I rolled out of bed the next morning and headed into the kitchen. Ryder was sitting at the bar eating a bowl of cereal shirtless. What a sight. Cereal. He had several boxes out on the table and i grabbed one and poured it into a bowl. I hadn't seen breakfast like this in a while. Usually i'd buy one loaf of bread and a jar of jelly sometimes if i was feeling crazy i'd buy some butter and make toast. But i had to limit myself to one piece a day. I was so grateful i could have two bowels if i wanted.

          "Mornin'." He said raising his spoon to me. "Sleep well?" He asked. "You know, i did." I said. "You?" I asked. "Course." He smiled. I took a seat next to him. "Ready for today?" I asked. "What shopping with my besties? Of course!" He said in a girl voice. I laughed. "Well you know you guys don't all have to come." I said. "Nah were a team we stick together. And we can hold your bags." "Hey i'm down for that." "Me too, especially if we end up at the food court." He said. I ate my cereal as Liam and Caleb came in.

          Once we were done we all headed to the mall. It was a pretty quick thing to be honest. I had no budget and no clothes. So i started with winter. I got four pairs of jeans, several sweaters, two pairs of boots and a pair of tennis shoes. Then i got two jackets a big one for cold days a thin one for cool days. Then summer. I bought a bathing suit, several tanks and shirts. Five pairs of shorts, two dresses some sandals and flip flops. I gasped as i added it all up. But i was grateful and the guys kept reassuring me that it was fine and i deserved it.

          "Now we just have to find you an outfit to win over mark." Said Caleb. "Yea i'm not sure about that, i'm kinda nervous." I said. "Hey you know we all have a second identity that we use when we go out. A disguise so we don't get busted." Jake said. We were in the food court. We all had food and were sitting at a table in the corner.

          "I'm Bob Beacher. I wear a hawian shirt and a fat suit that hides my bullet proof vest. I wear shades and this rinse out color that makes my hair look like it's got golden highlights from the sun. A pair of shorts and flip flops. Nobody knows its me. I have an I.d. too just in case." Said Ryder. "Yea and i'm R.J. hologram. I wear chains and a big jersey, ripped jeans, a  bandanna and backwards cap. I'm a white rapper." Said Jake. "I'm pimp diddy. I wear this long cheetah coat. I fedora had with a small feather. A ridiculous purple suit. Over-sized gold glasses and i cary a cane. I even put in a gold tooth." Said Ethan.

          "I go as grandpa senor i get a little more crazy cause i can do an old mans voice. I make my hair white and add a beard. I even add wrinkles for effect. I wear a big t-shirt that says retired and sweat pants." Said Caleb. "And i wear a headband. Ridiculously bright neon workout clothes. I even put on some hot pink under eye stuff like they use in football. I've got the sweat bands and a pair of lime green fake glasses." Said Liam.

          "So who will you be?" Jake asked. "Eh, well i see that you guys choose people unlike you so maybe i'll be Kitty Jones, an exotic dancer." I said. "Ohh i like that. It's very different." Said Ethan. "Right and if i have to wear a sexy outfit to get Mark i might as well go with it." I touched my long straight blonde hair. "I could dye this red with some temp stuff." I said. "You can borrow my beard if ya want?" Caleb joked. "Maybe not the best look for me. I just don't want to wear this and then Mark thinks i'm sexy i mean i'm kind of offended i'm not already." I said.

          "That's what you think." Ryder said whispering quietly in my ear. I blushed. We finished our food and started the hunt. I tried on halters with mini skirts, crop tops with capris, flowy summer dresses. But in the end i went with a short strapless cheetah dress. It had sweetheart neckline with push up bra. "If you do this, let me make you some business cards. Kitty's corner with a silhouette that looks like a cat on a pole." Liam said getting into it. "Yes, please that's hilarious and makes it look more real." I laughed. The guys all had several bags. We headed to the parking lot to head home. "Thanks again guys." I said waving as we all left.

          Once i had washed and dried all of my clothes and put them in my rather large closet i found Liam. "Okay so i did these business cards." He said holding them out. "Wow they look Legit!" I said. "And i took this photo of you and made an i.d. i even gave you red hair." "Wow that looks incredible!" I said gasping. "Thank you!" I said giving him a big hug. "No problem. We all bring something to the team i'm just glad i could help." He said.

