Upon entering the mall, Phoebe noted to Seth that it wasn't as busy as it should have been.

"Yeah, probably because it's the middle of the week and in the last few hours of the stores being opened." Seth retorted.

"So should we stick together or should we split up?" Phoebe questioned, prompting the others to consider who they would want to hang out with.

"Phoebe!" A voice that was familiar to Phoebe called out to her.

The kids turned to look to where the voice came from and Phoebe's face lit up as she recognized who it was.

"Abby!" She exclaimed happily and rushed over to her to hug her. "I haven't seen you all summer!"

Abby pulled away and laughed at Phoebe, "Well that's what happens when you literally disappear the minute school is over on the last day."

Two others joined the girls, who were also apart of Phoebe's friend group.

"Yeah, maybe get a cellphone and we can meet up over the summer." The tall, Julian laughed in his soft voice.

"Because we need the whole crew here when you run out of eyeliner." The yellow, blue and white varsity jacket wearing August remarked sarcastically.

The friends laughed at the familiarness of their scene.

"Oh, you brought the 'not really' family too." Julian noted and walked towards Seth to greet him.

"Yeah, we got the go ahead to come hang out while we still can." Phoebe smiled.

August put his arm over Abby's shoulder, "So you guys here for back to school shopping or can you run free?" He asked the group, but mainly Phoebe.

Phoebe looked over to the group that she lived with, almost with a gaze that was asking permission for them to temporarily disband and go their own ways.

Seth shrugged, "I was planning to head over to the bookstore."

"I was heading over to the food court, a man is in need of his fries!" Pryce exclaimed, before leaning over to Seth and making a motion with his hand for Seth to give him some money.

Rolling his eyes, Seth reluctantly gave Pryce two twenty dollar bills that he by chance have dug out of his pocket. "Don't go overboard." He whispered harshly to the blue haired boy.

"Yussur!" Pryce says in a cartoonish voice before saluting and running off towards the food court.

"Seth, can I come with you?" Ursa asks quietly, suddenly showing the shy side of her.

Seth nodded and led Ursa in the direction of the bookstore.

"See ya, Seth!" Julian waved with a smile.

"Awwwh! She is just so cute!" Abby gushed.

"You guys had another little sister or how does that work?" August questioned Phoebe.

"That's Ursa, she's Pryce's little sister." Phoebe explained, "She's been with us forever, just a baby when we were taken in. She's actually starting high school this year."

"Oh yes! Seeing her in the hallway everyday will totally bless my day!" Abby exclaimed happily.

August smacked Abby upside the head, "You're getting a little overdramatic there, Abs."

"Let me Stan little sisters, they have the toughest life out there!" Abby defended, elbowing August in the gut, causing him to double over and grunt in pain.

"Tell that to the older brothers." August groaned.

"Alright siblings, let's break it up." Phoebe suggested, humoured by her friends.

Julian sheepishly smiled and helped August stand back up, "How about we grab that frozen yogurt we've been tossing the idea of for awhile?"

"Good plan." August huffed and led the way with Julian.

"You should really date my brother." Abby deadpanned to Phoebe when realizing how far away they were from the guys.

Phoebe scoffed and looked at the dirty blonde, "Why should I date August?"

"Becauuuuse~" Abby exclaimed, "He's so lonely that he bothers me all the time, when he's not training for football season. He needs to be in a relationship, maybe get laid-"

"Oh shut up-Don't even go there, Abby!" Phoebe shrieked.

"What? Maybe then August will loosen up? Someone like you would be good for him!" Abby continued.

"Jeez, maybe I should have romantic feelings for him before asking him out?" Phoebe retorted.

Abby sighed, "Well I tried, but if you ever change your mind~"

Phoebe shook her head at Abby's behaviour in amusement before entering the frozen yogurt store.

+++++++++

"What the hell even is that?" August questioned, leaning his face down to the table to better examine Julian's frozen yogurt.

"Blueberry, August." Abby answered, eating another spoonful of her chocolate peanut butter flavoured dessert. "It's what he always gets."

Julian just shrugged his shoulders with his usual calm expression on his face, "I guess they changed their recipe a bit. I would never had noticed." He sheepishly chuckled.

"Maybe they added more blueberries? It looks a bit darker.. does it taste any different?" Phoebe inquired as she tilted her head to look at Julian's order.

Julian shrugged as he scooped a small amount of his purple swirled frozen yogurt with bits of black berries on his spoon and took a bite of it. Licking his lips as he pondered for a moment, Julian smiled.

"More blueberries! You are very smart, Phoebe."

Phoebe laughed, "Thanks, it's just basic cooking that I learned while Ursa was going through a cooking phase."

"Either I've been at more sports practices than I remember last year-" August began.

"You have, you can't count that high." Abby interjected, only to have her frozen yogurt filled cup shoved in her face. Abby glared at her brother as her light brown frozen treat stuck on her nose.

"I don't remember you mentioning Ursa that much since we've met you." August finishes, giving Phoebe an interrogating gaze.

"I haven't..?" Phoebe questioned.

Abby and Julian ponder for a moment, attempting to recount any moments where Phoebe did talk about the young pink haired girl.

"I have a terrible memory, so don't count me." Abby shrugs.

"There has been the off time when you do mention the others, or rather.. anything involving your at home life, Phoebe." Julian pointed out, his voice sounding more concerned.

Phoebe was taken back for a moment, considering that her friends were implying that she was being secretive. She wasn't able to answer, since Abby suddenly spoke up.

"Hey it's totally okay if you don't wanna talk about it for whatever reason! If your folks are as uptight as ours, we totally get it!" She blurted out nervously.

"Yeah, our mom is a total stick in the mud when it comes to grades." August added. "Nothing but an A plus will ever please her."

"My parents disowned me when I came out to them, they dumped me on my abuelita." Julian confessed and attempted to reassure their friend, "We understand if you don't have the best home life, Phoebe."

Now Phoebe was physically taken aback by her friends. Her eyes widened when she realized what her friends were insinuating their concerns about.

"Guys, look I really appreciate your concern, but you've got it all wrong. My life is great at home, I'm actually fortunate enough to be where I am. Our guardian, Chandler, he's been doing his best. He's strict because he cares about me and the others, he can be a bit paranoid, but he just wants us to be safe. Maybe it's not the ideal family, but that's okay." Phoebe explained to her friend group, smiling warmly as she reminded herself of her family dynamic.

The three looked each other, indecisive of what to say after what Phoebe had said.

"Sorry if we're making you uncomfortable with assuming the worst, it's just we don't know what to make of your home life when you aren't as open about it as we'd hope." Julian said, sympathetically.

"You don't have a cellphone or anything for us to talk to you outside of school or the off chance of in public." Abby chided in.

"Or the fact that we've never been to your place, over the five years that we've been friends." August added. "You always have an excuse."

Phoebe gulped nervously.

She was being confronted about what the situation looked like.

It wasn't like she could be honest with her friends about the mansion being her training grounds, because she and the others were... different on an extreme level.

Before she could sputter out another excuse or defence, a saviour came to her rescue.

"Phoebe! Phoebe!" Ursa cried happily as she swung open the glass door of the store and entered with her books clutched to her chest. "Look at the book that Seth helped me pick out!" She then showed Phoebe the covers of the books.

Seth held the door, preventing it from slamming loudly and interrupting anyone. Upon making eye contact, he gave her a small smile, signalling that he saw her distress and happily provided her a distraction.

Looking back down at the book that was being pushed onto her lap, Phoebe smiled and examined the covers.

"Wow! I've heard that this series is good, you'll let me know if it is, right?" Phoebe asked with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah!" Ursa grinned.