A/N: I AM BACK! After a week of vaca, my brain hasn't yet exploded with the thousands of ideas bouncing around in there. I wrote the things that I wanted to write in my notepad on my fone. So here's one that I've had for awhile. And I noticed there's not much Julie in my stories so hope u like her in this one. She's hard to write because she's hardly in any episodes and too preppy/girly for my liking. Gwen's naturally easier, being a tomboy and all. So srry out there to all the Julie lovers! U won't see much of her here!

Remember, I have no knowledge of tennis. Don't flame if I say stuff wrong, tennis ppl!

Credit due to my sister for helping me sorta perfect this one. Notice the SORTA right there. She just thought it was hilarious so I'm writing it out now.

She looked up as the fluffy bunny-shaped clouds floated across the crystal blue sky, nothing to do but float and rain on people's parades in other towns. It was a perfect day to end a perfect match. Another win. Nothing new to that. That was her life in a nutshell. And the occasional alien, courtesy of her newly found friends.

It kind of depended on the day.

Her short jet-black hair fell into her eyes and she gently brushed it out of the way once again. If her hair was long like Gwen's, it would be about twenty times harder to play tennis. Maybe thirty...

The schedule for the rest of her day was practically non-existent. Nothing to do but relax and wait and chill for a while. A rare thing.

Julie pulled on her pastel pink jacket before grabbing her tennis bag off the bench beside her. Her muddy brown eyes flickered up as she saw that none of her usual crowd was around. All the team had left earlier while she waited for her boyfriend to pick her up with the rest of his team. Ben was almost always there, waiting for her with Kevin and Gwen still sitting in the car.

And yet the car was there. She could see the green hood out of her peripheral vision with the black racing stripes straight down the center.

So where was Ben?

Not like the weather was bad. No rain or anything. Then there would be a logical reason for him to wait in the car. On a good day with the sun shining? No excuses. He should've been there to see the entire match and cheer her on from the sidelines. Not once did she hear his voice. She'd assumed he wasn't there.

But the car…

Kevin obviously wouldn't just come out of nowhere to pick her up. He's Kevin. The guy's got better things to do than tow around the girlfriend of probably his second or third worst nightmare. In the history of probably his millions of nightmares. She'd heard enough about his past to get it. Sort of.

The car… Why was it there?

And where the heck was Ben?!

Last time Julie checked, Gwen couldn't drive. Or get anywhere near the driver's seat of the car to even borrow it. Like the owner would ever let that happen. He was dumb, but not that dumb. And she would never have the guts to steal his car anyways.

Something wasn't quite right.

A dog was barking at the fields across from the courts. Probably that kid that always let it run loose whenever he decided to. Some joggers were lingering around, iPods out and everything. Not much activity. At least one of Ben's hands wasn't walking around anymore… Julie shivered at the thought. Her life was much weirder now since the Tennyson cousins and Levin had come into it.

Without even getting closer than ten feet, she could tell something was going on inside the vehicle that was parked innocently across the street from where she stood, tennis bag over her shoulder. Something that wasn't quite normal for the team.

Well, other than the fact of aliens and planetary wars. So on, so forth.

Pulling open the car door, she slid carefully into the back seat behind her boyfriend who was focused on something in his hands and scattered on the console of Kevin's car. She deliberately bumped into him to make sure he knew she was there. "What's up?" Julie asked curiously, peering over his green-jacketed shoulder to see what was so important that he'd ignore her.

"More like what's down? Or sideways or around or whatever. Turn your head and it's all upside down anymore. Pretty confusing," Ben remarked quickly without thinking, barely phased when Julie waved her hand in front of his face. His green gaze was intensely focused on his hand. He had barely acknowledged her existence as she had gotten in.

"Ben-" the Asian American started, her voice sounding baffled, but was silenced when the redhead in the passenger seat shushed her.

Julie sat there, stone still. Her brown eyes finally flicked over to Kevin who was also staring intently at the items on the console and in his hand. His dark gaze was determined more than anything else. Something was so close, but just out of his grasp.

"Guys-"

For the second time, Gwen hushed her.

Ben opened his mouth for a moment before closing it again.

The tension in the small, enclosed space was thick enough to cut with a knife. (Although if there was a choice of a knife or a laser lance, they all knew which would be chosen.) Stress was getting to them all at that point. Even the Asian American who didn't understand any of it. Julie wasn't sure she could handle the confusion much longer. She stared at the trio before her, wanting answers desperately.

It stretched on. Minutes passed before the silence was broken by one of the boys. The brunette in the backseat was finally ready. He stared at Kevin, a quiet force in his eyes.

Again, Ben opened his mouth and spoke six simple words, slowly and deliberately, that explained it all to the girl beside him.

"Kevin, do you have any fives?"

The dark teen in the driver's seat gave his friend a smug grin of victory before replying coldly with the two deadly words Ben hadn't wanted to hear.

"Go. Fish."

A/N: no specific reason why they were playing Go Fish, but I thought it'd be hysterical!!!!! And it really was for me. I was laughing while writing it. My mom looks over at me and asks me why I'm smiling. It's too complicated to answer her… I read it to my sister and she was laughing so hard she nearly fell out of her chair. Obviously a good sign for readers. Thankzzzz!!! R&R! Hope you liked it! Bi!

~Sky

2nd A/N: Before the editing this, I played the basketball game of my life only 2 lose by one measly basket. My dad screwed my team. We lost five seconds when he was running the clock… pizzed and hoping for another game against those loserz next week… srry. Needed 2 vent my anger somewhere and this was the only place I could think of in twenty seconds! Definite bi now. R&R!

~Yet Again, Sky