(Author's Note: In the first chapter, Clarissa made up the part about reading the article on Carlos' dad)

I own nothing except Clarissa and her Dad. Does everything seem in character to you?

(Clarissa's POV)

About fifteen minutes after I had settled in, my cell phone rang out. I checked the Caller ID to see it was my Dad, from the same pay phone he always used after he was finished with his 'work'.

"Hey, Dad," I answered the call dully. There was loud bar music and the sound of someone singing at the top of their lungs, obviously roaring drunk. From there it was a short conversation, Dad made sure I got to the Palm Woods okay, and assured me he hadn't been arrested yet. I decided to wait off on telling him I met Officer Garcia's son, Carlos. Officer Garcia was the man who usually arrested my dad for his drug dealing. By now, he had been arrested so many times he was on a first-name basis with most of the people in the police station, even the new recruits. Luckily, none of them knew of his alias as Hans White, so in everyday society he could function semi-normally.

"Oh, sorry Clarissa, I have to go," He announced suddenly, but I wasn't surprised: He often had to leave without warning. I heard some shuffling in the background before the line went dead. I sunk back into my bed for a minute, closing my eyes and taking in the silence. After only a minute of soaking up all the silence, I rolled myself off the bed and next to my suitcase, which I began digging through for a DVD I could watch with the boys. I had a few options, most of which I had stolen from the movie store, some I actually paid for.

The ones I had stolen were all R-rated, seeing as Dad was in jail at the time so he couldn't have bought them for me. I laughed at how calm and casual I seemed when I thought about it, as if this sort of thing was normal for people. I knew it wasn't, I knew it was so far out that not many people could really capture how someone can become twisted enough to do all those things without thinking twice about it. But I was a fairly twisted person.

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. I gathered a handful of movies and opened the door to see two of the four boys I met earlier waiting expectantly; Kendall and James. They didn't bother to say anything, they just grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to their apartment.

"Kidnapping, much?" I joked as I sat down on the bright orange couch, "So, did you guys decide on a movie?" James handed me a bowl full of popcorn, which I munched on cheerfully. By the black television screen, I decided the answer was no, "Well, no worries, I brought movies." I held up the DVDs and waved them around. Carlos and Logan, who were sitting on the floor, scrambled up to look at the movies I had brought.

After a good half-hour of debating, we settled on a Japanese horror film. We were all situated on and around the couch. Kendall was seated beside Logan, his arm slung around the back of his chair, almost touching the smaller boy's shoulder. I didn't find it odd, their mannerisms told me they were all very close emotionally, so a little physical contact never meant much in a sexual way. But something about it tipped me off to something, I'm not entirely sure what. I studied them for a minute or so, while James was up getting more popcorn and Carlos was off getting his hockey helmet, which he claimed he needed to face the 'scary parts'.

It occurred to me then what it was that was tipping me off: a faint, nearly invisible pink-red blush was brushed on Kendall's cheeks as Logan sat beside him. As far as I could tell, however, Logan had no similar reaction. 'Poor Kendall,' I thought to myself.

Just then, James came back with the popcorn and Carlos with his helmet, so I popped in the DVD and pressed play. While the trailers were playing, a middle-aged woman with straight brown hair, and a young girl with big, brown eyes came into the apartment. Judging from their looks, they were related to Kendall. Speaking of Kendall, he paused the DVD player as soon as his mother walked into the room.

"Oh, hey Mom," He stood up, and gestured for me to follow, "This is the new girl, Clarissa. Is it all right if she stays for dinner and our movie night?" He asked. 'Wait, dinner- what? Oh whatever, just pretend you expected that.' I looked at her hopefully, and James appeared behind the blonde boy and added:

"Besides, Mrs. Knight, she's already here," Quickly before she could protest. The woman glanced over at me, a little leery.

"Sure," She replied after a minute, "That is, if your parents are all right with it." I just shrugged.

"Yeah, Dad's working right now, but he said I could do whatever I wanted as long as I don't wind up in jail," I replied as casually as if I were making a comment about the weather. Wrong words, I realized after Kendall's mom looked even more hesitant to let me stay.

