Author's Notes: Hello everyone! Firstly, let me say…I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! Lol. But seriously, I do feel bad about that. And honestly, most of the fault is on me alone. My life's been crazy lately. I've been working several part time jobs while searching for both something better and for a girlfriend. Both of which are very taxing, to say the least. I hope you can forgive me for the delay. Also, my writing partner, "Mr. Aanoymous", also expresses his apology for the delay.

Now then, let's move onto to this next chapter, because I have A LOT to say before it even begins! Of all the chapters for this story, this has been the hardest so far! And part of the reason is because it's only a third of the way done! Lol. Let me explain. You see, my writing partner and me agreed that we wanted this next chapter to be a little more ambitious. We both want to get more couples out there, at a faster rate. We have THREE couples being focused on at the same location, one already established and two formed in the same chapter! We were going to have the build up for the two new couples, the continuation of the already started one, and the lemons for that all in ONE chapter! However, as you can likely guess, that's a lot. And we both failed to grasp just how much until we started to write it out! To fix that, and make sure we don't have a 100-page chapter, we'll be splitting our idea in three parts. The first two will be about building up the new couples, advancing the third; building on some already established non-sexual relationships, and such. Then the third chapter will be nothing but hot lemon goodness! ;)

On a similar note, this chapter and next few to follow are sort of going to be the successor and 2.0 version to "Double Deuce" chapters. DD was the combining of two major story lines, four main characters, two sex scenes, and quite possibly the most…lets say controversial chapter we ever did for this story. Meanwhile, BH will be combining at least 3 story-lines, possibly a dozen named characters most of which were POV characters in other chapters, at the very least 3 lemons and heavy lime action with side characters…and god willing, the most well received chapter to date which will only introduce more plot lines. Fingers crossed! Lol

Another good bonus is that despite saying all of that, there's still gonna be some mystery. You see, only one of the two couples that will be formed will be obvious. One of the characters involved in the other will be there, but there will be NO hinting at their partner in this chapter. That comes later!

Also, there's a potentially controversial choice made in this chapter in regards to a certain character. It will become clear which character it is by the chapter's end. In fact, now that my memory is coming back to me, there are TWO risky choices! What can we say, we like courting danger! Lol.

Here's chapter eleven of "The Meek Shall Inherit the Babes": Boat House Part 1

It was a lonely Mid-western Canadian summer night with a cloudy overhead blocking out the light from the moon, leaving Road 29 in complete darkness. Raccoons, rats, possums and other animals of the night were scurrying across the black piece of asphalt in search of food and safety. All was well for the animals until a large, metal, four-wheeled monster with glowing eyes came racing at them. They had just enough time to get away before they were mowed down. A series of angry jitters and squeals escaped their maws.

Inside the metal monster, known to people as a Granite Chevy Spark, Mike Arámbula looked around the back seat of the car, where he was sitting. His mocha tan skin was starting to get covered in goose bumps and he felt small spikes of giddiness and nervousness. So much so that he ignored the slightly uncomfortable feeling that sitting in his baby blue bathing suit caused due to the netting inside rubbing up against his junk. Wishing to ignore all of those sensations, he looked towards the two front seats. When he did so, he saw that Gwen was driving, in her favorite bikini, her aqua blue bandeau top and matching ruched-skirted bottom, while happily listening to Metallica from her IPod jack connected to her car's radio. While he had eyes on another, that image, in particular when the car hit bumps and her boobs jiggled, caused the discomfort in his shorts to increase and take on an added dimension. He turned his brown eyes towards the passenger's seat, to see Cameron in his usual orange shorts and thick red hoody while on his phone, typing out a text to someone, though strangely enough with his backpack on.

"Uh…I don't know if I've already said this, but thanks for picking me up and taking me to this party, guys," Mike called from the backseat to his two friends up-front.

"You have said that already, and your once again welcome, Mike," Gwen said smirking while looking into the rearview mirror, seeing the teen's dark brown hair that was a series of pointed spikes driving upward, his cameral-like mocha skin, and his bodily frame hidden under his light blue shirt that struck the fine balance between thin and toned. If you had told her that she would be driving to a beach party with some friends who she had only made the previous school year, she would have called you insane at best. The knowledge of that and how she felt better than she had in a long time improved her mood.

Cameron's phone buzzed, after a few seconds of looking over its screen, he announced, "Cody says that he and Bridgette are on their way there, and they have Zoey with them."

"Awesome!" Mike called out from the back, "It'll be so great to see Zoey again!" He said, likely more loudly than he imagined he did while showing a wide smile, with that showing off the gap in his front teeth. Gwen and Cameron looked at each other.

"Wait?" Cameron asked, confused, "Haven't you been talking to her this entire time?"

"Well, okay, yeah," Mike said sheepishly, while rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess we have. We've called or Skyped each other just about every day while I was in Toronto. But-but…I still missed talking to her face-to-face, ya know?"

"That's very sweet, Mike," Gwen said, with a shockingly warm smile on her face. "So, how long have you and Zoey been dating anyway?"

After rapidly blushing, Mike quickly stated, "We-we aren't dating!"

"Really?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow while not taking her eyes off the road. "That's actually kind of surprising."

"Yeah," Cameron added, "I thought for sure you guys had been dating for a while now."

"Nope," Mike rebuffed, "Me and Zoey are just friends, and nothing more."

"Yeah, right," Gwen quipped with sarcasm lacing her sexy, raspy voice, "I'll believe that the day I see Scott being a human being who doesn't deserve a boot shoved up his ass!"

"Well, as unlikely as that is with Scott, me and Zoey are just friends and nothing more," Mike insisted. The mocha skinned teen then started to look a little uncomfortable in the backseat, fidgeting as tiny bit in place, before adding, "Can we please stop talking about this?" He was greatly relieved to see both Cameron and Gwen nodding their heads in approval. Showing a small smile, once again gap-toothed, he asked, "So, what's been up since I've been away? Has anything neat happened since I left?"

"You could say some neat things have happened," Gwen said with a knowing smirk.

Mike's confusion only increased when he noticed that Cameron was struggling not to laugh. "I don't get it. Is there something that I've missed?" he asked, confused.

"Yup! Cameron and me have started dating."

"Wow…" Mike said, his expression gob smacked and disbelieving, "R-re-really?"

Instead of answering, the Goth reached for her boyfriend's face, brought it to hers, and gave him a brief tongue-filled kiss without taking her eyes off the road. Mike's mouth hung opened, so much so that he didn't even think of telling Gwen to stop doing something so dangerous. The kiss ended with a loud, wet pop. Cameron sat there in his seat, flustered and highly aroused. Now he was eager to get some alone time with her!

"Yeah, really," The Goth said, acting as if nothing had happened, despite her wide smirk.

Mike was still stunned silent for several seconds. "Yes, alright! Fucking finally!" He cheered, pleased, "I was really hoping you guys would make it official any day now!"

