"JUSTIN!!" The ear piercing scream was heard throughout the house, even invading on the driveway where Joey was casually shooting baskets. The yell disrupted his shot and caused him to throw the ball way over the hoop, landing on the hood of Chris's car.

Joey glared up at Lance and JC's bedroom window, retrieving his ball. He inspected the car and saw no noticable bump or dent. "I swear, sometimes I can't stand little brothers."

The front door opened and JC came down the porch steps and onto the driveway. He took the ball from Joey and proceeded in dribbling to the basketball goal, sending it up and through the hoop in a swift motion.

"Hey, what was all the screaming about?" Joey asked, rebounding the ball only to lay it up again.

"Lance." JC explained. "He got into this spelling bee at school and now he's calling himself 'genus'."

"A genius? Right, uh huh." Joey shook his head, counteracting his words. The two of them continued to play basketball while Justin tended to Lance's excited cries. It had been nearly five minutes when Lance stepped through the screen door of the house, joining Joey and JC on the driveway.

"JC, will you go over my spelling words with me?" Lance asked.

"Umm..no." JC replied. Lance looked at Joey, but quickly dejected his gaze, going back to JC.

"Why? All you have to do is read the word and then I'll spell it. If I don't do good on my tests, I won't do good in the spelling bee." Lance explained.

"Well," JC began. "If you're a genius, you shouldn't have to study. You should know them already."

"I'm a genus in training, JC."

"Oh, I see." JC nodded, not really seeing the point his little brother was trying to make. "Why not Justin?"

"Why not you?" Lance argued.

"Because Joey's getting ready to take me to the mall." JC passed the basketball to Joey, widening his eyes for lack of the skill to wink. Joey rolled his eyes, but quickly defended the excuse.

"Right, I am." Joey said with little emotion.

"Can I come?"

"But, Lance. You have to study. If you don't do good on your spelling test, you won't do good in the spelling bee. Now get up there and start memorizing the words." Lance looked at JC in disappointment. "Go. Hurry, before you teacher calls and tells you that you can't do it."

JC's comment triggered Lance's legs to run into the house to study his words.

"Well?" JC looked expectantly at Joey. Joey continued to dribble the basketball, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, what?" Joey replied.

"Are we going to the mall now?"

"You actually wanted me to take you? Get real, I'm not wasting my day to take my brother on a field trip."

"You treat me like I'm Lance. I'm not gonna run into all the toy stores and ask you to buy me stuff." JC reasoned. "Please, I'm sick of just hanging around the house. I want to do something."

"So go ride your bike or something. Go to Jacob's house, or go to the park. Something that doesn't involve me."

"Come on, please?" he begged.

"Why don't you have Justin take you?"

"Why not you?" JC repeated Lance's earlier interrogation. Joey sighed, tossing the ball in the grass.

"I'll get the keys to the car and tell Justin we're leaving."

"Thank you, big brother." JC beamed in the most innocent way possible.

"Joey, I swear-" Mallory began, but Joey quickly cut her off by reducing his speed by 10 MPH, already anticipating her scolding about his speed.

"What are you, my speed keeper?" Joey asked. "That's the fifth time you've told me to slow down."

"What happened? When you first got your license, you were slow and careful. Now you're a speed demon. If the sign says 65 MPH, you don't go 80. It's common sense. You're lucky a cop didn't catch you."

"People go over the speed limit all the time. You know why? Because the cop's speedometer may not be the same as the one in your car. See, I listened in class."

"Yeah, but the point is that you go the speed limit and he is lenient if his doesn't match because he trusts that you're going the right speed. Besides, people go like five over not fifteen."

"Well, who asked you? I didn't even want you to come." Joey pouted.

"Then why did you show up at my door, ordering me to get in the car?" Mallory countered. She crossed her arms, leaning back in the front seat.

"Because I thought I'd have someone pleasant to talk to on this 'outing'. But right now, I'm not so sure." Joey said. JC groaned and leaned forward from the back seat to get their attention.

"If I knew I'd have to listen to an argument, I would have walked. And what's so wrong with me? Am I not pleasant to talk to? Because you're not so great either." JC whined.

"You know, I could turn this car right around." Joey threatened.

