Author's Note: Ryder's POV! I tried to make this like, really on spot, like in a way Ryder would think, so I hope I got it well. (:  

         “So how far have y’all gone?” Todd asks casually, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

          “What?” I reply, looking over at him.

       “You and McKenna. First base? Second? Third? Home Run?” He asks, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

I chuckle, drinking my water, “Why?”

          “Just making casual conversation.”

          “Second.”

Todd looks over at me, “Really?”

When I nod he says, “What with all of the sexual tension between you two, I would think you’ve already gone all the way.”

          “Nah, you know how McKenna is. She’s really…reserved.”

          “I do know for a fact she’s a virgin though.”

          “And you know this how?” I ask him.

        “Will, Jacob, and she were all talking about it in the kitchen like when she first got here and I heard them.”

       “They were talking about whether she’s a virgin or not?” I ask, raising my eyebrows, “That’s peculiar.”

          “No. I think she said she was tired or something and Jake was like, ‘Maybe you’re pregnant’, or something like that. And she made up some statistic about how the chances of her being pregnant are like zero in some really large number.”

I chuckle, McKenna’s so cute. I can imagine her being all embarrassed and red faced. “Well I guess that’s good to know.”

          “You think y’all are going to?”

I shrug, “I don’t know. Probably not. She’s leaving in eight weeks.”   

Todd nods, “That’s true.”

I hear a pair of light footsteps coming down the stairs, and I know its Hailey, because she’s so small. “Hello brothers.” She greets us.

          “Hey.” Todd and I say in unison.

Hailey walks towards the door and says to me, “I’m gonna get McKenna from work.”

I wrinkle my forehead in confusion. “Uh, why?”

          “Because we have busy to handle.”

          “Should I be worried?”

          “Absolutely not.” She promises.

         “Alright then.” I say, leaning back into the couch. As Hailey leaves, Todd says, “You know they’re up to something.”

I nod, “Yeah I know, but they don’t like each other, so I mean that’s what’s throwing me off.”

          “They’re probably gonna go get manicures or something like that.”

          “Yeah, probably.”

----------------------

Three hours later, its 5:00, and McKenna and Hailey still aren’t back. The fact that the two don’t really like each other kinda worries me. I mean, I know she’s a big girl and she take care of herself, but I love her, ya know. I’ve loved her for ten years. Ten years. Do you know how hard it is being in love with a girl you see once a year for only about two months? No you probably don’t, so I’ll tell you. It’s really hard. And plus I mean, I only saw her from like when she was like two months old until she was ten years old. But then she shows up here seven years later. The funny thing is she still looks the same as she always has, and even after ten years she still has some of those annoyingly adorable habits that she has. Like when she’s lying, she looks down at the ground, and her voice goes up an octave when she speaks. Or when she’s sad she blinks really fast. But I mean, that’s what makes her her, and I love her.

Despite the fact that I’ve been in love with McKenna for ten years, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I wanted to date her. I mean, I did and still do want to date her. But the fact of the matter remains; she’s leaving in eight weeks. Then we’ll probably break up, and she’ll be all sad, and I don’t want her to be sad. I feel bad about all those things we all did to her as kids, but I mean hey. I was only a kid.  

I pull my phone from my pocket, and go to the contacts. I hit ‘Mickey’, and it calls her number. The phone rings four times, and I think the voicemail is about to come up, but then I hear her voice.

          “Hi there.”

          “Hey.” I reply.

          “What’s up?”

          “Where are you?”

          “Where am I?” She repeats back to me.

          “Yeah, where are you?”

          “I’m uh, I’m out with Hailey.”

          “Yeah, are y’all having fun?”

          “Oh yeah, so much fun. We’re just um shopping and such.”

          “O...kay then. Well, I’ll talk to you later.”

          “Okay, I’ll be back soon.”

          “Alright, bye.”

          “Bye.” McKenna replies, and then hangs up.

Something is definitely up with the two of them. Maybe I shouldn’t be worried, but I really am. What if they’re going to a party to get drunk or something? I don’t think I could take it if Mickey got hurt. I put my phone down and put it on my bedside table. I get up and go to the bathroom. I take a quick shower, and then get dressed in gym shorts and a plain grey t-shirt.

When I get back to my room; it’s only 5:21. My stomach grumbles, and I toss my clothes into my hamper and make my way downstairs. I go into the kitchen, and sit down at the table. Will is there along with Jacob and Asher. “Hello rookies.” I say, sitting at the table. I grab a slice of pizza which they’re sharing from the box in the center of the table. Hailey’s out with McKenna allegedly and Todd’s probably somewhere sexing it up with Chastity. Blunt, but true. And as for my parents, I’m not sure where they are. Their jobs possibly.

          “Where’s the girlfriend?” Asher asks through a mouth full of pizza.

