Little Guy is my grandpa's best friend. Grandpa once said that he and Little Guy had to stick together because they were the only men in the house. Little Guy is probably my favorite dog in the whole wide world, he's soft, friendly and he knows all sorts of cool tricks. I wanted a dog of my own once but mom said we couldn't have one. Mr. Lee, our landlord, didn't allow animals in our building. When I asked her about moving to a new home that did allow us to have a dog she still said no, it turns out that Mr. Butthead's allergic to dogs and cats. Grownups can so boring and dramatic, expect for grandpa, he does the coolest things sometimes like make phones out of cups and string or make tents out in the backyard so we could go camping. Grandpa said first thing tomorrow we're going to go to the store to buy a tape recorder. He said no reporter is complete without one.

Maybe going to the store tomorrow will make my mom happier. She loves to go shopping, she says it therapeutic. It seems since we got into town, Mom's has been acting funny. I saw her earlier talking to grandma at the door and she seemed so not mom like, almost uncomfortable and sad. I knew she was talking about me, as a kid I've gotten use to always being talked about. It's what grownups do.

Sometimes I think Grownups kick me out of the room just so they can talk about new ways to torture me. Nothing good ever happens when you're asked to leave the room. One time when mommy was talking to an old lady who lived across the hall, they asked me to the leave the room. Then the very next day I had to get a shot from the doctor. Nothing good happens when the grownups need time to talk. In fact, I think it was a grownup who invented the cheek pinch. No decent kid I know would ever ask for one. My cheeks still feel like their being pulled on.

"I got to get going, I'll come by later in the week with the light bulbs." A man voice carried over the fence as he walked out of the house from next door. "Tell mom I said hi." The man tossed his keys up in the air and caught them as he whistled a tune. There was something about this man that made her smile. Something about him that just felt different. She had never seen this man before but she was curious.

Putting her note book to the side she stood up from her spot next to Little Guy and made her way over to the fence. Walking over to the small fence that divided the two properties she began to walk alongside him, watching him as he whistled and continued to toss his keys up in the air. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a hoodie, with a pair of faded jeans. His face was well defined and looked familiar to her in some way that she couldn't describe.

Over the small fence between them she couldn't really get a good look at him. He seemed really tall, taller than most of the grownups she knew. When the fence stopped she continued to walk beside him into the front yard where the properties joined. The man who had been so distracted by his keys raised a brow as he looked down at her, seeing her for the first time. His whistling stopped and while when he tossed the keys up again, they fell into the grass causing him to stop. Alex let out a giggle, as the man bent over to pick up his keys from the ground.

"Hello," he said slowly dragging out the word as he stood straight again and tucked the keys into his pocket.

"Hello."

The man smiled and rubbed the back of his neck looking around for anyone else. After another moment he let out a sigh and waved his hand as he began to walk towards the front again. Alex, not one to be dismissed that easily continued to follow him while staying inside the yard.

"Are you following me?" The man came to a stop on the sidewalk as he turned to face the little girl.

"No sir," Alex said politely as she placed her hands behind her back and took a step forward. "How do you know the Bolton's?" she asked examining him and measuring him up. From this angle she could sense the muscles in his arms and the way his stood a little straighter than other grownups. Instantly she two stood straighter and crossed hers arms over her chest as she waited for an answer.

The man stared down at her almost in a state of shock as he looked up at the house behind her and then back down at her. "I'm their son," he said matter of fact as he shifted his weight to his left. "How do you know the Montez's?" he asked pointing at her then at the house behind her.

"I'm their granddaughter. What's your name?" Alex pressed on as she watched the man in front of her as he watched her with wide eyes?

He tilted his head to the right as he took in her features for a long moment. "Your mom's name is Gabriella?"

"That's not how an interview works."

The man looked down at her and let out a laugh. "Yep," he said crossing his arms over his own chest. "You belong to her alright."

"Stop avoiding the question," Alex said letting her arms drop and then quickly bringing a small hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

That trait was so familiar to him he couldn't help but smile, he knew all too well where she learned it from. "My name is Troy. What's yours?" he said holding out a hand.

"Alexandra, but people call me Alex. Did you know my mother?" she said taking his hand in a firm handshake like her grandfather had once taught her.

"You ask a lot of questions, did you know that?" Troy said pulling back his hand.

"I want to be a reporter," she answered putting her hands in her pockets.

"Am I you're first interview?" he asked with a raised brow. This time it was Troy's turn to measure her up as he took in her Scooby doo sneakers, nubby knees and stained green shirt. She had a small smile with pale rose lips and skin the color of his coffee after he added four creams and two sugars. She was thin but healthy short but not short for her age. She had confidence and charisma, possible a fearless kind of behavior seeing as how she followed him from the backyard.

"I've never seen you before," she said after the moment of silence. "Reporters report on things they don't know."

"Well then how do they know how to report, if they don't know," Troy challenged.

"That's why they asked question," Alex shrugged her little shoulders her light brown hair shifting as result. "haven't you ever watched a news program before?" she said looking him in the eyes.

"How old are you?" he said.

"How old are you?" she responded.

"Old."

"Then I'm young."

"And very out spoken," Troy said with a growing smile. He liked her, he couldn't help it. He was officially a sucker for the Montez gene. "I'm looking forward to seeing you around Alex," Troy said taking out his keys and walking over to his car.

Alex watched as he sent her a wink and got into his car. His car was really nice, the kind of cars that grownups drove on TV. As soon as the car began to drive off she stepped onto the side walk to watch it drive down the road her eyes staying glue to it until it disappeared over the hill. Not waiting another second she ran to the back of the house, to her diary.

I don't think all grownups are that bad, this Troy guy claims to be the Bolton's son, but I've never seen him before. He's old too, probably the same age as my mom. Unless he's a really tall 8 year old. He drives a really cool car and he whistles a lot. I think I just found my first big story. Mom said reporters call idea's leads. I think I found my first real lead in Troy.

I'm going to write about him for my first big story. I have so much to do, I'll have to ask mom about him later since he knew her name. Unlike other grownups he looks like he's funny and nice. He didn't just call me a little kid and ask me to go play with my dolls. Doug always tell me to go play with my dolls. Maybe I can get him to play ball with me later. Maybe we could be friends. Could you imagine, I could be friends with a grownup!

I wonder if he's a teacher like my mom or retired like grandpa. I wonder if he has a kid like me or maybe he has a super cool wife? And how does he know who my mom? I mean if he lived next door wouldn't that mean they would have been friends or something? Maybe they were friends and they got into a fight? What if they dated like mom and Doug? Yuck, what if they kissed?

I'll never know how grownups could do that. It looked so nasty. Almost like their trying to eat each other's faces. Plus I'll never understand why anyone would want to spit in someone else is mouth. It's just plain gross!

Little Guy let out a bark as Alex groaned in disgust. "You've never kissed any girls right Little Guy?" Little guy let out another bark and Alex smiled as she put her notebook off to the side and reached out to scratch behind his ear. "Good boy, Little Guy, good boy."