A/N: Hope everyone in the U.S. had a good 4th! I'm still pretty sick, so here is the next chapter :] and I've already started writing chapter five!

"Allison Stewart, please report to the principle's office. Allison Stewart to the principle's office."

AJ groaned inwardly. The only time she ever got called to the principal's office was when one of her brother's "defended her honor." Couldn't those two ever keep out of trouble? It wasn't even eight thirty yet. She walked as fast as she could down the hallway and as soon as she reached the office, she collided into a hard chest. AJ's books and binders flew out of her hands, her papers scattered throughout the hallway.

"Shoot," AJ dropped to her knees and began to gather her papers.

"I'm sorry, let me help you out with that," a baritone voice said.

"It's fine," AJ said absent mindedly. She gathered up as many papers as she could and she reached for her chemistry book the same time as a big calloused hand. AJ pulled her hand back quickly and looked up at the stranger. She was met with an unfamiliar pair of silver gray eyes. The dark brown haired boy gave her a half smile. "You... shocked me," AJ told him, referring to the static she felt when his hand brushed hers. Could her life be anymore of a cliche?

"Sorry about that. Here's your book," he said, showing his full height to be about six foot three. He was wearing a black form fitting t-shirt, which clung to his well-toned body and showed off his defined bicep muscles. He gave AJ a smirk, his presence oozed with confidence.

"Thanks," she replied smoothly. She noticed that the boy's eyes trailed up and down her body, not so subtly checking her out. Since it was still pretty warm for September, AJ had chosen to wear shorts that day and the boy looked at her toned and tan legs with appreciation. "Like what you see?"

"They sure don't make 'em like you in California," he said as he flashed her two rows of straight and bright white teeth. He must have had a good dentist. "I know a look of hot girls, but baby, you take the cake."

Well, the girls at Rockwall-Heath High School would have a field day with this one. The new boy looked like a walking ad for Calvin Klein. No one new had moved to the tiny town of Fate since Sean Adams in the seventh grade. Sean wasn't much to look at, but this new kid was something else. He was definitely good looking, AJ gave him that much. He had a tall, athletic physique, and AJ guessed him to be a basketball player. A point guard if anything. He probably could give Carter Reed a run for his money in the looks department.

AJ had been thinking about Carter a lot lately since Parker's birthday party over the weekend. Everything from her conversation with Stacy and Kristen to her almost kiss with said boy replayed in her mind over and over again. Hell, she even dreamt about it! AJ had no idea what had been going on with her emotions lately, but she really needed to get them checked soon or she'd lose her mind.

"Oh, Miss Stewart, there you are," the principal, Mr. Everett, poked his head out of the office door.

"Sorry, sir. I, uh, dropped my books."

"Actually, sir. It's my fault. I accidentally knocked her over," mystery boy said.

"I see you've met Mr. Stevens. He just moved here from San Diego. I'd like you to show him around campus."

AJ glanced at the boy next to her. He offered her a cheeky grin. "Sure, sir. It's no problem."

"Excellent. Trey, Allison here is one of our top students. I'm sure you'll have a great time with her," and with that, he shut the office door.

"I'm sure I will too," Trey winked. "What's your first class?"

"Chemistry," AJ began to walk down the hallway.

"What a coincidence. Mine is too," he took two steps and caught up with her. "So, Allison, tell me about yourself."

"What do you wanna know?" AJ gave him a side glance.

"Anything. Likes, dislikes? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?" he raised his eyebrows suggestively at the last one.

"Let's see," AJ began. "I like school. I dislike cocky assholes," she paused to look at him. "And no boyfriend... or girlfriend. What brings you to Fate?"

"My dad's law firm transferred him to Dallas. My mom's from a small town in South Carolina and she doesn't like the city much, so she conned my dad into moving to this place. Has anyone told you it's like Hell here? At least, hot as hell."

AJ laughed. "The heat's definitely something you'll have to get used to. Isn't it hot in San Diego though? That's practically the desert."

