The moment I heard the door open, I hid myself behind Alvin. I closed my eyes, expecting to hear something or someone that I didn't want to hear, especially since I was having a bad feeling about this, but to my absolute surprise, a woman's voice spoke up.

"Oh, hello there." She said.

I instantly opened my eyes and stepped behind Alvin to look at the woman. She looked to be in around her mid 40's. She had short light brown hair, that was almost close to a blonde colour, and was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. She looked at us with a smile but I could tell that she was confused to why 2 teens were suddenly at her door.

I felt my heart rate slow down and I gently sighed in relief. At least it wasn't some crazy old man, like I had thought.

The lady spoke up again and said, "May I help you?"

Alvin quickly glanced down at me before looking back at the lady. "Um, yeah. Sorry for barging in like this, but my girlfriend and I were just wondering if you could help us."

"Help? What do you need?" She asked.

"Our car broke down a week ago, and we've been lost our here in the woods ever since." Said Alvin.

"For a week?" She gasped. "Oh, you poor kids. Here, come inside."

I looked up at Alvin for a second. This lady did seem nice, but I still didn't trust her. For one, she's living in a house in the middle of the forest, and two, going inside a stranger's house doesn't seem like a very smart idea.

It was as if the lady had read my mind because she laughed softly and said, "Don't worry, I'm not a dangerous person."

I looked back at her and laughed nervously, feeling my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Oh, um, okay."

The lady stepped back and allowed Alvin and I to enter. I held onto Alvin's arm, not daring myself to let go. Once the lady closed the door behind her, I looked around the house. It was a nice, cozy little house. It looked like a house that Miss Miller would live in once my sisters and I moved out.

"You two must be exhausted." She said, gesturing us into a room, which soon came out to be the living room. "Here, have a seat. I'll be right back."

Once she exited the room, Alvin and I sat down on the couch. I looked up at Alvin.

He looked at me and said, "Well, she seems nice."

"So far." I muttered.

Alvin rolled his eyes. "Brittany, would you relax? I doubt that woman is gonna hurt us."

"But still! And besides, that's not what we're here for. When she comes back, ask her if we could borrow her phone." I said.

"You two must be starving if you've been out here for a week!" Said the lady when she came back. She had a plate of sandwiches in her hand and she set it on the table in front of us, along with two glasses of water.

"Thank you." I said, smiling up at her.

"Of course, but if I may ask, how did you two end up here in Castaic?" She asked.

I looked at her weirdly. "Castaic? You mean...we're not in Hollywood?"

"Oh, honey, no. Los Angeles is about an hour away from here." She answered.

I looked up at Alvin, then back at the woman. "An hour?"

She nodded. "I'm guessing you two are from Los Angeles?"

Alvin nodded. "Yeah, we are."

"And you two have been lost out here for a week? Oh my, your families must be worried to death!" She said.

"Yeah. Anyway, we were wondering if you had a phone we could borrow to call our families." Asked Alvin.

I looked at the lady, but then my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach when I saw her facial expression change. She sighed and said, "I hate to break it to you, but...I don't have a phone."

"You...don't?" I asked.

She shook her head. "My husband is the only one in this house who has a phone, but he won't be back for another 2 days."

I looked at Alvin again, frowning slightly. I turned back to the lady and said, "Do you know anybody else around here that owns a phone?"

She shook her head. "No. No one else lives around here except for my husband and I. And I'm sure you're wondering why we live out here in the middle of the woods, out of nowhere."

I laughed gently. "Well, kinda."

She smiled and said, "Well, my husband built this house a few years ago and we lived here ever since. It's quite peaceful compared to the typical Californian cities down south."

I nodded. Well, that explains it. At least I now know that she isn't some psychopathic weirdo.

"I'm so sorry, I wish I could help you two out." The lady sighed and looked at the two of us. "Look, I'd feel horrible if I sent you guys off without even helping, so if you'd like, you two can stay here for the time being until my husband comes back."

I looked back at her. "Oh, no, we really shouldn't."

"I insist. I would hate having the two of you spend another day in the woods." She said. "That is, if you two would like to stay here for the next 2 days until my husband comes home."

I sighed and looked up at Alvin. He shrugged and looked at the lady and said, "Well, if that's alright with you, then sure."

"My name is Lisa, by the way." She said.

"I'm Alvin, and this is my girlfriend Brittany." Alvin said.

