On April 9th, 2014, I joined FanFiction. Exactly one year ago today. Wooooow. What do y'all think of that? XD I know it might be a little silly to get worked up about this, but I love anniversaries and such. Plus I'm really sentimental and nostalgic. Feel free to skip over all the sap if you really hate that stuff. Most of it will be in the author's note at the end. :P
This took me forever to write. It was hard. Maybe it didn't turn out the best. But it's weird. And totally me. XD Fair warning, I know nothing about parties. I only go to my close friends' birthday parties or my own, which usually consist of a max of five people. So to summarize, this might be off in a few places. I don't know what I'm talking about. But I wrote it anyway. Go experimentation!
I also apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes. I've only checked this over once, so some will probably slip through. I considered not editing it at all, so you guys can see how awful my stories start out, but I figured it wouldn't be fair to y'all. Plus I'm a perfectionist. It would displease my brain to leave in so many mistakes. (Yesterday I had to straighten the chairs at youth group because they were crooked. My best friend looked at me like I was crazy. I told her the crooked chairs were "displeasing me." Her look didn't change . . .)
So anyway, warnings for sap, humor, and weirdness ahead. :3 Hey, it's me! Keep in mind that this story takes place at the beginning of season two. They haven't met Douglas yet, but they have met Marcus. Okay, I've been saying this for a year, but I'll say it again: I don't own Lab Rats, and enjoy!
* * * One Year * * *
Leo scanned the email one more time, checking his work to make sure everything turned out right. He didn't want to mess up one of the details. Luckily, he was able to catch a typo. As he hit the backspace key to fix it, the elevator doors opened up and he could hear chattering. Quickly Leo slammed his laptop shut and hopped out of his chair.
"So money doesn't grow on trees?" Adam was asking.
"Leo!" Bree screamed, running over and clutching her stepbrother's arm. "Please help me."
Chase frowned. "You didn't seem so upset when I was explaining photosynthesis."
"I've learned to hide my disgust," Bree spat.
"You're taking biology this year, aren't you? You need to pay attention to that kind of stuff. Someday you'll thank me."
"Plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen," Leo said. "That's really all you need to know."
Chase glared at Leo as if he had just suggested that baking a cake was as simple as throwing eggs and flour in a pan. Speaking of cake . . .
"Hey, totally random question!" Leo said, turning away from Chase's unnerving stare. "Chocolate or vanilla?"
"I don't think the kind of car matters," Adam called from his new perch on the cyberdesk. "They all look the same after you've smashed them into the side of a building. Believe me; I would know."
"Car?" Leo asked.
"Ignore him," Bree said, shaking her head. "Chocolate. Don't you know anything, Leo? Girls love chocolate."
"Ooh, take notes, Chase!" Adam said, shaking his younger brother's shoulder.
Chase rolled his eyes and said, "Vanilla. Why?"
"Adam?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "And we're talking about flavors, not . . . cars."
"Chocolate. It looks like mud. Wait . . ." He squinted. "Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that melted chocolate next to the puddle."
Leo swallowed to keep himself from gagging. "Thanks . . . I think."
"Again, why?" Chase folded his arms across his chest.
"Oh, you know!" Leo rubbed the back of his head. "It's a pretty generic question. One of the first things you're supposed to learn about a person. I realized I haven't asked you guys yet. But hypothetically speaking, suppose those were the flavors of some cupcakes. Would that change it at all? And say we expanded it to all flavors."
"Red velvet," Bree said. "Ooh! With that special cheesecake frosting. Owen bought me some from that cupcake place downtown. They were so good."
"As long as it's edible, I'll put it in my mouth," Adam said. "And possibly even if it's not."
"I've always liked carrot cake." Chase shrugged.
"Ew!" Adam and Bree exclaimed in unison.
"It's not so bad!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Leo saw Mr. Davenport enter the lab. He met his stepfather's gaze and tried to communicate what his eyes. I need to talk to you.
Mr. Davenport raised his eyebrows in response. Huh?
Leo's eyes flicked over to Adam, Bree, and Chase. Not with them.
Mr. Davenport opened his mouth slightly. Oh . . .
"Hey guys!" The tech mogul had made his formal entrance into the lab. "Why don't you get suited up for training? I . . . need to talk to Leo for a minute. Get your stuff together."
Adam, Bree, and Chase ran obediently to their capsules as Mr. Davenport pulled Leo into the foyer. "What do you need?"
