Out in the middle, people are straight shooters. They just say it like it is. Well, I got two of those types in my house as well. Mike and Delaeney seem to find joy in giving people the dead truth. Now, it's not bad to be an honest person but sometimes it's not the right moment to be honest. Luckily, Laynee takes it on herself to be brutally honest when she's in a bad mood and the rest of the time she tries to be encouraging. Key word is tries.

~8~

If she was Mr. Snow Miser, then Axl had to be Mr. Heat Miser. Delaeney could practically feel his body shrivel up as her ice, cold feel rested against his bare legs. Axl didn't move, but Delaeney could feel his glare from beside her. It wasn't her fault that he decided to walk around the house in nothing but his underwear; in fact, if he wore pants, then this wouldn't be a problem for him.

Delaeney smugly glanced up at Axl is she popped a fry into her mouth, engaging in the staring contest that both teens refused to lose. If Axl wanted her to get off his legs, then he needed to stop stealing all her fuzzy socks. Plus, he never wore them so she didn't understand why he kept taking them. Their glares were unrelenting and, before she could even process what happened, Axl grabbed an ice cube from his cup and shoved it down her shirt. Delaeney shrieked at the sudden coolness, interrupting whatever conversation was occurring, before she shoved her hands—which were also freezing cold—against Axl's chest, causing him to yelp.

"Hey," Frankie snapped, catching the two teens attention. Dark brown eyes and light blue ones met her and she lazily shook her finger, "Enough. Sue's talking."

Untangling themselves from one another, Delaeney rested her head on Axl's chest as he lazily wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Axl didn't complain or comment about Delaeney's cold feet pressing against his legs, nor did Delaeney comment about the cool ice cube slipping down her back.

"Do you want to come watch me swim laps at the pool?" Sue asked, and Delaeney almost winced at the amount of hope in that question. There was no doubt in her mind that Mike was going to say no… like all the other times.

She was correct.

"Sounds boring," Mike stated before taking a bite of his burger, his eyes never leaving the TV screen.

"Mike," Frankie warned, and Delaeney turned her attention away from the TV and towards the two adults. There was nothing more amusing than Mike not understanding Frankie and Frankie trying to get Mike to understand. Honestly, it was like watching her own personal soap opera.

"It does," Mike defended, not understanding why Frankie wasn't agreeing with what he was saying.

To his credit, Mike did have a point. Who would want to watch their daughter swim laps in the pool for hours? Delaeney softly shook her head at the thought. Definitely not her. Maybe if her kid was still in elementary school she would, but if her kid was in middle school, they were on their own.

"Mike." Frankie tried again, her eyes flickering from him to the hurt look on Sue's face and Delaeney almost laughed at the look of confusion that passed over Mike's face.

"You saying my name over and over doesn't make it sound less boring." Mike stated, his brows raised and Frankie looked as if she wanted to smash her head against a table.

But sometimes the family needs more than honesty. It needs a cheerleader, and that's me.

"You know, Sue, I think what your dad is saying is that it sounds like a lot of fun," Frankie smoothly said, trying to cover the harsh reality of Mike's words. Delaeney giggled at the look of betrayal on Mike's face after hearing Frankie's words. It almost looked as if she had agreed to letting his family stay over for Christmas.

"I'll come, Sue." Delaeney said as she leaned forward to grab her drink. From beside her, Axl groaned at the sudden loss of coolness and pulled her back. Sure, as much as he hated how cold Delaeney's feet were, he always felt overheated and she always seemed to balance it out. Not bothering to comment on Axl's action, she placed her feet back on his legs, "I got this new swimsuit I've been dying to wear."

The only person who saw Axl raise his eyebrows was Frankie, a smirk covering her face before quickly disappearing.

Delaeney pulled the blanket tighter around her lap and carelessly brushed the crumbs that had collected there into Axl's lap, to which he brushed onto the floor. Brushing a strand of her hair out of her face and pushing her glasses up, Delaeney glanced up at Axl—who was focused on the TV—and pressed a finger against his chin.

"You have a zit right there." She stated and Axl scowled as he reached to swat her hand away, which she luckily moved away before he could.

