Amanda sat in her room, quietly, her eyes shut tightly in sadness. Jess looked down on her from her bunk, thought about going down to console her, but decided against it, going back to mindlessly sketching. Yes, she was still mad at Amanda for being stupid enough to go on the date with Maybeck, but it was more that she didn't even know what to say, because she didn't even know what the problem was. She'd thought for sure Amanda would come home chipper from her date. She'd seen Maybeck slip out the door of the extremely late, but she'd thought they'd moved the times or something. She'd really only taken that job to improve her drawing skills. If she could learn how to draw better and faster, she might be able to get more of the picture when she had her little "dreams". But, when Maybeck had come downstairs late, she'd figured they were just staying out later, and more times at the movies meant more time doing…things. More time that Amanda would have spent with Maybeck. She looked down at her drawing pad to see that she'd accidentally snapped the tip of her pencil off, lost in her angry thoughts. She sighed, crawling down the ladder of the bunk and sitting on the side of Amanda's bed, figuring she should just get it over with. She looked at Amanda all curled up in a ball, tears running down her eyes, and she immediately felt bad. "Mandy," she said softly. "What's wrong?" she asked. Amanda rolled over, looking up at her.

"It was awful," she said, sadly, rolling over to look at Jess. When Jess looked at her earnestly, she took that as a sign to explain. "He got there late, for starters," she said. "So when went in the movie had already started. I-I thought it was because he'd just gotten tied up with something helping his Aunt, so I didn't think it was a big deal. But when we got there," she blushed. "I- uh kept dropping hints that I wanted to kiss him. He seemed not to notice, but eventually, we did." she said, her face beet red. Jess rolled her eyes, trying to kept from giggling. Amanda was so innocent it was comical.

"I'm not really seeing the problem here, Mandy…" she said softly. "Did you not like it?" she asked, confused, Amanda buried her face in a pillow.

"Apparently HE didn't," she said, loudly, winning the interest of a few of the other girls. Jess gave them a look and they quickly turned back to what they were doing. Jess, with her intense eyes and knowing looks scared them yet almost drew them to her, but Jess was more of a loner. However, Jeannie's gaze lingered, shameless snooping.

"Is there something you needed, Jeannie. If not you can go back to oggling your Finn Whitman poster," she said, harsher than she meant to. Jeannie blushed and turned away. Jess had been in a bad mood for days and she realized she'd probably have to apologize later. She turned to Amanda. "Continue," she said, cocking her head to the side.

"After it was over, he said that I was cool and 'hot' and all, but He liked someone else so it wouldn't ever work out," she said, softly. Jess narrowed her eyes, her anger bubbling inside of her. Because you don't just suddenly realize you like someone on a date with a different person. "And then.. h-he said maybe I should try to work things out with Finn," she said angrily.

"What's wrong with Finn?" Jess asked, curious why Amanda had suddenly gone all "anti-finn".

"He- well he. He's so guarded. He's not brave at all, he doesn't even have the courage to ask me out himself," she hissed. Jess closed her eyes, placing her hands on the bridge of her nose, like a tired mother. This was gonna take a while.

Jess was flying down the hallway, her face hard, her jaw set. So what if it was her study hall? So what if she wasn't technically going to her locker like the pass said she was. She turned abruptly into the lunchroom, scanning it until she found the table that Maybeck was sitting at. She walked up behind him, hearing his conversation as he walked.

"She was just all over me. And she was definitely hot. But I told her, I said, this isn't gonna work out, baby. I can't be tied down," he said cockily. Jess' hands were shaking with anger.

"Oh did you now?" Jess said, in fake sweetness, "Because Amanda tells me a different story about what happened," she said hotly. Maybeck's eyes widened and he turned around sheepishly, trying not to look to meek in front of his friends. "What's up, Jess. Didn't see you there…" he said coolly Jess rolled her eyes.

"Obviously, or else you would've had the sense to hold your tongue," she said, crossing her arms across her chest and cocking an eyebrow. She looked furious and Maybeck was freaking out. Out of the corner of her eye, Jess could see Rob checking her out, whish irritated her even more.

"Look I was just telling the guys what went down between me and Amanda at the movies," he said, determined not to look lame in front of his friends.

"The only place any of that went down was in your dreams," Jess said, angrily. Was he serious right now? Didn't he think Amanda would've told her the whole thing. "Hey ladies man. Who's that other girl you're in love with? Because apparently the reason you decided you didn't want Amanda was because you were going soft for some other chick," she said, harshly. Maybeck looked at his friends as if to say "oh isn't she a crazy", but his performance fell short.

"Please, Jess. Me? Getting soft? Never," he said, but he glanced nervously at his friends. She gave an icy smirk.