"No, baby. This place is like the desert. There's so much dirt and cacti here that I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. At least in San Diego there's a beach. And buildings."

"We have a lake a few miles away. Trust me, a few weeks here, you'll fit right in. You're definitely good looking, I'm sure you can find someone to show you a good time."

"We'll you're a better improvement than any old someone. I'm sure you can show me a good time and help me fit in. If you know what I mean," Trey gave her an infuriating smirk.

What a character! This guy would get along great with Bailey. Hell, he'd even get along well with her brothers and Carter. "I'm off guys for the moment."

"So, you're onto girls? I'm down for that. As long as I can join in," his smirk grew.

"Does this work on other girls?" AJ asked and stopped in front of the classroom.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you," he moved closer to her and backed her into the wall. "But I'm sure I could find a way to charm you, Allison. Just wait and see." Trey opened the classroom door and grinned. "Ladies first."

AJ smiled at him and sauntered into the classroom. "Ms. Cottle, this is Trey Stevens. He's from California."

"Nice to meet you Trey," Ms. Cottle nodded at him as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "You and Miss Stewart here can be lab partners; hers just transferred out of the class."

They both nodded and made their way to their seats. AJ walked past Bailey who whispered, "He is so hot! You're so lucky!"

AJ shook her head at her friend and then made her way to sit next to Trey. She accidentally brushed his shoulder and felt the electricity between them once more. "You shocked me again," she whispered with amusement.

After school, Stacy had asked AJ to help make chocolate chip cookies for the new next door neighbors. AJ couldn't believe that the Johnson house next door had finally been sold. The place had been empty for months and she finally had some new neighbors. She was hoping they would have a daughter so she could have someone to interact with besides Carter and her brothers. Sure, Bailey was over all the time, but she was getting on her nerves about the whole Carter thing. Not that AJ had any kind of "thing" with Carter Reed.

"So, anything interesting happen at school today, darlin'?" Stacy asked as she took out a batch of cookies.

"Yeah, I met a new student. He's in like five of my classes. Everett wants me to show him around and stuff. He's cute I guess, I mean all the girls think so..." AJ started, putting more cookies on the tray.

"Do you think he's cute?"

"You'd have to be blind to not think so. I mean he has these silver gray eyes and a pretty nice body from what I've seen. And he's tall, Stace. You know how much I like the tall ones."

"Sounds like you have a little crush. Think he could be our new neighbor?"

"I don't have a crush on him, I just think he's really good looking-"

"Who's good looking?" Hunter asked as he walked into the kitchen. "Ooh, cookies."

"No one," AJ and Stacy said at the same time. They looked at each other and shared a secret smile. None of the men in the family needed to know who AJ found attractive. "And those cookies aren't for you, they're for our new neighbors. Hands off," AJ swatted her brother's hand away.

"Yeah, man, come on in. I think my mom and step sister are making cookies for your family or something. You're pretty lucky, AJ makes the best cookies," Parker's voice filled the living room.

"Parker who are you-" AJ stopped mid sentence. "You," her green eyes landed on a familiar figure.

"You," a baritone voice replied, silver gray eyes lighting up in surprise.

"You're my new next door neighbor?"

"Looks like it."

"Uh, AJ. Is there something you want to tell us? How do you know Trey?" Parker raised an eyebrow at his step sister.

"We met this morning. He's in all my classes," AJ explained.

"I thought your name was Allison, not AJ."

"Well it is Allison, everyone just calls me AJ. It's a nickname, but you can call me Allison if you want. Most people don't. It's usually just AJ. Or Allie. Uh, you want a cookie?" Way to ramble. He probably thinks you're psycho. "Heh," she said nervously.

"Sure, I'll take one. You have a nice house Mrs. Stewart," Trey smiled and popped a cookie into his mouth.

"Please, call me Stacy. So, tell us about your family, Trey. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Stacy asked, motioning for the four teenagers to sit down at the table.