I shrug, “Her and Hailey are out doing something.”

          “Like…together?” He wonders.

          “Told me they were going shopping.”

          “You believe that?” Will queries.

          “I guess. I mean, she has no reason to lie.” I say evasively.

Will’s phone rings, and he looks at the Caller I.D. for a second before sighing heavily. “Talia?” Jacob guesses.

          “Always.” Will growls, hitting the silence button.

          “What’s up with her? I mean, you told her it was over, didn’t you?” I say.

William nods, “Numerous times. The girl is crazy.”

          “She’s hot though.” Jacob notes taking a large gulp from the Gatorade he’s holding.

That Talia Ferguson is. She’s hot, but she’s crazy. Not even a mild crazy, just full blown crazy. But even all of her hotness can't make up for her craziness. Like for real. I think the girl needs to be on Ritalin. Not to mention she’s bipolar. Okay, maybe she isn’t bipolar-so she says-but I believe she is. Talia and Will dated started dating like in December of last year I believe. He brought her around a lot, and she used to just be jabbering on and on and on. Like we’d eat dinner together-the family and Talia, and she literally would talk through the whole thing. But that’s nothing compared to her mood swings. One minute she was in love with Will, the next she hates him. One minute she wanted to make out with him, the next she wanted to slap him. I don’t even think that was the worst part of it all though. I mean, her crazy attitude wasn’t the reason they broke up. The reason they broke up is because Talia had ‘sober sex’ with William’s then best friend-Shawn. Will says if she had had sex with Shawn while intoxicated, then maybe he would have been able to move past it. But they were both sober. Shawn is coincidently that boy who’s a friend of Matt-that boy who liked or maybe still likes McKenna. So shortly thereafter, they broke up. They only had sex in like….May or something. Will found out, and then broke up with her. He always goes on about how Talia ‘betrayed, humiliated, and desecrated him.’ Yeah, that’s a bit dramatic-that desecrated part. But it was humiliating for him, because apparently Shawn and Talia had sex in the back of a car and everyone heard about it. And that, boys and girls, is why Talia and William-dubbed Till or Walia-are no more. But ever since he broke up with her-and from what he told me, he broke up with her at school in the middle of the hallway-she’s been calling trying to get back together with him, nonstop.

            “So you two will probably never get back together?” Asher wonders.

          “There’s no ‘probably’ about it. We are never ever getting back together.” He solemnly swears. The weirdest thing is, when William broke up with Talia, he didn’t seem in the least bit sad about it. He just went on being his normal self.

          “Why don’t you just get your number changed?” I suggest.

          “Yeah, that’s a smarter idea.” Jacob agrees.

          “Because I have like a thousand contacts. If I get my number changed just for Talia, then I’ll have to alert all of those people of my new number. This would be too time consuming?”

          “Right, right.” I nod.

Suddenly the kitchen door opens, and my mother walks in holding her briefcase. So I’m assuming she’s just arriving home from work. “Hi kids.” She says, leaning down and kissing William, Jacob, Asher and I all on our heads as if we’re nine years old or something.

          “Mom, grown men here.” Asher tells her.

          “Please,” My mom says, going to the refrigerator, “You’re only sixteen Asher.”

          “But I’m almost seventeen. And Will’s seventeen, Jacob’s seventeen, and Ryder’s nineteen.”

          “Exactly, so I’m technically the only male adult here.”

          “Right,” My mom agrees, “Something’s missing.”

          “Todd?” Jacob guesses.

          “No, where are the girls?”

          “Apparently Hailey and McKenna are ‘shopping’.” I say, adding the air quotes around shopping.

          “Why the air quotes?” My mom wonders.

          “Because he doesn’t really believe that they’re shopping.” William answers for me.

         “I was under the impression that Hailey and McKenna didn’t get along well. Is that not true?” Mom asks.

          “No, it’s true. They don’t, which is why I’m wondering where they are.”

          “Hmm, maybe they called a truce.” Jacob suggests.

          “Yeah, and maybe I’ll win the lottery tomorrow.” I say. “Those two absolutely despise each other. Why would they make up?”

          “Well they’re older now. Maybe they’ve come to their senses.”

I shrug, “Maybe, I guess.”

          “So mom, did you know that Ryder’s got a gir-“ Asher starts to say, but I throw my slice a pizza across the table, hitting him in the face.

          “Dammit man, this is a new shirt.” He says, gesturing down to his now greased up shirt.

          “Language son.” Mom says, coming back over to the table. She sits in the chair beside me, and says, “Now what does Ryder have?”

          “He’s dating someone new. McKenna.” Asher tells her.

I narrow my eyes at him. I wasn’t planning on telling my mom that McKenna and I are dating yet because she’s gonna be all…motherly about it and shit like that. My mom looks at me, as if awaiting confirmation “Is that true?”