"Yeah, soft. Oh, but then I guess you're not getting soft. You ARE soft. You're just too much of a poser for anyone to notice," she said hotly, earning an "oooooooo" from Maybeck's friends.

"Dude, are you gonna take that?" Asked Rob, although he managed to toss a wink at Jess. Jess gagged. Maybeck, however was getting riled up, egged on by his friends.

"You'd like it to be you, wouldn't it," he said, airily. "If you're in love with me Jess, just say so. You may be sorta weird but you're pretty and-" But Jess cut him off by landing a slap across his jaw. The guys at his table gasped. She walked away angrily, her face hot with rage and her mind racing. He held his jaw, then quickly followed after her. "What the hell?" he screeched. She turned around.

"Don't push me, Maybeck. I'm this close to punching you in the face," she said loudly, her hair hitting her in the face. He glared at her.

"What? Amanda was all over me. You saw it. You know you did. That night I asked her out," he cringed at himself just a bit, remembering the night in the rain. Not exactly a pleasant memory.

"Are you an idiot?" she snapped. "The only reason she asked you out was because she wanted to be kissed, anyone can see that. Just watch. She'd gonna end up with Finn again, once Finn actually grows some balls…although…that could take a while. But the point is, you were nothing more than a warm-up,' She said sharply.

"Is that so?" Maybeck asked.

"It's what I just said, isn't it. Or have you lost the ability to listen, just like you lost the ability to pull up your pants," she snapped. Maybeck snorted, ignoring the dig at how low his pants were. She did it all the time.

"OH please. You were fuming that it wasn't you my lips were all over," he said, with a wink and an eye-cock.

"That's sick," she said.

"Kissing?" he asked. "What is this? The 3rd grade?"

"No, kissing you," she said, raising an eyebrow. They heard a bumping noise coming from one of the classrooms. Jess frowned, confused, and looked around. Maybeck, hearing footsteps coming towards them, ducked them right on the inside cove of an empty girls bathroom. He placed his hand over her mouth to keep her from asking questions, as she leaned against the wall, while he leaned in front of her, in a protective position. They both strained to hear.

"Delivered in a week," one voice said.

"Impossible. There's no way," another said.

"We MUST," said the first voice. "The rewards will be plenty," they said, logically.

"But how're we gonna get this to," the second one said, pausing. "The…boss," he said finally, as though holding back .

"They have ways you would only dream of," said the first voice knowingly. "C'mon let's scram". As soon as they'd left the area, Maybeck let go of Jess' mouth to find a trail of saliva on his hand.

"Ewwwww, that's disgusting," Maybeck whined, grabbing a paper towel.

"Tell me about it," Jess said, annoyed. "Who knows where your hands have been". She looked around, looking at their position and blushing just a tad. She tried to cover it up, though. "Get off of me," she snapped. "Why are you in the girls bathroom?" she asked, trying not to laugh. Maybeck looked sheepish.

"It was the first place I could find to hide," he said, not meeting her eyes. "C'mon," he said, pulling her out of the bathroom. Jess followed.

"You know you're apologizing to Amanda, she said, sharply to him. He ran his hand through his hair sheepishly and nodded.

"Yeah I was kind of a jerk, huh?" He asked.

"Wow, finally some knowledge has soaked through that thick skull," she said, sarcastically.

"Shut up," he said, cracking a smile.

"Not to be rude but why are we here?" asked Mrs. Philby. Finn's mother sighed, wondering if she had the patience to deal with this woman. Mrs. Philby, Maybeck's Aunt Jelly, Mrs. Turner, and Mrs. Angelo were all gathered in Mrs. Whitman's living room, having mysteriously called them there. They were sitting on the coach facing her, and looking on intently. Mrs. Whitman sighed. "Yes, of course, Gladis," she said. "I wanted you all here to talk about our children and their, ahem, adventures," she said, for better lack of word. Maybeck's Aunt Jelly nodded intently. Philby's mother froze. Charlene's mother was nodding vigorously and smiling. Willa's mother looked tense. "I think it's be in our best interest to team up with each other. Our kids need us now more than ever," she pressed on, a bit nervously. "This is new to. This is new to all of us. But I truly think if we work together, maybe we can help them some way some how," Mrs. Whitman finished rather lamely. It was quiet for a moment, but at last, Maybeck's Aunt spoke up.

"I agree with you," she said, after a moment. "I love Maybeck more than anything. We're all each other has," she said, her getting thick for a moment. "There's no way to stop this and I don't wanna lose him. I think this is for the best," she said wisely, nodding. Mrs. Whitman thought she might cry at how touching that was to her. Charlene's mother stood, next.

"I've seen how nice and lovely those kids are," she said, smiling. "They work amazingly as a team and I think we will too," she said, simply. "I'm in," she said. Willa's mom came next, almost immediately after Charlene's.