Trey explained that his father, Max, was transferred to Dallas to run a new law office. The company was doing so well in San Diego that his father's bosses gave him an opportunity to run the branch in Dallas. His mother, Janet, was a homemaker from South Carolina. She had met Trey's father in college and they married after graduating and settled down in San Diego. Trey had a five year old sister, Serena, who had just started kindergarten. Hunter and Parker wanted to know if he played any sports and he told them that back at his old high school he had been on the Varsity basketball team since he was a freshman.

"Man, it must blow to move your senior year," Hunter said, taking another cookie from the plate.

"It does, but I have a feeling I'm going to like it here," Trey shifted his eyes to meet AJ's. She blushed slightly. "Well, I better get going, my mom will start to wonder why I'm not helping her with unpacking," he moved to get up from his seat.

"Trey, you're welcome over anytime. Tell your mama and father to come talk with us when they get the chance. We can all have dinner together sometime this week," Stacy said as she walked Trey to the door.

"Will do. I guess I'll see you guys at school," Trey waved to the three sitting at the table.

"Yeah, man."

"Later, bro."

"See ya," AJ smiled brightly.

As soon as Trey left, Parker and Hunter began grilling her about the new boy. Hunter asked if that's who she thought was good looking and then Parker said something about breaking his nose. AJ wasn't paying attention too much, only half listening to what they were saying.

"... I swear AJ, Trey's cool and all, but I don't think you should get with him he's..." Parker said. What was my chemistry homework again? AJ thought.

Hunter nodded. "I agree with Parker. But I guess if you wanted to get with him, then at least..." Crap, I totally forgot that thing on the Periodic Table was due this week. It's taking me forever to finish.

"And just make sure that you're safe. Because if he knocks you up, I will..." Ugh. I have a Calculus test tomorrow. I'm definitely gonna have to pull an all nighter to study for that one.

"AJ are you even listening to us?!" her brothers asked, annoyed that she had spaced off.

Busted. "Of course I was!" she chuckled nervously. "You two really need to stop with the big bad brother act. It's getting old don't you think? I mean-" AJ's phone beeped. Phew. Saved by the text message tone. It was from Carter. Meet me at the park in 15.

"Well, as much as I love having these brother and sister conversations, I gotta run," AJ got up out of her chair and grabbed her windbreaker out of the closet.

"Where you going? This conversation isn't over Allison Jane!" Parker called after her.

"Meeting Carter at the park!" she called as she shut the front door behind her.

"Boys, y'all need to let her be every once in a while," Stacy scolded.

"But mama-"

"No 'buts' Parker. That goes for you too, Hunter. Cut AJ a little slack. If she wants to date Trey or Carter or any of the other boys in town, the y'all should let her. Now come help me make dinner. You know it's a rare night when James and I get time off from work. We're gonna eat together like a normal family."

"Yes, ma'am," both boys sighed and moved around the kitchen to help with the meal.

The park was only ten minutes away from AJ's house and she made it there in no time. She had been swinging at the for a good ten minutes and it had been getting colder and colder. She swore that if Carter didn't arrive soon, then she would be giving him a piece of her mind. She was freezing her ass of waiting for him to get to the park. Why did they need to meet there anyway? They lived next door to each other. He was being really hot and cold lately. AJ stopped swinging and decided that Carter wasn't going to show up.

"Where you going, baby?' Carter asked her, walking up beside her.

She smiled at him. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry. Had to take care of a few things," he plopped down in the swing next to her and slowly moved back and forth. They sat in a comfortable silence and Carter shifted nervously a couple of times. "So, about the other night..." Carter began.

They didn't really have to have this conversation, did they? It's not like anything happened between them. So they almost kissed. It wasn't that big of a deal. "What about it?" AJ stopped swinging to look at him.