"Yeah, and I could tell Chris you were going eighty miles an hour in his car." JC reminded him. He grinned at the look of reluctance on Joey's face. "Are we almost there?"

"You've been to this mall ten billion times, JC. Does it look like we're almost there?" Joey asked, growing annoyed.

"Well, hey. I'm sorry that us non-drivers don't know the streets or the highways as well. All I know is that it's a long ways away."

"It's like twenty minutes away from my house. It's not that bad considering we have to go to another town to go shopping." Mallory informed him in a very polite way. "What do you guys plan to do when we get there?"

"Ask him." Joey replied, pointedly. Mallory rolled her eyes at Joey and turned towards the backseat.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

JC shrugged. "I dunno. I don't really have a lot of money since Chris doesn't give allowance, and when he does it's like a quarter. I just thought it'd be fun."

"What do you expect? We're poor, JC. We don't get allowance." Mallory slapped Joey's arm at his comment. She shook her head and went back to JC.

"We could go to some of my favorite stores. You can help me pick out stuff I want to buy." Mallory turned back around, facing the front. "And if you're good, I'll buy you some candy."

"You hear that, JC? Be good." Joey reprimanded.

Mallory scoffed. "I was talking to you, Joey."

"Railroad." Justin said, glancing over at the sheet of paper on the table. He returned his eyes to the pamphlet which he was looking.

"Justin," Lance complained. "You gave me railroad three times already. R-a-i-l-r-o-a-d. I know that one."

Justin placed his papers onto the table. "I'm sorry, buddy. I'm just not really into this right now."

"What's wrong?" Justin shook his head. Lance repeated the gesture in disapprovement, hopping out of his chair. He walked around the table and put a hand on his back. "Now, come on. Tell your little brother what's wrong." he said, sincerely.

"Lance, please. You're too young to understand." he replied.

"Well, then at least act like you care if I spell good. Give me another word." Lance persisted. Justin sighed, reading off another word from the list and listened hardly as his little brother spelled it out. After Lance had finished, he awaited another word. When it didn't come, he plopped back down in his chair and rolled his eyes.

It was then at that moment that Chris came through the back door, retreating to the refrigerator for a glass of water. Lance jumped up and ran to his side at the freezer door as Chris got the ice.

"What are you doing outside?" he asked.

"I'm mowing the lawn. Or was, I'm done now." Chris answered. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and began drinking from the glass thirstily. Lance held his finger out, motioning for him to bend down. Chris did so.

"I think you need to talk to Justin." Lance whispered and then ran up the stairs, grabbing his spelling list off the table on the way. Chris frowned and took a seat at the kicthen table.

"So what's up?"

"Huh?" Justin questioned.

"Lance said you were upset about something. Well, actually he said I should talk to you. So what's up?" Chris inquired.

"Nothing really, just stress is all." Chris tilted his head at Justin's answer. "I mean, it's to be expected. I'm the most achieving kid in the family."

"You're so modest."

"I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that I always overdo stuff and work too hard." Justin corrected.

"Yeah, OK. I can see that, and I'm assuming this is all school related, right?" Justin nodded. "You sure? Because yes, you can stress about school, but you don't really have much of a social life."

"Well, good high school seniors don't have social lives. Pardon me if I don't go out and get drunk with buddies. Would you like me to?" Justin mocked.

"Sorry, calm down. I've never seen you so worked up."

"I have three major assignments due in the next two weeks and I have a test coming up I have to study for. That may not sound like much to you, but when you consider how much work I do around the house - watching the kids, making dinner, doing dishes- I have a right to be stressed."

"You make me sound like a jerk making you do all the stuff. You like doing that stuff." Justin looked at him in doubt. "OK, OK. How about I take over the cooking and dishes duties for the next few weeks so you don't have to worry about that, huh? Would that make you feel better?"

"I guess so. Could you also help Lance with that spelling thing? I don't have the heart to tell him I'm too busy to help, but I really am."

"OK, sure. I'll head up there right now. Be a big brother for a day." Chris nodded in affirmation. "Where's Joey and JC?"

"Oh they went to the mall about fifteen minutes ago." Justin replied.

"Really? Joey took JC to the mall? That doesn't sound like Joey."

"I'm only the messenger, and please?" Justin motioned to his work on the table. Chris nodded and stood up.

