A/N: Hello readers! I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed! (Both of them!) I'm really glad to be getting some feedback on this story. Anyways, here you are.

CHAPTER ONE-

It was a sunny Friday morning. I was lounging on my bed, staring out at the sky. For the first time all month, the weather was perfect. It was hot, but not muggy, and definitely beginning to cool down. I had expected it to start being nice. August was a great month to go outside, and we were well into it. My birthday had passed a few days ago, which meant I was now twelve. Chad's birthday was exactly a month before mine, which meant he was fourteen.

With one last longing glance outside, I sighed. Fall would be upon us before we knew it. Summer always seemed to go by too fast. It was a sad fact of life. I figured I should go get outside when I had a chance. But I was slightly nervous to leave my room. Chad had been storming around all morning, ranting and raving about something. My room was my only safe-haven.

I turned my gaze to my clock. It was ten-thirty. I had been waking up earlier and earlier as of late. I was forcing myself to, as I wanted to be prepared for when school started.

I picked up a paperback book that I had laid on my nightstand. The cover was worn and almost falling off. The pages were dogeared and creased. It was my favorite book and I had read it hundreds of times. I opened to the third chapter, which was my favorite. I began reading, but was soon interrupted.

"Okay, twerp! Where is it? Where did you hide it?"

I looked up in surprise to see my older brother glaring at me. His blonde hair was covering one eye, but the other one was narrowed and filled with fury. I sat aside my book, quickly checking the page number first, and sighed. There went my safe-haven.

"What did I supposedly take, Chad?" I asked tiredly.

He scowled. "You took my B.R.A." He accused.

A smile spread across my face as he said that. My eyebrows shot up and I did my best to stifle a laugh. "Your... Bra?" I giggled. "Why do you have a bra?"

Chad turned as red as a tomato and stomped his foot in frustration as I chuckled. "It's Battle Ready Armor!" He whined.

I nodded thoughtfully, trying to regain my composure. "Okay. What does it look like?"

He flushed even deeper. "It looks like..." He closed his eyes. "A pink sports bra." He admitted.

That's when I lost it. I started laughing harder than before. My eyes filled with joyful tears. "You wear a bra! You're a little girl that wears a bra! You're a B-W-K. A bra-wearing kid!"

Next thing I knew, I was in a headlock. My eyes widened in fear. I did my best to squirm away, but Chad was too strong. I squeezed my eyes shut as his knuckles touched my head and he began giving me a noogie. I'm no baby, but it really hurt. It was worse than the time I had sat on his bed.

"Owwww! Chad! Let go!" I cried helplessly.

"Take it back." He growled. "TAKE IT BACK."

Once again, I tried to pull away. He kept a firm grip on me. I finally gave up and flinched as he continued to noogie me. "I'm sorry for saying you wear a bra! I take it back!"

"Not that!" He hissed. "The other thing!"

I furrowed my brow in confusion. What else did I say? I went over my words once more and it hit me. "I'm sorry for saying you're a kid! You're not a kid! You're a teenager!"

He released me. "And don't ever forget it." He spat.

"Sorry."

"Sorry...?" He pried. It was clear that he felt the need to establish that he was in charge. Normally I would've prolonged the agony. I would've refused to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was the boss of me. But I was smart. I knew that making him any angrier right now was an absolutely horrible idea.

"Sorry, sir."

"Apology accepted, brat." His eyes glinted. "For now." He left the room and I scowled. This was all those Kids Next Door's fault. I was going to get my brother back, whether he knew it or not.

I sighed, wishing a good scheme would just pop into my head. Unfortunately I knew very well that it wouldn't. I was never really the creative, on a whim type. I had to have a ton of time to think. I got up and exited my room, being careful to watch for Chad. I didn't feel like getting into another fight. And that was what happened every time we were near each other.

As I passed the stairs, I could hear Chad's rock music drifting up from his room. I cringed. I may have acted more like a teenager, but I wasn't immune to rock music like they were. It made me want to cry and clutch my ears in pain. I did my best to ignore it.

"Mom!" I called. "I'm going for a walk!"

"Okay, sweetheart!" She responded. She was sitting at the dining room table, having a cup of tea. "Be back before noon, your father and I have a... meeting. Chad will be babysitting you."

I knew very well that they had a Villains Convention. They thought that I was oblivious to the fact that they terrorized Kids Next Door operatives under the names "Mega Mom" and "Destructo Dad". I had known for quite a while. I just didn't care. The Kids Next Door weren't important to me. Besides, mom and dad wouldn't do much damage. They were kind of... Goofballs.

