"He wouldn't.", I thought to myself. "He can't still think that I'm-"

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of badly muffled snickering. Take a guess where it's coming from...

I turn back to glare at Gage, who is hiding his face behind his forearm in an attempt to keep himself from laughing. He thinks this is funny? I guess it would be, if you weren't the one about to be humiliated beyond dignity. I can feel the heat rising up my cheeks already.

Rhett seems to notice my annoyance and tries to change the subject.

"So, did I tell you guys about my next door neighbors' toilet exploding yesterday? Crazy stuff, right?" he laughed nervously. "She said she saw a huge shark jump out of it and eat her shower curtains."

"Rhett, that's ridiculous." Brandon replies while rolling his eyes.

"Brandon is also very cute when he's rolling his eyes." my mind whispered.

I didn't just think that. Why would I just think that?!

I'm not some cliche lovesick schoolgirl in a teenager's fanfiction! I'm a REAL person, with DIGNITY! ...which, if my fears are correct, is about to be shattered into a million pieces.

Why, you may ask?

The owner of the truck I just fixed, Wyatt Dandelion, is a good guy. Nothing really bad about him. Unless, of course, you count his overinflated ego... or his arrogance... or the fact that he likes to take all the credit for group projects (that one, I'll admit, is pretty evil). Despite all of that, I can say with (almost) complete confidence that Wyatt Leon Dandelion is a good guy.

However...there's this one thing about him.

He's a family man.

I know, I know. 'What's wrong with that, Wheelie? ', you're probably wondering. 'There's nothing wrong with being a family person.', you probably also thought. -and you'd be right! There's nothing wrong with being someone who loves their family. Nothing at all.

...except when that "family" is me.

"WILLY!", a voice yells from behind.

Crud. He's here.

I try not to cringe as I turn around to see Wyatt standing at the entrance of the workshop, with a considerably large book in his arms (which is saying something, considering the carrier of this book is no small dude). It's tattered and old, and the poor thing looks like it could burst at the seams any minute. I feel a pit form in the bottom of my stomach. He carries it in, all proud, like it's some sort of trophy, and I already know there's no way I'm gonna be able direct the others' attention anywhere else, because he's already got it. He has a knack for catching people's attention, which, in ANY other case, would be good. Admirable, even.

Not today.

Today, I suffer.

"Wow, man.", says Gage with a hint of sarcasm, "...and all this time, I thought you couldn't read."

My heart jumped. Salvation? If there's one thing that can distract Wyatt, it's being teased by my cousin. Those two can argue for hours on end, nonstop! If Wyatt takes the bait, I can swoop in, grab that stupid book while no one's looking, and burn it to ashes before anyone can lay eyes on it.

"Keep talkin' Gage. Not even you can ruin this fer me!" Wyatt replied back, completely unfazed by Gage's taunt.

Nuts. I'm screwed.

Gotta wonder if I'm taking TOO many liberties with the characters in this story. Gage, especially. Don't worry Gage fans, he's not actually a jerk, he's just being described to you by Wheelie, someone who had to put up with him since he was a smaller, much more immature version of himself. Admittedly, I did up his inner troll and his inner dork, so just be on the lookout for that.

Btw, how do you like Wheelie? Not usually a fan of shoving original characters into stories that aren't originally mine, but for the way this Team is written, her character is pretty essential to the group dynamic. Hopefully, you'll see what I mean later.

Rhett's also a little different, but that's for a different reason. I actually find it VERY difficult to write OG Rhett. Don't really know why, perhaps his strangeness was a bit too strange for my writer's brain to comprehend.

Wyatt's the same as he was originally. No reason to fix what ain't broke!

Brandon hasn't gotten much time to show any real personality yet, but that's probably the most in-character thing for him. He's more reserved than the others, and tends to do a lot of talking in his head. Can't wait 'till we get to hear HIS perspective!