After homecoming Bex started hanging out with my friends and me more. I guess I did suggest it, and my friends didn't seem to mind it. I could hang out with all three of them now, whenever we could of course. Usually only at school, but for Bee- Bex, I could come over and play with Surmelis. And I could bring Putt too. They would play and we would work on homework together or just talk. I started to show up at her house more than I thought I would.

“Who's there?” I hear ma yell as I walk in the kitchen to see her with bubbly hands, going to the front door.

I open the fridge taking out an apple then take a bite of it and lick my lips. “Who's there?” I ask as she looks into the peephole.

“A red blonde?” she said looking back at me with a raised eyebrow and opens the door. I raise an eyebrow in return and take another bite out of the apple.

Bex pops her head into the doorway. “Hey.” she says with her signature grin, as I start coughing on the piece of apple, that went in the wrong pipe.

“Hey Bee- I mean Bex!” I say after I stop coughing as Ma and Bex blink at me.

“Are you okay honey? And you know her?” ma asks and I nod while closing the fridge.

“Sorry I didn't give a warning about me coming over Mrs. Temple, I wanted it to be a surprise.” Bex explained and mom shakes her head.

“It's fine, next time give a warning.” mom says walking to the sink and starts washes the dishes again.

Bex closes the door and locks it, then runs over to me. I grab her wrist and drag her quickly to my room. I end up closing the door behind us and glare at her slightly.

“Why are you here?” I ask and she blinks.

“I uh wanted to see what your house is like. You always come over to my house.” she says with a shrug and starts to look around my room.

Only difference is that I haven't been all over her house. It was kind of big, bigger than mine, that's for sure. And I have never been to her room either. Only their backyard, living room, dining room, kitchen, game room, bathroom and the basement. And here she was in my room! And could practically see the whole house in one go.

“Your walls are still white?” she asks raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah..?” I said furrowing my eyebrows then walked in front of her. “Let's go to the living room or outside.”

“What, why?” she pouted as I started to try to turn her in the direction of the door. “Oh! That's where I slept.” she said getting away from me and went to my window.

“Oh..um really now?” I said slightly remembering that occurrence.

She laughed while her cheeks slightly turned pink. “That probably sounds weird...I usually sleep outside the house when we move somewhere new. If I'm comfortable outside of the house then I can usually be comfortable in the neighborhood and house.” she explains and I nod raising an eyebrow. “You still think its weird.”

“A little.” I say and she hurts but before we can go on about it my door opens. We turn around and I see Peta peeking into my room. “What do you want?” I groan as his eyes and on Bex.

“Whoa! Who's this? An alien? A monster? How could a real human be in your room? Also no closed doors in the house!” Peta says and sticks his tongue out pushing the door open completely.

“Oh my gosh! You have a brother?! You never told me!” Bex practically squeals and runs toward him making his eyes grow wide.

“I had my reasons.” I said as she hugged him tight.

“He's adorable Karter! I wish I had a little brother or sibling.” she says and I scoff.

“You do not, siblings are the worst.” I say earning a glare from Peta as she pulls away from him gently.

“I’m sure that's not true.” she says and I roll my eyes.

“Yeah! I'm the best brother ever!” Peta argued huffing.

“Yeah yeah, you're my only brother.” I reply back and he sticks his tongue out before running out of my room.

“He's adorable, really Karter.” she says making me roll my eyes again.

“Yeah, okaaaay.” I grumble.

“So where's Putt?” she asks looking under my bed.

“He's with his owners like usually, I can go get him if you like?” I suggest and she nods smiling. “Well, after you.” I say walking gesturing toward my door.

Bex and I slip past my parents’ room. I figured dad was probably in there, maybe still sleeping the day away. We walked down the hallway and was about to walk into the kitchen.

“Who’s this?” a voice said out of nowhere, causing us both to jump. We turned around and I saw dad wiping the windows.

“Oh, hey dad. This is Bee.” I say and before I can even think to correct myself he goes on his introductory tangent.

“Nice to meet you...Bee? Did I hear it right? I'm Howard, also known as Mr. Temple or the father of the lovely girl next to you. Welcome to our lovely home. I wish we knew you were coming, my wife would have made a bountiful breakfast.” dad goes on as he walks over.

“Nice to meet you, sir.” Bex says glancing at me before giving him a smile, which he returned back before turning his attention on me.

“So, where are you two going?” he asks.

“Just to go get Putt, we'll be back.” I say slowly moving closer to the kitchen.

