"You really think Whitney was gonna come?" Annabeth asks before taking a long swig of her beer.

"She wasn't even invited. You know LulaBelle just did that to get a rise out of me," I say before cramming an entire fistful of salty popcorn into my mouth. Annabeth, Gus and I decided to drive over to Mel's, the only decent bar in Hollis, to drink away the ridiculousness of the morning. We all had sour stomachs from all the "cheese" we had to digest at LulaBelle's. She kept referring to her unborn child as the future prince or princess of Hollis while rubbing her minuscule baby bump. Our gag reflexes finally choked on the cheesiness when LulaBelle announced she was preparing a parade for the day the baby comes to announce the gender and the name.

"You really think LulaBelle is that vicious?" Gus asks me and as I reply, "Yep." I accidentally spit a piece of popcorn onto his shoulder and I watch him flick it off with disgust.

"What's the point of doin' that?" Gus asks and then says, "And finish chewin' before ya answer." I finish chewing and take another swig before continuing, "So she can bask in the glory of my downfall. Sawyer Sweeney jilted at the altar; she has to love every minute of the scandal." I'm about to pop up from the table to get us more drinks when a slice of light comes pouring into the bar from the door opening. We look over to see Austin's blonde head illuminate the dark space and Annabeth quickly smooths her dark chestnut-colored hair down and checks her teeth in a small soup spoon.

"Well I don't know if Mel's is prepared to have such royalty in here. I don't think kings should be drinking from peasant's pint glasses," Gus jokes under his breath as Austin and Ryan stroll over to us. There was a time not too long ago where Austin wouldn't be caught dead within two feet of his little sister, but now we are all hanging out as one big group- the change will take some getting used to.

I notice Ryan scan the room with a slight grimace, as most non-locals do when they first step into Mel's.

"Well I see someone beat us to some more day drinking," Austin says as he slaps Gus on the shoulder. Ryan and Austin grab pub stools from the nearby table and drag them over to sit with us. A busty blonde waitress flies over to us and eagerly takes Austin and Ryan's drink order while spinning a tendril of her platinum hair. Something Austin says makes her giggle but Annabeth's glare tells her she's overstayed her welcome.

"I'll be right back with those drinks," she says as she winks to Austin while Gus gives him an overdramatic eye roll.

"Austin, when are you going back to S.C? You are completely ruining my game buddy," Gus complains and Austin gives Gus his million-dollar smile.

"Not trying to ruin your game Gussyboy. I have no interest in Hollis girls, trust me." I watch Annabeth deflate a little and she downs what's left of her beer.

"Well you might not be, but what about catalog boy over here?" Gus asks as he points to Ryan. Austin, for some reason, decides to answer for him, "Ryan doesn't either."

"Oh? Is catalog boy a fancy boy then?" Gus asks, hopeful that he doesn't have any more competition. "Otherwise, why wouldn't he want a dip in the Hollis dating pool."

"He ain't gay Gus," Austin clarifies with a laugh and Ryan looks to him clearly confused.

"What are you talking about? What's a catalog boy?" I slowly start shrinking into my chair, hoping to somehow become invisible- I know Gus is about to blab.

"Oh, these two girls here think you are a Brooks Brothers Catalog model or somethin'," Gus confesses and I think Annabeth and I turn the same shade of red.

"A Brooks Brothers model? Huh, is that a good thing?" Ryan asks completely confused, as I am sure he's never been told this before. At least not so specifically.

"Oh, it's the highest compliment you can receive here in our humble town of Hollis," I joke, hoping to undo some of my mortification. "Gus is just jealous that he's often compared to a keg instead of a model," I smirk while shooting Gus a dirty look. He really has no filter and he always says the first thing that comes to mind. No matter how embarrassing.

"So why don't you date then? Pretty boy like you must get a lot of ladies," Gus asks and I'm now curious about the answer.

"Oh," Ryan starts, clearly not liking being the center of all our attention. "I am focused on work right now. Just don't have much time for it." We all nod our heads to his response. I wonder how time-consuming their job can actually be? Maybe he's coming off a relationship or had a bad one he hasn't recovered from. I can relate to that.

Austin looks to me and changes the subject by asking, "So how are ya holding up?" I shrug and reply, "Fine. Girls are malicious. I'm used to it." I'm actually more used to being the catty girl, so the role reversal is throwing me for a loop. I choose to keep my feelings about the sudden changes to the social hierarchy to myself. Ryan looks over to me and asks, "What was the big deal with the place cards?" Obviously, Austin didn't fill him in on my scandalous past and I'm actually overjoyed that there is one person in Hollis that doesn't know about my drama.

"Oh, I am not drunk enough for that story. You'll have to hear about my woe's another day," I say as I stand up and move away from the table. I grab my empty beer and head back to the bar.

As I am handed an ice-cold replacement for my empty bottle, I notice the pool table is open. I yell out to the others and Austin and Gus quickly stand to make their way over to me. Annabeth isn't one for playing pool but I know she'll hang around as long as Austin is here. She grabs a free stool from the bar and drags it over to the table we now stand around. Ryan hands us each a stick and I pull Gus over to be on my team. I start to rack the balls when Austin asks, "Wanna make it interesting? Play for something?"

