November:

Aubrey was sitting in the library reading over some of her pre-calculus homework when someone took up a seat next to her. Aubrey turned her head and smiled. "Hey." She whispered, so that the crazy librarian wouldn't go after her.

"Hey." Jarred whispered back.

"What's up?" Aubrey asked quietly.

Jarred smiled shyly. "You know the fall ball is coming up?" Aubrey nodded and sighed knowing where this was leading. "I was wondering if you wanted to go…as friends of course?" Jarred asked.

Aubrey bit her lip nervously; she wasn't sure what she wanted. But she knew she didn't want to lead him on like she had said the day she apologized. "Can I think about it?" She whispered to him with a small smile.

Jarred sighed and nodded. "That's fine. I have to hit it, but call me after school?" Aubrey nodded and Jarred smiled softly and then got up and headed away.

Oh crap…I'm falling for him. Aubrey thought. I can't fall for him. Not now, not ever I'll just end up hurting him or worse he'll hurt me. I need to talk to dad about this. Aubrey went back to her math to take her mind off of things.

With Adam:

Adam was studying with Lily in science. "So what are you doing this weekend?" Lily asked.

Adam shrugged. "Not much. I can't really surf the weather's getting to cold."

"Yeah I know what you mean." Lily said.

"You surf?" Adam asked.

Lilly giggled and shook her head. "No. I take martial arts classes and I like to practice outside, but it's getting to cold to do that."

Adam nodded. "Oh. I didn't know you liked martial arts." Lily nodded.

"My dad took them, so did my mom, so it was only natural that I enjoy it." Lily told him.

Adam nodded. "I know what you mean. I get my surfing from my mom and my little bit of riding from my dad. Aubrey's always been the better rider and I was always the better surfer."

"Sam said that Aubrey's leaving in January to tour with some big racing company."

Adam nodded. "That she is. Fox racing wanted to recruit her a long time ago, but she wasn't old enough to ride without my parents permission."

"And they said no?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. When Aubrey first approached them about it all they said was no, but it didn't take long and they decided to compromise with her. She has to finish school by mail and she has to take some college courses online or by mail." Adam explained.

Lily nodded. "Understandable. Everyone should have a diploma and a degree of some kind." She said.

"So she's leaving." Adam said softly.

Lily saw a discomfort in his eyes. "Are you ok with that?" She asked. Adam looked up at her in shock.

"What?"

"Are you ok with Aubrey's leaving?" Lily asked.

Adam bit his lip out of habit, something he and Aubrey got from their mother. "Sort of." He said and then sighed. "No not really but I don't have a choice in the matter."

"Why does it bother you?"

"Because even though we argued and called each other names we've always been there for one another. The time when I broke my ankle while riding this awesome wave, Aubrey was the one who got me out of the water and to the house so we could call dad. The time when Aubrey fell off her bike hitting a stump in the woods I had to check and make-sure she was ok…" Adam said a little sadly.

Lily smiled softly and put a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "Adam she's still gonna be around, just not as close as she normally is."

"Most younger brothers would be happy to get rid of their older sisters, heck I've said it my whole life, but I don't want her to go. I'll…" He paused.

"You'll what?" Lily asked.

"I'll miss her too much." Lily sighed sadly for him and then leaned over and planted a faint kiss on his cheek. Adam looked at her astonished. "What was that?"

Lily smiled shyly. "That's probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard anyone admit to." Adam smiled but didn't know when he was going to stop. She kissed me!

With Sam:

"I, uh, well…" Sam said tilting her head back and forth to get the full view of the particular painting she was looking at.

"Tell it to me straight Sam." Kyle said. Sam looked at him and her eyes gave her away. "It's awful. Isn't it?"

"Not awful per say. Unconventional maybe…" Sam said. "Ok the truth is I just I don't get it."

Kyle laughed. "Your not suppose to get it. It doesn't have meaning."

Sam nodded. "Ok I think I'll leave you to your painting." She went back over to her easel. About ten minutes later Kyle came over and took Sam by the arm and led her back over to his painting. Sam looked to him for an answer. "What are you doing?" She said not looking at the painting.

