"Ready to go home?" Brooks asked, taking a sip of his water and then squirting some onto his face to cool off.

Night had just fallen on Beaufort; Mia and I having spent the last hour and a half working on homework and chatting on the bleachers.

"Yup, I'm starving. And freezing." Mia stated, closing her laptop and standing up.

"Is mom cooking dinner? If not we can stop at Paulo's Pizzeria on the way." Brooks offered, glancing at me quickly. I shrugged in response just as Dallas bounded up from the football field towards us. He wrapped his arm around Mia instinctively, and she pulled a face.

"Ew, get off me! You're covered in sweat and you stink!"

Dallas grinned, pulling her face into his armpit intentionally. "That's man smell baby."

She slapped his arm and pushed him away, her expression one of disgust. "Yeah well your man smell smells like a shoe."

I held back my laughter as Brooks watched his best friend and sister in amusement.

"But to answer your question, Brooks," Mia continued, "mom's working late today and dad's playing tennis with Bryce."

Brooks nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Pizza it is then."

We trailed down to the car together, Dallas and Brooks discussing practice whilst Mia and I huddled to escape the cold.

"What would you be doing right now if you were in LA?" Mia asked quietly, curling into my arm.

I pursed my lips before releasing a breath of air. My Friday nights usually went one of three ways; (a) filming until the wee hours of the morning, (b) partying or (c) sleeping. All three were fine, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd been awake and done nothing on a Friday night.

"Probably filming." I replied after a moment. "We have some wack hours on set."

Mia let out a breath. "Sounds exhausting."

I nodded, taking the final few steps to the car and pulling the back door open. "Oh it is." I said as we hopped in. "But it's also amazing. Being there with these awesome and talented people"- cough except Andy the asshole cough- "and getting to do what I love everyday." I smiled. "It's pretty epic."

Mia buckled herself in and turned to me with a frown. "You're lucky. I wish I had something I was that passionate about. The only thing I'm good at is eating." She rolled her eyes playfully.

Dallas, who had just jumped into the front seat beside Brooks and was listening to our conversation, turned his body uncomfortably to look at Mia. "That's not true MiMi. You're good at listening and giving advice, and you always beat me at Monopoly!"

Brooks pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, heading towards the pizzeria.

I watched the way Dallas interacted with Mia as we drove, thinking back to that day in the lunchroom when he had tried to protect her from Luke without a second thought. His eyes lit up whenever he saw her and he always found a way to weasel himself into a conversation with her. It made me wonder if he felt more for Mia than just the typical best-friend's-little-sister relationship.

"That's because you go crazy and buy everything and then complain when you're bankrupt and expect me to help you." Mia responded in the same sarcastic tone she took whenever she talked to Dallas. Clearly, his feelings weren't reciprocated, as if her huge crush on Luke wasn't enough of a clue.

Dallas grinned, his white teeth glinting under the street lights.

"Anyway, that's beside the point." Mia continued, running a hand through her blonde waves. "I wish there was something that I was really really good at, like Sav is at acting. Maybe then I'd actually know what to do with my life." She moaned, leaning her chin on her hand.

Brooks opened his mouth to reassure his sister, but I beat him to the chase quickly. "Don't be so hard on yourself Mia." I said gently, leaning over to place my hand on her shoulder. "I'm the minority-- the minuscule group of people who know what they want to do with their lives in high school. Don't compare us, because you'll show me up in every other category if you do." I raised my eyebrows at her, earning a small smile in return.

Brooks swerved into a parking spot and came to a stop outside a tiny little building, effectively ending our conversation. The light-up sign in front of the store had read 'Paulo's Pizzeria' the last time I'd been here, but now a few of the bulbs had gone out and it looked more like 'Paul's Pizzi'.

We walked as a group into the diner, taking a seat in a booth right in the corner. Dallas slid immediately into the seat beside Mia, leaving me to squish against the window on the opposite side. Brooks sat next to me a moment later without so much of a glance my way, instead choosing to pick up a menu. He scanned it for a split second and then placed it face down, clearly already knowing what he was going to order.

"What are you getting?" I asked Mia, reading over a menu of my own.

Her eyes lit up."Wanna share one with everything? Usually I just have to grab a piece of whatever they order before they eat it all because I can't eat a whole one myself." She grimaced, throwing her brother a dirty look. He smirked in response, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

"So I guess you can cross eating off of your 'things-I'm-good-at' list after all." Dallas teased, and Mia bumped her shoulder against his.

"Yeah but you can add it to yours." Brooks retorted playfully, "Coach said you gained, what, like ten pounds?"

Dallas placed a hand over his heart, feigning hurt. "Hey, I developed more muscle, okay? Besides, I'm naturally big-boned."

"A big bone-head, you mean." Mia corrected, and Dallas pouted, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"I could make a very inappropriate joke right now, but I'll spare my sister's innocence." Brooks smirked and leaned back into his seat, crossing his arms. Suddenly, I was very aware of how close we were sat, and how utterly stunning he looked in his football jersey. I forced my gaze away before his perceptive eyes could notice.

"Speaking of lost innocence," Mia piped up, "there's a party at Marc Dimmond's house tomorrow night. We going?" She looked at us hopefully, pouring some water from the jug on the table into her glass.

Dallas and Brooks exchanged a glance. "Is the asswipe going to be there?" Dallas asked, staring at the salt shaker. The muscle in his jaw tensed, creating a small dimple in his cheek.

Mia exhaled exasperatedly and rolled her head back to rest on the booth. "I don't know. I don't keep tabs on him, I'm not that creepy."

Dallas scoffed. "I'll never understand how you like that tool." He muttered, sliding the salt shaker from one hand to the other repeatedly.

Seeing Mia's growing aggravation, I jumped to her defence. "Well you don't have to. It's a girl thing." I explained, shooting Mia a wink. "Girls are wired to have a thing for bad boys. It's in our DNA." I shrugged. I'd had my own experiences with a few bad boys in my time, but I'd never liked any as more than a fling. In the end, I'd found, you never really could change them. Date a heartbreaker and you weren't allowed to be surprised when you got heartbroken.

"That really isn't reassuring." Brooks muttered, sending me a sideways glance.

I ignored him. "But as for a party, I really shouldn't. I don't want any trouble."

Mia shook her head and reached over to grab my wrists. "Come on Sav, please! We won't stay late and you don't have to drink, just show up. Please? For me?" She gave me her best puppy dog eyes and I sighed, wrinkling my nose.

This was a bad idea. I could feel it.

"I don't think it's—"

"Please! I'm not going if you're not! Do you really want me to miss out on my high school experience?"

I sighed in defeat, throwing my hands up. "Fine okay, okay." I grumbled. "I don't know why you think you have no talent, you should be a lawyer."

Mia clapped her hands together with delight. "Yay! I've got to figure out what to wear!"

The boys shared a disinterested look and I grimaced. This would be fine, it had to be. Right?