I smiled at Lisa and said, "Hi."

Lisa smiled and nodded as she sat down on the couch across from us. "Hello, and please, make yourselves at home. But if I may ask, how exactly did you two end up in this part of California?"

Alvin and I began to tell her everything from the beginning from how we were on our way to a party, to the part where the car started to roll downhill, from the part where we had to spend the last 7 days away from humanity all the way from this morning, when we decided to look for help.

Lisa laughed lightly. "How old are you two, again?"

"18." I answered.

She smiled and said, "Well, I don't blame you. I remember doing those things when I was a teenager. I'm just glad none of you got hurt." Lisa said.

I was about to say something until a series of footsteps was heard coming from the other room, until a girl with long light brown hair stepped into the room. She was wearing dark jeans and a peach coloured top. Once she saw me and Alvin, she stopped.

"Mom?" She asked.

Lisa turned around. "Oh, Hayley. Come in here. We have some guests."

The girl, Hayley, looked at Alvin and I one more time before walking into the living room, and going to sit right beside Lisa.

Lisa turned to us and said, "This is my daughter, Hayley." Then she turned to Hayley and said, "Honey, this is Alvin and Brittany. They're just a year older than you. They got lost out here, so I'm letting them stay with us for a while."

Hayley turned to us and said, "Hello."

I gave her a gentle smile back and said, "Hi. Thanks for letting us into your home."

Hayley just nodded before turning back to her mom, before getting up and walking out of the living room. I frowned. Was it something I said? But then Lisa sighed and smiled apologetically to me and Alvin.

"Sorry about that. But Hayley isn't used to having people, especially people around her age, around the house." Lisa said.

"She doesn't have friends?" Alvin asked.

Lisa shook her head. "No. She's been homeschooled all her life."

"Homeschooled? How come?" I asked.

"Well, there aren't any school's around here, and we don't have the time to drive her back and forth to a public school, so my husband and I decided to homeschool her." Lisa answered.

"Oh. So what does she do in her spare time?" I asked.

"She usually reads. Since we don't own a computer, she mainly spends her time either reading, drawing or writing stories. She doesn't like staying indoors while she does it though. She's always outside in the backyard." Lisa said.

I mentally compared my life to Hayley's life. Here's me, Brittany Miller, captain of the cheerleading squad, with a loving family, supportive friends, a great school and everything. The world is in my hands. And here's Hayley, a 17 year old girl who has probably never hung out with a girl her age, who has probably never had a friend, even. To be honest, I felt really bad for her.

Lisa sighed again and smiled at us. "Anyway, I'm sure you two are dying to take a shower. Here, I'll show you where the bathroom is."

Lisa gave Alvin and I a quick tour around the house. But the thing I was looking forward to the most was the shower. It's been 7 whole freaking days since my last decent shower and though the baths I took in the spring were relaxing, I was dying to have a proper, hot and steaming shower.

Lisa also gave me a few of Hayley's clothes to borrow, and gave Alvin some of her husband's clothes (Although they were a little bit too big on Alvin), while she put our own clothes in with the laundry.

I took a shower first before Alvin, and gosh, it was amazing. It was a regular shower of course, but as someone who hasn't had a hot shower in 7 days, it felt incredible. The moment I stepped out of the shower, I instantly felt so clean, it wasn't even remotely surreal. After I changed into a new pair of clothes, Hayley's clothes actually, Alvin then took his shower.

It literally took me at least 10 minutes to dry and comb through my hair, but after my hair was all done, I walked into the kitchen to find Lisa cooking something on the stove.

Though it's barely been a day, I already appreciated what she did for me and Alvin. I mean, I don't think there would be a lot of people out there who would be willing for bring in 2 random teenagers into their homes, giving them food, clothes and everything else.

Lisa turned to me and smiled as she saw me walk in. "How was the shower?"

I smiled and said, "It was great. Thanks so much Lisa. Alvin and I really appreciate you doing this for us."

She smiled and nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't want anything bad happening to any of you. Now, dinner will be ready in a few minutes, okay?"

I raised my eyebrows slightly. Dinner? At 5pm? But I shrugged it off and asked, "Do you need help with anything?"

She smiled again but shook her head. "No, it's alright, dear. Thanks though."

