"Sawyer could you put the phone down for a second?" Lucas impatiently asked his preoccupied daughter in the passenger seat.

"huh? Oh yeah sure dad, give me a sec." she said as she finished up her last text.

Lucas waited and she finally put it on her lap and looked up at him smiling. Looking straight at her bright blue eyes and soft curls made Lucas yearn for the days when she was a toddler and her whole world revolved around him and Peyton. But then he looked at her "far too short for his taste" cheerleading outfit and was reminded that she wasn't a toddler anymore.

"Dad what's up?" she asked, "We're gonna be late."

Lucas shook his head, "Right. Right. I just don't want you on your phone so much. It's not healthy."

Sawyer rolled her eyes, "Sure dad."

Lucas put the car in gear and they headed to school. Sawyer turned up the music and Eminem was blasting through. Lucas let it play for a good minute, but couldn't handle it and he turned it off. To ease the silence he decided to impart his fatherly advice,

"Listen Sawyer, I know this is your first 'official' day as a cheerleader, but I don't want you to let anyone take advantage of you, or let any boys try to mess with you."

Sawyer felt uncomfortable, "Dad! Oh God, stop. Puhlease! Mom already talked to me about this. I get it. Don't let anyone get under my fucking skirt."

"Sawyer Scott! Language young lady. I don't Ever want to hear you say that again. Next time you're grounded. Got it?"

She sulked in her chair and mumbled an apology. Her phone vibrated and she went back to texting. Lucas just squeezed the wheel and the conversation he had the other night with Peyton rang in his head.

"Lucas I'm worried about Sawyer" Peyton said quietly while they were in bed.

'Why?! What's been going on?" He said slightly alarmed

"No, nothing honey. It's just she's growing up and I don't want her to do all the things we did in high school. You know what I mean?"

Lucas smiled, "Baby, trust me. That will NEVER happen."

… … … …

Peyton walked into Clothes over Bros to find her best friend yelling through the phone. She sat down on the couch and was getting a front row seat to Brooke's fury "Damn it, you lazy ass distributor. I called you a month ago for that fabric. If I have to call one more time I'm bringing it up with your bosses…Exactly! BYE!" she hung up the phone, then turned to Peyton and smiled sweetly, "Hey P. Sawyer."

Peyton laughed, "B. Davis did you really have to yell at that poor guy?"

"It's the fashion world. I have to be cutthroat to get what I want." She said jokingly

Peyton scoffed and gave Brooke a cup of coffee.

"Oh thank God. I've been needing a lot of this lately."

"What's been going on?" Peyton said more seriously

"Sam's birth mom Rebecca found her. She went to talk to her after school on Tuesday and its really affected Sam. She's been really quiet since then." Brooke frowned as she thought about it.

Peyton took a deep breath and exhaled, "Sawyer!" She said in an angry whisper.

Brooke was confused, "What?"

"Ugh! I'm sorry Brooke. It looks like the girls planned this. Sawyer covered for her when I asked her where Sam was. And I told her not to lie to me. I knew it, I just knew it!"

Peyton's anger was rising, but Brooke didn't want her to blame it on Sawyer, "P. it's okay! It isn't Sawyer's fault. Sam probably pressured her to do it. Don't get mad."

Peyton shook her head in disapproval, "She's definitely grounded. She can't be covering something that big up!"

Brooke grabbed Peyton's hand, "Sweetie, let her come over tonight. I could talk to her about it. Besides today's her first day as a cheerleader, let her have her day. What if your mom ruined your first day as cheerleader?" Brooke spoke very convincingly and Peyton sighed, "Alright fine!" She relented, "But don't worry about talking to her. I'll deal with it."

Brooke smiled, "Alright. Go easy on her Peyton."

Peyton sighed, "I always do."

