I realized something. Something very important. Something that could ruin my life.

"My mom must be running around the place wondering where I am!" I exclaimed.

I grabbed my phone which was on the coffee table and dialed my mom's number.

"Mom?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Oh hello Autumn." my mom said calmly. "Did you sleep well?"

My jaw dropped. Say what?

"Autumn, hello?"

I blinked. "Um, yeah. I slept... well."

"Oh that's good. Brooke told me that you stayed over a friends house since you wanted to go home early."

Brooke, I am in debt to you.

"Um yeah, the party was pretty boring so I went over to a friends."

"Well thank her parents for me."

"Can I hang out with my friends today? It's Saturday and I don't have anything to-"

"Oh sure Autumn! Have fun!" Then she hung up.

I looked up at the guys, dumbfounded. Then I started to chuckle, turning into fits of laughter.

"She's clueless! I can be walking towards my doom and she's just smile and say, have a nice day!" I said, falling back to the couch. "Man, my mom's awesome."

The guys sat down on the couches too. 

"So what are we going to do today?" I asked.

"Well I know what Wyatt should do," Cyrus said, glaring at Wyatt. "He should put on a shirt."

I almost forgot that Wyatt is still shirtless. I couldn't help but stare at the six pack.

"Well I don't know... I kind of like it like this." He said, then looked at me and smirked. "Don't you like it too, Princess?"

I looked away. "No comment."

"C'mon Princess, I know you like them," Wyatt whispered, leaning closer to me. "You didn't seem to mind when we were asleep."

That made me blush crimson.

"What do you mean by that?" Cyrus demanded.

Wyatt ignored him and stood up. Then he headed into his room and put on a shirt.

"So back to what we're going to do today." Dean said when Wyatt came back.

Luis snapped his fingers. "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today."

I smiled, eyeing them. "Like maybe..."

"No," Wyatt said, glaring at us. "No singing."

"Aw," all of us except Cyrus who seems to agree with Wyatt said.

"And stop saying aw!" Wyatt said.

"He can't sing to save his life." Luis muttered, leaning back to his seat.

"Or maybe because I'm to busy saving my pride," Wyatt countered.

"Pride, shmide," Dean said. "Autumn can kick your pride's ass any day."

"I can?" I asked, then I looked at Wyatt. "I can?"

"Well from what you did last night-" Cyrus began.

"What did I do last night?" I glared at Wyatt. "I thought you said I didn't do anything last night."

"You didn't do anything bad," he corrected me.

"Okay then," I said. "Did I do anything good?"

They all nodded. We just sat there, staring at each other. 

I looked at them. "Well, are you going to tell me?"

"We're going to do better than that!" Luis said.

"We're gonna show you!" Dean finished.

Oh... this won't be good.

"Turn it off!" I begged. "Stop it!"

"No!" They all said together.

"Watch this."

I opened one eye and watched in horror as I sang on top of the piano. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, dancing to the song. I looked so drunk it's embarrassing.

"I'm going to fall!" I said, pointing at the screen.

"You can keep your balance really well for a drunk person," Wyatt mused.

I stood up and started to walk over to the door.

"Where are you going?" Cyrus asked.

"I'm going to crawl into a hole and die."

"C'mon Autumn, it isn't that bad." Dean said, making me sit back down.

"Says the guy who actually liked the video," I looked at him. "Seriously?"

"Don't blame him,"Luis said, patting my back. "It has 50,000 views and counting."

I groaned and fell backwards on the couch. I propped my legs on Luis's legs.

"What have I done to deserve this?"

Wyatt shrugged. "Karma's a-"

"And I even announced that I dedicated the song to you guys! Monday will be the crappiest day in my life."

"Well that, is what school stands for," Luis pointed out. "Six. Crappy. Hours. Of. Our. Lives."

I burst out laughing, not doing my bast to control it. I haven't heard anything so stupid. And that's what caused me to fall off the couch.

"Autumn! Are you okay?" Luis asked, poking my side.

"I'm okay." I said, calming down a bit. I closed my eyes. "Just let me lay here... on the floor... and wither away to die."

"Don't die on me Autumn!" Dean exclaimed.

My eyes shot open. "Wha-"

Dean lifted me up and had me lie down on the coffee table.

"Get me off of this! What are you-?"

"Clear!"

I was ready for the shock of electricity, but instead I got tickled. Luis was tickling me by my sides and Dean was holding me down.

"Stop! Stop!" I pleaded. "My sides hurt! Ah!"

"Stop torturing her," Wyatt said, not caring that much.

