Sweat beaded at his brow and muscles tightened in agony as he pressed on. Behind him his uncles voice urged him harder, and Carter's eyes narrowed as he pushed his limits. The sound of his feet hitting the pavement echoed along the empty field and Carter finally lurched forward, hurling everything he had. His head, still spinning from the night before, became heavy, and he fell to his knees in an attempt to gain some sort of vision. Foot steps approached and a bottle appeared in his peripheral vision.

Taking the water offered to him, Carter glanced sideways at his uncle's smirking form. "Is there a problem, son?"

Swishing the cold liquid in his mouth, he shook his head unable to speak as the bile once again rose in his throat. Rising from where he knelt, Carter pushed passed him in a huff and made his way back towards the house for a much needed shower attempting to ignore the way the ground would shift.

Leaning his head against the cold tile, Carter began to process his thoughts. Saturday night had been a blur, and he was still searching for Sunday. The Panthers had won the game against Shadyville High, and would be going to state playoffs. So why not celebrate? What had started out as a small celebratory drink between the teammates and friends at Carter's uncles house, who wouldn't be returning until Sunday night, soon became a mess of drunken bodies of people Carter had never seen before.

Hours seemed like minuets and faces and voices blended together until everything became one big blur; the next thing he knew he was being awakened by his uncle hollering it was time to practice. Imagine his surprise when there was no sign of the nights previous activities.

Finally, Carter pulled himself from the shower and ended his thoughts to painstakingly start the day. Throwing on a a pair of loose shorts with his practice jersey, he was out the door. Checking the time as he loaded into his jeep, he groaned. Why anyone would want to teach before noon was beyond him.

Ignore me too

Annnd me. Sorry double posted

Ignore

Pulling herself from the comfort of her bed, Emmaline let out a groan. Glaring at the time flashing on her clock she mentally damned her brother for being birthed first and therefor reaching the legal driving age before her. Sure he was older, but was he really more mature? Shaking her head grumbling heatedly under her breath, Emmaline flung the covers from her warm body and greeted the chilled room with a unwelcome "Ugh!"

A short stretch of achy bones followed by a quick slip into her cozy purple bunny slippers and she was making her way into the bathroom just across the hall. It wasn't long before music filled the house as Emma started her morning.

Steam encased the small space and covered the mirror as a towel cladded Emmaline emerged from the abis that was her shower. Skin red from the head and hair soaking from its recent cleansing, Emmaline reached for her blow-dyer only to have it tumble to the ground as a loud crash followed by a bellowed curse rang through the hall.

Throwing the door with a look that could kill, Emmaline fully expected to find Aidan waiting impatiently, still hung over from the night before. Imagine her surprise as a blur of blonde and pink came soaring around the corner sobbing obnoxiously as it made its way out the door.

"Was that Gabby Tanner?"

"Gabby...oh...I've been calling her Abby."

Turning to Aidan, who donned smiley face boxers and a rather painful looking hand print across his smiling face.

"Explains the mark."

"Nah, she was crazy....good lay though."

Watching as his sisters face twisted in disgust, Aidan let out a laugh before stepping into the bathroom making a beeline for the toilet.

"I'm still in here!"

"And I'm gonna take a piss."

Mornings at the Boyer house were always... eventful, you could say in the least. Siblings, Emmaline and Aidan rarely saw eye to eye and constantly nit picked, yet always seemed remain as close as two siblings could be.

After a morning of arguments, laughter, thrown objects, and a quick breakfast...the two were out the door. As they rolled up into the school parking lot Emmaline sighed as Gabby Turner's angry eyes followed.

"I wish you would stay away from people I have to see daily." Emmaline groaned as she stepped out the Mustang. Not doubt Gabby had cried to the group about Aidan's dismissal, and of course they would all question Emmaline on both why he would do such a thing....and if he was available(behind Gabby's back of course).

Reaching for his bag, Aidan stared momentarily at Emma's cheer white and blue uniform then towards the sky. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a bundle and handed it to his sister, his letterman. Narrowing his eyes as she tried to refuse it, Aidan ignored her comment all together and forced it into her hands. "Keep in on. It may rain."

