Thanks again all for the reviews and comments. As always, they are highly appreciated. Now, this chapter is just continuing where the last one left off, and another flashback for Otto. You even find out the origin of Twister's name as well as what the promise was Otto made and to whom, even though I'm sure it's pretty obvious by now. I also apologize in advanced for this chapter, as it's pretty long.

Oh, as for the name, "Olivia", it was the only female "O" name I could think of right offhand. I also wish that there was some more information revealed about their other officially. The "she's dead" thing is confirmed, but I don't think any name information has been revealed. Here's hoping that the next movie reveals that.

For the official chapter 12, expect another confrontation. Reggie and Twister will end up confronting Otto again. I'll let you guys speculate as to what may happen. Oh yes, he will still refer to Twister as a "traitor", but it won't be explained directly in that chapter. You'll have to wait until much later, unless one of you already has an idea as to why Otto considers him one. Feel free to voice your opinions and leave your guesses. In a way, Sam has somewhat indirectly hinted at it back in chapter 4.

Oh, and one other thing. As a treat, look out for chapter 12 later on this week (even though the end of this chapter goes into chapter 12). I'm going to update it sooner than what I would normally to celebrate the end of finals! lol I hope you all will enjoy it. For chapter 13, Lars will show up again, so for you Lars fans, you'll have something to look forward to. For chapter 14…there will definitely be some Twister x Reggie hinting. I'd consider it to be major, compared to the previous chapters anyway.

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with Rocket Power. Klasky-Csupo has that honor.

Chapter 11: A Blast to the Past (Part II)

Otto sighed again. He hated that particular time in his life, mainly because it was one of the few memories he still had of her, and it wasn't a very positive one. His mother had seemed so proud of Reggie when the chances of her being skipped up a grade had been possible. After some thinking, Reggie and his parents decided against having her skipped since the girl didn't want to leave her friends behind.

He always hated the fact that his mother was constantly proud of Reggie and no matter what he did he couldn't get on the same level as her. She was good at sports and she was good when it came to her schoolwork. Even now, Ray would constantly praise Reggie when it came to her accomplishments. He would then say something that Otto truly hated hearing constantly, "Your mother would've been so proud!"

Otto couldn't recall any time in his nearly 16 years of existence where Ray had said anything remotely like that to him. It wasn't the fact that he would talk of how great Reggie was, but his always saying, "Your mother would've been so proud," to her, bugged him. It made him feel that no matter what he did, to Ray, it would never be good enough to make his mother proud of him, as if nothing he did would truly ever matter.

'Why does she have to be so damn perfect!' Otto thought bitterly as another memory saturated his mind...

"Hey, check this out!" Otto called to his hat-wearing, six-year-old friend, Maurice. The soon to be six-year-old boy was practicing on his skateboard again, trying to nail the tricks he had seen the big kids, like Maurice's brother, Lars, do.

He skated up the driveway of the Rodriguez home as fast as he could, and then kick-flipped the board, landing back on the ground perfectly.

"Awesome, Otto!" the boy in the hat cheered while giving him a thumbs-up. "Let me try too!" He skated up the driveway, tried to kick flip like Otto, but instead, lost his balance and the board didn't land on the ground the way it should have. When trying to regain his balance, he ended up twirling around in a circle, falling right off and flat on his back. "Ouch~~~"

Otto helped the boy up, and when he did, both heard someone laugh. The two looked down at the end of the driveway.

"Aww, the dork-o and the munchkin are trying to nail some moves!" the older soon to be nine-year-old boy with the dark brown hair laughed while wiping a tear away from his eye. He was wearing his roller blades and was skating by when he noticed the two.

"Go away, Lars!" Maurice shouted at his brother, a look of annoyance on his face. He hated having to put up with his brother whenever in his teasing mood, which was becoming more constant as the days went by.

He skated up to him. "What are you going to do about it if I don't? Fall off your wittle skateboard again!" He pushed the younger boy down, laughing once again.