I smiled and nodded before heading into the living room to wait for Alvin, but when I walked in, I found Hayley sitting on one of the couches with a book in her hands. I wanted to say something, but I didn't want her to feel intimidated or anything. I knew that if I were in her shoes, being someone who has probably never spoken to anyone besides her parents all her life, I wouldn't feel comfortable at all.

And I remembered what Lisa said. Hayley was never used to having people her age talk to her. And I mean, imagine if your own mom told you that 2 random teenagers would be living in your own house for a few days. But I didn't want her to feel awkward. This is her house, after all.

I walked into the living room and sat in one of the couches. "Hi Hayley."

Hayley looked up from her book and looked at me. "Oh. Hi."

I smiled. "I'm Brittany, by the way. Thanks for letting us stay in your house." Then I looked down, remembering that I was wearing her clothes. "And thanks for letting me borrow some of your clothes."

She smiled ever so faintly and said, "Your welcome."

I looked at the book she was reading and asked, "What are you reading?"

She held up the book to reveal the book cover. "Wurthering Heights."

Gosh, I hated that book.

"Oh. That's cool. Do you like to read a lot?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"And your mom said that you also like to write?" I asked her.

She nodded again.

"What else do you like to do?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Draw."

I sighed to myself. This was going nowhere. I was trying to be friendly with her, but she didn't exactly seem like a talker. But a few seconds later, to my surprise, she spoke up.

"Where are you from?" She asked me quietly.

I looked at her. "I'm from Los Angeles. Hollywood, to be exact."

"Hollywood? Wow. It must be nice." She said.

I didn't want to say 'yeah' because I didn't want to make her feel bad. I just shrugged and said, "It's alright."

"You must have a lot of friends too." Said Hayley.

"A few." I answered. Of course, I didn't want to say something like 'Yeah I have a ton of friends' because like I said, I already felt bad for this girl for living so isolated from the real world.

"What do you like to do?" She asked me.

"Well, I'm a cheerleader at school. Have you heard of cheerleading?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. You must be popular at your school."

Again, I didn't want to make Hayley feel bad so I said, "Not really, no. I also like to listen to music. Do you like music?"

Hayley shrugged. "I don't really listen to music."

"How about movies? Do you like movies?" I asked, hoping and praying that this conversation will get somewhere, because to be quite honest, this is getting a bit awkward. Hayley's answers are barely even 5 words long.

She shook her head. "We don't own a TV."

A few seconds of silence passed. I just wanted Alvin to hurry up and finish his shower and come back because this was getting weird. I was always use to having long conversations with a lot of people. I mean, I'm always talking to someone at school, on the phone, anywhere. I wasn't exactly use to having this little dialogue when I talk to people.

"How did you end up here?" Hayley asked.

I looked at her and lightly laughed. "Well, Alvin and I, we were driving to a school party last week. And, well, long story short, we were about to hit something and before we could, the car drove to the side, and ended up in the middle of the forest. And we've been stuck out here ever since."

"You guys own a car?" Hayley asked.

I sighed to myself. Though Hayley is 17, just a year younger than Alvin and I, she's been living differently than the rest of us typical American teens. But I shrugged and said, "Well, not anymore. After our accident, it's now completely messed up."

She laughed silently but before any of us could say anything else, we heard footsteps behind us. I turned around and saw Alvin walk into the living room. His hair was still wet, and jeez, he looked so good. He smiled at me as he sat down beside me.

He turned to Hayley and said, "Hi Hayley. I'm Alvin."

Hayley smiled at him. "Hi."

Alvin turned to me and said, "Was I interrupting your guys' chat?"

I smiled and said, "No. I was just telling her about how we ended up in the woods."

Alvin laughed softly before turning back to Hayley. "Were those your paintings that are up on the walls by the bathroom?"

Hayley nodded. "Yeah, they are."

"Wow. I'm impressed. They're really good." Alvin said.

"Thanks. But how did you know that they're mine?" Hayley asked softly.

Alvin shrugged. "Lucky guess." He said, and smiled. "Anyway, thanks for letting us stay here."

Hayley smiled and nodded. "Of course."

For some reason, I didn't like the way Hayley smiled at Alvin, but I guess that was just a natural reaction for a girl whenever they see another girl smile at their boyfriend.

Moments later, Lisa called us all in for dinner. We sat around a rectangle shaped table as Lisa placed a few delicious-smelling dishes in the middle. Gosh, it's been so long since my last decent meal, and I was starving.

