Chapter One: Secret Passions

"You know, without April on lead, our band is gonna suck major."

Anna nodded her head as she and Gunner walked home from school, slushies in one hand and cotton candy in the other. It was just after school and they were alone with their thoughts. Well, almost alone. Zeus ran up to them when they reached their street and was instantly put on his leash because the big, Golden Retriever was bound to run off.

Mark was sitting on the porch, a cup of coffee in his hand. He smiled at his two remaining children as they climbed up the steps. Anna sat down on the seat swing and pulled her legs close, her bag dropped unceremoniously onto the hardwood slats. Gunner sat on the railing, leaning against the post, one leg raised, the other swinging absent-mindedly back and forth while his bag was flung at the wall.

"So you two had a good day?" Mark said, taking a swig of his coffee.

"Ha-ha, no," Anna said dully, flicking a strand of her red hair from her eyes.

Gun shrugged. "I nearly punched Chris Irvine in the mouth."

"Sunova bitch had it coming," Anna added with an evil chuckle. Mark snickered.

"I've decided something," he said after a minute and he poured the rest of his coffee into the garden. He sat down beside Anna on the swing and pat the seat next to him for Gunner to sit down. "And no, before you ask, it's not to move away again. Since your sister's gone and I'm not spending enough time with you I'm only going to be on the road when I really have to."

"Meaning?" Anna asked and Mark smiled.

"Meaning Mondays, Pay-per views and overseas tours."

Anna's eyes widened and she wrapped her arms tightly around Mark's neck, practically strangling him. Gunner nodded.

"Cool, Dad. Real cool."

~X~

"And that just put a massive hole in my plan."

Gunner flopped down onto his beanbag in the basement while Anna sucked at the tip of her straw. They'd retreated to the basement, their home underneath their home, to escape their father who was now parading around the house with a big grin on his face. And the grin certainly wasn't contagious.

"That plan being…?"

"Rapping when Dad's away. You know that, Anne."

Anna snorted and sat down on top of a pile of boxes. Her brother had been rapping his little heart out for months, trying to at least get someone to notice him but every time he got on the stage, he choked and ran off. He'd chewed up, spit out and booed off stage just because he was white and wanted to be a rap artist. Big deal, Gunner was the best rapper in all of California. The people in the clubs just refused to believe he could because of his skin tone. The same had happened to Marshall Mathers, who the entire world knew now as Eminem.

"Maybe I should pretend to be black," Gunner said, almost to himself. He fiddled with the notebook in his hands. Inside were song lyrics for a song he'd written called 'Scene for Dummies' and other various songs. Ironically, Gunner wasn't labelled a gangster or an outcast. Oh no, he was a scene kid. Causing a scene was his thing and he was good at it.

"If you pretend to be black, the KKK is gonna be so far up your ass you'll be inside out," Anna stated firmly, throwing her empty slushy cup at him. He blocked it with his book and stared at her.

"It was just a suggestion."

"Think of a better one because I wanna see you rap, baby brother."

Gunner rolled his eyes. "I know."

As he said it, an idea popped into his head.

The Bubble Club, the hottest nightclub on the west coast, was hosting a rap tournament with a recording contract with Dr Dre, Eminem's producer, as the prize. A contestant had to battle his way through three hand chosen opponents of equal or higher skill level before he got the prize.

"What about that Bubble Club tournament?" he asked of his sister, just as the basement door was pushed open and Mark poked his head in.

"Gunner, you have a visitor," he said and pushed the door open. Cassie Bautista stood behind him, her pretty brown hair tied back in two pigtails. She smiled at Gunner and he instantly bolted to the stairs and ran up them two at a time, taking her hand and leading her up to his room.

Mark and Anna just laughed.

~X~

When they reached his room, Gunner stopped and pulled Cassie in, her giggling all the while.

Sure, she was Derek's girl but she hated being pushed around by him, but since he was the unopposed leader of the outcasts, she stayed by his side to retain her status as Queen. It wasn't all good because Derek suffered from rage blackouts, and the fact that he hated Gunner with a passion for no reason whatsoever, Cassie was the direct outlet for his anger. This upset Gun to no end; he hated guys like that.

Curling up on his bed, Cassie looked at Gunner with complete adoration. Here was a guy that wouldn't be afraid to stand up for her and fight for her no matter how much bigger his opponent was. And Gunner was a relatively strong guy too; he lifted weights in the gym with his Dad when Mark was home so he could definitely handle himself.

"Gun," she whispered as he sat beside her, his fingers curling around her hand. He leaned in close to her and nudged his nose against hers, his breath tickling her skin as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Gun, we can't."

"Who's to stop us?" Gunner breathed, tilting her head up so she was looking at him. He ran his fingers through her hair and smiled, knocking their foreheads together.

It was at that very moment that Cassie threw her arms around Gunner's neck and started to cry. Gunner wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed against his shirt, clearly distraught over the confusing feelings in her head.

She loved Gunner with all her heart, even after knowing him for only a few months, but Derek was her boyfriend and he had been for close to three years. It was a confusing thing for her to be in and he totally understood it. He'd been in a similar situation before. He had been in a fairly good relationship with a girl named Miranda but had a major crush on Maria, his sister's best friend, when they'd lived in Miami. Thinking about it now, it was probably a good thing that Miranda had dumped him and Maria had rejected him because he wouldn't be in this situation with Cassie if it hadn't happened.

"Gun, I can't," Cassie whimpered against his shirt and he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away, his heart breaking as he saw her eyeliner running down her face.

"Listen to me, Cassa-Mai," he said, addressing her by the nickname he'd given her. She let out a weak sob as he continued. "You can. You can do absolutely anything, as long as you set your mind to it. Don't lose faith in yourself."

"You sound like my brother," Cassie said with a choked giggle. Gunner grinned, kissing her lightly on the lips.

"I'm just clever like that."