"I said a lot of things I didn't mean. Like that thing McDermott asked about kissing you. I don't know where that came from. You're the closest girl to me. And I know that I treat girls like shit sometimes. I don't do it intentionally, but it happens. And I don't want to hurt you like that because we both know you deserve better than me. God, I was so out of line trying to kiss you that night. You're like a sister to me-"

"Carter," AJ help up a hand to stop him. "I think I'm the only one who can decide if you're good enough to be with. There's nothing going on between us, right? We were drunk. We were just having a little fun. This doesn't change things between us. You're still one of my best friends," AJ could feel her heart tighten. Don't cry, don't cry. "I just..."

"I'm so glad you said that. Because I was so afraid that you would feel weird around me," he ran a hand through his dark hair. "You were all I could think about today," AJ could feel her pulse quicken as he continued. "I was so afraid that you would hate me for what I said to you at Parker's birthday. And then I tried to kiss you. And I... I was worried that we wouldn't be the same." Cater stood up and pulled AJ into a tight hug.

AJ fiercely wrapped her arms around him and held him as tight as she could. His words sounded in her ears. They had stung, but it took everything she had to fight back her tears. She didn't even know why she wanted to cry. She figured that it had something to do with her feelings towards Carter. Did it mean that she liked him? That he possibly meant more to her than any boy ever had? She and Carter shared everything with each other, he knew her like the back of his hand.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" he moved her back slightly to look down at her. She was eerily quiet, which meant that she was either angry or sad. And by the hurt look in her green eyes, he figured it was the latter. What did he say to upset her?

AJ exhaled slowly. "I need to know something."

"Anything, baby."

"Do you," she paused, trying to form words. "I might feel something for you and I need to know if you..." Just say it, AJ. "Do you have any kind of feelings for me?" her eyes searched his, desperately looking for the answer she wanted to hear.

Carter looked away from her and he was silent for a while. AJ could feel her heart crumbling. She didn't need to hear his answer. His silence gave away what he really wanted to say.

"No," he whispered. "I know that's probably not the answer you want to hear, but I was talking to Jenn earlier and we've definitely decided to make the whole long distance thing work for us. AJ, I had a crush on you back when we were kids and you've gotten so close to me that I-"

AJ broke away from his grasp. She didn't want to hear anymore. All she wanted to do was go home. "I understand..." she fought tears.

"Baby, come back. Calm down first before you go home," he pleaded.

"No, no. I... I'm fine, Carter. Really," her voice cracked. "I have some homework to do. I'll just see you tomorrow," she attempted a smile.

"Baby, wait!" she heard him call, which only made her walk even faster than she already was. "What are you doing to me, AJ?" he asked himself and kicked the sand as he made his way home.

AJ ended up running the last few feet to her house. All she wanted to do was crawl in her bed and eat a pint of cookie dough ice cream. How could Carter have this kind of effect on her? It wasn't like they were dating or that they even had anything going on between them. Suck it up, AJ. Or that stupid baby nickname will actually mean you are a baby. AJ opened the door furiously and raced up the stairs. Her family was having dinner, but AJ wasn't very hungry at the moment.

"AJ?" James called after her. "You okay, princess?"

"Yeah, Daddy!" she called down the stairs. "I'm just not in the mood to eat right now!" AJ slammed her door shut and crawled into bed, curling into a ball.

Downstairs, everyone exchanged worried glances. "Boys, why don't you go check on her?" Stacy suggested.

"Sure, mama."

"Of course, Stace."

Taking the stairs two at a time, Hunter and Parker both had an idea about why AJ was so upset. "If he did anything to her I'll..."

"Calm down, Hunter. We don't know for sure," Parker knocked lightly on AJ's door. He pressed his ear to it and could hear her trying to stop her tears. "AJ? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, Parker, I'm fine," was her muffled reply. "Just not feeling too well."

"Dude, she's lying," Hunter whispered and pulled out his cell phone.

"I know. What are you doing?" he asked.

Hunter waited until the dial tone stopped. "Reed, what the fuck did you do to my sister?"