Tanner was strolling towards a gloss black pick up in the parking lot. It was slammed, sitting close to the ground on a decent set of rims. It was a nice truck but I wouldn't tell him that.

"Tanner," I called out. He turned around with furrowed brows as he loosened his school tie and lifted it over his head. "Wait up."

Flynn walked beside me and we picked up the pace, approaching Tanner as he opened his passenger door and ditched his bag and tie. He turned around and leaned against the car. "Yeah?"

"I'm Lucas," I said and then gestured at Flynn who did what I brought him along for. Stood beside me with his arms folded so that his massive ass biceps were loud and clear. "That's Flynn."

"Yeah, I know," he slowly nodded. "What's up?"

"You're new so we thought we'd introduce ourselves. Do you know the other new girl that started, Amalia?"

"Uh no, I don't know her."

"Good," I said. "Keep it that way."

"What?"

"What?" I laughed. "Do you know anyone else who goes here?"

"I've met a couple of people," he said, watching us with a narrow glare. "The people here are cool."

"Yeah, let me know if there's any one you're interested in, the girls around here keen, heard a couple of them talking about the new dude."

He scoffed. "That's your angle then?"

"Excuse me?" I said. 

"To steer me clear of your sister," he said. "She told me you'd give it a go. Apparently no one can go near her. The thing is, I don't give a shit. Threaten me. Fight me. It doesn't matter. I'll do what I want, with who I want. And that happens to be her."

I was about to step forward and show him I wasn't kidding. But Flynn appeared in front of me, bowling Tanner up against the car with his shirt in his fists. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Tanner swallowed, struggling against my friend. "Don't stress. I'm not an asshole. I like her."

"Yeah because it sure sounded respectful with the way you worded it," I snapped. "I'm fluent in 'piece of shit'"

"She mentioned you're a giant hypocrite," he grunted when Flynn pulled him up and gave him another shove against the car. "She can't get a date but you're allowed to fuck whoever you want."

"My sister has a big heart and I'm not—"

I was cut off when I heard coach shouting from somewhere in the near distance. If I got into trouble for fighting again, I'd be kicked off the team. It was my last strike. So we stepped back and Tanner gripped the bottom of his shirt, pulling it down while he glared at us.

"Don't touch her," Flynn warned and we both turned around, crossing the lot before coach could catch up with us.

As we walked, I stared up at Flynn with furrowed brows. He never stepped in. He never became violent and I wondered what he was thinking as he stared with a distant gaze. I'd suspected he had feelings for my sister once before. But he assured me he saw her as a sister and nothing more. In truth, he wouldn't be the worst person for her to end up with. But she didn't see him like that. She was always drooling over morons.

"Finally," Abby said when we approached the car. I ruffled her hair and rounded the Rover to the driver's side where Max was waiting.

"Sorry, was caught up with a teacher."

Max and Abby slid into the back seat and Flynn hopped in the passenger side. I had a feeling Abby could very well find out that Flynn and I roughed up her new boy toy. I honestly couldn't give a fuck but I wasn't about to fill her in and start an argument.

"So, how was everyone's day?" Max said. 

We all offered generic answers. 'Good' 'fine' 'the usual'.

I peered in the rear view mirror and caught Abby suppressing a small grin while she stared at her cell screen. Before I could call her out, Max spoke up with amusement.

"Oh, some Spanish girl came up to me at the end of school," he laughed. "She started asking me for an opinion on all of these little drawings that sh—"

"What?!" I snapped, peering over my shoulder. "What did she say? What did you say?"

Max stammered and then realization seeped into his expression. "Ohhhhh. Yeah I see what's happened."

"Tell me what she said," I shouted.

I slowed the car for a red light and gripped the steering wheel while my leg bounced up and down in frustration. This hadn't happened to us in a long time. Peers got to the point where they could tell us apart. But she was new, I couldn't blame her for mistaking the two of us.

"Well she said hi. Then I said hi. And then she opened this book and said, this is what I've been working on and showed me a few different sketches and she asked me what I thought and I said, yeah they're cool and then she was like, okay? And shut her book and we stood there awkwardly until she walked off."

"You didn't fucking think she might have mixed us up?!"

"Honestly," he said. "I thought she was just showing me her drawings. Didn't occur to me once."

"You're a fucking idiot."

"Someone's got a crush," Abby sung. The light switched green and I stepped on the gas. "You're talking about Amalia right?"

"Yeah," I said. "You know her?"

"We've got English together," she sat forward and I could see her in my peripheral. "She's gorgeous. I was thinking about suggesting her to the agency. That bone structure. Mhmm."

"She doesn't want to be a model," I scoffed. "She plays softball. And she's smart."

She gasped and started jabbing me in the side. "Is Lucas. . . in love?"

"Fuck off, I'm driving! You'll cause an accident."

"Sit down, Abby," Max said.

Flynn lifted his head from the head rest. He'd been staring out the window, ignoring the three of us as he often chose to do. "Couldn't blame him. She is gorgeous."

"Okay but that doesn't mean she's nice," Abby said, her voice switching tones faster than I could switch lanes. "She might be a total bitch."

"She's not."

"I know," she murmured. "Excuse me, what did you mean she's smart as a reason for not being a model. Are you implying that models aren't smart? I'm a model."

"The fact that it took so long for that comment to register with you, wins the argument for me," I said. "But no. That's not what I meant."

"Good," she flicked me in the side of the head. "Because I'm taking AP calculus this year."

I tried, I did, but I couldn't stop it when a loud laughter erupted out of me. We all knew Math was Abby's downfall. She couldn't count to ten until she was almost seven and the amount of times she'd miscalculated the sale percentage on a clothes spree. The amusement was just too fucking good.

However, my laughter was abruptly silenced when her hand flew out and smacked me in the side of the head. "Hit me again and you're fucking walking."

Flynn twisted in his seat and smiled at my sister. "I take AP Calc—"

"Here we go," I mumbled.

"I could help if it gets difficult," he said. "You'll be able to do it though."

"Thank you, Flynn!" She emphasized his name but the rest of her spiel was aimed at me. "That's how you be supportive and encouraging, toss pot. You could learn a thing or two. Max is taking debate this year. Are we going to mock him?"

"You told her you're taking debate, but not me?" I stared at him in the rear view mirror but he was zoned out, reading something on his screen. "Max!"

"Huh?"

"Of course he didn't tell you," Abby gloated. "You're an unsupportive dipshit."

"That has nothing to do with it," Max defended.

"He didn't deny the point though."

"Shut up for a second you fucking fog horn," I snapped and indicated to pull into our neighborhood. I swiped the card across the gate lock and waited for it to open.

"Committing to debate means that I have to consider dropping football. I have a week to decide what I want to do. I just . . . wasn't sure."

For the first time since we hopped in the car, silence settled on us. It was a big deal for Max to switch paths at this point. We'd spent the entire summer together and I couldn't understand how this hadn't come up until now. I knew he didn't want to disappoint me or Dad or even coach. But I also wasn't sure what made him think I wouldn't be supportive towards whatever he chose. It felt like there was more he wasn't telling me.

We pulled into the drive and spotted Dad's dodge beside the garage.

"Mom and Dad are home."

____