"Just bug off, Lars!" Otto shouted angrily as he stepped up to the much taller boy, his fists clenched on each side of him.

He was tired of Lars' constant bullying of him in general, and was ready to fight him, no matter how many times his parents would tell him not to. Otto had already been in a few fights - and punished for them - all due to the fact that the older kids teased him for being so short and small. He was just pushed too far those particular times. The five year old wanted to prove to everyone that he was a tough kid, not some wimp who couldn't take care of himself. He didn't even cry whenever in a fight since he felt it showed weakness, and he really didn't want to be known as Otto the crybaby.

"Oh no, now the shrimpo is going to tell me what to do!" the boy mocked sarcastically. Lars laughed hard as he pushed Otto down alongside Maurice. "Aww, the poor wittle munchkin fell down. I bet he even has a booboo! Are you going to run home crying!"

"Hey, leave him alone!" an authoritative voice called to Lars.

The three looked down the driveway and saw a certain seven-year-old violet-haired girl at the end of it on roller blades. She skated up to the three. She had seen the entire thing. She would've come up sooner, but she too found Maurice's twirly fall off of his skateboard a bit amusing, and wanted to be a bit more contained before interfering.

"Regina?"

"The name is Reggie, Lars, and don't you ever call me that again, if you want to make it to the third grade alive!"

The boy scoffed at the shorter, smaller girl, his arms crossed. "Whatever."

"Leave them alone, now! Why don't you go pick on somebody your own size!"

"You mean like...you?"

"You try anything, and I'll whomp you!" Reggie challenged, hands on hips, and her eyes narrowed.

She knew that Lars would never actually hit her and if he did, not only would her parents be on his case, so would his mother and father, and Mrs. Rodriguez could be pretty scary when mad at her son. She had also never seen Lars hit an actual girl, tease, sure, but never hit.

Lars fell down to the ground, holding his stomach, laughing hard. "You whomp me! Yeah right!"

Maurice looked down at his brother who was still laughing hilariously. A sly grin then spread on the younger boy's face, and he told him, "I'm going to tell mami on you if you don't leave us alone!"

Lars stopped laughing abruptly as a look of realization came to his face. The last thing he wanted was his mother to yell at him again for picking on Maurice and Otto. He stood up quickly. He was about to retort to his younger brother's threat, but didn't. He grumbled something and skated away.

"I wish I could get a new brother," mumbled Maurice after Lars was out of sight.

"Well, you're stuck with him," Reggie smiled to him. "He'll probably get better later when he's older and smarter."

"You mean like when he's a grandpa?"

"I hope it doesn't take that long," she muttered. She turned to Otto who was still sitting on the ground from when Lars had pushed him. She extended a hand to him. "Are you okay? That jerk didn't hurt you, did he?"

"I'm fine!" the boy shouted at her, pushing her hand away and standing up on his own. Reggie may have meant well, but he didn't need her to fight all of his battles and didn't want her to. "I could've taken care of him myself!"

"Yeah, right, Otto. You're too small to do anything against someone as big as Lars. Haven't you learned anything from your past fights with big kids? You always get whomped!"

Otto felt his face go a bit red in embarrassment. She didn't have to remind him that he was small compared to the other kids in his grade and that he had never actually won in a fight. As a matter of fact, he was the smallest of everyone in his class and grade. Even his friend Maurice had grown bigger than him. When they were younger, they were always about the same height, but not now. He towered him and was almost as tall as Reggie.

"That was kind of funny, Maurice," Reggie said with a small chuckle as she skated circles around the two boys.

"You saw me fall?" She nodded. "Aww man," he then glared at her annoyingly, "and don't call me Maurice!"

"Why not, it's your name."

"Well, I don't really like that name anymore."

"How come?"

"Because, that's what Lars calls me!"

'That's because it's your name, duh!' Reggie thought in disbelief over the boy's response.