Halfway through dinner, Lisa spoke up.

"So, Alvin, Brittany, what do you guys do at school?" Lisa asked.

"Well, Brittany's a cheerleader, and I'm on the football team." Alvin said.

"Really? Wow." Said Lisa. "Well, you two must live very glamorous lives, being from Los Angeles and all."

Alvin laughed softly and shrugged. "Me, not really. But Brittany's a different story."

I tried my best not to roll my eyes, but I forced a small laugh. "No, he's exaggerating."

Lisa laughed and turned to her daughter. "Hayley, maybe tomorrow you can show Alvin and Brittany some of your paintings and drawings."

"I saw the paintings by the bathroom." Alvin said, turning to Hayley. "You're really talented."

What. The. Hell. You have no idea how much I want to kick Alvin right now, but I guess it was just my jealously kicking in. I do get jealous really easily, and besides, Alvin is only being polite, right?

"Thank you." Hayley said.

"What do you usually like to draw?" Alvin asked her.

Hayley shrugged. "I like to draw whatever I see outside. Birds, trees, the sunset, anything."

"Well, I'm sure you're pretty good at it." Alvin said.

Hayley smiled and said, "Wanna see one of them right now?"

"Why not?" Alvin said.

I looked at Hayley weirdly. This definitely was not the quiet girl I was talking to just a few minutes ago. I watched as she got up and left the dining room, but she came back a minute later with a sketch book in her hands. She flipped to a page and showed us a sketch of a lake and trees, and to be honest, it was amazing.

"Wow. You're good." Alvin said, before looking over at me. "Britt, maybe you should get some drawing lessons from Hayley."

I looked up at him, suddenly feeling heat go to my cheeks. What the hell? Why would he suggest something as stupid as that?

But I forced a smiled and looked at Hayley. "Yeah. You're a great drawer, Hayley."

She smiled as she set her sketch book down on the floor as she sat back down in her chair, but she was smiling at Alvin. "Thanks."

I tried my best to ignore the fact that Hayley was literally flirting with Alvin, right in front of my face, and looked at Lisa and said, "So, Lisa, what does your husband do?"

"Oh, he works in a wood mill company. He helps cut down wood and ships it all over the country." Lisa said.

"Wow, that's cool. Is that why he's not here?" I asked.

Lisa nodded. "Yes. He ships the wood for one week, every month."

"My dad taught me how to carve small animals out of wood when I was younger." Hayley said.

I looked at her, and I could definitely tell that she was talking to Alvin - and only Alvin.

"Really?" Alvin said.

Hayley nodded. "I can show you tomorrow if you'd like."

Okay. That is the last straw.

Alvin smiled and said, "That'd be-"

"Lisa, the potato salad is really good." I said, almost abruptly, before Alvin could answer Hayley's question.

Lisa smiled. "Thank you, Brittany. It was my mother's recipe."

Right after dinner, Lisa said that it was usually Hayley's time to do homework. Alvin and I were still in the kitchen. I watched as Hayley sat down on the couch with a bunch of notebooks in her hand, before Lisa quietly spoke up behind Alvin and I.

"I'm going to get the laundry in the other room, so can you keep an eye on Hayley for me? Sometimes she struggles with her homework, especially with math and science." Lisa said.

"Don't worry about it. Brittany and I will help out if she needs it." Alvin said.

Lisa smiled and said, "Thank you so much. I'll return shortly." And seconds later, Lisa disappeared into the other room.

Um, excuse me, but I did not agree to this. I'm not gonna help Hayley with her homework. This is making it seem that I was going to babysit her or something! And plus, why is Alvin being all helpful all of a sudden?

The moment Lisa left the room, Alvin turned to me and sighed. "Britt, what's wrong?"

I looked up at him and glared at him. "Nothing's wrong." I spat.

"You were acting really weird during dinner." He said.

I felt my hands clench into a fist, my nails were digging into my palms. "No I wasn't."

But before Alvin could answer, Hayley called from the living room. "Alvin? Brittany? Can you guys help me?"

I glared at Alvin. "Well, go on. She's calling for you." I said bitterly.

"She's calling for you too." He said.

"Only because she knows that I'm here and listening." I muttered.

Alvin rolled his eyes before grabbing me by the hand and pulling us both into the living room.

"What's up?" Alvin asked.

