wide smile. "Come on this'll be fun."

By the time I had the guts to get on the ice, everyone was already skating except for Blake. For the last thirty minutes I had been telling Mark I didn't want to go on the ice because I'd fall. He tried dragging me and pulling me in but failed. I fianally told him I'd go when he said he'd ignore me the rest of the day.

The moment I stepped on the ice, I slipped and fell on my rear. "Ow." I muttered clutching on the rail that was at the side. Mark laughed gently as he made his way towards me. "How do you make it look so easy." I hissed as I slipped again but managed to stay up due to the rail.

"Come on I'll help you." He tried giving me his hand but I gave him a look saying, seriously? I can't even stand. "It's ok. Geez it's not your first time skating, you know?"

"It is on ice." I gritted my teeth trying to keep balence. Even the slightest movement had me on the ground.

Mark shook his head and glanced at the others, "Look. Everyone else is fine."

I followed his gaze towards the people in our group. Hayden was still rusty but was able to slide without to much lose of balence, Cali was beside him as they talked about who knows what. They would laugh every so often, it made me smile because I knew they were both my friends and seemed to be having fun. Shawn and Emily were skating hand in hand like the cliché couples in movies. But it was sweet seeing Shawn and Em so happy. Cole laughed every chance he got when Jodee fell, which was almost as much as I fell. Almost. Blake was back in the lobby flirting with some girls he had seen enter.

Mark was about three feet away, if I fell he was close enough to catch me. "Ok," I said catching his attention, "I'll try it. Just give me a sec." He gave me a reassuring smile while I tried to balance myself without the rail.

I got my hands off the metal bar and quickly glanced at the movement everyone's feet was going at. It seemed simple enough, just slide the blade against the ice. I tried moving and nearly fell back on my butt. I stood completely still looking up at Mark, seeing if he'd help me. Instead he smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm waiting," He said exaggerating his words.

I shot him an annoyed look and moved towards him. It seemed I had just set a new record of Quickest Way To Fall. My balance slipped away like the ice underneath me. As I fell forward I instinctively put my arms out to land softer. Instead of feeling the cold ground hit the gloves that were covering my hands, I felt a warm body and looked up at Mark. He held a smirk, "Nice going there Tori. You were about to face plant on ice."

I shot him a glare trying to stand up, feeling the ground beneath me slip again. My hands gripped on Mark's jacket while his arms snaked around my waist to keep me up. "Thanks." I said with chapped lips. The cold was starting to take its toll. My nose was numb, my lips chapped, and my pants were wet from when I fell.

"No problem." He replied with a smile. "Now may we skate?"

"I can't move."

"That's why you have me." His flashed me another smile before pushing me back slightly. I gripped his hands tightly as he pulled me along the ice. "See? It's not so hard."

I decided against replying considering I had my legs stretched out in front of me. Mark was skating backwards making jealous on how well he could glide on the ice. His hands stayed firmly around mine as he brought me closer to the middle of the rink. All the other people that were skating didn't seem to be paying attention and I realized they were probably used to it. Twelve year old kids were better than me. Trying to boost my self esteem, I told myself it was because they were shorter and closer to the ground, therefor they didn't need as much balance.

The ground was becoming more slippery now that there weren't pieces of chopped ice. At the edge, where the door was at, there were small pieces of chipped ice from where the skates had kicked or picked at, but here the floor was completely clear and clean. I could almost see my reflection on the ground. "Don't look at the ground, look up." I looked up at Mark and kept my eyes on him. "I'm gonna let go now."

"I'll fall." I said gripping his hands tighter. "And die."

He laughed, "You'll be fine."

"No I won't." I tried widening my eyes for extra emphasis. "I could fall, hit my head, and die. Then it'll be your fault."

Mark smirked. "Well I don't want to be the cause of your death." One of his hands slipped out of mine, instantly both my hands clutched the wrist that I still had a grip on.

"I'm going to die." I said exaggerating my last words.

"No you won't." He tried mimicking me with a high pitched tone and exaggeration. His other hand came out of my grasp leaving me completely still. I probably looked like a statue. Everyone would probably think I'd had frozen from the cold. Sniffles were slowly increasing, hoping I wouldn't get another cold since I did just get over one. Skaters would pass by and every time one did, I would shoot Mark a glare. He kept laughing at me, "Come on move Tori."

"I'll fall and die." My argument was coming short.

