The MichiganWriter: XD Thanks so much for the enthusiasm! It was great to hear again after so long. XD :P Oh yeah, state testing is terrible. Do you need to take state tests? I'm not sure if homeschooled kids do. Well, if not, you're lucky. Thanks! ;) Oh yes, revenge is a dish best served cold, and Trent will get lots of it. XD Thank you again! I missed everyone here too! :')

Dirtkid123: Thank you! :D Here's your update!

ShyMusic: XD yep, summer started I think two days before I posted the last chapter. And now its almost over. *facepalms* I feel really bad about that long wait. Again. Ah yes, I have my bow and arrow ready for Trent's revenge. :3 Mwahaha. Mine was left wrist too! I fractured my growth plate, so now my left wrist won't grow the same as my right. :/ Just my luck, right? XD Yes, yes it shall. No bionic secrets to be revealed yet though. ;) :P Thanks so much!

twilight-sweden: Thanks! :) here's the next chapter!

PrincessSparkleKitty: Thank you! XD Perhaps . . . We'll see! That's a good idea! Mind if I put my own little spin on it? XD ;) Yeah, random questions are pretty fun XD Thanks again! And yeah, I had a blast! XD

catlover2976: XD One of my favorite comments. XD thanks for the review and the laugh!

AllAmericanSlurp: XD Thanks! Ay, aren't we all hypocrites at one point or another? XD Thanks again!

daphrose: XD yes, that be me! Thanks so much! I know right. I had people I didn't even know sign my cast when I broke my wrist last year. That was kinda how I got the idea for Avalon's injury. XD Thank you so much! CHAVALON! XD :P

Guest: (Chapter 9) I agree. Sadly, there are people bullied for things they have no control over, like Dyslexia. Thanks for the review!

Guest: (Chapter 3) Hmm, you have good reasning, but if you read on, then you saw that it wasn't Chase sitting next to Avalon. Thanks for the review! :)

Choco56: XD Well, in that case, I'm glad you like it! And don't worry, I planned on having the Rats use their bionics at some point. ;) :P Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lab Rats.

Avalon's P.O.V.

It only took a few minutes for Bree to get my head spinning with her questions. She was asking them left and right, barely giving me time to answer one before she moved onto the next. I had to ask her to slow down because she was talking way too fast.

"Why did you and Trent break up? Well, I guess that's obvious because he's Trent after all, but what did you fight over?"

"I realized too late that he was a complete jerk," I simplified for her. I didn't want to go too far into the specifics of the conversation. "And he didn't really respect me. He did something I didn't like, I asked him to stop, and he wouldn't."

"Oh gosh, he didn't kiss you, did he?"

"What?" I yelled, shocked. "Ew no, of course not. I didn't like him calling me 'Ava'. I wouldn't let him kiss me after the way he talked to me or how I saw him treat Leo. He's a complete bully."

Bree sighed. "Good. And you're right. I wish I would've warned you about him."

"Don't worry about it. People learn from their mistakes, right? I learned to make sure the person I go on a date with isn't like Trent."

"Yeah. Speaking of learning . . ." Bree smiled a cheeky grin. "How's tutoring going? Chase says you're making a lot of progress. He practically brags about it whenever he gets the chance."

I scoffed. "Yeah, sure. I'm starting to read a lot better. I find that the more often I read the easier it gets, and less words and letters get jumbled. And my test grades are certainly showing my progress. We had a pop quiz during English today and I got a B-!"

"Awesome!" She paused for a minute and said, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

The mood instantly turned serious. I prepared myself for the worst. "Yeah. Shoot."

"What's it like to have dyslexia?"

I inhaled a deep breath and picked at my food. I'd been expecting this at some point. It was another reason why I didn't want anyone to know. I didn't want people to think of me as disabled or challenged, even though everything is a challenge for me with dyslexia.

I explained to Bree that it made everything kinda like a puzzle: you could only see the whole picture when you have all the pieces in the right spot, and if you miss a piece, it's incomplete and wrong. Except, in my case, paragraphs are the puzzles, and letters and words are the pieces. If you leave out a few letters, the word could change to a completely different word with a different meaning. I told her it was a challenge, but it was getting easier every day. And I included that Chase was a huge part of the reason why.

Bree was supportive, nodding along with what I said: understanding every word. After I finished, she changed the subject without saying something like "I'm so sorry" or "that must be terrible for you". I was glad she didn't let her sympathy show.

"Ooh, can I sign your cast now?" She said excitedly. I nodded with a smile and dug the marker out of my pocket.

"How did you really break your wrist?" She asked as she scavenged for a spot to write her name, turning and angling my arm in her search. "Chase said you were messing around, and you fell, but I didn't believe him. I feel there's a bit more to it."

"Well . . . In a way, he was kinda right. I was practicing at that abandoned gym down the street from your house."

"Practicing what . . . ?"

