Carter flicked a potato chip at Zac and laughed as she quickly looked back at the tv. She was sprawled out on the couch in his living room, hogging it like usual. Zac was on the floor in front of her, reading his math book. Carter hated it when he did that.
"That's like the third time you've flicked something at me now. Are you gonna talk to me or just flick?"
"I prefer flicking."
"Are you ever going to talk to me though?"
Carter sighed.
"What did I do that was so horrible?!"
"You're a guy. With hormones. And you have a crush on a really hot girl. And you just suck in general."
"So? You have a crush on Taylor?"
Carter's jaw dropped open and she laughed. "Says who?!"
Zac looked back at the tv.
"SAYS WHO?!?!"
"Tay."
Carter wrapped her legs around Zac's neck and squeezed slightly when he screamed. "What did he say about me, Zac?"
"He said you want him bad."
Carter squeezed harder.
"And that you were laying on him and that you grabbed his butt."
"I DID NOT GRAB HIS BUTT!"
"I believe you." Zac laughed.
Carter unwrapped her legs from his neck region and slapped him in the head. "You and your brothers all suck. Do you know that?"
Zac nodded and glanced out the window. "Who's that?"
"Who's who?"
"That girl? She's sitting on Niquie's roof."
"Oooh, it's Niquie now."
Zac ignored her. "There's a girl sitting on Nique's roof."
"What's she doing?" Carter sighed, not interested at all.
"Well, she's staring at the sky."
"That helps." Carter grabbed Zac by the arm and dragged him outside. "Come on, you won't rest until you know why she's on your chick's roof."
"SHE'S NOT MY CHICK!" Zac yelled.
Carter stood underneathe the roof and shouted up to the girl. "Hi!"
The girl looked down at them and waved.
"So... uhm..." Carter looked at Zac. "That wasn't very productive."
Zac shrugged.
Finally, the girl climbed back into the window and appeared at the front door, after throwing a pillow at an unknown person inside. She was much taller than Carter, and much shorter than Zac, she looked about 5'5". Her hair was deep brown, almost black, and her eyes were blue. A huge similarity to Carter. But there were various streaks of blue in her hair, something Carter had never done. "Hi. You guys live across the street don't you?"
Zac nodded and shook her hand. "I'm Zac Hanson."
"Jade." She smiled, seeming somewhat mysterious.
Carter noticed the way Jade didn't reveal her last name. "I'm Carter Porter. I know it rhymes and all, and I hate that, so people just call me Carter. When I get famous I'll probably go by my middle name, Carter Anabella."
Jade nodded and looked towards Zac. "You're Nique's boyfriend right?"
"Friend."
"I've heard a lot about you too. You're really close aren't you?" She said, guesturing towards Zac and Carter."
Zac put his arm around Carter. "Best friends."
Carter smiled, for once in the past few weeks, she felt centered out by Zac again. It felt good.
"So uhm...." Zac tried not to be too blunt. "Why were you on Nique's roof? Do you have a house?"
Jade laughed. "I'm Dominique's cousin."
"Visiting?"
Jade gave them a strange look. "I live here."
"Oh." Carter looked all around her. "Does Nique know that?"
Zac laughed and smacked her. "Nique never said anything about you. How long have you lived here?"
"Since uhm... they moved here. Nique and I don't get along. It wasn't my choice to live with her and her family. You've never been inside have you?"
"No... come to think of it. She's never invited me in."
Jade motioned for them to follow her. "Come on in. Nique's sleeping on the couch. I don't think she'll mind." Jade knew something Zac and Carter didn't know. She knew how Nique felt about her.
Nique was not happy about Jade coming with them when they moved. Jade didn't have a choice though. She lived with her mother her whole life, her father was out of the picture a long time ago. But one day, her mother decided it would best if Jade lived with her uncle. She figured Jade could help Nique through the loss of her mother. Jade's mom never knew how much Nique hated Jade.
