It's a smell that woke me up the next morning.

A god damn awful smell.

And sure thing, when I opened my eyes, Tyler's freaking butt was in my face.

I pushed it away.

"YOU FUCKING DICK! YOU FARTED IN MY FACE!"

Ty was laughing like a maniac as he ran out of my room. I didn't even bother to put my pants on and ran, panties and indecent tank top, out of my room and after him.

"YOU ARE DEAD!"

I almost rolled down the stairs after him, running as fast as my legs could go, but then Ty reached for the front door and ran out of the house.

Ya... that might be a bad idea...

Whatever!

I didn't second guess any further and stormed outside bare feet.

Tyler probably guessed I wouldn't run after him because he slowed down his pace, and since I only fasten mine I caught up with him seconds later and jumped at his back, tackling him to the ground on the green grass of our front yard and sat on top of him.

"YOU!" one punch in his ribs "ARE" one punch in his stomach "DEAD!" this time Tyler grabbed my hand before I could punch him in the face, still laughing.

"Oh man! And that was a BAD one!" Tyler said and kept laughing.

My fist hit him in the stomach again.

"I gross my own self!" Ty managed to gasp between laugh.

I wanted to choke him now but Ty grabbed my hands before I could squeeze that little bastard's neck too tight, shoved me aside, and ran to the house.

I got on my feet and ran after him again, but when I reached the door, Ty had closed it, and LOCKED it!

I pounded on the door "TYLER GRAYSON! You fucking dick! Open the damn door! I'm in fucking panties!"

The day wasn't cloudy or freezing, it was actually pretty sunny, but it was the time of the year where the leaves had slowly started to lose their vivid greenness and the wind was kind of chilly. Especially since I wasn't really clothed.

Tyler stuck his face in the window beside the door, squishing his face on it, like some preschool moron, making farts on it with his lips.

I hit with my palm on the glass right in his face.

"Open the fucking door!"I screamed.

"What are the magic words?" Tyler screamed back.

"GO TO HELL!"

"Wrong!" Ty answered and then walked away from the window.

"WHAT? TYLER! GET BACK HERE!"

I started to pound on the door like a maniac screaming Ty's name over and over again.

He would have to open it at one point, or else the neighbors would probably call, thinking I was getting rape or something...

And then the door finally opened.

"Happy dad?" Tyler yelled "I opened it!"

I punched Tyler on the shoulder.

"Why the hell did you fart in my face? And locked me up outside?"

"Cause you stole my PS3" Tyler answered in a duh voice.

"Cause you let fucking Blake in!" I replied back angry.

"Didn't look like you minded him been there..." Ty mumbled.

"Oh shut up! He's an ass and you know I hate him!! And you're as much of an ass for letting him in!!"

"Because you sooo didn't win the cracker contest!"

"Dream on kiddo! I. Won. That's it. End of it. Period!"

"I ate puke! I get extra points for that!"

"Oh would you just drop it and go do something useful of yourself for once you sleazy scumbag!"

"DAD! I let Lexi in but she's been mean to me now!" Tyler yelled.

"Leave your brother alone Lexi!" my father yelled, his voice coming from upstairs, his study probably.

Ty smirked, and then grabbed me around the head between his arm and side and ruffled my hair with his fist.

"DAD!" I yelled back but Ty ran away.

I thought about running after him again but decided to go back to bed instead. I would find another way to get back at him later.

The alarm clock on my bedside table said 10:13. I wanted to sleep, but I had to be at Alex's place at one and I just knew that if I did get back to sleep I would zoom out until at least three in the afternoon. So instead, I put in my SpongeBob Square Pants pj pants and walked to my father study.

I walked in to find my father sitting at his desk, the curtains still close behind him, the study only lightened by the lamp on the table, making the room look gloomy. He had probably worked all night... Damn dad!

I looked around the oh so familiar room, and a small smile formed at the corner of my lips when my eyes rested on an old drawing I had done when I was about ten years old when my father had been searching for a new logo for his company.

The four wheels on the drawing wasn't the nicest thing I had done, but for some reason, my father had it framed and still kept it here.

But then my smile faded when I saw a picture of the five of us, in our snow suits in front of a white hill, our cheeks still red from all the skiing and snowboarding.

Would I ever be able to look at that picture without feeling my eyes fill with tears?

I walked to the window and opened the curtains, letting the sun spread through the room.

"Hey kid... Hadn't seen you come in." my father said, his eyes staying on his work, a ruler and a pen in his hands.