"Sorry Tori!" Two hands landed on my shoulders and I was spun around being used as a shield while Cole was trying to get around me. Shawn was laughing evilly behind me as he kept me up and in front of his brother. "You'll never catch me!" Shawn blew on his tongue directing it to Cole.

"I will kill you!" Cole shouted trying again to move around me.

"Never!" Shawn let out a war cry before pushing me out of his way. I kept my balence for two seconds before I crashed down. Shawn skated around the rink while tapping his hand on his mouth making him sound like a Native American. The whole rink turned to look at him, my gaze fell at the doorway of the rink where I noticed Emily and Jodee trying to stand up.

I groaned and placed my forehead on the ground. A couple seconds later, the skin on my head went numb. When I couldn't feel my forehead anymore, I flipped back onto my butt and sat up. Mark stared at me with an amused look on his face. I gave him another glare, "What are you looking at?"

"Obviously you." He laughed, "Your nose is so red you look like Rudolph."

"Well your jacket makes you look fat." I answered lamely.

His laughter increased. "It's called fluff. Makes me look poofy." He gave me a smile along with his hand. I took it trying to stand back up, slipping and falling back on him. "You suck at this, you know?"

I gritted my teeth, "Then why can't we go to the concession stand instead and get a hot chocolate?"

He smiled, "That's very tempting."

"So why don't we?"

"Aren't you suppose to be hanging out with Hayden?"

For a second I stood there kinda shocked. Was this a date? Was I suppose to be on a date with Hayden? I thought he just decided to tag along. "I don't think so..."

Mark shrugged, "Ok then. Let's go." He turned around and I grabbed the edge of his jacket as he dragged me behind him. When we were on dry ground I realized that the floor felt different now that it didn't slide beneath my feet. It wasn't slippery and I could easily walk, a sigh of relief left my lips. Mark looked down at me and smirked, "You're pants are all wet."

I glared at him, "Ha ha so funny."

He shook his head and took my hand. "Come on I'm freezing." While Mark ordered us two hot chocolates, I noticed that Blake wasn't in the lobby. I made a mental bet saying he was probably having sex. "Here you go," Mark turned to me handing me the small coffee cup. "And I also bought these." He held up a bag of peanut M&Ms which I quickly snatched and started making my way to one of the small tables.

I took a sip of the hot chocolate, making sure I didn't burn my tongue. Ripping the packet of M&Ms I pulled out a yellow M&M and munched on it happily. "How does Conlan play a sport on that?" I asked flicking my hand to the ice rink.

Mark shrugged, "Because he's skilled just like his brother." He winked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Just as skilled as a monkey."

"I thought I was a pig." He mocked a hurt face a placed a hand on his heart. "Two completely different animals."

I took another sip of my drink. "But still. It's impossible to ice skate."

"Not necessarily." Mark shrugged but before I could answer he quickly added. "Can I ask you something?"

I took another M&M. "Of course."

"What did Blake want?"

My jaw stopped chewing, grasping my hot chocolate between my hands I looked up at Mark. "What do you mean?"

"Well I just," He raked his fingers through his hair and stuttered, "I don't know. I just thought you'd ride with me in the car."

"Oh..." What was I suppose to say? Blake and I had already come up with another deal. But here was my best friend, who didn't know the answers to all these questions. "He wanted to tell me something about soccer." I lied smoothly.

Mark nodded in understanding. "Oh ok. What'd he say?"

Great, another lie.

"Just to warn me that a lot of guys are gonna try to do stuff to me." I shrugged and picked at the plastic cover of my coffee cup. My finger would grasp the edge of the plastic before it let go letting out a small thwat.

He frowned, "Don't get hurt, ok?"

Thwat. Thwat. Thwat.

Mark reached across the table and put his hand on mine. "Seriously. If anyone bothers you just tell me. I don't want you to get hurt." When I looked up at him I saw the sincerity in his eyes. It almost looked like it scared him if I ever got hurt. His eyes fell down to the hand that was placed on mine, while his thumb started to making small circles across the back of my hand. He whispered softly, "If you ever got hurt I don't know if I would be able to live with myself." 

My eyes met his and suddenly I felt my heart clench. He wasn't looking at me, instead his eyes were locked on his thumb that slowly circled on my hand. "It's not like I'll die." I whispered half-heartedly.

The corner of his mouth curled up, his eyes finally meeting mine. "I know, I'm just saying." A sigh left his lips, "I just want you to be happy, you know?"