"Anyway," Kendall cut in to try and save me, "Mom, could you make us some dinner, please?" She nodded and turned to the kitchen.

"Thank you," I smiled to Mrs. Knight and turned back to the movie, "Okay, who wants to watch a crazy-ass Japanese horror flick?" Four hands shot up in the air.

"Let's get started!" Carlos yelped, patting his helmet down onto his head as Logan pressed play.

(After the movie)

Everyone besides me was shaking in a cold sweat as the end credits rolled down the screen. Logan was practically in Kendall's lap, not that he really minded as far as I could see, Carlos was tucked safely under a blanket and James was . . . Somewhere.

"James?" I called into another section of their apartment. Mrs. Knight and Kendall's little sister, whose name I learned was Katie, was putting lasagna on the table for us, so I decided to seek out the brunette as everyone else was calming their nerves. I asked Mrs. Knight where James' room was, and she pointed me off in the general direction. His door was closed, but the light was on, so I knocked on the door softly, and hearing a muffled scream emit from the inside, opened the door to find James sitting on his bed, knees to chest, hugging a pink pillow.

"That was freaky as shit," He muttered. I didn't mean to be insensitive, but I laughed. James looked up at me in horror, "Why are you laughing? This-" He pointed to his face "-does not look good when it's freaked out!"

"Hey," I sat down on the bed beside him, "You look fine." I assured him, brushing a lock of his hair out of his face. He smiled and looked away, embarrassed.

"Thanks." We heard a knock on the door, followed by the rest of the boys coming into the room.

"Hey Jamie," Kendall teased, "You all right?"

"I'm fine," James snapped back, his voice biting, but his face softened, "Ken-doll."

"Aww, aren't you two cute?" I commented sarcastically, a blush rising to Kendall's cheeks. We heard Mrs. Knight calling all five of us for dinner, so we scurried out of the bedroom and to the kitchen. I was seated in between Kendall and James, with Carlos and Logan on either side of them, "Thanks for letting me eat with you, Mrs. Knight, it looks delicious," I complimented her, taking up a plate of the gooey lasagna.

"Of course, sweetie," She beamed as everyone helped themselves,"But I'm sure your mother could do just as good a job." An ear-shattering silence filled the room at the mention of my mother. I stabbed my fork into my dinner hotly, images of the unloving bitch flashing through my mind.

"Erm," I shifted awkwardly in my seat, "My mother left us when I was little. It's just me and my dad now." Everyone seemed surprised, especially Mrs. Knight, whose face held a sheet of pity.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She apologized, "Well you're welcome to come here any time you like." She promised.

"No, I couldn't," I mumbled, taking a bite of the lasagna. She just smiled and focused her attention on the food in front of her to avoid an awkward silence.

"Did you guys get totally freaked at the movie?" Katie piped up, a wicked grin appearing at her lips.

"No, we did not," Logan protested in a smart-aleck type voice.

"You so did!" The little girl argued, "I saw James so scared he ran off into his bedroom!"

"Yes, well I think that's enough out of you," Mrs. Knight decided firmly.

While everyone else was getting ready for bed, Kendall helped me collect my DVDs. I asked him what he thought of the movie, and he said it was one of the scariest things he had ever seen in his life, but he had loved it nonetheless.

"Why?" I pried, "Because you got your boyfriend to sit on your lap?" Kendall's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to challenge my indication, but he couldn't.

"Maybe," He muttered and turned away. But he smiled again at the thought, "You're . . . not grossed out or anything, are you?" His eyebrows made an upside-down V shape as he looked up at me. It was weird, seeing as I only just met him, and I felt as if he was telling me one of his deepest secrets. Then again, I had told a whole table of near-strangers about my mother, who I hadn't talked about in years.

"Nah," I shrugged, putting my DVDs down on the couch and ushering him over to sit next to me on the floor, which he did.

"But, Logan's not my boyfriend," He defended as he sat down.

"I never said he was," I cocked an eyebrow, glancing around the room to see if anyone else was there. Luckily, it was empty save for us two, "Do you want him to be?"

"I . . ." He hesitated, "Yes." I smirked mischievously.

"Then I have a plan."

Yeah, that's all for now! But the next chapter will be up soon!