I checked my watch. It was 1:35. I was late for band practice.

"Jordan, can't you drive any faster?" I asked my brother impatiently. He was driving me to band practice and we had left a bit late because a friend of his wouldn't get off the phone with him.

"Not unless you want me to get a ticket," he growled.

"Fine," I sighed as I turned the radio up a little bit louder. It was playing the song, "Picture" from Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock.

A few minutes later, we arrived at Dewey's house.

"Thanks for the lift," I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt, opened the passenger's seat door and got out of the car.

"No problemo, little sister," he grinned, "If it gets you out of my hair for a few hours, I'll do it with a smile."

I rolled my eyes and slammed the car door shut. I walked up the steps to Dewey's apartment and looked at my watch again. It was 1:40. I opened the door, which Dewey always left open during band practice.

"Hi Dewey," I smiled as I entered the room. The band was sitting on the couches in his living room.

"Hey Blondie," he answered, "What kept you?"

"My brother's telephone conversation," I answered.

"Take a seat," he said.

"Well, umm, there aren't any," I said as I looked around the room.

"No problem," Freddy grinned. He gestured to his legs, "You can sit here. You're not too heavy." I shrugged and sat down on his lap. He started jiggling his right leg so I was bouncing up and down on top of him.

"As you all know," Dewey began, "We have a concert in a week."

"Yeah, so" Alicia said.

"Well, I don't think we're ready," he said, "Oh, and please stop bouncing Marta, Spazzy. It's making me dizzy." Freddy stopped and started writing stuff on my back with his index finger.

"What do you mean, we're not ready?" Zack asked.

"You guys are ready, as in you know your stuff," he explained, "But you aren't ready as in Billy's costumes aren't finished, we don't have a hotel for the trip to Montreal and we haven't decided on which songs to sing. Today, we're going to work on that. Billy and the Groupies, you guys work on costumes. Summer and the roadies, you work on booking hotels. The band, you decided which songs to play. I'll go around and help whoever needs me to. Got it?" We all nodded.

"Ok then," he grinned, "Let's get rocking!"

All afternoon long, we worked hard on our assignments. At the end of band practice for the day, we "shared the fruits of our labor" at least that's what Dewey said.

"Well," Summer said," we're staying at the Ritz Carlton."

"Excellent," Dewey said, "Billy and Groupies, what do you three have to report?"

"Everyone's costumes are done," Billy told us.

"Yeah," Michelle added, "And we've chosen a few hair styles we'd like to try on everyone."

"Wonderful, now then," Dewey asked, "What about our song line-up?"

"We chose the songs and wrote them down in what order we want to sing them," Katie said.

"Here's the schedule," Tomika said as she handed him a sheet of loose-leaf.

"Perfect," Dewey grinned, "Wow, you guys, I don't know what to say! When you guys put your minds to it, you can do anything! I'm so happy that you finished everything today! Great job!"

"We've come a long way since our first concert, huh Dewey?" Summer smiled.

Gosh, our first concert was so stressful! It was during the summer between 5th and 6th grades. We were all excited and hyperactive, but we left the preparations until the last couple of days. Four days before the concert, which was in Albany, we realized we hadn't booked any hotels or decided on the line-up. I remember that Summer actually started hyperventilating. It was so damn scary! We were all freaking out...except Zack. He was positive we'd pull through. He said that he was so sure that he wouldn't help with anything just to prove to us that we could do it alone. Well, that's what he said until Katie hit him in the back of the head and told him she'd dump him if he didn't help. Then, he decided he would help us with the preparations. He wasn't very happy about it though. In the end, we got everything done in time, but we swore we'd never do it again.

"Yeah Summer," Freddy joked, "From 4 days in advance to 7, big difference."

"Shut up Spazzy," she responded as she tossed one of her loose braids behind her shoulders.

"Settle down," Dewey said, "Anyway, I guess that practice for the day is over. You can all go home." We nodded and started getting up and leaving. As I was gathering my things and putting them in my bag, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around.

"Hey Freddy," I smiled.

"Hi," he kissed my lips quickly. I beamed at him.

"Are you doing anything this afternoon?" he asked.

"No, why?" I shook my head.

"Do you want to come skateboarding with me?" Freddy offered.