Shrugging into the wrinkled jacket, Emmaline stuck out her tongue childishly before heading over the the table where sadden eyes waited her. Plopping down, she raised her shoulders in a shrug and it wasn't long before question bombardered her about Gabby, Aidan, and what had gone down.

Walking to where the guys were tossing the foot ball around, Aidan nodded his head in a silent sup. Smiling charmingly at a few girls standing nearby, Aidan greeted them with a drawled "Mooorning."

Adele sunk deeper into her quilt as her Dad knocked on her bedroom door repetitively. A groan drifted from the pile up of pillows and duvet when he entered. “Adele, don’t do this again. You’re going to school just like everyone else.”

Adele lifted her head up to give her Dad a thunderous look, with her makeup from the night before smudged under her eyes she looked like an angry panda. Her Dad adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth but stopped himself and instead gave his daughter a resigned look. With one awkward look at her bedroom, he left without another word, closing the door behind himself as he went. Adele sat up after a few moments and cradled her head in her hands. She’d stayed up late last night. It was a bad move.

With an excessive amount of effort Adele got up and dressed for school, removing old makeup so she could replace it with new. Her mane of hair remained undefeated as she tried to drag a comb through her wild curls and further gave up when she broke a few spokes off the comb.
By the time she sailed down stairs, her Grandad was up drinking his morning coffee and reading the newspaper. His eyes wondered over to her as she walked past and helped herself to bananas and toast.

“Since when did girls start wearing belts instead of skirts?” the old man mumbled.

Adele gave her Granddad a sarcastic smile. “Since they stopped using magnifying glasses to help people read Granddad”

She gestured with her eyes to his thick rimmed reading glasses. Her Granddad adjusted them on his nose in a dignified manner (something her dad did too) before disappearing back behind his newspaper. Adele grinned to herself as he began mumbling quietly.

“It’s a cheer-leader outfit Granddad, for gymnastics at football games. If I wore a normal skirt it’d get torn and everyone would see my knickers and we wouldn’t want that would we” she teased.

A quiet "huff" from behind the newspaper was all the response she received.

Yelling goodbye to her stuttering father and grumpy Grandfather Adele threw her bag into her Corvette and then jumped inside herself. Her dad ran out onto the door step with a crinkled raincoat in hand.

"Adele it might rain!"

"Yeah love you too Dad!" She yelled over the engine before she made a quick escape waving a hand in the air as farewell.

She arrived at school in good time and parked up next to a mustang. A few girls she spoke to lingered near the football field, she went to wave but stopped herself as they began chewing themselves up over a guy walking past. From behind she could tell it was Aiden Boyer. Not that Adele often looked at Boyer from behind but she saw him more often than you'd think, what with his little sister joining the Cheer group recently. Speaking of cheer, she spotted a few blue and white uniforms close by. Putting her roof up and collecting her things Adele made her way over to the group.

It was going to rain outside, Sabrina could tell as she sat on her bed looking at the grey clouds that hovered over the horizon. It was a dull morning the birds were quiet and the sky thundered every so often as if mother nature was showing off her power. The old willow tree by her window reminded her of her dark past. A past she never speaks about. Sabrina wiped the rolling tears on her cheek with her night gown sleeve, her mother had bought for her in the the mall. The slim girl made her way across the cold wooden floor her body filled with chills as the cold hard floor embraced the bottom of her feet.

She made it into her bathroom her body shaking but soon comforted by the warm tickling drops of water that fell upon her pale skin. The soap absorbed her body making her look as if she was a walking cloud, thought that experience soon ended as she rinsed off and dried her self with a floral towel, clutching the towel with great strength as she shivered her teeth smacking against each other.

Sabrina slipped into a tight pair of black skin tight pants that felt like cotton and smelled like candy and a bright blue and pink floral top accompanied with a bow necklace and a silver charm bracelet. Thud. Thud Sabrina heard a knock from her door. She opened the door and wasn't surprised to see her brothers there.