"You've got the dates all worked out?" Leo needed to make sure everything worked perfectly.
"Yeah, it'll work fine. But are you sure you want to have it here?"
"Please?" Leo clasped his hands under his chin and opened his eyes as wide as they would go. His lower lip curled slightly and he whimpered.
Mr. Davenport rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. But you're responsible for any damage."
"Yes! Okay, I've got most of the guest list worked out. I was just about to send an email to everyone. I . . . had to get creative. So I'm inviting Caitlin, obviously, a few of Bree's other friends, Chase's debate team, some of the girls Adam knows, and some of the football players who won't beat us up. Marcus is out of town with his dad, thankfully."
"I'd be a bit nervous about having him over again, anyway," Mr. Davenport said with a frown.
"Dude's a creep, but I won't go into that now." Leo shook his head. He was grateful that his archenemy was conveniently gone for the weekend. Adam, Bree, and Chase wouldn't be able to accuse him of anything. He genuinely couldn't invite Marcus.
That worked out.
"So we're good here?" Mr. Davenport asked.
"I think so. Can I have some cash to buy supplies?"
"This isn't going to cost much, is it?"
"This coming from a billionaire?" Leo sighed. "I'll be frugal."
"Good. Oh, and if you go to the party place, do you think you could get them to make a balloon with my name on it? And my picture? Because this"—he gestured to his face—"would look great on vinyl."
In response, Leo just stared back at his stepdad.
"Fine." Mr. Davenport's face fell. "All right, you're in charge of it from here on out. Don't mess this up." He was about to walk back into the lab, but suddenly turned and looked back at Leo. "On second thought, you might want to get your mom to help you."
Leo shook his head and grinned. He knew he had a track record of messing things up, but he was determined to do a good job this time. He went back into the lab and grabbed his laptop, observing his siblings getting ready for their training. He was tempted to stay and watch, but he had plans to make. With the laptop under his arm, Leo hurried upstairs to talk to his mom about decorations.
"Excuse me, ma'am?" Leo called to the employee in the blue shirt and khaki pants. "Could you help me?"
"Of course!" she exclaimed. She turned gracefully on her heel, her strawberry-blonde hair brushing her shoulders. She looked to be about Adam's age. "How may I help you?"
Hmm, pretty and has good grammar.
Quit it, Leo! You're here to get supplies, not flirt.
"Yeah, I was just wondering if you had any red streamers. I can't find any."
"Hmm, we should have some. Right over here." She led him to the streamer section.
"I looked here, and I didn't see any."
"Looks like we might be out. Would you like me to check the back for you?"
Leo contemplated it. Were streamers really so important to the party? Yes. "That would be great," he said.
"Right this way."
She started leading him to the back of the store. Leo noticed the way she stepped lightly, almost like she wasn't really touching the ground at all. He walked quicker to get beside her. From his new angle he could see her name tag: "Jill."
Jill went into the storeroom filled with buckets of party supplies. Leo stood back near the door, not wanting to intrude in a place where only employees were allowed. "You throwing a party?" Jill called from where she was rummaging through a box on a shelf.
"That's typically why you go to a party store."
She chuckled. "I guess that's true. What's it for, if you don't mind my asking?"
Leo chose his next words carefully. Obviously he couldn't tell her that it was to celebrate his siblings leaving the basement exactly a year ago from Saturday. "My step siblings and I met for the first time last year, and I kinda wanted to celebrate it."
"That's sweet of you. They like red?"
"And black."
"Odd combination."
"Not if you knew them," Leo muttered to himself. Specifically, he was thinking of the colors proudly displayed on his siblings' mission suits. It seemed like a fitting color combination for them.
"Like a ladybug," Jill said. "Or a black widow." She laughed as she walked back towards Leo, ignoring his horrified expression. "Here you go." She tossed the pack of red streamers at him. "That good? Or do you need another one?"
"This should be fine."
"If you're done, I can ring you up at the counter."
Leo looked through his basket. Balloons? Check. Plates? Check. Napkins? Check. Confetti? Check. Streamers? Check. "I think I'm ready."
"Sure. Come on." They headed back to the front of the store. As they did, Jill said, "You know, you look kind of familiar. What's your name?"
"Leo," he said without thinking. "Leo Dooley."
"Would you happen to go to Mission Creek High?"
"Yeah, I do. Do you go there?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. I guess I've seen you around before. Hmm, step siblings, you said? Would one of those siblings happen to be Bree Davenport?"
