chapter one,
another day, another carpool!

BRADY WAS IN THE KITCHEN, HELPING HIS mother make breakfast. Those days were always filled with laughter, inside jokes, and gossip. But not today. Today was his first day of school and he needed to be quick if he wanted to pick Kia up.  "Mom, is Paige awake? I have to give her some lunch to take." The blonde woman shook her head, the sound of tomatoes being cut. "I don't know, honey. Go and see if she's up."

The boy kissed his mother's cheek and walked out of the kitchen, headed upstairs.  He knew that if he didn't wake up Paige, she'd miss the start of freshman year and her daily routine of listening to the radio. He finally got to her room, the blonde girl peacefully sleeping. He sat on an empty spot in her bed, gently tapping her shoulder. "Paige, you need to wake up. We have to go to school, remember?" he whispered as his sister slowly began to move. "Hm? Morning, Brady." Paige said, her voice sounding tired.

Brady gave her a soft smile as he stood up from the bed and walked towards the exit. He then quickly turned around, realizing that he forgot to tell her something. "Me and Mom are making breakfast. I made your lunch already so please come downstairs and get it. And don't forget-" Paige sat up, cutting him off. "My notebooks, pens, pencils, calculator, and gum.  You don't have to worry about me, Brady.  I'll be fine, okay?" The boy slowly nodded his head, standing in the middle of the room. "Okay. But you need to hurry. I don't want to keep Kia waiting."

"Oh, please. I'm faster at getting ready than you." Brady raised an eyebrow, shaking his head with a laugh. "Right. Says the person who can't wake up by themselves without their older brother doing it for them." Paige threw a pillow at him, standing up from her bed. The blonde wore an annoyed expression before feeling a light tap on the shoulder with the same exact pillow. "Hey! Brady!" she exclaimed. "What? You did it first."

Paige tried to push him away, only for him to use all his might to stop. "Just... go! Can you get out now?" she complained, earning a laugh from her brother. "Okay, okay! I'm going. See how easy that was?" The blonde rolled her eyes at him, pointing her finger. "Out!" Brady finally left, walking downstairs. His father was in the living room, tending the flowers. "Mornin', Dad."  The older man smiled at him as the boy walked by, stopping what he was doing.   "Morning, Brady.  Paige up yet?"

"She is now.   You know how she is."  His father chuckled, shaking his head.   "Classic pumpkin.  But do you need me to help with the car?"

"No, I think I got it now.   But thanks, Dad."  The blonde girl walked down the staircase in a hurry, looking at the two.   "Good morning, Dad.  Brady, I'm ready to go."  The man gave her a hug as she reciprocated the action.   "Morning, sweetie.  Ready for your first day of high school?" Paige smiled, nodding her head.  "Liam's gonna be there so it won't be too bad. Plus, Brady's with me. I'll be fine, Dad." The old man smiled at his two children, beaming at the fact they were entering different stages of their lives. "You two are all grown up. You're not my little man or my little pumpkin anymore."

"Dad, we always will. Well, I'm taller now but Paige will always be your little pumpkin. Isn't that right, Paige?" The blonde glared at him, crossing her arms. "Shut up, Brady!" she exclaimed, walking towards the kitchen. "What? Who spit in your cereal this morning?" he joked, earning a laugh from his father.

Let's just say his morning was off to a great start.

BRADY WAS DRIVING ON THE ROAD as Kia sat in the passenger seat and Paige was in the back. That's how it always worked. He knew that Kia enjoyed looking at the view while his sister liked to control the radio, linking her phone to the car's speakers.  "How's your morning going so far, Kia? Did you have a quiet one?" the boy asked.  "Sadly, no.  You know how the Walter's are."

"Did you see your boyfriend?" Paige teased, causing Kia to look at her in confusion.   "Paige, I don't have a - oh, Garcia? I'm not dating him.  His soccer ball did end up in my yard though.  He asked me to give him the ball back so I said 'what's the magic word?'.   And guess what he said to me?" The Crawford siblings were curious, trying to figure out what Isaac could've possibly said to Kia. "What did he say?" they asked. "He said, and I quote, 'abracadabra'."

Brady let out a hearty laugh, his eyes still on the road.  "He really said that? You gotta give it to him this time, Kia.  It was kind of funny."  Kia smiled as she looked out the window, her chin resting in the palm of her hand.  There was a moment of silence before she finally spoke.   "He can be pretty funny sometimes.  But he's still a bit of a pain to me.  I don't understand why he hates me even after all these years."

"Maybe don't say that your face looks like as if you ate something sour to a new kid. But yet again, that was years ago." Paige said with a shrug. Brady shook his head, his fingers tapping the steering wheel. He was currently waiting for the light to turn green. "She has a point there.  But it's a new year, Kia.  People can change."

"Even Garcia?" she asked, looking at the boy next to her. "Even him.  Who knows? Maybe he's doing all of this to get your attention." Brady answered.  Kia raised an eyebrow at his words before going back to looking out the window.  Brady didn't exactly know the boy that well but he had a feeling that he might not hate his friend as much as he claimed.  He'd often see Isaac's face soften sometimes when she'd greet him, all before it'd turn back into a frown.  "He doesn't like me, Brady.   Why would he even want my attention?"

Paige turned up her music, the guitar riff at the beginning of "Style" could be heard. "Who cares about him? If he isn't doing it to get your attention, it's his loss. Now, who wants to sing this with me?" Kia and Brady shrugged, deciding to listen to the younger girl. After all, you could never go wrong with singing terribly in the car with your friends.

Unfortunately, good things must come to an end. They had arrived at the school as Brady pulled up into the parking lot. The three kids got out of the vehicle, approaching the building. Samira and Lee came shortly after. An old car was right next to his, causing him to stare.   "That is a beauty.   Whoever owns that car is taking good care of it."  Brady had spoken too soon as Cole Walter exited out of the driver's seat.

And was he one lucky bastard.

Maya Speaks 💫:

I wrote 1,203 words we are SO back 🫶🏾 No Brackie in this chapter sadly but you guys will definitely see them next chapter!!

It's very ironic how I have a Cole Walter fic (I lowkey forget about it until I get a notification about the book 😭) yet I hate that boy guys you can never make me like him I fear (Alex and Conrad are the better brothers 🫶🏾 Cole and Jeremiah are the same and you can't tell me otherwise)

I'm super excited to write Jackie and Brady's dynamic so stay tuned!