The fact that I had somehow ended up in the principal's office within the first month of the school year was a new record for me. Usually I didn't start making stupid decisions until the first grade check. Or I just didn't get caught, but hiding what I had done was basically impossible. And the fact that I had made a horrible mistake during homecoming week was even worse. But bad decisions never really had good timing, did they?

"Sam, can you even drift this bad boy?" Eric, the infamous party-thrower, ran his hand over the hood of my car.

"Eric, I can drift better than anyone you know," I bragged. "And she's a girl."

"Of course."

I revved my engine, hearing the growl and feeling the vibration run up my spine. Yeah, that never got old.

"I bet you can't drift around the curb right there," he pointed.

The street that made an imperfect square around the school had one side that held more space than the others. The smooth curb also ran in between the fence of the softball field and a shallow ditch. It was a decent turn that I was about ninety-five percent sure I could most certainly drift.

"How much money you talkin?"

He scoffed. "Uh well, all I have is a twenty-"

"Deal." I shook his hand. "If I make a clean drift around the curb I get your twenty."

"Fine." He smirked. "But I'll be the judge."

Eric walked past the fence and stood on the safe side of the sidewalk as I drove out of the parking lot. If I was going to do some serious drifting I had to have a soundtrack. I punched my radio and tuned it to the rock station I loved so much. Luckily a Guns N' Roses song came on. Perfect.

And of course before I started I had a moment of hesitation. A thought that I always seemed to have before making a terrible decision. But I had already made the bet and I didn't have twenty bucks to lose, so there was no backing out now.

I took off. My tires squealed against the hot asphalt of the road. My heart pounded in my chest as I neared the turn. I wasn't going too fast, but fast enough as I attempted to determine the right time for the drift.

But unfortunately my timing was off. The back-side of my Camaro drifted but drifted too far. I felt the grip of my tires hit the grass, and then I heard the crunching sound of wood hitting against the back of my car. And all I could really do was ride out the damage I was creating while trying not to lose control.

When I came to a halt Eric's face basically said everything I needed to know. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look back at the damage that was more than I had anticipated.

The entire fence to the softball field was in shambles. Broken wood lied everywhere and I was too afraid to inspect my car for damage.

Then as if on cue, the vice principal spotted us.

Eric stood in silence next to me, too afraid to make a sound. The fear of being expelled breathed down his back.

I wouldn't let that happen. This was my fault, even though he had initially made the bet. But I wouldn't let him take the fall with me.

I nudged him. "I guess I owe you twenty bucks."

This got him to release a giggle.

Then the head principal came through the doors. "What's so funny? Do you even understand the damage that has been done? I should expel you two for vandalism of school property!"

Eric and I stopped laughing.

"Sir, it was an accident-"

"Accident?!" he interrupted Eric. "This was an act of stupidity. Pure insolence on both of your parts."

"Mr. Douglas, it was my fault," I defended. "I was showing off to Eric and I made a mistake. He had nothing to do with this."

I had talked my way out of bad situations before. Plenty of times. But I knew there was no talking myself out of this one. Although, if I could get Eric out of here punishment-free I was going to.

Mr. Douglas just stared like he was trying to light us on fire with his eyes. He knew I had a colorful record of misconduct, but Eric didn't. So he could truly do nothing to anyone but me.

"Fine. You can leave," he ordered Eric. Soon it was just me and the good ole' principal.

"Sit," he demanded.

I did as I was told.

"I could expel you," he suggested. I held my breath. "But I won't, because the damage is easily fixable and inexpensive."

I exhaled with relief. "Thank you-"

"But there will still be punishment."

"Yeah of course..." I wondered what it could be, knowing it would be pretty harsh.

"I'm calling your guardian. It says here that his name is Shawn..."

"That's my brother," I said. Oh, he was gonna kill me.

"I talked to the softball coach about the fence you just took down. She's quite angry with you. But she also gave me the ideal punishment."

Oh no. This didn't sound good.