"Um, yes, actually."
Jill grinned. "That's what I thought. I think I've heard her talk about you before."
"You know Bree?"
"Sort of. I sit behind her in biology. She's always going on and on about how she doesn't need to listen to any of the lessons because her brother is a smart aleck and she's heard it a hundred times before."
"Yup, that's Bree."
A crazy idea entered Leo's head. At first he rejected it, seeing as how he knew absolutely nothing about this girl. For all he knew, she was lying about knowing Bree. Still, it would be nice to have more people at the party. Adam, Bree, and Chase didn't have that many friends. Mosts of the guests were mere acquaintances anyway. Could it really hurt?
Jill slipped behind the counter and Leo placed his basket next to the register, pulling out his wallet. "So," Jill said with a teasing grin, "did you find everything okay?"
"Thanks to you. Hey, um, Jill . . ."
"Becker," she said. "Jill Becker."
"Right. Would you . . . like to come to a party?"
She shook her head and laughed softly. "You'd be shocked how often people asked me that."
"Is that a no?"
Jill cocked her head. "For Bree and her brothers? Sure. Do you really trust me that much?"
"I don't honestly know. For all I know, you're a creepy stalker."
She laughed. "Well, here's my student ID. Maybe that can set your mind at ease. I'm really a Mission Creek High student." She produced the blue and yellow card that had her picture and basic information. That did make Leo feel a little better.
"There aren't a whole lot of people coming, so you're more than welcome. If you want to, I mean."
Jill cocked her head. A slow smile spread across her face. "Sounds fun. Here, I'll give you my number, and you can text me about it." She pulled a sheet of paper out from under the counter and wrote ten digits on it with a pen. She pushed it across to Leo. She returned to scanning the items and said after a few minutes, "That'll be sixty dollars and nineteen cents."
Leo quickly got out the money and paid her. "Thanks so much. Nice to meet you, Jill. Maybe see you around sometime?"
"Maybe." She winked. "Have a nice day, Leo Dooley!"
Leo stretched as high as he could on the stool, reaching for the arch just below the ceiling. He pushed the tape against the wall and sighed with relief when the streamers remained in their place. "Don't fall," he commanded the inanimate objects. He turned to observe the rest of the room. Balloons were tied together in bunches. Streams hung from every corner. Perfect.
In the kitchen, Leo's mom was taking the cupcakes out of the oven. The delicious smell wafted through the house and Leo sighed contentedly. He loved his mom's baking.
As Leo sat down on the couch, he checked the time on his phone. 2:52. Guests should start arriving soon. Of course, they were Californians, which mean they would be late. It didn't take Leo long to discover that after he moved to Mission Creek. Tell them to show up at three and they'd show up at three fifteen. He probably had a good twenty minutes. Luckily, Mr. Davenport wasn't bringing Adam, Bree, and Chase back from the mall until 3:30. They had been confused about why their father and stepbrother had wanted them out, but eventually they complied. Leo laughed at the thought of Bree dragging her brothers and father into a store filled with teen girl clothes.
"Is everything done?" Tasha called from the kitchen.
"Almost," Leo said. "I think the only thing left is the music, and I've got that covered. You done with the snacks?"
"All ready." Tasha motioned to the bowls and plates of food on the counter.
Leo stood up to investigate. He smiled, but it quickly wavered. "Are those carrot sticks?"
"You are not stuffing your face with junk food tonight," Tasha replied, her hands on her hips. "I don't want a bunch of sugar-crazed teenagers tearing up this house, understand, Leo?"
"Fine," he grumbled. "But no one's gonna eat them, so don't say I didn't warn you!"
Leo ignored his mother's protests and walked over to where the speakers sat near the base of the stairs. He crouched beside them and pulled up the music on his playlist. He had compiled it the night before with songs he knew his siblings would enjoy. "Who Let the Dogs Out?"—one of Adam's favorites. A couple One Direction songs that Bree was sure to love. And a snippet of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for Chase. Leo didn't know how the other guests would like the final choice, but he wanted to please his brother. There were also a few other pop song that teenagers would enjoying dancing to.
As he was setting up the music, Leo received a text on his phone.
Hey Leo! I just wanted to say that I can come today, but I'll be a bit late. Maybe around 4-ish? See you soon! - Jill
Though he didn't really mean to, Leo smiled. He was excited to get to know Jill better. She seemed like a nice girl.