"Hi there, Kettle. Name's Pot. Have we met?" Gwen asked, pleasantly but sarcastically.

That shut Mike right up, who instantly tried to back away into his seat as if he were a ghost with an enflamed, blushing face. "D-da-don't…don't start with me again…"

"As much as I would love to do so, I'll respect your wishes…this time. But please try to not give me such an easy opening next time, okay?"

"Uh," Cameron said, getting Mike's attention, "that's not all that's happened. Cody Anderson has also hooked up with Bridgette Strand. Plus all four of us are friends."

"Whoa…" Mike said, without realizing it, "Wow…that's certainly a lot. But I'm very happy, for them and you guys." He showed his gapped smile yet again.

"Thanks," Gwen said, answering for herself, her boyfriend, and the other absent couple.

There wasn't much talking after that inside the car. But sounds started to be heard.

A few miles away inside the actual boathouse, the party was booming. Technically, the party wasn't supposed to have started yet but many had already arrived. People from all over the beach were coming over and having a good time. It was mostly people from the local high school and community college instead of the usual tourists and families. This was for the best, since those more wholesome groups might gave felt uncomfortable about the teenagers of the city giving summer a epic farewell full of innocent debauchery. The partygoers were bringing cases and kegs of cheep beer and regular sodas as they went inside. Conga lines of chips, pizza, and other junk foods flowed inside like fatty rivers. The music was blasting inside nearly all the rooms, giving everywhere within a faint thunderous effect. The volleyball courts outside where filled. Behind the boat house people were playing ultimate Frisbee if they weren't in the water still swimming.

In the back right room with the dartboards, several groups of teens were gathered around them. Of the two main groups, it was the one with four people, playing a game of two against two, which was the more eye-catching. Part of the reason was because this group was made up of one guy and three girls, and the three girls were all in sexy swimwear.

One of those three girls, Taylor, was enjoying herself quite a bit, especially in her new orange bikini top and green wrap that highlighted her chucker but alluring female curves. Tossing another yellow-stripped dart, she couldn't help but do a fist bump as it landed in the green zone…at the bottom of the board. "Ha! Beat that!" She gloated to the two members of the opposite team.

"Oh, I'll try." Joked the addressed opponent in question, Jen.

Similar to her more aggressive foe, the Female Fashion Blogger was feeling confident in her beachwear. The navy blue bikini she wore was the most fashionable piece of clothing she could find after a whole day's efforts, and she was pleased with the results. She picked up the two other yellow-stripped darts on the ground that Taylor missed before handing them back to the brunette. Her mocha-colored fingers than gripped one of her blue stripped darts as she carefully aimed it. Jen tossed it, and found that it had landed in the red zone just a few inches below the bulls-eye. Her smirking expression with glinting black eyes was all the gloating she needed as the bossier girl stood there speechless for a few moments.

"Beginners' luck." Taylor pouted as Jen high fived Tom, her partner in this game, wearing a matching pair of navy blue swim trunks.

"Didn't I show you this game?" Jen joked as she picked up another blue striped dart.

Behind the three teens and the fourth member of this game was the leader of this group, made up of the most popular kids at TD high school, that school's Queen Bee, Heather. The raven-haired beauty was standing there in her rust colored tube top and bikini in all her glory. Unusually though, she wasn't the one playing referee at the beer pong table as her friends played the game as they usually did whenever they came to the boat house.

Instead, the Queen Bee was just standing there in the back with an almost worried look on her face as her friends continued to shoot darts and mark their scores on the white board next to them. She was actually very thankful that they weren't focusing on her. Showing weakness under any circumstances was something that she loathed. If there was one thing that she despised, it was people who couldn't keep themselves under control. As her grey eyes looked down at the phone in her hand with the latest time in the past few minutes, she sighed in disappointment and another feeling she couldn't place.

Putting her phone away, the teenage girl of Asian descent looked back at her friends and saw Jen toss her dart into the red zone for the third time. Heather also saw how Jen and Tom cheered as Taylor reluctantly marked their scores on the white board.

"Nice, we're in the lead." Jen said as she hugged Tom for a moment before they both let go but not without wrapping one of their arms around the other's waste.

"You're turn, Linds. Make it count." Tom encouraged genuinely with a soft smile. As he did, Heather saw that just after Jen flinched for a moment before giving a short giggle and a visible blush on her face.

"Tom!" Jen chastised under her breathe.

Looking closer, Heather could see that Tom's hand was lowered on Jen's waist so that his hand was right on the female Fashion Blogger's behind. Seeing this, the Queen Bee felt an all to familiar feeling swell up inside of her, like a stone dropped in her belly. Thinking back to the movie theater, Heather remembered when DJ did that to her, and how his mighty fingers could grope the majority of her ass all at once with such strength. She desperately needed to take the edge off, before she started getting aroused in public. That's where the cup in her other hand, full of beer, came into the picture. She rose up her cup to drink but when she did she noticed that the beer was gone and the cup was empty. Heather dropped the cup on the ground and turned toward the food table in a huff.

Back at the dart game, Lindsay put all of her intellect into focusing on the game. After what felt like forever to her, but was less than a minute, she tossed her yellow-stripped dart. The projectile flew straight and true to its target, landing smack center in the bulls-eye.

"OMG! OMG! I did it! I did it!" Lindsay cheered as she bounced up and down in excitement.

"Great job Lindsay!" Jen cheered, then the elated look left her face, to be replaced by one of confusion, "Uh…Linds…uh, you got a bulls-eye…on the other dart board."

The Blonde Bombshell stopped instantly; seemingly mid-cheer and bounce.

"W-What?" Lindsay asked confused, turning around and seeing that she indeed hit the wrong dartboard. A bright red blush flooded her angelic face as shame spread just as rapidly. Partially to distract herself from that, she focused on the people playing the game of darts she had unknowingly interrupted. There were three people playing, specifically three boys she knew from school. She couldn't place their names but she saw that one was tall and had a long blond mullet with an orange bandana. Next to him was a pudgy guy with shoulder length brown hair eating a banana. Both of them had on black KISS themed trunks. The third one looked different, he had short red hair and a creepy almost evil like smirk on his face as he walked up to the dartboard.

"Yeah, you were a little off. Still a nice shot though." The red headed one said pulling out Lindsay's dart. He then walked over towards the blonde teenage goddess in tall orange cowboy boots. "But hey, if you ever want to you can use your darts any time. Name's Scott." He presented her dart between his fingers near his freckled face.

"Hi Scooter! And, like, thanks!" Lindsay greeted as she took her yellow-stripped dart.

"No problem. Hey, ya know, I got a tip for ya if you wanna get a better score."

"Really?" The blonde asked perplexed, but interested, "Like, what is it?"

"You know that thing you did after you hit our bulls-eye?"