"Shut up, Laynee." Axl grumbled as he focused his attention back on the TV. Delaeney followed his action and soon was transfixed on the TV.

The rattling had started out small, like the buzz of a mosquito, and she was able to ignore it. However, it was when the rattling consisted and seemed to grow louder did her concentration finally break and her irritation grow.

"The dryer's making that noise again," Brick said, before leaning down and whispering, "Noise again."

"What noise?" Frankie asked, fully enraptured in the show, "Your dad fixed it. It's working great now."

"How can you not hear it?" Delaeney muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes at Frankie's ignorance, cracking her knuckles against her head.

"Damn thing's on its last legs. I can't hear the TV," Mike commented, aggravation clear on his face and Delaeney couldn't help but nod in agreement. She didn't understand how Axl and Frankie were able to drown out the sound.

Frankie shook her head, "No, we can't afford a new dryer right now. It's fine."

Delaeney pursed her lips at Frankie's comment as her mind raced. Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, Delaeney bit her lip before opening her mouth, "Mom, my, uh, parents check should be arriving soon. You could use that to buy a new dryer."

To be completely honest, Delaeney had no idea what to call her parents. They had left her with the Heck's at such a young age, she didn't remember much about them. She knew that they signed their letters with the names: Jacob and Rebecca, but she wasn't sure if those were their real names.

God, her family was so weird.

"Aw, thanks, sweetie. Did anyone get the mail?" Frankie asked as she stood, her attention quickly turning towards Axl, "Get more pop."

When Axl blatantly ignored his mother's command, Delaeney looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. There was no way that Frankie or Mike was going to let him get away with sitting. Instead, Axl tightened his grip around Delaeney and continued to watch the TV.

"Axl, come on. Let's go." Mike commanded after giving his son a few seconds to get up. The groan vibrated around Axl's chest and he sluggishly got up before making his way towards the counter, Mike right behind him.

Delaeney didn't bother to stop the giggle from escaping her lips. She loved when Axl got in trouble. He always seemed to add a dramatic flare to everything he did and acted ten times lazier than he normally was. Delaeney shook her head at the thought, he was such a drama queen.

"Shut up," Axl shouted at Delaeney from the kitchen as he grabbed two Coke's from the fridge.

"I'm not the loser who has to be followed by his parents for two weeks," Delaeney shot back, regret immediately filling her as Axl walked back into the room, Mike behind him, with a cocky smirk in his eyes. The moment he set down the soda, Delaeney knew she was screwed. It only took a mere matter of seconds, in which Delaeney tried to prepare herself, before Axl launched himself onto the couch and squished Delaeney.

"Axl, get off!" Delaeney shrieked as she tried to worm her way out from underneath Axl. Cursing herself, she pushed against Axl's chest and groaned when he didn't budge. Even though he was thin and lithe, he was a football player and Delaeney knew that she wasn't weak.

Axl had told us he was at church group when he was actually sticking his tongue down some girl's throat at the mall. So, he had to stay within 5 feet of a parent at all times.

"Oh my God, Mike!" Delaeney heard Frankie scream from the kitchen, and Delaeney used the sudden distraction to push Axl onto the ground, laughing when he hit the ground with a thud. The sound of Frankie's harsh, rough footsteps caught Delaeney's attention and she looked up, "It's 2009."

Delaeney watched as Mike jumped out of his chair and rushed over to Frankie, taking the bills from her hand and shuffling through them. Panic was evident in both adults' eyes and Delaeney raised her eyebrow.

"What?" Mike asked, his brows furrowing in confusion, "Already?"

"Yeah, Mike. How did this happen?" Frankie said, throwing her arms in the air as Mike continued to shuffle through the payments and loans that were presented to him.

"Um, no payments till 2009?" Delaeney guessed and pulled the blanket to her chin as Axl climbed back on the couch, roughly shoving Delaeney aside to make room for him. She ignored his harsh movement as her mind reeled through all the times Mike and Frankie returned items and saying 'no payments till 2009'.

Frankie huffed, 'Great. Now with our interest, we owe six-hundred and fifty dollars on a VCR we sold at the garage sale last year for two bucks."