“Okay, but…” dad said and leaned in close whispering so only I could hear. “Make sure she ate or goes home to eat, we don't have food to give her for breakfast.” he says before pulling away with a sheepish smile, as I roll my eyes at him. “Have fun you two.” he says grinning at the both of us and goes back to cleaning the windows.

“Let's go.” I said glancing at Bex and she nodded, following me into the kitchen.

“Where are you girls going?” mom asks as she mixes something in a pot.

“We'll be back! Just going to get Putt.” I explain walking to the front door and she nods.

“He's not allowed in the house!” she yells after me as I open the door, walking out of the house with Bex.

“How come Putt can't be in the house?” Bex asks me, when I close the door behind me.

“Ma's allergic.” I say walking down the stairs and she nods gently with a small frown.

“That's too bad, I think she would like having a dog around. I know my parents do.” she says causing me to roll my eyes.

“If ma wasn't allergic I'm pretty sure she would have another excuse on why we can't have a dog.” I say huffing as we walk across the street causing her to laugh.

“Well, is she not an animal person?” she asks and I hum for a while as I think of how to reply.

“Actually, my mom seems to love animals. But I think she already has four mouths to feed, doesn't need another one.” I say explain.

“Hm, well that's too bad.” she says as I lead the way to Mrs. Kroves’ house.

I knocked on the door humming. Eventually I ring the doorbell, instantly the door swings open. Mrs. Kroves is in the doorway with tired eyes. Putt runs past her legs to me. I smile bending down petting him and glance up at her.

“Morning Mrs. Kroves, just getting Putt.” I say and she nods with a tired smile.

“Morning, bring him back soon.” she says and I nod standing up as she closes the door gently.

Putt started walking around Bex while we walked across the street. Or well, Bex was trying to walk across the street. Putt just kept walking around her. I wasn't sure if he was being protective or what.

“I think he's looking for Surmelis, she is usually with me when he sees me.” Bex says bending down and picking him up, so she could continue walking.

“Makes sense, want to go get her? We don't really have a backyard at my house, so Putt usually plays around in the front.” I suggest and explain.

“Sure, I'll be back.” she says handing me Putt when we get back to our side of the street.

I carried Putt to my house and put him down on the porch. He tried to get comfortable while I took a seat. Eventually he settled, curled up next to me and laid his head down on my lap. I pet his head smiling, as I glanced over at Bex's house. After a while of playing with Putt and almost falling asleep, Bex was running over with Surmelis in her arms. As soon as she put Surmelis down, Putt got off me and ran down the stairs. Surmelis yipped and ran away from Bex's side toward Putt.

They started to run around the front yard, playing with each other. I smiled as I watched and leaned back on my elbows, on the porch. I started to move a bit when I felt eyes on me. Glancing up I found Bex looking down at me.

“What?” I ask glancing away from her stare.

“I was wondering if you could come to my first wrestling match, I believe it's around October.” she said as I saw a slight movement. Her hand was now on the porch, tapping it as she spoke. “Don't worry, I don’t think it’s on Halloween. Just in case if you know…have anything planned on that day.” she says and I turn to look at her.

She's poking the inside of her cheek with her tongue. Her tapping won't stop and her eyebrows kept furrowing. I smiled a little, realizing she was nervous. I don't know why, of course I would go. And I didn't do much on Halloween anyway, if it was on that day.

“I’ll definitely be there, even on Halloween. All I usually do is homework on that holiday anyway.” I explain and earn a gasp from Bex. “What?”

“How could you not celebrate Halloween anymore?” she said in a hushed voice.

“Um..well I just grew out of it. I'm not really a fan of candy anyway.” I said causing her look of disbelief and disgusting just grew making me groan. “Please stooopp.”

“Just how?” she says like everyone else as I pinch my forehead.

“I just don't, but if it makes you feel any better I can just share candy with you. I'm forced to go trick n’ treating with my brother sometimes. I usually split the candy just with my parents and him, but this year you can get some too.” I suggest and she nods quickly making me laugh.

The door behind us opened. I turned around to see ma. “Come inside, breakfast time.” ma says looking at me then glances at Bex. “Sorry to pull her away, she'll be back. Unless you want to come in and eat?” she suggests and I could tell she hoped Bex's answer was no. Bex thankfully shook her head as I got up, causing mom to nod with a smile before going inside.

“Watch the dogs without me. And be careful, Putt likes to play in the mud or dirt and jump on people.” I said walking to the doorway and she saluted with that signature smile of hers.