Hey guys! I'm still wondering if it's a good idea to take up this story when I'm still writing A Sparrow's Heart and A Second Chance at Life plus tons of school work, but I thought what the heck! Why not? I mean, that's what writers do right? Well, anyways, I've had this story in my head for a couple of weeks now and thought I should just write it out! I hope you enjoy!

000

"Bye Carter! Pick me up at eleven, will you?" My brother honked the truck horn in response and drove away.

Let me tell you a little about myself. My name's Cassidy Reeves and I live in the city of Santa Carla. Well, actually I live on a farm and wake up every morning at 4:30 to milk the cows. It's a drag, I know, and maybe you don't want to hear about a stupid farm girl, but I'm gonna keep talking anyways. Like I was saying, I milk cows, plant crops, and do pretty much any kind of farm activity you can think of. Hey, it's not my fault! I was born into farm life. I also delivered different supplies that my father, Jamie, made back home. Stuff like dog food or mulch or something. I'll admit, it's not a very appealing life style, but it's my life style, so get used to it if you're gonna keep listening to me. I promise my story gets more interesting as it goes on.

Anyways, I was the quiet girl in school that occasionally spoke up in a conversation only because I hated the people who hung out with me. I didn't ask them to, they just sorta did. I had friends outside of high school, I'm a senior by the way and I'll be graduating in a couple of months. My favorite choice of clothing was plaid. Yes, I'm serious and yes, I realize that it's very stereotypical, but plaid held up well. I always wore those open, long sleeved plaid shirts (the color depended on my mood) with a tank top, jeans, and my working boots. Oh, by the way, I have blonde, curly hair and blue eyes if anybody wants to know. I was very outgoing with my real friends, but a hint of that shy girl always showed.

Okay, let me tell you now, this isn't some cliché love story that every book tends to contain now in days. No, this a true, honest love story that hopefully with spark your interest. If it doesn't, that's your fault.

I picked up the bag of organic dog food that my brother had dumped on the ground and walked towards the boardwalk. Tonight was Friday and I only had one delivery left.

"Winchester! Jesse! Come on!" I called behind me to my two border collies. They trotted behind me as I carried the bag of food, their dog collars jingling to make a merry little sound in my ears. I looked at the piece of paper taped to the green bag. In my scribbled hand writing the note read:

Deliver to Video max

I grinned. Max was a good friend of my dad and I always enjoyed seeing him.

"Come on!" I called again, louder this time as I picked up my pace.

People starred at me as I went, but I paid no attention to them. Soon, I came to the video store. The familiar glow of the movies inside Video Max washed over me and I stepped inside. A bell rang above the door and I heard a dog bark. A big, white dog stood up next to the counter and raised his lip in a snarl.

"Thorn!" Max scolded. Winchester and Jesse raised their tails in domination, but I pushed them back with my foot.

"Guys! Come on, be civil!" I growled to my dogs.

I heard Max chuckle.

"Hello, Cassidy!" he said cheerfully.

"Hey, Max! I, uh, have your dog food that you ordered."

"Oh! Right! Here let me take that!" he said, reaching towards the bag.

"No! No! I've got it! Don't worry, Max," I said, smiling. He smiled back.

I turned to Thorn. "Hey buddy! Now you get to eat, huh?" Thorn barked happily.

"Where do you want it?"

"Back in the storage room. Here, let me get the door for you!" I nodded my thanks as he opened the door and walked back to the counter.

I sat the dog food down on a dusty table and looked around. Crates of movies were everywhere and I starred in admiration. I never got the chance to watch movies anymore. I never had any time what with the farm work and school. I felt something lick my hand. I looked down to see Jesse wagging her tail.

"Hey girl! How'd you get past Thorn, huh?" I scratched her behind the ears. She barked and I turned to walk out of the room. I saw Winchester and Thorn watching each other with vicious stares.

"They never have liked each other, have they?" Max asked.

"I could never remember a time that they did," I laughed. Jesse walked past Thorn and came to stand by Winchester. They were siblings, my dogs, and never went anywhere without each other.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Cassidy. Where have you been?" Max asked, concern obvious in his voice.

I used to see Max every week at least twice, but now that my mother had died, I rarely left the farm except to go to school. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Oh great, another story where the girl's depressed and has a bad past and her home life is horrible! Well, for one, I'm not depressed, I 'm a very happy and easily satisfied person. Two, I don't have a bad past. The only terrible thing that's ever happened to me was my mother dying. And three, my home life is probably better than anybody's at my school. My dad was a caring, loving dad and my brother was my best friend. We stuck together like glue and never fought, unless it was over the last piece of homemade pizza on Saturday nights.

"Ah, you know. School is getting harder and dad needs me around the farm now that Carter is gone more for college."

Carter was the luckier sibling. He got the privilege of going to college. See, my mom and dad had saved up enough money for one college fund and guess who got it? That's right, my overly athletic, and extremely talented brother. Me, I guess I would just stay on the farm until I could work up enough money to move out on my own. I had no chance at going to college unless I got a scholar ship and where I come from, those are rare things.

"Well, I would like to see you more often. It's always a pleasure to talk to you, Cassidy."

I smiled faintly. This is why I loved seeing Max. He always made me feel better when I was down.

"I'll try and borrow the truck more often, if I can."

"Good. I would like that. It gets pretty boring out here if you ask me," he smiled.