"And with the way Lars says it, it makes me feel like a lame-o!"

"A lame-o?"

"Lars says that 'Maurice is a lame-o name for baby dork-os'."

"Why not get a nickname?"

"A nick...name?" The boy scratched his head. "What's a nickname?"

"It's a name people use instead of their real names." She stopped skating and stood in front of the slightly shorter Maurice. "My nickname is Reggie, just like," points to her brother, "his nickname is Otto."

"Oh!" the boy exclaimed anxiously, finally understanding. "I want a new name! I want a new name!"

"Um, how about Hat Boy since you always wear that hat?"

He gave her a thumbs down. "No way, Reggie!"

"Red head?"

He shook his head, arms crossed.

"Freckle face! Lars doesn't have freckles like you!"

"Uh-uh."

"Um, Mau [Pronounced Maw]?"

He turned up his nose. "Eww!"

"Rice [Pronounced Reese]?"

"NO!" he shouted, causing the girl to almost lose her balance from his sudden outburst.

'How rude,' the girl thought.

"You just split up my name! I want something cooler than my brother's name!"

"How about..." she thought for a brief moment, "...Tornado? No, wait, Twister!"

Otto and Maurice stared at the girl in confusion. "Twister?"

"Yeah." She started to skate circles around the two of them again. "No matter what trick you try, you always end up spinning around like a tornado off your skateboard, and mom said that a tornado is called a twister, and twister sounds cooler than tornado." She then added with a laugh, "A tornado also causes disaster and messes, and your room is always a mess."

"Twist...er."

The boy thought it over for about five seconds. He didn't really take in how Reggie had come up with the name, or the logic behind it. It could've been taken as an insult, but to him, the name just had a ring to it.

"Cool! I like it! It's way better than my stupid brother's," he said with a big smile. "Twister is my new name," he said proudly, "and no one will ever call me Maurice again!"

"It's going to be weird calling you Twister," Otto said.

"Well, who cares!" Twister balanced himself on his skateboard. "My new name is Twister, and there's nothing anyone can do about it!"

After seeing that Twister was content, Reggie turned to her brother. "Hey, Otto, we have to leave. That's why I'm out here."

"What's going on?"

"We have to go back to the hospital," Reggie replied sullenly.

"Lars told me that when my mom went to the hospital, she came back with a baby me! He said I was delivered or something. I guess he meant like the mail. The mailman dropped me off, and my mom went and got me!" He thought for a moment. "Since your mom is in the hospital, is she going to bring home a baby too?"

"I don't think so," Reggie replied with a frown. "She's really sick. Daddy hasn't told us much about why she's sick or how she got sick or what made her sick."

"He said something about an operation. What's that again?" Otto asked.

"Ooo, I know I know! It's that thing where the doctor guys cut people open to make them feel better!" Twister chimed in excitedly, like an enthusiastic student volunteering to answer a question asked of him in a classroom. "Papá told me that! He said he had to get uh operation one time because of some thing in his tummy that made him hurt real bad. It was called uh, uh...abandage? I think? It's a hard word to say!"

"I don't think that's a real word, Mauri...er I mean Twister. I think you mean appendix," Reggie corrected.

"Yeah, that's it!"

"If they're supposed to make you feel better, maybe mommy can finally come home!" the girl said with loads of enthusiasm and excitement. Their mother had been in the hospital for the past week or so, right before the kids got out for their summer break.

"Reggie, Otto, let's go!" they heard a gloomy voice call.

"Come on, Otto! Daddy's waiting for us!" The girl grabbed her younger brother's hand and pulled him along.

"Bye guys!" Twister called to the two as he skated back towards home.

It didn't take Ray long to get to the Ocean Shores Memorial. The ride there had become a daily occurrence. Ray visited every afternoon after Reggie would get home from school. As for Otto, since he still only went to school half-days, he would have to stay at the Rodriguezes until he came home. The same went for Reggie since both she and Otto were too young to stay at home by themselves. Luckily, for Ray, he didn't have to worry about that anymore since school just recently let out for the summer and both Reggie and Otto passed to the second and first grade respectively.

