How many times did I rewrite this? Its been what three weeks since a update? WHY HAVN'T YOU GUYS TOSSED STONES AT ME YET? By the way, thanks for not doing that. Also I wasn't really down about anything, I was just lazy, as usual, which I hate. But I'm going to, and not trying but actually going to finish all unfinished stories, my goal, in two weeks. I want to upload new stuff by Christmas time, and lots of it. You guys are my motivation for this. For those celebrating other holidays, or maybe nothing at all, happy everything, even life.

"So, what do you think she's up to?" I asked Harper as we sat side by side in my parent's backyard, overlooking the pool. Alex was on the other side staring at her phone.

"Not too sure, but whatever it is, its for Claire."

"I don't see the problem, Alex and I are happy, Mackenzie and Claire failed."

"But to Alex it must hurt to trust someone only to have them stab you in the back," Harper sighed, facing me as I cradled my legs. "Its not that she wants revenge, she just wants Claire to know her place, and I don't blame her."

Both my parents were working on the yard out front, while my dad on occasions packed things into my truck. The day was barley starting and I felt a bit out of place in my own, old, backyard.

"Do you remember when you and Alex would refuse to tell me who's house you were playing at?" Harper laughed at her own words as I nodded. Although Alex and I love Harper to death, we made a habit of excluding the girl from most of our plans. We didn't see anything wrong with it when we were twelve, but as time progressed, I guess I can see how we've become so inseparable.

"Should I tell Alex Claire called my phone?"

"What, how?" Harper's eyes grew wide as I tossed my hands into the air.

"My big dumb brother-in-law Justin gave her my number at the party."

"Well that was stupid of him. But I must take his side, I love him too much."

"Oh Harper," I leaned against the girl's shoulder as we both giggled. Alex began walking over to us as I covered my eyes, still laying against the girl to my right.

"I figured it out. If Claire wants to play hardball, we'll play hardball." Alex's voice was shaky, but I refused to remove my hands.

"Well Mitchie here has something to help you," Harper moved her shoulder as I finally sat up, staring at her before facing Alex.

"What do you have?"

"Charm," I smiled, winking before Alex sighed. "Kidding, Claire called my phone."

"What? When? Why didn't I know about this?"

"Its Justin's fault," I quickly answered as Harper gasped.

"My future husband didn't know any better, so we plead the fifth."

"This isn't a trial," I informed the brunette as we both giggled as Alex sat in between Harper and I. We were sitting on a large patio chair, custom made for my dad's lazy days.

"Whatever the case I want to talk to Claire as a civilized person," Alex extended her hand to me as I rose my eyebrow.

"You? Civil? Sure."

"Phone," she sort of demanded.

"I left it at the house. I mean after Justin handed it to me I kind of put it down." I watched as Alex nodded, before she moved away, and trailed back to the other side of the pool.

"So," Harper stretched.

"Yeah?"

"We should get you and Alex a pool in your backyard."

"Oh that would be so cool. I could see what my dad could do," I was basically jumping for joy inside of my head, as Alex disappeared inside the house.

"Maybe we should take Claire and Mackenzie hitting on you seriously."

"Why?" I asked, brushing my bangs out of my face. As of today my light brown roots began showing through the black dye.

"Wouldn't you be mad if someone was flirting with Alex?"

"Yes. And someone was, but…I got over it."

"So you want Alex to get over it?"

"No," I shook my head, "I mean yes. I get that what these two girls did was wrong, but Alex and I pushed through all of it. A little pain, and a ton of gain," I smiled, exposing my teeth as Harper tried to size me up. "Fine. I'll take this a bit seriously but…if I do… things will just go back to the days of the class trip. Fighting, arguing, and the both of us always end up getting hurt, me more physical then anything."

"I still don't know what happened between you two during those days."

"And you don't want to know, but one thing is for sure, I'm not letting myself get that low ever again." I stood onto the now hot pavement as Harper did the same. Alex was no where in sight, and I was getting thirsty.

"Just tell me one thing," Harper faced me.

"Okay," I nodded.

"Even if Claire and Mackenzie tried breaking you two up, before that, what was really the problem between you and Alex?"

I froze where I was. I never wanted to think about it, although I knew why completely, and neither Alex nor I spoke about it. Michelle wasn't even the cause of it. I gazed at the clear blue pool water, wondering how amazing it must feel to just dive straight into it.

