Here I am, at 1:33 am, PDT… and I'm writing… Because I have nothing better to do with my life.

"Hello?" Via asked, picking up the phone.

"Hey, Via," Keely said. "My sister's flying out tomorrow. I was wondering if you'd want to come with…"

"What time is the flight?"

"9:00 in the evening," Keely replied, nonchalantly. "We're leaving at about 4 p.m.…"

Via let out a long, annoyed groan. "Keely… we'd get back sooooo late …"

"Fine," Keely said, trying to guilt her friend into coming along. "I mean, it's not like she's your sister, I completely understand. I mean, who knows when you'll see her again, right?" Dropping the charade, she sighed and said, "Come on, Vee! It's just one day."

"But what if I have plans? Ever think of that?"

"Well… we were planning on going to the mall beforehand…"

"The mall… really?" Via was suddenly intrigued.

"Yeah. What better way to put Phil and Owen through hell, anyway?"

"Owen?" Via asked, clearly not trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"Yes, Owen. He said he wasn't doing anything that day anyway, and as long as Phil was going, he decided on going, too…" This actually wasn't entirely true. Owen knew how good of a friend Via was to Keely, and figured she would see off her best friend's sister, giving him an opportunity to spend some time with her. But Via's tendency to trust her best friend came through, overshadowing any possible doubt she had of Owen's deeper intentions. "Yeah, I'll go…"

Keely squealed with delight. "Thanks, Via!"

Via grimaced, and held the phone away from her ear while Keely squealed. "You're welcome," she barked into the mouthpiece, and hung up the phone.

"She said 'yes'?" Phil asked.

"She said 'yes'…" Keely asserted.

"Well," Phil sighed, "that'll give Owen someone to do. …Something to do. I don't know why… I accidentally said someone…"

"Glasses!" Ashley half-shouted, skulking through the house. "Where are my glasses!"

"On your face," Keely replied, looking up at her. Upon hearing this, Ashley stopped, felt for her glasses, and sure enough, discovered they were there.

"How about that…" Ashley muttered, walking back upstairs to finish packing.

"Your sister… is usually more together than this, right?" Phil asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… well, it's moving off to another county… she'll be, like, 400 miles away. It's a big step."

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

"Ha! That's a point for me!"

"What's the score?"

Keely elected not to respond.

The next morning, Phil, Owen, and Via all showed up just as the car was getting loaded. Ashley came out of her room with a suitcase in each hand, and one underneath her arm.

"Little help?" she asked. Phil and Owen went up to meet her.

Phil took the one under her arm, and nearly fell over because of the weight. "I'll get that one, Phil," Owen said, taking it from him. Phil felt a bit ashamed, but was then relieved when he noticed that Via, who was looking at Owen, was the only other one in the room, and that Keely must have been waiting in the car. He took the suitcase out of Ashley's left hand, and loaded it into the trunk.

So Mandy, her two daughters, Phil, Owen, and Via all got into the Teslows' minivan and drove to the nearest city with an airport: San Diego. While Owen and Phil got just about nothing at the mall (Owen did end up getting a studded bracelet, Via and Keely bought enough so that the money they spent could've been enough to buy a mini-mansion in Newport Beach.

On the way to the airport, Keely and Phil sat together in the middle seat, and Ashley rode shotgun, leaving Via and Owen together in the backseat. Via ignored him much of the way, as she was still a bit peeved at what he'd done at the party. Owen was lucky that she'd gotten over it, for the most part, as it wouldn't have been a pretty sight if she was still as mad at him as she was when he called her on the phone a while ago.

No, Via was just about over that. Though the only things she said to him were usually one- or two-word responses. Owen eventually decided to just stop talking.

When they pulled up to the airport, Mandy pulled into the short-term lot. The clan got out of the car and made their way over to the building. While Ashley went to get her ticket, the other five stood out of the way of traffic. Via leaned up against a wall and sighed, as Owen looked around aimlessly, trying not to make obvious eye contact with her. A teenaged boy spotted Via, and he looked at her for a while until his friend came up to him, showing him the two tickets in his hand.

A few minutes later, Ashley came over with her ticket in her own hand. "Let's go," she said, smiling. So, they all walked down the aisle, up the escalator, and stopped a little way from the security checkpoint, out of the way of anyone else who happened to be bustling on through.

"Well… I guess this is it…" Ashley said, absentmindedly brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Since Phil was standing the closest, she moved towards him and hugged him.

"What… what's this?" Phil asked. "Why are you squeezing me with your body?"

"It's a hug; I'm hugging you."

"Oh…" Phil realized, and hugged her back.

Pulling away from him, Ashley gave him a smile and said, "Goodbye, Phil. If Keely drives you nuts, be sure to call me, okay?"

"Will do, Ash."

Next, Ashley turned to Via, as Phil walked over to Owen.

"Nobody told me there would be hugs," Owen told Phil, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"Owen, she's going to college. She's going to want to say goodbye, and yes, that probably means she's going to want to hug some people."

"No… kidding…" Owen replied, distracted by something. Phil followed Owen's path of sight to see what was so distracting, and rolled his eyes when he saw Via and Ashley locked in a hug.

"Oh, please…" Phil muttered.

"You know it's hot…" Owen said, walking over as Ashley beckoned him over.

"What's wrong?" Via asked, walking over to Phil.

"Owen," Phil replied.

"Well, that much is obvious…"

"I guess you're right…" Noticing Via's silence, Phil again turned, to see what she was looking at, and just caught a glimpse of Ashley kissing Owen on the cheek. He looked back at Via, who had an eerily blank expression on her face. "Via?" he asked, tentatively. "V… Via?"

"What?" she said, snapping a bit more than she had intended.

"You okay?" Phil asked, knowing perfectly well that she was not okay.

"I'm fine," she said, airily. "Jim-dandy."

"Uh huh…" Phil said, an air of skepticism about him.

As Owen came back over to them, the teenager that had noticed Via earlier walked by again. While Phil and Owen engaged in conversation, he went up to her.

"Hey," he said to her.

Via didn't like this situation one bit, and looked for an escape route.

"I'm Steve," he went on.

"I'm Olivia…" she replied, and taking a quick glance over her shoulder, she grabbed Owen by the arm. "And this is my boyfriend, Owen."

Owen smirked, and took this opportunity to slide his hand into her back pocket. And perhaps it was the new studded bracelet, the leather jacket, or maybe just because he looked like he'd ridden a motorcycle all the way there , but suddenly, Steve wanted to get as far away from him as possible. Via laughed as he walked away, and looked at Owen, moving his hand to her waist instead of slapping him in the face (to his great surprise). Instead, she just said, "Thanks, Owen," and gave him a peck on the cheek.

As Ashley walked over to the security checkpoint, everybody gave her a wave goodbye. While walking back, Phil looked over at Owen, who merely smirked, extremely pleased with himself.

And... it's 3:35 now. Drop a review. Don't make me feel like I'm up this late for no damn reason.