Otto hated riding to the hospital, mainly because their mother never left with them. And every time they left, Ray would seem so down and depressed. Reggie would try her best to cheer him up, but then she would grow sullen herself and ask the one question that Ray wished he could answer: "When is mommy coming home?" He would always respond with an, "I don't know, princess."

Even though Olivia never came home with them, Otto knew that he'd always be able to see her the next day and every day after that, but little did he know that this was going to be his very last time…

Right now, all of them were standing in the hallway in front of Olivia's door. Both Otto and Reggie stood patiently, awaiting Ray's inevitable, follow the hospital rules lecture.

"Okay, Otto, Reggie, now this is a hospital." He always sounded uncomfortable whenever reminding them of the rules. "We must be quiet and not disturb the other patients, and don't over exert your mother. She-she's been through a lot. And-and if she seems different, don't worry."

"Yes dad," both children responded routinely.

"Well, um, yes, let's go in now."

They walked into the bright room. Otto hated hospitals so much. He always found them boring, like the library. You weren't allowed to play, you couldn't talk loud, and you had to sit still, but he didn't mind suffering through those three things since he was there to see his mother. He really missed her, even if she did seem to favor Reggie over him, despite the fact that it wasn't true, but to a five year old who seemed to constantly find ways to get into trouble, it probably would.

In the bed laid their mother, eyes shut, whose complexion was quite pale since she hadn't been outside for so long, even before her stay. She had a strange bag beside her bed, which held a clear liquid and from that bag, was a long tube that was stuck into her right arm. When there the first time, Otto had asked what it was and she explained to him, with a smile, that it was an IV and it gave her the nutrients she needed since she wasn't eating as much.

Her long thick hair was shorter now, and she kept it tied back into a single ponytail. Ray sat down in the chair next to her and just stared, a frown on his face and held her small hand in his.

The woman was growing weaker by the day, even though she had gotten the operation. The doctors were even having a difficult time trying to figure out was wrong and were testing her constantly, but they were mostly attributing it to the fact that she was going through chemotherapy treatment. One could become weak and tired from that alone, but she was still showing some strange symptoms that Olivia never wanted revealed to Ray and asked them to always tell him that she will recover. The doctors found it to be an unusual request, but respected it, even though they too felt that she would definitely make a full recovery and that her body just had to get used to the chemo. The main reason she didn't want them to tell him, was because she wanted to in her own way.

Reggie and Otto just stood on the other side of the bed, wishing Olivia would awaken. A short moment later, the woman began to stir. She opened her eyes slowly to see that Ray was holding her hand and that Reggie and Otto were right next to her.

"R-Raymundo…" she uttered in a hushed voice.

"No, don't talk," Ray told her. "Talk only if you have the strength."

"I'm fine," Olivia told him. She looked over at her two children. "Oh Otto, Reggie, I'm so glad to see you!"

Ray let go of her hand and she managed to sit up a bit more than what she was. She then hugged both Otto and Reggie tightly. "Oh, I miss you two so much! I hate not being at home with you."

"Don't worry, mom, you'll be coming home with us in no time!" Reggie told her, remembering Twister's words. 'She just has to get better. Mr. Rodriguez did, so maybe mommy will too!'

During the visit they all talked, Reggie and Otto talking about their summer break and even of Maurice's new nickname. Olivia laughed a bit and said, "How cute," to the new nickname, and Ray talked about Tito's food inventions. "He never gives up," she said with a smile.

Reggie even told her mother about a surprise she had for her. A short story she had written. She pulled out five folded up sheets of wide-lined notebook paper from out of her pocket and gave it to her.

"This is nice, Reggie! Thank you."

"It's a story about the greatest mother in all of Ocean Shores! You can read it before your bedtime!"