"Alex and I saw things differently," I sighed, lifting my head, "she wanted to protect me, from everything," I put emphases on the end, "although I appreciate her to the fullest, I'm still the girl that likes to play games every once in a while. Alex hates it. That I know for a fact. She loves me in every way, and everything about me, but when it comes down to it, the further she comes in, the further I push her away…or I use to. I was always the girl Alex chased after, and then when she caught me, then what? I don't think either one of us were ready to be the winner, so…I refused to let Alex protect me. And I guess I pushed my limits during the class trip and I knew it, but…usually Alex would protect me from falling hard…but she didn't, she let me fall. And I wasn't use to it."

"What?" Harper was confused, and I wanted to keep it that way, but the look in her eyes showed me she cared.

"Alex and I grew up as either the catcher or the runner. I was the runner, and Alex was the chaser, Always. But…during the class trip, I forced myself to become the chaser…everything I did, it was to make Alex and I closer. I forced us into some situations that she doesn't even know about…that…," I quickly closed my mouth before trailing towards my back door.

"That what? Come on now, who stops in the middle of a sentence? Or an explanation for that matter?"

"Harper," I slid my house doors open, listening for Alex while keeping an open eye out on the girl behind me. "Some things are better left unsaid."

"Says who?"

"Says me." I faced her, taking note of her facial expression before she crossed her arms.

"Is there something I should know? Because as your friend and Alex's best friend, I think I should try to protect the both of you from each other."

Now I was the one getting confused from the conversation. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Is there something that you did that Alex doesn't know about?"

"Why, so you can run and tell her?" I asked, moving away from the girl in search of the brunette mentioned.

"No," once we both spotted Alex we parted and went opposite directions around the couch. I sat on the arm of the furniture looking down on Alex as Harper slid over next to her.

"What is it?" Alex asked, her voice tired.

"Nothing," I slid my arm across her neck before leaning against her head.

Any Luck?" Harper spoke up before Alex shook her head.

"Good." I sat up saying, "we can move on with our lives and leave Claire alone right?"

"I need to do something to make her get the point across." Alex stood as I sighed.

"Or…we can just move on."

"Or," Alex began, " I can make sure she never messes with us again."

"How, by killing her?" I watched as Alex rose her eyebrow. "I was joking."

"Note taken." And once again, Alex left the room.

"So," I fell next to Harper, before laying my head in her lap. "We have to do something about Alex."

"Like?" The brunette asked, sliding her fingers through the top of my hair.

"I don't know. I have to clear her mind, I mean that's the easy part with me… but we have to do something about Claire, before Alex does."

"Well considering that I want the both of you happy." She stopped and tapped my cheek, "I'll handle Claire."

"But how do.."

"Trust me. The girl likes everyone. We'll just advert her attention."

"To what?" I sat up as Harper sighed.

"Its not like I've never been stalked before."

"Um Harper. You're the stalker, not the stalked."

"Excuse you," she pushed her fingers into my arm before laughing, "I happen to be very sought after. Its just that I prefer Justin over all others."

"I know what we can do," I smiled, standing up before walking over to see if Alex was nearby. She wasn't. "Where did she go?"

"Alex?"

"Yeah." I moved into the dining room, followed by the kitchen, and couldn't see her anywhere, not even outside. Then I just back tracked and made it up the stairs to my room, although I didn't see her nor hear her.

"Alex!" I peeked into my room but she wasn't there. "Alex where are you," I stumped making it back to Harper who was now at the front door.

"She's out front with your mom and dad."

"Oh."

"But be quiet. I think they're talking about something."

"And you're being nosy," I slid the girl over, trying to gaze out of the peephole. Alex was explaining something to my dad as he nodded, before my mom held up her hand and spoke.

"What do you think she's saying?" I whispered as Harper shrugged.

"She might be saying, lets all agree to force Harper and Justin into an arranged marriage."

"You're weird do you know that?"

"Yeah. It's a quality of mine."

Once I spotted Alex walking back towards the house I ran into the living room, knocking into my own table and hitting my knee against the couch.

"OW," I whined, falling face first against the fabric. I had totally forgot that just a few days ago my leg was in pain and now hitting it brought back memories.

"Mitch are you ready to leave yet?" I heard Alex from somewhere nearby but I was still trying to get over the pain in my knee.

"I think she's sleep." Harper joked.

"I'm not sleep." I muffled into the couch, gritting my teeth trying to forget my pain.

"So are you ready to go?"

I flipped over onto my back, slowly raising my knee before Alex tilted her head and Harper covered her eyes.

"Is it red?" I asked, as Alex nodded.

