"You're going to have to bum a ride home today," Zach informed his sister as he drove them to school the next morning.

"No need," Keeley said, dismissing the idea. She tapped her backpack. "I brought a book to keep me entertained. I'll just hang out at the bleachers till your football practice ends."

Over the past three years, Keeley had gotten use to waiting for Zach. His football practices usually lasted an hour after school was let out. At first, Keeley resented having to wait for him, but gradually, she came to like it. She used that time to either finish her homework or read a book.

Zach ran a hand through his brown hair. "Coach is making practice extra long today."

Keeley shrugged. "So? It's not a big deal. I don't mind waiting."

His eyes darted over to her. "But it's the first day of school. You won't have any homework to work on. Won't you be bored?"

Keeley looked over at him in surprise. "Since when do you care if I'm bored or not?"

"I've always cared," Zach quickly protested.

Keeley raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You have?"

"Of course. You're my sister."

"So, all those times when it was pouring down rain, and you wouldn't let me use the car, it was because you cared about me?" Keeley drawled.

Zach nodded his head so quickly it was almost comical. "Exactly. What kind of brother would I be to let my only sister drive on wet, slippery roads?"

"The kind of brother that hogs the car," Keeley retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Zach flashed her a winning smile. "So, it's agreed. You'll catch a ride with Nicky or someone else."

Keeley eyed him suspiciously. Why didn't he want her at his football practice? She turned her body, so she could fully face her twin. "What's going on Zach? Why do you want to get rid of me so badly?"

"I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?"

Zach kept his eyes on the road, refusing to answer her. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his hands were turning white.

Keeley leaned back in her seat with a sigh, speculating what he could be hiding. "I know," she suddenly exclaimed, the answer coming to her.

Startled, Zach looked at her, all the color draining from his face. "You do?" he asked faintly.

"You're going to haze the freshman football players, aren't you?"

He exhaled the breathe of air was holding, looking relieved. "Don't tell anyone. It's a secret."

Keeley smirked. "Have no fear. This mouth is a locked vault," she kidded. "Just don't haze Gavin too badly. He seems like a good kid."

"He seems kind of like a pu$sy to me," Zach muttered.

"Zach!"

"What? He does!"

"Have you even seen him play? I thought freshman weren't allowed to practice till their first day of classes."

"No, I haven't seen him play," Zach grumbled. "But you saw him! The kid is all skin and bones. He's one tackle away from being pulverized into fertilizer."

"Don't make snap judgments, Zach. Some people may be more than they seem," Keeley warned, thinking about Talon.

She glanced out the window, wondering what he was doing right now. Probably waking up with a massive hangover. Why was he even drinking last night? Didn't he have school today? All the high schools in the area started on the same day. Her fingers itched to grab her phone and text him.

Keeley pressed her lips together in a hard line when she realized what she was doing. God. Why couldn't she just forget about that idiot? After his abominal behavior yesterday, she shouldn't be worried about him.

Zach pulled up into an empty space in the school's parking lot and got out. He threw the car keys at her after spotting his group of friend. "Will you lock up for me, Keels? Thanks." Without even bothering to wait for her answer, he started to walk away.

"Is this another shining example of how much you care about me?" Keeley called after him, twirling the keys on her finger.

He shot her a quick grin over his shoulder. "If I say yes, will you believe me?"

"No."

"Then no."

"Idiot," Keeley grumbled affectionately as she watched him head toward his friends. Her brother may be selfish at times, but deep down, Keeley knew she could always count on him. The bond between them was strong and unbreakable. She would always be there for him and vice versa. It was a comforting feeling to have.

With a smile, she locked the car and started walking to her locker. All of a sudden, she heard a familiar tune start to play from behind her.

"Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O-"

She turned her head around to see where it was coming from, but no one was there.

"-And on his farm he had some cows. E-I-E-I-O-"

Her eyes darted to her left and then to her right, but she still didn't see anyone. There were only a couple of students walking ahead of her, but the song wasn't coming from them. What idiot was playing that tune? Didn't they know how ridiculous it sounded?

