Chapter 1

Carter and Melissa lived in a rather large double house, accompanied only by their father. Carter was named after her mother's father, a man that she had never met. She was the older sister, the louder sister, the more opinionated sister. But she was much shorter than Melissa. She stood only 5 feet one inch tall with bright blue eyes and chin length, layered, light brown hair. Hidden behind it were 3 pair of earrings, usually silver to match her black and white wardrobe.

Melissa was the taller, younger one of the two. She was very feminine and always polite. She was also very timid, almost the complete opposite of her brutally honest sister. With her long blonde hair and light blue eyes, she very much resembled Susie from Road Rules.

Carter grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room at her younger sister. "Are you coming or what?"

Melissa looked up from her book and laughed. "Are you going to put on a shirt first?"

"Hadn't planned on it." She was wearing high cutoff shorts that just barely hung on her hips. Her halter top bikini was what set Melissa off.

"I'm not going next door until you put on a shirt." Melissa crossed her arms over her chest.

"Mel, we're going swimming. The shirt will come off as soon as we get next door anyway."

"I don't care."

Carter rolled her eyes and grabbed a white tank top from the stack of clothes on her dresser. She pulled it over her head and put her hands on her hips. "You happy now?"

"Don't you ever put your clothes away?"

"Do you always listen to what dad says?"

Melissa slid her sandles onto her feet and stood up. "You can see right threw that shirt."

"Grow up, Mel. I'm going now. Meet me over there."

"Fine fine." Melissa waved her sister off and grabbed her hairbrush.

Carter jumped over the banister that separated the two houses and knocked on the door. Of course, Zac was the one to answer, he was always the first to answer. He had always been her best friend. Even when she was 4 and he was 2, they were hanging out in the sandbox together. Now she was 16 and he was 14, and they were stil inseperable.

Zac was the only person besides her sister that had ever seen Carter cry. That was the day of her mother's funeral, and even then, Carter sat there in the privacy of Zac's bedroom with his arms around her, hoping that nobody would come in.

"Yo. You ready to do some serious swimming?" He asked. "Did you bring a towel?"

"Do I ever bring a towel?"

Zac laughed. "I guess not. Where's Melissa?"

"I dunno. Probably brushing her hair for the millionth time. You know how she is. Gotta be perfect for her loverboy." Carter looked over his shoulder. "Where is Tay anyway?"

"He's already out in the pool."

"So are you gonna let me in or what?" She asked, with her hands on her hips.

Zac laughed. "Come on."

Carter ran out the back door of Zac's house and up the hill to the pool. It was an inground pool that they shared. It took up both back yards of the double house.

Taylor stood on the diving board and watched Carter pull her shirt off. "Where's Meli?"

"Inside still. She should be out soon." She rolled her eyes and pulled off her cutoff jean shorts to reveal black boycut swimming shorts.

"Is that new?" Zac asked, admiring her bathing suit.

"I had it last summer, I just never wore it."

"Oh."

Taylor jumped off the diving board and did a cannon ball. The wave of water slammed into Carter's face, but she didn't move. She stood there until Taylor came up, laughing.

"Oh yeah. That was funny. You're such a cool guy."

Taylor laughed some more and went under water again.

"I really can't stand your brother. You must have gotten all the cool genes of the family."

Zac smiled. "Ike's not as much of a dick."

"Yeah but does he ever say hi? No. Does he ever hang out? No." She look down the hill. "Oh goody. Here comes miss wonderbra."

Zac laughed and jumped into the pool. Carter jumped in after him. Taylor swam to the side and looked at Melissa as she walked up. "Hey." He smiled.

Melissa smiled back and blushed. "Hi." She stood on the side for a couple minutes before finally sliding her jeans and t-shirt off to reveal a one piece, bright red bathing suit that showed off a bit too much cleavage for a 15 year old.

Carter rolled her eyes and whispered into Zac's ear, "She's the only person I know that voluntarily comes fully clothed to a swimming pool just so that she can strip in front of her boyfriend."

"Are you ever nice to your sister?"

"Do you and Tay get along?"

Zac laughed. "Only at funerals and weddings."

"Well then." Carter smiled and pulled herself out of the pool.

"Where you going?" He asked, leaning on the side of the pool.

"Going to find your brother."

"I think he's upstairs with Trey."

"Cool." Carter walked around the pool and rolled her eyes at Melissa, who was now giggling in the water with Taylor.

Trey was Isaac's best friend. Isaac didn't seem to need the company of a female, he was perfectly content with his music and his partying. Trey was a jock, a partier, a practical joker. Carter thought he was a jerk.

She knocked on Isaac's door and rapped her towel around her waist. Melissa would have rather she wrapped it around her whole body, but Carter didn't care what her sister thought.

Trey opened the door and immediately walked away. "Ike, that chick that looks like a vampire is here."

"She doesn't look like a vampire."

"Yeah she does."

"Dude. Shut up." Isaac jumped up from his spot on the floor of his bedroom and went to the door. "You rang?"

"No I knocked." She rolled her eyes. "Did you do what I told you to do?"

"What?"

"Tay's bed. Did you do it?"

"Oh. No I was just about to do it. Why?"

Carter shrugged. "Just making sure. He deserves what's coming to him after what he did last week."

"Yeah. That did kind of suck. Luckily you were able to salvage your hair."

"Whatever. See ya." She walked away and touched the top of her head. "Six inches gone from my hair, Tay's gonna pay for that one." She laughed to herself and walked back to the pool.

Isaac shrugged his shoulders and walked back into his bedroom.

"Dude. She's weird." Trey fell over to his side and stayed there.

"How much of that stuff have you had now?" Isaac asked, referring to the pot that Trey had brought over. Isaac had never smoked any of it, but Trey loved it.

"About.... 7."

"7 what?"

"What?"

"Nevermind." Isaac rolled his eyes and sat back down on his bed.

"Dude. Why are you wearing purple shoes?"

"I'm not."

"Yeah you are."

"Shut up, Trey."

"K." Trey snorted to himself.

"Oookay." Isaac grabbed his towel and decided that it was time to go for a swim. But before he went outside, he grabbed his scissors, some mayonaise from the kitchen, a bucket, and the ketchup, and went over to Taylor's room.

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