I started out the door and put my hands in my pockets. I stared up at the clouds as I walked. Sometimes I found inspiration in the sky. Unfortunately, I was so distracted with my thoughts that I ran right into someone.

"Oof!" I fell backwards, nearly hitting my head on the sidewalk. I groaned. "Sorry..." I muttered as I sat up. "I didn't mean to-" My words caught in my throat as I saw the person standing in front of me. "Oh. It's you." My voice was tinged with disgust.

"Well, what do you know? Cassidy Dickson." The snide girl said, crossing her arms. "The traitor's sister."

I glared at her. "Typical. You know, for once I would like to be known as more than just Chad's kid sister. I am a person, Abigail."

Abigail Lincoln was a member of Sector V of the Kids Next Door. She went by "Numbuh Five" and was basically my opposite. If I had a choice, I would avoid her like the plague. But I really didn't. We had to put up with each other a lot. Ever since we were kids. In fact, I knew her before her stupid fellow operatives did. Our parents had been friends for quite a while before my parents became villains. For a while, my dad had worked with her dad in the hospital. And our moms used to set aside times to go shopping together.

When they weren't doing that, they were baking. Her mom was an amazing cook. Her older sister, Cree, and Chad had grown up together. They had joined the Kids Next Door together. They had passed their entrance exam together. They had even been in the same sector before Chad was relocated to Moon Base. Cree's decommissioning had hit Chad hard. He had sworn that when he turned thirteen, he would leave without a fight. That he wouldn't let himself become a kid-hating teenager.

I guess he changed his mind.

But back to the Lincolns. Even when we were five, Abigail and I hated each other. We would fight over whose toys were cooler, over whose older sibling was better, over whose parents were weirder, and over who would become a Kids Next Door operative first.

I suppose she won that round.

It's true, at one point I had wanted to be a KND operative. But after being surrounded by all these people who really were operatives, I felt suffocated. It seemed so common. So blah. Being a member of the Kids Next Door was "too mainstream" for me. I was sick of them. And that was before Chad had gone crazy. In my book, that was just that last straw.

"Hello? Cassidy? You awake, girl?"

I shook my thoughts out of my head. "What?" My gaze trained back on Abigail and I scowled. "Ugh. Why are you still here?"

"It's not my fault you were zoning out." She pointed out. "Numbuh Five was just saying that you should stay away from here. You're getting a little too close to our treehouse for comfort. Defense systems gonna go off on you soon."

"I don't care about you Kids Next Dorks and your stupid treehouse!" I yelled.

Abigail just shook her head, unfazed by my uncalled for outburst. "You're sounding more like your brother every day."

"Look, Abigail. I know that all of Sector V hates me and doesn't want me anywhere near their precious treehouse. But I'll let you in on a secret: I DON'T CARE."

"Have it your way." Abigail began walking away, but as she did so, she looked back over her shoulder. "You know, Cassidy, I miss the way you were when we were little. You were actually pretty cool. Now you might as well be a teenager."

I didn't know how to respond to that. I knew I had just been a complete and utter brat. And part of me knew that wasn't okay. Abigail was a good person. She had just said I had been "pretty cool" which shocked me. I always thought she had hated me. We enjoyed bickering as kids, but I thought she had just thought of me as Chad's annoying little sister.

Apparently not.

I looked up at the massive treehouse and sighed deeply. I wanted to go evade the security system and break in. (Again) But now I didn't have the heart. I felt bad. Really and truly bad. I never thought I would pity a Kids Next Door member, but I did.

So I turned around and followed the sidewalk back to my driveway. I opened the door and began walking to my room when I heard my mom shout, "Cassidy? It's about time for your father and I to leave!"

I took a step back. "Already?"

"Yes!" She rounded the corner from the living room and rushed towards me. "Now be good, sweetie! Chad, you're in charge! Watch over your sister. We'll be back in about five hours."

The smirking teenager came up behind me and leaned against the wall. "Okay, mom. And don't worry about Cassidy. I'll take good care of him."

I stared at my older brother fearfully. This was going to be a long night.

A/N: So? What did you think? Please drop a review and let me know. I'm also really interested in what you think of Cassidy. She's one of the OCs I'm trying to be very careful with, because I know how easy it is for a character to become a Mary Sue. If you have any advice for me about her, please let me know!