They both stopped and we all stared at him. Sly smiles started to form in our faces as an evil plan bubbled into our minds.

"For Sparta!" We exclaimed in unison.

Wyatt blinked. "Wha-"

Dean and Luis grabbed Wyatt's arms and legs then lifted him to the coffee table. Both of them are really strong so they managed to hold him down. Wyatt struggled, trying to fight them off of him.

"I am going to friggin' kill you guys!" He growled. "When this is done, I'm gonna to throw you off the building!"

"You'll be all laughed out before that happens," Luis chuckled.

Wyatt looked at Cyrus. "CJ, help a man in need?"

Cyrus snorted, turning the TV on. "You're on your own."

I stood over him, wiggling my fingers. Then I stared to laugh like a mad scientist. 

"Mwah ha ha ha!"

His eyes widened. "C'mon Autumn, think this through! Y-you can't do this to me! Please!"

I cocked my head to the side. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I was too busy imagining you laughing to death."

"Nooo!" Wyatt screamed.

I then started to torture Wyatt with my pure awesome tickling powers. He burst out laughing while screaming every cuss word in the book. So Luis took off his sock gagged Wyatt, this was the only time I felt bad for Wyatt. You could smell Luis's gym socks a mile away at school. and his face was all red and tears were streaming out of his eyes. Wyatt started to kick and punch the air, making Luis and Dean let go. Then he grabbed my waist and fell off the table on top of me.

"Wyatt! Stop! No!" I squealed, laughing.

It was his turn to laugh like a mad scientist. "Mwah ha ha ha!"

But he was still gagged by the sock so it was a fail of an evil laugh. Wyatt realized this and spit the sock off, giving Luis the finger. Tears were streaming down my face now. This was absolute torture, my sides and jaw hurt. I looked at Cyrus who propped his feet on Wyatt back, and was glaring at Wyatt instead of watching TV.

"She's going to get hurt." Cyrus said, glaring at him.

Wyatt stopped and I was left gasping or air. I coughed, clutching my sides with tear marks trailing down my face. I am literally all laughed out, I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath.

Someone poked my cheek. "Do we need to avenge your death?"

I managed my smile. "Yes." I clutched Dean's hand. "Avenge me, avenge me..."

I let go of the hand, letting it drop on the floor then shifted my head to the side. I opened one eye to watch Dean and Luis wrestling Wyatt to the ground. I chuckled and sat on the couch, watching TV with Cyrus.

"When do you think they'll stop fighting?" I asked Cyrus.

He shrugged, then turned to me smiling. "Until they avenge your death."

I smiled back. "That's going to take a while."

After a couple of minutes of boring TV, I looked over at the guys who were still wrestling. Time to time one of them would get the upper hand, then the other. I was getting a bit hungry, and the haselslag didn't satisfy my stomach. All of a sudden, all of our stomachs growled in unison. We all looked at each other.

"Take out?"

"Pizza?"

"Burgers?"

"Pizza?"

I looked at them. "Is that the only thing in you guys eat?"

"Yes," they all said in unison.

I stood up. "Well that's going to change. You're all going to have a taste of Autumn's cooking!"

"Are you sure it won't be deadly because I don't want to-" Dean slapped Luis at the back of the head.

"I've been having cooking lessons, I think I can make something edible." I said proudly.

"Well okay then." Wyatt said, picking up the remote and turned on the TV. "Have fun cooking."

All of the other guys did the same and stared at the screen.

I snatched the remote out of his hand and turned it off.

"Um, no," I said, eyeing them. "You guys are going to help me cook."

They all snorted.

"I can't cook to save my life."

"It take's me an hour to cook minute rice."

"Well I have a black belt in cooking," Luis said proudly.

"Really?" I asked. 

"Yup. One chop and you're dead."

We all burst out laughing.

"I got one!" Dean said. "My cooking is so bad, that we pray after we eat.

"Ohh!" We exclaimed.

"What about," Cyrus began. "That fish is so raw, it's still looking for it's son!"

"Holy carp!"

"And this crab is so undercooked," Wyatt said, "I can still hear it singing, Under the Sea."

"This salad is so badly dressed, it would even shock Lady Gaga!" Luis exclaimed.

"No!!!" We all said in unison.

Dean said. "This mushroom is so raw, it told me, the princess is in another castle!"

I wanted to join in. "That duck is so undercooked, it's still trying to sell me life insurance!"

"Aflac!" The four of them exclaimed.

"Your cooking is so bad, you can't even apply for McDonald's."

"The chicken is so rubbery, Good Year asked for the recipe."