          “It’s true.” I mutter.

        “Well that’s…unexpected. So she knows all about her then?” She wonders. Ever since Scarlett committed suicide, her name’s pretty much off limits at our house. Like we don’t talk about it. Ever. So she’s simply referred to as, ‘her’ or ‘she’.

I nod, “I told her a while ago.”

          “And when were you two planning on telling me?”

          “We didn’t tell anyone. Matter of fact, I’m wondering how nosy over here knows.” I say, gesturing to Asher. “Wait a minute, how do any of you know?”

          “Come on Ryder, it’s so obvious. I mean, everyone knows you love her. Plus we may have heard it from Todd.”

I nod, “Of course. Doesn’t surprise me in the least bit. And anyways, mom, we were gonna get around to it sooner or later.”

          “So how long have the two of you been together?”

          “As of yesterday.” I answer her.

          “Well I think it’s cute that you two are finally acting on your feelings.” She announces. “Just don’t have sex with her under my roof.” She says sternly, and then leaves the kitchen.

          “Well that settles that.” I say, taking another slice of pizza.

----------------------

Ten o’clock comes quickly. Rather quickly I might add. Neither McKenna, nor Hailey is back yet. I was already worried at five o’clock. Now it’s ten o’clock. I mean, I’m pretty sure they’re not still shopping at ten o’clock p.m. It just seems very unlikely. Currently I’m in my room lying at the foot of my bed watching some random movie that’s on one of the plethora of movie channels. I called McKenna about fifteen minutes ago; no answer. Then I called Hailey; no answer. Seriously, I mean what if something’s wrong? Hailey’s my baby sister and my only sister, and McKenna well she’s my baby girl. I hope they’re alright. I’m sure they are. I bet they’ll be walking through the front door in no time. A second later, my cell phone rings. I pick it up, thinking its McKenna or Hailey, but the number belongs to neither of them. The number is one I don’t recognize, but I answer anyway.

          “Hello?”

          “Ryder O’Connor?” A deep male voice says.

          “Yes?” I reply, sitting up in my bed.

       “I’m Officer Brooks down at the L.A. police station. We have McKenna Bryant and Hailey O’Connor in and they said to call you.”

What the hell? They better not be in jail. I mean, like they better not have done something stupid like steal something. I doubt they would though. The Officer clears his throat and I say, “Well what are they in for? I mean like have they been arrested?”

          “I’m sorry sir; I can’t disclose that information over the phone. If you could just come down to the station, that’d be good.”

          “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.” I tell him, and then hang up.

I get out of my bed, and pull on a pair of shoes, and then grab my phone and keys, leaving my room. I trot down the stairs, and then pull the front door open. I go to my car, unlocking the doors and getting in. I pull my seatbelt on and hurriedly back out of the driveway, speeding down the high way. My eyes dart to the dashboard, and see that it’s 10:03. My hands clench on the steering wheel as I drive down the highway which is full of traffic. I switch lanes rapidly, trying to avoid the slow driving idiots.

As I drive down the highway, all these insane thoughts cross my mind. What if they got mugged and now they’re reporting it? Or what if they really did shoplift? Or…well I don’t know! But what if something horrible happened? I really need to calm down. I take a deep breath and then I arrive at the exit. I get off, and go in the general direction of the police station.

I park in the lot of the gas station and then turn the car off. I get out and walk up to the front doors. I pull it open, and walk in looking around. Spotting what I guess is the front desk, I walk up to it. There’s an old looking guy standing behind it, looking down at something on the computer and typing. I clear my throat and he looks up, “Can I help you?”

          “I got a call from Officer Brooks, is he around?”

          “Right, I’ll page him.”

I nod, and look down at the desk which is embroidered in wordy graffiti. There are a few carvings of what I assume are initials, and the others are just random words like, ‘Cali.’ ‘So Cal.’ Stupid random stuff. “Are you Ryder O’Connor?” A voice asks, ‘causing me to look up as who I assume is Officer Brooks.

          “Yeah that’s me.”

          “Right this way.” He says, leading me down the hall towards cells I assume.

          “So what happened?” I ask him as we walk down the hallway. I groan after he tells me what they did. “Are you fucking serious?” He gives me a look and I say, “Sorry. Freaking. Are you freaking serious?”

          “As serious as a heart attack Mr. O’Connor.” He tells me as we round the corner, and I spot McKenna’s long light brown hair which is hanging down, covering her face. She’s sitting next to Hailey on a bench and their wrists are both being confined by silver handcuffs. At least though, they aren’t in a matching pair of orange jumpsuits. “Hey.” I say uneasily.

McKenna and Hailey both look up and McKenna jumps up from the bench. She runs over to the cell doors and uses her whips her hair out of her face. Hey eyes are rimmed in red, and they’re slightly puffy. It’s obvious she’s been crying. Hailey gets up hesitantly and stands beside McKenna, looking down at the ground.

