So, I don't really know just how long this chapter is. I didn't really check, but I think it turned out pretty good, I hope you do too. Okay, nothing else is needed to be said, so enjoy.

Morning arrived too soon, and I awoke to the blinding sunlight shining in through my window. My hands shot up to block the light from my eyes. I rolled out of bed in a desperate attempt to get away from it. The cold floor sent a shiver up my spine. I dug through my drawer for a pair of jeans. I slipped them on with a white t-shirt. I put on two thick socks. They didn't match, but I didn't care because they were warm. I looked out the window and saw a thick layer of snow on the ground. It didn't look deep enough for the school to close though. I pulled on my old orange parka that I hadn't worn in a long time. The last thing I put on were my snow boots.

I stepped out into the hall quietly. The house was silent. I crept through our small home and into the kitchen. I opened a cabinet and pulled out a pop-tart. Tossing it into my bag, I walked out of the house and into the cold air outside. A thick layer of snow laid ahead of me. I stepped off of the small porch and into the snow. It was deep enough to cover up my boot, sending a cold wet feeling onto my feet. I trudged to school, zipping my parka up and tightening the hood so all you could see was the area around my eyes.

The school came into view, but I couldn't see anyone there. Wait! Someone was pacing in front of the doors. I sped up my pace and crossed the street to the school. I drew closer to the figure and realized who it was.

"Hey Bebe. Why aren't you inside?" I asked, standing in front of her.

"Oh...hey Kenny. My dad didn't get the e-mail about school being cancelled so..." My eyes widened. There was no school today.

"Oh. Yeah that's the same with me." I lied. We stood there in silence for a few moments before she spoke up.

"Hey, since you're here, why don't we go over to my house and work on that project?" I shrugged.

"Okay. I don't really have anything else to do."

"Well don't you sound enthusiastic." She pouted. I smirked and we walked to her house. A cold blast of wind blew directly at us and I felt Bebe lean against me. My heart skipped a beat and I began to blush under my parka. Thank God I was wearing it. "Sorry" she mumbled before standing straight and continuing to walk. After a few silent minutes, we reached her house. It was a large two story house. It was painted a soft blue with a white roof and white window sills. The snow covered her lawn except for the footprints that followed us as we went inside.

"I'll be right back. Just wait here." She said, running up a set of stairs near the door. Her house was warm and I felt hot under my jacket. A minute later she came back down the stairs in a light pink tank top and skinny jeans with a pair of white socks on her feet. "Sorry for taking so long. I just wanted to put on a more comfortable outfit."

"Oh it's no problem. You didn't really take that long anyways so it was fine." I nodded.

"Aren't you going to take off your jacket. You've gotta be hot under it." Well no shit! I pulled off the jacket and held it, looking for a place to put it. Bebe giggled and took it from me, she hung it over the back of a chair.

"Okay so...what do you want to do now?" I asked, putting my hands into my back pockets comfortably.

"We should probably research some more information. We can sit in the kitchen." She led me into her large kitchen. There were stools set up at a counter island. You know, those counters in the middle of the kitchen that aren't connected to the rest of the counter. We sat down and began to pull out our supplies. I opened up my book and she did the same. We began writing down important facts on pieces of paper. I looked over at the girl next to me. Her blonde hair was in perfect curls that rested over her shoulders. Her long eyelashes curled up perfectly and made here blue eyes pop. They were so beautiful. I have blue eyes too, but they are different. Mine are a grayish blue but hers are a clear blue.

I must've been looking at her for a while, because she turned to me with a confused look on her face.

"What are you staring at? Is there something in my hair?" She asked, tapping her pencil against the book.

"No...it's nothing. I was just thinking of something." I quickly replied, looking down at my book to hide the blush spreading across my face.

"Whatever weirdo." She giggled before turning back to her own book with a sigh. We continued working for a long time. It was the longest time I'd ever focused on something. While we were working a woman entered the kitchen and smiled at us.

"Hi dear. Who's your friend?" She said.

"This is my friend Kenny. Kenny, meet my mom." She said gesturing to both of us. I nodded to her.

