4. STEPHEN, SAGE & SADIE

Their number plate read 'CHMBRLND', so I knew it was the Chamberland's.

The Chamberland's consisted of Stephen and his twin children that were one year older than me, Sadie and Sage, whom their mother had died giving birth to.

I hadnt seen them in seven years, but we got on really well, as they werent your average small town folks.

Stephen Chamberland was the Mayor of Keys county, Sadie a medal winning swimmer, and Sage was just a perfect all rounder.

I would never see Sadie and Sage at school, as they went to a boarding school during the week, and only lived here on the weekends.

I didnt know why they were here now, as it was a Monday.

I had first met them when I was four, and we had continued to see each other everytime I visited, up until four years ago.

Luckily Stephen had parked on the Dad's side of the driveway, allowing me to park my car in the garage.

I quickly tidied myself up a little bit then made my way into the house, which was silent.

The lights were off, and I could no longer here the sound of Nicola busying herself around the house with chores and cooking.

I walked slowly up the stairs and had a peek around, but no one was there, so I went back down into the living room, where I sat on the couch impatiently.

Suddenly I heard loud "boo!", and I screamed until my lungs almost burst.

Someone put their hand over my mouth, which muffled my screaming a bit.

The lights flicked on, and I found myself surrounded by half a dozen people, but cursed at myself when I realized it was just Dad, Stephen, Sage, Sadie and Nicola playing a trick on me.

"That was so not funny!" I yelled, after Sage released his hand from my mouth. But they obviously thought it was quite funny, as they were still laughing.

I folded my arms and tapped my feet impatiently, waiting for the to cease laughing.

"That was so worth the damage to my ears." Sadie admitted. I couldnt help but smile a little.

After a few minutes they stopped, and the room fell silent.

I looked at Sage and Sadie, there were as beautiful as ever.

They were the same age as me, and they were two of the few people who had the privelage of being the same height as me.

The both had golden hair with light brown streaks and dark brown eyes. They were mildly tan, and Sage's hair had grown amazingly curly, and Sadie's was pulled back into a pony tail.

The Chamberland's had always dressed well, and always seemed to wear dark colors like navy blue, brown, creme, grey and black and always wore long jackets that made them look official.

"Well look at you, Amber. You're so tall, and skinny, and beautiful. You look just like you're Mom." Stephen commented, checking out my appearance.

"Um...thanks. You dont look to bad yourself, I like the silver hair," then I added. "you two look great."

"Thanks, my hair's gone a bit green after all the training I've been doing." Sadie replied, running her fingers through her slightly green hair.

Sage remained silent.

"Hey Amber, Stephen was thinking maybe we could go down to the diner and get dinner?" Dad suggested. I looked at Nicola, she smiled.

"Nicola's coming too, honey." Stephen informed me.

I agreed to go, and then we all piled into what I thought was Stephen's car, but turned out to be Sage's.

Stephen drove, and Dad sat in the passenger seat beside him. Sage and Nicola sat behind them, and then Sadie and I were up a the very back.

"So how's swimming going?" I asked, starting up the conversation.

"Great, I'm looking at Beijing next year. Trials are in one month." she replied.

"Really? That's awesome, I wish I was that good at something." I moaned. Sadie rolled her eyes.
"You're kidding me, right? You're good at everything. Baseball, basketball, tennis, swimming, running and heaps more!" she complimented.

"Thanks, but I dont think so." I stated, and tapped Sage on the shoulder. He turned around, and I was bedazzled by his beautiful face.

"What?" he asked, slightly rudely.

"So what's up with you?" I asked, ignoring his rude gesture. Sadie leaned forward.

"Not much, he's being a bit of an a-hole at the moment, so dont worry about him." she explained.

"Oh." I said, frowning, and I back away from him.

"What's wrong with him?" I whispered in Sadie's ear.

"He's a boy." she whispered back. I giggled, that seemed to be the answer to everything a boy did wrong.

"Seriously thought, he's in love." she added.

I looked at her in shock. Sage, in love? No way.

"With who?" I demanded, a bit more louder than required.

"A girl named Penne Paltrow, she goes to your school, she's a really good dancer and a great gymnist." Sadie explained.

"That doesnt really explain why he's in a bad mood." I pointed out.

"She's going to Beijing for the olympics next year, and she has to leave in six months to live in New York for training." she added.

"That's to bad," I replied sympathetically. "do you have a boyfriend?"

Sadie laughed.

"Me? No, never. I think all men are womanizer's." she giggled. I frowned.

"That's a bit harsh." I commented.

"Maybe, but I dont really have time for boys anyway, with my training and all." she said.

"I guess..." I said quietly. She turned to me, with an excited look on her face.

"So, tell me about your day. Who did you sit with?" she asked.

"Evan Capracrious, Ruth Browning, Knox Young and Georgia Donte." I answered, amazed at how I remembered all of their last names.

"What?!" she shouted, almost scaring me out of my seat.

"What's going on back their?" Stephen shouted. Sadie looked distraught.

"Nothing, Dad." she croaked, and then turned back to me.
"Why are you sitting with them?" she demanded.

"I-I got i-invited." I stuttered. Her face relaxed and she apologized for blowing up.

We sat in a tense silence for a moment, before she turned to me sheepishly.

"Did you see any boys you liked?" she asked slyly. I felt myself blush, and rattled my brain to see if their was an answer to her question.

"Well...there was one guy I thought was really cute." I replied. Her face lit up.

"Who is it?" she demanded excitedly.

I bit my lip. "Judd O'Burn." I admitted.

Stephen slammed on the breaks, and we all hit our heads on the seats in front of us.

"We're here." he coughed out.

I got out of the car without question on my he had slammed the brakes, and headed with the into the small Diner.

The rest of the night was a blur, but it was inlvolved with laughing, spaghetti, more laughing and then me getting to bed at midnight.