1.

Summer is supposed to be fun. Sleeping in, staying up late, and hanging with your friends, having the time of your life because you don't have school. Doing what you want because there is no one to hold you back. That's how every summer is supposed to be. Well at least for everyone but me. My name is Payton, I am 16 years old and this is the worst summer of my life!

A little over a year ago, my mom said she was pregnant. Now Izzy is over nine months old. She is totally adorable and I love her to death but she can be a handful. She crawls like there is no tomorrow and never stops moving. I don't mind watching her but its everyday for the rest of the summer unless mom can find someone to watch Izzy then I could go to San Diego for a month. The good part is that I'm paid. Not much but it pays off at the end of the month. I also am babysitting my 11-year-old brother, Jamie. However, he and his friend, Stephan, are never around their always playing somewhere. His friend is annoying and has this allergic reaction to peanuts and if he even sees a closed container of anything involving them, he freaks out. Even though he can't react to the peanuts unless he eats them. He says he knows that but he still grabs his throat as if he can't breath, its irritating. In addition when ever they say their going to have a sleep over (not a slumber party because that's too girly!) One of them goes home before 11:00 it's pointless. I don't understand those two and don't think I ever will.

Every summer I stay home for a couple weeks then my cousins come up for a while and then Jamie and I spend a month in San Diego, but since the new addition, we don't know what we'll do. The First couple of days of summer have been pretty repetitive; wake up at 7, watch the morning cartoons, feed Izzy, put her down for a nap, get ready, go on a walk, put her down for another nap, clean, feed Izzy dinner, mom and dad get home, write in my diary, go to bed. Boring life as it looks now.

One morning I was getting ready, Izzy was in her swing and I was doing my make-up and all the sudden an eyelash landed in my eye. It hurt but I got it out, after I did, I held it there for a second thinking, I had heard once that if you find an eyelash, make a wish. Therefore, I did. I looked at the eyelash and wished that I could have a summer romance that would last beyond summer.

A couple more days passed doing the same thing everyday. Until one day, I took Izzy on a walk to the park so she could swing on the swings, I was pushing her, she was giggling, and we were both having fun when I spotted this guy on his skateboard down the street. He was tall, dark and handsome. From what I could see, he wasn't super skinny but a little buff like he worked out but not overly to look like a workout-aholic. He didn't wear skinny jeans like every other skateboarder I knew and had on a white t- shirt and a blue and green open button up over that. Even though he had a skateboard he didn't look like a skateboarder, he had the mysterious look to him but not the whole Goth thing. He was cute and different than I was use too and I liked it.

So for the next couple of days I made sure to leave the house at the same time and be at the park so that I could see him again. He didn't show up, I got a little sad and wished I could see him again. After a while, I just went back to my regular schedule that Izzy was use to. After a week or so, he showed up again but not at the same time, this time he did have skinny jeans on but no black, instead yellow. This shirt was a little tight and you could see that he had great abs and it fit around his arm muscles perfectly. I started to make sure I looked really cute and maybe he would notice me, but it didn't seem like he did. If he did, he didn't show it. I was walking home the next day and I hadn't seen him so Izzy and I left. As I was going home, I heard something behind me, when I turned around the mysterious cute guy was right there. He was smiling and coming towards ME! I didn't know what to do so I just stood there until he reached me.

"Hey!" Mystery cute guy said.

"Hi!" I said. I was so flabbergasted I didn't know what to say so like an idiot I just stood there.

"My names Nathan, I see you here at the same time everyday with your little girl. I thought I would introduce myself."

I started laughing at that, he just looked at me puzzled like he didn't understand the joke.

"Did I say something funny?" he asked.

"You think she's mine?" I said. He just nodded. "NO! She is my little sister; I'm babysitting her for my parents while they work. Besides I'm only 16, too young to have kids!"

"Oh my god I feel like an idiot! I'm sorry! Its just that you're here everyday with her and you take care of her like a mom would. I just assumed she was yours. Wait, your only 16 you look a lot older. I'm 17"

"Yeah, I am 16. No she's my sister, my dad has me on these strict rules I have to do with her everyday and taking her to the park is one of them and she is 15 years younger so I take care of her differently then I would my brother. Don't feel like an idiot, you should see all the glares and looks I get from people all over, you're not the first to think that. By the way I am Payton and this is Izzy."

"Well I am still sorry. Hi Payton, it's really nice to meet you. I guess I'll see you soon hopefully?"

"Sure, I'll be here. It was nice to meet you too Nathan. See you later."

That was my first encounter with Nathan (cute, mysterious guy!) Who was so much cuter up close with his deep midnight blue eyes, his dark brown hair and tan skin. When I showed up at the park the next day Nathan was sitting on the swings. When he noticed me, he stood up and walked towards me.

"Hey, I was wondering when you would show up!"

"Hey, Izzy's being a handful today, she's a little cranky."

"Oh, that's too bad. Maybe she'll be in a better mood once you put her in the swing!" He helped me put Izzy in the swing, and he was right, her mood brightened up. You could tell Izzy liked Nathan. He was playing with her while I got her stuff situated. She was giggling so hard I thought she was going to out pee her diaper.

"You really have a way with kids!" I said to him.

"Yeah, well I got a few younger brothers and a sister at home of my own. None of them is this young. What's it like having a little sister so much younger around the house?"

"Well, I like it. My little brother Jamie is jealous but he has been the baby of the house for so long that I understand. I love having her around, she is our little miracle baby."

"Haha! I bet he is jealous. How old is he?"

"He is 11 and a pain in my butt!"

"He can't be that bad. He's only 11."

"Only 11! You haven't met anyone like my brother then!"

"Maybe I could meet him then and you could show me how big a pain he really is."