I smiled gently. Our words only seemed to be whispers, I didn't understand why we were whispering, almost like we didn't want anyone around us hearing our conversation. "I am happy."

Mark's eyes traveled back to our hands with a smile. "That's all I want then." There was something about his smile. Something that seemed forced behind it. I couldn't understand what it was but it was there. It almost seemed like lo-

Someone cleared their throat and Mark's hand came off mine in a flash. It was inevitable to feel the whisp of cold that was slowly spreading from where his hand had been. Hayden stood there with his arm stretched behind his head like he was scratching his back, then his hand moved up to rub his neck. "Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked Mark before his eyes flicked towards me. "In private?"

Mark nodded and stood up, not before stealing another peanut M&M. "What was that about?" Jodee asked as she watched the two guys walk back to the rink. She took at seat diagonal of me leaving the space where Mark had been sitting.

"I have no idea." I offered her an M&M. She shrugged before taking it.

"So Cole explained to me your little dilemma." She grinned a bit, almost evilly, but not quite that.

I raised my eyebrow. "Oh? Which dilemma? Sadly I have a lot."

She laughed softly before leaning closer to me. Her whispering was so soft, I could barely hear it against the air condition that was blasting out of the vents. "Your little secret about keeping your brothers a secret."

My eyes widened and she plopped back down in her seat. Cole told someone? He had the right to tell someone but I couldn't?! I'd never seen Jodee at our school, she didn't seem like the kind of girl that would always hook up with a guy. In honestly, she just looked like a rebellious teenager. "How...why..." I stuttered trying to find the right question.

"Don't worry," She took another chocolate from the pouch. "Cole made me swear not to tell anyone. Besides, I feel like he told be due to three reasons. One, I don't go to your school. I've already graduated high school so I guess he found it easy to tell someone that wasn't in the school system or something like that." Jodee waved her arm around adding to her emphasis before she continued. "Two, I knew he had two other brothers, triplets right? Well I asked about you and he said you were his step. But he considers you a sister."

That made me smile. It was nice knowing that Cole thought of me as a sister. He was always brotherly and I rarely saw him upset. The most I had ever seen him upset was on Thanksgiving when they had destroyed Mr. Cuddles. That was the only time I had ever seen Cole look so regretful. It was sad seeing him like that, usually he has an encouraging smile as if he's saying, Don't give up. Keep on moving. "And three?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Maybe he just wanted to get it out, you know? Like he was tired of hiding it, so he needed someone to talk to about it." The doors that led to the rink jingled open and a blast of cold air came in. Everyone else in our group came out, before they could sit down with us Jodee quickly whispered to me, "If you ever need someone to talk to about it, just give me a ring."

I nodded, "Thanks."

"Thanks for what?" Cole asked taking his seat by Jodee. There were small fluffs of ice in his hair, they slowly melted away causing pieces of hair to stick together from the water.

"Tori was just giving me her opinion on whether I should get another tattoo or not." Jodee lied smoothly. She was a great liar.

"Another tattoo?" Shawn lifted an eyebrow. Cali took a seat beside me while Em and Shawn pulled up another table to be able to fit all of us.

"Mhmm." Jodee put her finger on her bicep, "I wanted to get a dolphin right here, but Tori said it'd look better on my hip. Right Tori?"

"Yeah." I decided on playing along. "I mean on the bicep is cool, but I feel like on the hip would attract more guys when your at the beach."

Jodee grinned looking at me through the corner of her eyes. Her attention went back to our small group. "Exactly."

"So what tattoo's do you have?" Em asked.

Jodee showed us her wrist. Everyone leaned in to look at her wrist as she set it in the middle of the table.There was a small heart that wasn't at all that big. "This was my first tattoo."

"It's actually pretty," Cali said, "It's not like super big or anything so it looks nice."

"Thank you," Jodee ran her finger across it, "Made it when I was fifteen."

"You made that?" Cole asked bewildered. "Why didn't you just get a professional or something?"

Jodee rolled her eyes. "That's to expensive. All I had to do was get a needle, dip it in some ink I had, and poke inside my skin."

"Well that's pretty cool." Shawn looked hesitant, "It's not going to like...explode from your wrist and start gushing ink and blood everywhere right?"

"What the hell would give you that idea?" Jodee asked.

Shawn raised his hands in surrender, "Hey for all we know your skin could have had some sort of...implosion from excess stuff in your body."