Delaeney watched in confusion—and a bit of horror—as Frankie's entire aura shifted from panic to complete calmness. She didn't understand how Frankie could so easily calm herself in time of panic. If it were her, Delaeney would be freaking out and wondering how she would be able to pay for everything.

"Mom… you good?" She asked, shoving Axl's legs off her lap and onto the floor. There was no way that she was going to let him put his nasty-ass feet on her lap.

"Yeah, these things have a way of working themselves out. As long as the dryer hangs on and I sell a car this month, we're gonna be fine."

At Axl' scoff at his mother's words, Delaeney dug her elbow into his side, effectively shutting him out. She nodded understandingly, and a bit confusedly, before focusing her attention back on the TV and relaxing into the couch.

Now, the humming and clanging of the dryer was normal, but it was when the clanging got faster did Delaeney look towards the laundry room. The dryer had never been this loud, nor had it been this obnoxious. It was to the point where she could barely hear the TV and Axl's snide remarks. Shifting up, which the rest of the family coping her actions, she leaned forward and tried to get a closer look.

Unbeknownst to her, Axl had wrapped his arms around her small form and angled her body so that he would be able to block anything that would fly their direction. Delaeney watched with wide eyes as the dryer tipped over, her body shrinking into Axl, as a loud crash reverberated around the room.

Fortunately, out here, you always have neighbors you can count on.

"Hi!" Delaeney flashed the young woman—whom Delaeney guessed was in her early twenties—a charming smile and shifted the laundry basket on her hip higher up, "My name is Delaeney Emerson-Gale. My dryer broke and my parents aren't home, so I was wondering if I could use yours?"

"Of course!" The woman smiled before moving out of the door way, "It's down the hall, towards the left."

"Thank you so much!" Delaeney said and carefully followed the women's directions towards where the laundry room was. With a sigh, she popped open the dryer and began shoving her and Sue's clothes in.

So the busted dryer piled on to the whole 2009 thing meant that we were gonna have to cut corners fast. First up, a trip to the Frugal Hoosier, Indiana's number one expired food store.

~8~

"So are we, like, poor now?" Axl asked Frankie as Sue, Brick, Delaeney, and him trailed after her, watching as she chucked in cans of food. His hand loosely clung to Delaeney's and Delaeney winced at the sweatiness of his palm, her hand a pale contrast to his warm one.

"No, we're not poor," Frankie said, dropping another can into the cart before stopping in front of the frozen food section, "We're just thrifty. We're trying something new called 'living within our means'."

Delaeney's eyes widened at Frankie's words, "You mean, we've been living outside our means? Oh, God."

"You should be thanking me," Frankie stated, turning and pointing at Delaeney, momentarily distracted from the rows of unlabeled cans, "Listen, smart consumers—they're the kids who are popular."

"Oh," Delaeney nodded, understandingly, "So, like, my parents."

Frankie nodded in response, her heart practically melting as Axl wrapped his arms around Delaeney's shoulders and pulled her close to his chest. There was no doubt in her mind that Axl and Delaeney were going to end up married. Heck, she had practically been a Heck since the moment her parents realized their inability to take care of her.

Shaking her head, Frankie picked up one of the cans and handed it to Brick before giving one to Sue and Delaeney. She didn't bother giving one to Axl for she knew that he was bound to throw it at someone, or something.

"Brick, shake some of those unmarked cans and see if you can find peas," Frankie commanded before turning to face the open isle of the store, "Okay? We're listening for peas, people."

Shaking the can vigorously, Delaeney strained her ears as she tried to listen to the soft rattle that peas let off. She was aware of how stupid she looked, but Brick had spent a majority of his childhood shaking cans that Frankie and Mike gave him instead of rattles. Over time, the sound of peas and corn became quite distinct… and the fact that he had a habit of throwing them at her, Axl, and Sue.

The sudden ring from Frankie's phone spooked Delaeney and she jumped, watching in horror as the can fell out of her grasp and smashed to the floor. Frankie hurriedly waved for her to put it back on the shelf and grab a new one—which she did—as she elbowed Axl harshly in the side, effectively stopping his snickers.