"The softball work day is a week from the homecoming dance. You'll attend and help them restore the fence and whatever else they need you to do. And don't expect to ditch because I'll make sure the coach keeps her eye on you the entire time."

That's it? I just nodded. "So all I have to do is go to their work day?"

"And she also needs an equipment assistant."

You've got to be kidding me.

I leaned forward. "Softball season lasts for months."

"I suggest you try to get on her good side then," he finished. "You can go now."

I stood but hesitated to leave. The punishment I would have to fulfill settled with a heaviness on my shoulders.

"Oh and another thing," he called. "The work day starts at eight."

"In the morning?"

"In the morning," he confirmed with a stern expression.

All I could do was nod before exiting the office. I had definitely gotten myself into a serious dilemma. I could deal with the work day, I mean it was only one day, but being the equipment bitch?

Just the thought of that made me want to run away and never look back.

But running never really worked because trouble seemed to follow me anyway.

* * *

When Shawn got home that afternoon he didn't hold back. I didn't expect him to. I knew what I had done was bad, and that it could've been totally prevented had I just thought about it for one second. But I hadn't. And now I was being forced to spend months with the softball team as my punishment and owed Eric twenty bucks.

By the next day everyone at Baldwin had heard about the incident, which was a bit too predictable for me. And it didn't take Blair long to find me with Emma hot on her tail.

"Are you kidding me?" she fumed.

"What?" I asked.

"What? Sam, you ran through a fence yesterday and didn't think to call me?" Blair fumed.

"I was a bit busy getting chewed out by everyone under the sun."

"What the hell were you doing?"

"Trying to win twenty bucks."

"You took down a fence for twenty bucks?"

"And bragging rights," I confessed before looking over to Emma. "Aren't you upset with me too? Two of your teammates already cornered me this morning about it."

Emma shrugged. "The fence honestly needed to be replaced. You kind of did us a favor."

At this I smiled, grateful that out of everyone who was mad at me, Emma wasn't.

"So you're not kicking me off of the senior committee?" I teased.

"You're not on the senior committee," she laughed. "But you can still ride the float with us tomorrow, if that's what you're asking."

"Should I bring anything?"

"Just yourself." She turned to leave. "Unless you get expelled before then."

I watched Emma disappear around the corner before Blair punched me in the arm.

"Ouch," I whined.

"That's for being stupid yesterday."

"Blair, this is a common behavior. You don't have to punch me every time."

"Yes, I do, because one of these days..." She poked my head. "I'll get through that thick skull of yours."

I cringed. "Whatever you say."

And as if my day couldn't get any worse, Shay rounded the corner with two of her evil minions on her tail. She looked pissed, which again was predictable because she was also on the softball team. I had hoped I wouldn't run into her today but my luck seemed to be at an all-time low at the moment.

She stopped in front of me. "So you ran through our fence and didn't get arrested? Who did you sleep with to get out of that?"

"Your mom," I retorted. "Why? Is she asking about me yet?"

Shay clenched her fists. "They should make you rebuild it if anything!"

I crossed my arms. "I will."

"You will?"

"Yep, next Saturday if I'm remembering correctly. That's when the softball work day is, right?"

"You're gonna be there?"

"Aren't you so happy?" I teased.

"Not in the slightest," she growled.

"Well, you might wanna learn to like me because I'll be assisting the team as the other half of my punishment."

"What?"

I nodded. "Yeah, seems like coach needs some help this season."

Shay didn't like this at all and I was enjoying every second. Her arch nemesis, yours truly, was about to rain all over her parade. Shay took off down the hall, shoulder-butting me on her way out.

"Wow," Blair said. "You have to help them the entire season too?"

I sighed. "Yeah, it's gonna suck."

"On the bright side, Emma will be there."

"Okay, maybe it won't suck that bad."

* * *

Oh, I had messed up. I had messed up bad and there was nothing I could do about it. I mean, she couldn't be too mad at me, could she? With everything going on this week and the whole ripping down the fence thing...

