Excerpt:

"Where the hell are my pants?"

I looked over the edge of my bed to see Scottie's boxer-clad legs sticking out from under the futon.

"It's really, really sad that I am so used to waking up to that phrase," I said, climbing down the ladder and standing next to the loft-bed.

"It's really, really sad that I cannot find my pants!" Scottie yelled.

"Where are they always at? You take them off and borrow a pair of shorts every time you sleep over here, and every time my mom puts them over on the desk. You should really know this by now," I replied, watching as he hit his head trying to crawl out from under the futon. "You're a dumbass," I observed.

"Shut up and hand me my pants."

"Again, really, really sad that I am so used to that phrase," I said.

**********************

"Think Cass will still be mad at me?" Scottie asked as we walked.

"Let me think," I said, pretending to look thoughtful and scratching my chin, "Hell yes, she will be."

"I didn't do anything too bad!" He exclaimed.

"You told her the guy she likes is tool that will just use her for sex," I pointed out.

"And for me, that's not too bad. I've said a lot worse!"

"That's true," I agreed.

"So, you think she's going to be really pissed at me?" Scottie asked again.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Dammit."

"Yes."

"Oh, you're funny," Scottie said, shooting me a look.

***********************

"You guys, it's my first year of high school, I need to make a good impression by getting a good table the first day and staying there all year," Cassie said.

"Oh, you're gonna make a good impression," Scottie said, winking at her, "Coming in with a bunch of hot pieces of ass like us."

"Don't say that ever again," Cassie said.

"Well, we are some hot pieces of ass," Scottie said, dodging her fist. "We're wanted. We're hot, we're sexy, we're desirable."

"No, you really are not," Cassie said.

"Oh, please, you know you wanna sex me and Dylan," Scottie said.

"Not even."

"Okay, maybe not Dylan, but we all know you want to play tonsil hockey with me," Scottie continued. I rolled my eyes and shared a look with Bryce and Cassie pretended to gag.

"Ew. Just... ew. That's all I can say about that," Cassie said, sticking her tongue out. Scottie tried to lick it.

"You are so icky."

"More like sticky," I said, grinning as Cassie shot me a disgusted look.

"You guys are gross, why do I even hang out with you?" She asked.

"Because you want me," Scottie said.

"And we're awesome," I added.

"I just got stuck with you," Bryce said.

***********************

"Oh, that girl's in my photography class," she said. "Her name's Ria, I think." She led us over to a table where two girls were sitting.

"Hey, do you mind if we sit with you?" Cassie asked, smiling at them as we got to their table.

"No, we don't mind," the girl with black hair said. "I'm Andrea, but everyone calls me Ria."

"And I'm Candace Apple, but I go by Candi, with an 'I', and I am not a stripper," said the other girl, with red hair.

"That's a shame," Scottie said, eyeing her wistfully. Cassie stepped on his foot.

"I'm Cassie Forbes, and this is my brother Bryce, and our friends Dylan Stein and Scottie Avery," Cassie said, pointing to each of us in turn.

"Are you guys freshmen, I've never seen you here before," Bryce said as we sat down.

"No, my dad got transfered here for work, so I just started this year," Candi said.

"I used to go to St. Mary's, the private school a few towns over, but I had to come here this year," Ria said quietly.

"We're both sophomores," Candi added, "And we live next door to each other."

"Us too," I said. "Well, except Cassie, she's a freshie."

"You did not just say that," Cassie said, glaring at me.

"Sorry, babe, but you are a freshie. You're gonna have to deal with getting called one," I grinned her.

"Never call me 'babe' or 'freshie' again, or I will kick your ass," she said.

*************************

"So, I'm thinking that Mike likes me," Cassie said, shooting a quick glance in Scottie's direction.

"That guy Mike Sanders?" Candi asked, "I heard he's a player."

"I know," Cassie said, "But it's just the way he looks at me..."

"The way he looks at you?" Scottie repeated, and Bryce and I shared a look. "He looks at you like you're a kitten he's about to devour!"

"He doesn't eat kittens," Cassie said flatly.

Scottie sputtered for a minute. "Not the point!"