"Like what? Money?" Ryan asks and Gus shakes his head.

"Nah man, we gotta make it interesting." I think back to all the interesting bets I've made in the past and an idea comes to mind.

"How about the loser steals a chicken from the Hallahan's?" I suggest. Austin immediately laughs, but Gus waves his hands around like there is no way in hell he'll do that.

"Nope, no sir-ee. No chickens. I hated them when we used to steal 'em in high school and I hate 'em now," Gus says. I put my hand on my hip and reply, "Gus you are on my team. You won't be handling no chickens." Austin gets competitive while Ryan looks like he could care less what we bet on.

"You're pretty cocky there sweet Sawyer," Austin says, egging on my competitive side.

"It's easy to be cocky when I know I'm going to win," I shoot back and Austin rubs his hands together while shaking his head at me.

"I guess we are bettin' on chickens. Sawyer you better not fail me. You know I think chickens are little demons." Gus says as I grab my stick and prepare myself to break the balls. Right before I shoot, I hear Austin say, "I can't wait to hear Gus scream like a little girl."

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

The sun set hours ago and the only noise around us is coming from the choir of crickets off in the distance and the hum of cicadas hiding in the woods beyond the Hallahan's house.

"Now don't be a chicken Austin, pun intended," Gus says as we all hide behind a large oak tree on the Hallahan's property line. Austin not only lost the first game, but four more games after that. He's lucky I didn't make him do something even more entertaining. Too many times was I the loser in whatever mean bet Austin created and I was the one whining for Austin to call it off before running across the property line- it's nice to see him trying to weasel his way out.

"We are a little old to be stealing chickens don't you think?" Austin argues but I shake my head at him.

"Nope. A bet is a bet. How many times did you force me over there? Now go you little baby." I shove Austin out from behind the shelter of the tree and Ryan reluctantly follows. We all noticed the Hallohans have gotten a little more sophisticated with their chicken coop from when we used to steal them back in high school.

"Watch out for them demon beaks!" Gus loudly whispers over to them and Austin swats his hand at Gus to pipe down. We watch Austin and Ryan tiptoe over to the gate of the coop and we notice them examining something on the side.

Adrenaline is pumping through me now and this is the most exciting thing that's happened to me in weeks. Austin looks over to me and mouths, "It's locked," while pointing to a small padlock on the gate.

"Get the damn chicken Austin!" I snap back and he shakes his head at me. He's made me follow through with way harsher bets so now it's payback. I watch Ryan pull something from his pant pocket and then fiddle with the small lock.

"I think Ryan just picked that lock," Gus observes as we watch him slide the small lock off the gate.

"Who carries lock pickin' tools around?" Gus asks and I shrug as I watch the boys open the fence. There's something about the graceful way in which Ryan moves around that has me more mesmerized on him than the task at hand. I could watch him maneuver through small spaces for hours.

We watch them have to crouch down to get close to the coop that is built like a mini barn. There is a small wire fence around it to keep the chickens in, but currently, they are asleep in the closed-up barn structure. I see Austin look to Ryan and they both suddenly disappear inside the small barn. The sudden squealing that pierces the air around us physically startles Gus and me. A security light turns on that sits off the Hallahan's roof as Austin and Ryan come flying out of the barn and through the gate. Austin has his hands around the chicken's body and Ryan quickly fastens the lock back onto the door. Austin flies over to us as we watch the brown fluffy chicken struggle in his hands. Gus and I jump out from behind the tree and follow in Austin's fleeing footsteps.

"What the hell do I do with the damned thing?" Austin questions loudly, trying to talk over the chicken's squeals.

"I don't know! What did we used to do with them?" I answer back breathlessly as we all sprint towards my parent's house.

"We used to leave them on Headmaster McDonald's porch remember?" Gus clarifies and Austin is still panicking. We did not think of a good escape plan, so we just keep running towards our house.

"Leave it in mother's room." I suggest and Austin lets out a scoff, "I'm not sure I want fried chicken for breakfast Sawyer."

"Oooh chicken and waffles sounds delish right now," Gus says and Austin shoots him a glare. Suddenly Austin stops running and my chest burns from sprinting for so long. The chicken is still thrashing so Austin decides to drop it. He puts his hands on his knees to catch his breath and I notice Ryan is standing there just fine- like he didn't almost just run a mile. I am amazed at how in shape he must be because he is currently the only one of us that doesn't look like they are on the verge of dying.

We watch the chicken circle around and spread its wings before suddenly pecking toward Gus. He starts to slowly back away but the chicken decides to take its anger out on him. I start laughing as Gus is the only terrified person here and I think the chicken feeds off it. It starts getting closer and suddenly it bolts toward him. Gus takes off and the chicken starts chasing him across the lawn.

"Hey you assholes! Help me out!" Gus yells but Austin and I just shake our heads.

"See ya later Gussyboy!" Austin calls out, as we watch Gus and the chicken disappear down the hill. Luckily, Gus doesn't have to outrun the chicken too far since he only lives less than a block away.

After Gus and the chicken's squeals quiet down in the distance, Austin swings his arm around me and says, "Ah, it's nice to be home."