"This?" Lindsay asked as she raised her hands in the air as she bounced up and down on her feet, her large breasts giggling in her bikini top, though her face was oddly focused. As she did so, surprisingly, Scott kept his eyes on Lindsay's face when she did, even though his friends behind him were bouncing along with Lindsay's' bright red bikini.

"Yeah, try doing that before you throw the dart. Go on, try it."

"Okay." Lindsay agreed as she cheerfully tossed her arms up in the air before bouncing up and down for a few moments. The Blonde Bombshell then turned around and tossed her dart at the board, though this time it did not hit the bulls-eye, it landed in the low left black zone out of bounds.

"Sorry Linds, still no-"

"I hit it! I hit our board! EEEEE!" Lindsay happily cheered again before gushing without restraint. Turning back around in a blur, the blonde was too excited to notice Scott quickly shove his phone back into his pocket. "Thank you so much! "

"Oh no prob-!" Scott was interrupted himself when Lindsay wrapped her arms around and hugged him. Scott was greatly enjoying the feeling of Lindsay's giant breasts pressing up against his chest. They were the only tits in their school that were bigger than Courtney's, and he had them smooched onto his body. Pressing his luck at this once in a lifetime chance, the deviously minded guy then slyly slid his hand around well-endowed hottie's waist fast enough to cop a feel of her equally glorious ass before the girl let go.

Lindsay reached over, grabbed the market for the white board, and started to write on Scott's hand. The redhead guy was shocked, but resisted the urge to yank his hand back.

"That's my number. Call me whenever."

"Thanks, I will." Scott smirked with a wink before he turned back to his two friends. "Rock, Spud. Who's up for some dice? Lady luck is roll'n with me tonight!"

Lindsay turned back around, and found that her friends were looking at her disapprovingly. Confused, as usual, she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Like, what?"

"Oh Jesus, Lindsay. Really?" Taylor rolled her eyes as she picked up the other two yellow-stripped darts off the ground.

"What?"

"Lindsay, I know its been tough since Tyler went to college but you can't just hand out your number to every guy who'll talk to you at a party," Jen advised as Tom nodded.

"Guys, he wasn't that bad."

"His friend had a mullet. Enough said." Taylor said rolling her eyes again before tossing her dart.

"That's the kind of talk I expected from Heather." Tom joked.

"No, if Heather was here she'd have tossed that guy out on his ass when he pulled his phone out before he could start recording." Taylor shrugged nonchalantly as she tossed her second dart.

"Yeah, that's probably what she'd do." Jen agreed, before turning to her blonde friend and trying to soften the blow. "Sorry Linds, but odds are it'll be up on Youtube tomorrow."

"Is that bad?"

"Well it'll probably be a video about you bouncing up and down, maybe with some bits of your butt too." Taylor explained bluntly. "So get ready for a lot of creepy comments about you're boobs and guys wanting to take you home and doing gross stuff to you."

"Eww!" Lindsay cringed. "That's, like, so gross! You think he'd really do that?"

"That was Scott from school right? I had gym with him last year. The guy is an A-hole. Always hung out with that creep Duncan, and they were doubly unpleasant together," Tom said, showing a rarely seen look of displeasure. Then, the Male Fashion Blogger had a silent change of thought, "Say, do any of you know what happened to that guy? Uh, Duncan, I mean? One day he was there and the next he was gone." Jen and the other two girls merely shrugged. "Anyway, I wouldn't put it past'em. Sorry we didn't stop him."

"Huh, you think Heather would've?" Lindsay asked.

"Linds, Heather's been doing that for you since I first moved here." Taylor said grabbing the dart Lindsay was holding. "Almost every time we go somewhere, whenever you bend down or eat a hotdog Heather has to stop some idiot from trying to do a quick pic with his phone."

"Like, seriously?"

"Yeah, and its not just you either." Tom nodded. "I've been around you all long enough to notice that Heather's been doing that for all three of you. If it wasn't for her, idiots like Scott could have made whole soft core porn sites about you guys."

"Jesus," Taylor gasped as she tossed her last dart. "Ha! Red zone. Suck it."

"Other dart board again."

"Damnit!"

The group couldn't help but laugh at their friend's outburst as Taylor begrudgingly marked down her dismal score on the white board. As she did, Jen walked over and pulled out the yellow-stripped darts.

"You know those points don't count, right?" Jen asked before pointing to their tall blond friend. "It was Lindsay's turn."

"It should have been Heather's turn!" Taylor snapped in rebuttal. "Whenever we play games me and her are always on the same team." She added, doing her best to hide the eraser behind her back. "She's been acting weird for ever since we got here!"

"Hey, where is Heather, anyway?" Lindsay asked before her and the rest of the group looked around. Well, most of the group, Taylor took the distraction to hide the eraser behind a chair leg.

"I don't know, I think she just walked off." Tom shrugged.

"Its not just tonight. Heather's been acting, I don't know, off for a few since about a week or two ago." Jen pointed out as she walked over to the scoreboard, gave Taylor a wise look. Taylor herself put on a nervous smile before backing away from the white board. The Female Fashion Blogger gave a light smirk before she just wiped off Taylors score and grabbed the yellow-stripped darts. Jen walked back and handed them two of them to Lindsay.

"Here Linds, I'll give you a freebee since you got a bulls-eye on the other dart board."

"Thanks Jenna!" Lindsay smiled taking the darts.

"Known you for three years and you still have trouble remembering my name." Jen rolled her eyes indifferently as she walked to the table behind them and leaned against the table next to Tom, who wrapped his arm around her waist. "Its Jen. Just Jen, Linds."

"Meh, better than that time she called you Jennibel." Taylor shrugged at her friend as Lindsay lined up her shot. "Besides, what are you complaining about? Linds mixed mine and Tyler's name up so many times I'm pretty sure that by the time he left Mr. Klutz himself thought he had a girls name."

"True." Jen shrugged as Lindsay tossed her dart, already forgetting Scott's fake advice, again hitting the bottom left pointless section.

"Rats." Lindsay pouted as she aimed up her last dart.

"Yeah, but I don't think we ever heard him complain." Tom smiled just a little naughtily. "I'm pretty sure she made it up to Tyler whenever he did."

"Ha!" Taylor laughed giving Tom a high five. "Nice!"

"Lucky bastard." Tom whispered under his breath staring at Lindsay's butt. Unfortunately for him, Jen caught on to this and gave him a scowl.

"What was that?"

"O-oh nothing sweetheart! Nothing at all! Ha, ha!" Tom coughed trying to save himself as Jen's scowl slipped into a triumphant smirk. In the background, Taylor was playfully laughing at Tom and Lindsay, completely forgetting about the game as she tried to figure out what her friends were doing. "What were we talking about before? Heather acting weird."

