My first ever sleep over was a complete success. We all stayed in the lounge until midnight, watching movies and playing games whilst trying to control our laughter as to not wake the rest of the household. Eventually, Tate, Gabby and I were ready to retreat to my own room for the rest of the night, and I thankfully didn't have a single nightmare. Nick made us the most delicious pancakes for breakfast, and I had almost completely forgotten about the incident with Scarlett the previous day, until she arrived.

"Hi everyone." She smiled, walking into the living room. We were all still in our pyjamas, but she was fully dressed with a full face of makeup.

"What're you doing here?" Jonah asked, looking slightly confused but stood up to greet her, nonetheless.

"Didn't want to miss out on any of the extra birthday fun!" She exclaimed in her sickly-sweet voice. Everything about her put me off, and clearly, I didn't do a good job at hiding my distaste as Sean stared at me with confusion. I quickly averted my gaze and went blank-faced.

"Want to go for a walk?" I asked Tate and Gabby, who both quickly agreed. I needed to take Teddy out.

"Can we take Abi?" Gabby asked, who'd been glued to her side the entire time. I nodded as we all went to get changed.

"Just be careful girls." Mum smiled. I could sense her slight apprehension letting me go without any family members, but I knew we'd be fine.

"What's Scarlett's deal?" Tate asked as we reached the end of my street.

"She's dating Jonah." I shrugged.

"I know that." Tate rolled her eyes playfully. "I meant, I don't know...why does she seem so off?" I was actually glad that I wasn't the only one getting mixed signals from her.

"She doesn't like me." I stated, in my most matter-of-fact voice.

"I bet that's not true." They both frowned.

"She asked me if I was adopted. Then told me it wasn't possible I wasn't Austin's twin because 'the Hughes brothers don't have a sister'." I mimicked her torturing voice, earning a laugh from Gabby and a horrified look from Tate.

"I just can't believe the audacity." Tate shook her head.

"Whatever." I dropped the conversation and changed the subject to the summer holidays. We only had a few weeks left of school before having two months off, including Christmas and my trips to visit Morgan and Singapore.

We hung out at the park for a while, and I was grateful for the distraction from Scarlett. I even managed to beat Tate in a race, which she claimed I only managed since she's only trained for long distance, but Gabby instead prompted that maybe Tate had some real competition on her hands. It was nice being able to let my guard down with other girls who didn't think of me as fragile or someone they needed to be cautious around. We were just a group of normal teenagers hanging around.

"Why don't we walk down the street and see if there is somewhere we could get food for lunch?" Tate suggested.

"Should we invite the guys?" Gabby asked. I still hadn't managed to ask Tate what was going on between her and Austin, and I didn't want to ask him just in case I made anything weird between then.

"I can call them and ask." Gabby smiled at my answer and Tate just rolled her eyes and smirked.

"A few of them are getting picked up soon so Austin said they wouldn't make it."

"Oh." The disappointment was visible in Gabby's expression.

"He'll still be there when we get back, don't worry." I smirked.

"Did you tell her?" Gabby glared at Tate.

"I didn't do anything!" She exclaimed, putting her hands up in surrender.

"It's kind of obvious." I laughed sheepishly. "You like Austin, right?"
"Kind of." She admitted after a long pause. "You don't care, do you?"
"No! I couldn't care less." I grinned at her. If anything, it would mean she was around even more.

~

The rest of my extended birthday went very well. Us girls had lunch, and by the time we went home, Scarlett was gone again, and the house was mostly peaceful. It wasn't long until both Tate and Gabby had to go home, so we said our goodbyes, even though we would see each other the next morning at school.

"Did you have a good birthday weekend?" Mum asked, sitting down on the couch with me.

"The best. Thankyou." I smiled at her.

"I'm glad. You were all so well behaved," she laughed.

"Guess what." I said after a stint of silence.

"What?"

"Gabby likes Austin." I whispered, unable to stop grinning.

"Really?" A deep voice made me almost levitate out of my seat. Dad doubled over in laughter as I glared at him.

"Chris!" Mum scolded, gently whacking his chest.

"You scared me!"

"Sorry, kiddo." He continued laughing.

"I was trying to have a private conversation." I glared.

"By all means, continue." He grinned.

"Ooh, what's the gossip, ladies?" River appeared, out of nowhere.

I groaned in frustration, flopping down, and burying my face in a cushion. Everyone around me laughed.

"That late night is catching up with you, honey." Mum rubbed my back.

"I'm not tired." I shifted and eyed her.

"That so?"
"I'm annoyed because I was trying to tell you a secret, but these two keep interrupting me."

"What secret?" Ryan appeared.

"Nothing." I grumbled, once again burying my face.

"Oh, come on! They get to know, but your favourite brother doesn't?"

"Actually, Ryan, I'm her favourite brother, that's why I know."

"Liar." Dad truthfully declared. "Leave your sister to her private business." I looked up in time to see him ushering both of them out of the living room.

"That's exciting." Mum commented, in response to my previous revelation. "Do you like anyone?" She raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Levi? He seemed like a sweet boy." I nodded.

"So, you do?"

"Maybe." I shrugged, slightly sheepish. I did like him, a lot. But I found it hard for me to imagine myself in a situation where I was doing anything that couples in books and movies do together. Not necessarily with him, but with anyone. I didn't feel ready for anything like that.

"You should organise something! He could come here if you'd like. I can even make sure all the boys are gone for you."

"Maybe." I smiled. I liked that idea, particularly the part that meant my brothers weren't going to be there. I knew how that would go.

"Well, the offer stands for any time. Come help me make dinner." 

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