It was silent for a moment. Suddenly, out of the silence, a loud squeal erupted, blasting my ear drums.

"CASSIDY! OH MY GOD, GIRL! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

I turned around to see one of my good friends, Maria. I jumped up and down and ran over to her.

"Maria!"

"Cassidy, you promised to come see me sooner!"

I had forgotten that she worked here at Video Max.

"I know! I'm sorry, it's just that-"

"I don't want to hear it! You're coming to hang out with me tonight!" she declared. I was always envious of Maria. She was beautiful with her mocha colored skin and chocolate brown eyes. Any guy would be lucky to have her.

"Cool! I'm here 'till 11!"

"Fantastic! Max, what time do I get off tonight?"

Max looked back and forth between me and Maria.

"How about now?" he said, grinning.

"Really?" she squealed again. He nodded.

"Why not? It's Friday night."

I knew the real reason was because of me. Max had a tendency to feel sympathy towards my situation. Sometimes it was good and other times it got annoying.

"Thanks," I whispered as Maria gathered the contents of her purse.

"No problem, Cassidy," he whispered back.

"Come on, let's go!" she cried excitedly. I swear I'd kill the person that thought it would be funny to give her an energy drink. Her blood was already spiked with enough adrenaline as it was.

I looked around for my dogs. "Jesse! Winchester! Let's go!"

But Winchester wouldn't budge an inch. Jesse began to growl and hid behind her brother. They were both watching something outside. Suddenly, the bell on the door rang and in walked four teenage boys. They were probably a few years older than me, most likely in their twenties and they wore biker attire. There were three blondes and one with dark hair. All of them were dressed differently than the next, but the one that caught my attention was the biker that was clad in all black. His blonde hair was spiked a little and his blue eyes were mischievous and entrancing. He was obviously the leader of the group and walked with an air of authority.

"I thought I told you not to come in here," Max said darkly. His eyes were angered, telling me that these boys had obviously been in here before and it hadn't been a fantastic visit.

My blonde boy just smirked and continued walking around the store. I suddenly became very nervous for some odd reason, and leaned towards Maria.

"Who are they?" I whispered.

"Oh, they come in here a lot just to annoy Max. I think they're all incredible cute, especially the blonde. She nodded towards blonde with long, straight hair.

"His name's Paul. And I think that's Marko and that's Dwayne."

That was all fine and dandy, but I wanted to know his name.

"What about him?" I asked, watching the blonde glance around the store with an uninterested expression on his face.

"Him? Oh, that's David. He's like, their leader or something. Mysterious, right?" I nodded. Something was different about him; something I was really attracted to.

Oh man, what was I saying? I hadn't even really looked at a boy since freshman year!

Maria looked back and forth between me and him before realization finally hit her.

"Oh my god! You two would be SO cute together!" she whispered as quietly as she could. I elbowed her in the ribs.

"Shut up!"

Now Thorn, Winchester, and Jesse were all growling at the boys, their hackles raised dangerously. Winchester began to advance towards them, but I scolded him before he could move any farther.

"Winchester!" I snapped. He stepped back, ears flattened against his head. Jesse stared intently at me as if to say, "Why would you stop him?".

Because of my sudden outburst, David looked up. His eyes found my blue ones and held them. He stopped walking and I stopped breathing. He flashed me a crooked smile and my heart melted. I don't know how long I stood there, but it mustn't have been very long because Maria suddenly waved a hand in front of my face.

"Hello? Earth to Cassidy!" she called. I snapped out of my trance and painfully removed my eyes from David's.

"What?"

"You were starring."

My cheeks burned bright red and I cleared my throat.

"No, I wasn't," I said quietly.

"Yes, you-" I elbowed her again.

"Shh!"

I looked back to find David had walked closer. I blushed again and turned towards Maria.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. "Yeah," I sighed.

"Cassidy?"

I turned to face Max.

"I hope to see you soon." I knew he wanted us the leave because of the boys.

I nodded. "Like-wise."

"Let's go, Maria."

We began to walk out of the store. I whistled to my dogs and they followed close behind, still growling. Maria opened the door and walked out.

"I'll see you later, Max," I said without looking at him. Instead, my eyes found his blue ones again. He had a smirk on his face and continued to stare at me.

"Come on, Cassidy! Let's go! We don't have all night!"

"Coming!" And then I did the one thing I probably should have never done. I smiled my most genuine smile right at him and quickly walked out the door. Any girl knew the old trick of cat and mouse. I still have no idea what brought me to play this little game, but I did.

"Cass, did you see the way he looked at you?" Maria squealed excitedly once I was out the door.

I blushed and nodded.

"Oh my god! You have to talk to him!"

I looked up swiftly. "What! No! I-I can't!"

"Why not?" she whined.

"Because! I just… well…. he's not my type!" I said quickly, thinking of a lame excuse.

Maria stopped walking and faced me. "That's the best you can come up with?"

I sighed. "Look, I'm only here 'till eleven, so where do you wanna go?"

She thought for a moment forgetting the four boys. "The carousel!"

"Why the carousel?"

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "Ok, the carousel it is."

Ok, I think everybody knows what the carousel means…. Well, at least I hope…. If you've seen the movie you know…. Why would you be reading this if you haven't? Anyways, wow I ramble a lot….. so please R&R! It would make me sooo happy!