That'll be just fine. See you then! - Leo
Leo had been correct about the time. People started showing up around 3:10, and Leo gladly let them in. Most were various friends from school; acquaintances of Adam, Bree, and Chase. Among the guests were Caitlin and Owen, who were probably the two Leo knew the best, and they were technically Bree's friends. Mr. Davenport hadn't been too excited about that many people coming into his house, but Leo convinced him—mostly by guilting Mr. Davenport by reminding him that he had kept the bionics locked up in a basement all their life.
As the time neared 3:30, Leo went around and told everyone to hide. It wasn't an easy task. Not many people would listen to him. Eventually Caitlin picked up on Leo's consternation. She stood on the steps and shouted, "Yo, everybody! Shut up and hide before I make you 'hide' in the garbage disposal!" No one questioned her.
The moment Adam, Bree, and Chase walked through the door, every guest jumped out of their hiding place, yelling, "Surprise!"
"Surprise!" Adam shouted back. Then he turned to Mr. Davenport. "Whose birthday is it?"
"No one's," Leo explained as he came up to them. "It's been a year since we met, and I wanted to celebrate that."
"Wow, thanks, Leo!" Bree said. "Caitlin!" She rushed over to her best friend. Owen quickly joined her side.
"Leo, this is great!" Chase said. "You did all this for us?"
"Well duh. You're my siblings; I wanted to do something special for you."
"Are those cupcakes?" Adam yelled. He ran over to the counter where Tasha was guarding the candy.
Chase also moved on to talk with some of his debate team buddies. Mr. Davenport moved closer to Leo. "Guess what?" he said in an excited tone. "I'm awesome!"
"So I've heard." Leo was used to the billionaire's self-centered rambling, but this was incredibly random timing, even for him. "What did you do this time?"
"You know Bree's old boyfriend? Ethan? Well, it turns out that his dad works for me at our offices in Florida. But we're having a big conference meeting tomorrow, and he's here, and he brought Ethan with him. So I invited him over to see Bree again."
"Ethan?" Leo asked, his eyes widening. "Ethan Harper? The one who broke up with Bree right before he moved to Miami?"
"He what?" Mr. Davenport said, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning in closer.
"Yeah. Bree moved on quick, though. That's Owen. The guy she's crushing on. The one who gives her cupcakes and texts her 24/7." He sighed at Mr. Davenport's confused expression. "When's Ethan getting here?"
The doorbell cut through the music. Mr. Davenport jumped. He looked at Leo, then at his daughter dancing with the dark-haired boy, and then at the door.
"Good luck, Awesome Dad," Leo said, grinning devilishly. He moved away from the door to give his stepfather some space, but he didn't move so far that he couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation.
A mere minute later, Bree was frantically trying to explain to Owen who Ethan was and vice versa. "You broke up with me!" was the first thing Bree managed to shout at a volume that exceeded the music.
Leo was just close enough to hear Ethan's response: "You sure took your sweet time moving on, didn't you?"
"You broke up with her?" Owen interrupted. "How dare you forsake this glorious creature, this radiant lamb, my inspiration, my muse." He took Bree's hands in his. "Even sunsets cannot compare to the beauty I find in your eyes."
Leo took a seat on the couch as Bree blushed a deep shade of red. Ethan's face was red as well, but for a very different reason. "I didn't think a long-distance relationship would work!" he practically screamed. "I was trying to to keep things from getting complicated!"
Bree somehow managed to slip away from the bickering teenage boys. She marched up to Leo with her arms folded across her chest and her eyes narrowed. "Who thought it was a good idea to invite both my boyfriend and my ex-boyfriend?" she hissed.
Leo shrugged. "Ask your father. He's the one who invited Ethan."
With that, Bree stormed off in search of Mr. Davenport while Ethan and Owen fought at the bottom of the stairs. At one point Leo heard Owen say that he would paint a very dark picture to express his anger at Ethan's actions. Leo just shook his head. Artists.
There was a tap on Leo's shoulder and he turned. "Jill!" he exclaimed. "Glad you could make it."
"Me too," she said in a sweet voice that sounded almost like a laugh. "I had . . . plans, but they were suddenly canceled, so I thought I could drop by. This is a nice place."
"Thanks. There are perks to being the stepson of a billionaire."
Jill giggled into the back of her hand. "You're funny. So, any interesting rooms in this place?"