"Hmmmph…right. Yeah, Heather's been acting kinda off." Jen answered pushing Tom's hand off her waist and stepping way from him before crossing her arms. "Ever since that freak storm."

"Any idea why?" Lindsay asked.

"All I know is that her phone got ruined by the rain, and she had to wear a hideous and smelly hoody or she would have been kicked out of that old movie theater down by Barker Street for public indecency."

"You think that's why she's like this?" Taylor asked taking a sip from her beer.

"Uhhh, I don't think so, no." Jen shrugged. "She was for sure annoyed but…if she's angry at something, that is definitely not it."

"I'm gonna go look for her!" Lindsay said walking off into the next room, when she did she tossed her dart over her shoulder and behind her back. Against all odds the arc of the dart flew straight and the spiral true enough to land smack dab right in the middle of the dartboard. "Taylor, you can, like, have my turns!" She called out as she walked away.

The remaining members of the group stood there in awe at their friend's luck with Taylor's mouth agape at the sight.

"Should we tell her?" Tom asked.

"Hmmmph, nah. Heather needs someone to talk to and Lindsay's known her the longest." Jen answered.

"All I know is that we are so counting that!" Taylor cheered as she wrote the new scores on the white board. "Backward bulls-eyes, in the lead. Suck it!"

Outside of the boathouse, a granite Chevy Spark parked, with all three of its passengers quickly getting out. Looking around with a glass-shielded gaze over the parking lot, Cameron quickly spotted his friends down the row of cars, who were waving back at them.

"Over there!" The former Bubble Boy called out before he and the others walked over.

As they did so, Mike could see his old friend Cody had on a pair of chestnut brown trunks, the same shade of auburn as his hair, and a pair of Oakley's hanging from his necklace. The rest of him was quite pink from the sun. Well, all but the area around his teal eyes, which was just as pale as he usually was. It made him look like he was wearing a pale white mask over his eyes. Next to him was none other than Bridgette Strand, sporting a yellowish-brown criss-cross bikini and a long, orange beach skirt.

"Sup?" Mike asked fist-bumping Cody.

"Waiting for you guys," The lighter skinned teen with a gap in their teeth answered, "What took you guys so long?"

"Cod, we're right on time." Cameron said looking at his phone. "Why are you guys here so early?"

"Meh, we've actually been here for a while." Cody shrugged.

"It was my day to work." Bridgette explained. "I got off my shift about an hour ago and just changed."

"And I like seeing her in the uniform they gave her and swimming in the water, soooo…"

"Ha!" Cameron laughed as he high fived Cody. The girls looked at their beau's and smiled as they shook their heads. As they did so, Mike's brown eyes scanned around for the third promised person, his favorite red head, but found no one else there.

"Hey guys, where's Zoey?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, about that." Bridgette said giving Mike a confused look as she held up her phone to him, showing him a text. "Zoey's getting a ride from Dakota of all people. Apparently they're running late."

"Wait, she told you?" Mike asked looking at the phone's screen. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"With Dakota who knows." The Surfer Girl shrugged putting her phone away. "You know how much of a Deva she is. She probably wants it to be surprise or something."

"Makes sense, I guess," Mike sighed. Truthfully, he was greatly disappointed at this inconvenience. But he didn't want to dwell on it. After all, Zoey would be here soon. Opting for a different topic of discussion, he chose the most obvious one he could find. "Hey, I heard you two are a couple now. Nice! Congratulations! Kinda surprised though. Did you guys even know each other before I left?"

"Thanks, Mike."

"We actually met here at the start of the summer and just sort of hit it off." Cody explained as Bridgette nodded. It was hard to make out in the darkness, but both teens had blushes on their faces at the details they had omitted from that sanitized account.

"Guys, we can go down memory lane later?" Gwen asked walking up the stairs to the porch of the boathouse. "I wanna have some fun before it gets too crowded."

"Cool." Cody said as he and the others followed Gwen's lead.

"So you and Bridgette, huh? Nice!" Mike celebrated giving Cody another fist pump.

"Oh, I'm surprised too." Bridgette chuckled as she turned around to the two. "You know, dating the prince of the city."

"You saw his house, didn't ya?" Mike asked, standing on the porch.

"I know right! It was so huge!"

"Oh-ho yeah, its like Wayne manor and Winterfell had a baby, and I live in it!" Cody joked.

"Guys, seriously!"

Inside the large living room, Heather stood next to the 'tailgate table' that held all the drinks and food. With a drink in one hand, the Queen Bee took a swig before she pulled out her new phone. But like before, she found no new messages. Disappointed, Heather put it back down on the lamp table next to her and looked around the room.

Her grey gaze saw people from all over the beach who were having a fun time. Some of the college kids where hogging the beer pong table, as usual, with kids from her high school in the background watching them. Specifically, hoping that the college kids would get drunk or mellow out enough to hit on them, boys and girls…or at least talk to the high schoolers like they weren't underclassmen punks.

Turning away, the Queen Bee saw that across from the beer pong table was the large flat screen on the wall above the fireplace. Luckily whoever owned the boathouse was smart enough not to let anyone light it with all these stupid drunk people around. Looking up, Heather could see it was showing a badminton game. On the screen it showed the local college team getting a point. Everyone watching it on the couch and around it cheered.

Normally, Heather wouldn't have even remotely cared. Like most things, badminton was something she viewed as beneath her. However, as she watched the athletes focused on nothing but the shuttlecock knocked back and forth on the screen reminded her of something, a time when she got stuck sitting through her kid brother's summer soccer game last year. It was a spectacle that made her weight the pros and cons of a lobotomy via soupspoon. The only silver lining had been watching Geoff and his friends play a game of shirts vs. skins badminton on a homemade court next to them…with a sweaty DJ being on the team without any shirts.

Heather couldn't help but smile at the memory. Her mind's eye filled with many images of that game. How DJ and the other muscly jocks were sweating in the hot sun; their meaty arms flexing as they swung their rackets; their hard abs and pecs getting all shiny from the glistening sweat. Especially DJ, who even a year ago he was a living brickhouse of muscle. Even when she hadn't thought of pursuing him, the Queen Bee could acknowledge that the brown-skinned giant was among the hottest guys around their school. She licked her lips at the thought of DJ showing up in only that white cap and shorts. Nothing else. Off in her own little world, Heather couldn't help but rub her legs together imagining DJ picking her up, and carrying her off bridal style to fuck her silly. For the first time since arriving at this party, Heather felt at peace, happy.

Her bubble of peace, of happiness, was unceremoniously popped by the ruckus around her. Heather was snapped out of her fantasy world when the crowd on the couch cheered again at the screen as their team won more points. Shaking her head to try and snap herself out of it, Asian beauty drank the rest of her cup filled with non-quenching liquid with the gusto of a perched man. Heather tossed the empty thing on the overflowing wastebasket as she sighed. "Watered down cheep beer. Nothing like it."