"Hello ma'am. You have a lovely home." Her mother smiled at me.

"Well thank you Kenny. You two have fun."

"We'll try mom." Bebe said to her, before her mother exited the kitchen. Once she was out of ear shot, Bebe turned to me with a huge smile across her face. "A lovely home?" She laughed, poking me with a pencil eraser. "Well aren't you a gentleman!"

"Hey shut up! It's called being polite." I corrected, poking her back. She laughed and poked me again. I poked her back again. We began poking each other in the shoulders with our pencil erasers jokingly. We lost track of time with our joking. I didn't even notice that a man walked in before clearing his throat.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

"Oh...hi dad. This is my friend Kenny. School was out for a snow day so I invited him over so we could work on our project." She said, brushing a curl out of her face. Her dad glared at me.

"Yeah...that's what this looks like."

"I assure you sir. We were just joking around. We just got distracted from the work at hand." I felt a bead of sweat forming on my forehead. His face softened and he nodded.

"Alright, well lunch will be made soon." Bebe nodded and thanked him before he walked back out. Once he was gone, she burst out into a fit of laughter.

"He looked like he was going to kill you!" She held her stomach from the laughter.

"Yeah if he had kept up that glare I might've shit myself." I said, running a hand through my hair as I let out a breathe that I didn't know I was holding.

"Don't worry. I think you said the right thing to him. He likes it when the guys i bring home are polite gentleman." I felt my heart flutter at the compliment. Not just because it was a nice thing to say, but because it came from her. I smiled to myself as I returned to reading. Her giggling died down and we transitioned into a comfortable silence. Only a few minutes passed before her mother returned. She began pulling things out of their fridge and cupboard and placing items on the stove.

I tried to stay focused, but soon the smell of cheese and tomatoes overwhelmed me. I snuck a look over at Bebe. She obviously was feeling the same, because she was leaning over her book with her head resting in her hands. A light smile was on her face and her eyes were half lidded. She was looking at me out of the corner of her eye. When she noticed me looking, she smiled wider before shaking her head with a chuckle. I was confused, but didn't ask about it.

"Okay kids, here ya go." Mrs. Stevens said, handing us each a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup. I looked down at the food and subtly licked my lips. It looked delicious, much better than the Pop-Tart sitting in my bag on the floor. Bebe's mother handed each of us a spoon, and we began to eat.

"Thank you Mrs. Stevens." I said, almost forgetting my manners. I may be poor, but I'm not some kind of impolite jerk. She smiled and nodded to me before walking out of the room. We ate in silence for a little while before Bebe spoke up.

"So...have you ever been to the ocean?" I was caught off guard by the question. It's not really the usual opener for a conversation.

"Um...no. Why do you ask?" I said, before taking another bite of my warm sandwich.

"Well I heard that you've moved around a lot so I was just wondering if you had." I was surprised that she had heard things about me already.

"Yeah. I've moved around a lot. But never to the coast. I have an uncle out there, but we don't ever visit him. Have you?" I asked her.

"No. But I've always wanted to go." I smirked before nodding. "What?" She asked. I shook my head at her confusion.

"It's just that most people have dreams of climbing a mountain. Not seeing the ocean."

"I don't want to climb a mountain."

"Okay. I guess I just have to respect that then."

"So what's your dream?"

"What?"

"What's your dream?" She repeated. I sat there for a moment and thought.

"I don't have a dream."

"Oh come on." She pleaded. "You have to have a dream. Everyone does."

"Not me. I've just chosen to be cool with whatever life throws at me."

"Hmm...okay." She said, with a brow raised. Quickly, Bebe grabbed her pencil and threw it at me, hitting me in the chest lightly.

"Hey! What was that for?" I chuckled, picking up the pencil and tossing it back.

"You said you'd be cool with whatever life threw at you."

"So you're life now?"

"Yes. Yes i am." We laughed and finished our food. We worked a little longer before I looked at the time.

"Shit." I mumbled under my breath.

"What is it?" Bebe asked leaning closer to see the time. It was 4:30. I knew that I would have to get home soon so that I could help Karen with dinner.