Em shook her head, "Don't listen to him. He's just spitting out random words now."

"Am not!" Shawn shouted.

"Are too!" Em countered.

Shawn grinned before pecking Em on the lips. "Love you." Em was too red to say anything.

"Aw," Cali gushed, "Aren't they just adorable?"

"No." We all turned to see Blake. His hair was spiked in different directions, clothes were all messed and wrinkled. And if that didn't scream sex, the lip stick stains on his face did. "It's disgusting to be honest."

"Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?" I asked him.

Blake smirked and lazily took a seat by Cole. "Why would I need to do that?"

"Because you have lipstick like..." Shawn waved his hand in front of his lips before extending it around his face, "Everywhere."

Blake shrugged and just then Hayden and Mark returned. Both were laughing about something. Laughing? That was strange, I didn't think they'd be laughing. "Whoa what happened to you?" Hayden asked Blake as he sat in front of him, on the other end of the table from where I was at. "It looks they girls started eating your face."

Blake yawned and started wiping his face with his sleeve. "It happens."

Mark rolled his eyes, "So what did I miss?"

"We were talking about Jodee's tattoos." Cali signaled her hand towards Jodee. "Continue please."

"Oh," Jodee seemed a bit shocked but it quickly went away. "Well," She pulled her hair back revealing the tattoo behind her ear. It was Peter Pan while he was flying off to Neverland. Wendy, John, Michael, and Tinker Bell all flew behind him. Peter was at the top, being the largest tattoo, while the others slowly decreased in size until Tinker bell was barely noticed. "Peter Pan is one of my favorite Disney movies. I had to wait a while for this tattoo, but I finally got it."

"What other Disney movie do you like?" Em asked.

"Little Mermaid." Cole answered. He looked down when everyone turned their attention to him, "At least that's what she told me."

Jodee smiled, "I can't believe you remembered that."

Cole shrugged, "Kinda hard to forget the annoying voice."

"It is not annoying!" Jodee defended, "It is beautiful and Flounder is the best character."

"The squeaky fish?" Cole laughed, "Please that guy needs to go through puberty, and go through it fast."

Jodee snorted, "You're just jealous because I have a Flounder doll on my bed and it's not you."

Shawn whooped and reached over giving Jodee a high five. "Whip 'im girl! Whip 'im!"

Cole ignored him. "It's truly sad a nineteen year old girl has a stuffed fish on her bed." Shawn shook his head as if he found Cole's response lame.

"It's truly sad a stuffed fish can get a girl in his bed and a seventeen year old guy can't." These responses were just freely coming out of Jodee's mouth like it was her job.

"Shot's fired!" Shawn stood up and pretended to have guns in his hands as he took a wild western stance. He made a few noises: pow! pow! Before pretending to blow out the invisible flame. He sat back down while we all laughed softly.

"Are you saying you had sex with a fish?" Cole asked.

"No," Jodee rolled her eyes and smirked, "I'm just saying the fish can make me and Ariel scream louder than you ever could."

Cole opened his mouth to reply but Blake clamped his hand down stopping his brother. "You lost Cole. Stop it before you embarrass yourself further." I couldn't help and reached over high-fiving Jodee, just as the other girls did.

Cole shot Jodee a glare, "Don't think this is over."

She laughed, "It is. You're no match for my awesomeness."

"I thought you were here to interview me, not embarrass me in front of my friends." Cole pushed his fingers through his hair.

"Oh yeah," Jodee pulled out a piece of paper. "Sign here, here and here." She handed Cole a pen and quickly scribbled at each spot where Jodee had pointed. "This is just the paper work. I pulled some strings, so you'll be able to work even though you're not of age."

Cole smiled, "Sweet. How'd you pull it off?"

Jodee shot him a look while she placed the papers back in her bag. "I'm Jodee. Duh." She said matter of factly.

"So are you in college?" Blake asked.

She shook her head, "Took a break. But I am nineteen."

"Cole's getting the older girls." Shawn cupped his hands around his mouth making a low sound. "Getting the big girls are we now? She'll give you a hard head for sure."

Jodee rolled her eyes. "I'm contemplating on whether getting you an infinity sign tattoo on your wrist."

"Why?"

"Because you're the whitest girl I've ever met." Jodee turned to Em, "I'm sorry but your boyfriend is white girl. He kept freaking out over Starbucks."