Looking around more, this time to her side next to the window overseeing the lake, Heather saw the foosball table shoved too close to the pool table for anyone one too enjoy either. She knew this because Bridgette, Gwen and the rest of their group were pushing the tables away from each other. She stared at the group of four with analytical eyes. Truthfully, she was unsure how to feel about them, especially Bridgette and Gwen; her previous hatred or indifference to them clashed with some new feeling that felt wrong, gratitude for them setting her up with DJ. She was trapped between the two extremes.

Unable to help herself, in part to distract herself from the inharmonious opinions, Heather took out her phone again, but just like last time and all the times before that night, there were no new messages. She looked out at everyone; at a sea of smiles and swimsuit clad bodies that were dancing, playing games, drinking beer, and having fun. She was in a house built for utility, used for joy, filled with dozens upon dozens of people. Most of them were strangers, a slightly smaller number were either hatred or enemies, and a select few were friends. But despite all of that, despite the ample number of people, the breaker of hearts and all but crowned Queen of the largest high school in the city felt alone.

"Heather," Heather's head shot up and to her right, seeing Lindsay in all her dumb blonde glory walk up to her. "There you are! I've been looking, like, everywhere for you!"

"I- I was one room over. I can even see Taylor, Jen, and Tom still playing darts over there." The raven-haired girl said, with a tone between blunt and mildly mocking. While doing so, she pointed through the hall and into the next room. Turning around, Lindsay could see that Heather was telling the truth. She could see her friends, even Tom as he tossed a dart into the yellow zone on the board and Taylor pouting as she wrote the score.

"Oh?" The blond cooed, legitimately surprised by how close Heather had been.

"How long where you looking for me?"

"For, like, maybe a minute." Lindsay shrugged. "I just sorta walked in here and there you were."

"Lindsay, you're not looking for someone everywhere when you spot that person in the first place you stumble into."

"'Kay," Lindsay nodded thoughtlessly before she looked at the screen she saw Heather staring at when she walked in. "Since when are you into bad-mitten?"

"Ugh," Heather groaned, not in the mood for this. "First of all it's called badmi- oh, forget it! Its nothing. I was just bored and it's the only thing on." She hoped that Lindsay would pick up on her body language and leave her alone. They were messages so obvious anyone able to pick up the signs would know to leave her alone. She'd have no such luck. Lindsay was clueless!

The blonde bombshell looked at her shorter friend, staring down at the crossed expressed stretching across her face. Normally, when she stared this long as someone, it was because she found them hot or she was trying to remember their name. This time it was neither of those reasons. In fact, her face almost looked probing and meditative, almost.

"Heather, what's going on? The others say you've been acting…um, ouf? Yeah, I think they said ouf. I don't know what that means but I don't think you've been acting like you."

"Off." Heather answered with a bitter but restrained bluntness while folding her arms, too annoyed at everything in existence to criticizing Lindsay any deeper for this particularly severe butchering of the English language. "And what are you talking about?"

"Well, Tyler said you've been acting not like you the whole party. And then, like, Joanna said it was since the big thunderstorm with the hail. She even said you had to wear some smelly hoody. Ewww! Did that actually happen? Why didn't you tell me? Did it smell!?"

Heather didn't respond for a few moments, processing what Lindsay had just told her, and how to be answer the blonde without getting any deeper questions. "Okay, one," Heather began with a sigh as she took out her phone before setting it down on the lamp table. "I'm pretty sure your clumsy clown of an ex isn't here at the party since he should be in Toronto right now. Two, I don't know a 'Joanna'. So I'm pretty sure you mean Taylor and Jen. And three, I did tell all three of you guys about it. The last time we were at the mall, at the food court. You and Taylor were on your phones doing who knows what. Then again, I'm pretty sure I'd have been doing the same thing if either of you were complaining about a bad date. Jen's the only one of us who actually listens."

"Oh yeah, she does." Lindsay smiled. "Like my last birthday. She was the only one of us to remember. Even Taylor didn't remember."

"Tyler." Heather rolled her eyes. "I'm also guessing that he gave you a last minute present and you gave him a quick one right after."

"OMG!" Lindsay gasped, with her beautiful blue eyes as wide as they physically could. "That is like, so creepy! How'd you know? Do you have EMS!?"

"ESP. And no. Like I said, just a guess." Heather shrugged as she tilted her phone again before setting it back down. "Lindsay, focus here. How do the others think I'm acting 'ouf'?"

"I think you mean 'off' Heather. 'Ouf' doesn't make any sense," Lindsay corrected.

The irritation left Heather's face, to be replaced with confusion, "Wow, Lindsay, I mean…just wow. I've known you ever since we were little kids. I still don't know if you're screwing with me half the time." Heather blinked as Lindsay shrugged nonchalantly. "But okay, why does the group think I'm acting…off?"

"Well, tubicahlly, when we go places you tell us what to do. Or at least gives plans on what to do. Today you're just kinda, like, in the corner. Are you okay?"

"Typically." Heather corrected, getting more annoyed by Lindsay's mistakes as she picked up the phone and looked down. "And no, I'm fine. Just and…'off', and that's all."

"Heather, come on!" Lindsay whined. "I've known you for, like, ever! You think I don't know when my OBF is going through something!?" She shrieked, deeply offended.

"Yup, just gonna pretend I know what OBF means. But seriously, I'm fine, Linds."

"Come on! You gonna at least explain the phone thing?" Lindsay asked pointing to the phone in Heather's hand. "Tell me that has nothing to do with it!"

"Uh, what phone thing?" Heather said, sliding her phone in her bikini top.

"Heather, you're, like, nervous about something. Even I, like, know when you are nervous! Last time you were like this was after you tied a string around Gwendel's skirt and pantsed her in front of everyone in the cafeteria at school last year."

"Lindsay."

"Yeah, you spent like a week all nervous until she switched out your make-up with itching powder!" Lindsay laughed, ignorant of Heather's scowl. "Every time you dance me and Taylor laugh because it reminds us how you went nuts that day in history class!"

It wasn't until Lindsay stopped laughing that she noticed how crossed Heather looked. Suddenly, even the less than perceptive blonde realized she might have made a mistake.

"You can't remember people's names even when you've known them for years but you remember that?" Heather groaned while giving Lindsay a death glare. Lindsay, for her part, lost her smile and took a step back. But, after a moment of this, Heather dropped the glare and sighed. "Ah, screw it. I don't have anyone else to confide in. I'm actually waiting for someone. They should have been here by now but I haven't heard anything."

"Wow!"

"Wow, what?"

"I don't think you've waited for, like, anyone! Ever! Not even Alemandro when you two were dating. What makes this one so special?"

"Well, remember that bad date you don't remember me telling you about? The one with the gross smelly hoody?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it was only bad until he got there. My date. It was DJ. Big muscly black dude. Wears a green shirt and white cap all the time."