"-With a moo, moo here. And a moo, moo there-"

The students ahead of her glanced back, giving Keeley a strange look. It suddenly dawned on her where that embarrassing song was coming from.

"-Here a moo. There a moo-"

Keeley whipped open her backpack and pulled out her phone.

"-Everywhere a moo, moo-"

She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she heard someone snicker. "Hello?" she whispered. The students ahead of her stopped by a row of lockers and continued to stare at her, occasionally giggling to themselves.

"Hey, are you at school yet?" Nicky immediately asked.

"Just got here." Keeley dropped her gaze as she rushed past them. God. How embarrassing! "I'm heading to my locker right now."

"Awesome. Meet you there."

Keeley ended the call and immediately set her phone on vibrate. "Talon," she hissed, her eyes blazing. That sneaky bastard! He must have reset all her ringtones before they swapped their phones back. And to think she had felt bad for him this morning! Well, not anymore. No sir! She prayed he had the worst hangover possible. The bastard was dead to her.

By the time Keeley made it to her locker, Nicky was already there, waiting for her. "You'll never guess what happened after you left The Shack yesterday," Nicky said without preamble. She looked like she would burst at the seams if she didn't tell Keeley soon.

"Talon drunk dialed me in the middle of night and called me a prude?" Keeley griped, while opening her locker.

"What?"

"Never mind," she mumbled, not wanting to ruin the morning by going into another tirade about Talon. "What happened?"

Nicky was practically bouncing with excitement. "Van-"

Interrupting, Keeley groaned. "Van? I'm glad I left when I did."

"Trust me, this is the one time you'll wished you had stayed," Nicky replied with a twinkle in her eye. "Van came in the store to pick up his check, and while he was there, Bianca showed up."

Keeley raised an eyebrow. That was the last thing she expected Nicky to say. "Bianca surfs?"

Nicky sniggered. "No. She must have seen Van on the boardwalk and followed him into the store. She went right up to him and started flirting."

"Did he flirt back?"

"God no! It was hilarious. He told her she needed to take a step back because her perfume was suffocating him."

Keeley snorted. At least now she knew Van was an ass to everyone. Not just her. "What did Bianca do?"

"She took a step back and kept on flirting!"

"Of course," Keeley said wryly, not surprised. Bianca didn't seem like the type to give up so easily.

"That's not even the best part. Van interrupts her while she's going on about how much she loves surfing and asks if they've met before. Bianca says no, but Van keeps insisting that she looks familiar and steps closer to get a good look at her face. At this point, Bianca is practically glowing with pleasure, believing that he's about to come on to her."

"And he doesn't?" Keeley guessed.

She shook her head and started giggling. "He snaps his fingers and says that he remembers." Nicky paused, giggling some more. "H-he then s-says-" Giggle. "Ar-Aren't you the girl that fell into the water last year a-and handfuls of toilet paper came out of your bikini top?"

Keeley threw back her head and laughed. "Seriously?" She never suspected Bianca was the type to stuff her bras and bikinis. Guess Victoria and Bianca shared the same secret.

Nicky nodded her head, unable to say anything because she was laughing so hard.

"Oh my god," Keeley gasped as soon as she caught her breathe. "That just made my day. Thank you." Nicky's anecdote cancelled whatever anger she had about Talon. Keeley grinned to herself. Today was starting to look up.

Nicky pulled a piece of paper out of her binder. "Now, for the bad news. Brace yourself." She paused dramatically. "We only have one class together this year."

"How do you know?"

Nicky waved the paper in front of her face. "I got your schedule when I went to pick up mine."

"How did you manage that?" Keeley asked with amusement. "Don't you have to show a photo ID to get the class schedule?"

Nicky shrugged. "I might have lied and said you had a bad case of the Cochin. She was sympathetic to your plight and gave me your schedule."

"Cochin?" Keeley questioned. "What the hell kind of sickness is that?"

Nicky giggled. "I made it up. Told the administrator it's a rare type of virus that you can only get through chickens."