"Right, I'll leave you be." Justin sighed in relief as silence was heard throughout the kitchen and he could work in peace.

Mallory inspected the box of charcoal pencils very intently, trying hard to make a choice between different brands. She sighed in distress.

"You know, when you said favorite stories, I assumed you were talking about clothes." Joey complained, growing tired of staring at all the abstract paintings on the walls.

"Do you know me at all, Joey? Fashion isn't one of my major concerns. Any money I get goes to books, or sheet music... or art supplies." Mallory explained.

"Oh, you're one of those people."

"Excuse me, Joseph? What's that suppose to mean? One of which people?"

"You know, those people who are so obessesed with being all artsy and creative and have no care about anything other than that. You people make me sick." Joey scoffed.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you just said." Mallory placed the charcoal pencils back in their rightful place and turned to face Joey in anger. "I find it hard to believe that my best friend would tell me that I make him sick. Especially to my face."

"I didn't really say it to your face. You were so wrapped up in your 'art supplies' you weren't even looking at me when I was talking."

"What is wrong with you?"

"Yeah, well have you ever noticed that it's the band kids or the art kids at school that think they're better than everyone? That they're so perfect and can't do anything wrong."

"I'm not in band and I'm not in art. I do my own work, I don't do what other people tell me to do."

"Another sign of you being superior. You're too good to participate in everything kids do at school."

"That's it, I'm leaving." Mallory started for the exit.

"You can't leave, I'm your ride home." Joey swung the keys in the air. "Come on, JC. Let's go home."

JC came from the corner of the story and followed Joey out. He turned back briefly and saw Mallory wasn't coming.

"Hey Joey, why's Mallory-"

"Because she's a jerk. Get in the car." JC obliged quickly and couldn't help but notice the sad look in Mallory's eyes as they drove off, leaving her with no means of transportation twenty miles away from home.

Once the car pulled up to the house, Joey jumped out while JC opened his door slowly and trudged into the house. Joey reached the front before JC was even near so he slammed the door loudly, racing up to his bedroom.

Inside, Justin exchanged startled looks with Chris who had just entered when Joey had arrived. The two of them looked anxiously to JC as he came in through the door.

"What the heck happened?" Chris asked in an overdramatizing way. "He almost cracked the wood in our door."

"He and Mallory got in a fight." JC answered.

"Over what?" Justin said. He found it hard to believe that they actually had something to fight over.

"I'm not too sure, but I think he insulted her or something. I dunno."

"I better go talk to him." Chris declared, starting for the stairs.

"You sure you don't want me to?" Justin questioned.

"No offense, Justin, but if it's about girls, I think I should do it." Chris disappeared up the stairs, leaving a stunned Justin sitting at the kitchen table while JC emitted giggles.

Chris knocked on Joey's door, only to hear silence. He continued to knock, but received no response. "Hey, Joey? Can I come in?"

When he once again heard nothing, he turned the knob and cracked the door to peek in. He saw Joey lying on his bed, his head buried into his pillow. He mumbled something upon Chris's entrance.

"What?" Chris replied. He sat down on the bed as Joey brought his head up which was now red from his breathing being muffled by the fabric.

"I said you can make fun of me now. Go ahead and say that I've learned a lesson about friendship and respect. Mallory's never gonna speak to me again." With that said, he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Joey, c'mon, she's just one girl. You've been out with plenty of girls and they've never worked out."

Joey shot straight back up. "She isn't just some girl. She was my best friend and I messed it up. I screwed it all up. Normally she would just dismiss what I said and act as if I was kidding, but she was seriously fighting with me. Before I knew it, my joke had become real and I was really making fun of her."

"What did you say?"

"Well, she wanted to go to this art supply store and while we were there, she mentioned how she spends all her money on books and music and of course, art supplies. I called her 'one of those people' and she started getting really mad. I was just kidding."

"Man, you of all people should know not to kid around with girls."

"But this is Mallory. She's different."

"You can keep saying that, but it won't change anything. Let me ask you this, do you really believe that 'those people' are bad? Was the insult even true?"

"Yeah, it was. Most preps and popular kids at school are into art and stuff and I guess I'm not surprised that Mallory would be too, it's just that I've always been against those people. They think they're better than everyone, I'm not lying."

"Hey, I know. But, that's stereotyping, man. You can't just assume that she's like them. You've known her for what, four months now?"