"I definitely will," she said as she set the papers down on the table beside her bed.

After a while, Olivia asked the children to go stand out in the hall since she had to talk to Ray about something. Otto personally didn't want to leave, but was dragged out by Reggie.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Reggie asked after she and Otto were in the hall.

"Maybe she's telling dad when she can finally come home!" Otto said excitedly.

"I hope so. I miss her being at home."

Sitting in front of a door was quite boring. There were two chairs right in front of the door and both children were growing agitated and fidgety. Their parents had been talking for what felt like a long time.

"I want to go back in!" Otto complained, standing up.

"You heard mom, we have to sit here."

"Yeah yeah," he grumbled as he sat back down.

Time Otto sat down, the door opened and Ray walked out. Both children jumped out of their seats and asked, "Can we go back in now?"

"Um, yeah," Ray said slowly, "but Otto, you have to stay out here."

"Why?" the boy demanded.

"Because Olivia wants to talk to Reggie alone and then she would like to talk to you alone."

"But why?" he asked again.

"I'm not sure," he answered distantly.

Otto could only blink. He didn't really understand. Reggie could only shrug and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her.

Otto plopped back down in the seat he had been sitting in for the past 10 minutes. Ray took the seat Reggie had.

"What were you talking about with mom?" Otto asked. "Were you talking about when she's coming home?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's it," Ray said quickly and absent-mindedly.

He knew that his wife's condition was serious, but not this serious. She told him of everything that was wrong and how doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong and that her health was deteriorating and how the doctors were wondering if it was just a reaction to the chemo therapy. When she told him of this, she had a sort of optimistic way of saying it. She didn't sound bitter, nor did she seem to feel sorry for herself. If anything, Ray considered her to be strong.

Otto sighed since Ray obviously wasn't paying any attention to him. He wanted more answers.

About five minutes later, Reggie walked out. "Otto, mom wants to talk with you now."

"Finally!" the boy exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. He rushed right in, the door closing behind him.

"Ahh, there goes my little man," the woman said while gently smiling to him. "Have a seat, Otto."

The last thing the boy wanted to have to do again was sit down, but he did it anyway.

"I'm glad you're here, Otto. I really miss you and your sister." She took in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. "Well, I just want to let you know that I'm glad that you made it to the first grade."

"Me too!"

"Otto, I want you to promise me that no matter what, that you'll always do your very best."

"Do the best?"

She nodded. "Yes. You're very good at what you do, like your sports; I notice you're very good on that skateboard and those skates of yours, and I want you to do great with it, but don't let it mess up your school work."

Otto nodded. "Maurice….er…Twister's brother was talking about pro skaters and how he's going to be a pro skater by the time he's ten!"

Olivia laughed. "Don't count on that. He'd have to be a bit older before doing that, at least a teenager before concentrating on going pro anything. At least 15 or 16, but he still shouldn't let it interfere with his schoolwork, and that shouldn't be the only thing he concerns himself with. School should always come first!"

"Do you think I could be a pro skater, mom?"

"I'm sure of it, but let that be your second focus, not your main focus."

"I bet I could be a pro skater by the time I'm 16!"

"I'm sure you could. I'd be very proud of my little man if he did. I also think you'd make a great surfer. I'd like to surf with you sometime…too bad I'm stuck here," she said with a small laugh.

"Really? Are you saying it's okay for me to learn how to surf?!"

"I don't see why not. You're getting older, and you swim really well. I've seen you…it's like you have a real connection with the ocean. I'm sure you'll be a great surfer and skater someday. I would like to scuba dive together someday."

The boy stood up, determination in his voice. "I'm going to be the best surfer and skater in all of Ocean Shores! No, the entire world!"

"That's my little man!" she said with a proud smile. "You're always determined, that's one of the things I love about you most, Otto. Don't ever change."

There was a knock on the door and a man entered the room, Reggie and Ray behind him. It was Olivia's doctor. He looked to be in his late 20s.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Rocket, but we have to perform some more tests on you, so your visitors will have to leave."

