▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

"WOAH, SLOW DOWN, MAN!"

"That's a stop sign! You're supposed to stop before you go!"

"Both of you—stop yelling at me! I know what I'm doing, all right?!"

Flash tightened his grip on the steering wheel, making Alissa nervously gulp in the backseat of his father's car; there was still a scratch on the side that his father has yet to notice, nor had Scott even tried to mention it to the man, knowing it might not end so good for Flash if he heard about it.

Carter was tightly fastened in the passenger seat by his seatbelt Alissa made him, and Flash, strap on before the car even left the parking lot. Alissa wasn't sure why they didn't take Carter's car, but Flash was adamant that he could drive them and get them their quicker. He also made sure to mention the fact that he passed his license test with a whopping 73%, three points higher than Carter had scored; she wasn't too sure if that was correct considering how awful he actually was at driving.

"You sure about that?" Carter bitterly snapped, gaping at Flash when he nearly took out a stop sign in the process of turning onto the street where Midtown Middle school was located. Alissa gulped and grabbed onto the back of their leather headrests', clenching her eyes shut when the tires screeched against the pavement as he stopped right front of the school. Alissa let out a faint shriek of panic, taking in a deep breath, eyes wide as she looked just outside the windows next to her.

A breath of relief passed through her and Carter's lips as the car was finally stopped and in front of the school. Flash just rolled his eyes and threw open the door and began to climb out. "You're welcome, by the way," he grumpily said, pushing the seat forward so Alissa could slide out as the convertible top was up rather than down. She quickly got out, gently patting her hand on the patch of grass near the sidewalk when she came around the back of the car.

Carter kneeled on the grass, holding his hands out towards the sky, head slightly titled back. "Oh, land!" He cheerfully cried out, laughing as Alissa giggled, copying his actions and shouting something similar.

Flash rolled his eyes and lazily stuffed the keys into the pockets of his pants. "This isn't the Pacifier, Carter," Flash commented. His only responses were snickers from the siblings. "And weren't we supposed to be rescuing B?"

Alissa stood and brushed off her knees. "Yeah, uh, Flash, you can just stay in the car," Alissa instructed. Flash went to protest. "It'll be weird if you go in with us. It's already gonna be suspicious with us going in during school hours—we don't need to make it worse."

Flash reluctantly agreed with a nod and step towards the parked car. "All right, but hurry."

Carter clicked his tongue against his teeth and nodded, tapping Alissa's arm to get her walking towards the school with
him. "Will do," Carter said, smiling at his friend. Flash faintly returned the gesture as he headed back to the door, making the older boys smile falter a little.

Alissa noticed, but she chose not to say anything in that moment. They had more pressing matters that needed their attention.

Carter swiftly pulled opened the front door, rolling his eyes when Alissa grinned at him for allowing her to enter first. Then they entered the office where they were met by the receptionist.

Before Alissa could've made a move, Carter held his hand out in front of her to keep her from approaching the desk. "Let me handle this," he lowly whispered. Alisa scrunched her face. "Just trust me. You do trust me, don't you?"

Alissa nodded. "Yeah, but—"

Carter shushed her and headed to the brown desk, Alissa silently trudging behind him. The auburn haired woman peered up from her computer screen, intensely gazing at the two teens through her pink, rectangular glasses.

Carter innocently grinned, leaning his elbow against the counter. "Hi, we're here to pick up our brother," Carter began to explain. "Our parents are—"

"Currently in the principals office," the woman interrupted, making Carter and Alissa raise their brows. Carter's mouth dropped opened and the woman scoffed, rolling her eyes before she stood. "You didn't really think I wouldn't knows a teenagers voice when I heard one? I have seven of them! Silly boy," the woman disapprovingly shook her head before she turned to Alissa. "And you, young lady, I remember you, Ms. Caverly. You outta know better—"

The principals door opened, Scott and Kelli stepping out with the principal and Brian as the adults chatted back and forth. Alissa's eyes instantly flicked to her little brother, noticing his eyes were red and his cheeks were splotchy from his dried tears. There were small tears in his Captain America shirt he wore, making Alissa sigh.