"Five next Wednesday." Joey mumbled. Chris chuckled.

"So far, she's seemed like a decent girl right? She trusts you, she supports you and helps you. Out of all the girls you've been out with, I'd have to say she is the best."

"Now you're confusing me. First, you said that I'd get over her and now you're saying that she's the best girl I've ever been out with?"

"Well, yeah." Chris replied.

"So I should talk to her, then huh? Apologize for what I said?"

"Yes, you should. You'll feel better once you get her to forgive you and you're friends again."

"And friends we'll remain. You know, technically I've never gone out with her per se. We're just friends, and she's very clear about that." Joey corrected.

"You're such a teenager." Chris smiled and stood up, ruffling Joey's hair which resulted in Joey groaning. "I'll leave you alone."

"Hey, since when are you a good brother? Since when do you help me with stuff?"

"I've been in your shoes before. You forget that when I was your age, I was a lot like you. Drove Mom and Dad crazy."

"And you turned out all right, so I'll be OK?"

"Yeah, you will be. And thanks for saying I turned out all right. You seem to remind me a lot that I don't have a 'real career'."

"It's my image. I have to live up to my image." Joey paused. "Which reminds me, don't tell anyone you saw me crying over a girl. I have a reputation."

"No problem. Good luck with Mallory."

"Thanks." Joey replied. Chris smiled and shut the door.

"Railroad." JC muttered, uninterested. Lance glared and jumped on JC's bed, making Scooter scurry off, whining and barking.

"I don't like that word." Lance said.

"Why, because you can't spell it?" JC asked. He didn't take his eyes off the paper he was drawing on.

"R-A-I-L-R-O-A-D. See? I can so spell it, but that's the only word anyone ever gives me. I know others too."

"How about euphonism, you know that one?" JC smirked.

"That's not on my list, is it?" Lance peered over JC's shoulder to look at his spelling list. "You lier. What does that mean, anyway. Ufonism."

"Euphonism means...well, I don't know really what it means. But I like saying it, it's a cool word. Euphonism. Just say it."

"Ufonism." Lance beamed proudly. "Whatcha' doin?"

"I'm drawing."

"Drawing what?"

"A picture."

"Nah, really? A picture of what?" Lance persisted. He leaned forward to get a look at his paper. JC jerked it up to his chest. "What?"

"I'm not going to show you until it's done. An art-eest never reveals his work before completion."

"Since when are you an 'art-eest'?" Lance said in the same mocking way. JC shook his head.

"So young and naive." Lance smiled and giggled. He noticed Joey passing by the room and yelled at him to come in.

"Joey, come here!" Joey rolled his eyes and entered the bedroom, appearing beside JC's bed. "What does ufonism mean?"

"What?"

"Euphonism." JC corrected.

"You mean, euphemism?"

Lance laughed and pointed at JC accusingly. "You're not so smart. The 'art-eest' is stupid."

"At least I can spell railroad." JC shot back. Lance frowned.

"R-A-I-L-"

"Yeah, we all know." Joey nodded, cutting him off in dismissal. "What did you mean, artist?"

"JC's an 'art-eest' now. He's drawing pictures and says that an 'art-eest' never shows his pictures until they're done. And he thought he was better than me 'cause he could spell ufonism." Lance collapsed in laughter.

Joey sat on JC's bed and took the pad of paper from his little brother. JC looked at him in offense, reaching out for it. Joey flipped to the cover and saw the words 'Sketchbook' clearly written with a picture of a forest landscape printed on it.

"Where'd you get this?"

JC looked down shamefully. "Mallory gave it to me."

"What? When?" Joey was baffled.

"Earlier at the store. When you were in the bathroom. She said she'd buy me a sketchbook so I could start young and be as good an artist as she is." JC explained.

"Well, that tears it." Joey marched out of the room, the sketchbook still in hand. JC glared at him, crossing his arms. He caught a glimpse of Lance who was grinning deviously at him.

"Oh, go spell railroad." JC huffed, not able to come up with any better "euphemism".

Meanwhile, Joey was pounding down the stairs immediatly grabbing for the telephone. He dialed Mallory's number from memory and waited impatiently while it connected. As soon as he recognized her voice, he began to vent.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, I'm answering my phone. Is that all of a sudden wrong?" Mallory replied hastily.