After shaking the can for a few seconds, Delaeney tossed it into the cart. Looking up, she caught the odd look Sue was sending her way, and responded with a raised brow. Sue immediately looked the other way and Delaeney shook off the nagging voice in the back of her head.

"Okay, kids, new plan." Frankie said, catching Delaeney's attention, as she hung up, "Gotta go to work early."

"What?" Sue complained as she crossed her arms and looked at Frankie, hurt and disappointed, "But what about the pool? You promised you'd watch me practice for swim tryouts."

"Any you said that you would take me to the library," Brick added, nodding in agreement with Sue, "The Wheel of Nuldiod—I have to get it before anyone else gets it. You promised

Promised.

"Okay," I know I didn't promise that many things. I'm not that nice," Frankie sighed, internally wincing at the crushed looks that covered Brick and Sue's face. Looking at Delaney, the teen shrugged. She had promised Sue and Brick those things and it wasn't their fault that they didn't forget.

Heck's never seemed to forget a promise.

~8~

"I love this book."

"I love this book."

"I love this book." Brick chanted under his breath, clutching the book tightly to his chest and staring determinedly at the library check out.

"I hate my life."

"I hate my life."

"I ha—"Axl chanted, his eyes trailing Delaeney as she paced through a row of books.

"You got 5 feet, mister. Use all of it." Frankie pointed out and Axl shot back like a rocket.

Delaeney's green eyes flickered to where Frankie seemed to be arguing with the attendant. She finally had the book she need and now all she had to do is check it out without anyone asking questions. She knew that Axl was watching. She also knew that if he hadn't been punished, he would be standing right next to her and there would be no way for her to get this book. Taking her time, she waited for Axl to turn to make a snide remark, and quickly shoved the book up her jacket front. She'd have to be careful; she couldn't let anyone see.

Laynee watched Frankie lead Brick and Sue out the door muttering something to Brick along the lines of 'More TV is good for you'. Laynee also noticed that Axl was hanging back and waiting for her.

"I'll be right there." She reassured him and he narrowed his eyes.

"Hurry up."

Once making sure that he could no longer see her, she ducked into the front of the line and check-out her book before shoving it up into her jacket again. She turned and ran straight out the door with one hand on her stomach holding the book in place. She finally caught Frankie's car from the corner of her eye and go in.

"Where'd you go, doll." Frankie asked they drove away.

"Oh, you know, just looking around."

~8~

The heat from the sun had made the chair extremely uncomfortable to sit on. Her skin stuck to the warm plastic and she groaned in disgust at the amount of sweat that was beginning to coat her forehead. Her back was the worst, though. The bikini top she was wearing had an open back and she winced as she sat up, feeling her skin slowly peeling off the chair.

"I'm getting a drink. Anyone else want one?" Delaeney asked, standing up and staring down at her three male companions. Brick started numbly at the pool while Axl groaned in response, Mike shooing her away and she rolled her eyes at them.

Take Axl away from the AC, he pretends to die. Take a book away from Brick, he acts as though his life has no meaning. Make Mike do something he doesn't want to do; he sits there emotionlessly.

Delaeney shook her head before smiling at the man at the concession stand. He was cute, Delaeney wasn't going to deny that. With a charming smile and bright blue eyes, there was no doubt in her mind that he was popular with the ladies.

"Hi, what can I get you?" The guy—Charlie—said, leaning lazily against the counter, and Delaeney couldn't stop the smile from crossing her face.

"One water, please." Delaeney said, flashing Charlie a cute smile. A smile that normally got her a phone number.

"For such a beautiful girl, of course." Charlie flirted back before turning around and grabbing one of the waters from the cooler next to him. Delaeney flashed him another smile as she graciously took the water, letting their fingers brush, and handed him the money.

"Thanks," Delaeney said, turning and heading back towards the chairs. Moving the water bottle to her other hand, she smirked to herself. Charlie was sly, she'd admit that. For a moment, she thought that he wasn't going to buy the smile.

But she should've known better than to doubt herself.

She could feel Axl's glare and smiled smugly at him. He could snog as many girls as he liked, but he knew that she always got more phone numbers than he did. Merely inches away from her chair, Delaeney gasped as she tripped over a leg… a leg that hadn't been there moments before.