"Oh yeah," Lindsay nodded. "I had cooking with him last year. He makes great chocolate chip cookies! So yummy! But, like, he doesn't seem like your type. Usually you go after mean pretty boys, not nice hunks."

"Well I-" Heather began meekly, before stopping dead in her verbal tracks. The Queen Bee almost kicked herself when as she realized that she almost told Lindsay, a girl who couldn't keep a secret to save her life, that she was set up on a blind date by Bridgette of all people. She marveled at the bullet she had dodged. "-I thought I'd try something new."

"How'd you two even meet?" Lindsay asked grabbing her own cup from the table. "You two don't look like you'd have a lot in conan."

"So close. Well, we—it doesn't matter. After he showed up at the movie theater, we really hit it off. He even drove me home since I couldn't call anyone or even get a cab. We tried setting up more dates but today, at this party, was the first one we could make."

"That's why you're so nerbus?" Lindsay asked.

"Yes," Heather admitted with a frown, while her face looked like she had eaten sour fruit.

Lindsay just stared at the shorter girl, looking at her as if the raven-haired girl's face was a painting on display in an art gallery. Her big blue eyes were vacant, pitifully analyzing.

The Queen Bee hated herself so much at this moment. The rigors of being at the top of her high school's ruthless pecking order had taught her to never show any weakness, any emotion. She knew that so many despised emotions as obvious as a neon sign in Las Vegas were punching their way through the façade of indifference she worked so hard to maintain. Her annoyance at having this longing for a guy, her uneasy at him not arriving yet, the fear of what would happen now that someone as unsubtle as Lindsay knew about this, and the dread of how the blonde bombshell would react. She imagined that the blonde would laugh at her, or mock her or—

"I'm so happy for you!" Lindsay cheered as she gave her grumpy friend a bear hug so fast that Heather's grey eyes couldn't track her movements. Inadvertently spilling her drink all over the wall behind them, the taller girl tightly wrapped her arms around her friend.

"L-Lindsay?" Heather asked while she stood there, confused. She always hated it when the blonde hugged her, mainly because her massive breasts pressed against her own chest. Without even trying, the sweet girl could make her feel so inadequate.

"You finally found a guy you like." Lindsay answered as she let go. "Ever since Alebrando broke up with you, you've been mileragle."

"Okay, we need to get you into some English classes or something."

"Heather, don't you see?" Lindsay continued to gush, "If you didn't like this guy you wouldn't be waiting for him like this. It's a good thing. It means you care!"

The Queen Bee stared with her pupils widening, as if discovering a horrifying truth. "I can't believe I'm saying this but you're making sense…that's actually kinda scary. But yeah, I-I'm nervous. DJ isn't like any guy I've been with before."

"That's a good thing, Heather! Topher and Alecandro were hot but they were meanies. DJ is nice. Besides, I know it will turn out alright."

"How do you know?"

"Because your Heather Hachi. You can handle anything. I've seen you do it." Lindsay answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world. But to Heather herself, it wasn't. Heather just stood there looking at her oldest friend who she thought of as the dumbest person she knew, but just gave her the best pick-me-up speech she had ever heard.

"I-I…uh, I," Heather stammered, finding herself in a rarely felt position, at a loss for words. Not liking that, she cleared her throat and tried again. "Uh…thank you Lindsay."

"No problem," Lindsay answered with a big, innocent smile. Then, as quick as a flash, her expression changed, as her smile became a small, naughty smirk, "So was he good?"

Walking in through the front door, the group of five friends could see that the main room already had a lot of people in it. But it was far from crowded. Since the only entrances to the boathouse were the front door and the back that led to the beach, most people only filtered through to the other rooms. If anything, aside from those at the tailgate table getting food, and those on the couch watching TV, the living room was empty.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Cameron asked as he looked around. "Hey, I think I see some games in the next room over there."

The others looked where he was, and saw that the Bubble Boy was correct. In the next room to their right, there were a few beer pong tables and a couple of dartboards. There was even an area in the back with some guys setting up pyramids of plastic cups before letting people shoot them with nerf balls from across the room. Looking over there, the group was actually happy to see all those fun games, but they also saw that the room was packed and all games were occupied.

"Yeah, sorry man." Mike shrugged. "I don't see a single game open."

"An-and is that Heather?" Bridgette asked, looking at the back left of the room through the hallway door. The others looked too and saw that one of the people in front of the dart boards had the same long raven black hair and rust colored bikini bottom. Behind her, actually playing her games where the familiar faces of Lindsay, Taylor, Jen, and Tom.

"Oh yeah, that's Heather and her crew. Nah-uh, ain't play'n in there," Gwen announced bitterly, with finality, folding her arms before turning around to look at the rest of the room. The Goth didn't have to fight the others on this decision. While most of the group of five liked Tom, Jen, and Lindsay, Heather and Taylor were not beloved by any of them. Avoiding them would likely be best. "Hey, how about them? They look clear?"

The group looked over to where the Goth was pointing. They saw foosball table and pool table that had been shoved together in the back right corner for some reason unknowable to sober minds. Both were abandoned and ignored by everyone else in the room.

"Sure, those work." Bridgette shrugged as she started walking toward them with Gwen right next to her.

"So, which one do you guys wanna play?" Gwen asked.

Bridgette shrugged to her friend yet again, not really caring. Both waited for an answer from their beau's. After waiting a few moments it never came. Behind them both Cameron and Cody were practically entranced looking at the behinds and legs of their respective girl. Seeing this, the girls happily shook their heads again, dismissive but flattered. Mike himself was not distracted and simply shrugged.

"Let's play pool. It'll be a lot harder to move than the foosball table."

"That works." Gwen agreed with Bridgette nodding as they made it to the game tables. When they did, the two behind them stopped and snapped out of their stupor.

"What are we doing?" Cody asked, rubbing his eyes like he had just been hypnotized. Cameron, looking more or less the same, shrugged his chocolate colored shoulders.

"We be playing pool." Mike answered as he shoved the foosball away effortlessly.

The quartette looked at the mocha skinned male with slightly widened eyes, sparkling with respect.

"Damn muscleman." Gwen teased.

"It wasn't that heavy." Mike commented as he rolled his eyes. "I did it with one hand."

"Whatever." The Goth shrugged. "So, boys verses girls?"

"Uh, I think you're out numbered." Cody stated as he handed out the pool cues to the group, aside from Mike who refused.

"I'll just hang back and be the score keeper until Zoey shows up. Then it'll be even. Cool?"

"Sure Mike." Bridgette answered before she noticed the somber look on his mocha face. "Hey, cheer up. I'm sure Zoey'll be here soon. Dakota's bringing her here. She never misses a party."

