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Kerra looked at Lainie. "You. You think Tobi's cute." she said grinning as she walked away from the house with her best friends. "I could see you guys together..but I don't know..he looked kind of..depressed..I guess because of the move or having to live with Brooke..or both." Kerra said thinking out loud now.

Claire watched Kerra walk away with her friends, then turned back to Brooke. "How about you let me unpack, then I will take you to the mall?" Claire asked. She hoped the girl would be okay with that, because it was obvious the teen didn't want her younger sister tagging along, and Claire wanted to be on good terms with her. While waiting for an answer, Claire made her way across the yard quickly to grab her things. She walked back over to Brooke with her pet carrier and suitcases. "Do you want to meet my pets?" Claire asked Brooke, motioning toward the pet carrier. Right inside, Sassy and Coco were crawling around, obviously eager to get out.

"Yeah, that's okay," Brooke said as her eyes followed the girl. She narrowed her eyes as Claire came back over with a cage sort of thing. "My pets are going to eat yours," Brooke said, grinning. Brooke stood up and bent over, peering into the pet carrier. "Cats are scary, I don't like them," She said as she took a step backwards.

"Cats aren't that scary," Claire encouraged Brooke. "Do you want to pet her? She won't bite, I promise. She will just want to pet you, and maybe lick you," Claire giggled. She set the pet carrier down, and opened it just enough to grab Coco. She pulled the grey and white cat up to her chest, and stroked her. "She won't hurt you. She just wants to meet you," Claire said, looking to Brooke. "It's okay if you don't want to. You can play with Sassy," Claire said. She reached down with her free arm, and let her energetic beagle out of the pet carrier. It immediately raced out, and started to run around her feet. "Sassy is much more playful," Claire informed Brooke, "but Coco has learned a lot from Sassy. Like the licking. She also chases her tail."

Brooke sat down on one of the white couches that were on the porch. She squinted as the hot sun beamed at them and looked back at Claire. She slowly and hesitantly reached her arm out and stroked the cat's fur but pulled her arm back a moment later. "It's soft but if it eats my fish than I'm gonna kill it," Brooke said happily as she now looked down at the dog. She petted the dog eaiser than the cat. She had been around dogs more especially because their father had bought them a large Irish Wolf Hound for Christmas two years ago. "My dog won't like yours," Brooke commented.

Tyler followed them away from the house with his arm around Kerra. He looked down when Lainie mentioned him and Kerra. He could feel his face flushing with heat as he continued to walk. Ignoring the question that she had asked, he said, "Want to take my car?"

Tyler continued to walk, waiting to see what Kerra's answer to Lainie's question would be.

"What's wrong with Sassy?" Claire asked. "And I assure you, Coco will not eat your fish. She doesn't like fish. She prefers eating the food you buy in a can at grocery stores," Claire smiled. "What kind of dog do you have?" Claire asked. She put Coco back into the pet carrier, then grabbed her suitcases. "Do you want to come in and show me which room is mine?" Claire asked. She wanted to get situated so she could get away from this house. "We can bring Sassy, so she can meet your dog," Claire offered, seeing Brooke petting the overly-energetic beagle.

"Nothing's wrong with her," Brooke said lightly as she jumped off of the couch and walked inside the house. Her bare feet pranced across the shining wooden floors as she reached the stairs. She jumped up each seperate step and smiled to herself when she reached the top.

"We have an Irish Wolf Hound," Brooke said. "He's in the backyard though. Our dad got him for us on Christmas. You know my dad, didn't you?" She asked as she waited for Claire at the top of the stairs. She still didn;t fully understand that these people were related to her and that her parents really were gone.

"Sure. And to answer your question Lainie. Yes we are. Sorry you can't have me." Kerra said laughing. She was of course joking. She could do that around Tyler and Lainie because those were her two best friends and they understood she was joking. If she did this around someone else they'd probably take her serious.

"Yea. Your dad was.....my dad," Claire choked out as she hauled her suitcases and pets up the stairs. It was hard to say, after she hadn't had a dad for so long. Claire reached the top of the stairs, then waited for Brooke to show her the room she would be staying in. Or living in, now.