Kyle pointed to the painting and unlike before their were letters on it that spelled out 'will you go to the dance with me?' Sam's hand went up over her mouth to stop the squeal that was making it's way up her throat. Kyle turned her around. "So will you?" He asked her.

Sam pulled her hand away from her mouth. "I…uh…I…yes!" She practically yelled jumping into his arms. They weren't a couple but they had grown rather close since they met back in September. He asked me to the dance! Oh man! Sam thought excitedly to herself.

With Aundrea:

"So you're saying that I'm doing good and I don't have to keep coming here for first period every morning?" Aundrea asked Mrs. Walsh.

Mrs. Walsh nodded. "Drea you've pieced yourself back together. You have a job, a balanced study life, friends, family, you don't need me anymore."

"I just I dunno Mrs. Walsh I don't know how ready I am to end these sessions. In here I can let out whatever I'm feeling and I know it wont get around, but out there by myself…I don't know how long I'll be able to keep everything inside."

"Drea you're not supposed to. You obviously have parents who care about you, lots and lots of friends from what you've told me, if you start feeling like you're going back to that place talk to someone, or come and see me." Mrs. Walsh told her. "My door is always open to you."

Aundrea nodded. "Well can I ask one more question before you claim me healed?" She asked jokingly. Mrs. Walsh smiled and nodded.

"Of course Drea."

"I met someone a few weeks back and he asked me to the dance. What do I do?"

"Drea I can't tell you what to do or how you feel. You need to look inside of yourself and ask if you are ready to move on and be happy with someone new."

"But I always hold on to the hope that…"

"Drea you need to deal with the fact that Brandon is never coming back. No matter how much some of us want lost ones to come back it will never happen."

"No I was gonna say…I hold on to a hope that he's somewhere watching over me and I don't want to let him down." Aundrea said some tears trickling down her cheeks.

Mrs. Walsh grabbed a tissue and handed it to Aundrea. "If he loved you like everyone has told you he did, you wont be letting him down. He'd be rejoicing in the fact that you were moving on with life."

Aundrea nodded. "Yeah my Aunt Tori said the same thing pretty much."

"She's a smart lady." Mrs. Walsh commented.

Aundrea nodded. "Yeah I have a lot of smart people in my life."

"Well then turn to them when you need something. Only come to me as a last resort."

"Thanks for this last few months." Aundrea said drying her eyes and throwing the tissue in the waist paper basket.

"You're welcome." Mrs. Walsh said. Aundrea got up from her usual spot and headed for the door.

"See you around."

"You too."

With Hayden:

Hayden yawned sitting in Mrs. Applebaum's class. The work was dull, the teacher was dull, and all Hayden wanted to do was go surf. But she couldn't now because it was getting cooler and the water would be to cold. "You can sit by Miss. Bradley." Hayden looked up at the sound of her name and saw Mrs. A pointing her out to a student. He started walking her way and Hayden swore she couldn't blink and she felt her breath catch in her throat. She hadn't even heard Mrs. A announce the new student. He had to be new Hayden had never seen him before.

He was cute. Maybe this class will get better. She thought silently to herself. The boy was almost a little taller then her uncle Blake and he had dark brown hair and tan skin. His bright brown eyes were what was captivating her though. It was like being sucked into a vortex that you couldn't get out of. He sat down in the empty seat next to her and Hayden immediately sat up straight and faced the front of the room.

Hayden found her eyes drifting to the bright red board shorts he was wearing with a Hawaiian flower pattern and a white tank. He must have felt her looking cause he stuck out his hand. "I'm Holden."

"Hayden." She said shaking his hand. He seemed to laugh slightly. "Something funny?" Hayden whispered.

He shook his head. "Our names our so close. Hayden, Holden." Hayden giggled faintly.

"Right." Hayden said releasing his hand.

"So is this class as boring as it looks?" Holden asked.

Hayden nodded. "Worse. Trust me I would rather be ripping through a massive curl then sitting here."

"You surf?" He asked her. Hayden may not have looked like a surfer but he said that sounding a little more shocked then she liked to here.

"Yeah." She said a bit defensively.

"Oh know I didn't mean…it's just you…you're…" Holden trailed off and looked towards the front of the class where Mrs. A was assigning the class work for that day.

"I'm what?" Hayden asked defensively.