Both of her parents were looking frantic and tired, clearly annoyed with the whole situation. Alissa shared a worried look with Carter, nudging him in the direction of the door. Carter smirked and nodded, both of the siblings taking a quiet and slow step back only to be spotted by their parents. They froze, hearts stopping when locking eyes with their parents.

Brian's eyes widened and his jaw dropped down.

He wasn't really expecting the two to actually ditch school in an attempt to pick him up from school before their parents found out about his suspension.

The principal took notice of the familiar teenagers, doing a double take. "Aren't you two supposed in school right now?" He suspiciously asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, you're not really our principal anymore so—" Carter started to say. He abruptly stopped when he felt Alissa dig her nails into his right hand. He winced and glared, rubbing the sore spot.

Scott heavily sighed and ran a hand over his chin. "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Wells," Scott apologized. "For everything. We'll be sure that Brian continues to do his homework while he's at home, and these two," he made a motion to his older children, "Will get straight back to school. Understood?"

"Yeah," Alissa nodded. "We'll get going now, so, you can continue this little—"

"Not so fast," Kelli shook her finger, making a ticking sound. "We'll take you back ourselves." Alissa and Carter shared a frown, glancing to the window. Kelli folded her arms over her chest and gave Brian a little nudge to his siblings, faintly smiling towards him. "Why don't you all go wait out by the car while we finish our conversation with Mr. Wells? Hm?"

Without another word, Alissa grabbed Brian and guided him out of the office with Carter. She was sure that the principal, or the judgmental receptionist, would be making a call to the high school to inform them that they had two runway students on the loose. Their parents would probably say one more apology just to sound serious, promising that nothing like that would never happen again.

Alissa nearly scoffed at the thought as she made it outside, seeing Flash leaning against the car, impatiently tapping his foot.

Carter smirked, hurrying over. He sharply spun around. "Hurry, come on," he said, hurriedly waving his hand. "The school can't discover three missing students if they're already there!".

Alissa nor Brian made a move.

Carter frowned, standing by the opened door as Flash went to the driver's side and got in. "Seriously? Do you want to get in trouble with the school?" He demanded to know, looking more at Alissa.

She reached up and tucked some hair behind her ears, buttoning up some of the buttons on her jacket with a shake of her head. "No, but I don't want to get in any more trouble, either, Carter," she truthfully answered.

Carter scoffed and climbed inside. "Fine, whatever, Al." The door was then closed and Flash sped off.

Afterwards she turned to look at Brian, pursing her lips as Flash and Carter disappeared around a corner.

"Alright," she airily said, nudging him to a bench on the side of the sidewalk that led to the entrance of the school, "What'd you do this time?"

Brian offensively scoffed. "This time?" He repeated, blinking up at his sister in surprise. "Why would you think I did something?"

Alissa glanced around their surroundings before she looked back to Brian. "I don't see any other kid getting picked up by their parent for getting into a fight."

Brian rolled his eyes and lifted his foot, placing it on the bench with his head resting on his knee. "You would think that," he grumbled.

Alissa titled her head to the side. "B, seriously, what happened?" She asked, sounding more concerned which made Brian sigh and close his eyes.

"Well, I got into a fight, but not with Grant," he said, nervously biting his lip. "I got in a fight with Xavier."

Alissa blinked, slightly leaning back. "Avi? But why?"

For years, Brian and Xavier had been best friends, going all the way back into infancy when there father's were just mere young adults with kids. Brian and Xavier sealed their friendship when they wore the same neon swimming trunks at a pool party. Since then they'd been almost inseparable, constantly around the other, often attending family events with the other.

Some thought it was rather strange, but Alissa saw no problem with it, and neither did their parents.