"Tons. There's an arcade room, bumper car room, and a . . ." Leo trailed off. He had mean to say "lab," but that, of course, would be a mistake.
"Sounds awesome," Jill said, not catching his blunder. "Maybe you could show me around a bit."
"Um, sure." Leo didn't think it would be so bad to chaperone her, especially since he really didn't know a lot about her—although he didn't know much about more than two-thirds of the guests in the room either.
As Leo was about to show Jill around, he heard his name being called. He turned to see Chase jogging towards him, a wide grin on his face.
"Thanks for all this, Leo," he said. "It really means a lot."
"No problem," Leo said with a grin. "Hey, Chase, I want you to meet . . . hey!" He looked around for Jill, but she had vanished into thin air.
"Look, Leo," Chase continued. "I know that maybe I wasn't thrilled to have another brother when you first came, but this has been an awesome year. The best of my life. So . . . thanks for being such a great brother."
"No problem. And ditto." The two leaned in for a quick hug.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I've never had a red velvet cupcake before and Bree keeps insisting I should try one. Although, red velvet cake is typically just chocolate cake dyed red, so I don't know why she . . ."
"Uh huh, yeah," Leo said, moving away as discreetly as he could so Chase wouldn't notice that he was quickly getting bored. Despite his best efforts, Chase noticed. He only shook his head good-naturedly and moved over to the counter to taste the treats.
So far the party seemed to be going well. People were enjoying themselves, even Chase's shy, nerdy friends. Bree was a whirlwind, talking to everyone about everything and socializing like every teenage girl should. Adam and one of his friends, who was on the basketball team, were shooting paper cups into the trash can. Chase was telling jokes and helping some of Bree's friends with their homework. Leo couldn't help but think about how much they had changed. One year ago they were shy, excited, and utterly naïve about the real world. Leo felt a bit of pride swelling up in his chest knowing that they learned most of their real-world skills from him; he had taught them well.
Jill did show up again, and she had Leo had some fun talks. He learned that she lived with seven siblings and both her parents in downtown Mission Creek. She absolutely loved planning and going to parties, and she wanted to be a wedding coordinator someday. Leo enjoyed getting to know someone new, but every time someone else came up to talk to him, Jill mysteriously disappeared. He shrugged it off, but it felt weirder and weirder every time it happened.
Nearly an hour and a half later, someone began pounding on the front door. Leo was nearby, and so he went to open it. Big mistake. Standing on the patio was a squat, red-haired beast—one that had somehow become a principal and kept that job for many years.
"Out of my way, space-waster!" Principle Perry said as she tried to push past him.
"What are you doing here?" Leo yelped.
"What do you think? I'm here to crash your party. Would you kindly direct me to your meat drawer?" She held up her hand. "Never mind, I'll find it. I've got the nose of a bloodhound."
"How did you even know we were having a party?"
"Please, Dooley, I've got eyes everywhere. You can't hide anything from me. Now, unless you want to become as flat as a tortilla, I'd suggest you move out of my way."
Leo obliged, hopping to the side and watching in half-fascination, half-disgust as his principal rushed over to the counter and dove into the snacks.
"You invited Perry?" Bree asked as she came up behind him.
"Nope!" Leo sighed. "I should've figured she'd show up, though."
"You might want to tell your mom to put out more chips. She's downing them faster than Adam after an overnight mission."
"Or maybe when they run out, she'll leave!"
Bree raised an eyebrow.
"You're right, there's no point in hoping." Leo sighed again.
Aside from Perry, things were fine. And she actually wasn't so bad. Everyone found it amusing when she jumped into the center of the room and started dancing like she was forty years younger than she was. It was also amusing when she tripped and wound up with a face-full of carpet. Leo wondered if it was cruel to laugh, but then he remembered all the awful things Perry had done to him in the past. He didn't feel so guilty after that.
The only other minor problem occurred when Adam ate too many cupcakes and, being sugar-crazed as he was, accidentally snapped off the back of a chair with his super-strength. Mr. Davenport was quick to step in and blame it on cheap furniture. Everyone bought it, and the Davenports and Dooleys were relieved.
Things were going well. Too well. It was only a matter of time before everything went wrong.
It started with another knock on the door. That seemed to be how most of the bad things of that evening happened. This time Chase opened it. He was quickly shoved aside by none other than Trent himself. The whole football team paraded into the room and everyone froze.
"Man, a party I wasn't invited to? It's time for me to Trent-ify this place. Boys!"
Chaos ensued.