"Sorry but I have to go." I told her, grabbing my bag.

"Oh. Do you want me to take you home?"

"No! I mean...no thanks. I can walk." I didn't want her to see my house. I just really didn't want her to know just how poor I was. I tossed on my jacket and zipped it up all the way.

"That's okay I'll see you at school tomorrow." She walked me to the door before waving goodbye and closing it. I stepped down onto the road and began to make my way home through the cold air. I tightened my hood around my face and stuffed my hands into my pockets as I passed by the warm looking houses.

XxX

When I got home, Karen was laying on the couch, reading a book. The cover had been ripped off so I didn't see what it was called. All I read was "For James". Karen turned to me with a smile.

"Hey Ken. Where've you been all day? School was out today." She said, closing the book.

"Yeah I know. I just went to a friends house to work on a project with her." My younger sister cocked a brow as a wicked grin spread across her face.

"So it was a girl huh?"

"Yeah. So?"

"I bet you guys were working on something. But it wasn't a project." Her grin widened, if that was even possible.

"Hey! Aren't you in middle school? You shouldn't be talking about that kinda stuff. Anyways, she has a boyfriend."

"But you never said you didn't like her!" She pointed out.

"Shut up Karen." I said, placing a hand over her face playfully. She pulled my hand away, but still held onto it.

"So...what are we making for dinner tonight?" She asked, sitting up straighter on the couch.

"C'mon. Let's go see what we've got." I said, motioning for the kitchen. She followed me to the kitchen where we looked through the cupboards and fridge for something to make.

"We've got some boxed macaroni." Karen said pulling the box out.

"We've got some kinda old ground beef. Might as well use it now." I said, pulling it out of the fridge. We began to prepare the food together on the stove. As I was cooking the meat and she was making the macaroni, I leaned over so that I was at her height. I tilted my head so that it leaned against hers and she smiled. It was a smile that she only saved for me.

"Looks good Karen."

"Thanks Ken." She said, just above a whisper. Sometimes she would just get really quiet for no reason. I dropped my arm over her shoulders and gave her a light hug. She leaned into it and let out a quiet sigh. We cooked the macaroni and beef and mixed them together. It wasn't a normal meal for normal people. But normal people weren't poor. Sometimes we had worse than that for dinner. To us, that was a nice meal.

I put some in two bowls and the two of us sat at the table and ate quietly. Karen played with her food silently which bothered me for some reason.

"What's up?" I asked pointing to her with my fork.

"It's nothing..." She mumbled, still picking at the food in her bowl.

"It's not nothing. Spill it little sister. You know you can't hide anything from me." I wiggled my brow at her, and was happy to receive a stifled laugh that she tried to hold back. She sighed and put down her fork.

"It's just that...well, I'm not making any friends at my school. I don't think anyone likes me." She looked really upset, which caused an angry churning in my stomach.

"Well then they're stupid." I spat. She looked up at me surprised. "Karen, you are the coolest person I know. Anyone who doesn't want to be your friend is an idiot, and they aren't worth your trouble." She smiled and mouthed a thank you. I returned it with a nod.

We finished our food in silence, and I took her empty bowl to the sink where I cleaned it and put it away. She bounded to her room and shut the door quietly. As I walked back to my room, she opened the door and looked up at me.

"You're the best brother in the world. You know that?"

"Yeah I know. But I only got this way by having an awesome sister." She giggled before closing her door and leaving me alone in the hallway. I went into my room, where my brother was passed out on his bed. I shook my head in frustration and disappointment.

"Get your ass up Kevin." I said, kicking his mattress. His head raised slowly off of the dirty pillow on the bed.

"What the...hell?" He asked rubbing his head. "Why the fuck did you do that?"

"Cause you need to get your lazy ass out of bed. Karen and I already made dinner." He smiled and jumped out of bed before making a beeline out of the room and into the kitchen. Once he was gone, I pulled my bag out from under my bed. It had the clothes for that night already in them. I just needed to make it through the night successfully. Hopefully that was possible.

So that was my newest chapter, I finally got to some Kenny/Bebe stuff. But my future chapters will have more, I promise.