"We just. . .I wanted to tell Nate that I like him, but he didn't want me to, and he kind of pushed me to make me change my mind, I guess, and so. . .I just pushed him back, but more rough," he slowly said. Alissa pursed her lips together and raised a brow. He was holding back from saying something that held the key to the reason for the tears in his shirt. "I accidentally pushed him into Grant, and Grant started yelling at us, calling us. . .names, and to prove we weren't. . .Xavier hit me. I fell into the art table and my shirt got caught on the corner when I fell, and it tore."

"Oh B," Alissa breathed out. She held out her arm, offering a side hug that Brian quickly accepted. He curled up into her side, faintly smiling. "That's. . .awful, but I'm sure you two'll get through this. You always do."

"I don't know," Brian said. "I don't know if I can forgive him, or if he could forgive me."

"Hey, you're both in wrong, okay? He did start it, but there are better ways to fix a problem than to literally push back," she said. "Did he at least get in trouble too?"

Brian nodded. "Yeah, we're both suspended for a week. His dad already picked him up," Brian stated. "The look he gave me. . .it was almost like he hated me"

"Don't sat that. You and I both know Xavier could never—"

"I'm not talking about him. I meant his dad."

"His dad? Why would his dad hate you?"

Brian just shook his head and leaned back into her side. Alissa accepted that she didn't get answer. She would get it out of him later, maybe right before bed when the rest of their family was already sound asleep and dreaming of days they wished would never end.

Not long after their conversation, Scott and Kelli exited the building, papers in hands. They smiled at the sight of the two sitting in a hug, but they fell as soon as they didn't see Carter with them.

"Where's your brother?" Scott asked when he stood in front of Alissa and Brian. They awkwardly looked to each other, and then back to their parents. "Flash, right?"

"How'd you know?" Alissa asked.

Scott let out a short laugh. "He's more predicable than he realizes," he softly murmured. Then he nodded towards the parking lot, beckoning them to follow. "C'mon, lets get home."

Alissa opened her mouth. "But what about—"

"We're taking you both home," Kelli interrupted, glancing to Alissa, "Your principal will deal with you tomorrow."
Alissa nervously gulped at her mother response, shamefully nodding.

She wasn't really one to break the rules unless it was for something important like for her close friends or family, but she had never done anything like sneaking out of school, and it actually terrified her to know that there was some kind of punishment waiting to be bestowed upon her when she got to school the morning.

She always tried her hardest in school, working to be better and achieve the best scores she could, and she always did, and not once had she gotten anything negative put on her record. She always avoided it. But now, she wasn't so sure if she would have such a squeaky clean slate, and she could hardly bare the daunting thought.

As if she could sense her daughter was stressing, Kelli slung her arm around Alissa's shoulders and warmly smiled at her daughter. "Stop worrying, sweetie. You're not getting detention, if that's what you're worried about," Kelli assured. Alissa visibly loosened up, a small smirk working its way on to her lips. "See? There's that beautiful smile of yours I love so much."

Alissa playfully rolled her eyes. "Oh, please," she giggled, lightly shrugging off her mother's arm when they reached the car.

Kelli opened the passenger door, slyly smiling at Alissa when the girl looked to her. "If anything, you should be worried about what you're gonna do about your crush on Peter. You should probably get a move on it too. Don't wanna miss your chance, now do you?"

° ° °

Okay, not what I had in mind, but I don't think it was too bad. Clearly, Brian is a struggling preteen, but weren't we all? His siblings try there best, and that means they'll do the extreme if need be. I was going to add this whole scene with Kelli mentioning that she knew of Alissa's crush on Peter, but I thought this was better and then it could be brought up later or something.

Also, I'm not sure what percent you have to get a drivers test in New York, and I'm honestly too tired to look it up right now, but in my state, you have to get a 70% or better to pass, and so I just went with that. Hope that doesn't bother anyone!

I don't really have much else to say about this chapter, so, let me know what you thought of this!

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!