"But it's so early. There's still two hours left until visiting hours end, Dr. Sugiyama," Olivia protested.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we really have to do these tests."

"It's okay, Olivia," Ray told her gently. "Let the man do his job. The sooner they perform the tests, the sooner they find the problem, and the sooner they fix it."

"Yes, I suppose so," she weakly murmured.

"Okay kids, go give your mother a hug."

You didn't have to tell them twice, they hugged her tightly. "Please come home soon," Reggie said with a sniffle, her eyes watering.

"I-I'll try," she responded uneasily.

"Mom?" Otto noticed the unconfident tone in her voice. He wasn't used of that.

She smiled at him, the same smile that she was well known for. "Everything will be all right, little man. Don't worry."

After the hug, Ray walked over to her and gave her a kiss. "We'll see you tomorrow, and do what the doctors tell you." She nodded to him.

They then started out the door, but Olivia called to Otto, "Listen to your father and your sister, and always wear your protective gear when skateboarding and blading." Otto said, "okay" as he hurried to catch up with Ray and Reggie.

"Goodbye," Olivia uttered softly and quietly. "I hope you all live out a grand and plentiful life."

The ride home was a somewhat quiet one since everyone was lost in their own thoughts over what Olivia had told each of them separately, especially Ray who was terribly worried now. It seemed as if his wife would never recover…that she could be dying or was either about to. He shook those thoughts off. She couldn't die! He shouldn't think such negative thoughts.

As for Reggie, Olivia told her to always watch over Otto and to protect and help him whenever needed, since she's not home. She also told her to keep up the good work with her schoolwork and that she was glad she passed to the second grade, but she really stayed on the, "watch out for your brother," thing and to "always be there for him". Reggie promised her that she would.

That following afternoon - like clockwork - Ray and the kids hopped into his noisy green station wagon and headed over to the Ocean Shores Memorial to visit Olivia. When they got there, Ray gave the kids the same old, "don't disturb the patients" speech and headed towards his beloved wife's room.

When they got to the room, they saw the doctor standing in front of it, his head lowered.

"Dr. Sugiyama," Ray called, recognizing the man, "what's going on?"

"Oh, Mr. Rocket. Could I maybe have a word with you?"

Ray nodded cautiously. He had a feeling that he was about to receive some depressing news. "Is something wrong with Olivia!" he asked in alarm.

"I'm afraid so." The man took Ray aside and gave him the news, handing him Reggie's story. Olivia passed away earlier that afternoon. They tried to contact him, but couldn't, as he was already on his way there. Ray was speechless as he felt his eyes stinging, trying to hold back tears.

"No, it couldn't be! Tell me you're not serious!" The doctor shook his head. "No...Olivia..."

Reggie and Otto could only stare in confusion. They had never seen Ray in that way before, almost distant. The two ran up to him.

"Dad, can we go see mom now?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah! I want to tell her about the new move I learned! It's called an Ollie!"

Hearing the two ask about their mother made Ray feel even worse. How was he going to explain to the two that their mother wasn't coming home?

"I'll leave you alone now, Mr. Rocket," Dr. Sugiyama told him. He then walked away.

"Dad, that's my story you have in your hand! How come mom doesn't have it?" Reggie asked after the doctor left.

He shook his head, finally registering that he was being addressed. "Kids, I think you two should sit down."

"When are we going to see mom!" Otto demanded, refusing to sit.

"Well, that's just the thing, Otto, we're not going to today." Right now, Ray's heart ached and his throat was sore trying to hold down the lump to keep from crying. He had to be the strong one for them.

"Why can't we see her?"

"Well, Reggie, you see, your mother isn't in the room."

"Does that mean she's coming home!" both asked excitedly.

"I'm afraid not. You see your mother is never coming home with us," he said slowly. "She-she-she didn't make it," he said, his voice quivering some.