"Okay, okay, last one," Dean said. "This soup... is dry."

We all fell off the couch. I was the first one to get a hold of myself.

"Enough with the cooking jokes." I said. "You're all going to help me cook."

"Do we have to?" They all asked in unison.

"Yes." 

I walked into the kitchen and took out all the necessary ingredients. Amazingly, Wyatt's refrigerator was filled with lots of groceries. Wyatt doesn't look like the type to cook, and something told me I didn't want to know why. I layed out all of the ingredients on the counter.

"Soldiers! Front and center!" I ordered.

Luis, Wyatt, Cyrus and Dean stood in a straight line before me. They pumped out their chests and their hands were behind their back, they didn't dare to look at me in the eye. I paced in front of them, seeing what I have to work with.

"Luis, you wash the dishes and set the table."

He gasped, "The faith you have in me, Autumn."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Well either that or you can try to chop off your finger."

His shoulders slumped and he sauntered off to the sink.

"Dean, you'll make the rice, while Wyatt will make the measurements."

"No!" Both of them said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"You want me to make measurements of the ingredients." Wyatt whined.

"And I don't know how to make rice."

"Then you can switch."

They shrugged. "Okay." Then they walked over to their stations.

"And Cyrus, you can chop the vegetables with me." I somehow trust Cyrus out of the four of them with a knife. But, who could blame me?

He smiled. "Fine with me."

Let the cooking begin.

The kitchen looked like any wife's dream kitchen. Marble counters, new kitchen ware and a kitchen island. My mom would kill Wyatt to see all of this never even being touched.

I grabbed a medium frying pan and placed it on the stove over a medium high fire. I tried to suppress a smile when I watched "TangIed" and how a frying pan is a good weapon. Then I found a rag for the handle because it didn't have those grip handles. 

All of the other guys were at work with the jobs I gave them. Dean was making the measurements more carefully since the elephant toothpaste incident in chemistry. I had Wyatt peel the potatoes after he finished putting the rice in the rice cooker. Luis was taking his time washing the dishes because he didn't want to do any other kitchen duty that could cause him to chop of his finger. Speaking of chopping off fingers...

"Wow, Cyrus. I didn't know you can cook."

I wasn't flirting with him or anything, I really meant it. He was chopping, slicing and dicing all the vegetables I asked him to do. I would have never guessed one of the Big Four is a cook. He looked like a professional compared to me. I barely had anything to work with except peeling potatoes with Wyatt.

He grinned. "Thanks. I guess I have a black belt in cooking too, Luis."

We all shared a laugh.

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" I asked, being really interested. "Did you helped your mom out in the kitchen too?"

He stiffened, in mid way of cutting a potato. I stopped peeling a potato and stared at him. He was just standing there, staring at nothing. He looked space out like he was thinking of something. All of the guys stopped what they were doing and were quiet. What did I do? Did I cross a line at some point?

Cyrus cleared his throat and continued slicing. "Um no, I helped cook with my grandma."

I blinked. "Oh. That's nice."

The other three shared a look with each other and went back to their jobs. I gathered the chopped vegetables and placed it on the pan, mixing it for a couple of minutes. I used the towel to hold the handle to steady the pan as Dean poured in the broth. I then had him cut the kitchen with Cyrus, he's the second person I trust with a knife.

I heard someone sniffle and turned to see it was Dean. His eyes were red and tears were filling his eyes. 

I looked at him. "Dude, are you crying?"

He sniffled. "No. It's just these stupid onions."

"How come Dean gets to use the knife," Wyatt asked me.

I snorted. "You're the last person I trust with a knife."

Luis smiled at me. "Aw, thanks Autumn."

"I take it back," I said, looking at Wyatt. "You're the second to last person I trust with a knife."

That all deserved a chuckle, except from Luis. 

He finally setted up the table and watched behind me at my cooking. I know he did this to annoy, so I elbowed him in the stomach, pretending it was an accident. But he still stayed to annoy me so I rolled up the rag and gave him a rat whip at the side, making him jump back. Everyone applauded and I placed the rag on the counter to take a bow.

"Mix the curry powder, evaporated milk and mayonnaise in a separate bowl." I told him as he rubbed his side. "Then pour it into the pan."

He saluted. "Sir. Yes, sir."

I rolled my eyes and supervised as he poured the ingredients Dean measured. Cyrus and Dean put the chicken into the pan. When Luis was done he walked over to the stove, already pouring the mixture into the pan. He was being careless as the contents of the pan splashed out. He was going to accidentally burn himself with the sauce.

"Hey, you're going to hurt yourself!" I warned.

