Reggie woke up early- a little too early as a matter of fact. She glanced at the digital clock.

"Four-thirty?" She moaned.

Her eyes danced around the darkened living room, gliding briefly over Otto and then Sam and finally Twister, all of them asleep in their sleeping bags.

Reggie cautiously swung her legs over the edge of the couch and sat up. She placed her feet on the wood floor, contemplating whether or not she should get up. Reggie made up her mind and decided to walk into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

She felt around in the dark house, trying desperately not to walk into anything or disturb anyone of the boys on the floor.

Reggie ran the faucet in the kitchen, waiting for the water to get cold enough to her liking.

Suddenly, there was a gentle tap on her shoulder and it took everything inside of her not to scream. She turned around and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Twister!" She hissed.

Her face softened as she noticed his grin.

"Sorry Reg." He apologized, trying to hold back his laughter.

Reggie shook her head. "It's okay, Twist. You just scared me, obviously. I mean, how many people are awake at four-thirty in the morning and head to the kitchen?"

Twister smiled thoughtfully.

"What are you smiling about?" Reggie asked curiously.

Twister shook himself out of his thoughts.

"Nothing. I was just thinkin'."

Reggie laughed. "Did it hurt?"

Twister scowled. "Haha! I'll have you know I happen to think a lot."

"Well, you sure have us fooled." Reggie mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Twister looked at her skeptically before hauling himself on the counter top.

"So…how was the dance last night?" Reggie asked, suddenly finding her toes of new fascination.

Twister shrugged. "Eh…it was okay. A little boring… I was looking for you."

Reggie felt a smile forming on her face.

"Really? I didn't think you'd notice, what with you practically in Cathy's pants." Her voice had gotten harsh.

There was a silence between the two of them and, although Reggie couldn't see him due to how dark it was, she knew he was blushing.

"Well…you see…I…um…"

Reggie sighed. "Twist. It's okay. I left early anyway, dances aren't really my thing, in case you didn't already know that."

Reggie could hear Twister sigh. "Yeah, well Sammy told Otto and me that you left. We were worried about you… You know, I would have saved you a dance."

"Thanks, Twister, but I danced three times before I left. That's more than enough for me."

"Who'd ya dance with?"

Reggie sighed, trying to recall the events of the previous night.

"Let's see…Trent…Sammy…and… Lars." Reggie said the last name so quietly and so quick, Twister didn't hear her.

"Who?"

"Lars."

"Reggie! I can't hear you!"

"LARS!"

There was an overpowering silence between the two of them and Reggie bit her bottom lip.

"Well, I guess I should go back to bed. A quarter of five in the morning and I'm in the kitchen talking to you about this." Twister's voice was harsh and Reggie could hear him jump off the counter.

"Twister! Wait. You're not mad are you?"

"Mad? Me? No. No, not at all! Just because one of my best buds danced with my brother, who, need I remind you, whomps me all the time, why should I be mad?"

"Twister! He asked me to dance and I couldn't say no. I mean, he's gotten better, you have to admit. He just seemed so…dejected. Why are you making such a big deal out of this anyway?"

"No reason. It's not like you'd care anyway!"

Twister made his way quietly towards the living room, as not to disturb Otto and Sam.

"Twist!"

"Just leave me alone."

With that, Twister walked into the living room and slipped into his sleeping bag, while Reggie sat back on the couch.

Twister shut his eyes so he could avoid the looks of pity Reggie was throwing at him.

……………………………………………………………………………..

"Reg! Wake up!" Reggie could barely make out the whining voice of her brother as he shook her awake.

"Huh? What's going on? What time is it?" Reggie tried to get herself to look at the clock but her vision was too blurred.

"It's seven-o-clock! Come on! We're gonna be late!"

"Otto, it's seven-o-clock on a Saturday morning! I'm going back to sleep."

"Reg-gie!" Otto whined some more.

"Leave me alone, Otto!" Reggie mumbled, her words barely audible with her face buried in her pillow.

"Reggie, come on! We have to go to Madtown and practice for the Twister's video! Reggie, please!"

Reggie grunted before sitting against the couch and stretching.

She rubbed at her eyes and looked around the living room.

"Where's Sam and Twist?"

Otto moaned. "They ran home to grab their gear- now hurry up Reg! You're holdin' us up!"

Reggie rolled her eyes before she stood up, stretched, and walked slowly up the stairs, smirking at the sound of Otto's annoyed grunts.

………………………………………………………………………..

"It's about time!" Otto cried as his sister ran down the stairs, dressed in the usual beach attire- black surf shorts and a light blue bikini top.