"I need help on my biology homework." Hayley said.

I tried so hard not to roll my eyes. Puh-leez. She probably doesn't even need help. She probably just wanted to talk to Alvin and flirt with him, like she did at dinner.

And I was right. I spent the next 25 minutes or so watching as Alvin had to explain the theory of evolution and different kingdoms and phylums to Hayley over and over because she 'didn't understand'. Okay, first of all, Alvin hates science, so why the hell was he explaining this? And two, the two of them acted like I wasn't even there.

I just sat here, watching bitterly. Minutes later, when Hayley finally finished her damn homework, she just started to talk and talk and talk, only to Alvin, not even acknowledging the fact that I was here.

I sighed in relief when Lisa came back. "Are you done with your homework, Hayley?"

Hayley nodded. "Yes."

"Alright then. It's time for bed." Lisa said.

Hayley nodded as she got up. "Goodnight guys." She said to us, but again, I knew she was only saying it to Alvin.

Alvin and I said goodnight to her back, although I could sense the bitterness in my own tone, before Hayley finally disappeared into her own room. I found it weird how she still had a bedtime, since she was 17 and all, but I guess being raised out here in a house in a forest was different than a typical teenager.

"Thanks so much for helping her." Lisa said to us. "Now as for where you two will be sleeping, well, I only have one more extra bedroom in this house. You two don't mind sharing a room, do you?"

Alvin shook his head. "No, we're fine with it."

Lisa nodded her head. "Alright. You two are free to go to sleep whenever you'd like, but your room is on the left, the first door down, okay?"

I nodded my head and smiled. "I guess I'm gonna go to bed right now. Thanks so much for everything, Lisa."

She smiled and nodded. "Of course. Now get some rest. I'm sure you two need lots of it."

Alvin and I said goodnight to her before heading off into the spare bedroom that we'll be sleeping in. It had a bed, with two drawers, a lamp. It wasn't so bad, at least I'll finally have something better than a car to sleep in. After Alvin and I brushed our teeth and all that, I instantly climbed into bed and covered myself with a blanket.

I was pissed.

I heard Alvin sigh as he got onto the bed with me. "Brittany..."

"Goodnight." I snapped.

He sighed deeply as he got under the covers and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Brittany, listen-"

"I said goodnight, Alvin." I said.

"Britt, I was only being nice to her." He said.

I sat up and glared at him. Alvin rolled his eyes and sat up, sighing deeply in frustration.

"Alvin, I'm not blind. I saw the way Hayley was flirting with you. And it seemed like you were flirting with her back." I said, between clenched teeth.

Alvin rolled his eyes and groaned. "That wasn't flirting, Brittany. That was called being nice."

I scoffed. "Sure it was. Then explain to me why the hell you were helping her with biology. You hate science!"

"Just because I hate it, doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. I do pay attention in school sometimes, Britt." Alvin said.

"But that's not the point here, Alvin." I fired. "And plus, sometimes you act like I'm not even there!"

"Brittany, we're staying in her house. Being nice is the least we can do. And besides, you heard what Lisa said. Hayley doesn't have much friends, especially ones her age. I was only trying to be friendly." Alvin said.

"And so was I, until I realized that she can't keep her eyes off you." I snapped.

Alvin sighed and tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. "Look, I know that she's trying to...flirt with me, but what can I do? Her family is nice enough to let us stay in their house. I can't be rude to her and ignore her, especially since they're helping not only me, but you."

"Yeah, but she's flirting with you in front of me!" I fired. "Ugh, and to think, I actually felt bad for her."

Alvin sighed. "Look, it's only for 2 more days. And then we'll be back at home, and you and me can have as much time together as we want, okay?"

As much as I'm grateful for having Lisa and Hayley let us stay in their house, I was not looking forward for the next 2 days, especially with Hayley, being all over Alvin like that.

I just rolled my eyes. I didn't say a single word as I laid down on the bed, facing away from Alvin, and covered myself with the blanket and closed my eyes.

I heard Alvin sigh as I felt him lay back down on the bed. He switched the lamp off and said, "I love you."

I knew that I was jealous, and I knew that my jealously was taking over me because tonight, I didn't even say 'I love you' back.

So, do you guys think that Brittany is overreacting or is she right?

And what do you think of Hayley?

Thanks for reading, everyone!

PLEASE REVIEW :D