I grabbed the handle with my left hand to move it on the stove burner top closest to him so he wouldn't spill as much. But I was too busy worrying about him that I forgot to use the rag to hold the handle. I screamed out in pain at the touch of the handle, accidentally having Luis dropped the bowl he was holding. The handle was so hot, I could feel the burning on the hand. I immediately let go and dropped to the ground, holding my hand in pain.

Wyatt cursed and was the first to move. He helped me up and had Dean help him carry me to the couch. Tears were daring to spill out, I bit my lip so I wouldn't cry. I was trembling all over. It hurts so much!

I choked back a sob. 

"This was all your fault!" Wyatt exclaimed, pushing Luis away.

"It was an accident! I swear!" Luis shouted back.

"Will you two stop fighting!" Cyrus said, glaring at them. "Autumn's hand is burned!"

"What should we do?" Dean asked. "Does she need ice with that burn?"

"Now's not the time to joke around!" Cyrus scolded.

"I'm serious!"

"She'll get frostbite if you do that." Luis said.

"You have to give her cold water."

I gritted my teeth, closing my eyes. 

"Just let it out Autumn." Dean said. "It's okay."

That was all I needed. I spouted out the foulest cuss words that I've ever known. I've never cussed ever before in my life. So all of these words came spilling out, finally being free. I screamed them out, tears were spilling down my eyes. All of the guys watched, stunned as I said words that would make a sailor blush. When I was all out of words, I crashed my head on the couch and silently sobbed. 

I felt my burnt hand being lifted and placed in freezing cold water. I stopped crying, it felt instantly better. I slowly sat up and wiped my tears with my free hand. 

"The curry," I said, then looked at the other guys.

Cyrus, Luis and Dean went into the kitchen to check on the food. My hand was being lifted out of the bowl, and I felt the pain again. Wyatt was holding my hand and putting Vaseline on it. He was being very gentle, my hand twitched time to time. I sniffled and he gave me a comforting smile. I looked down on my hand and frowned. You could see the outline of the handle on the palm of my left hand. I felt Wyatt's hand on my cheek, having me look up at him.

"You okay, Autumn?" His dark gray eyes looking concerned.

I nodded.

He let his hand drop then wrapped my hand with some bandages. I wonder when he had them. I remembered when they came to my house saying that Wyatt didn't have a first aid kit to save his life. When he was done, he lifted my hand to kiss it.

"There, all better."

I couldn't help but smile. Then I felt strong arms wrapped around me. Luis buried his face on my hair, hugging me in a huge bear hug.

"I am so sorry Autumn!" Luis cried. 

I couldn't help but laugh. "It's okay. I'm fine, see." I showed him my bandage hand. 

I knew it was an accident, Luis is just clumsy. I can't hold a grudge on him. But my hand still hurts so I had to blink a few times to hold back the tears. Suddenly Dean put a bar of soap in my mouth when I wasn't looking. Now him, I could hold a grudge. Instantly, I spit it out on the ground, then wiped my mouth.

"What was that for?" I demanded.

"You have a foul mouth." Dean said, pinching my cheek. "That would teach you a lesson."

I tried not to gag. "Is that soap even clean?"

"Clean?" Dean asked, his eyes widened.

"Ugh!" I got up to gargle and spit in the kitchen sink. 

We all took our seats on the table. Cyrus was careful to pour the food out of the pan, with a rag I might add, into a serving plate. He brought it over to the middle of the table. Wyatt served the rice, giving me the most. Then Dean poured the sauce on top of the rice.

"Chicken curry," I said, proudly. "Now let's dig in."

We all scooped a spoonful of the food then ate it in unison. There was a small pause before we spit it back out.

"I don't understand," I said, dumbfounded. "I'm sure I followed the recipe."

"It's so spicy!" Wyatt said, hanging his tongue out of his mouth.

Cyrus and Wyatt shoot out of their seats and raced to the kitchen sink. Then they brought all of us cups of water. 

Luis coughed. "Um... I may have put a lot of pepper..."

"What!" We all exclaimed.

"It was when everyone wasn't looking," he said. "I thought that Autumn didn't put enough pepper for the curry to be spicy so I did her the favor."

"It wasn't supposed to be spicy, it's just regular chicken curry." I told him.

"All this food, put to a waste!" Dean cried.

Luis took a gulp of his water. "Now what?"

"We can eat out." I offered, picking at my food.

Dean whined some more. "We worked so hard on this!"

Cyrus pouted. "All my chopping skills were put to a waste."

