Chapter 1
Kat POV
"How are you not excited!?" My twin brother Cody was yelling.
"Why would I be excited?" I asked.
"Because my favorite band moved in just down the street!"
"So? Why would I be excited?"
"Kat! It's R5! Do you not know how completely gorgeous Rydel is!?"
"Cody, I don't care."
"Well mom and dad said we're going over there in a few minutes to introduce ourselves to them, and you're coming!
"What do you mean I'm coming? I don't even like them! There's no point in introducing myself to them if I'm never even going to see them again!"
"Mom and dad said we're all going."
"UGH!"
"Oh come on. Why do you hate them anyways? You don't even know them."
"I know enough."
I actually knew a lot about them and their music. Cody talked nonstop about the girl, Rydel, and was always blasting their music from his bedroom which happened to be right next to mine.
"Kat-"
"Come on, let's just go and get this over with."
5 minutes later, Cody, my mom, dad, and I were all walking down the street to R5's house. I was more dragging my feet than walking, but I had no interest in meeting them. They were celebrities and celebrities were always full of themselves. I was even more annoyed than I would have been, since Cody had been talking nonstop about them ever since he found out where they were moving to. We finally arrived at their house, and Cody knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a boy with blond hair opened the door and greeted us.
"Hi, my name's Ross," he said.
"Hi, we live just down the road, and we just wanted to introduce ourselves," said Cody.
"Oh, cool. Hold on a second, I'll go get the rest of my family. You guys can come in," said Ross.
Ross. What a strange name. A strange name, perfect for a strange boy, in a strange band.
30 Minutes Later…
Kat POV
Somehow, we were now all sitting outside on their patio, talking. I had been the last one to walk outside, so I was forced to take the last seat available, next to another blond haired boy, whose name was Riker. Again, another strange name…
After talking (well not me) for a little while, Ross's mom suggested that we all watch a movie. Cody practically dragged me behind him as we followed Riker up the stairs to his bedroom. Again, I was one of the last people to walk into the room, so I ended up sitting next to Riker on his bed.
Halfway through the movie, their mom asked them to help move something outside, so everyone, except me and Riker, went running down the stairs to help. Great. Just great. Alone, in a room with some guy, from a band I don't even like.
"Are you ok?" Riker asked.
"What? Yeah...?"
"Ok. You just didn't really seem that into the movie."
"Well no offense, but I'm not exactly a fan of your band like my brother is. Watching a movie in a room full of people I don't even know, isn't exactly my idea of a perfect Friday night," I said.
Before Riker had the chance to reply, Ross came flying through the door.
"Mom's going to let us play manhunt!" Ross shouted.
"Where? We barely have a yard," said Riker.
"We're going over to Cody and Kat's house! Oh and by the way, our parents and Cody's parents are going out for a late dinner, so we don't have to be back home for a while!" Ross shouted.
Ross ran back out of the room, and down the stairs. I sighed, and leaned against Riker's bedroom wall.
"Come on. It'll be fun," said Riker.
Riker grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs and out the front door, only making me more annoyed. We followed everyone else back down the street towards my and Cody's house.
"Ok, let's do teams of two," said a boy with brown hair.
"Cody, I'm going to go inside," I said.
"You can't. We need you," said Cody.
"Why?"
"If you leave, the teams won't be even."
"Ugh fine!"
"Ok, let's do Ryland and Rocky, Rydel and me, Ross and Cody, and Riker and Kat. Riker and Kat, you guys can hunt first," said the brown haired boy.
Great. Not only was I stuck playing manhunt, but I was paired with Riker!
"Ok, we'll go count at the front door," said Riker, pulling my hand again.
The other teams took off as Riker started counting.
"Ok, ready?" Riker asked.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to play this stupid game!" I shouted.
"We can't just leave everyone out there!"
"Well then, why don't you go find them!?"
I stood up and tried opening the door. Locked. UGH!
"I guess you'll just have to come with me," said Riker, using a really annoying tone of voice.
I rolled my eyes. My parents had gone out to dinner, so I was locked out until they came back, which could be hours now.
"Come on, let's go," said Riker grabbing my hand and pulling me again.
I pulled back.
"Stop touching me! You've been doing that all night!" I shouted.
"What?"
"Grabbing my hand and dragging me off somewhere!"
"I'm sorry-"
"No. Let's just go find them so we can be finished with this thing."
Riker was still looking at me, looking pretty upset that I was mad. I rolled my eyes, and started off in a random direction towards the woods in the backyard. I could hear Riker following me closely.
"Kat, really, I am sorry," said Riker.