"That's nice," Harper mumbled, "now pull your skirt down."

"I'm dying over here and you're telling me to pull my clothes down. Pervert," I tried giggling as the front door reopened and Alex ran over to me, lifting on my skirt before blocking someone's view. I was in too much pain to care which of my parents it was.

"What's going on?" My mom asked, tossing her dirty garden gloves onto the table next to me. And soon she saw me in my current state as Alex held onto my skirt tighter. "Do I want to know?" I heard my mom once more.

"Not really." Harper spoke up.

"Mitchie," my mom's eyes met mine.

"I'm destroying my knee, that's all," I hissed, trying not to speak much as the throbbing began subsiding.

"Okay. I didn't think that…" she faced Harper, " but there's a lot of things I don't know." My mom walked into the kitchen as I hit Alex's fingers away, a bit harshly unintentionally, as I sat up.

"What was your mom thinking?" Harper asked.

"Lets just go. I don't think any of us want to know."

Alex poked my knee before I swatted at her again, as she helped me stand. My knee was now a bright red color. Once outside my dad was cleaning up whatever him and my mom were doing. I limped over to the car, still holding onto Alex before I slid into the back seat.

"Yay, shotgun," Harper squealed, climbing into the truck.

"Um. Mitchie I have something I want to give you. But I'll just see you when you get back, maybe tomorrow." I nodded at my dad's words before poking my knee.

"Harper, do you think I need to see a doctor?"

"No. Its just a sore knee."

"I hope so. Because I think Alex is a horrible doctor," I watched as my girlfriend climbed into the driver's seat as I pointed her to the keys above her head.

"M.D," the brunette claimed.

"Most deadly," I informed her.

….. … ….. …. …. ….. ….. … …. … ….

I fell to sleep? I don't even remember that. The house was quiet except for Roger's low breathing as he slept on the couch next to me and Coco's squeaking toy. I felt better but where was Harper and Alex. I saw my phone lighting up on the floor. I didn't recall bringing it downstairs. God, what was I drinking or something. I shook my head before I lifted Roger into my arms and made my way to my phone, lifting it before reading the current message.

'Taking Harper Home' – Alex

Well that cleared that up. I placed Roger onto the floor as Coco barked at me. I only nodded, making it into the kitchen to feed her when I noticed a box sitting on the counter. It was small, a bit bigger then the box my ring came in. I rose the velvet into my hands, stroking the sides before lifting the top. A bracelet sat engraved in it but before I could stare at it a knock came to the front door. Coco charged for the frame as I made it towards her.

"Calm down, calm down, its just the door." The shadow from the other side seemed to be Justin's. I knew his profile anywhere, nerd, as Alex calmed him. I unlocked a few things as the boy waved to me.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Picking up something." He trailed past me.

"Ooo-kay, come in." I watched as he made it into the kitchen, grabbing the box I just had. "Justin who's that for?"

"This? No one."

"Liar," I guarded the door as he made it back to me.

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are. Who's it for?"

"No one."

"Liar," I said again as he sighed.

"Its for no one, trust me."

"Is it for you?" I joked as he narrowed his eyes, sliding my arm over before I let him pass. Then it hit me, I fell to sleep when I walked into the house earlier, meeting Justin outside and letting him in.

"Coco, wanna walk?" I asked the puppy as she barked. "Shall we take Roger?" She barked once more as I tapped my legs for the puppy to follow.

…. … … … … …. …. ….. ….

Alex's P.O.V

"Just do it Alex," Harper was sitting next to me in Mitchie's truck as I nodded.

"I guess so."

"No, you're going to do it, and you're going to like it."

"Says you."

"Trust me, in three weeks she'll be gone and you won't have any more worries. I promise." Harper leaned into me, hugging me tightly as I nodded before she faced her house. "You're the strongest person I know Alex. No one can bring you down, so lets not change that okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded before she crawled from the car. Once I was sure I was alone I had to tell Mitchie our plane. I quickly dialed her number before backing out of the driveway, and placing her on speaker.

"Alex?"

"Yeah, I have a proposition for you."

"Purpose away."

"How about for the next few weeks we give Justin our house to watch and we can take a vacation."

"What?" She asked, not really in a worried tone.

"Claire is going into her senior year in high school, like we're suppose to be but remember we have early acceptances and…"

"About that.."

"So I was thinking."

"Alex!" Mitchie caught my attention as I sighed.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking, we should finish our senior year."