"Have you been sleeping dad?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, getting into a bed, closing the lights and your eyelids; sleeping."

"What time is it?" my father finally asked frowning, his eyes on me now.

"It's almost ten and a half... in the morning." I informed him.

"Oh well... Come look at this kid!!" he told me enthusiastically.

I walked to his desk and saw a drawing for some sort of snowplow, but then shape was somehow not normal.

"Why is it all shaped weirdly?"

"Because it has more power!! With that you can blow snow over our rooftop!!" my father explained with glee.

"And why would I want to do that?"

"You don't see the big picture kid!" my father said laughing.

I shook my head in disbelief, but a small smile formed at the corner of my lips.

And then I walked to the couch resting against the wooden wall, under my father's diploma and other framed mention, and let myself fall on it.

"So kid, any plans today?" my father asked working on his new project again.

"Going to the Dump Creek with the guys at one. We'll probably be staying there, you know, camp out..." I trailed off, my hand resting above my head dangling off the armrest.

"It's going to get chilly tonight, be sure to bring something warm..." my father trailed off.

"I will"

And then we were both silent, the only noise in the room, coming from my father's pen scratching on the sheet.

"Will that Blake kid be there?" my father suddenly asked, his eyes still down.

"Ya... why?" I asked.

Why would he care if Blake was or wasn't there?

"I like that kid... He's nice."

I almost had a heart attack. In what sick twisted dimension would the father of a girl actually say those words in a sentence without using negation or curse?!!?

"I like his car..." my father kept mumbling.

"He's a jerk dad!" I scowled.

"I used to be a jerk...And then one day, while I was working at that coffee shop, to pay for college this girl walked in..." my father whispered thoughtfully.

I knew this story. I had heard it a thousand times, I could almost recite it, like the multiplication table, but I still let my father go on.

"She had that, I-know-it-all face. She walked in the coffee shop like she own the place, her hands full of books and then this guy bumped into her, making her books fall on the ground. The guy just walked away, not helping and then she yelled at him "You know I could sue you, and your mother, and the chimp who impregnated her and the exorcist that gave birth to the ass you are, for that?" Nobody could mess with her... I walked up to her and then she clearly wasn't bending to pick up her things so I asked her "Are you ever going to get that?" and she answered me "If it's bothering you so much, do it yourself but don't believe it gives you a free pass to my panties" I don't know why, but before, every girl I had known would have been saying I was their savior or something, but her, it was different. She didn't want or need a savior..."

Those things all oddly sounded like me...

"I feel in love with her for that... I mean, I was a nobody, who had no idea what he was going to do with his ass... And she was this all achieving student, she was going to be a lawyer, and just by looking at her you knew she would ace everything she did. I had been with a few girls but they didn't mean anything... and she was different. And honestly I would have never thought she'd agree to go out with me, but for some sick reason she did..."

Poor daddy... he loved her, he still loves her...

"I would have never started the company if it hadn't been for her; she's pretty pushy you know... And I never would have had you kids... So even though things changed, and even though it's hard... I wouldn't change anything... I would still pick up her books..."

My father sight and looked at me, a sad smile on his lips.

I felt the urge to give him a hug, to comfort him, to say something even though I knew nothing could stop the way he was feeling. He'd need a brain wash for that...

Nevertheless, I got up from the couch, walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

"I love you daddy..." I whispered.

"Love you too Lexi... you're a great kid, you know that right?" my father told me, his arms around mine.

"I try my best... You're a great dad too..."

And then my father let go of my arm and looked at me his eyes narrowing "You said ten thirty?"

"Yope."

"Damn! I got a meeting at eleven!!" dad said and then he was on his feet heading to his room, to get ready.

Must really be a Grayson thing, the "being late" problem...

Few minutes later he was running to the front door.

"Bye kids!!! Try not to kill yourself while I'm gone!" he yelled and then the door closed behind him.

I rolled my eyes at that and then my stomach growled, reminding me I still hadn't eaten.

When I walked in the kitchen, Ty was sitting at the counter, eating his cereal in a freaking salad bowl. I walked past him to the fridge and slapped the back of his head in the process.

"I really should have let you outside with the other uncivilized people!" Ty snorted.

"Dude, do you have ANY idea in how much trouble you are right now? Cause I mean it's bad, real bad!!" I simply informed him.

"Well you know that anything you do, I'll get back at you, worse, so will you and on and on and on until one of us snaps and kills the other..." he trailed.

"That's a nice way of putting up things" I laughed while taking out the milk to put with my Cheerios.