Shawn waved his arms in a matter that looked like he was pushing Jodee away. "Just get on with your interview."

I glanced at Mark who was looking towards Cali. My eyes followed his and saw Cali ogling over Blake. It was repulsing consider she was my best friend and Blake was my asshole of a brother, but nevertheless he was family now. I lightly kicked Mark's shin and he quickly snapped his attention back to me. 'What?' He mouthed to me.

I flicked my head in Cali's direction and he caught on quickly. "Cali can I speak to you for a sec?" Mark asked her. She gave a nod, a small smile on her lips. They got up and Mark led Cali away from the group and to the rink. They probably took one of the corners of the rink as I tapped my fingers impatiently. After a minute I decided on getting up and following after them, "I'll be right back."

Everyone gave me a small nod before I headed out the door. They all seemed to be having their own conversations. Cole and Jodee were talking about the job. Shawn and Em were holding hands and flirting like love birds. Blake and Hayden talked about sports, mainly soccer.

"Cali this has to stop." I heard Mark say. Just as I had assumed, they had taken up one of the corners in the room outside the rink. The air inside was cold and it slowly started to seep into the splotches of water I had on my pants.

"Why do you care?" Cali asked him. I leaned against one of the columns that were meant to hold the roof up.

"Because you're like a little sister to me, Cali. You can't keep doing this."

"This is my life, Mark. Not yours. So stay out of it."

"You don't get it Cali." Frustration laced Mark's words. "You can get hurt."

There was silence. The only thing I could hear was the scraping of metal on ice. They started to whisper, but I was too far away to hear. So I turned around and headed back into the lobby. "No you can't say that!" Was the first sentence I heard when I walked in. Jodee was shouting at Cole while I took my seat back.

"You ok?" Hayden asked me from the other end of the table. Everyone except for Jodee and Cole turned to look at me.

"Yeah," I propped my elbow on the table and leaned on my hand. "Just tired."

"Want me to take you home?" Blake asked me.

I shook my head and forced myself to smile, "It's ok. I'll live."

"Why are you yelling at me? It's a legit answer!" Cole shouted back to Jodee.

"No it's not! They won't accept you if you say you want to model because you think you're sexy."

"I am sexy."

Jodee scanned his body up and down, "I've seen better."

Cole mocked hurt and placed a hand over his heart. "Words hurt you know!"

"Well if you need ice for your burn you can go jump in over there." She pointed towards the rink. "Maybe hit your head a few times and you just might gain some logic."

"It's a legit answer Jodee!"

"No it's stupid."

"Well what did you say when they asked you the question?"

She thought for a moment, "I said something under the lines of it being a educational experience."

Cole bursted out laughing, "That's a stupid answer! What's educational about it? Learning how to pose? I mean come on."

Jodee shot him a glare and started to get up. "If you didn't want my help in the first place you could have just said." She got up and walked towards the shop where we had left our shoes in some cubbies. She grabbed her sneakers before making her way out the door.

"Shit," Cole tried running after her and hastily took the skates off before running off to her in his socks. He called her name out, but we didn't see anything else as the night air absorbed them.

"How long have we been here?" I asked suddenly.

"Only like two hours." Mark answered as he came into view.

"How's it dark already?"

"Days are shorter, aren't they?"

"Yup." Hayden popped the P.

"Want me to take you home?" Mark asked me.

Blake tensed but before anyone could answer Shawn opened his mouth. "No Tori needs to help me with a math problem I don't understand. I'll take her home."

"So how do we do this?" I asked.

"I can take Emily home if you want," Hayden volunteered. "Since Shawn needs Tori for math, and Blake is driving. Then Cole will go with you guys too right?"

Shawn tightened his grip around his girlfriend. "But I want to stay with her." He whined.

"Well tough cheese." Em wiggled out of his hold. "It's ok. Hayden can drop me off. Mark and Cali can go in Mark's car. Then everyone else go with the Trips, which only really includes Tori."

Finally everyone agreed. Cali had been staying quiet, keeping to herself in the back of the group. After everyone had gotten their shoes and turned in the skates we all made our way outside. Along the way I threw the empty coffee cup and eaten bag of M&Ms into the trash can. The air outside hit me like an icey blast, I didn't think it could be colder outside than it was inside, but it obviously was. Any trace of sunlight had completely disappeared, replaced with the black, starless sky.