… … … …

Sam and Sawyer walked to Sam's house after school. Sawyer talked most of the time and Sam laughed, listened, and responded thoughtfully. More than anything, Sam saw Sawyer as a sort of younger sister, not because she was older by age, but because in many ways Sawyer was sheltered. But this didn't make Sam resent her, it just made her extra protective. Although Sam herself was a kid, so this didn't make for the greatest decisions on both their parts.

They went to the living room and put on a movie. Sawyer anxiously waited for the night to come.

"Sam what's the plan gonna be? Do you think your mom's gonna go to sleep early tonight?" she asked.

Sam hesitated, "Sawyer why don't we just stay and hang out? We could go to the movies or something. Jack's coming today, we could hang out with him too. I haven't seen him this whole week!"

She hoped she sounded convincing.

Sawyer glared at Sam, "Are you kidding me Sam! Was this your plan the whole time, trick me into staying with you? Ugh! You're just like my parents." She scoffed.

"Sawyer it's not even like that dude! Come on-"

"No! I'll just go by myself. You can stay, I'll go." Sawyer said with her mind made up.

Sam sighed heavily, she wasn't about to leave Sawyer alone, "Damn it Sawyer. I'll go."

The girls spent most of their time in Sam's room. Coming out only to eat. Night finally came, and to Sawyer's luck both Brooke and Julian were going to bed early. Sam heard the knock on her door,

"Come in." she said.

Brooke opened the door, "Hey knucklehead." She said sweetly

"Hey mom." Sam said, looking at the paper she had in front of her. Sawyer stared at their dynamic. It seemed like Sam was avoiding Brooke's gaze. Brooke frowned slightly, but smiled when she saw Sawyer, "Hey sweetie. Your mom wanted me to remind you about your medicine."

Sawyer nodded, "Thanks Aunt Brooke."

"No problem…hey Sam?"

Sam finally looked at her, "Yeah?"

Brooke paused, "…Could you come with me for a second?"

Sam shrugged and got off her bed following Brooke.

"Sam, I know things have been…well, awkward, between us since Tuesday but I just want what's best for you. I hope you're not mad."

Sam wanted to desperately tell Brooke that she just wanted to get to know Rebecca, that she wasn't a threat. That Brooke would always be her real mom. But she didn't want to open up another problem. So she just answered her instead,

"I'm fine mom. Thanks."

Brooke wasn't convinced, but she gave Sam a kiss on her forehead, "Alright. Julian and me are going to bed. Don't stay up too late. No boys, including Jack Samantha. I'm serious."

Sam rolled her eyes, "I know mom."

She kissed Brooke on the cheek and went back with Sawyer.

"What was that about?" Sawyer asked

"It doesn't matter. Come on you have to get ready."

Sawyer stared at Sam, "Are you not gonna dress up?"

Sam laughed, "Are you serious dude? Why would I dress up for some prissy cheerleading party? Give me a break."

"Whatever. Fine."

Sawyer and Sam snuck out through Sam's window. They walked to one of Sawyer's friend's house, which was nearby, and from there they got a ride to the party.

At the party, they were greeted by loud music and an over abundance of beer. Sam's suspicions were right. She felt Sawyer tense next to her.

She whispered to her, "Soy. Don't do anything stupid. Let's stick together."

Sawyer was going to respond, but some of the other freshmen cheerleaders came up to them,

"Hey Soy! Come on we're about to start a game." They looked at Sam and grimaced, "Who invited her?" They said with disdain.

Sawyer garnered up her courage, "umm I did. She's my cousin." She said not too confidently.

Sam just smirked at them, "Listen, Thing 1 and Thing 2, I could care less what you think about me…come on Sawyer."

Sawyer pulled away from Sam, "Umm, you go ahead. I think I'm gonna go with them." She let the two girls pull her away, "Don't worry Sam!" she yelled as they left.

Sam just stood there in disbelief, 'Shit. We're so screwed.' She thought. She attempted to follow them but was stopped by one of the seniors, "Sorry freshie, this game is only for the cheerleaders, you can wait with all the other plus ones in the living room."