The nerds ducked behind every available object, fearful of Trent's wrath. Most of the girls ran screaming out the door. The football players began flipping over everything in the room, despite Mr. Davenport's yelps and threats to call the police.
Adam and Leo were able to duck behind Mr. Davenport's desk. Leo could see the angry expression growing on his older brother's face, but when one of the trespassers knocked all the cupcakes off the table, he finally snapped.
"That's it!" Adam shouted, jumping over the desk. "No one messes with my snacks!"
Adam's first target was Trent. He turned towards the quarterback with his eyebrows knitted together and his fists clenched.
"Ha! What are you gonna do about it?" Trent mocked him.
Without a word, Adam grabbed Trent's collar and started pushing him backwards. Trent tried to struggle, but it was obvious that he was no match for Adam's strength.
"Hey, let me go!" Trent protested.
"You leave my family alone!" Adam shouted. "And you never touch another man's snacks again!"
They had reached the door. With a little more effort, Adam was able to get Trent clean off the ground. With a scowl, Adam tossed him down the driveway. He turned to the rest of the team. "You can walk out or I can throw you out. Your choice!"
It was a mad scramble for the door. Trent's goons all looked at Adam with fear in their eyes. Some tried to act like they weren't really scared, but when Adam stamped his foot they ran out the door even faster.
"This isn't over!" Trent called from outside. "We'll be—"
Adam slammed the door shut, cutting off Trent's threat. He took a deep breath, turned, ran to the spot were cupcakes were strewn all over the floor, and dropped to his knees. He picked up a fistful of gooey red cake smeared with dirty white frosting. Tears welled up in his eyes as he said, "It should've been me!"
The mansion had been deserted, except by those who lived there. Mr. Davenport and Tasha came out from the hall and Bree and Chase walked down the stairs.
"I'm so sorry, Big D," Leo said as he too came out of hiding. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"It's fine," Mr. Davenport said, his lips pursed. "It doesn't look too bad. And it wasn't your fault."
Adam looked up, his expression mournful. He held out the disfigured cupcake in the direction of his father. "We lost a dozen lives today, Mr. Davenport. A dozen warm, delicious lives."
Clean up that evening was not as much fun. Mostly it was picking up spilled food and trash from around the living room. Adam, Bree, and Chase did it faster with their bionics. Bree was especially helpful with the fast part.
"Sorry Trent ruined your party, guys," Leo said as he threw another Dixie Cup in the trashcan.
Bree shrugged. "It's fine. It was really sweet of you to do that for us."
"Yeah, thanks, Leo," Chase said.
"You're the best little brother ever!" Adam exclaimed.
"Hey, I'm right here!" Chase said, throwing his hands into the air.
Adam looked at him blankly. "I know."
Chase just scowled.
"Seriously, though, Leo," Bree said, "we wouldn't be anywhere without you. We'd probably still be locked up in the basement with absolutely no idea about the real world. You've shown us what it really means to live. So, thanks."
"Ooh, Bree got sappy!" Adam teased.
"Shut it," Bree hissed through clenched teeth, tossing a paper cup at her older brother's head.
"Thanks guys," Leo said. "And you've changed me a lot too. I'm so happy to have siblings like you. That's why I wanted to throw this party. I just wish Trent hadn't ruined it." His face fell.
"It's really all right, Leo," Bree assured him. "We still had fun. Right, guys?"
"Lots of good food, and Max and I made twelve straight baskets with cupcake wrappers." Adam smirked.
"Our debate team talked Stella Jordan into coming to our next meeting," Chase said, staring intently at the pizza sauce he was trying to clean off the counter. "Franklin has a crush on her, and he's hoping that if she hears him talk she'll like him back."
"I doubt it," Bree said, rolling her eyes. "Isn't he the one with those gigantic glasses and the really high-pitched voice?"
"He's a great guy once you get to know him. And he can persuade you to do anything. He'll have no problem getting Stella to go on a date with him, trust me."
"Like you'd know anything about getting a girl to date you," Bree muttered under her breath.
"How about you, Leo?" Adam asked. "Anything fun?"
"Well, it was nice getting to know Jill a little better."
"Who's Jill?" Chase asked.
"I met her at the party store. She goes to our school."
Bree's brow furrowed. "There's no one at our school named Jill."
"Sure there is. Jill Becker. She sits behind you in biology."