"You are so out of line. I can't believe you!" Joey shouted.

"I"m about two seconds from hanging up, Joey so unless you're calling to apologize-"

"Apologize! Apologize for what? Not only are you a stuck up snob, but now you're teaching my little brother to be just like you." Joey accused.

"Excuse me? You insulted me for no reason and left me all the way out in the city with no ride home. My mom was at the store and my dad was at the church. I had no ride home. I had to wait an hour before someone could come get me. I hope that clears up the reason I expect an apology."

"Well, you're not getting one. Don't you know anything about guys who do stuff like that? They're gay, Mallory. There is no way I'm letting JC grow up to be gay."

"You are so typical. You always judge people before you know them, Joey. Besides, what do you care how JC grows up? You only care about yourself. You don't care about your brothers or your friends. As long as you're happy."

"Maybe I'd at least like for my brothers to look up to me and respect me. If you just wanna take away any shed of hope I had left of being a role model then go ahead and turn him into an 'art-eest'. See if I care. No one in my family respects me, no one likes me, but go ahead and make me look like the bad guy."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't have siblings that look up to me. It's nice when someone younger takes an interest in things I like. In my hobbies."

"Oh, so you don't have any siblings so you feel like you can steal other peoples? I'm sick of you, Mallory. I hate you."

Joey was expecting more shouts of anger, but all he received in return was a dialtone. He hung up, instantly feeling drained of emotion. His fury had dissipated and he was no longer feeling anger towards Mallory. He leaned against the wall and slid to the dirty kitchen floor. He glanced over at the sketchbook in his hands and slowly, but hesitantly brought it onto his lap. He opened the cover.

He hadn't expected it to be a very good drawing, and it really wasn't to be perfectly honest, but Joey couldn't stop looking at it. His problems with Mallory were his fault and his fault alone and he didn't want to except that. He closed the book and slid it over his head onto the kitchen counter.

Chris entered the kitchen and noticed him on the floor, leaning against one of the cabinets. He assumed the worst since he was seated by the phone.

"Did it not go well?" he asked.

"It's worse. Now I know for a fact that she'll never speak to me again." Chris was about to ask what happened, but Joey had expected that and responded promptly. "I said that I hated her."

"Joey, that wasn't the plan." Chris stated simply.

"I know that wasn't the plan!" Joey shouted back. Chris shook his head and sat up on the kitchen table, staring down at him. "I guess, I don't know...I guess maybe I don't want her to know you guys. I don't want you to know her. She's my friend. I don't want to share."

"Can we back track a little? I thought htis was about you thinking that she thought she was better than you."

"She bought JC a sketchbook and encouraged him to be an artist...just like her." Joey frowned. "JC's my brother. What right does she have? She made me look like an idiot and a jerk to him."

"Well, maybe the reason you and JC aren't really, friends, I guess is because you don't bond with him." Joey scoffed at this. "No, seriously. I'm gonna tell you a story."

"Wonderful, a story. Just what I need."

"Listen to me. When Justin and I were yours and JC's age, we acted the same way. I always teased him for being such a dork and always trying to actually do good in school and for having interests that normal kids don't have. For not having a lot of friends or being very social. It keeps skipping kids. I think Lance is gonna turn out just like you and me. You'll have plenty of time to bond with Lance."

"Yeah, but-"

"No, no buts. I feel the way you do sometimes. JC and Lance never look up to me. They never come to me, they never want to hug me or sit on my lap. You know why? Because Justin is the perfect big brother. His family comes before his social life. Once he gets in college, he won't have as much time for his family. I guarantee it. You'll get your turn. We'll both get our turn."

"OK, sure, but what do I do about Mallory?"

"Tell her exactly how you feel. Tell her what you told me."

"Are you serious? I told you upstairs, I have a reputation to maintain."

"Joey, if you want to have a long-lasting friendship with Mallory you're going to have to be yourself around her. Not just some perishable reputation. Think about it." Chris put a finger on Joey's forehead signifying to use his head and turned around to leave the room.

Chris stood at the end of the aisle of the fifth row of the auditorium. He waited while Joey, JC, and Justin shuffled into the first four seats, leaving him the last one. He looked at his watch, seeing that they were about five minutes shy of being late for Lance's big spelling bee.