"Ready?" James asked with a slyly smile. The young girl nodded putting on her mini hoop earrings and throwing her medium sized bag over her shoulders. It was an awkward car ride. Sabrina felt oddly uncomfortable due to the fact that previously two summers ago James had almost got killed by a boy she was messing around with. James said he forgave her but she didn't see it, that light in his eyes had gone dull and he wasn't as laid back as before. Sabrina bit her lower lip, glad she had finally got out of the car. Spotting Aidan the most well known boy in school, she waved slightly turning around to see that her brother was still here staring at her with his dark brown eyes. He noticed her looking and finally drove off, sighing a bit Sabrina began walking towards class waving towards a couple kids she noticed walk bye.

"Alright, here's a high one!"

After the brief warning, he threw the ball, a little bigger than his fist, into a high arc. He watched Ian see the flying ball, and move to catch it, holding out his glove. Even at that distance, he still heard the tremendously satisfying thwack as the ball landed squarely in Ian's glove. "Nice catch!"

A moment later, another ball came from behind and flew past him, missing him by a foot. He jumped and turned around to find out who in the heck would be so reckless. Before he even had finished turning, he realized who it had to be, and immediately started thinking. As he turned around and focussed his eyes on the advancing figure, he began backing up, having confirmed two things: one, Tom Reed had shown up, and two, Richard Matthew Barlow Junior really needed to get away. He only took five steps back before he turned and started running.

A moment later, a baseball hit him straight in the small of his back. He felt the impact hard against his spine, and a moment later, he was looking at a plain drywall ceiling. He blinked, tried to swallow with a dry mouth, felt with his hand at the small of his back. No pain, only the memory of an impact that had never happened. He was under covers, in bed, at home. He wasn't in middle school anymore. Ian was gone. In a way, Ricky was gone too. After all, everyone called him Rick now.

He shoved the covers off his bare torso and sat up, confused. He remembered that game of catch he had played with Ian, and running away after Tom showed up. He didn't remember any ball in the back; indeed he knew for certain he had gotten home with no incident after he started running. Why had that changed? What was it supposed to mean?

He glanced over at the alarm clock by his bed. 6:25 AM. Five more minutes of sleep. Worth it? Not with dreams like that, he decided. He reached over and fiddled the alarm off, then eased himself out of bed. Another day, another dollar. What was that even supposed to mean?

Nonsense ran through his head as he made his way through the drawers that held his clothes, picking and choosing the day's outfit with little regard for anything. Having done this, he made his way to the shower, still wondering at the weird dream. He showered a bit faster than he had expected, going a bit into autopilot as he pondered the dream, and whether he would have to deal with Tom today.

After he dressed, he left the bathroom door open to vent the humidity the hot shower had caused. The rest of the apartment was empty. Mom must be outside, he thought to himself. She was usually out when the weather was nice enough. Grabbing a slice of bread from the cabinet, he popped it into the toaster, then picked up a banana for while he waited. The toaster popped just as he finished the banana, much to his delight. He carefully took the toast out and spread peanut butter over it, then picked up his bookbag, keyring-wallet combination (only two keys, apartment and bike lock), and phone. Dropping each in different pockets smoothly, he then left the apartment, not locking the door. As he predicted, Janet Putnam-Barlow, his mother, was standing out there, looking out on the parking lot with a touch of sadness in her face. She seemed to have that touch of sadness a lot lately. Rick wasn't sure why.

She turned to him, and the sadness vanished in a maternal smile. "Got everything?"

"Yup." The interaction was always the same, and to anyone else it would look uncaring. Rick and Janet both knew better; they both had problems left unspoken, but no matter how little they spoke, they had the unspoken bond of family. Besides, they spoke more at dinner-time.

"Okay, have a good day. Stay out of trouble," she reminded him, inviting him in for a hug.

Rick accepted it as he responded, "I will." He released the hug, then bounced away with a quick word of farewell.

The walk to school was uneventful. He arrived early as usual, still chewing the last bite of toast. He saw a few figures tossing a football around. He picked up his pace to a jog, and joined them. He didn't know them terribly well, but a friendly game of catch never went amiss. A few minutes later, Aidan arrived with a lazy "Mooorning."

Rick tossed the football, then turned from the others to his friend. "Morning yourself, Aidan," he said, before noticing a certain redness in Aidan's cheek. He looked closely at it before seeing the fading outline of a hand. "You look like you had a fun night," he quipped sarcastically as he finally realized what it was. He wondered who had inflicted the slap this time.