"Aren't they just cute?" Em cooed. I didn't know what she was talking about until I looked in the direction she was looking at. Cole had his arms wrapped around Jodee, pulling her into a hug while her arms were snaked around his torso. They were a good distance away, and hadn't noticed us yet. It made me wonder how long they had been standing there hugging each other.

"That was a stupid fight though." Blake added quietly before making his way to his car.

"They better end up together." Emily took one last look before turning her way to Hayden's car.

"Nah," Shawn said bringing his fingers up to use as quotations, "They're just friends."

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

"Oh my god what if they win!" I said happily. The week had passed by and it was a Saturday night. Everything was cold so I made sure to put a long sleeve shirt underneath my team shirt. I had a jacket folded on my arms, ready to put on when I'd get cold.

"Well duh they're going to win." Cole smirked and applied more white dots on my face. Tonight was the game where United States would play against Mexico. Frankly, I didn't care what the score would be. It'd just be awesome being that close to the soccer players. Of course I wanted US to win, but they aren't the best team considered against Brazil or Germany. Basically, I just wanted to get up close to the players.

Shawn had brought down some of the face paint he had from Halloween. Also he hid something under his shirt, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. He was in the bathroom, probably covering his whole face with paint. Cole had gotten the blue and red making a stripped flag on my face. Now he was placing small dots in the blue box in the left corner. "If they lose I'll be pissed." Blake said pulling the USA shirt down. I felt accomplished that it fit him, since dad did guess his size.

"Thanks for getting the tickets Tori." Cole put the small paintbrush down and gave me a hug. "I didn't think we'd be able to go."

He was hugging me from the side so all I could do was place my hand on his arm. "I don't understand how you afforded the Halloween party and not afford these tickets though."

"We'd been saving that money for a long time. In an assigned box meant for Halloween." Blake answered pointing at the flag on my face. "Why...?"

I shrugged, "Why not?"

"You look like an idiot." He rolled his eyes.

"You are an idiot." I shot back.

"Wow how clever," He exaggerated a face before going serious. "No but for real, you look stu-"

The bathroom door bursted open, "Ta-da!" Shawn stepped out and our mouths fell. His entire face was stripped red and white but his forehead was kept blue with white stars. It was the hair though, he had given himself a mohawk that was red and white on both sides before blue going down the middle. "I feel very patriotic! Is this what the American flag feels? Because I feel great!"

Cole brought his hand to his forehead and shook his head, "We should just string you to a flag pole. People will think you are the flag."

I turned my glance to Blake while Shawn danced in his spot. "More stupid than that?" I waved my arms towards Shawn.

Blake shook his head, "You look normal."

"And watch this." Shawn stuck his hands in his pockets while we all watched for something weird to happen. "When we score I'm gonna do this!" He pulled his hand out of the pocket and a bunch of sparkles and glitter flung out flying on us. "Goal!"

"We're going to get kicked out." Blake said flatly moving his hand through his hair to get rid of the glitter.

"I have more too!" Shawn had his soccer shirt under his jean jacket, he opened the ends of the jacket showing us the insides. He had plastic bags of glitter duck taped to the insides.

"Don't they search you?" I asked a bit worried now. I didn't want to spend the night in a jail cell because they thought Shawn was trying to smuggle drugs into the stadium.

"Only if you have a purse or backpack." Cole stood up and shook his head to get the glitter off. Of course it's glitter, it's impossible to get it off. "This game isn't that major, so there's no need for metal detectors."

By the time we reached downstairs, the smell of popcorn lingered in the air along with the buzzing sound of the microwave. Suzie quickly gave me a hug when we found her, dad, and mom sitting in the living room watching ESPN waiting for the game to start. "Try and get on the monitor, ok?" She said. I nodded and ruffled her hair.

She hopped next to Cole and he swiftly picked her up holding her on his side. "Anything for the princess?"

"Any souvenir you can get." She gave him a toothy smile causing him to laugh. After they exchanged a pinky swear, the four of us started heading out the door to the garage.

"Drive safetly!" Mom shouted to us.

"Don't go over the speed limit!" Dad added.

Halfway through the drive Cole, Shawn, and I started bursting into song while Blake drived. "We're on the highway to hell!" We sang before clapping the rhythm of the song. After a couple seconds of singing we all started to look at Blake as if saying, Why aren't you singing? We started yelling at the top of our lungs causing him to cringe back behind the steerling wheel. Another second of high pitched screaming and Blake caved singing along with us. "We're om the highway to hell!" We all whooped and Blake smiled a bit as he continued signing along.

