DGG: Hello! Welcome, and thanks for stopping by! This is my first Rocket Power story. This idea randomly hit me one day, and BAM! Here I am after a year or two of working on this story. It's all written out, but it still needs a few edits here and there. I try to update weekly on all my stories. We'll see just how well I can time manage though throughout the week, but I do try my best to get the chapters up as consistently as I can.

And...I don't know. Unlike what the head shots I have for the cover of this story would suggest, they are all adults. I'm sure the summary probably gave that away, and so will this prologue, but hey. I can't draw or else I may have attempted drawing them to look older. And I've drawn a couple of my story covers. Just look at them. It's sad...

But anyway, thanks for dropping by. Feel free to review. I like reviews! I like to have random conversations with my reviewers if I can! And I hope you all enjoy!

WARNING: This is rated M due to implied situations (or more-than-implied situations. Whatever); however, also due to strong language that will be in later chapters.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rocket Power. I do not own the characters. I'm simply a fan writing a story for fun. I am simply borrowing the characters for my little weirdo story.

Enjoy!

Many things had happened over the years in the town of Ocean Shores. The Shore Shack was still up and running, owned and operated by Ray Rocket with the help of his wife and his best friend. Even though he was now in his early fifties, his hair – at least what was left of it – was still blonde, and the old surfer still wore a hat in order to hide his balding scalp. Ray's stout, Hawaiian friend, Tito, was still the head chef. He was still a rotund man, perhaps even a little more so now; however, unlike his friend whose hair still had most of its original color, Tito's was now mostly grey with a few wisps of brown here and there. Noelani, Ray's wife and Tito's cousin, helped keep things in check during business hours. She enjoyed doing a little bit of anything. Sometimes she would help Tito prepare the food, occasionally she would take the orders, and she would deliver orders to the customers when the Shack was busy. She wasn't quite as slender as she used to be; however, she wasn't overweight either. She still kept her hair down most of the time; however, it was slightly shorter now. It was still brown, but only due to the magic of getting it colored.

Ocean Shores still had a beautiful beach which still attracted a lot of tourism each year, the streets around the pier were still crowded with people, the skate parks were still flourishing, and most of the locals were still around. Not too much had changed during the years except for the kids who had grown up there. Namely the four friends known as Otto, Reggie, Twister, and Sam.

Otto Rocket, son of Raymundo, was now nearly twenty-three and was still heavily invested in sports. In fact, he was well on his way to being in the professional circuit like he'd always dreamed. The main reason he wasn't a professional yet was his father, and the two Rocket males had had many heated arguments about the subject over the years. Ray wanted his son to go to college, whereas Otto felt it was just a waste of time. The athlete was ready to embrace the freedom that graduating high school would bring since his father already made him stick to high school, which he also felt was a waste of time. Why study when he could be out practicing and getting noticed by sponsors? But Ray had wanted his son to go to school and get a degree in something, that way he had something to fall back on if his professional career didn't take off. His father's logic, of course, caused even more arguments as the younger male couldn't see how is career couldn't take off! Otto eventually conceded an attended the local community college for a little while; however, he was still far more interested in sports to truly care about his studies and flunked out. His father was more than angry over the matter; however, Otto couldn't have been happier. And now that he was finally free from the shackles of education, he could finally fully devote his time to getting noticed. He was mainly known locally in his hometown; however, he traveled to other parts of California as well to compete in sports competitions – whether it be for surfing, skateboarding, biking, anything – and he was steadily gaining more national attention for his sports expertise.

Sam "the Squid" Dullard hadn't changed too terribly much through the years. His hair was longer, coming to a stop at his shoulders, something his mother absolutely hated. Sam was a good kid, but his long hair was like his little act of rebellion against her over-protectiveness – she was afraid that his long hair would attract the wrong crowd and he would turn into a hoodlum. She hated it so much that he even woke up one night to find her about to cut his hair! He lost most of his baby fat, but he was still a little pudgy around the edges. Being active with his friends helped give him some exercise, but he still loved his junk food. His skills in sports improved; however, he was still nowhere near anyone like Otto's league, but he was still just content with that. Sports were just a hobby for him. What he really loved was computers. He could tinker with them all day and was lucky enough to find steady employment working with computers. He was a freelance programmer and was making a comfortable living using his computer skills for a vast amount of jobs. He could do anything from fix computer bugs to designing codes for high-tech security systems. He even helped program a few video games from time to time. His skills certainly ran the gamut for what he was capable of accomplishing.