"You're…you just don't look like a surfer." Holden said. To Hayden it seemed like he was holding something back, but what did she know she had just met him.

"Don't let the clothes fool you, I walk around in a wetsuit or bikini from March till October." She joked slightly.

Holden nodded. "You ever been to Hawaii? The waves there are ripen."

Hayden shook her head. "No but my aunt Tori has and she said it was awesome. I have a goal in life to get there and surf the pipeline someday."

Holden smiled sending shivers up Hayden's spine. "I'm from Maui."

Hayden held back a laugh. "That explains the wardrobe." She said jokingly.

"Yeah I don't really own much else." Holden said.

"You might want to add to your collection then cause it gets pretty cold here in the winter." Hayden said softly. "So why'd you move?"

Holden sighed. "I didn't want to but my dad got a better job here in blue bay, so here I am. So what about you?"

Hayden smiled. "I've lived here my whole life. My mom grew up here and then moved away, sometime after my father moved here my mom came back and they hit it off. So they never left."

"Cool. So how did you learn to surf?" Holden asked. Mrs. Applebaum was now sitting at her desk and all the students were mingling so whispering wasn't very necessary.

"Mostly my mom and Aunt Tori." Hayden said.

"That's cool. My dad taught me. My mom was to busy raising my little sister." Holden said.

"You have siblings?"

Holden nodded. "My older brother and my younger sister. My brother is this big time law man and my little sister is a freshmen this year."

Hayden laughed at that. "I have an older sister and a younger brother."

"Weird." Holden joked. The rest of class went by like a breeze and Hayden and Holden talked for what felt like forever, then she offered to help him around school for the day and I said yes.

With the freshmen:

"Rock, paper, scissors…" David and DeLinda remarked. David came up scissors and DeLinda came up paper.

"Damnit. I hate you so much right now." DeLinda said.

"De just go say hi to the new girl." David insisted shoving her in that direction away from her friends and sister.

"What do I say?" She asked quietly turning around as she backed towards the new kid.

They all shrugged. DeLinda bumped into something and turned around. "Miss Brooks don't you have a seat?" DeLinda nodded. "Then why are you not in it?"

DeLinda smiled. "I'm sorry Mr. Kline I was just going over to say hello to our new student."

"Oh in that case, I'm assigning you to help her out today." Mr. Kline said. DeLinda gaped at him.

"What?"

"Help her around school. Maybe even help her get caught up with our curriculum from this trimester." Mr. Kline said.

DeLinda shook her head. "Oh no, no not me. I have after school activities I don't have time…"

"What activities?" Mr. Kline asked. DeLinda remained silent. "I can get you excused if you agree to help the new student."

"I have to, uh, be at the track after school."

"If I remember correctly dirt bike racing is not a school sponsored event. Consider this your redemption for setting the forty class frogs free last week." Mr. Kline said guilting her into doing a good deed.

DeLinda sighed and nodded. "Yes Mr. Kline." He walked away and DeLinda turned and glared at her friends before heading over to the new girl. "Hi." She said shortly.

The girl had tan skin and dark brown hair. "Hi."

"I'm De." She said sticking out her hand.

"Mika." The girl shook her hand.

"Look Mr. Kline asked me to help you around school today and quite possibly get you caught up on the curriculum in this class if you need help." DeLinda saying praying to the Motocross gods that she said no.

"Sure." Mika said. DeLinda scoffed in her head and swore at the Motocross gods. Why do you torture me? She asked silently.

After school:

With Aubrey:

Aubrey walked into Storm Chargers after school with Adam to start her shift. "Dad?" She called. Blake came out of the back room.

"Hey kids." He said. "What did you need Squirt?"

Aubrey sighed. "Can we talk in the office?" She asked. Blake looked at her worriedly. "It'll only take a minute."

Blake nodded and led her into the office he shared with the other's who were out and about while he manned the shop for a little while. "So what's the problem?" Blake asked.

"Jarred asked me to the dance." Aubrey said looking absolutely miserable.

"So?"

"So I don't know what to do. If I say yes you know that he'll think there can be more, if I say no it'll break his heart." Aubrey said her head falling back and she looked at the ceiling in exasperation.