I sat opposite to my little brother and then I stared at him.

"What?"

"We need to talk Ty..."

"It's fine Lexi, dad already had the sex-talk with me!"

"I mean we need to talk about Vanessa."

"No we don't!"

"Ty! You like her! Heck I could even jump and say you actually love her! You had a crush on her ever since I brought her to the house!" I stated.

"No I didn't! I despised her cause she ignored me! And I still do!"

"Tyler! At one point you're going to have to be honest with yourself! If not for you than at least for her! You can't keep playing games with each other!"

"It's more complicated than that!"

"No it's not! Answer this! You care for her?"

"Yes..."

"You like her?"

"Yes..." he whispered.

"You love her?"

"I... look you just don't GET it! I mean I like her but I hate her!! One minute she just does something and it just blows my mind away and then the next minutes she says something to piss me off! And she does it on purpose!"

"But why do you both keep doing that?"

"I don't know... There's nothing rational about us..."

My Cheerios had gotten all mushy at that state. I frowned at that... I can't eat mushy Cheerios... I threw them in the garbage, the milk in the sink first, feeling guilty at the thought of all those kids that didn't eat one meal a day...

Bad Lexi... I should make a donation or something...

And now, I didn't know what to say anymore... I mean, I wanted for things to work out between Vanessa and Tyler, but at the same time, there really wasn't anything I could do... They would just have to work it out on their own...

And anyway if we kept talking about the issue, I'm pretty sure we would still be there at dawn so I better just drop it cause I still needed to gather my things for the Creek and I wanted to drop at the grocery to buy some things.

It occurred to me that Alex had said I could invite Ty, but it was kinda too late now, and anyway I was pretty sure he wouldn't have a ride.

I let Tyler ponder over his cereal as I brought my new bowl up with me to my room while I gather my things in my backpack. I brought my black sweat pants with my baggy gray hoodie and extra pairs of socks to make sure I wouldn't get cold at night and lighter clothes too. I put on my bathing suit under my faded blue jeans with holes on the knees and a loose v-necked shirt and then after grabbing a beach towel from the bathroom, headed downstairs.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asked, sprawled on the couch, when I walked in the living room.

"To meet the guys to head to the Dump Creek" I informed him.

"Planning on staying there for the night?"

"Yope!"

"Well, have fun," Tyler answered and then his eyes went back to the TV.

"Bye then!" I told him, smiling and turned around.

"Bye..." he answered absentmindedly.

"Oh and Ty?" I said, a thought hitting me as I turned around again.

"Mmm?"

"Call Vanessa!"

And with that I was out the door and walking to my car.

I drove to the grocery store we always went, just run-in-run-out, to get marshmallow, chocolate chips, honey cookies, a lot of Pepsi, and basically any other candies and junk I came across. I was walking fast in the alleys, not bothering about anyone when my cart bumped into some else's.

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Lexi!" my mom gasped.

I towed my cart away, planning on not so much as letting her know I had noticed her.

I'm not going to cry in public, I'm stronger than this, I'm not going to cry in public...

What the hell was she doing here anyway? As far as I knew she wasn't living in this city anymore!

"Lexi! Wait!" my mother yelled behind me and then she walked in front of my cart, stopping me "Please, please will you listen to me?"

"No!" I answered and tried to back up with my cart but she held it in her hands.

"Be reasonable you're going to have to talk to me at one point..." she whispered.

"Not if I can help it!" I spoke up and people were eying us, slowing their pace to look at the free entertainment.

"Please, sweetie, you're my daughter and I love you! You were always the one I understood the easiest... You know that! You were never difficult for me to understand... my little feisty kid... just like me... You're my flesh Lexi, but now I don't understand, and I don't know what to tell you to have you listen to me... I don't know what to do to make things better..." she told me her voice low.

Well that makes two of us!

"You could tell me this is all a very very bad dream and I'm going to wake up in about four seconds!"

"Lexi... It's hard for me too you know!" she told me and this time her tone was a little sharper.

"Oh I'm sorry! I should definitely be thinking about how hard your life has been lately! I'm so sorry for not being considerate!" I told her and pulled my cart in one sharp movement, releasing it from her grip and then turned around and walked away, ignoring the strangers' stare around me.

"You can't always walk away from me Lexi! One day you're going to have to talk to me!" I heard her say and I found it pretty ironic.

Wasn't I saying that to Tyler just minutes ago... Talk about good advice!!

I paid for my things in a daze, and then after putting everything in my car I drove to Alex's house, fighting against the tears that treated to come.