*Hazel's P.O.V*

It wasn't long before school was over and I was saying goodbye to Caroline before I went to find Max and Phoebe so we could go home. I found them just outside, talking to none other than Oyster. Great, another opportunity to humiliate myself.

"I'll see you later, man." Max said to Oyster as I walked over.

"Yeah, later, man." Oyster said, before luckily walking away before I had a chance to embarrass myself.

"Why will you be seeing Oyster later?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, he's coming over for band practice." Max replied. Fantastic, just when I thought I was done humiliating myself for the day.

"Oh, th-that's cool." I said, trying to act casual.

"Oh, and try not to trip over your own two feet and crash into him again, okay?" He said with a smirk. I just glared at him, my cheeks heating up as the memory entered my train of thought.

"Max." Phoebe reprimanded, giving him a "don't remind her" sort of look. I was pretty lucky to have a sister like Phoebe looking out for me when I had a brother like Max.

Max just rolled his eyes as we began walking away from school, on our way home. We soon walked through the front door and were instantly greeted by our family.

"Hey kids, how was school?" Mom asked.

"Good." Phoebe and I answered.

"Yeah, especially when Hazel went flying across the hallway in front of everyone and almost knocked Oyster over." Max laughed.

"Max!" Phoebe scolded him again.

"Oh, honey, are you okay?" Mom coddled.

"Yes, Mom, I'm fine. I'm over it." I insisted, even though deep down, the memory would burn in my brain for a long, long time, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have homework." And with that, I took off upstairs and into my bedroom.

An hour later, I'd finished most of my homework and made my way downstairs.

"Oyster should be here any minute." Max said to Phoebe as I entered the living room. I started to panic a little until I saw Chloe in the kitchen and a plan hatched.

"Hey, Chlo." I walked over to my little sister, "How would you like to go to the park for a couple hours?"

"Yeah!" She yelled and I smiled.

"Great, go and get your coat, then."

"Okay!" She said before teleporting as I walked into the living room.

"Where are you going?" Phoebe asked me as I walked towards the front door.

"Taking Chloe to the park. You two can come too of you like." I said to Billy and Nora, who just happened to walk in.

"Okay." Billy nodded.

"Sure." Nora grinned.

Chloe soon came back with her coat and shoes on and after telling Mom and Dad where we were going, the four of us left. After the short walk, we ended up at the park and Chloe headed straight for the swing set.

"Hazel, push me!" She shouted.

"Okay, coming, Chloe!" I replied, walking over to the swing that she'd gotten into and started to push her, listening to her giggle and squeal as she got higher and higher.

"So, Haze, why exactly did you decide to take us to the park?" Nora asked me as she and Billy were on the "big kid" swings next to Chloe's baby swing.

"I just wanted to spend some quality time with my little siblings, what's wrong with that?" I replied as she was practically interrogating me. Both Billy and Nora gave me "really?" look and so I added, "Plus I just wanted to get out of the house for a bit."

"Oh, you mean the house that Oyster's going to be spending the evening at?" Nora raised an eyebrow at me as a small smirk graced her young face.

"I don't think he's gonna be for the whole evening, Nora, just a couple hours to rehearse with Max."

"And you said we'd be at the park for 'a couple hours', didn't you?" Billy spoke up.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, the only reason you're here is because you want to avoid Oyster, because you like him!" Nora pointed a finger at me.

"What? That's ridiculous!" I tried to laugh it off but I may have gone a bit over the top, "You two really need to find a hobby or something to do with your time instead of decoding my every move."

"You're not denying it." Billy pointed out.

"Just say it, Hazel, you love Oyster!" Chloe piped up while I was still pushing her on the swing.

"See? Even Chloe knows what's up." Nora claimed.

"Oh, whatever. Who wants to go on the slide?" I asked, hoping to distract them, or Chloe at least.

"Me!" Chloe screamed, as I lifted her out of the swing and set her down.

"You can't try and change the subject, Haze." Nora stated.

"Watch me." And with that, I followed Chloe over to the slide.

We stayed at the park for quite a while and luckily, they didn't mention Oyster again. Speaking of which, about two hours later I figured Oyster probably would've left by now and so we all went home. Unfortunately, as we walked through the front door, we found Max and Oyster sat on the couch playing video games.

"Oh, hey, Oyster's still here." I muttered, trying not too sound too dismayed.

"Hey, guys." Oyster smiled at us, trying to be a friendly guest. Billy, Nora and Chloe said hi back but I didn't.

"Well, I've still got some homework to do, so I'll be upstairs." I said, before making a beeline for the stairs. I went up them, only to bump into Phoebe as she was just exiting her room.

"Whoa, slow down, will you?" She chuckled when I almost crashed right into her.