           I took a seat sighing. "I don't know that i'll be as much help." I said. "Hey we've been trying to get Big Mark to make a sale to us for about a month. He denies that he sells every time. If you can get him to sell you're a very valuable asset and no offense but last week Caleb tried to cook something that tasted like dirty sock casserole." He made a face. "So you cooking is also greatly appreciated." He said. "Thanks, that makes me feel better." I said. "I'm worried about you though." He said.

         "Why?" I asked playing with a string on my shorts. "Well Mark is a tough guy and he's been known to hurt a few people. Not like bad enough to send him to jail or anything but bad enough to scare you." He took a seat across from me. "I'm not some little fragile doll that will break. The things I've see and taken on in my life it's a lot. I am not naive, i know this job is dangerous. I also know i can get hurt. But if you guys can do it, then so can i. So i may get a little banged up or bruised i can take it." I felt the need to tell him about my past. We were a team now and would hopefully be like family soon. And i appreciated that he worried about me.

          "That's good to know. We're always looking for new ways to help stop the crime in this town. One day i feel like it's not going to be enough an we'll have to go elsewhere." "Why do you say that?" I asked. "Well Big Mark is one guy, no way he is getting all the drugs himself. Somebody has gone corporate. He's hot a warehouse somewhere and he's sending the drugs out all over. He's rolling in dough. I just can't prove it." He said.

         "Nobody wants to talk." I said. "Yea cause these guys who are selling are also making bank. And i know Mark wouldn't say anything." He said. "Well wait a minute. If your theory is correct. What about some of the guys ya'll put away. Don't you think one of them will talk?" I ask. "Maybe but i wouldn't even know who to ask. You can't just go into jail and pull random guys who are in on drug charges out. We need somebody on the inside. But one of us going in is to risky. If word gets out that were a rat they'll kill us for sure." He said.

          "Well busting up a huge drug ring would be an amazing opportunity. I mean the guys you would send to jail, if we could get somebody to talk and his information did check out maybe he could get a lesser sentence." I said. "Hey, that's actually really smart. But who do we get to talk and how?" He asked. "I..." I said trailing off and looking down. The people selling drugs in this town went to prison the same one my dad went to. It's just simple math. My dad could put out his feelers but that would mean i'd have to go talk to him. And i was not ready to bring that up yet.

          "Liam, i think i know how we could do that but i'm not ready to take that path yet. So unless you can come up with another idea i'm sorry." I said looking down wiping a tear from my eye. "Hey, you don't have to feel bad. Whatever you're thinking can wait i was just thinking out loud." he said. "But i like where you're going and soon i'll be able to help you more." I said. "Okay how about this then, i'll get Jake to look into the lowering of a sentence part once it's confirmed we can offer it then i'll get back to you. But i'm sure they'll agree." He said. "Okay, good. Thanks." I stood up. "Let me go find Ryder i should get in another training before we do the purchase." I said. "k, see ya." Liam said as i left.

          Ryder was on the mats doing push ups. "Hey you, think we could practice some more?" I asked. "Yea that's fine." He said jumping up. I knew i'd have to go see Jake at the shooting range sooner or later but the idea of having to do that made me nervous. The back door opened with a thud. "I did it Caleb!" Jake said entering the room. Caleb looked up from some papers at the table brow furrowed. "Did what?" He asked. "I got that bullet proof vest for Sydney." He said.

          Jake and Caleb walked over. Jake held up a vest in his hand. "What kind of vest is that?" Ryder asked eyeballing the thing. "So you know that girl i used to date from Jersey her dad was the mob boss. Well we ended on good terms. She started a fashion line and one of the things she put in her line was a bullet proof vest. Its supposed to have thinner more comfortable straps. And it's supposed to be slightly lower cut so Sydney you can wear it with your new dress." Jake said holding it out to me proudly. "I don't know about that, maybe you should try it on." Said Ryder. "Why? it's safe." Said Jake. "Well if it's less coverage i want to make sure." Ryder said.