"Joey?" JC said, timidly. Joey looked down at the seat beside him.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I won't draw anymore if you don't want me to."

Joey was tempted to say, 'Good, I don't want you to,' but he remembered what Chris said about how bonding would help their relationship.

"If it's something you want to do, I don't mind. But don't do just to spite me or because Mallory wants you to. Make your own decision."

"Really? You're not mad at me?"

"No, I'm not. We all have different interests and opinions. I won't be mad if you decide you want to get better in art. Just promise me you won't get all snooty and act superior to everyone. No one likes that."

"Then why do you do it?"

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just that when you were yelling at Mallory the other day, it was like you acting like you better than her. Because you didn't do all that stupid stuff, you were cool and she wasn't. Isn't that the same as judging people and acting superior?"

"JC, you drive me crazy sometimes." Joey muttered. JC furrowed his eyebrows and was about to reply, but Chris told them to be quiet from the end of the row. The spelling bee was starting.

Joey watched semi-patiently, growing frustrated on how long it was taking. All he wanted to do was watch all the other kids lose, see Lance win, and then go home. He didn't have to come, but he felt he should be supportive. It eventually came down to Lance and another girl.

It was the girl before Lance's turn and she received the word "railroad".

"Railroad. R-A-L-E-R-O-A-D. Railroad." The buzzer sounded and she frowned in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Judy, that is incorrect. Lance, if you can spell railroad correctly, you will win. If not, Judy will get another word and the spelling bee will continue. Railroad."

"Railroad." Lance paused, sighing.

"He better not miss this word. I swear, if he does-" JC began, but Joey shh-ed him, chuckling lightly.

"R-A-I-L-" he paused again. In his mind, he was doing it for dramatic effect. He had already known that he had just won the entire thing. "R-O-A-D."

"That is correct. Congratulations, Lance. You are the winner of this year's spelling bee!" Judy smiled and shook his hand, being a gracious loser.

The four boys from the audience stood, cheering on their young sibling as he made his way to the edge of the stage. Once Justin was in good distance, he jumped off into his arms where Justin reeled back slightly from shock. He began laughing as he stared at the pride in Lance's face.

"I won! I told you all I could."

"You sure did, buddy. We're proud of you." Justin kissed his forehead and began carrying him out to the car. As everyone climbed in, Joey pulled Chris aside.

"Can we make a stop on the way home?" he asked. Chris nodded, already knowing where to go. Once the car stopped in front of the house, Joey climbed out walking up the driveway and onto the porch. He rang the doorbell.

"Please." Joey whispered to himself, hoping for the best. He heard the door open and saw Mallory through the screen door. She looked at him in haste and disappointment. Reluctantly, she pulled open the door. "Mallory,"

"Look, Joey. I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but if something's bothering you," Mallory stopped, waiting for him to finish if that was really what was wrong.

"You're actually speaking to me?"

"I knew there had to be something else. I've known you too long for you to do something like this. I thought you could explain it to me."

"I'm just kind of upset that you were influencing JC the way that I never could. He's my brother and I wanted to be the one he looked up to. I know I have exactly been producing a good image for him to look up to, but I'm working on it."

"OK, but that still doesn't explain why you called me all those things you did before you knew I did this to JC. Do you really feel that way about me?"

"No, of course not. I just jumped to conclusions. I didn't realize that in reality, I was acting better than you by calling you all that stuff. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm sorry."

Mallory stood back and pondered for a moment. "Apology accepted."

"Great, then I feel much better. Are we still on for the weekend then? With Will and Katie?"

"I don't think so." Mallory replied. Joey's eyes widenend. He wasn't expecting that. "I don't hate you and I'm not mad, but it still hurts. I just think we should take a break from seeing each outside of school. Give me some time to trust you again."

"We're friends, though, right?"

"Yes, friends." Mallory confirmed, smiling.

"Could we maybe seal that with a kiss?" Joey asked, hopeful.

"How about a hug?" Mallory offered her arms to him and he shrugged, returning the embrace. He stroked her hair gently and pulled away. They smiled at each other. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"See you." Mallory went back inside the house, Joey staring longingly after her. He turned to step off the porch and immediatly saw his brothers cheering and yelling inside the car.

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