I looked at Wyatt who was smirking at Luis, who just sat there with a guilty look on his face. Wyatt had this mischievous look on his face like he did something bad.

Cyrus noticed. "Wyatt," he asked cautiously, "What did you do?"

Wyatt smiled innocently. "Did what, C.J?"

"He did something," Cyrus concluded.

I watched as Dean, Luis and Cyrus panicked on what Wyatt did.

"He did something evil."

"When did he did it?"

"That look on his face says it all."

Wyatt was calmly drinking his water and poking at his curry. 

I couldn't hold it any longer. "What did he do?"

"When Wyatt wants vengeance, he gets it." Cyrus said, being worried.

They all looked really serious. I remembered the pranks Wyatt does on lots of kids at school when he's pissed of at them. Once, my friend Jesse gave him a fake answers on a quiz to Wyatt. I didn't see him for a week after that, and when he did, he told me it hurts when he sits. The guys started to look around for what he did. I looked at Wyatt who winked at me. He really did do something.

"I think I know what he did." Dean muttered, looking at Luis.

"What did he do?" Cyrus asked.

Dean snorted, and tried to suppress a smile. "Hey Luis, look down."

Luis did and his eyes widened. He crossed his legs and placed his hands on his lap.

"Wyatt, you son of a-"

"What did he do?" I asked, now I'm being concerned. "Did he made you spill something on your lap?"

I tried to look at what Luis was hiding but he pushed my face away.

"Autumn! Don't look!"

"What did he do?" I exclaimed, now I'm just curious.

"Nothing!"

"Did you wet yourself?"

Dean laughed. "Better than that."

I pushed Luis's hand out of my face and looked at his lap.

"There's nothing!" I said, punching Luis on his shoulder. "Why are you making such a big deal out of nothing?"

Cyrus looked at Luis lap and burst out laughing. "Oh man, that's pure genius Wyatt!"

"Shut up!" Luis whined.

"She doesn't see it!" Dean said.

"What don't I see?" I asked.

"It's right there!"

"Where?"

"Can't you see that-" Luis clamped his hand over Dean's mouth before he could finish.

I looked down, trying to find what Dean was saying. "I don't see any-"

Luis covered my eyes. "Don't look so closely at me like that!"

"Wyatt what did you do?" I whined.

"I may have but something in Luis's drink." Wyatt said with a shrug.

"You are so lucky Autumn's here or else I will kill you!"

"What did you put in his drink?"

Wyatt leaned beside me an whispered something in my ear.

I looked at him. "What's that?"

He leaned in again and explained it to me.

I looked at him again. "For what?"

He rolled his eyes and told me.

I blinked, my cheeks turning bright red. "Oh."

"You told her?" Cyrus exclaimed.

Wyatt chuckled. "Yup."

"She's too innocent you idiot!" Cyrus growled. "She didn't even know that even existed!"

I looked down at my food. I'm not going bother to defend myself. Since it's true.

"She should know. And Luis earned it."

"I don't care about Luis! You shouldn't have told that to Autumn!"

"Hey!" Luis said. "I'm right here!"

But they completely ignored him. 

Wyatt stood up. "And why do you care? It's not you're like her boyfriend!"

Cyrus stood up too. "Yeah I am!" Cyrus said.

I looked at him. "Wait, what?"

"Boy friend. I'm her friend, who's a boy!" He explained.

"That's just plain stupid!"

"You're plain and stupid!"

"Enough!" I exclaimed, abruptly sitting up. 

"For best friends, you guys sure fight a lot!" I said, glaring at them. "And it's over meaningless things! What is with you guys? Before I met you two, you never fought at school. Why are you fighting now?"

They both froze and just stared at me. They glanced each other, as if they were having a telepathic conversation. Then they sat back down, not bothering to answer my question. What was that all about?

Dean sighed. "This is inedible."

"Poisonous." Luis said.

"Toxic." Dean countered.

Luis made a face. "Disgusting." 

"That hurts you guys," I said, making a pout.

Luis and Dean tried to lighten up the mood, but Cyrus and Wyatt didn't talk. They just stared down their food, not saying a word. I swear, those two can have worse mood swings than Brooke and I combined.

"Let's just eat out," Dean suggested.

"I'm not going out like this!" Luis complained.

We all chuckled, Cyrus and Wyatt managed a smile.

He gave me a pathetic shrug. "Autumn, do you want me to go out like this?" He waggled his eyebrows with a mischievous grin.

"My innocent eyes can't even look at you right now." I said, turning away.

"Let's just order some pizza." Dean offered.

"But who's going to wash the dishes?" I asked.

There was a short pause. We all stared at each other.