          The two went at it a bit longer before i finally spoke up. "I'll just go try it on." I said going into the bathroom. I had no idea how i was supposed to wear this thing. I unvelcrowed it and took a look.  It pulled tight in the back. I slipped it on and opened the door. Ryder was waiting. "Can you fix the back?" I asked. "Sure thing." He pulled it tight. "Can you breath?" He asked. "Little difficult but if it keeps me safe i'm all for it." I came out and showed them the vest. "Why did Gloria put in a push up bra? That seems pointless." Said Ryder. "I don't think she did." Jake said shaking his head. "Oh..." Ryder said his eyes on me. He cleared his throat pulling his eyes away. "Yea, i uh think that'll you know...uh be fine." Said Ryder.

          "Okay then, get the back?" I asked turning around. Ryder's face was red. I bit my lips to keep from laughing. He undid the back and put my shirt back on. I slipped the vest onto a hanger and into my closet. "Ready to beat me up?" I asked Ryder. "Uh what?" He asked. "You said you'd help train me..." I said. "Oh right, yea of course let's go." He said meeting me on the mat.

          We practiced for about an hour. I was wiped after that. But i knew i couldn't keep Jake waiting. I said i'd learn to use a gun and i would. If i had to carry one i wanted to be safe. I walked out the back door and into a shooting range. He had a headset on and was shooting off some rounds I waited till he was done. "Hey, got some time to show me a few things?" I asked. "Of course! Give me just a second." He pulled the ear phones down around his neck. He put his gun up and found another one from the case. He checked a few things. Loaded some bullets and walked over giving me a pair of headsets.

          "Ever shot a gun?" He asked. "Nope, well a shot gun one time. It kicked me pretty hard." He chuckled. "Great thing about these guns...they don't kick." He said handing it to me. "This is the safety. Boom on, boom off. That's so you don't accidentally shoot yourself in the foot." He said. "Genius."  I said moving it back and forth. "Okay so this here is a man, so to speak. This target is the best spot to hit him. I'm gonna tack this up way down there. And then you shoot. We'll see how you do." He put it up at the end and came back. "Fire away."

          So i did. I hit as close as i could to the target in the middle. He went to get it once the gun was empty. He whistled. "I'm actually impressed i thought you'd miss completely." He said chuckling. "Excuse me?" I said turning to face him hands on my hips. "What? I just know you're new and all..." He trailed off when i glared at him. "Why because i'm a girl. Oh you boys are getting on my nerves. Come on, come at me." I said. "What? I no.." He said stammering. "Why because you will hurt little ol me?" I asked. "I'll even turn around. Come get me." I said. He walked up behind me and put his arms around me. Just as Ryder had showed me i flipped him over my shoulder and onto the ground. He was right i could do it. Adrenalin soared through me.

          He groaned up at me from the floor, my move having knocked the wind out of him. I sat on his stomach. "You silly little boy, when are you going to learn?" I asked leaning down to get into his face. "This isn't exactly teaching me a lesson." He said. "No, but my move did. Don't underestimate me again." I said. I put my hands on his shoulders. "Or i'll have to really hurt you." I leaned down and pressed a fiery kiss to his lips. Something about me having taken him down got the better of me. He kissed back just as passionately. Mind you kissing him probably wasn't the best way to get my message across but i couldn't help myself. Once i was done i stood up and dropped my headphones on his chest. Setting my gun down on the table i walked out. "Thanks for the lesson." I called out.

          I stumbled in through the back door and into the kitchen. "Ow that hurt!" I said realizing what i had just done. "What did you do?" Ryder asked. Ethan ran in. "Ya'll gotta see this picture i took of Jake he's laid out in the gun range." Ethan said waving his phone. "I heard a thud and was concerned. He won't tell me what happened though." I pulled an ice pack from the freezer and put it on my shoulder. "I think i know." Said Ryder.  "You did the move on him didn't you?" He asked me. "Maybe, but i hate to break it to you guys dinner might be late. I need to go die." I said walking towards my room. "Hey wait." Ryder called out.