No. Megan was going to kill me when she got home. I knew it. And I would be lucky if she didn't tell Shawn I had just failed the first test even after she gave me the entire study guide a week beforehand.

I paced in the kitchen, watching the clock and knowing Shawn and Megan would be home soon. I wasn't sure who I wanted to walk in first. No, yes I did. I wanted Shawn home first because if anyone would save me from Megan's wrath it would be him.

I heard the key in the door. My heart hammered harder inside my chest. My fists were clenched at my sides with the anticipation.

The door swung open. Megan locked eyes with me and I already knew what was about to go down.

"Are you kidding me, Sam?" she asked. "I mean, what more do I have to do to help you? I basically gave you a replica of the test an entire week beforehand and you still failed?"

I stepped back as she threw her bag on the floor. "Megan, it's not my fault-"

"Not your fault?" she interrupted. "Then whose fault is it?"

I was rendered silent.

She threw herself on the couch and ran her hands through her hair. Suddenly I felt bad. Like really bad.

"This is your fault, and you know it," she stated. "And I'm extremely disappointed in you."

Ouch. Okay, that one stung a little. "Megan are you gonna tell Shawn?"

She went to answer but the opening of the door stopped her. Shawn was home. Oh, everything was happening too fast. If she was about to rat me out I needed to get out of here ASAP.

"Hey," Shawn greeted. "What are you two doing?"

Megan looked at me before answering. "We were talking about the test-"

"The testing of the fire alarms," I interjected. "They were testing the fire alarms today and it was terrible."

"That sounds pretty horrible," Shawn agreed.

Megan threw me a menacing glare.

I changed the subject. "How was your day?"

Shawn set his bag down before facing us. "It was great actually..." He paused. "But there's something I need to talk to you two about."

My blood ran cold. That combination of words never settled well with me, and most of the time the conversation that happened after was never a good one.

"What?" I asked.

He joined us in the living room. "Well, I got offered an opportunity today at work that could eventually lead to a big promotion."

My heart beat was no longer in my head. "Oh, well that's good."

"Yeah," he agreed. "But the opportunity isn't here in Missouri."

Another moment of adrenaline made my blood soar.

I panicked. "Are you saying we have to move? Shawn I can't leave right now. I'm a senior. And what about-"

"Sam, we're not moving," he stated.

I exhaled. "Then why did you...?"

"The executive of the company I work for wants a representative to go up to the national convention in New York... And they chose me."

Wow. New York? "Oh, well... I've always wanted to go to New York."

"You can't come."

"Why not?" I argued. "I could miss a few days.

"No, you really can't," Megan added.

Shawn looked at us with an odd expression before answering. "Because I have to stay for a while."

"As in how long?" I asked.

"They want me to stay till the end of October."

"W-What...?" My voice trembled.

Had I heard him correctly? The end of October? As in a month without him here in Missouri with me? Was he really about to leave me here with Megan?!

"Sam, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity-"

"You're leaving..." I trailed off and looked over to Megan. who seemed just as shocked as me.

"Look I know it's untimely," Shawn comforted. "But this is a big deal. I have to go. You'll be here with Megan. You won't be alone."

Didn't he see that that was the whole problem? Oh I didn't believe this day could get any worse. That was unless Megan decided to tell Shawn I was failing her class with not-so-flying colors.

But she didn't. Instead she congratulated him.

"You're right. This is an opportunity you can't pass up," she agreed.

I felt like my stomach was caving. "When are you leaving?"

"Monday," he answered.

Monday. He was leaving in three days.

He patted my knee in reassurance. "Hey, you'll be fine. Don't worry."

He was wrong. This time Shawn was wrong. I would not be okay. I could feel the storm cloud moving closer. The atmosphere grew colder with each passing second. And when I looked over to Megan I could tell she sensed it too.

Nothing about this situation was fine, but there was absolutely nothing we could do.