"Gymnastics," I said before drinking a huge gulp of water, hoping she wouldn't want me to go into further detail. When she didn't say anything, I knew she wanted me to continue. "I messed up a back handspring and landed on my hand in a weird way. The doctor said there was a 'questionable fracture' in the growth plate or whatever."

While I was explaining, Bree found a spot on the underside of my cast to sign. It was right along my forearm.

"Huh, I guess I can see you as a gymnastics type of girl. Just promise me something."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Don't ever try out for cheerleading. The head cheerleader, Stephanie, is a total brat. Adam and I tried out and it just caused a bunch of drama. And I don't want my new best friend turning into a peppy, pig tail wearing, Pom Pom waving, clone."

I giggled along with Bree and she said, "I'm just kidding; I know not all cheerleaders are like that. Caitlin used to be one, before she was kicked off the squad."

I had seen this Caitlin girl around here before. She seemed kinda psychopathic-ish. And really annoying too.

"I can't picture her as a cheerleader. She's never happy."

"I know, right. Well, she is when she gets what she wants. And for a while that was both of my brothers. She kinda stalked Adam, and then she tortured Chase by constantly nagging him."

Huh, so Caitlin thought Chase was attractive too? Wait . . .

"And . . . Finished!" Bree said as she recapped the marker. I twisted my arm around so I could see her signature. Bree, your bestie was printed neatly on the only blank spot on that side. Her letters were curvy, even though she was writing on rough material with a slightly fading marker. Her autograph looked perfect; she even dotted the I in "Bestie" with a little heart. I smiled and looked up at her, only to catch her staring at the spot on my cast that covered my palm.

"What? Did I smudge the marker there or something?" I asked, turning it so I could see. I was wrong. She wasn't staring at it because of smudged marker. She was reading the message Chase left half-unwritten. I forgot that's where he signed, which was weird, because it's all I've been staring at since he started writing.

"I forgot he told me he had to leave while signing. When is he going to finish the message?"

"How about now?"

Bree and I both spun around in our seats to see a grinning Chase with a tray of food in his hand. I smiled back at him, feeling my cheeks heat up and butterflies in my stomach. How long was he standing there?

Chase placed his tray next to mine and sat down, reaching for the marker Bree left on the table. I had to turn away from Bree so Chase could finish his message.

"Uh, hi! Remember me? I'm still here!" Bree tapped my shoulder playfully and I told her to wait a minute.

"How was the rest of your homework from the weekend?" Chase asked to get conversation going. I still had a bunch after Friday's and Saturday's tutoring session, but I told Chase I wanted to try it by myself.

"Pretty good. I feel more confident about these papers than I did others. Including the extra credit assignment."

Chase smiled at me, looking up from my arm. "Good. Let's try and finish that one up tonight so it's out of the way. Sound good?"

"Yep! Sounds great." I smiled at him and he continued writing.

My mind quickly ran through this weekend's assignments. I remembered doing them all, but I didn't remember packing my history review in my bag! It was the last assignment I was working on, and I left it on my desk!

I frantically looked around for the clock. There was twelve minutes left until lunch was over, and my next class didn't start until five minutes after that.

"Avalon, what's wrong?" Chase asked. "You're so jumpy all of a sudden. I almost smudged my note."

"Sorry. I think I left my history review at home. You think seventeen minutes is enough time to run back home and grab it?"

"Probably, if you run," Bree said. "You want one of us to go with you?"

"Um," I paused, considering her offer. "No that's ok. I don't want either of you to be late for your classes. See you later!" I rushed to throw away my leftover food and get outside, making sure my house key was still on my pocket.

I didn't even notice that Chase still didn't finish his message. Or that I left without taking the marker back.

As soon as I got home, I ran up the stairs two at a time, racing the clock. I only had about twelve minutes, and that included grabbing my paper, sprinting back to school, and stopping at my locker to grab my books for the next few classes, which just happened to be on the other side of the school. Just my luck.

When I got to my desk, I found exactly what I came here for, sitting right on top of a pile of new school notebooks I never bothered to use and a box that I still needed to unpack.

I snatched the review off my desk and made a mad dash for the stairs. As I started clambering down the steps, I heard a booming thump followed by a loud curse word from above my head. Except that wasn't possible since nobody else should be home, and my room was on the top floor. Unless we had an attic that I didn't know about.

I seemed to forget that I was running against a clock and found a door to the newly-discovered attic along the hallway ceiling. Why hadn't I noticed the square door in the ceiling before?

I quickly got the step ladder from the closet down the hall, and I climbed up to the door. I pushed on the tile and the door popped off. It was hard to pull myself up with my cast, but I managed.

What was really weird about the attic was that is wast dark like you'd expect it to be. And there were no windows as far as I could tell, so none of the light was natural. Someone was up there.

From where I was, all I could see were unpacked boxes. I wasn't sure what had been in them since most of our family's stuff has been unpacked, with the exception of holiday decorations, which were being stored in the basement.