"Sure," I agreed, "I'll just call my Mom to ask her if it's alright." He handed me his cell phone. I dialed my home phone number. Mom answered.

"Hi Mom," I said, "Umm, I'm going to the skate park with Freddy. Is that ok?"

"Of course Sweetheart," she said, "Have fun!"

"Thanks Mom, bye," I hung up.

"Can you come?" Freddy asked. I nodded.

"Great," he answered, "I have my skateboard with me, but you can rent a board at the skate park if you don't have one."

"Perfect," I said, "Let's go."

"Bye Dewey," we called back as we left.

"Bye you two," he answered, "Be careful though. We can't afford to lose a singer and a drummer right now!"

"We will," Freddy said with a wink. He closed the door behind us. When we got to the skate park, my jaw dropped. It was filled with mind-bogglingly (is that even a word) good skaters going up and down the half-pipe, grinding along railings and doing so many amazing tricks.

"Wow," I whispered.

"Wow is right," Freddy chuckled, "Look at that though." He pointed to a humongous half-pipe! My eyes opened wide like saucers.

"Oh my God," I said under my breath. I heard Freddy laugh.

"She's called Big Mary," he told me, "Only experts go on her."

"She's huge!" I cried.

"Don't I know it!" he grinned, "Come on; let's go get you a skateboard." I followed him into a small building. There were a few beanbag chairs, a wide-screen TV and a counter. The walls were plastered with pictures of skateboarders. There was a cute guy with spiky light brown hair streaked with gold (natural streaks) and big green eyes with a hint of blue to them working at the counter. He looked about 20 years old. I followed Freddy to the counter.

"Hi Steven," Freddy greeted him over the Blink182 c.d. that was playing at full blast.

"Hey Freddy," he answered, "Who's the chick? Is she your new girlfriend?" He gestured to me.

"Yeah," Freddy nodded, "This is Marta. Marta, this is Steven."

"What happened to that other one? Gwen," Steven asked.

"Oh, it's over between us. Besides," Freddy kissed my forehead, "I like Marta."

"She seems nice enough. So then, what's up?"

"Well, Marta needs to rent a skateboard."

"Ok then, follow me," Steven let us behind the counter and led us to a room filled with skateboards. There were skateboards hanging from racks on every wall!

"Choose the one you like," Freddy told me. I looked around for a while and finally decided on one with flames.

"Good choice," Steven said, "That'll be $10."

"Ok," I said as we made our way to the counter again. I fished a $10 bill from my purse. Just as I was about to give Steven the money, Freddy stopped me.

"I'll pay," he said.

"No, it's ok Freddy," I shook my head, "I'll pay."

"No, I won't take no for an answer. It's my treat," Freddy insisted. I rolled my eyes and smiled. Freddy handed him the money and Steven handed Freddy the skateboard, a helmet, wrist guards, kneepads and elbow pads. We headed outside. Freddy took his skateboard and safety gear out of his bag. We put it all on.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked once we were done. I nodded.

"Freddy, you do realize I can skateboard already, don't you?" I asked him as we walked towards the half-pipe, the normal-sized one that is.

"You can?" he looked at me with wide eyes. I nodded.

"Watch this," I grinned as I ran up the ladder to the top of the half-pipe leaving Freddy staring from the ground. When I got to the top, I positioned myself, took a deep breath and pushed off. I felt the wind blowing my hair behind me. I bent my knees a little bit as the board started to go up the other side of the ramp. When I got to the top of the other side, I did a nose grab. I kept going for a little bit and then got off.

"How was I?" I asked as I walked up to Freddy.

"Super," he grinned, "I had no idea you could skateboard!" He gave me a high-five. I laughed.

We skateboarded for another hour and a half or so. Then, we went to return the stuff I had rented. Afterwards, Freddy offered to buy me a tea or something at a coffee shop that supposedly sells the best muffins in the entire city.

"What do you want?" Freddy asked once we had a seat and I was looking at the menu.

"Hmm, what do you think of a hot cocoa with a blueberry muffin?" I asked.

"Great," he answered, "I'll have the same, except with a chocolate chip muffin, ok?" I nodded. We gave a waitress our orders. She was a teenage girl with bleach-blond hair, grey eyes, overly plucked eyebrows and too much make-up. She reminded me of my cousin Jenna.

