Chapter 1

My name is Alyssa Diamond. That's right, I'm the younger sister of James Diamond by eight minutes. James and I have the typical sibling relationship, we fight and argue but then a minute later we're practically best friends. Even though James is only older by eight minutes, he takes his big brother role very seriously. He's always looking out for me and although I find it annoying at times, I really appreciate that he does it.

Anyways, James has three best friends: Logan the brainiac, Carlos the energetic and Kendall the leader. All four of those guys are practically inseparable so whenever I'm around James it's more than likely that at least one of his buddies is there with him. Since they're always around I'm obviously pretty good friends with them as well. I remember my mom dragging me to go watch James at his first hockey practice when we were three. That was the day he met his best friends and to this day, sixteen years later they still are friends.

Anyways, we're all nineteen years old now and the guys are all focused on their music careers out in LA. I on the other hand have just finished my first year of college at the University of Michigan for nursing. I experienced a stressful and hard year so a break from school and just enjoying the summer is something I really need.

I was out on the front porch sitting on a bench and reading a book when my mom came outside with a huge grin on her face.

"Guess who's coming home for a couple weeks!"

"I have no idea so you may just want to tell me," I told her.

"James!" she exclaimed.

"What?" I asked with shock, confusion and excitement.

"He just called me and said that Gustavo knows the boys have been working really hard on their album so he's giving them a couple of weeks off to come home and visit everyone."

"When's he going to be home?" I asked.

"His plane comes in tomorrow night."

"So all of the guys are coming back with him?"

"Yes, Logan and Carlos are going to go home and catch up with their families. James will obviously be staying here and Kendall will be too. His mom, Jennifer, has to work and can't take time off so she and Katie are just going to stay back in LA" she told me and then walked back into the house. I picked up my book again but couldn't focus on reading because of how excited I was to see my brother tomorrow night. The last time I had seen him was for spring break a couple of months ago when my family and I flew to LA to visit him. We didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted to with him since he had to work but it was better than nothing. At least this time he'll be off for two whole weeks and we'll have plenty of time to spend together.

My mom and dad had left about an hour ago to pick up James and Kendall from the airport while I offered to stay home and make dinner for everyone. I decided to make James' favorite lasagna with a Caesar salad. I also made his favorite dessert, cherry pie. Just as I was taking the lasagna out of the oven I heard the door open and a scream from a familiar voice "Lyssa!" I quickly set the lasagna down and ran to the door and saw James drop his bags to give me a hug.

"I missed you so much!" I said as he picked me up in a hug.

"I missed you too and your cooking which I can smell," he mentioned as he set me down and walked with my parents into the kitchen.

"Dinner is ready if you guys want to go ahead and start eating," I told them. Kendall was still standing with me by the door. "Come on give me a hug because surprisingly I did miss you too." Kendall chuckled and wrapped his arms around me for a hug.

"Alyssa, just so you know the airplane food was absolutely awful so I'm really hoping your food is better because I'm starving."

"You hope it's better? Kendall Knight that actually really hurt!" I joked. "You know for a fact my food is always fantastic. Never once did you complain when I used you and the other guys as my guinea pigs to test out new recipes."

"We didn't complain because we were getting free food," he said in a joking manner as I gave him a stern look. "Okay, you're food is honestly the best I've ever had so can we please go eat now?" he begged like a child.

"Of course," I told him. We walked into the kitchen and saw my parents eating like civil people but James, however, was scarfing food down like he'd never eaten in his entire life.

"Take a seat and eat before there's nothing left," I told Kendall.

"Alyssa are you going to join us?" my dad asked.

"I'm going to save myself a plate for later," I told him. "I'm still working on making dessert."

"What's for dessert?" James asked excitedly.

"Cherry pie."

"Have I ever told you that you're the best sister in the world?" James asked.

"Every time I cook or do something nice for you, yes you do tell me that."

As everyone was eating I was in the kitchen making dessert. Kendall was finished eating and offered to help me out.

"No it's ok don't worry about it. I'm almost done anyways, I just need to put it in the oven to bake so don't worry about it," I said as I picked up the unbaked pie. Before I knew it Kendall had taken it from my hands.

"Let me at least do something as simple as putting the pie in the oven and help with dishes. You already made us a five star meal, it's the least I could do." I smiled at the sweet gesture.

"Fine, go ahead. Heat the oven at 350 degrees and set the timer for one hour." After placing it in the oven Kendall helped me wash dishes. He ended up washing while I dried. During that time we talked about what has gone on in our lives since we'd last seen each other.

"How'd school go for you?" he asked.

"It was tough but I managed straight A's," I said and James overheard.

"I swear you're like the girl version of Logan," James said and I laughed.

"How's the pop star life treating you guys?"

"It has its ups and downs" Kendall told me.

"Like what?"

"One up is that we're doing what we love," James said.

"The downer though is that we don't get a break from it. Once you're a nurse you'll be doing what you love while you're at work but outside of that you have your private life," Kendall explained.

"We don't get that. No matter where we go we have no privacy," James finished and then his phone rang. He stepped out to take the call leaving Kendall and me in the kitchen.

"That really sucks not to have any privacy."

"Yeah it does. Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to live a normal life."

"Having a normal life has its ups and downs too," I told Kendall. "Just appreciate the life you have and look at all of the awesome things you've achieved. You guys have had sold out concerts, tons of albums and fans that love you."

"You have a good point," Kendall agreed. "Is something burning?"

I began to sniff and figure out what Kendall was talking about.

"Oh my god! The pie!" I exclaimed and ran to the oven to take it out. As soon as I opened the oven door, smoke came flooding out and inside the oven was a burnt pie. "Kendall, what did you set the temperature on?" I asked. He looked at the temperature on the oven and his jaw dropped.

"Don't kill me but I accidently set it to 550 degrees," he said. I bursted out laughing. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"I just can't believe you set it to 550!"

"I'm not the best cook if you couldn't tell," he said somewhat ashamed.

"I'll tell you what, tomorrow morning I'll teach you how to make something easy for breakfast. How does that sound?" I asked him with a smile.

"Awesome. And I'll pitch the burnt pie and finish cleaning up since I screwed up dinner," he offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" he insisted. "Now leave this kitchen and go do something fun!"

As I was walking away I stopped and turned to Kendall and with a smile I said, "Hey just so you know, I wouldn't kill you. You're my favorite out of James' friends." I walked away and didn't see it but Kendall stood in the kitchen with a smile on his face.