About an hour later we were pulling up in the parking lot outside the stadium. The traffic was huge, it had taken us about fifteen minutes to finally get into the parking lot. There were police officers everywhere, along with the traffic cops. Five or six lanes of cars were being directed to a different part of the stadiums parking lot.

The four of us got out and noticed the loud noise coming from the stadium. "Come on let's go guys!" Shawn jogged ahead of us and jumped up trying to do a split in mid-air. His laughter sounded crazy, but then again his mind wasn't exactly sane.

"Come on," Cole squatted in front of me and I jumped on his back as he ran to catch up to Shawn. We passed by the security without them finding the glitter bags inside Shawn's jacket. "You got awesome seats Tori!" Cole put me down and admired the view. They were right on the mid field line so we got equal view from both sides of the field. The best part though, was the fact they were only the third row back so I wouldn't have to worry about someone taller always being in front of me.

The entrances were overcrowded with people that were filing in and trying to figure out where their seats were. There was no point in standing up so we all sat down and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night, the stars shining above and the crescent moon just about our heads. "I'm thirsty," Shawn whined. All the soccer players were warming out on the field, so I'd switch view between the sky to the players, and back to the sky.

Blake rolled his eyes, "Call your girlfriend then."

I slapped Blake's arm, "You're perverted."

Cole laughed, "I love this family." He turned to look at us, "We're all so weird. Fits perfectly."

We all smiled back before turning our attention to the players as they jumped around, stretched, or passed the ball to warm up. Shawn quickly left to buy something to drink, but as he came back he had popcorn, cotton candy, a few candy bars, and the soda. "I thought you said you were thirsty." Cole waved his arms at all the contents.

"I got hungry on the way there, and then got hungry on the way back." He took a sip from his soda and sat back down in his seat. More people started to fill up the seats as we waited for the game to commence. "Someone asked if I was from the U.S." Shawn said shaking his head, "I mean what kind of question is that? I'm a walking flag people!"

The three of us laughed as he continued his rant.

"Like sheesh," He said, "If I were Mexico I'd have green, red, and white. Not red, white, and blue. People these days are just so stupid. They ask stupid questions, do stupid things that make them look like stupid people." We laughed harder causing Shawn to raise and eyebrow before rolling his eyes. "I am not stupid."

"You act like a stupid person." Blake said between laughs.

"Watch me get noticed by one of the players."

"Watch one of them look at you and think you're crazy."

Shawn laughed. "It's obvious I'm a nut job." His eyes widened, "Oh my god! That could be a thing!"

"What?" We all said confused. These ideas just continuously popped into Shawn's head. Like his mind was constantly on rapid fire with spewing out ideas that randomly came to his brain.

"Yeah!" He said excitedly. "There's hand jobs, blow jobs, what about a nut j-"

The intercom went off making the crowd go silent. The players walked to the middle of the field and stood arm in arm. "If everyone could please stand for the pledge," The voice said before switching to Spanish.

We all stood up and sang the pledge before listening to the Mexican pledge. I think I would've liked it better if I could have actually understood what they were saying, but I never thought about enrolling in Spanish so right now the pledge sounded Chinese to my ears.

It only took a few minutes before the ref came to the middle of the field with the two team captains. They did their regular coin flipping and everyone sat back down waiting as the game started. The ref blew his whistle and Mexico kicked it off first. The first half of the game Mexico had most of the possession, but when U.S. was able to steal the ball, they shot at goal and scored. Shawn had jumped up and sprinkled glitter everywhere. The people sitting around us stared at him like he had gone mad.

By the second half of the game, U.S. was pulling through until Mexico had the advantage of a corner kick and someone headed it in. Our spirits weren't down, just anxious. The game had gotten a lot more intense as both teams tried scoring a goal to have a jump start. Every time Mexico had possession of the ball and went towards goal, all the Americans would stand up and hold their breaths. We'd all let sighs of relief while the other team just groaned and became frustrated.

Soccer was always a tense game. No matter what, there was always suffering. It didn't matter if you won, the crowd and team would be suffering in the middle of the game as they tried to win. There was no mercy rule in the professional league. In high school, if you were beating a team by over ten goals, you'd have to mercy rule, meaning the game would automatically end.