"But I thought our whole reason for not finishing high school was because we would still get diplomas and early acceptances into the school of our choices."

"Listen to me please," Mitchie was pleading and I could hear it.

"Okay." I nodded, not really wanting to change this master plan Harper and I had. Mitchie and I would be better off staying at the summer house my parents have until Claire goes to school and Harper was going to find her some new friends, I.E the old cheer squad to hang out with. It was planned out perfectly.

"We should finish school. I want to go to prom, with you, and I want to complete being a kid before we go into the real world completely. We have our own house, we're engaged, and I have a contact that I've wanted since birth basically. I want to finish school, before we have to worry about anything else. Please."

I was nearing the house as I thought about it. Mitchie and I didn't want to bring up the entire subject of separating to go to different schools, but if we passed up this entire early entrance thing who knows if we'd get accepted into the same schools again.

"Alex."

"Okay." I nodded as if she could see me. "It'll give us another year to figure out everything, but can we still do half of my plan?"

"What's that?"

"Harper and I thought it'd be a good idea if you and I stay at the summer house back at the beach. Until school starts."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean it was to get rid of Claire but…Harper can use herself as Claire bait."

"What?" Mitchie giggled, "Claire bait."

"We'll handle it when its time. So what do you say to the summer house?"

"Lets do it."

I parked outside, heading up to the house as I spotted Justin's car. I wondered what he was doing here. I made it back down the steps and over to his car before tapping his window. He jumped at the sight of me before I walked over trying to get into the car but there was a girl sitting there.

"Justin," I pointed to her. I didn't know who she was but he nodded and signaled me back over to his side.

"Alex this is April."

"Like the month, hi," I nodded at the girl as my brother caught onto my tone.

"She's plan B, and I know you're going to need her."

"Plan B?" I asked as he nodded.

"Harper and I spoke of Claire bait, and this bracelet and April are her new friends."

I was confused, did he just scoop up some girl and give her Claire duty?

"She's new to our school but she knows Claire. Trust me. She knows her. She'll take care of her."

"So what is she an ex or something?" I asked.

"You can say that," the blonde smiled, finally saying something. "But lets not talk like I'm not here."

"Justin. How do you know her?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"We met at the mall, when Mitchie and Conrad were doing that signing. Remember, she was the girl behind me?"

"No." I shook my head.

"Look, we have everything worked out okay, so go and enjoy Mitchie."

"Sounds kinky," I grinned.

"Gross, don't forget I'm your brother."

"Aw," I leaned in, kissing his forehead. "I won't." And soon I was back in route to the house. Once inside Mitchie was on the floor pulling a toy in front of Roger.

"Look guys, it's the girlfriend that likes hanging up the phone in the middle of a conversation."

"Sorry," I ran my fingers through Coco's fur before sitting next to Mitchie. "Maybe we should leave tomorrow and head to the beach."

"Sounds good to me."

"And Claire is taken care of as well."

"She is?"

"Yeah."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing," I shook my head, scooping up Roger before running my fingers through his fur. "Just know that this coming fall, when we go into our senior year, a lot of things are going to change with that girl."

"Oh. Should we pack now?"

"I guess so." I faced Coco, "get all of your toys, we're moving again, for a short while at least."

Guess what guys. Guess what you've done to me? You've suckered me into another sequel. Will this story ever end? But of course I have other things to finish before it starts, but I have done a kind of epilogue thing, just in case I want to make a final sequel. So just a little hint on the next sequel, it'll be Mitchie and Alex's senior year, not a lot of drama, I HOPE. As well as prom, basketball games, raffles, just normal high school stuff that I want to make extra cute. And guess who I'm making into a couple? You should know, but I won't say it. I do believe Conrad will be in the sequel but not Mackenzie, I'm tired of that chick. And no Claire problems, hopefully. But instead of telling you guys all of this, look for the sequel 'The Code of Charm.'

Now about the epilogue which may or may not be published, which I've started weeks ago is about ten years into the future. So I don't like stories with adults as the main focus, I don't know why, but I began with Roger and Mitchie and Alex and Coco and their three year old daughter who's name I forget ha-ha. Then they adopt this other kid but long story short, that story is freaking NUTS. I mean there is so much drama I stopped writing it, so not too sure if it'll ever be posted or not, it's not my cup of tea, but who knows.

To all my reviewers, I'll be thanking you in the next chapter, which may be the last for the Cruise. YOU ALL PUT SO MANY SMILES ON MY FACES, THAT THEY ALL SHOULD BE A CRIME.