"I'm 'in' as well," she said, smiling. "I always wanted to be a part of my Willa's adventures," she said, a little excited. They all looked over at Philby's mom. She hesitated. She'd never had many friends. In school she'd been teased for being a 'nerd'. But they were sort of in this together now, like it or not. They could either fight, turning against each other and putting their kids in danger, or unite and become a force, for what could ever be stronger than mom power?

"I'll do it," she decided firmly, going up to shake their hands. Mrs. Turner looked at her hand for a moment then giggled. She wrapped her arms around the other woman, pulling her in for a hug.

"Group hug," she said, happily, smiling. With that, all the moms gathered rather awkwardly in for a hug but as they embraced, it somehow didn't feel awkward in the slightest. They pulled away from each other. "This calls for a cool name," Mrs. Turner announced, happily.

"Mom's united?" Mrs. Whitman tossed out.

"Keeper moms," Mrs. Angelo tried.

"Mathematic mamacitas?" said Mrs. Philby. They all paused and looked at her then at each other. And then, they all burst out laughing like gossiping teen girls. After that, they spent the rest of the afternoon gabbing and getting to know each other until they each had to go to their respective homes. It was only once they left that Mrs. Whitman realized they never did come up with a name for themselves.

Finn was extremely confused. He knew Dillard had been avoiding him. But he didn't know why. He thought they were becoming friends again, hanging out more. He was even considering making him into a DHI so he wouldn't have to feel so left out anymore. But every time he'd tried to talk to him, he's found an excuse to leave him. As the last bell rang, he happened to catch Dillard in the hallway, walking off. "He Dillard," he called out. Dillard took one look back to see who called him, then walked hurriedly outside. Finn followed him at a jog, easily catching up to him. Running was not one of Dillard's strong suits.

"Go away," Dillard snapped. Finn frowned.

"Hey, what's the deal with you blowing me off," he asked, getting straight to his point.

"Doesn't feel too great, huh?" snapped Dillard. "Why don't you ask one of your Keeper friends," he sneered. Finn was even more puzzled. He'd always known Dillard to be a little jealous of him, but not this much.

"What the hell, Dill? Don't be like that," Finn said.

"I said go away," he said, looming angrily over him and narrowing his eyes. "You think you're so much better than me," he said. Eyes, Finn realized. Dillard's eyes were green. Finn's eyes widened in shock in horror. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. Dillard was his best friend, he'd never do that. "Go away," Growled Dillard again, in a voice Finn had never heard him use before. Finn, knowing this wouldn't be going anywhere but bad, walked over to the bike rack, hoping on his bike, and peddling away, quickly.

Finn walked into his kitchen calling out to his mother. "Hey mom, home from school," he said, as he sat down at the kitchen table, a snack waiting for him and his mother there to greet him. She was practically glowing. "You're sure in a good mood," he observed. She looked happier than she had in years.

"Just got lots of sleep last night, I guess," she said, smiling. She pulled out an envelope and placed it in front of him on the table. "This came for you today," she said. "From Disney," she added, wiping her hand on her apron as she got started on dinner. She began cutting vegetables. Finn eyed the envelope, nervously, wondering if he'd gotten in trouble. Maybe he'd finally been spotted at the park? He eyed it closer, seeing that it'd been opened before him.

"Y'know it's illegal to open someone else's mail, mom," he said.

"My house, my mail," she replied simply, still cutting vegetables.

"Fair enough," he responded with a shrug, opening it up. It was a form stating something. They were on the search for 2 new Keepers to add to the group, to be placed in affect immediately. The original 5 were such a big hit that they wanted to add more, so they'd be able to allow more tours. It was a big business opportunity for Disney. They requested the Keepers be there when auditioning for people so they could get a feel of who'd really fit into the group. Finn's stomach dropped at that. What if the new Keeper was in OT in disguise? What if they crossed over as well like Finn and the others? They didn't have time to add new people into the dynamic. They were a close knit group as it was and there wasn't time to explain everything to some newbies. The next note was simply asking the Keepers to shoot a new video to advertise the theme parks. They'd just be filming in Magic Kingdom for now. It promised lots of money for them, something his mother was obviously ecstatic about. The new Keepers would need to be picked that Friday as the video was to be shot Saturday. Finn sighed, running up to his room to call his friends about this event. This was not going to go well.

"Finn wash your hands, sweetie," his mother called after him. "Dinner's in an hour," she said, smiling and humming to herself.

A/N: I swear I'm not giving up on this story! I've been really busy yada yada yada you know how it goes. But now I have a new idea for them and I"m really excited for you to see it! Please read and tell me what you think! I'm gonna try to get this chapter done this weekend! But feel free to pester me, because I can get lazy and forget. You can always send me a little ask on my tumblr. It's : .com