----------------------

          “What the hell where you thinking?” I shout at McKenna as I pace back and forth in my room. After I paid the $500 fine for McKenna and Hailey to get out of jail, I drove them back home, not speaking to either of them on the way. How the hell could they be so stupid?

McKenna closes her eyes, and rubs her wrists which she says are hurting due to the handcuffs digging down in them. “Please stop screaming.”

          “I can’t believe you two stole a car!” I shout again, disregarding her request.

Apparently, McKenna and Hailey stole Justin’s car. Justin is Hailey’s boyfriend. Well ex-boyfriend as she keeps reminding me. He broke up with her, she got upset and somehow managed to convince McKenna to help her steal Justin’s car. Not only did they steal it, they knocked the windows out and keyed it. Not to mention the fact that the car now resides at the bottom of Lake Balboa. Why? Because they decided it'd be nice to drown it. Hailey's words, 'If he won't drive me around in his car, he isn't driving anyone around in his car.' So anyway, somehow, the police found out and the arrested them. Took them to jail and everything. They’re just lucky the police didn’t call dad, or even worse, mom. They would be dead right now. Seriously. And needles to say, I’m upset about it.

McKenna stands up from the bed and walks over to me. She puts her hands on my shoulder, making me stop pacing. “I know you’re mad. I’m sorry.”

          “Damn straight I’m mad. McKenna do you know how serious Grand Theft Auto is?”

          “Well,” McKenna replies, looking down at the floor. “No.” They’re just lucky they didn’t actually get charged with anything. Apparently the Justin kid has a heart, and decided not to press charges.

I sigh, looking down at McKenna. I know I shouldn’t be yelling at her. For one, my parents will hear and she’ll be either grounded or sent back to Dallas. Both would be bad. She looks up at me. Her blue eyes bore into mine and I can literally see the tears in her eyes. She’s gonna cry. Dammit. Nice going Ryder. Making your girlfriend cry. The tears escape her eyes, and fall down her face. McKenna takes her hands off of my shoulders and lets them rest by her side. More tears fall and she sniffles.

I put my hands on the side of her face, leaning down. I press my lips against hers, and kiss her for a few seconds. She barely kisses back, but she does. When I pull away, I wipe the tears that have fallen away from her face and kiss her forehead. I take her hand and lead her to my bed. I press down on her shoulders slightly, and she sits down. I kneel down on the floor in front of her and put my hands on her knees.  

          “I’m sorry.” I tell her, rubbing her bare knees.

          “Me too.”

          “I was just really worried about you. Okay?”

McKenna nods, “Okay.”

          “Promise me you will never do something so stupid ever again?”

          “I promise.”

I smile slightly, “Good. You know I love you right?”

          “I know.”

          “Okay,” I say standing up. I sit down beside her on the bed and grab her hand. “So remind me why you thought that’d be a good idea?”

          “Well,” McKenna sighs, “Hailey really needed someone to help her do it. And I know that it was stupid. I’m really sorry I made you worried.”

          “It’s okay.” I tell her, looking down at the back of her hand. “But I think you should really just apologize to Justin.”

          “Do I have to? I don’t even know him.”

          “You don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna. But I think you should.” I tell her.

McKenna sighs, “Okay. Tomorrow. So is this just gonna go away?” She asks hopefully.

          “Justin said he won’t press charges, so yes it will.”

          “Good.”

          “No kidding.”

          “Are you still mad?”

          “Yes, yes I am.” I tell her truthfully. “It could have been way worse than it was. What if Justin had pressed charges? What if the police had called my parents instead? What if Justin decided to get even and I dunno…murder you guys or something?”

          “I know it was stupid. But Hailey and I are friends now. So that’s good right?” She says.

          “Yeah, that’s true.”

          “I feel really stupid.” Mickey admits.

          “You should.” I tell her.

          “Okay, I deserved that. I swear to you that I’ll never do something as stupid and idiotic as that ever again. Please stop being mad at me.”

I shake my head, but I smile slightly, “I can’t stay mad at you.”

McKenna leans her head down on my shoulder, “Good, I’m glad.”

          “It’s just because you’re so cute. You need rest.” I tell her, getting up. I pull back the covers and McKenna-who showered promptly after we arrived here-lays under them. I’ve discovered that when McKenna’s really sad she’ll take really, really long showers. She was in there for like an hour…okay forty five minutes which is like twenty minutes longer than her normal showers-which are also too long. I drop the cover on top of her, and turn the light off. “I’m gonna go downstairs so you can sleep. Goodnight my little jailbird.”

McKenna giggles and says, “Goodnight.”

Author's Note: So do you guys like Ryder's point of view? Like does it do him justice?