Sorry, sorry, sorry for the super short chapter, but it serves its purpose and the end will, once again, leave you hanging. I'm excited about it though cause it's gonna amp up the story. As always, much gratitude for the reviewers, because you are the best I could ask for. Love.

"Should I be worried about playing football with you?" Nic asked Spiederman as they made their way down to the beach with Wally and Kyle. "I mean, you look scrawny and useless, but I've learned over the years to not judge a book by its cover."

He shrugged. "I tend to be scrappy and if no one is watching, I cheat."

"Really?" she scoffed. "Well, isn't that good to know?"

"He's stealth about it," Wally told her. "You'd never know it was happening if he didn't cheer every time he got away with it."

Spiederman pushed Wally. "You'd cheer if you could do it, too."

"Cheaters never win," Nic spoke up. "And winners never cheat."

"Probably explains why he still never wins," Kyle joked. "It's that or because we always play someone better than us."

Kwest and Tommy were already at the spot they'd designated as their field, setting up boundaries.

"Are Jude and Sadie back yet?" Tommy asked, looking at his watch. "It's ten till 5:00 and then we're starting."

"Please," Nic smirked, straightening her tank top. "You wouldn't start and risk Jude getting mad at you. We'll wait all night for those two."

Kwest tossed the football up in the air. "Well, regardless of Sadie being my girlfriend, I won't wait all night, so if they're not here in ten minutes, we're starting. Tom, you can play the hero and tell Jude you didn't stand a chance against the five of us."

"We're here!" Jude called, hurrying Sadie down the path to their area. "Sorry, but Sadie went crazy in Saks and spent more money than the royal family of Dubai has."

"Let's just play," Nic whined. "And we're playing tackle, yes?"

"Absolutely," Wally confirmed. "Kwest is going down."

"What are teams?" Sadie wondered.

Tommy sized everyone up. "Me, Sadie, Nic, and Wally against Jude, Kwest, Spied, and Kyle."

"That seems fair," Jude agreed. "But we get first possession."

"Fine," Sadie agreed, positioning herself across from Kwest. "You're going down, Taylor."

"Is that a threat?" he teased.

Spiederman, his team's quarterback, readied himself behind Kyle, the makeshift center. "Ready, set, hike!"

"Ahh!" Nic squealed, going after him and taking him down. "Yes! Sack!"

He looked up and smirked as she lay on top of him. "I'm the pick-up football king, Nicole. I did that on purpose to get here."

"Cheater," she whispered.

"All right, before you start having sex, could you get up so we can continue?" Tommy called over. "I'm getting a little sick."

The two of them stood and dusted themselves off before allowing Team SME to take their second down versus Team Quincy.

"This is boring," Sadie whined after an hour. "We're winning and I'm still having no fun."

"Because Barbies don't play sports," Nic muttered. She didn't have a probably with Sadie, but her whining was becoming irritatingly consistent. "So are we quitting?" she asked aloud. "Cause if we are, I'm going to go on a bike ride."

"We're done," Kwest sighed.

Ten minutes later, after washing off with a hose, Nic and Spiederman started down Sea Pines on their old school bikes, laughing and racing.

"I'll race you to Shelter Cove!" she yelled over her shoulder as she sped ahead of him.

"No fair!" he called up to her. "I don't know my way around."

"Then you'll have to take a loss and try to keep up!" she squealed.

Spiederman didn't mind following behind her on the 15-minute ride; she was, by far, the most gorgeous girl he'd ever been in contact with in his entire life. Her long, wavy hair was pulled into a loose braid on the side of her head and it was flying in the wind.

"I win!" she cheered upon arriving at their destination.

"You cheated," he corrected her. "If we were in Toronto, I could've beaten you anywhere blindfolded."

She rolled her eyes. "You are a smug sore loser, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he laughed, looking around. He caught his eye on something that unnerved him.

Nic followed his gaze and gasped slightly.

"Is that…?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"And….?"

"Yeah."

"With….?"

"It is," she confirmed. "What in the hell is going on?"

Spiederman shrugged as they watched Chris help Karma and Megan Lords, who used to be Megan Quincy, out of a taxi.

"Uh-oh," they mumbled at the same time.

And now, you know what to do.