Twister Rodriguez still loved sports and still participated in a few local tournaments; however, he had turned mainly to filming. He first gained notoriety upon filming and editing footage of his best friend, Otto, for sports competitions, and had even created a few little sports documentaries. Though he was only twenty-two (twenty-three in a few months), people from all over sought him out to film their publicity stunts, sporting techniques, and promotional campaigns, as well as many other projects. He'd even been asked to film and edit a few commercials for various products. In fact, Twister had grown so famous for his filming that he was able to open his own studio, which he aptly named Twist-Rod Studios located just outside of his hometown. It wasn't terribly big, but it did have a small sports arena out back especially used for filming stunts, promotional footage, and commercials. Twister had certainly come a long way from the young amateur he used to be. But one thing was for certain: you could still spot him by his signature hat.

Reggie Rocket, Otto's older sister of a year, was still around in Ocean Shores as well. She, too, was still big into sports, and had even competed in a few competitions against her brother; however, her main focus now was her writing. She had never anticipated staying with her magazine for so long, but The Zine had evolved over the years into a major magazine sold in stores across the state, and was well on its way to being sold nationwide. Her magazine covered a range of topics and issues, whether it be sports – though it was mostly sports – or relationships, trends, anything. Being related to and knowing two semi-famous people, she was always granted the chance of getting interviews with Otto and Twister for her readers, so they knew what the two were up to as of late, and she often plugged for them as well. Even Sam was granted space in her magazine. He actually had his own column in it where he would speak about the latest computer trends as well as answering questions from fan mail. Sam was also still Reggie's chief editor when it came to The Zine, and he was happy to do it despite his busy schedule with his own jobs.

Yes, the gang had come a long way from being the goofy group of kids they used to be years ago. However, despite how much their lives had changed, the four still managed to stay the closest of friends. But while the four of them still had the closest of bonds, two members of the group were just a bit closer to one another.

Reggie and Twister had been secretly dating one another for nearly seven years.

It had been an accident. Twister had come over to hang out with Otto; however, the aspiring athlete had been helping his dad at the Shore Shack, and the two weren't due back yet. So Twister hung out with Reggie while they waited for Otto to return. The two teens hung out on the couch in the living room just talking with one another, and laughing, and having a good time, like always. Eventually the two made a deeper connection with one another, and when the male members of the household finally returned, it had actually saddened both Reggie and Twister that they had no more alone time. Soon after, Twister and Reggie began hanging out a little more frequently in private locations just to talk and hang out. Eventually the two just began dating, though they decided it was best if they didn't tell anyone just yet. After all, the four had all considered themselves family rather than just friends, and Reggie and Twister didn't truly know how everyone would react, especially Otto. So the couple decided they would just keep their relationship a secret until they felt the time was right.

That alone was a difficult task.

The two couldn't truly go anywhere alone and act like a typical couple. If anyone saw them kissing or snuggling, they would be bound to inquire about it to Raymundo at the Shore Shack, which would lead to a confrontation. They couldn't actually go on any dates for fear of people seeing them as well. Their "dates" mainly consisted of the entire group hanging out together. It was the only way they could "be together" without anyone getting suspicious. It may not have been the most romantic of things, but the two were able to sneak a few tiny pecks here and there. Once the four began focusing on their individual careers and moved into their own homes, that was when Reggie and Twister were a little freer to be together. While they still couldn't really go out on dates in public, they took to having romantic evenings in at one of their homes.

Four years into their relationship was when Sam decided to confront them. He'd started noticing something odd about how the two were acting for a few years, and although he didn't quite know what exactly was going on between the two, he had a hunch. When he had accidentally seen them stealing kisses from one another on the beach one night, his suspicions had been confirmed. He confronted the two the next day, who had no choice but to tell him the truth. Sam had actually been quite accepting of the two's relationship, but agreed that he knew Otto wouldn't be so forthcoming. Sam agreed to keep the relationship a secret, but told them they couldn't keep it a secret forever. If they were truly serious, they were going to need to tell their families sometime and sometime soon.

With one person knowing the truth, it took a little pressure off the couple; however, they still just couldn't tell anyone. However, as more time passed, the more their families grew worried, believing their respective children had never found a significant other. Ray tried pushing Reggie into dating a few boys that passed through his restaurant; however, she always declined. Twister, on the other hand, went on fake dates with other girls so as to get his family (and Otto) – mainly Otto – off his back. He never kissed them and never had more than one "date" with each girl, which, with his partial-celebrity status, labeled him as a sort of ladies' man. He hated being thought of that way, but for the sake of keeping his relationship a secret, he had no choice but to accept it.

Yes, everything was going great for the group of friends who grew up in Ocean Shores. However, how great could it stay with secrets that were constantly being threatened of being exposed by the different levels of the limelight that each was exposed to constantly? It was a tough job, but they managed it. Unfortunately, tensions were growing higher because of it, and Reggie was growing steadily unsure of just how long she would be able to hide the truth. Little did she know that this year was going to be a very big year for her and everyone else as well.