"Not it!" Wyatt, Luis and Dean exclaimed.

"No!" Cyrus and I complained, then Cyrus face palmed himself.

"Washing dishes the second time, so unfair." I whined.

I glared at them as I picked up the plates, stacking them on top of each other. Then I carried it with one hand. Maybe I can work as a waitress, I considered the thought.

"Making the wounded do the work, shame on all of you." I blew a raspberry at them.

"Have fun." Luis said in a sing song voice, waving.

I tugged on Cyrus's collar. But he didn't budge.

"I don't wanna wash the dishes," he whined.

Dean whispered something into his ear. Cyrus suddenly stood up and snatched the dishes off my hand. Then he shoot off to the kitchen without another word.

I looked at Dean. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing," Dean said, stretching the word.

I gave him a suspicious look and picked up the remaining plates to the sink. The other guys headed to the living room, and turned the volume of the TV all the way up. Wyatt was already on his phone ordering a pizza. 

When I went into the kitchen, Cyrus was already washing the dishes. He looked really focused, like in the kitchen zone. I realized I don't know much about him, I don't know much about any of them. They're all so mysterious, keeping their own secrets. But they're also so open to me, they don't bother to sugarcoat there words in front of me.

Cyrus noticed me and looked at me. "Are you going to make me do all the work?"

"Well is you insist..." I said, turning to walk away.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me close to him. "Nice try Autumn. But we're sharing the work."

I sighed. "Fine."

We washed the dishes together in silence. The only thing we heard were the guys laughing while watching TV. I took this chance to talk to him, one on one. But he must have thought of the same thing too.

"I realized we don't talk to each other much," he said. 

"The only time we hang out are with the other guys."

He nodded, drying a plate.

"So, tell me about yourself?" I asked.

"Name's Cyrus Jones. Got dark hair, blue eyes, about 5'7", I work out," he said with a shrug. 

"But really. Who is" -I paused to effect- "Cyrus Jones?" I said dramatically.

He laughed then rubbed his neck. "Well... I don't know. I'm the Cyrus Jones, one of the Big Four. I'm a sophomore of Strautlan High. Straight B student, I even get an A time to time. And uh..." His voice trailed off, running out of things to stay.

"Okay, what do you like?"

"A girl," he said bluntly.

"And will you tell who it is?" I asked.

"Only if I'm drunk," he said with a smile.

I decided to drop the subject. "Well, even though we don't talk much. Here is what I see." I said, passing him a dry plate.

"Shoot." He said, putting the plate on the dish rack.

"Well you're like the mother of the Big Four."

"Ow," he said. "That hurt."

"Well I don't mean it like that," I corrected, rolling my eyes. "You're just like the smart one in the group, you think things through. If the other guys are in trouble, they turn to your for advice, help. I bet they do, right?"

Cyrus nodded. "And you wouldn't believe, the things they ask for advice."

I chuckled then continued. "You can be serious at times, you're the only serious one out of the four. But at times you can be caring, sweet and considerate too. Just like the mom should." I playfully nudged him on the shoulder.

He nudge me back with a playful smile. "You got most of it right. But don't get to cocky, all you got right is the mom thing. You still don't know that much about me."

"Then we should talk more, how about that?" I suggested.

He smiled. "It's a deal."

We stopped talking and went back to washing the dishes. 

"Hey Autumn?" Cyrus asked, when my back was turned.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Do you think I need to shave?"

"Wha-?" 

I looked and saw that Cyrus gave himself a soapy beard with the soap suds. Then his foam beard dropped from his face, making me laugh.

He gave me a crooked smile. "How's this for serious?"

In reply, I grabbed a handful of foam and placed it at the top of his head. That made him burst out laughing along with me. And that was the start of the foam fight. Foam, soap and water splashed every where in the kitchen. I had to stay light on my feet or else I would slip on the water on the floor. We should get a wet floor sign, by now.

Cyrus grabbed the sink hose sprayer and sprayed me with water. This is the second time I was drenched in water today. I tried to reach for the hose, but he was too tall, and held it out of my reach.

"How's the weather down there, Autumn?" He asked.

"Never better!" I said, struggling to get it.

I grabbed his arm and pulled it down, getting the hose. I stood on my toes, having to but my right arm around his neck. He stood there, being a bit surprised. Then I sprayed water on top of his head. He shut his eyes at the contact of water. And we burst out laughing together. Cyrus tried to step away but slipped. I wrapped my arms around his neck in reflex and closed my eyes as we both fell on the floor. 

