Colt just came back into the house after rollerblading with some of his friends when he heard his mother, Jessica, call him from the kitchen.

Jessica: "Colt? Honey is that you?"

Colt: "Yeah mom. It's me." He answered back

Jessica: "Can you come here for a moment?"

Colt: "(sighs quietly) Coming!"

He went into the kitchen and saw his mother washing a medium load of dishes. Colt walked over to her.

Colt: "Yeah mom?"

Jessica: "Hi honey. Lita came over today looking for you."

He raised an eyebrow.

Colt: "Hm? What did she want?"

Jessica: "She wanted me to give you that."

She pulled her wet, soapy hand out of the sink and pointed at the cap on the kitchen counter.

Jessica: "You left it at the basketball court in the park yesterday. Remember?"

Colt let out a small laugh of embarrassment and went to pick it up.

Jessica: "What have I told you about looking after your things? This is the fifth time that this has happened."

Colt: "Sorry. I guess I just forgot." He said with an innocent smirk.

She sighed and turned back to doing the dishes.

Jessica: "Well anyway. Your father and I are going out tonight, so you and your brothers will be home alone. We're leaving Rocky in charge."

Colt went to sit down at the table.

Colt: "How long will you guys be gone?"

Jessica: "We should be back sometime around eleven, but you should all be asleep by the time we back home."

Colt: "I wouldn't count on it." He joked.

Jessica: "Colt." She said seriously.

She turned around from the dishes to give him "the eye".

Colt: "What? I was only kidding." He laughed

Jessica smiled.

Jessica: "…I know. We gave Rocky money, so you guys can order pizza tonight. Is that alright with you?"

Colt: "Yeah, but can you get Tum his own box? You know how he is."

Jessica: "We gave you guys enough for three extra large pizzas." She smirked

Colt: "Thanks. Seriously."

His mother laughed.

Jessica: "You're welcome. Now go up stairs and wash up…You stink."

Colt sniffed his underarm.

Colt: "Hey it ain't that bad."

His mother eyed him again. He threw his hands up in surrender and smiled.

Colt: "Alright alright. I'm goin." He said while he walked up the steps.

Colt walked upstairs to his room. When he got in, he saw Rocky sitting next to Tum Tum at their desk. He was helping Tum with his homework. Rocky looked up and noticed Colt come in.

Rocky: "Hey Colt." He looked back down at Tum's work.

Colt: "Hey."

Tum Tum: "Where were you all day? You know that Lita came over looking for you right?"

Rocky: "Yeah. What did she want anyway?"

Colt: "This."

He held up his hat.

Colt: "I just left my cap at the basketball court."

Tum Tum: "Again?"

Colt hopped up onto the top bunk of the bed and sighed.

Colt: "…Yep again." He nodded.

Rocky looked at Tum Tum.

Rocky: "Hey Tum. When is this assignment of yours due again?"

Tum Tum: "Monday. Why?"

Rocky: "I think we did a lot today, so we can stop for now and finish tomorrow. You did a good job today." He said proudly.

Tum Tum: "Really? What about mom?"

Rocky: "I'll handle mom. Don't worry about it." He winked

Tum Tum: "Wow! Thanks!"

Tum Tum quickly collected his books together and put them away. Rocky smiled at him and then turned to face Colt sitting on his bed.

Rocky: "Oh yeah. I forgot to ask you. I heard from Lita that you guys went to the mall with Gracy to show her around the other day. How did it go?"

Colt lied himself down on his stomach and answered.

Colt: "It was really cool. We played Ninja Turtles, and-…"

Tum Tum: "And she's awesome at basketball!" He interrupted.

Rocky's eyes widened in surprise.

Rocky: "Really? How good is she?"

Tum Tum: "Like make every single shot high score good."

Rocky nodded his head showing that he was impressed.

Rocky: "Wow. Did you guys do anything else?"

Colt: "Nope. She said she wanted to get home to start her homework, so we left early."

Rocky: "Sounds like you guys had fun though huh?"

Tum Tum: "Yeah." (he remembers something.) "Oh yeah! I almost forgot!"

He went and plopped down on the black bean bag that sat in front of their television set.

Tum Tum: "Me and Gracy-..."

Rocky: "Gracy and I." He interrupted

Tum Tum rolled his eyes and sighed.