"He'll probably come to the park, you just wait! So how many siblings do you have?"

"3."

"What are they like?"

"Well, I am the oldest then there's Jesse, he is 14. Then there is the twins Roxy and Mitchell they are 12. Their Fun, I bet your brother would like hanging out with Rox and Mitch."

"I bet he would have fun with Mitch, he isn't really into the whole girl thing yet."

"Rox isn't a girl, having all brothers has made her a tom-boy. I don't even think she's been asked out and Mitch keeps saying there are a million guys that like her. But she just isn't interested. She would rather hang with Jess, Mitch and I working on my car."

"You have a car, what kind?"

"It's a 68' Camaro. I used to build it with my dad before he died; now it is just the four of us."

"I'm sorry, how long ago did he die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"He has been gone for almost 2 years. My mom misses him really bad and so do the other 3. Its been hardest for Rox she was daddy's little girl, you know?"

"Yeah I know!" We talked like this for a couple weeks. Always meeting at the park and talking for hours or until Izzy got too cranky to deal with. If we couldn't make it we always ran to the park to make sure the other person knew they would be solo today. Until one day I was running late because Izzy and I had slept in longer than we should have, when we were up and ate breakfast I put Izzy in her swing and got in the shower. Jamie was at the park with Stephan, or at least I thought so. I was in the shower singing along with the radio not paying attention and talking to Izzy. When I got out I dried off and figured out I forgot my cloths so I put my towel on and opened the door. Standing outside the door was my brother, Stephan and NATHAN! He saw me and opened his mouth to say something but before he could, I slammed the door in his face. Oh my god Nathans just saw me in my towel!Then there was a knock on the door and a voice to follow, it was Jamie. I let him in.

"What is he doing here?" I whispered to him.

"He was at the park and I had seen you two hanging out lately so I went over to him and asked him what he was doing. He said he was waiting for someone, I asked who, he said you. I told him I was your brother and I could take him to the house so he wouldn't have to wait. We were calling your name, but you didn't hear us, so we waited. By the way, who were you talking to?"

"What! I was talking to Izzy, how long have you been standing there?"

"Why would you talk to Izzy, she doesn't talk back, its pointless!"

"Forget why I was talking to Izzy, how long were you standing there?"

"Ummm… about 20 minutes. You take really long showers!"

"20 minutes! Did you guys hear everything I said to Izzy?"

"Yeah pretty much! We all know how much you like Nathan and how cute you think him and his muscles are!"

"Oh My God! I would kill you if Nathan wasn't out there right now! Go take him down stairs and tell him I'll be there in a few minutes. I have to get dressed! NOW!" He walked out the door, you could hear them all taking down the hall. When I couldn't hear them any more I made a b- line to my room, grabbed my cloths and ran to the bathroom again. I got dressed, did my hair, brushed my teeth and did everything else to get ready. When I was done, I grabbed Izzy and opened the door. Once again, Nathan was standing right there.

"Bout time! How long does it take one girl to get ready?"

"It takes time to look this good! Come on, I need to make a bottle." When we got down stairs, I put Izzy in her chair and made the bottle, we were both quiet for a while. When I turned around, he was right behind me and when I went to say something, he stopped me by kissing me square on the lips. It was a great kiss, sweet but fierce. Nothing like I have ever experienced before, it was amazing. When we stopped kissing I looked up into his eyes and blushed beat red.

"By the way I like you just as much as you like me," I blushed even harder "And I do have pretty great muscles don't I!" He flexed as he said it.

"Yeah, you do." So for the rest of the day we hung out at my house with Izzy. We had only known each other for 3 weeks and we were already boyfriend and girlfriend. He left before my parents got home because we both decided to keep us a secret, for a while at least. That meant we had to bribe Jamie into keeping his trap shut till we were ready to tell. We also told him to tell Stephan to keep his shut too! For the next week or so he came over as soon as both my parents were gone. Then he would watch Izzy so I could get ready. After that we would go do stuff, he would drive of course because I haven't had time to go get my license. At night we would text for hours, my parents would always ask who I'm texting and I would lie and say it was Lesley, my friend that was in Colorado taking care of her grandma who had just gotten a major surgery. Some times he would help me write my story and sometimes I would go work on his car with him ( or at least sit there and hand him tools while we talked or sang along with the radio; and of course he let me choose the station).

" I think I want you to meet my parents." I was sitting in his car while he was working on the engine. The radio was blasting and we were having fun. " I mean its been a couple weeks since we started going out and I don't want to keep lying to them about what I am doing and I don't think its fair if Jamie has to too. Plus I think we are ready, maybe we could make them dinner."

"I think that's a good idea! Then the next night we could do the same with my mom and siblings."

" I think that sounds great, then maybe we could actually go on dates." Just then one of his brothers walked into the garage.

"Wow! Your actually home, it's amazing." His brother said.

"I have been hanging out with my girlfriend, dip stick!"

"Girlfriend? Since when have you had a girlfriend?"

"Hey!" I said.

"Oh, wow, you're here. Now. Hey, I'm Jesse."

"I'm Payton!"

"Why haven't you brought her over here and introduced us, you dim wad?" He said towards Nate.

"She's been over here a lot helping me work on the car. You just haven't been here for me to introduce. Besides were going to make mom and you guy's dinner on Thursday. Tomorrow is her parents." Just then, his brother started to laugh like it's the funniest thing in the whole world.

I looked at him," What's so funny?" I asked. He just kept laughing, so I looked towards Nate. He just shrugged, finally Jesse answered.

"Nate doesn't do the Rents scene. So he must really like you if he agreed to it."

" He had ideas for it too!" I said.

"Oh my god, I think my older brothers in LOVE!"