I opened my eyes and found myself staring at Cyrus's bright blue eyes. Both of our cheeks turned bright red. We've never been so close before, out faces inches away from each other. I could feel his racing heartbeat through his chest, in sync with mine. What should I do? I don't know what to do in these awkward. I stiffened when Cyrus slowly placed his hands on my waist, lifting his head up. He was leaning forward to me, and I just stayed there stunned. He was trying to get me off of him, I told myself, but something at the back of my head told me otherwise.

"Please don't make out in my kitchen."

Cyrus and I looked up and saw Wyatt leaning against the door frame. Dean and Luis were right behind him, mischievous smirks were plastered on both their faces. Wyatt's face looked annoyed, pissed even. 

Both of us said in unison, "We weren't-"

"Pizza's here," Wyatt stated then dragged the two out of the kitchen.

I quickly got off of Cyrus and helped him up. Then we just stood there, looking at the ground. I put my wet hair behind my ear, noticing my shirt was all wet.

Cyrus coughed. "I'm sorry for-"

"Slipping on the water, causing us both to fall?" I finished wearing a hopeful look, hoping my answer was correct.

"Right," he said, too quickly.

I nodded. "We should go eat the pizza before they devour all of them."

"Right," he said again.

We both walked into the living room together. They were eating the pizza without us. I sat on the couch beside Cyrus, then Luis and Dean snickered.

"What is it?" Cyrus asked, annoyed.

Luis shrugged. "Nothing it's just, Autumn and Wyatt were wet. And now you and Autumn are drenched. We were wondering when it would be our turn-"

I threw a pillow at Luis's face before he could finish. Dean laughed at him, so I threw another pillow at his face too. Suddenly, a towel was thrown at my face.

"Hey!"

"Your welcome," Wyatt said, sitting down.

"For throwing a towel at my face?" I asked.

"Yeah." Then he started eating his pizza.

I frowned, what's up with him? Just a couple of minutes ago I saw the same old Wyatt, but now he's all distant and such. I decided to ignore his attitude, it must be his time of the month. I grabbed a slice of pizza and started to eat. I shifted a bit in my seat, my shorts were wet from the water fight with Cyrus. Then I felt something driving into my tailbone.

I jumped off the couch in reflex. "Ow!"

"Something wrong?" Luis asked, his mouth full.

"First of all, don't talk with your mouth full, it's disgusting," I scolded, pointing my pizza at him for effect. "Second of all, I think something poked me at my tailbone."

"Must be a broken spring." Cyrus suggested.

"Yeah... maybe." 

I sat back down, feeling something poking my side again. I tried to move to the side, but it was still there. This was so annoying.

"Maybe it's like in that story, The Princess and the Pea," Luis said, his mouth stuffed with pizza so it came out like he was mumbling.

"Princess pee?" Dean asked, looking at Luis like he grew four arms. "What kind of messed up story is that?"

"I think he meant, The Princess and the Pea," I said, gritting my teeth in annoyance. "And stop talking with your mouth full, Luis."

"Yes mom."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell that to Cyrus."

"Hey!" Cyrus said, feigning to be offended.

"Okay I give up," I said in exasperation. "My butt's going to get a bruise."

"You mean your coccyx," Luis corrected.

I shot him a glare before reaching my hand between the cushions of the sofa. I stuck my tongue out in full concentration, trying to find what was annoying me. Then I felt a hard, smooth object stuffed under the seat cushion.

"Ah ha!"

I grabbed hold of it and took it out of the cushion. I closed my eyes, grinning triumph at finding it. I opened my eyes, I was expecting some applause but they all stared at me. Well stared what was in my hand. I looked up and screamed, flinging it across the room. Automatically, the guys ducked down for cover as it hit the wall.

"That's a gun!" I screeched.

No one dared to move. I was trembling at the fact there was a gun. And the guys were frozen in place at the fact that I found a gun. Wyatt stood up.

"Autumn, I can explain." He said, calmly.

I exclaimed. "Why the hell do you have a gun! You have a gun! A gun!"

"Stop saying that! You'll let the neighbors know!"

Dean picked up the gun from the floor.

"That gun was poking me! At my butt! There was a gun pointing me at my butt!"

"At your coccyx," Luis corrected.

"Shut up!" I said, shooting him a glare that made him instantly shut up. "There was a gun pointing directly at my coccyx!"

"Don't worry," Dean assured me. "The safety was" -he looked at the gun and I heard a click- "on."

"No it wasn't!" I accused.

Cyrus clamped his hand over my mouth.

"Autumn, please stop freaking out." He begged. "We don't want the neighbors to call the cops of some girl screaming that there's a gun."