"Whatever…"
I kept walking down one of the trails in the woods, stopping a few times to look around. We had a stream a few hundred feet away in the woods. I suspected Cody would be hiding there with whoever his partner was, so I started heading there first. Riker silently followed close behind. Just as we were getting close to the stream, I saw 2 dark figures quickly walk across a fallen tree that connected both shores of the stream. I took off towards them, not wanting this game to go on any longer than it had to. Riker started running behind me too. As I ran across the log to the other side, I turned back just in time to see Riker slip and slam his shoulder into the log before falling into the stream. It wasn't really that deep or anything, but it was pretty fast for a stream. It carried Riker about 20 feet before he was able to grab the edge of the shore. I already knew it was too deep for Riker to stand, and the fact that the edge of the shore was about 2 feet above the edge of the water basically told me I was going to have to help him. I slowly walked over when Riker tried and failed to get up on his own, ruining my chances of catching the other team.
"Can you please help me get up?" Riker asked.
"Why do you think I came over here?"
Riker looked up at me, his eyes pleading for help. I rolled my eyes.
"Here, take my hand," I said, annoyed.
Riker grabbed my hand, and I was able to pull him out.
"Thanks," said Riker, shivering a little.
I started walking again in the direction I had seen the other team run off in.
"Why are you mad at me?" Riker asked, obviously a little hurt by the way I talked to him.
"Well, you falling basically ruined our chances of catching that other team," I said.
"You don't even want to play this game."
"The sooner I catch them, the sooner this can be over, and I can go home."
"Mmmh!"
I turned around.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. My shoulder just hurts."
"Ok then…"
I turned back and kept walking. I knew where I was going because we were on my best friend's property now. I saw something move again, and started racing towards it, Riker behind me. As I got closer, I could tell that it was the brown haired boy that had made the teams and the girl, Rydel. Rydel tripped and fell, allowing me to tag her, eliminating their team. Riker caught up with me, breathing hard.
Riker helped Rydel up as I continued walking, looking for another team. Riker ran up behind me.
"Where are you going!?" He asked.
"I don't know! I'm looking for more people!" I shouted back.
"Well do you even know where we are?"
"Sort of, why?"
"Because I am completely lost!"
"Well then you shouldn't have wanted to play this game!"
"Can we at least start heading in the direction of your house?"
"Why are you so concerned?"
"Because I'm soaking wet and freezing!"
"Maybe next time, you'll be more careful."
"Just stop it already!"
"What!?"
"Yelling at me! That's all you've done all night! What's your problem!?"
"I don't like you!"
"Why?"
"Every single day I have to hear from Cody what an amazing band you guys are, and how hot Rydel is. I'm sick of it! I never wanted to meet you and I didn't want to get stuck playing manhunt, PAIRED WITH YOU!"
"I've been nothing but nice to you! I don't see why you can't at least try to get along with me!"
"I just want to go home!"
"So let's go!"
"Did you forget that the front door's locked!?"
Riker looked at the ground. I turned away from him and started walking again. After a few minutes of walking, I spotted my twin, Cody, and raced after him and what looked like Ross. Riker, still following me, took off too. When I caught up to Cody, I jumped on his back. He spun me around in circles, laughing.
"You finally caught us! That took forever!" Said Cody.
"Yeah, well someone fell in the stream…" I said, turning to Riker.
Ross started laughing as he walked over to us.
"Oh my gosh Riker! Are you ok!?" Ross asked, still laughing hysterically.
"Uh yeah, fine."
"So did you guys catch anyone else yet?" Asked Cody.
"Yeah, Rydel and some boy," I said.
"Ellington," said Ross.
"Ok…" I said.
"We'll see you guys at home," said Cody.
"Wait, what do you mean? It's locked," I said.
"We'll sit on the front steps. We were caught, so we have to go back there now," said Cody.
"Alrightly then…" I said.
I turned to face Riker as Cody and Ross walked away.
"Well let's go," I said.
Riker opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. I knew he was annoyed. He followed me again as we walked back home, not finding anyone else. We walked up to the front door to where Ellington, Ross, Rydel, and Cody were sitting and talking.
"Well?" Asked Cody.
"We couldn't find anyone else. Are mom and dad home yet? I want to go to bed," I said.
"Not yet," said Cody.
"Whoa Riker! Why are you all wet?" Ellington asked.
"I fell in the stream."
Ellington laughed.
"That's totally something you would do!" Said Ellington.
I sat down as Riker sighed and sat in the grass next to me. We waited a little while, but eventually, the last team came walking out of the woods, still unfound by us.
"What happened to you guys?" One of them asked.
"We gave up," I shouted back.
They walked over to us and sat down in the grass. The taller boy looked over at Riker, noticing he was all wet.
"Don't ask…" Said Riker.
"Well what do you guys want to do now?" Asked Cody.
"Mom and dad aren't home. There's nothing to do," I said.
I just wanted to go sit in bed, watch TV, and forget I ever met them.
"We could go back to our house," said Ross.
"Didn't your parents also leave?" Cody asked.
"Well yeah, but we left our skateboards outside. We could do that," said Ross.
"Cool, I love skateboarding, and so does Kat," said Cody.
I wanted to kill him. Why would you say that Cody!?
"Alright, let's go," said Ross.
I reluctantly walked with everyone over to the Lynch's house. As much as I didn't want to be around them, I wasn't about to sit in the dark on my front steps alone for however long.