"So now the administration thinks I'm infected with some type of chicken flu?" Keeley asked incredulously.

Nicky sent her a cheeky grin. "You're welcome."

Keeley laughed as she shoved a couple of notebooks in her locker. "And you're crazy. How did you even dream that up in the first place?"

"Well, you are a," Nicky folded her hands under her armpits and started flapping her arms like wings, "chicken to call Talon."

Keeley's jaw dropped. She was not scared to call Talon! "Take that back!" she cried out.

Nicky sent her a pointed look. "Did you call him?"

"Actually, he called me last night," Keeley replied snootily.

Nicky's eyes lit with interest. "And?"

Keeley dropped the pretense and frowned. "And nothing. He acted like a tool and hung up on me." She slammed her locker shut with more force than necessary. "Forget about Talon. Turns out he's more like popcorn than I realized."

"That's a bummer," Nicky said gloomily. "I was hoping to meet the guy."

Keeley looked away, not wanting Nicky to see her own disappointment. "So, which class do we have together?" Keeley asked, wanting a change in topics.

Nicky took got the hint and handed Keeley her schedule. "Sixth period English with Mrs. Wilson."

Keeley looked over her schedule and groaned when she saw that her first class of the day was calculus. Great. So much for today starting to look up.

The bell rang and Nicky sent her a sympathetic look, knowing how much she hated math. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Keeley said wryly. "I'll definitely need it."

"You can always skip class and say you have the chicken flu," Nicky suggested.

"Somehow, I don't think Mr. Connors would believe that," Keeley paused, "or anyone for that matter."

Nicky smiled mischievously. "You never know."

*****

Keeley was on her way to meet Nicky for lunch when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a boy trip and fall. His tall stack of books and papers flew to the ground, spreading everywhere. People passing by snickered at him, but no one stopped to help. Feeling bad, Keeley rushed over to the kid, determined to help. Much to her surprise, the boy was Gavin.

"Need a hand?" she asked as he scrambled to his knees.

Startled, Gavin looked up and seemed surprised to see her. "It's okay. I got it," he said, the tips of his ears turning red.

"So, I see," she replied dryly, her eyes darting from him to the mess on the ground. It looked like the school library had vomited in the hallway. How did he have so many books already? They still had half a day of school left! The kid definitely needed help, whether he realized it or not.

Keeley bent down next to him and started to pick up some of the papers, ignoring his protest. They worked in silence for a couple of minutes, both concentrating on the task at hand. As Keeley started to neatly stack the papers she had collected, she noticed a familiar signature. She pulled out the paper in question and saw her brother's name scrawled across it. Keeley grimaced. Her brother must already be ordering Gavin around. She sent him a sideways glance and noticed his anxious behavior. Poor kid. He was going to have to toughen up this season if he was going to survive.

"Thanks," he said, giving her a sheepish grin as they both rose from their kneeling position. He took the stack of papers from her and artfully arranged them in his arms.

"No problem. Rough day?" she asked sympathetically.

He shrugged, refusing to meet her gaze. "It's okay."

Keeley felt a wave of empathy for him. He clearly was having a hard adjusting. "It gets better you know."

"What does?"

"Getting ordered around by the senior football players," she said bluntly.

Gavin's head jerked. "How do you know?" he asked, his voice laced with accusation.

"Please," she said wryly, giving him a pointed look. "Who do you think Zach complained to during all those ridiculous whims our freshmen year? One time during finals week, his mentor called in the middle of the night and demanded Zach bring him fast food. He dragged me all through town in search of a twenty-four hour McDonalds." Keeley chuckled at the memory. "The funny part was that once we found one, the rest of the freshmen football team was there also, getting snacks for their seniors."

"They do that?" Gavin asked, with a pained look on his face.

Keeley suppressed the urge to laugh at his expression. He looked terrified. "Its not so bad, I swear."

Gavin sighed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My cousin told me what to expect when I signed up but I thought he was exaggerating."