Tum Tum: "Gracy and I went to go eat some pizza after Colt wouldn't take me."

He stuck his tongue out at Colt, and Colt glared back at him. Tum Tum continued.

Tum Tum: "Can you believe that she thinks that the crust is the best part of the pizza?! Gross huh?"

Rocky: "Is food the only think that you talked about the whole time you were with her?" He laughed.

Colt: "Figures." He said shaking his head

Tum Tum: "No! We talked about her family too."

Colt and Rocky stared at each other from where they sat in silence. Rocky finally turned and spoke to Tum Tum.

Rocky: "Hey Tum. Out of curiosity, what did she say about her family? I mean…well…what are they like?"

Tum hunched his shoulders.

Tum Tum: "I don't really know much. All I know is that she moved down here with her mom and brother because of her mom's new job."

Tum scratched his head as he tried to think of what else she had told him.

Tum Tum: "Um…she said that she and her brother are like best friends."

Colt: "What about her dad? Did she tell anything about her dad?"

Tum Tum: "That's just it. When I asked her about him, she started to act all weird and tried to avoid the subject. I don't know. Girls are weird." He said as he pulled out his stash of jellybeans.

Colt: "Rocky…"

Rocky: "…I know."

There was an awkward silence as Tum Tum began to look back and forward between both of his brothers' blank expressions.

Tum Tum: "Hey. What's going on?" He said confused.

Rocky: "Oh sorry Tum. We never told you about how we met Gracy did we?"

Tum Tum: "No, but I have a feeling that I'm going to find out."

Rocky nodded.

Rocky: "Well it was during lunch. Colt, Lita, and I were all eating at our own table until Trisha, one of the school bullies, began to make trouble for Gracy. It was over something stupid like 'you can't sit here' kind of thing. To make a long story short, Trisha called Gracy's family "sexual freaks", and threw her to the ground."

Tum Tum: "What?! That's terrible!"

Colt: "I'll say. She ran out of the lunch room with everyone laughing at her. Thank goodness for Rocky though."

Tum Tum turned to Rocky with excitement on his face.

Tum Tum: "What did you do Rocky? Did you beat the stuffing out of that bully?"

Rocky laughed

Rocky: "Of course not Tum. I went out to find Gracy and I tried to cheer her up."

Colt: "By the way Rock. What did you two talk about anyway?"

Rocky: "You know. Stuff."

Tum Tum: "Soooo specific." He said sarcastically.

Rocky: "I mean it wasn't really anything important. You know hobbies, interests, and stuff like that."

Tum & Colt: "Oh."

Rocky began to lean back in his chair and stare at the ceiling.

Rocky: "I wonder how she's doing. I hope she's okay after what happened to her."

Colt: "Yeah I hope so too."

Tum Tum: "She seemed fine that last time we were with her at the mall. Maybe she's forgotten all about it."

Colt: "Or maybe she's just putting up a very convincing front."

Tum Tum: "A what?"

Colt: "Never mind." He shook his head.

Colt then remembered something and hopped off of the bed.

Colt: "Hey I just remembered something."

Rocky: "What?" He said as he focused on Colt

Colt: "Gracy said that once her house was presentable that we could come over and have dinner with her and her family."

Rocky's eyes lit up.

Rocky: "That's great Colt! Then we can get to know Gracy's family first hand. I'm sure they are just normal people who are misunderstood."

Colt: "Well since you're so excited about it. You're going to be the one to tell her that we can go."

Tum Tum: "Yeah. You gotta tell her."

Rocky: "No problem. I'll talk to her this week."

Colt: "Good. Then it's a done deal." He said on his way to the bathroom to wash up.

Rocky watched Colt exit the room. When he finally left, Rocky leaned back in his chair and began to stair at the ceiling again. He heard Tum Tum call him.

Tum Tum: "Rocky?"

Rocky: "Yeah." He said with his eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

Tum Tum: "Is what Trisha said about Gracy's family really true?"

Rocky: "Of course not."

Tum Tum: "What ever you say Rock. I trust you."

Tum got up and left the room leaving Rocky alone.

Rocky: 'At least I hope it's not true.' He thought.

End of Chapter!

The next chapter will come in about another week or longer. Please be patient and leave reviews. I want to know your thoughts about my plot, new character, anything! I allow ANONYMUS reviews! Thank you and keep reading!