Next update! Congratz to booklolver707 for guessing what Tory was cooking. Spaghetti, yummy.

Tory

After I refilled the pot with water, cleaned out the microwave, aired out the kitchen, threw away the plastic infused meat, and defrosted new meat, everything was under control. I grabbed a smaller pot and rinsed out some rice. I was going to let the rice go then start everything else.

When all that was done and nothing was in a hazardous zone I joined everyone else in the living room. I sat down next to Zay, who was scrolling through my music.

"You like different types of music, huh?" She smirked as she hit some Taylor Swift music.

"Oh yeah. Taylor Swift to Three Days Grace. Carrie Underwood to Linkin Park. One Republic to Avril Lavigne to Orianthi. I like all types of music."

"You got me lost with the country, not a big fan. Three Days Grace? Totally. Some pop makes me sick. Miley Cyrus, Rebecca Black, Lady Gaga, and the dreaded Justin Beiber, not feeling them." I agreed to the last part of Zay's rant. Music was rotting nowadays. I mean, the biggest music star is freaking Justin Beiber!

I smiled and I saw Zay hit shuffle out of the corner of my eye.

According To You by Orianthi started playing. I loved this song; it was one of my favorites. I jumped up and started dancing around the room, narrowly avoiding a vase filled with roses. I took Caitlin from Mrs. Veronica and put her on my shoulders. At first, she grabbed my hair but after I moved her hands, she was gripping tightly to my shirt. I pulled Zay with me, and after some reluctant spins, she was smiling big, spinning and laughing.

In the end, we ended up forming a conga line, and I was trying, and failing, to copy some of Orianthi's famous guitar moves. I detached from the conga line and danced into the kitchen where I dropped some pasta into the boiling water. I stirred the rice and threw the meat into a pan and seasoned it.

"Need any help?" I whirled around and almost hit Zay with my spatula. "Hey! I come in peace! Don't shoot, or rather, smack." She backed away from me with her hands open, palms up.

"Ha ha, very funny. Can you get me the tomato sauce from the fridge?" I pointed with the spatula then turned back to the meat. "Oh and some parmesan cheese."

"Sir yes sir!" Zay joked. I cracked a smile. I've only known her for a little bit but I felt like I've known her so much longer.

I poured some tomato sauce into the pan and threw in some cheese. Soon, the meal was ready. Zay helped me carry it to the table and everyone served themselves, except for Caitlin, who Zay feed while eating her own meal in turn.

"So, Mrs. Patrice, how long have you been in town?" Kit asked while twirling some pasta onto his fork.

"We just arrived today. We were able to unpack some necessities then we decided to meet some neighbors. You guys were the closest neighbors we have."

"Ah, well there are three other families around here. They have three boys, and all three are Tory's friends. There are the Stolowitski's, they live three units over. Their son's name is Hiram, Hi for short. The Devers' have a son named Shelton. And lastly, the Mr. Blue with his son Ben live in our complex too. All the dads, except for Mr. Blue, works with me on Loggerhead." I stiffened a little when Kit mentioned Ben and out of the corner of my eye I saw Zay look over at me. She leaned over to whisper something but then the phone rang.

"I'll get it." I jumped up and heard Kit call after me.

"Tell them to call back; we're in the middle of dinner." Mmm-hmm. Yeah, yeah.

"Hello?" A voice said when I picked up the cordless phone.

"Hello, this is Tory Brennan, speaking for the Brennan residence; may I ask who is speaking?" I rattled off the script that Kit had posted behind the phone. He believed it sounded professional. In reality, it sounded stupid. I sounded like an over-protective mother.

The voice laughed softly. "This is Ben, Tory. I just wanted to talk about what happened today." Great. Speak of thy devil and thy devil shall come.

"Oh, well, Ben we're in the middle of dinner. A new family just moved here so we cooked for them. Maybe we could meet up tomorrow at the beach. We could all go the Pack and Alizayna, the new girl. You and I could get there earlier or whatever to…talk." I rushed the last sentence, hoping that he didn't agree.

"Sure thing. Hey, this new girl isn't like you, is she? We don't need another Victoria Brennan running around here." Ben's reply was longer than usual.

"Haha, very funny. I'll see you tomorrow." I replied dryly.

"Okay, around 12? Then everyone else could come 15-30 minutes later." Great fifteen minutes alone with Mr. Ben Blue.

"Sure, see ya tomorrow." I placed the phone back to it's cradle and turned back to walk to the dinner table.

"Who was it?" Kit asked when I sat down.

"Ben. He wanted to ask if I wanted to go to the beach tomorrow with all the other guys. Can Alizayna come?" I directed the question to Mrs. Patrice.

"Oh, I don't see why not." She answered while wiping Caitlin's face.

"Great! What time?" Zay asked me.

"Oh, around 12:20." She nodded and we finished the meal quickly. Mrs. Patrice and Kit cleaned up the kitchen while Zay and I played with Caitlin.

Thirty minutes later, the Patrice family was outside, saying goodbye. I gave Zay a one-armed hug, ruffled Caitlin's hair and shook Mrs. Patrice's hand.

I climbed the stairs and changed into my pj's, ready for a long sleep.

Okay, there we go! Thank you guys for the reviews. Time for some beach fun! And don't worry, some flaring is going to come into play. Wonder how Zay will take that news…

P.S If any of you guys were offended by the music discussion Zay and Tor were having, I'm sorry I would never try to offend any of you.

¬WireWriter