Mike ignored her as he put the triangle in the center of the table before he and the others put in the balls. Taking out a coin, Cody and Cameron flipped for heads, and won. After lining up his shot, Cody broke the triangle and spread out the balls all over the table with no pattern to be divined from their new formations. Even getting a stripped ball in the back pocket, but also unfortunately, hitting in the 8-ball in the side.

Everyone looked amazed at the sight. Even Mike had the grimness wiped from his face.

"No way we're starting over." Gwen said pulling the 8-ball out of the pocket and setting it on the table. "Bridge, you're up."

"So Mike," Bridgette said as she was lining up her shot. "Tell us about Toronto. What was it like? Actually, could you please tell us why you left? I can't remember why."

"You really wanna know?" Mike asked as Bridgette took her shot, knocking in a solid at the back left pocket.

"Sure, good way to pass the time. Besides, we're curious." The blonde girl shrugged as she walked around to the other side of the table and lined up another shot.

"Alright, you say so."

Mike shrugged as Bridgette took her second shot. Knocking a few balls around but didn't hit any of them in.

"Well, the grand-papi of the family, Chester, developed cancer in the scars he got fighting in WW II. He had to be taken out of the retirement home he was at and put in a hospital."

"Oh no!" Gwen and Bridgette gasped at the same time in surprise and sympathy. They, like Cody and Cameron, looked blindsided, and saddened, by that information.

Mike noticed the looks on their faces, and his own face with mocha skin morphed into one of gratitude.

"Uh…and…how is he doing?" Cody eventually forced himself to say, asking the question everyone else wanted to but found themselves unable to.

"He's stable but doing experimental stuff that I honestly didn't understand."

"Wait, hold on." Cameron said rubbing the pool chalk at the end of his cue, detecting something that seemed fishy, or at least odd. "I'm happy to hear your, uh…grand-papi is doing alright. But did you say he got wounds fighting in WW II?"

"Yeah." Mike nodded.

"As in World War II?"

"Yeah."

"As in the 1940s?"

"Yeah," Mike nodded again, as Cameron put down the chalk and lined up his cue at the bottom of the table. "Grand-papi's old. Real old."

"Mike, that's pretty amazing. The odds of someone living that long are astronomical!" The Black Brainic said taking his shot. The moment he did, the white ball bounced and ricocheted around the table, knocking no less than three stripped balls into holes before running out of juice, trying to knock in a fourth at the far left. The rest of the group was amazed and star struck. Standing up, Cameron could see the surprise on their faces.

"Speaking of astronomical…" Mike said, mostly to himself.

"What?" Cameron asked, dumbfounded by the confusion of what was so simple to him. "Billiards is basically just statistics and trigonometry. I aced those back in 8th grade." He explained to the group. Gwen and Bridgette looked at each other a little nervous at their odds of winning. The Bubble Boy seemed to notice this. "Hey, how about this. I only get one round even if I hit a ball in or not? Sound good?"

"Okay." Gwen agreed with Bridgette nodding. Grabbing the chalk that Cameron had, Gwen used it on her own cue as she tried to find a good angle on the table. "So Mike, not to pry, but how's your Grand-papi taking the experimental stuff?"

"So far he's doing alright." Mike explained as Gwen stopped and lined up her shot at the left side. "Thing is, Chester's gonna be stuck in a electric wheel chair for the rest of his life. He's okay with it though. Said he likes it better than the walker he's had for the last two decades." He continued. Never once did his emotions flare or did he become depressed by the repeated knowledge. He had the tone of many people who must convey depressing medical news, but who have done so with such regularity that it didn't faze them anymore.

"As long as he's happy," Gwen nodded as she took her shot, but the second she did the white ball simply jumped up in the air before smacking back down on the table. Barley moving an inch. The group looked at her in surprise, with Cody even trying to hold in a laugh. "Yeah, I've never played pool before."

"What?" Cody asked confused. "How, they're everywhere?"

"Just never did." Gwen shrugged.

"It's okay, Gwen." Cameron assured, finding himself in the rare role of the supportive one. "This is my first time playing pool too."

Mike could feel some tension between the group, as he saw Gwen look up from the table and awkwardly smiled back at Cameron. The fact that his comparison only further highlighted Gwen's failure was unnoticed. It seemed like Cameron would need more work at being the supportive one. Trying to move forward, Mike gave a quick cough.

"Anyway, it sorta turned into a family reunion." Mike explained. "Everyone wanted to see if the granddaddy of the family was okay. When we weren't visiting Chester in the hospital we went sightseeing. We went on a full tour around the city. We got to see the stock exchange, the beaches, even went on a buss through all the neighborhoods."

"Neighborhoods?" Cody asked as he lined up his shot at the top right.

"Yeah," Mike answered in slight surprise. "Apparently Toronto is the 'city of neighborhoods'. Its even on their city sign."

"Huh, cool." Cody said taking his shot, knocking in only one stripped ball but also knocking away three of the solids balls that were close to the holes. As Cody stood up, he noticed the blank looks on the faces of the rest of the group. "My house has a rec room. The pool table is right next to a big TV. Sooo…want me to have the same deal as Cam? Only one shot each round?"

"O-okay." Bridgette agreed, more deeply shocked by her boyfriend's skill than Cameron's, as she lined up her shot at the bottom left. "So Mike, who else came to see the granddaddy of the Arambula clan?"

"Well for starters, me and my dad." Mike asked as Bridgette took her shot, managing to hit a solid but the ball only bounced off the corner of the hole and knocking it back into the center and scattering the rest more. "Then there's my mom and my brother Vito"

"Wait, I thought you're brothers' name was Victorio?" Cam asked. "Vito a nickname?"

"Yup. Anyway, they came up from New Jersey. Mom had to take some vacation days, but 'Vito' got suspended from his job so he was cleared."

"What did he get suspended for?" Cameron asked casually as he carefully lined up his shot at the right side pocket.

"Underage DUI." Mike explained, with no surprise or shame in his voice. Only dull annoyance.

The news and tone Mike said surprised Cameron enough to flinch as he tried hitting the white ball. Causing it to spiral and swerve to the right and bounce off the side of the table before running out of steam. Missing all the other balls on the table. "Dang!"

"Don't worry, everything's okay." Mike explained. "No one got hurt."

"I kinda figured." Cameron said "Its just the way you said it. Almost sounded like you expected that kinda thing."

"Yeah, well…ever since Vito got on that show he kinda went off the rails."

"Show?" Gwen asked as she leaned against the wall, completely forgetting about the game, resulting how hopeless it was for her and her best friend. "What show?"

"Jersey Shore."

The Goth looked at her friend like he had slapped her in the face with a wet fish. Her black eyes blinked dumbly as her brain attempted to process the curve ball just thrown. It took her over twenty seconds to form a fitting response. "You're shitting me?" Gwen barked. "The Jersey Shore?" she spat, like the words had a sour taste.

"Nope, I'm not. He's on it…or was."