Reggie was the first to catch on and she now had tears forming in her eyes. "She-she died?!"

Ray sighed painfully and nodded. Reggie started to cry loudly. Otto was surprised. 'Died? Mom…died?' He frowned. He saw that Ray wasn't crying, just quiet so he did the same thing. He didn't cry, even though he wanted to. His mother wasn't coming home with them. His mother wouldn't be able to see him become a pro skater and surfer like he had promised her. She wouldn't be able to see him perform an Ollie. They wouldn't be able to scuba dive or surf together.

About a week later, a funeral for Olivia was held and lots of people showed up for it. She was known all throughout the community and loved by all. At the funeral, Mrs. Stimpleton offered to help out in any way that she could, and so did the Rodriguezes. Even Mr. Stimpleton offered his support, and he was normally always cranky and grouchy.

Ray found out that Olivia did, indeed, die from the cancer, even though she had the hysterectomy. There were still cancer cells left within her after they removed it that wasn't detected until after those final set of test results came back after her death. Ray never once got into detail as to how and what their mother died from, other than "cancer".

At that point forward, Otto vowed to go pro or win as many competitions as possible by the time he was 16 so that his mother's spirit would be proud of him! He promised her that, and he intended on keeping it and he wasn't going to let anyone stand in his way...

Otto heaved out a heavy sigh as he wiped some tears away from his eyes. He really missed his mother and this year was the anniversary of her death. In a few weeks, it will have been ten whole years.

He stared out at the clear, blue ocean, the moon's reflection bright and clear on the dark blue waters. He stood up and brushed the sand from off of him. He looked around and saw that he was the only one still hanging out on the beach at such an hour. It wasn't too often you'd see anyone surfing at night. The only people Otto saw were teenage couples.

He went over to his bike, slipped on his helmet, and strapped his surfboard onto the back of it.

"Just one more day until the big competition!" Otto said as he rode home. "I am so totally stoked and I'm going to win it! This is a statewide competition, and our team, Seal Beach, Huntington, Newport Harbor, San Clemente, Santa Monica, and the Ocean Bluffs' teams are the last ones left in the competition. Whoever wins will be the best of the best!" A determined look appeared on the young boy's face as he sped down the hill leading to his cul-de-sac. "I will win this competition! I will be the best. I have to; I can't let her down…"

When he arrived home a short while later, it was close to 11, and he saw that Ray's car wasn't in the driveway.

'I guess he's still hanging at the Shack,' he thought as he put his bike and surfboard in a corner of the garage. Once done, he closed up the garage and headed to the front door.

After he entered the home, he started up the stairs, but something from his left caught his eye. He noticed the television was on and on the couch, his head lolled back, was a certain "traitor," wearing a striped red and yellow backwards cap snoring soundly.

"What's he doing here!" Otto grumbled annoyingly.

He stomped over to the couch, about to give the boy a piece of his mind, when he noticed a certain dark-haired girl lying down next to him, her head resting on the boy's shoulder, and her eyes closed, Twister's arms draped around her. To him, it looked as if the two had been spending the evening together, like an actual couple.

'No way,' the boy thought, his eyes wide. His astonishment then turned to that of anger. "What the hell are you two doing?!" Otto shouted loudly, startling the two awake...
x x x

Author's Note

And there you have. You now know the source of Otto's competitiveness and why he's so anxious to be the best, and also why he has slight jealousy towards Reggie. He's jealous of the way Ray praises her, bringing their mother into the mix, whereas for him, it's the opposite.

The promise that was made, was to his mother and he promised her that he'd be the best at whatever he's good at, which for him, are extreme sports and surfing. I personally felt that everything dealing with his mother could've been better written, but this was all I could come up with. To be completely honest, this particular part of chapter 11 – the stuff dealing with the Rocket mother – was a block, and I wrote out chapters 12 and 13 before I even wrote this chapter. I just knew I wanted 11 to be all about Otto.