Jade opened the front door and let Carter and Zac in. Zac looked around. He'd seen the house from the outside every day of his life, imagining if the inside would compare with the outside. It did. The house was huge. The living room was the size of his dining room and kitchen combined. The furniture was beautiful, the kind any teenager would be afraid to touch. But curled up on the black velvet loveseat was Nique, with a pillow on her face. He laughed, remembering when Jade threw the pillow before she came outside.
Jade led them upstairs. "I'll give you the grand tour." She began, showing them her room first. "This is where I pretty much live. That's how I get out onto the roof. I just now got that window open, it's been jammed for the longest time." Jade ran over to her dresser and grabbed a bright blue sweater. "OOOH! IT'S CLEAN!" She pulled it over her head. The sweater didn't quite seem to match the rest of her outfit, but it did match her personality.
Jade then led them to Nique's bedroom. "This is her room. It's a little too clean for my liking. But she likes it that way, so I guess it's ok."
Zac felt a little uneasy peering into Nique's bedroom. "Are you sure she won't mind us being here? I mean..."
"Don't worry. She won't mind. She won't know." She laughed.
"Over there is Jeff, Joel, and Uncle Dave's rooms." She pointed to the far end of the upstairs. "We're not going to go in there. Toxic Waste." She smiled.
Zac used his fingers to count. "5 bedrooms?"
"7 actually. There's a guest room and a room on the third floor for like, long visiting guests. Like me... I guess... but I don't like it up there."
"Because you're a stupid whore who can't stay out of other people's rooms." Nique's voice peirced through Zac's ears. He'd never heard her say anything like that before. He turned around to see her. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she wore no makeup.
"I'm sorry Nique, I just wanted to see your house." Zac looked completely scared.
Nique shrugged. "It's not your fault." She glared at Jade. "Jade, honey.... did you tell them why you really live here?"
Jade shrugged. "I don't know. Did I?"
Carter shook her head.
"Because her mom was sick of her. Now we're stuck with her."
Jade sighed. "The only person in this house that has a problem with me is you. And don't think I don't want to go home."
"You're a mooch, Jade. A mooch."
Zac touched Nique's arm lightly. "We should go.. I think. Uhm. Yeah."
"Bye Zac." Nique growled, not even bothering to look at him.
Carter grabbed Jade by the arm. She liked her, she seemed a lot like herself. "And Jade's going to come with us. Because I fear for her life."
Jade laughed. "Byebye Niquie."
When Carter, Zac, and Jade walked back to Zac's house, they found Taylor laying upside down on the couch.
"Your face is all red." Carter laughed. "Jade this is Taylor, he's one of Zac's brothers. He's 16."
Jade smiled. "So am I. Hi Taylor."
"Yo." Taylor sat up and looked at her. "Whoa you're hot."
Carter smacked Taylor and Jade laughed. "Likewise." She turned to Zac. "One of your brothers?"
"Yeah Isaac lives by himself in the attic. He's a hermit."
"He is not." Carter laughed. "He just... only comes out at night?"
Jade sat next to Taylor and shook his hand. "I live across the street, I'm Nique's cousin."
"Whoa, hotness runs in your family."
"Likewise again."
Taylor blushed.
"Alright alright." Zac actually sounded jealous. "If this flirting session is over, we're gonna go next door and introduce Jade to the wretched icky icky monster sister of Carter's."
Taylor nodded. "Hotness runs in her family too."
Carter gave him a dirty look and led Jade and Zac over to her house. "Don't mind Tay, he's... very very horny."
"You guys make a cute couple. How long have you been going out?"
Carter gave her a strange look and then laughed. "Oh we're not together. We're..."
"Friends?"
"I wouldn't even say that." Carter sighed. "So when you meet Meli... don't look directly at her or you might melt. And if anybody else is swarming around her, cover your eyes all together ok?"
"Ok..." Jade looked nervous.
"Alright, we're going in." Carter pushed open the door and screamed for drama when she saw Melissa sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of cappuccino.
"What the hell is your problem?" Melissa didn't look up from the tv.
"Nothing." Carter grinned and gave Jade an "I told you so" look.
Jade smiled, knowing that a friendship was pretty close in the making. Finally she might feel welcome in the neighborhood.