"…and that's his idea of preparing dinner…"

"…give him a little credit…"

"…you'll wake Adrienne up…"

"…so immature…"

The sound of people arguing invaded her sleep and Adrienne reluctantly opened her eyes. A quick glance towards the window showed her that the sky was already dark.

Did I sleep that long? Sure feels like a short nap. She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. Her muscles had loosened up a bit. She glanced at the cute clock on the wall.

8 PM? Whoa.

Quickly, she got out of bed and almost ran towards the adjoining bathroom. She stripped off her clothes and jumped into the shower, yelping as a cold blast of water hit her bare skin. She lathered up quickly and shampooed her hair.

Some guest I am, letting the hosts do all the work while I lie in bed, she scolded herself.

She got out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy mint green towel around herself. She dashed back into her room and rummaged through her bags. She pulled out underwear, capris, and a short-sleeved blue shirt. After putting on the clothes, she shook out her hair and ran her hands through it to shake off the excess water. She raked her fingers through it one more time to organize the waves and jammed her feet into a pair of flip-flops. Then she walked out of her room towards the kitchen where she saw Caleb leaning on the sink, his phone propped on his lips, a pensive look on his face. Sarah and Kate were sitting on the barstools by the counter, chatting quietly while Pogue was straddling a chair by the kitchen table.

"Wow, a funeral parlor would have been a lot more cheerful," Adrienne announced as she entered the room. The four people broke out of the spell and turned to face her.

"Hey. I didn't hear the shower running," Sarah said, nodding to her wet hair.

"Maybe 'coz you were all talking at the same time. Funny how that makes us a little oblivious to anything else," Adrienne said to lighten the mood. An impish smile graced her lips.

"Oh, well…" Sarah stammered.

"What was the argument about?"

Caleb sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Just Reid and Tyler."

"Who?"

"The other two," Sarah explained.

"Oh… what did they do?"

"You'll see."

"Okay," Adrienne answered, "You guys want something to drink before dinner?"

"Nah, we're good, thanks" Kate answered for them. Adrienne shrugged and turned to look out the window above the kitchen sink. It wasn't raining, which was unusual for Ipswich. The scenery looked hauntingly quaint. Adrienne couldn't let the opportunity pass, and decided to take a walk to explore her surroundings.

"I'm gonna take a look around the neighborhood," Adrienne said to the group.

"Do you want some company?" asked Sarah.

"It's okay. I'll be back in 5 minutes or so."

"Don't go off too far," Caleb cautioned, his worry-wart persona kicking in.

"I won't," Adrienne smiled. She headed out the front door and walked down the street, taking in the warm air.

Ipswich was a pretty town, laden with the musky scent of place that held a lot of history. The air itself seemed charged with ancient stories, all waiting to be heard. She closed her eyes and raised her head to the heavens. She imagined tiny voices whispering in her ears, each with secrets too deep to be told. Adrienne opened her eyes. The sky was clear, and a sprinkling of icy white stars had made their appearance. With a pleased sigh, Adrienne continued walking, past small houses with manicured lawns. Ipswich was an intriguing town indeed.

The roar of a large engine broke the stillness of the night and Adrienne turned her head to look for the disturber. A black Hummer sped down the quiet street, and Adrienne barely made out a blond haired guy sitting on the driver's seat. His passenger was a brunette with a very pissed off look on his face. The truck drove off and Adrienne looked away. She continued walking down the street until a cool breeze brushed past her. She shivered unconsciously; her wet hair had dripped onto her shirt. Knowing she had enough for now, Adrienne turned back and made her way to her new home. She went through the back door so she could go directly inside the kitchen. She was greeted by the sound of arguing and sarcastic tones.

"Remind me never to assign Reid to bring food back for dinner," Caleb said angrily.

"While you're at it, remind Caleb to be more specific when he does ask for favors," answered a similarly pissed off voice that Adrienne didn't recognize.

"Can we lay off the reminders for a while and cool down?" inserted another voice she wasn't familiar with.

"Why don't you lay off and cool down yourself, Baby Boy?" Pogue's deep voice said.

"Okay, can we calm down for a sec?" said Sarah exasperatedly.

"You two would find any excuse to fight. It's getting ridiculous," commented Kate.

Okaaay. Why is everyone so stressed out? Did I miss something here?

Adrienne cautiously crossed the kitchen towards the dining room, where the angry voices were. The scene was incredibly charged with tension: Caleb was almost nose to nose with the blond guy she'd seen driving the Hummer a few moments earlier, both wearing defiant looks on their faces while Pogue was behind Caleb, staring down at a shorter brunette Adrienne vaguely remembered as the other guy from the Hummer.

I'm guessing these are Reid and Tyler, the other two boys of the group. Wonder what they did to piss Caleb off.

None of the people in the room had noticed that she was there. They were too busy looking at Caleb and the blond boy. Finally Adrienne couldn't take the tension and decided to break it.

"Mmm… Chinese take-out, yum!" she said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Six pairs of eyes snapped in her direction and she had to fight down the urge to feel intimidated.

The blond guy was the first to speak. "Who are you?" he asked quite rudely.

"Um, this is Adrienne Jacob. Ade, these are Reid Garwin and Tyler Sims," Sarah introduced with a note of relief.

"And why is she here?" the blond, now identified as Reid Garwin, asked harshly.

"She's on scholarship, like I am, and she'll be studying at Spencer," Sarah answered. Across the room, Caleb was shooting Reid with an angry look.

"Ever heard of the word polite, Reid?" he asked sarcastically. He didn't like the way Reid spoke to Adrienne like she wasn't there.

"Heard it a couple times actually. It's not really my thing," Reid answered with a smirk.

"Well, maybe you should try it on for size," retorted Caleb.

"What is with you today, Danvers? What, are you PMSing?" Reid said angrily, finally fed up with Caleb's nagging.

"Okay, okay, can we just calm down?" Adrienne asked. All their bickering was giving her a headache. And all the arguing was bringing back memories. Bad memories.

The two boys glanced at her, then at each other, then looked away, both breathing heavily.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Adrienne said, trying to break the tension. Everyone else mumbled their agreement and started shuffling towards the little white take out boxes.

Across the table, Reid was eyeing Adrienne, his eyes narrowed in thought. She must have felt his gaze on her for she looked up and locked eyes with him for a split second. Then she gave him a small half-smile and turned back to her stir-fry.

A/N: How's that? You like? Review if you do and put a smile on my face