The ending score was 1-1. But I was proud. Mexico would always beat us, at least they'd beat us a lot and sometimes we'd get lucky and win. But tying was better than losing, even if a determined winner wasn't there. "So that's where you want to work?" I asked Blake as we headed up the steps. Janitors started coming out to pick up all the glitter and trash Shawn had left. I had felt bad so I picked up the empty popcorn box and plastic wrapping from the cotton candy bag. There was no way I'd get the glitter though, it was all in my hair now.

"Yeah." Blake shrugged. "Coach got a scout to come up here later in the year to see how I play. He thinks I can get a real scholarship in soccer." Cole and Shawn had raced up the steps ahead of us. Cole in search for some sort of souvenir to take to Suzie, and Shawn for more food or anything else he could find.

"That's awesome." I stifled a yawn. It was pretty late. I had exhausted all my energy screaming and yelling at the players to run faster.

Blake chuckled, "You seem tired."

"I am." I muttered.

"Come on. I'll carry you up like Cole does." He stepped in front of me and bent down. Unlike Cole, when I got on Blake's back and he stood up, he didn't hunch over. Maybe because Blake was bigger, but anytime I was catching a piggy back ride from Cole, he had a slight hunch.

"I can walk fine." I murmured half-heartedly. "He's always giving me rides like I have some sort of walking problem."

Blake laughed but said nothing. When we reached the top of the stairs he laughed more. "Look," I looked up to see what he was talking about. Shawn was taking a picture with a little boy and girl while the mother held the phone in her hands.

"They've probably never seen someone look that weird." I muttered.

"Nah," Blake smirked, "They just think he looks like Uncle Sam's long lost son."

Cole came back with a signed poster of the team. "This is a rip off but whatever."

I blacked out for a second and next thing I knew I was in the backseat of Blake's car. The lights outside kept buzzing by and the radio played music softly only making me want to sleep more. I willed myself not to sleep, but still found myself drifting off. When we reached the house everything seemed to be in a haze. Kind of like all we could think about was our heads on our pillows wanting sleep to overtake our minds and body.

I managed to get out of the car and kick my shoes off at the steps. My mind was automatically set on going to sleep but I quickly changed into some sweats and jacket, rubbing the paint off my face. On my bed I found Cole and Shawn passed out, so I wriggled myself between them. "Why are you here?" I didn't register the words coming out of my mouth, they just came.

"Tired," Shawn groaned, "Sleep."

"Go to your own bed." I whined even though I didn't really care what they'd do. I just wanted to fall into darkness and not wake up till I got my twelve hours of sleep. Yeah, not eight hours. But twelve.

"Guys get out of there." I didn't even bother to open my eyes. Blake stood at my doorway probably staring at his brothers. His voice was laced with exhaustion as I heard him yawn. "Shawn your getting paint everywhere."

"Paint with all the colors of the wind," Shawn flipped onto his side and pulled the blanket to his chest.

Blake sighed and decided to join us. His head lay on Shawn while his legs were on Cole. He was sort of slanted at an angle, but I got most of the weight on me. "Your heavy." I pushed against his shoulder but he just shrugged. "You hate me don't you Cake?"

I couldn't see Blake in the dark, but I knew he was smiling. "I wouldn't have it any other way Tobi."

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

I know it took me a while to write this :/ sorry guys. I've been busy with exams and such. Also you all know how I love plot twists and dramatic things happening, so I wasn't really up to writing this. I hope you enjoyed it though :) It's a filler but I want to get the general idea of how she's bonding with the Trips.

I'll be off of school soon :) You know what that means...yup, more updates. So, yeah I got into Shawn's love life, now I'm starting with Cole, but remember! They are just friends. I liked the whole ice skating. Now, Team Mark or Team Hayden? I frankly don't even know anymore xD

Again, sorry for taking forever. I'll try to update next chapter soon. Love you all, and just to add to those that didn't read my message on my message board. Don't copy my story guys. It's a really low move, it really is. There are a few 'fans' out there that think copying a story will get you reads and such, it doesn't. It will honestly only bring you trouble. I work my butt of for 3 Stepbrothers. These characters are like family to me now. I never thought I could get so emotionally attached, but now and then I pull a Shawn, or pull a Tori. So don't take my family away because it's really not cool. And I will hunt you down for taking my brothers and sisters away from me ^-^ just saying.

Those that do enjoy reading and just reading, thanks :) Love you guys. You're the reason I update and stuff. Ok I think that's all :) See you guys soon!

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