"Your cousin played football?" Keeley asked.

Something flashed in his eyes, before they turned blank. "Cousin, Uncle, Dad, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa," he quickly listed to her.

"Wow. It really is a family sport," Keeley commented, sounding impressed. Silently, she wondered what emotion had flickered through his eyes. It almost looked like guilt. What could Gavin have to be guilty about?

He chuckled and shot her a grin. "In my family, you might as well be disowned if you don't play football."

Keeley searched his face for any signs of guilt or distress but there was none. Maybe she had imagined it. "Well, it's a good thing you play then."

"Yeah." His grin faded as he looked down at the stacks of books in his arms, a reminder of what was to come.

Keeley could practically see the misery radiate off of him. Poor kid. Feeling bad, she leaned in and whispered, "I'll let you in on a little secret. The whole point of this is to force you to bond with your freshman teammates."

Gavin grimaced. "I can bond without having to carry all of Zach's books."

"Well, they also just like ordering people around," she added, amusement leaking into her voice.

He gave her a small smile and opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly stopped, his eyes trained on something behind her.

Keeley looked over her shoulder, curious to see what had captured his attention. It was a poster of their high school's mascot crushing the Crosswell's mascot. "Ah, the famous Crosswell/Edgewood rivalry. You know about that, right?"

A muscle in his jaw twitched. "A little." He continued to stare at the poster. "I've heard it's intense, especially between the football teams."

Keeley let out a sharp bark of laughter. "That's an understatement. Crosswell and Edgewood football players hate each other. I think it's gotten worse since Zach became quarterback."

Abruptly, he turned his attention back to Keeley. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Zach has always been ultra competitive, especially in football, and for the longest time he was the best player in the county. However, our freshman year, a new kid starts at Crosswell named JT."

"He's Crosswell's quarterback, right?" Gavin interjected.

Keeley nodded. "And he's good. Before him, the Crosswell team was mediocre. JT made the team excellent. So now, Zach has major competition, especially for MVP awards and things like that. He always assumed he would be a shoe in to receive them, but now..." she let the sentence hang.

Gavin looked over at the poster again. "I've heard JT has won more individual awards than Zach."

Keeley winced. "Word of advice? Don't mention that around Zach. It's a sore subject." And one that got his temper flying. The last time it was brought up, Zach nearly tore his bedroom door off the hinges.

"Duly noted." Gavin smiled at her. "Well, I have to go, but thanks for the help."

"No problem," Keeley said sincerely. "Before you go..." she trailed off as she wrote a couple numbers on a piece of paper and handed it to him, "...take this."

His nose scrunched in confusion. "What is it?"

"My locker combo."

Gavin's eyes widened in surprise. "B-but I-"

"Use it," Keeley said, pushing it into his hand. "My locker is in the middle of campus and it'll be easier to tote around Zach's things."

He stared at the piece of paper, as if debating whether or not to accept the offer. He started to give it back to her, but Keeley held up her hands, refusing to take it.

"Trust me, you'll need it. I know how demanding my brother can be."

Gavin looked up at her, his eyes shining with gratitude. "Thanks Keeley. I'll make it up to you somehow. What do you want? Money? Food? My kidneys?" he joked.

Keeley chuckled. "I'm good on all three, thanks."

"Well, if you ever need anything, let me know."

"Will do," Keeley said with a smile. "I'll see you around." She gave him a friendly wave goodbye and walked away. As she headed toward the quad area to meet Nicky, she pulled out her phone and texted her twin.

Go easy on Gavin. –Keeley

It's not any of your business. Besides, I went through the same thing. It's not that bad. –Zach

Still. Don't be too harsh. –Keeley

Chill out. So far, he's only had to carry my books and get me lunch off-campus. –Zach

Keeley frowned. Zach usually got pizza or a burrito from the school cafeteria.

Off-campus? Why? –Keeley

Heard there's some nasty chicken virus going around. Not taking any chances on the school food. –Zach

Keeley burst out laughing. Looked like Nicky's fake flu just went viral.