Riker POV
As we walked back to my house, I couldn't stop thinking about Kat and the way she treated me. I just couldn't understand why she didn't like me. She wasn't even trying to get along with me. I guess I was lucky she even helped me get out of the stream. Ugh. I'm still soaking wet. And cold…
"So Kat, how good are you at skateboarding?" Ross asked.
"Mmm… I don't know. I've been skateboarding ever since I can remember."
"She's amazing, probably better than me," said Cody.
When we got back to my house, I went and sat down on my front steps. I pulled my legs up to my chest, and tried to warm up. It was so cold that I could see my breath. I was only wearing jeans and a short sleeved shirt, and I was freezing! Everyone else except Kat was running around like crazy people, doing tricks on skateboards, so they weren't even the slightest bit cold. Kat came over and sat down next to me.
"Are you ok?" I asked, confused as to why she would sit next to me.
"Yeah…?"
"Well you're not skateboarding with them, so I was just wondering."
"I don't like skateboarding in front of people. Why aren't you skateboarding?"
"I'm so cold, I can barely even feel my arms or legs," I said, rubbing my arms.
Kat rolled her eyes and looked away from me.
"Hey Riker, Cody told us about this mini ice cream place around the corner. Do you want to come with us?" Ross asked.
"No, I think I'll stay here," I said.
"Ok. I know you're cold. I texted mom, and she said she left a spare key out here somewhere, but she forgot where. So if you want to try to find it…"
I couldn't hear him anymore. He was too far down the road. But it didn't matter. Now I knew there was a key, and I needed to find it! I got up and started looking for it. Kat laughed at me.
"W-what?" I asked.
"You look ridiculous. You're shaking like crazy and you're trying to find a teeny tiny key in the dark," said Kat.
"K-Kat, I know you d-don't l-like me, and stuff, b-but I am r-really cold! P-please, can you j-just help m-me look for the k-key?" I asked.
"Why should I?"
"Kat, p-please! I'm f-freezing! It's so c-cold, I can see my own b-breath when I t-talk! I don't know w-why everyone w-wants ice cream n-now! You're w-wearing a s-sweatshirt, but I'm n-not, and my clothes are s-soaked! P-please!?"
"Ugh, alright fine…"
"T-thanks…"
After only a few minutes of searching, I was exhausted from the cold, and everything that had happened today. I fell to the ground, shaking, and rolled over on my back. I squeezed my eyes shut, and tried to concentrate on stopping myself from shaking so hard.
"Hey, I think I found your stupid key," said Kat.
My eyes snapped open, and I was surprised to see Kat holding up a key. I pulled myself up, and took the key from her. My fingers were so cold, I had trouble unlocking the door, but I finally got it, and ran inside with Kat.
"What are you going to do? Do you even have heat yet?" Kat asked.
"N-no, I d-don't think s-so. B-but I'm going t-to change into dry c-clothes at l-least," I said.
Kat POV
Riker came back downstairs a few minutes later wearing dry clothes and he had a blanket wrapped around him.
"Kat, seriously, thank you so much for finding that key! I was so cold!" Said Riker.
"Yeah whatever…"
"No Kat, seriously. I was really scared… Thank you."
Riker came over and wrapped the blanket around me as he hugged me. I sighed, too tired to protest. Riker pulled me over to the couch in the living room and sat down. I sat down next to him, since he was still holding onto my hand. After I sat down, Riker spread the blanket across both of us, and we waited for either our parents, or our siblings to come back. It ended up being his parents first.
"Hey you guys. I'm glad you found the key. It's a little chilly outside. Where's everyone else?" Riker's mom asked.
"They're actually getting ice cream," said Riker.
"They're crazy," said his mom.
"Well my parents are probably home now, so, I'm going to go," I said, quickly standing up.
"Riker, walk Kat home. Make sure she gets there safely," said his mom.
Riker followed me out the door.
"You really don't have to walk me home," I said.
"No, I do. I will seriously get in trouble if I don't," said Riker.
"Alright then…"
Riker and I walked back to my house that was now lit up.
"Well thanks for walking me home I guess," I said kind of sarcastically.
"Kat seriously, thank you for helping me find that key!" Said Riker.
I rolled my eyes as I turned and walked through my front door, leaving Riker by himself. I walked past my parents and up to my bedroom. Finally, I was alone, and more importantly, away from Riker. To make things even better, Cody wasn't back yet, so it was really calm and quiet. Not that I didn't like Cody or anything. Cody was actually like the one person I actually talked to. He knew everything from failed tests, to boyfriends and crushes, lies, everything! Not even my parents knew about any of this! I never liked trusting people, but Cody was the one person I did trust. He could be annoying sometimes, especially with his R5 obsession, but he was my brother, and I needed him.
I got ready for bed, and fell asleep before Cody came back. But I wondered why Riker seemed to care so much about me. He was really nice, even though I treated him horribly. Whatever…