Sputtering, Delaeney swam up to the surface of the pool and glared at Axl, chucking her water bottle at him and feeling a bit of satisfaction when it hit his arm.

"You jerk! Why'd you do that?" Delaeney fumed as she pulled herself out of the pool and twisted the water out of her hair.

Shrugging at her, Axl turned his attention back towards the pool but Delaeney could see the hint of a smirk on his face. Grabbing her water bottle, Delaeney unscrewed the cap and smirked as Axl jumped as the water splashed down his back.

Two could play this game.

Confidently sipping what was left of her water, Delaeney placed it down and smiled at Axl.

"Wasn't that just so refreshing?"

~8~

Once again, Delaeney sat at the poolside and watched as Sue swam out of the swimmers lane and into the children one, crashing into Brick and Delaeney winced as Brick dropped the library book into the pool. Seconds later, the tornado alarm sounded and Delaeney rolled her eyes. Of course this would happen.

Turning to her side, Delaeney grimaced as she came face to face with Axl making out with a girl. Delaeney tilted her head, she was pretty sure that he was kissing Cathleen. A girl that was in her chemistry class and his English class.

"Get a room please," Delaeney teased pretending to throw up in her mouth, although she didn't understand why her stomach was churning as much as it was. It wasn't like this was the first time Axl made out in front of her.

Axl pulled away from Cathleen for a moment, just to glare at her and Delaeney rolled her eyes before walking towards Frankie and Mike. There was no way in hell that she was going to continue to stand next to him if he was just going to make out with a girl

~8~

The family huddled inside the storm shelter as the tornado raged on and Delaeney sat as far from Axl as she could. She was annoyed with Axl's early actions. He knew that it made her uncomfortable when people made out in front of her,and that she thought it was extremely rude. She ignored him when he glanced at her, staring at the ground and counting the cracks in the concrete.

"Mom, are we gonna be okay?" Sue asked looking at Frankie, fear filling her eyes.

"I don't know. I don't know if we are gonna be okay, Sue. I really don't. Frankly, I have no evidence that we will be." Frankie sighed, her shoulders slumping as she stared at her family, unsure of what to say to them.

"That's not what you're supposed to say." Delaeney voiced, her heart beating anxiously in her chest at Frankie's words. Frankie always made sure that everything was okay, she couldn't give up on them now.

"Oh, I know. I know. I'm supposed to pick you all up and tell you everything's gonna be fine. But you know what? I don't know anymore! You want to know the truth? Your dad's big on truth," Frankie started, "Basically, our lives suck right now. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. We can't afford a new dryer. We can't afford unexpired food. I can't even afford the LCD light-up angel I ordered on the TV to surprise you all at Christmas."

Delaeney furrowed her brows in concern as she watched Frankie slowly unravel herself. All of Frankie's fears and insecurities were finally coming into the light and Delaeney felt horrible. All this time, she had been relying on Frankie to make it better when Frankie had no one to tell her that it was going to be okay.

"Mom," Delaeney cut her off, smiling softly at Frankie, "Everything will be fine."

"Yeah, Frankie. We'll get through."

Who knew I was living with my own personal cheerleader? Mike and Laynee were right. We would get through, same as always.

~8~

They all walked onto the front lawn as Frankie talked about how 'if they all had each other than everything would be fine'.

"Cause there's nothing more important than—Holy crap! Is that a dryer? You see it too, right Mike? The tornado gave us a dryer," Frankie praised as they spotted a brand new dryer on their lawn, looking unharmed.

"Quick. Get it inside before anybody sees. Oh, my!"

Our luck started to turn around after that. Some stupid bank actually approved us for a brand-new Credit Cars, so we paid off Brick's library fines. We were actually able to afford contacts for Sue, and she actually made the swim team—well, 34thalternate. Also, Laynee's parent's finally sent the check and I nearly had a heart attack when I saw it—$900,000!

And the best part of the new Credit Card? No payments till 2012. And I'm sure by 2012, everything's gonna be great! Okay. See, this is why you never give up hope—because anything is possible. I mean, you never know what's gonna happen. You just gotta hang in there and believe and—

"Hot damn! There's even clothes in there!"