'That girl was drunk. It's a drinking game. Sawyer's going to get drunk. We're fucking dead.' Sam thought to herself.

Sam sat on the couch and pulled out her phone. She was tempted to call Brooke, but almost laughed at how stupid that would've been. She decided to text Jack.

Jack I'm at a party with Sawyer. She's getting drunk. I need you to come.

Anxiously she waited for his text. Faithfully he replied in a span of two minutes.

That stupid initiation party? I'm on my way.

Sam felt relieved. But she had to wait for him to catch the bus and skate to the house. It took him 30 minutes to finally get there.

He walked in and found Sam.

"Sam!" He called to her. She jumped up from the couch and went to him. He kissed her and she held onto him, not wanting to let go.

"I missed you Jack." She said to him longingly

"I missed you too Sammy." He said as he let her go. "Let's get Sawyer and get out of here."

Sam led him to the kitchen where a jock stopped them this time. "Sorry rejects. Just for cheerleaders and jocks. Wait over there." He said pointing to the couch. Jack clenched his fists, "Can you at least let us get one of the girls from in there."

He chugged his beer, "Which one?" He asked brusquely.

Jack didn't want to breathe in the liquor and neither did Sam, it reminded them of all the drunk foster dads they had. She grabbed onto his hand.

Jack answered him, "It's Sawyer. She's a freshman."

He went in and yelled, "Yo Sawyer, your mommy and daddy are waiting for you."

Jack whispered to Sam, "That guy's drunk off his ass. Reminds me of Randy."

Sam chuckled softly, "Except he doesn't have a belt to beat us with."

Jack smiled and laughed, "That's a good thing."

They had a way of coping with their problems and jokes were one of them.

Sawyer finally came out. She wasn't as drunk as the jock, but she wasn't in the best shape either. She was a little bit more than tipsy.

Sawyer smiled widely, "I'm fine guys. Let me stay Sammy please, please, pwetty please. I love all of you guys. You're both so swwweeeetttt." Her slurred words weren't helping her case.

Sam grabbed onto Sawyer before she fell, "Sawyer come on. We're leaving now."

As they waited at the Bus stop, Sawyer seemed to have sobered up slightly.

"Sammy!" she yelled, making both of them jump

"What's up Soy?" She said annoyed at her.

"What if my parents find out? I'm drunk, they're gonna kill me Sammy! What do I do?! I'm in so much trouble."

Sawyer started sobbing. Sam tensed and she thought for a moment trying to figure out how to lessen the blow for Sawyer.

"If they find out, we'll tell them it was my idea. I persuaded you to come with me to this party and I wasn't paying attention, and you ended up drinking some spiked drinks." Sam said.

Both Sawyer and Jack looked at her, "Wait. Are you serious?" Jack asked her incredulously.

Sam shrugged, "Yeah. I'm serious. I'm the crazier one, they probably expect this from me, more than from Sawyer. I mean, first we have to get caught anyways. And if we do, then at least it won't be that bad for Sawyer."

Sawyer threw her arms around Sam, "Thank you so much Sam! You're a life saver!"

Sam weakly smiled trying to be strong for Sawyer, "No problem."

When they finally got back to Sam's house it was almost 3:30 in the morning. Sam made Jack leave by the time they reached her house, just in case anything happened. He kissed her and left.

Sam had got to the window, but couldn't open it.

"Damn it. I thought I left it open."

Quietly they went to the front door and opened it ever so gently. Unfortunately when they opened the door they were greeted by everyone. Brooke, Julian, Lucas, and Peyton were all there.

Sam stopped dead almost dropping her keys. She said nothing.

Sawyer fixed her dress and tried to act as normal as possible, "umm Hi mommy. Hi daddy."

Please Review Guys! The more you guys write, the more I write lol :p . I hope you like what's going on so far. Tell me what you think! Or if you have suggestions and/or complaints, feel free to tell me.