"This is all happening so fast..."

It's late at night outside the Rodriguez house. Anna looks down at the ground as she starts to shed tears. Her hand tries to cover up her face. She feels something slowly remove her hand. Suddenly, she feels him presses his lips against hers. She looks up to see the boy she has fallen for. She smiles as she whispers.

"I love you, Lars."

He looks back into her eyes.

"I love you too, Anna."

They smile and kiss again, holding each other in their arms. As they finish, Anna's face turns to one of worry.

"How are we gonna explain this to everyone?"

Lars puts his arms around her waist as he reassures her.

"They'll understand. In time."

Anna returns to her smile as they hold each other. After a few minutes, Anna whispers in Lars' ear.

"We should go back in before they start to wonder."

Lars nods in a disappointed manner.

"You're right. Let's go."

They kiss swiftly one more time before walking into the house. As they enter, they see Raoul frozen watching television, with Sandy cooking in the Kitchen. Lars speaks nervously as he enters the door.

"Hey Dad."

Raoul looks away from the TV to see Lars standing in front of him, while Anna goes into the kitchen. In surprise, Raoul strongly responds.

"About time you kids got back. You're later than usual."

Lars slowly sits down on the couch as Anna responds to Raoul while makes a plate in the kitchen.

"Sorry. We just seemed to lose track of time."

Raoul looks behind him, then looks back at his son. Lars keeps his eyes on the TV, trying not to give his nervous thoughts away. Raoul looks back at the TV.

"That's fine. Just don't let it happen again."

Anna smirks as she enters the living room with her plate. They all stare at the TV for a few minutes before Anna asks a question.

"Where's Twister?"

Raoul keeps his eyes focused on the show as he answers her.

"Went to his room early. Seemed tired from the skating. Besides, it's a school night."

Anna nods and goes back to eating her food as they all sit and watch TV...

Otto is in the cafeteria eating. He's busy chatting up with Jorge, Rick and Sam. As they continue to talk, they notice Twister and Reggie walking by them. The whole gang smiled and waved at Twister and Reggie, as they both waved back with a smile. Twister then stops, and walks over to Otto slowly. Otto starts to get nervous, his face stuck in a cold stare. He tries to get out of his seat, yet by some force can not move. Twister starts to get very close to Otto...

"AH!"

Otto wakes up in a shriek. He realizes he's in his bed. His skateboard pajamas are soaked in sweat. He looks around to try and catch himself. After a few seconds of deep breathing, he starts to talk to himself.

"It was just a dream."

He sits on his bed, continuing to talk to himself.

"I don't know what to do. I can't lose my best friend in the world. But, I don't like him that way. He's just my best bro. I mean, he likes me...of all the people in the world, he likes me. I mean, we've been friends forever, but I just don't..."

Otto sighs. Then, his face quickly turns to a face of freight. He forgot Rick was sleeping right near him. His face turns to face Rick's bed, only to find the bed empty. He sighs in relief, and then speaks out loud again.

"Where did he go?"

Suddenly, he notices a light outside his window. It's on the table outside their house. He quietly walks out of his room downstairs, trying to stay as subtle as he can. As he opens the door outside, he notices two people on the bench. They both look back quickly. They start to whisper to each other. Otto approaches them slowly to realize Reggie and Rick are sitting next to each other. Rick in his tiger striped pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt, while Reggie wore her purple pajamas. Reggie notices first.

"Oh good. It's just Otto."

Reggie and Rick both look at each other and laugh quietly as Otto walks over and sits next to them. Just as he sits down, Otto questions them.

"What are you guys doing awake?"

Reggie looks at Rick as she answers.

"We both couldn't sleep. Rick apparently does this all the time. I found him a few nights ago, and just decided to join him."

Rick nods in approval to Reg as he speaks.

"I've never been a great sleeper. Took you guys two weeks to find out."

Reggie laughs. They all sit and stare off for a while before Otto breaks the silence.

"Why can't you sleep, Rick?"

Rick starts to ponder as he puts his hand on his head in wonder before responding.

"Mind's too busy"

Otto eyes' squint in confusion.

"Too busy with what?"

Rick sits and thinks, trying to find out how to word it.

"I still haven't gotten over things in the past. I know it's not healthy, but hopefully it just takes time."

Otto and Reg nod in approval as they sit in silence. After a few minutes, Reggie speaks.

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Anyone want one?"

Rick quickly jumps up right after she finishes her sentence.

"I got it. I want a drink anyway. You want a water, dude?"

Otto nods in approval as Rick quickly goes into the kitchen. Right as the door closes, Reggie begins to speak again.

"I think I like Rick."

Otto, clearly surprised, responds.

"For real?"

Reggie looks at him as she explains.

"Yeah. He's just...unique. He's smart. He's funny. He's a deep thinker, and he seems happy when I'm around. He's just great. I don't want another situation like Anna, so I might not tell him for a while and try to figure out on my own. But I felt like you should know."

Otto puts his arm around his sister.

"Thanks. Don't worry. I won't tell him. How will you know if he does?"

Reggie looks back to see Rick open the door and quietly responds as he approaches.

"I'll figure it out."

As she finishes her sentence, Rick approaches with the drinks.

"Sorry that took so long. Had to be really careful to not wake anyone up."

They both grab their drinks and take a big gulp. It was the perfect weather in the starry night. Not too hot. Not too cold. Perfect. As they all continued to sip their drinks, Otto spoke up.

"Really pumped you pulled off that trick today."

Rick smiles.

"The adrenaline's still kicking. Felt great."

Otto and Reg both jokingly pushed him around to show their support. Reggie put her arm around his shoulder as she spoke.

"You certainly nailed it. Had us all on our feet."

Rick smiles at her as she let go of him. Reggie looks back at the house.

"We should probably head back in."

Rick and Otto both nod in agreement as they finished their drinks and get up off the table. Before they made it back into the house, Reggie brings up a question.

"What are you guys doing tomorrow night? We could go to the peer and chill late. You down Rick?"

Rick thought for a split second before responding.

"Sure. I'm down."

Reggie then turned to Otto.

"How about you...Otto?"

The extra space in Reggie's question was meant to relay a message to Otto, which he received correctly.

"I was actually gonna watch some tape of my skating to try and improve. The contest is in two weeks so I don't have much time to watch it."

Reggie and Rick showed understanding in their faces. As Rick grabs the door, he responds with a question of his own.

"You watching the tape with Twist?"

Otto's face quickly turned to worry again as he went back in deep thought, yet it was near impossible for Reggie or Rick to see it in the darkness. He then realized Rick and Reggie were still waiting for an answer.

"Oh. Ummm yeah, I'll have Twister come over with the tape he has."

Rick finally opens the door to the house, and they all crept quickly back upstairs one at a time. Once they were all upstairs, Reggie walked towards her room, speaking very softly.

"Night guys."

Both boys responded at nearly the exact time.

"Night Reg."

Otto and Rick both slowly crept back into their rooms, closing the door behind them and walking towards their beds. They both got in their beds before Rick quickly speaks before getting comfortable.

"Hey. You okay man?"

Otto moves around under his sheets before responding.

"I'm fine."

Rick starts to get comfortable as well. He then speaks one last time before falling asleep.

"Night Otto."

"Night Rick."

They both start to drift off to sleep. They didn't realize it, but each had something on their mind. Not just them, but all the members of the crew. While they were united by the same overall situation, all had their own new and unique worries to deal with. That was their new life. They were just starting to understand it. Not just with the new people, but a whole new world. That was life. Through time, however, they would rely on each other to help them deal with each of their issues. It would be something that would test each and every one of them in a way they had not been tested before...