Blake nodded his head idly as he thought about her dilemma. "Didn't you guys agree to be just friends?" Aubrey talked to Blake about everything, and her mother. Aubrey sat up in her chair and nodded at her father. "Squirt only you can make the final decision."

Aubrey scoffed. "Great advice dad." She said sarcastically. "This sucks. Why is life so complicated? Why do I have to like him?"

Blake almost fell out of his chair taken aback by that. "Wait! What?" He asked.

Aubrey realized what she had said. "Crap!" She said her head falling forward and hitting the edge of the desk Blake was sitting behind. "Crap! Carp! Carp!" She banged her head on the desk a few times.

"Aubrey?" Blake said. Aubrey stopped and sat up to look at her father. "You like him?"

Aubrey dropped her head back again and put her hands over her face. "Unfortunately." She said.

"Why do you say that?" Blake asked.

Aubrey sighed. "Because dad I'm leaving in two months."

Blake nodded his head in understanding. "You don't have to go, you know?"

Aubrey's head shot up and she looked at her father in shock. "Dad I'm going. This is what I want."

"Right now you want two very separate things. I know that feeling." Blake said.

Aubrey hit her forehead with her palm a few times. "How could you know?"

"Because I was in your shoes a long time ago. I turned factory blue down to stay with your mother."

Aubrey lifted her gaze and looked to her father in astonishment. "What?" She asked.

"I told your mom that I stayed to go to college and to be with her, but I had been offered factory blue before I met her, when they came back I had to rethink my original decision." Blake said. "I said no. And I don't regret that decision."

Aubrey made a face. "Why didn't you ever tell us that before?"

Blake shrugged. "It wasn't ever important. The truth is and don't tell your mom, but I turned it down to be with her. I told her I stayed for college so she wouldn't feel guilty about me staying behind just for her."

"But dad what if I make the wrong choice?"

"Only you can decide which is the right choice and which is the wrong choice. I can't tell you that." Blake said.

Aubrey sighed. "Thanks for the unhelpful advice." She laughed lightly. Blake chuckled and stood going over to his daughter.

"No problem. I'm full of it, come back if you need more." He joked with her. Aubrey stood and her father gave her a hug just cause she looked absolutely miserable and torn in two directions. Aubrey and Blake left the office and while one of his kids looked unhappy and sad the other looked like he was floating on a cloud. "Adam?" Adam looked up from where he was staring with a dazed smile on his face.

"Yeah dad?" He asked.

Blake looked at him, he didn't look like he could stop smiling. "What happened to you today?" He asked his son.

Adam shrugged. "Nothing really."

"You look…"

"Like he got kissed by a girl." Aubrey interrupted and she put up the new board wax on the shelf.

"Aubrey!" Adam said throwing a crumpled piece of paper at her. Aubrey dodged.

"What Sam saw you when she walked by the class on her way back from the bathroom."

"Wait Adam got kissed by a girl?" Blake asked looking from his daughter to his son. "You got kissed by a girl?" He asked in disbelief.

Adam nodded. "Lily kissed my cheek."

"Why?" Blake asked now smiling at his son.

"Because I admitted…" Adam paused. "To something that she found sweet. Most guys wouldn't admit to it."

Blake looked at him waiting for him to say what I was. Adam rolled his eyes and went into the storm room and Blake followed. "What dad?"

"What did you admit to?" Blake asked. "Cause if you admitted you're a…"

"Dad don't." Adam said quickly. "I don't want to have that talk with you or mom ever again."

"Then what?" Blake asked.

"I admitted that even though me and Aubrey can't stand each other most of the time, I'm…I'm gonna miss her when she leaves. Lily said it was sweet." Blake nodded his head in understanding.

"I'm gonna miss her when she leaves too, but you don't see your mother kissing my cheek." He joked.

Adam laughed. "That's cause you are already a sap dad."

"Hey!" Blake said catching his son in a headlock and ruffling his hair a bit. Adam wiggling out of his hold. "I am not a sap."

"Oh please mom's had you wrapped around her finger since long before me or Aubrey was born. I only show my sappiness once in a blue moon."

Blake chuckled. "Sad thing is it's basically the truth." They both heard the bell over the door chime and went out to help the customer.