"Sorry, I was just-"

"Running away from Oyster?" She caught me off guard with that one.

"I don't know what you're talking out." I lied.

"Oh, don't you?" She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Why does everyone think I like him?!" I mumbled. I mean, I did like him, but I thought I was pretty good at hiding it.

"Maybe because it's obvious? You're constantly finding ways to avoid him and if you can't, you're a nervous wreck around him, which I don't understand why because he's just a regular guy, even if he does have a bit of a weird obsession with his guitars." Phoebe went on and I couldn't help but smile. I always thought his passion for guitars was cute.

"Is there a point to this story?" I asked her, folding my arms impatiently.

"Just don't change yourself for him, okay? I remember when I first met him and I had a crush on him. I knew he was into punk chicks and so I thought I had to change who I was just so he would like me, but it really wasn't worth it. Be yourself and if he can't see how awesome you are, then it's his loss." Phoebe said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"That's nice, Phoebe, I appreciate your advice and I'll definitely keep it in mind, but I don't like him! The only reason I get nervous is because, well, I don't know him that well. You know I'm not really a people person."

"That's the lamest excuse I've ever heard, Hazel."

"You're not going to let me go until I admit it, are you?" I asked with a sigh.

"Nope." Phoebe smirked.

"Well, I'm not going to." I replied with my own smirk, before turning around and going back downstairs.

"Hazel!" Phoebe called after me but I ignored her.

"Oh, hey, Hazel." Oyster said to me as I went downstairs and my heart leaped as he said my name. He was now sat on the couch alone; Max must've been in the bathroom or something.

"Uh, hi." I muttered, before spotting Chloe as she walked out of the kitchen with food all around her mouth, "Oh, Chloe, you're so messy!" I laughed, bending down in front of her and taking out a packet of tissues from my pocket. This was perfect, Oyster wasn't going to try and talk to me if I was preoccupied with my baby sister. Who knew Chloe would be play such a huge part in helping me avoid Oyster today?

"There we go, all clean." I grinned at my sister after I'd wiped her face with the tissues.

"Thanks, Hazey." She giggled. I smiled and kissed her forehead, before she disappeared, teleporting to who knows where.

"No, wait, Chloe-" I tried to call after her, but she was long gone and now I was left alone with Oyster sat on the couch, only a few feet away from me.

"You're a really good big sister, you know." Oyster spoke up, looking over at me.

"Um, th-thanks, I guess." I felt my cheeks burn as I looked away from him.

"Hazel, can I ask you something?"

"Y-you just did." I attempted to make a joke and surprisingly, Oyster laughed.

"That's a good one, but seriously?"

"Uh, sure, g-go ahead."

"Why do I get the feeling you don't like me?"

That made my head snap up and I finally looked at him. The shock of the question he just asked made me forget all about how nervous he made me.

"What makes you think that?" I asked him, slowly edging my way closer to the couch.

"I don't know, it just feels like you're always avoiding me and whenever we do cross paths, you barely ever say a word to me, and you didn't seem too happy to see me still here when you came back with Billy, Nora and Chloe."

I perched myself on the couch, as far away from Oyster as I could sit, "I-It's not that I don't like you... I'm just shy, I-I guess." Yes, I am aware that was probably the worst excuse I could've come up with, but what was I suppose to say? I couldn't exactly tell him the real reason was because I was in love with him, could I?!

"Really?" He asked, sounding surprised. I slowly nodded as he added, "Well, you don't have to be shy around me! In fact, I wouldn't mind getting to know you a bit better."

"You wouldn't?" Now it was my turn to sound surprised as I started to blush even more, my stomach filled with butterflies and my heart started beating even faster. Was Oyster about to tell me he liked me?

"No, you seem like a really cool girl and I'd love to have you as a friend."

Oh. Okay. He wants to be my friend. Well, that stings a little. But hey, it's better than nothing, right? I always assumed he thought I was just Max's dorky kid sister.

"I'd like to have you as a friend too." I managed a smile.

"I'm sorry, Oyster, is this little twerp annoying you?" Max suddenly came back and I jumped out of my skin when his voice boomed throughout the living room.

"Uh, no, it's okay, we were just talking." Oyster replied, locking eyes with me and flashing me a smile, which of course sent my feels into overdrive. His eyes on mine and that one little smile caused my stomach to fill with butterflies again and I had to look away before he noticed I was blushing.

"Well, we wanna play more video games, so you can scram now." Max snapped at me. I rolled my eyes as my brother and got up from the couch, going upstairs to my room which luckily wasn't being blocked by Phoebe anymore.

I sat on my bed and sighed. I really needed to learn to deal with these feelings. How were me and Oyster going to be friends if I started blushing like a tomato, my heart started beating a million miles an hour and my stomach filled with butterflies every time he was around me?!