I pushed his hand away. "How can I not freak out that there's a gun? Next thing you'll know, I'll find drugs too!"

I looked at Wyatt, and I saw him swallow. Oh crap.

My hand searched into the cushion again and found drug packets. I lifted the seat cushion and my mouth dropped to the floor. There was a whole stash of drug packets under the couch. My hand went to my mouth, I backed away from the it. 

I looked at the guys, they all wore the same guilty look on their faces. Then reality finally settled to me. They were in a gang. They're a gang. I've always brushed that fact away, ever since I met them. The rumors and gossips didn't faze me at all, I never even thought of them until now. They were in a gang where guns and drugs were involved. 

I don't know these guys. I never did.

They're personalities, those were just cover ups. How they acted in front of me was all just a lie. All those laughs we've shared, they weren't real. I bet I don't mean anything to them, I must be some pet that follows them around. And they could be cold blooded killers. Wyatt had already lost it, he already messed up his cover in front of me at the parking lot. Who knows what the rest are really like. 

No wonder no one wanted to deal with them at school. Why Brooke didn't want to be involved with Wyatt. The school probably didn't even scratch the surface on what they really were. Those rumors could all have been covers ups, maybe even sugar coating the truth.

I took a step back, my body was trembling. I was in a room of gang members. I've been hanging out with gang members. I took a deep breath, trying to find my courage.

"Take me home."

Wyatt blinked. "What?"

"I said, take me home." I repeated.

"No Autumn, please." Luis said, stepping forward.

I backed away from him, in pure fear of him. He froze in place, his green eyes looked confused and they saw the fear in my eyes. Then I saw the flash of hurt in his eyes. Luis, the guy who I saw as an older brother, backed away, seeing that I was scared of him. Terrified of him.

"Take me home," I said again.

"If you let us explain..." Cyrus started.

"Just take me home!"

They all shared a look to each other. Having a silent conversation with one another. It seemed like hours until they looked back at me again.

"Okay," Wyatt said, brushing past me.

I stiffened, when I felt something draped around me. It sent me shivers down my spine. 

"It's cold out, you need a jacket," Wyatt muttered.

I stared at the ground, not wanting to look at any of them in the eyes. I slowly nodded and walked behind him. The others walked behind me, none of them spoke a word. We all filed into the elevator, waiting for the five minute trip down. I could feel all of their eyes on me, but I looked at my shoes.

"Have a nice day ma'm," the doorman said, opening the door for me.

I gave him a slight nod, as I followed Wyatt. The car ride was silent, like the elevator ride. I looked out the window, Wyatt glanced at me time to time. Wyatt turned on the radio to fill the silence, but the song Scream and Shout started to play. During the chorus, he turned off the radio. A thought flashed into my mind that they would kill me now that I know where there they hide their stash. I placed my hand over my eyes, shaking the thought away. 

"We're here," Wyatt said, parking the car in front of my house.

I was about to open the door, but it automatically locked itself. I looked at Wyatt who's finger was on the door lock.

Dean said, "Now could your just let us-"

"Let me go home!" I pleaded, a tear running down my eyes. "All I want to do is go home!"

I heard the click of the door.

"Fine, go home!" Wyatt growled. "See if we care! You're doing us a favor, we don't want to deal with some crybaby who was scared of some gun! Just go!"

Without another word, I left the car. 

Left them.

I'm not crying.

I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not crying. Okay, maybe I'm tearing up a bit. Don't judge me.

You shouldn't judge Autumn. She's the innocent good girl, and drugs and a gun were thrown in front of her. So you can't blame her for freaking out like that. She just found out that the people she hanged out, people she saw were brother maybe even more than that, were involved with that. And don't think she's stupid for not thinking of those rumors. I forgot that she never talked about that a lot, until now. She thought they weren't real because of the way they acted around her.

Did you know that halfway through the story, I realized that Wyatt didn't put on a shirt? So I had to go back and add the scene when he put on a shirt. But, don't blame me, who wouldn't mind? But then again, who would forget?

I also had to delete two scenes, I thought they could be used in a later time. This chapter was supposed to be called, "Um... Is That... Cookie Butter?" Also you know that scene when Wyatt sneaked something into Luis's drink, don't say what it is. The last thing I want is my book's covered with comments of that. So, I won't hesitate to deleting those comments for the innocence of the readers like Autumn. 

What scene made you sad? I think the one when Luis tried to step closer to her and she backed away fro him in fear. The she saw the flash of hurt in his eyes and he backed away form her. Wah!

RubixCube89201