"How?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Mike said, conveying her lack of answers. "A few years ago, after the divorce, Mom and him moved down there. We didn't talk that much. Before he got on the show he told me he liked doing imitations of accents he heard there. Maybe he got somebody's attention when he tried doing a stereotypical jersey one. Next thing I know he's on the show using tons of hair jell and not wearing a shirt," he then chuckled a bit, "Its actually kinda funny, really."

"Wow," Cody chuckled in return. "Wait. I think I've actually seen your brother on Youtube when I watch Jersey Shore blooper reels-"

"You watch Jersey Shore blooper reels?"

"What? They're drunk idiots who sound weird with that funny accent. Speaking of which, does he always sound like that?"

"Nah, that's just his stage voice." Mike explained. "He sounds like us up here when he's not on the show. Though he's starting to pick some of it up for real now. Vito's actually going to be back on the show when the next season starts up. And after his agent met them both in the drunk tank, so's his girlfriend Maria."

"Wow, dude. You got a WW2 vet for a 'grand-papi' and your brother's a TV star." Cody laughed. "You got a cool family."

"You haven't even heard the half of it."

"So yeah, by the time he drove me back to my house I could walk again. Didn't really matter though. Thank God it was my parents' date night and my brother's still just a stupid kid," Heather said, finishing the account of her first date with DJ. To her endless shock, Lindsay had looked like she was paying attention the time and maybe even understood most of it.

"Why did it matter?"

"Think about it, Lindsay." The Queen Bee sighed. "I get dropped off by some really hot guy, I was still wearing his shirt, and it looked like I'd been…uh, riding a horse for hours when I tried walking. Oh and according to my brother, I had 'a really stupid smile'."

"Oh," Lindsay nodded, finally getting it. "Did little Damien give you a high five?"

"W-what? Uh…no. Why would he?" Heather looked flabbergasted by that question.

"When me and Tyson had sex after the championship game, what you just said kinda, like, sounded what happened to him." Lindsay explained. "But when his brother picked him up he gave T-bone a high five."

"Yeah, figures." Heather rolled her eyes. "I'm guessing you could walk just fine?"

"Why shouldn't I have?"

"Oh... no reason," The Queen Bee said, with a coy smirk. "But anyway, it would have been kinda creepy for my kid brother to high five me for that. Or at all really. He's a little monste-!" Heather stopped, on the edge of a hate-filled rant, when she felt her new phone vibrate inside of her right bra cup. Taking out her phone, she sighed in relief. "Finally."

"That Dee'j?"

"Yup, he just parked and on his way here." Heather answered as she typed away on her phone with a focused, yet hopeful look on her face.

"What are you texting to him?" Lindsay asked as she pulled out her own phone from inside her cleavage, with it nestled easily between her massive breasts, and did some texting of her own. Instantly in the next room, Lindsay could see Jen though the door way take her phone out and wave to the blonde before talking to the rest of the group.

"Oh you'll see." Heather answered as she put her phone back into bikini top before turning to the front door, completely ignorant of her other friends walking into the room from the one next door. When she did Lindsay took a few steps back to meet her friends.

"What's up?" Jen asked with the Tom and Taylor curious to find out.

"I kinda wanted us to see-"

Lindsay stopped herself when she saw what could be described as a living human brick house walk in through the front door. The blonde had seen this young men several times before, but every time she did (partly out of forgetfulness) she reminded herself of how handsome he was. DJ was wearing loose green knee length shorts and white sandals along with his trademarked white cap. Leaving the giant shirtless in all his muscly glory.

With quite possibly the largest smile Lindsay had seen on Heather's face ever since seeing the Queen Bee drive her car for the first time, Heather walked over to DJ.

Despite how good she felt, Heather felt her old habits work their way up her spine. Her smile morphed into a guarded frown, determined to not show any emotion in public. When she got to her boyfriend, she crossed her arms and did her best to look annoyed. The Gentle Giant noticed this and looked unfazed. If anything, he looked even gladder.

"Hey, I got your text." He said happily as he bent down and scooped up the frowning girl. One arm under her knees, the other behind her back, DJ held up the astonished Heather bridal stile before kissing her in front of everyone in the room.

The Queen Bee's capable brain briefly shut down, over the clashing feelings of joy at DJ kissing her and her shame at showing such a display in public. But as the Brick House's powerful lips dominated hers, the joy quickly overpowered the shame. Once that happened, Heather matched DJ's effort in full, kissing him as strongly as she could.

The group, and those in the room that knew the couple were looking at this in quite frankly awe inspired surprise. More than a few of them couldn't believe what they were seeing. The meanest and nicest people in TD high school were kissing, quite touchingly in fact, in front of everybody. It was like something out of a romantic comedy.

Happy for their friend and leader, along with the situation in general, Heather's group started applauding. Soon enough the couple broke the kiss and ended with mighty DJ hoisting up the petite Queen Bee. With his hand on her thigh, Heather was sitting on his shoulder in a giggling fit. Still laughing, and happiest they've seen her, Heather noticed her friends clapping for her. Feeling high on happiness, she waved back to them.

"Way to go, Heather!" Lindsay cheered.

"Heather's new boyfriend," Jen said while still clapping. She then turned to Lindsay, "I'm guessing that is what you were going to say?"

The blonde bombshell nodded happily.

"What took you so long?" Heather asked lightly.

"Yeah, sorry." DJ apologized as he walked into the room closer to Heather's friends. Closing the door behind him. "I wanted to get here sooner but I was stuck behind this-"

"HEY EVERYBODY?" Cheered a high-pitched voice, as the door was kicked open. Revealing everyone's favorite blonde, rich Princess wannabe. "Guess who's here?!"

And that was the next chapter of this story! As always, we hope you enjoyed it!

Now, let's jump right into what I'm sure was one of the first things you noticed! Yes, in this story, Mike does NOT have Multiple Personality Disorder. I know this is a BIG change, but I want it known that this decision was not made lightly. There were several factors that lead to us making this choice. Firstly, we both agreed that the presentation of MPD in Total Drama was very cartoony and we didn't feel comfortable adapting that to this story. Secondly, we didn't know who to present MPD in a way that would reflect both how the show displayed it and the realities of the condition. And finally, given how much we already had in the story, we didn't want to add something that really does deserve its own story to properly analyze it. But having said all of that, I could still understand if some people don't like this turn. If you are one of those people, please say so, but do so in a respectful and mature manner, okay?

Next, the second tricky subject matter. The fact that Tom and Jen are a couple. You may not be aware of this but Tom is actually canonically gay. In our story, Tom is bisexual. To this, I'll simply say this, if this fandom can take straight characters and make them gay (which it does a lot! Lol), then doing the opposite is equally fair. And to be fair, we are meeting that halfway! Lol.

And that's about all I have to say until the next chapter!

Until then, read, review, favor, follow, and spread the word! :)