Wowzers! I received ten reviews! That's amazing. Thanks!

And, as always, I don't own anything because if I did, Troy and Gabriella would have kissed in the end and I would be acting as Troy's younger sister...but we don't always get what we want...


Chapter Two-

The Farm

The house wasn't what she thought it would be and Casey was sure her mind had played an awful joke on her. She always pictured her mother living the life of a princess, complete with long, beautiful ball gowns, mansion, and anything she ever wanted. Looking at the house in front of her told her otherwise.

Casey raised her eyebrows. It was a farm house that needed a new coat of white paint. The wrap around porch looked as if it would collapse with any pressure applied to it. There was a big, red barn that had a tractor and worse yet was that it wasn't even in the city, but almost a half an hour drive away.

Now Casey knew why Amanda was so excited about hearing about Albuquerque.

"Well, it's not much, but it's a homey place," Uncle Henry said after looking at the faces on his niece and nephew. Casey glanced to her older brother and saw the same confused expression on his face that had been on hers.

"I know you thought we would be in the city, but kids, it'll be fun," Elizabeth said, moving toward Casey to place a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Casey moved to the side, just enough to be out of reach of her mother. "This is where I'm living instead of living in the city alone," she tried, as if it made up for the fact that the nearest neighbor was half a mile down the road.

Casey and Troy followed Amanda and Henry up to the door, almost afraid to step up the stairs. The door creaked open as the four walked inside, Elizabeth and their aunt close behind. They entered into the kitchen, getting the tour of the house by Amanda. It was a nice room with blue walls and hardwood floors. There was a table next to a window that looked to seat five, but could easily squeeze in a sixth, and over the oven read: Maybelle's kitchen. Casey smiled, her aunt's name was Maybelle.

"So, kids, you must be hungry after that long plane ride," Aunt Maybelle said her southern accent, putting on a blue and white checkered apron.

"It wasn't that long, and they gave us food," Troy started, but he was cut off by Henry who put his hands in the air.

"Plane food! You actually ate that!" He turned to Maybelle. "Fry some eggs. Mandy, go get some fresh ones from the coop. I didn't check yesterday so there's bound to be some in there."

"Alright, Daddy," she said, hurrying out into the back.

Elizabeth turned to Casey. "Why don't you help her? She can show you around while Troy and I get the luggage upstairs."

Casey was about to protest when her mother turned around ending the conversation. Casey rolled her eyes and walked slowly in the direction Amanda had. She found the girl cooing at the chickens as if they where human babies. She shook her head at her cousin, trying to figure out how they were so different even though they were blood relatives.

"Oh, Casey, did you want to help?" she asked cheerfully.

"No, I'll watch," she replied, trying to be polite.

"So," Amanda replied quickly, not wanting silence. "What's it like living in a huge place like Albuquerque. I bet there as many kids in your high school as there are in my whole town."

Casey shrugged in response, but that didn't deter Amanda. She continued, "are you popular?" When her cousin didn't answer, she turned her head, placing an egg in a basket as she did. "What do you do for fun?"

"Hang out," Casey said, although it came out more of a question than a statement.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked, her eyes sparkling. Casey nodded. "What's his name?"

"Nathan."

Amanda smiled and put another egg in the basket before standing up. "You're welcome to do stuff with me and my friends while you're here. It must be a drag to have to spend your summer away from your friends."

Casey chuckled darkly to herself. "You have no idea," she muttered, not thinking Amanda could hear. But, her cousin nodded her head and skipped back to the house. Casey glared at her back. It was going to be hard feeling depressed about her summer when she was around the older girl, but she would have to try because there was no way - absolutely no way - that she was going to have fun in a small town so far away from home.

She shook her head and looked up at the house, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt. Life was unfair. She had just gotten back to normal with friends and having fun, then it was all pulled out from underneath her. And, being out in the middle of nowhere was not where she wanted to spend part of her summer.

"Casey!"

Her mother seemed perfectly happy about the whole situation. It was as if Casey had just come back from a month with her dad to live with her, like she had full custody instead of Jack. If that had happened, Casey would have screamed.

"C, come on in," Troy's voice said. She looked away from one of the windows to the back door. Troy was standing there with his arms crossed over his red and white East High basketball shirt. She moved slowly up to him, and he put his arm around her shoulder. "No one likes this, but please, just go with it. For everyone's sake."

She didn't say anything, and instead grabbed her vibrating cell phone from her pocket. She smiled when she flipped it open and saw Nathan's face. It was a text.

How's Portland?

Rolling her eyes, she started to type. Mom lied. We're outside of Port.

She leaned against the doorway, her eyes focused on the screen of the phone, waiting for his face to come up again. Suddenly, it vibrated in her hand and she opened his message.

That stinks. I miss u.

Casey could feel her cheeks turn red. He sent another before she could reply. When u come, we're doin' so much! Wanna go 2 c the Sox play? We go up during the weekends 2 c. SRO is cheap.

Furrowing her brow, she tried to figure out what SRO meant. She'd never been to a baseball game, unless you counted a little league game for Dylan when he went through his 'I don't want to play basketball' rebellion streak. SRO? We? she typed.

She could almost hear his chuckles when the reply came. Standing Room Only and my friends here, you'll like them.

"Are you talking to Nathan?" Amanda asked excitedly. Casey allowed her eyes to wander the room. Her mother looked unhappy, her aunt raised an eyebrow, and her uncle was reading the newspaper with all his energy. Troy was smiling.

Casey nodded. And noticed her mother give her the look that meant 'no texting' and was used when people were around. She's seen it all too frequently with her brothers. I g2g. Love you.

Her phone vibrated one more time and she looked onto the screen. All that was there was a smiley face and a heart, but it was just enough for her to know what it meant. She looked up from her cell phone and realized that her dream world was gone. There was the checkered apron, the blue walls, the sign that read 'Maybelle's Kitchen,' and sitting at the table was Amanda. She sat on the floor against the wall, two words keeping her from running as far as she could.

One month.

She groaned in her mind. It was only one month, she could handle it. But, it would be one month of complete boredom.

"Case, Amanda is going to Portland tomorrow with a few of her friends. I think it would be a good idea if you went and saw what it was like." Elizabeth sent the words at Casey not with suggestion, but with force.

The phoniest grin plastered on her face, Casey muttered with scorn, "of course, Mother. I think that's a great idea."


Okay, so there's Chapter 2. Hope you all liked it. I know it took a long time, but school's almost up and I really need to keep my focus there (which is proving really hard because I'm always thinking about how I'm going to do the plot of this. I've come up with so many different situations for our dear Casey that I need to compare them with my original ideas and see if any are better!)

But, anyway, I'll try to update when I can. We only have about 17 or so days of school so after that this will get a lot more attention.

As always, reviews and criticism is much appreciated!