Tobi put down his guitar and stood up. He unpacked his clothes and put them in a small dresser. He went outside, past Claire and Brooke again, outside to find Geenie. "Geenie, there's no more free rooms... Do you want to share with Claire or me?" He asked, so he could know whether or not to hook up a stereo. And figure out if she wanted to care for him from near or afar. But he hid that last part pretty good.

Geenie deliberated for just a moment before giving him an imploring smile.

"You don't mind sharing a room with me, do you? I mean, if you want your privacy or something I could ask Claire, but..." She trailed off, hoping he would say yes. She loved Claire and they were close and all, but Tobi was closer to her age. And she needed to keep an eye on her little brother, take back the responsibility that she had shirked when she went away to school.

He half-smiled. "I'd enjoy that. Upstairs, last door on the left." He turned around and turned on his iPod as he left.

When he got into his room, he picked up his guitar and began playing to the song he was listening to. Then began singing in that Tenor singing voice he has. He just began starting an entirely different song based on the last poem he wrote before the move. "Infinite in mystery,
Is the tragedy known as life.
Everything I once knew is history..."

"Maybe when he comes back he'll like you more," Brooke said hopefully as she turned away from Claire and began walking down the long hallway of bedrooms. Many of the doors were locked by Brooke and Kerra because they didn't want anyone being able to touch or even see their parents stuff, especially one of these people and they had left only the plainest rooms available for their new siblings.

She turned when she reached one of the guest bedrooms. It had a small balcony outside of it the peered out of the large backyard. You could perfectly see the swimming pool located in the back left corner of the estate and the trampoline that was in the middle. The patio with large grills and cozy seating areas were also visable as well as a far away view of the Pacific Ocean. "You can have this one," She said. "Just don't let Kerra find out. This was my mom's favoritest room in the whole entire house," She said happily.

"You got it. This is a really nice room," Claire smiled, and set her stuff down next to the large, queen-sized bed. She walked out through the glass doors, onto the balcony. "I love it," Claire turned back to Brooke. "Thanks for showing me my room," Claire said, completely sincere. Just then, she heard a loud bark from the backyard. She jumped, and turned around. Leaning over the railing, she searched the backyard, trying to locate the dog. Her jaw dropped open when she saw the dog racing around the trampoline. "That's your dog?" Claire asked, shocked, motioning toward the dog, and turning to look back at Brooke. "Okay, Sassy, you are never going outside," Claire giggled as she stared at the pet carrier. "Same for you, Coco. Both of you, only on a leash," Claire's eyes sparkled with amusement, and her grin was almost ear to ear. "Where's the closest bathroom to this room?" Claire asked. She walked back through the glass doors, and pulled one of the suitcases up onto the bed. She unzipped it quickly, and pulled out a bag filled with her bathroom necessities: toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, shampoo, conditioner, and face wash. "I need to get situated," Claire smiled slightly.

Tyler smiled at Kerra's answer and nodded when they agreed on taking his car. He pulled off his sweatshirt as they walked and finally they reached Tyler's house. It was a large brick house built similarly to Kerra's house except they had gotten a small extenstion of the back of the house where Tyler's father keeps his gym equiptment. He pulled his car keys out of the back of his pocket and clicked them towards the black Mercedes convertable that was pulled up next to the house. Unlocking the drivers door, he got in and waited for the others.

Brooke grinned and nodded as she made her way to the door. She turned back into the room and pointed to the white door on the side of the room that led to a walk in closet. "There's a door in the closet that leads to the private bathroom," She said. "I'm gonna go downstairs. Someone has to bring me to my ballet class in twenty minutes and I better not be late," She said as she turned and walked out of the room. She thought for a few moments about what to do and then decided to talk to the other new people. Brooke inched her way over to the room that Geenie and Tobi were sharing. She opened the door and walked in, staring at them.

[Just me in there at the moment...]

Tobi stopped playing for a moment. The door opened and Brooke was just kind of standing there, staring. He offered a broken smile and began playing again.

"My end is here
No one sheds a tear.
Their life is long
Their happiness strong..."