"Okay, you got all of their tacos," Lucas says, staring at his friend's face—which was covered in sour cream, meat grease, and...is that chocolate?

My question is answered when Justin pulls out a half-eaten chocolate bar and takes a large bite from the exposed section.

WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?

I glance between him, his almost finished tacos, and the bar in his hand and sigh. "You didn't even leave one for us," I say, leaning my head against my palm.

"There's still a few!" Justin retorts, holding up a taco with a huge bite taken from the middle. "Here, I'm done. You can have it!"

I roll my eyes and stand up from the picnic table we had found near the vendors and stared down at the boys. "I should probably go find my family," I state with no motivation. I stare off into the distance where the sun is setting in the west.

Wow, I wasted a whole day with brainless one and two. Who would have guessed I would survive?

"I had lots of fun. We should do this again sometime," I say sarcastically, not even looking at them, my eyes focused on finding my family in the dissipating crowd.

"We're so glad!" Justin replies with a smile. I turn back to him, one of my cheeks rising in annoyance.

"Sure," I answer, turning back to the park. I see my family walking in my direction, and I remove my boot from the bench seat.

"Gotta go," I mumble. "Talk to you later or something."

Lucas rose from his seat with a start. If the seat wasn't attached to the table, I'm sure it would have gone flying. "Wait!" he exclaims.

"What is it?" I ask, glancing back at my parents, hoping they don't notice me with the boys.

My mom would probably do a little happy dance that I have 'friends', and my dad would probably do a whole background check.

No joke.

"What do you want?" I question, giving him more attention. I notice he's scratching the back of his head again.

Boys.

I wave my hands, encouraging him to spit out whatever he wants to tell me.

"Can I have your number?" he finally questions, refusing to look me in the eye.

"I don't have a phone," I reply. And with that, I run off to find my family before they find me.

"Hey, sweetie," my mom greets, pulling me into a tight hug.

I squirm in her grip and somehow manage to escape. "Nice to see you too," I reply.

"Where have you been? We couldn't find you to go on the rides with us!" my mom comments.

"Yeah, where were you?" my older sister, Mia, questions, wrapping an arm around my shoulder extra roughly and looking down at me suspiciously.

I roll my eyes at her nosey personality and push her away. "Looking around at the actually happy families coming here of their own will."

My mom's smile fades, and I have to look away from her sorrowful eyes. "We just wanted you to get out," she replies.

"You can't be a hermit your whole life," Mia butts in, frowning down at me.

"And why not?" I question back, matching her stance and getting in her face.

She turns away from me. "You need to be social to survive," she answers with a huff.

Ｓｉｓｔｅｒ

𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

Ｓｉｓｔｅｒ

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐲 (𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞)

𝐯. 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 (𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞)

I roll my eyes and go back to my relaxed stance. "Whatever you say," I reply sarcastically, walking away from her to follow my dad as he leads us toward the car a few miles away.

Sigh.

I hate walking.

———————

"Logan Walis?" My dad questions from the driver's seat.

"Sings like a depressed whale," I reply.

"Laura?"

"Dad, she's an opera singer," Mia answers before I can.

"The Bone Breakers?"

"Who in the world is that, Dad?" I question, staring at him through the rear-view mirror.

He ignores my stare and replies, "They're a rock band." He sighs. "Just decide. We have a long drive ahead."

"Can you put Barbie in A Mermaid Tale on the TVs?" Emilie, my youngest sister, questions besides me.

The whole car collectively groans.

"Haven't you seen that movie enough times?" I groan, glaring down at my sister.

"Ninety-eight times does not suffice," she says with a posh accent. "But I understand why all of you are scared to watch it. It's for mature people only."

"Watch it in your own time," I reply, leaning forward and changing the radio to a decent channel. Music blares through the speakers, and I sit back to relax, albeit knowing it's short-lived. My eyes squeeze shut, and I listen to the quickly changing music and occasional high-pitched Barbie voice.

Suddenly a small ping cuts through the noise, but I'm the only one who hears it. I fish into my side pocket for my buzzing phone and check the lit-up screen. An unknown number pops up with a single word sent underneath.

Hey.

I click on the message, but no name appears. Who in the world could this be? The only person who has my phone number is my mom.

Yeah, not even my dad has it.

Hey??

The three dots appear, signaling the person on the other end is typing. A new message appears.

It's Lucas!

Lucas? How'd you know I had a phone? You know what, never-mind.

HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET MY NUMBER?

Chill! I saw your phone sticking out of your pocket, and your little sister was more than willing to give me your phone number :)

At a price.

One I was willing to pay.

That brat.

Aw, don't blame her. She's actually really adorable.

Sure she is. If a barbie obsessed, bratty, tattling, acts-like-she's-twenty psychopath is the equivalent of a cute, adorable, cuddly bunny.

You love your sarcasm, don't you?

It's my best friend.

And my only friend.

We'll see about that :smirk cat:

Is that a challenge?

A smoking hot one. Straight off the press. You up?

Sure.

Why not?