"What are you wearing?" Otto demanded.

"What does it look like I'm wearing?"

Otto rolled his eyes. "Whatever. We have to go!"

Otto thrust Reggie's skateboard hard into her gut and practically dragged her by the hair to the skate park.

……………………………………………………………………………..

As the two Rocket siblings made their way through the entrance of Madtown, their friends took the liberty to hop off their skateboards and meet them.

"Dude, what took you so long?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, man, we've been waiting here for like, an hour!" Twister whined.

"Actually, it was more like twenty minutes." Sam corrected, rolling his eyes.

"Chill, dudes. My sister," Otto began, jerking his head in the direction of Reggie, "decided to take forever getting ready."

"I guess forever is fifteen minutes, huh Sammy?" Reggie laughed.

"Whatever!" A grunting Otto made his way over to the half pipes, relying on his new moves to make it to Twister's video.

While Otto was perfecting his newest move, and Sam was unsuccessfully coaching him, Reggie took the opportunity to try and talk to Twister about the previous night.

She cleared her throat. "Hey, Twist. Otto's doing pretty good out there, isn't he?"

Twister acknowledged her only by glancing at her, but soon enough diverting his attention back to his camera and capturing Otto on tape.

"Um…Twist, I-"

"Reggie!" Twister clearly was agitated. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"But, Twist, I wanted to-"

"Do you not understand English? ¡Lo siento, estoy ocupado!"

Noticing the gruffness in his voice and the change of tone, not to mention language, Reggie turned dejectedly in the opposite direction, dragging her skateboard behind.

"Sorry, Twist." She said softly, obvious that he couldn't hear her.

"Hey, where's Reggie going?" Otto asked his friend in concern for his sister. "It's only eight thirty."

"Ptshh. Who cares? We gotta work on your video, remember?"

Otto frowned before nodding in agreement and hurling himself onto his skateboard for some more video action.

………………………………………………………………………………

"…and I don't know what I did wrong!" Reggie finished, sitting at the Shore Shack, while her father listened patiently behind the counter.

"Well, sweetie, you're growing up. It's as simple as that."

Reggie sighed. "I know, but I don't understand why Twister would get so upset over something as honest as a little dance. I mean, Lar's has changed. Sure he stills whomps on Twister once in a while and he teases Otto and Sammy, but now it's all good-natured. Besides, it's not like we kissed or anything like that."

"Princess, maybe Twister's just having a hard time dealing with the fact that one of his best friends was getting close to his brother. I know that Twister and Lars don't have the best relationship in the world, but they do care for each other, and maybe Twister feels like a dance could lead to something more and then he'd lose his brother and one of his best friends- to each other."

Raymundo noticed the disgusted look on Reggie's face and sighed.

"Sorry, dad, but me and Lars? Twister has nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, good. Neither do I then."

Ray suddenly looked beyond Reggie's shoulder and gave a slight nod.

"How'd practice go today?"

Reggie turned around in her stool to see who her father was talking to, even though she had some idea of who it was.

Reggie laid eyes upon her brother and his two lackeys.

"Great." He half grunted.

Ray glanced at the clock.

"Otto, it's only a quarter of ten. Why back so soon?"

Otto slumped himself in a stool next to Reggie, scowling fiercely at the counter top.

Raymundo frowned.

"Don't mind him, Raymundo. He's just sore that he wiped out on his last trick." Twister's laugh was short lived with the glare he received from Otto.

Otto decided to change the subject. "Reggie, why'd you bail?"

Reggie shrugged, glancing momentarily at Twister.

"No reason, Rocket-boy. Just got bored, I guess."

Otto frowned. "How could someone get bored watching me?"

Reggie rolled her eyes. "Believe me, Otto, it can be done."

"Ptssh. Whatever." Otto glanced at Twister and Sam. "You guys want to hit the waves?"

The two boys looked at each other before responding with a yes in their own ways.

"Come on, then." The three boys made their way to the exit of the Shore Shack before Otto turned around and in an aggravated voice, asked:

"Are you coming, Reg?"

Reggie shot a pleading glance to her father of which he acknowledged with a sympathetic shrug of his shoulders.

"I don't know, Reg. I think you should go."

"But da-ad!" Reggie hissed. "Twister is not even talking to-"

"Reggie, if it bothers you that much, just try to talk with him about it…" Raymundo disregarded Reggie's attempted interruption with a motion of his hand. "And if that doesn't work, then know that you atleast tried. And no matter how cheesy it may sound, that's what counts."

Reggie gave her dad a weak smile before grabbing her board and catching up with her brother and hitting the beach.