"What do you want to talk about?" Freddy asked. I shrugged. There was an awkward pause until Freddy broke it.

"Have you ever seen the movie 'Billy Madison'?" he asked. My eyes lit up.

"Of course I have!" I cried, "That's my favorite movie ever, even though it's so old!"

"Mine too," he grinned, "I love it when he sees the girls that send him Valentines!"

"Same here," I laughed, "My favorite part is when he first meets that teacher he has a crush on!"

"Yeah, that was good," he agreed. We talked about the movie until the waitress brought us the cocoa and muffins. Then, we ate and talked about random stuff between bites.

"Freddy," I said. He looked up from his muffin, which he was devouring...and enjoying every huge bite of it!

"Do you want to see a movie before we leave for Montreal?" I asked.

"Sure," he wiped his mouth, "How does Friday night sound?" I nodded.

"It's a date then," he told me. I took a bite of my muffin.

"It's official then," he said, "We're a couple." I swallowed.

"It's been official for a while now Freddy," I giggled.

"Yeah, but it only sank in just now," he explained.

"Silly Freddy," I shook my head and rolled my eyes, "But I love you just the same." I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He kissed me back.

"Hey, are you going to finish that muffin?" he asked.

"Yes," I said as I took another bite of it. He sighed.

I ripped a piece off my muffin, "Open your mouth." He opened it and I popped the piece in. He closed his mouth and started chewing with a smirk on his face. I giggled.

When we were finished, Freddy walked me home. Jordan answered the door. When Freddy left, Jordan asked me to go to his room with him to "talk".

"So, what is it?" I asked when we got up. I sat down on his bed.

"I just wanted to talk with my little sister, that's all," he replied as he sat down next to me.

I looked at him with arched eyebrows, "I know you better than to believe that."

He sighed, "Fine, you got me. I wanted to have a talk with you. Marta, with all the teenage pregnancies happening, I just don't want you to do anything stupid."

"Is that what this is about?" I asked, "Jordan, you know I'm not dumb enough to do anything like that! You don't have to worry about anything, ok? Besides, Freddy's a good boy; he wouldn't do anything like that."

"I know, but I can't help but worry about you. After all, you're always going to be my baby sister," Jordan told me.

"Yeah, but I'm your responsible baby sister who wouldn't have sex at only 14," I answered.

"I guess you're right, but be careful," he told me, "Freddy is a good kid though."

"He's great," I smiled.

"You two do look cute together," he grinned, "Now then, tell me all about your little date this afternoon."

"It wasn't a date!" I blushed.

"Come on; tell me," he insisted, "I know you're lying because you're blushing. Don't make me tickle you!"

"Fine, have it your way," I gave in. I told him about our trip to the skate park and the café.

That's what I love about my brother, he's always there to look out for me, but he's not overbearing...and he's great company too! Some day, he's going to make a girl very happy, but for now, he's all mine!

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Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.

Thank-you's:

Wyverna: What's Kerrang? Cool!

Xobadrhymer03: Bowling For Soup rules! I'm listening to them right now! It's my favorite song ever!

Sweetcarolin3313: I can just imagine! Just, be careful if you fall off your bed! I did last January and I made a dent in the wall. It's a long story.

S.S.I.: Don't worry it's not the end! How can anyone hate that song! It's one of my favorites ever! It's ok though.

Sandy-Pandy: Yes, yes, you can have more!

Super Monkey289: Wow, you sure enjoyed my story, didn't you? I hope you like this chapter just as much as the rest of the story!

Weirdo: Don't worry, it's not the end! See, there's more! Rock and Roll is my favorite song from Led Zeppelin! I've never listened to any Metallica. I'll have to look them up on the Internet or something.

Mika Mika Chan: Thanks!

EvanescenceFan: Yeah, go Marta! She was my favorite character in the movie, besides Freddy because he was cute and he made me laugh. Anyway, yeah, Zack has a reputation as Zack the Song-Changer now. LOL!

BraveSirRobin: Thanks for the info!

Random Comments: Sorry this has taken so long everybody! I've just been super busy since school is starting in a week. Has anyone heard the song "Extraordinary" from Liz Phair? I have it stuck in my head and I can't get it out! You know what to do now, review!