"No," Bree said slowly. "Andrew Tate sits behind me in biology. I know because he's always stealing my pencils and telling me my hair smells like strawberries when I ask to have them back." Her nose wrinkled.
Adam looked up curiously. He walked over to his sister and leaned over, putting his nose close to her hair.
"Stop!" Bree said, shoving him away. "The point is, there's no Jill."
"But . . . she had a school ID and everything."
"As you sure she said she sat behind Bree?" Chase asked.
"Very sure. She even described your personality perfectly. And showed up here. She's real!" He could tell what his siblings were really starting to think, and he knew it was along the lines of "Leo's finally lost it."
"I'm sorry, Leo, but I don't know Jill."
"Here, I have her number. I'll just text her." Leo whipped out his phone and sent a short "Hello" text to Jill. A few seconds later, something popped up on his screen. "'Message undeliverable'?" Leo read. "I don't get it. I just texted her this afternoon."
"Are you sure about that, Leo?" Chase asked, his voice containing a mixture of disbelief and concern.
"Yes," Leo said, glaring at his brother. "It's right here. Her texts are right here. Let me call her."
He pulled up her number and put the phone to his ear. To his shock, all he got was a recording that said, "The number you dialed does not exist. Please check the number carefully and try again." There was sharp beep.
"I don't get it," Leo mumbled. He looked up into his siblings' worried faces. "Okay, I'm not crazy!"
"Was Jill here?" Chase asked.
"Yeah, I talked to her for a bit. She has strawberry blonde hair and she's pretty tall. I think she was about Adam's age."
"I didn't see anyone like that." Chase shook his head.
"Well duh," Adam said. "Every time she saw you she probably took off running."
"Would you quit that?" Chase growled.
"I didn't see anyone like that either," Bree said.
Leo looked from face to face. Finally he shouted, "I blame Marcus!" and took off running for the stairs. As he reached the top, he turned back and called, "Oh, and happy anniversary. You guys are the best siblings I could ask for."
Maybe not the best ending, but I didn't quite know what to do. XD And I have no idea what was up with Jill, so don't ask! I . . . I don't even . . . ugh. This is my brain, folks! Very odd. So . . . just curious . . . who (or what) do you think Jill is? Any theories? Honestly, I don't know. I wanted to see what you guys could up with. Maybe if I get a particularly wild and amusing guess, I could write a follow-up story based on it. XD So leave a theory in the reviews! Doesn't matter how crazy it is! I want to see if you guys have weirder brains than I do. ;)
Here's where I'm gonna get kinda sappy. So feel free to skip the next part if you're not interested. And by the way, this isn't me trying to brag, so I'm sorry if it comes of that way. This is my way of saying that I'm so grateful for you guys and this site and this fandom. Here we go.
I joined on April 9th, 2014, a year ago—like I said. Since then—and as of the posting of this story—I have been added to the favorite authors lists of 138 authors. 120 people get alerts every time I post a new story. I've submitted 1351 reviews and posted over 500,000 words worth of stories. My profile has been viewed over 11,000 times. I've posted 46 stories and, if I did the math right, received 2,733 reviews on them. Again, this is not my way of bragging. This is my way of saying, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times. I still can't believe it. And that's after just one year? I posted Death of a Team on April 10th last year. That story was riddled with plot holes and poor characterization. Why on earth did you guys like it? XD Why do you still like my stuff? A year from now I'll probably think We Deserve Freedom is trash. XD But for some reason you stick with me.
So I want to sincerely thank all my fans/friends/readers. I wouldn't be here without you guys. I've loved being a part of this beautiful online community and contributing Fanfiction to one of the most epic shows ever created. It's been an honor. And it's only begun. I've got big plans for this year, including working on We Deserve Freedom's prequel and sequel, as well as my sci-fi story, War Torn, and branching out in the Mighty Med fandom with an internal struggle story titled "Losing Control." I can't wait to see what else I can do on here. I'm so excited. Thank you guys for being here with me every step of the way. Give yourselves a pat on the back. You're awesome. :3
Even if this story was weird and maybe not even that good, I want to thank you for reading it. Reviews are appreciated, but I won't hate you forever if you don't leave one. ;) I'll be working on WDF next, now that I'm finally done with stories that have a deadline. However, I also need to start work on a mini-testimony thing for my youth group, and I'll probably be working on that this week. But hopefully the next chapter of WDF will be out soon. Thank you for being patient with me on that. I'll see you all soon. And again, thank you so, so much. Bye!
~ daphrose