AN: Yay! Second chapter! Okay, so Wes/Sufer dude is an OC, so if you're struggling to figure out which book he is in then that's why lol

Chapter 2: The Keychain

The wide eyed boy who opens the door welcomes us in with a wide grin. He looked about a few years older than us, but I wasn't sure.

"You must be Dot's brother!" Marissa says as she takes him in. She eyes him for a moment too long and it looked like her gaze was permanently glued to his face. I guess he was good looking with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, but when I caught a glimpse of his freckles all I could think about was Casey and what he told me just the other day. The surfer dude in front of us seemed oblivious to my inner dilemma as I made sure to keep a polite smile plastered on my face.

Surfer dude broke the silence with a little laugh, "I get that a lot! Probably because I'm always here," he gestures to the house and grins, "And also because I'm constantly answering their door for them," he laughs some more and Marissa laughs, too.

I didn't see what was so funny. It was cold. I was carrying my heavy bags and I really needed to pee. Why couldn't he just let us in? I cut in. "So who exactly are you?" He looks down at me like I had insulted his favorite band, even though this hadn't been my intention. His laughter stops and his smile fades from his face which makes him look even older. I eye him again and Marissa nudges me in the back.

"I'm Wes. A friend of Dot's older brother. I go to Santa Martina High with him along with his other brother," the surfer dude, who was now Wes, explains to us.

Marissa nods and replies for the both of us. "Oh, okay! That's so cool! Her brothers seem really nice!" I don't know how she even knew that considering the only conversation she had with one of them the last time she was at Dot's house was when she asked them where the bathroom was. To which they replied with "Down the hall and to the right".

Wes nods again and smiles at Marissa's enthusiasm. "Come on in then!" he says as he steps back to open the door fully so we can walk through with our baggage. After he shuts the door, he looks over at us again. "I'm sorry! I forgot to ask, what are your names?"

After our introductions and Marissa's many questions about high school, he leads us up the stairs to Dot's bedroom where we are told to drop off our bags. He had said that Dot and the other girls were downstairs in the game room and he would be there too if we needed anything. I didn't really plan on asking him for help even if I did need something, but I appreciated the gesture. Not even a minute after Wes left, Marissa immediately starts to regret her packing decisions.

"Sammy! Why didn't you try to stop me?" Marissa frowns as she glances over at the other girls' belongings by Dot's bed. All the other girls had just brought their backpacks they use for school, same as me, and Marissa had brought a giant suitcase that could probably fit all the girl's backpacks in it if you really tried hard enough.

I look around Dot's room in order to find a place where I could set down my black backpack, but immediately stop moving when I notice something strange. Marissa notices my stark expression and looks over to my line of view. As soon as she gasped I knew she saw it, too.

At my feet laid a bright red backpack with a bejeweled Eiffel tower keychain and attached to it with a silver ring was an "H" shaped charm that was also bejeweled.

I knew for sure it was hers, but I wasn't sure what it was doing here. In Dot's house of all places. What did this even mean? Were they friends? Why would-? But Marissa cut off my train of thought as soon as she said the word out loud. The cursed name that rang in my ears: "Heather!" she growled. I watched her fall onto the bed and lay still for a moment and it looked like she was trying to close her eyes and fall asleep in order to escape this horrible dream. If only it was that easy.