          He laid next to me on my bed. "Hey that was super impressive. "And super painful i need you guys to stop thinking of me as a girl." I said. "It's kind of hard." He said his eyes scrolling my body. "Stop that." I laughed hitting his arm. "I'm sorry, it's hard not to notice. But i'm still super proud of you. Jake's a big dude. I mean you took him down." He said. "Let me see your shoulder." I leaned up and pulled my shirt down. "Ouch, that's gonna bruise." He said placing a gentle kiss on my shoulder his breath sending shivers down my spine. He gently pulled it back and his eyes met mine.

          And here we were again. The same position i'd been in several times over the past few days. Maybe living with guys wasn't the best idea but going back home wasn't either. "You're beautiful." Ryder said. As if it was a fact i should already know. "I don't know about that." I said looking down. "Hey i wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. Hasn't anybody ever said that to you before?" He asked as if it would be bizarre. "Sure but they all wanted something." I said. Something i was sure they were getting from my mom. But they were drunk and/or high so i assumed that was it. He nodded.

          "Right, well you should get some rest. I'm going to go take a look at my stuff for school tomorrow." He said. "you're leaving?" I asked confused. "Yea, you've had a long day. But i'll come back and check on you okay?" He said hitting the door frame as he walked out. I knew what he was doing. He didn't want me to see him as all those jerks my mom dated. Some guy who just wanted something. A tear slipped out of my eyes and i wiped it away. That was probably the sweetest thing a guy had ever done for me. Any other guy wouldn't taken that opportunity to kiss me. And i would have let them because I've been told my whole life that's all guys want.

          Is it possible that he is different than those other guys? That thought scared me. Because i knew that i could fall hard for that guy. I'd been kissing these guys...well okay i kissed Caleb, Ethan and Jake. I was doing that so they'd like me and maybe accept me. But Ryder is right in that i AM a girl and if i keep doing that they are going to keep thinking of me as a girl and not part of the team. I needed to find a way to be both. Because i was a girl. I shut my eyes and woke up sometime later to movement.

          "Hey you, you don't have to get up." Said Ryder. "No if i don't get up i won't sleep tonight, ouch." "How the shoulder?" He asked. "Still sore. What's that?" I nodded to the pizza box. "I went to get pizza so you could rest. Ethan was upset about not getting steak but he'll survive." He chuckled. "Thank you." I said taking a slice. He set a drink on my table. Dr. Pepper my favorite. How had he noticed. "So Liam told me about his theory." he said. "And what's that?" I asked taking a bite of the warm pizza. "That this small drug ring is a part of a bigger one." He said.

          I nodded. "He could be onto something." I said. "Given any thought to going to see your dad?" he asked. "No not really...maybe...yes i guess so. I'm not ready to but i know it would help out the team if i did so maybe i should suck it up." I said shrugging. "Hey, don't even say that. If you're not ready you're not going. Don't put yourself out. We have tons of other things we can do until your ready." He said. "Okay good because i'm nervous i don't even know what i'll say." I said. "Hey just think your dad could be Dan Scott and you could be going to see him in jail." Ryder said.

          "Dan Scott? You watch one tree hill?" I asked excited. "Correction i might've seen that pull over you're always wearing and got curious. I googled the place and found out it's not real it's fro a tv show so i might've started binge watching them so we could talk about it."  Another tear slipped out of my eye. He had to stop being so sweet. I wiped it away hopefully before he noticed. "You know Dan Scott is a jerk but he might just surprise you." I said. "That'll be the day" He said laughing. "I know i have a love hate relationship with him. Sometimes you think he's actually trying then he does something stupid and mean." I said.

          We talked about One tree hill which seemed like forever. He asked me why it was my favorite and we talked characters then it led me to asking him about his favorite tv show. Then somehow we talked about movies and which super power we would choose. Our favorite memory growing up to some of the things on our bucket list. You name it we talked about it. Before i knew it the sun was coming up. "Oh no, we talked all night." I said looking out the window. He yawned. "We did, were gonna be tired for school today." He said. I stood up. "Yea that nap didn't do much." I said. "I think i'm gonna have to get a few hours before i start mine." He said.

          I fixed some coffee to take with me along with my pop tart. I started to walk outside to get into old betty when i realized she was broken and Ethan was using her for parts. Ethan also didn't have my new car ready yet.