I could hear someone moving around from behind the boxes, their footsteps heavy. I crouched down behind a particularly large box and peered at who was stowing away in our attic.

It was my dad. He was picking up metal parts from the floor and carrying them to a desk that sat in the far corner of the attic, muttering to himself the whole way. Next to the desk, I could see file cabinets overflowing with folders and loose documents. There was a map hanging on the wall above his desk with red and blue pushpins at random spots. I wasn't close enough to see where the pins were on and what city the map was showing, but I knew it couldn't be a good thing.

When he turned around, I didn't move behind the box fast enough and he saw me.

"Avalon!" He bellowed. "What the heck are you doing here? You're supposed to be in school! How did you even find this place?"

I was too shocked to speak straight: shocked that my dad has some secret hideout in our house and that he was being this harsh to me. "I, uh, f-forgot my history review and came b-back to get it. What is this place?"

"Never mind that," he said sternly. "We need to get you back to school. Go get in the car. Now."

I obeyed out of fear, and I climbed out of the attic and down the stairs, my dad close behind me.

When we got to the car, neither of us even bothered to buckle ourselves in. My dad just drove straight in the direction of Mission Creek High, barely keeping within the speed limit.

The ride there was silent and short, me keeping to myself and my dad still fuming. I never expected him to be up there anyways. It's not like I deliberately followed him into the attic to spy on him. I thought it was some robber. But I think I might've preferred coming face-to-face with a thief as opposed to seeing whatever my dad was doing up their in his hideout.

When he parked in the school lot, I tried to jump right out of the car, but dad stopped me. He grabbed my non broken wrist, hard, and yanked me closer.

"I don't ever want to see you up there again. If I catch you lurking around that attic, you'll wish you hadn't even discovered it. Don't make that mistake."

And he let go. I reached with trembling fingers for the door handle and got out of the car as soon as I could. I could see him point to the school doors through his windshield, and I ran into the building. I never gave him a second glance, but I could hear his tires screech as the zoomed down the road and back to our house.

I couldn't concentrate during my last class. I was too busy having a staring contest with the clock. And, of course, thinking about what my dad had kept hidden up there.

On top of it all, I was still in shock from the way he spoke to me. He didn't seem like the same guy who encouraged me to take gymnastics and who used to ask for my help with whatever project he was working on for our house. Come to think of it, he hasn't been himself since we moved.

I thought about what could've changed him that much in such a short period of time. There was absolutely nothing different going on. Except my lack of gymnastics class, which should have made him less tense. Those classes were not cheap.

Then my mind wandered to a different point. Why did we come here anyways? Dad's job. What had he kept secret? His job. He said it was classified. I needed to figure out what exactly his new "job" is.

The more I thought about it, the more I worried. How long would he be like this? What if he gets hurt? Or arrested? I'm certain whatever he's doing isn't legal.

I didn't even hear the bell screech, signaling the end of the school day. I just saw everyone in front of my stand up in unison. I joined the mob in exiting the classroom.

Chase was waiting for me at my locker so we could walk back to one of our houses to get to work. He smile at me when I came into his line of view and I tried to muster up a similar smile back. He seemed to notice it was fake.

"Whats wrong?" He asked as I started turning the dial on the lock. "Find your paper okay?"

"Yeah, but it's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't exactly know. But I know something's up."

"That's not vague at all," he said sarcastically. I let out a little laugh as I gathered all my books into my bag. I liked how he could still make me laugh when I was down. "But honestly, are you okay? You seem a little out of it."

"I'll tell you later. Maybe? I don't know. I'm just a little confused." I sighed. A little overwhelmed was more like it, but I didn't admit that.

Chase smiled. "All right then. So whose place are we studying at? Mine or yours?"

"Let's work at your house. My dads not in a very good mood today," I said. He nodded and we started walking down the hall. That was a complete understatement. He was furious with me. I didn't want to run the risk of having my dad flip out at me again in front of Chase. In fact, I planned on staying far away as long as possible. Who knew what he was up to in that attic.

AN: Hey people! I'm back with another chapter! Someone asked me to to get another chapter in before school starts, and I figured that was a good idea. XD

Speaking of school starting back up again, I kinda wanted to apologize for not updating very much this summer. I ended up traveling a lot more than I planned to, as well as camping pretty often. And there's no wifi in the woods. XD but really, I wish I could've done more for you guys. Thank you all so much for the reviews and support you all continue to give! I almost feel like I don't deserve it because I haven't been writing as much as I should have. So yeah. Thank you all so much for everything.

School for me starts in September, so I still have a little bit of time left. I heard some of you already started school. I feel bad for you guys. :P

Anyways, here's your QOTD!

QOTD: Who out there saw the Lab Rats vs. Mighty Med Crossover and "Bionic Action Hero"?! And if you've seen them, which was more emotional for you? Gotta say, loved them both, but "Bionic Action Hero" almost brought tears to my eyes. Anyone else?

Until next time . . .

PEACE OUT PICKLES!