Hey guys! It's a new story! I know I'm currently writing other stories that I haven't finished yet, but I wanted to let you guys read the first chapter! This is a major revamping of a story I wrote on Quizilla (my username was piegirl22) back in 2011 called Being Awesome Has No Advantages. It has a new name and is written much nicer. It has the same characters and the same plot.

Also, the name of this story is from the song Hell and Back by Tonight Alive.

Enjoy! :D

Disclaimer: I own no one but Kimberly, Drew, and their parents. Everyone else owns themselves. If I owned Alex Riley, he'd be on TV all the time.

Kimberly sat on her bed, looking out her bedroom window at the moving truck across the street.

Kim had lived in her house her whole life. Up until a few months ago, the house across the street was usually rented out by college students. Once the four years ago, it was vacated, and once the fall came around again, a new group of students would move in.

This time was different. A family lived across the street from her. She knew because she saw the boy who lived there. His parents had been walking in and out of the house all day, bringing furniture inside. He had showed up that morning with his older brother and run inside, not making another appearance outside.

There was a soft knock at her door and a blonde head peeked in.

"Dinner's ready," Drew said. "Dad's not home yet, so it's safe to come out."

Kim nodded and followed her brother downstairs. She glanced at the couch in the living room on the way to the kitchen, where her mother was sleeping. The TV was muted and playing the six o'clock news. A half full beer bottle sat on the coffee table.

In the dining room were two paper plates with hot dogs on them. One just had ketchup on the meat, which Kim knew was hers. She grabbed a glass of water and walked over to her seat.

She ate her dinner. Then the front door opened.

Kim lived only a few blocks from the middle school, so she walked, while Drew took the bus to the high school.

After grabbing her backpack, she walked outside and started heading in the direction of the school.

"Hey!"

She turned around, confused. The boy who moved in across the street was running towards her.

Her eyes widened. "Yeah?"

"Do you go to the middle school?" He asked after finally catching his breath.

"Yeah," She repeated. "Do you?"

He nodded. "I just moved here and I don't know my way around here."

"I can show you how to get there," She said. "Follow me."

He grinned. "Thanks."

They walked in silence for a minute or two, then the boy said, "My name is Alex, by the way."

"I'm Kimberly," She said.

"So, uh…" He said. "How long have you lived here?"

"I was born and raised here," She replied. "I've never lived anywhere else. Where are you from?"

"Washington, D.C," He said, smiling. "My dad got a job here, so we had to move."

"Oh."

After a few minutes of silence, Alex said, "You don't talk much, do you?"

She shrugged. "I guess not."

"That's okay," He said. "I can do most of the talking for us."

Kim looked up from her feet to look at Alex. "You want to keep talking to me?"

"Yeah!" He said. "Why wouldn't I?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. People just don't normally talk to me."

He frowned. "That's not nice. I'm going to be your best friend, okay Kimberly?"

She smiled. "Okay."

After school, Kim and Alex walked home together. Kim managed to talk a little more than she had that morning, and Alex was happy with the progress.

When they reached Kim's house, Alex said bye and made his way across the street to his house. Kim walked into her house, where she was greeted by her dad standing in the living room.

"Damn it, Kim-Kim, why are you always late?" He asked, angrily. He was drunk.

Kim frowned and looked at the clock. "This is the same time I get home everyday…"

He closed the distance between them in two long strides and slapped her. "Don't back talk me! You know how much I hate hitting you."

She looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry…"

"Your chores for today are in the kitchen," He said. "They need to be done before I get home from work."

Kim just nodded. He said this everyday, so it was all apart of her routine.

He went upstairs and grabbed the briefcase he brought to work everyday. Kim and Drew weren't allowed to open it, so they didn't know what was in it. Kim didn't even know what her dad did for a living. Drew had his suspicions, but he refused to tell Kim until she was older.

"Goodbye, Kim-Kim," Her dad said, opening the front door.

"Bye, Daddy," She said, softly.

He closed the door. Kim sighed and walked into the kitchen to look at her chores for the day. The front door opened and closed, which meant Drew was home.

He put his backpack away and joined Kim in the kitchen.

"Are you okay?"

She didn't realize she had been silently crying. She quickly wiped away her tears and attempted to smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Drew sighed. He knew not to question her, and even if he did, she wouldn't answer him. He figured he knew what happened anyway.

They quickly got to work.

Two Weeks Later:

"So, Kimmy…"

Kim looked away from her homework to see her brother standing in the doorway.

"What is it, Drew?" She asks, frowning.

"Your birthday is tomorrow and you're turning eleven," He says.

"I know." She grins.

"Is there anything you want?" He asks. "If there's anything you want, don't be afraid to ask. I have money now."

Drew was seventeen and had just gotten his first job, working in a local grocery store. It was a weird feeling to him, having money, but he was going to take advantage of it. If there was something his little sister wanted that their parents wouldn't get her, he'd get it for her.

She shrugs. "I mean… I guess a cake would be nice."

"Okay." He smiles. "When I get home after school tomorrow, I will have a cake for you."

The next day, Kim woke up, took a shower, and got dressed.

Today she was eleven.

She said goodbye to Drew and walked across the street to wait for Alex.

A few minutes later, his front door opened, but he didn't come out. His mom did.

"Hi, Miss Riley," Kim said, smiling.

Her best friend's mother smiled. "Hi, Kimberly. Alex will be out here soon. He didn't want you to leave without him so he sent me out here."

Kim giggles. "That sounds like him."

Before an awkward silence could develop between the two, Alex appeared behind his mother.

"Hi, Kimberly!" He exclaims. He was holding an envelope in his hand and was grinning.

His mom looks at Kim with a knowing smile. "I'll leave you two alone."

Alex steps outside as his mom goes inside. "Come on!"

He starts walking away, so Kim quickly follows him before he gets too far away.

"What's in the envelope?" She asks.

"You know how I want to be a wrestler when I grow up?" Of course she knew. They walked about it the week they met, and it's all he ever talks about still. She nods. "Well, the WWF is coming here. Well, not, like, here, but…" He hands her the envelope. "Here, just open this."

They stop walking and Kim looks down at the white envelope. She starts opening it and glances at Alex, who is grinning. Inside is a birthday card.

She looks up at him, confused. "How do you know it's my birthday?"

"Your brother told me," He says, shrugging. "Now look inside!"

Kim laughs. "Okay!" She opens the card and inside is a ticket. She looks up at him. "Is this…?"

"Wrestling tickets!" He exclaims. "I didn't know what to get you, but then my mom said that I should get you tickets to see wrestling and stuff so then we can like the same things."

Kim smiles. "This is so awesome! I'll have to ask my parents if I can go, though. Thank you, Alex!"

He grins. "You're welcome!" They start walking again. He looks at her. "Hey, Kimberly…?"

She looks at him. "Yeah?"

"Your name is awesome and all, but it's so long," He says. "So I'm going to call you Kimmy from now on, okay?"

"Okay." They walk in silence for a few minutes. "Hey, Alex?" He looks at her. "How do you know my brother?"

"He came over to my house last week," He explains. "He said his name was Drew and that he's your brother and he told me it was your birthday."

"Oh, okay."

Thank you, Drew, She thought.