Chapter 1

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"Ohmygosh Finn, I missed you so much!" I practically squeal as I breathe in the familiar scent of my older brother. Yep, he still uses too much Old Spice. Grinning up at Finn, I push myself away. "You smell gross."

"Thanks, I try." Finn chuckles as he messes up my already-messed-up-from-the-plane hair. "C'mon, let's go, it's a two hour drive to the house, and I have places to be tonight."

"Oh I'm sure." I roll my eyes. "Since when did you have a life?"

Finn raises his eyebrows. "Well, you have been gone a long time, Kieran."

And I had, I realized. It didn't feel that long, but I hadn't been in Jettison for almost three years. There were so many memories in that town, and I hadn't been able to face them until now. You could say I had gained closure, but I would say the only reason I was moving back to Jettison was because my parents had pretty much forced me to. I moved away the summer after 9th grade, two months after my best friend, Kinsey, had died in a car accident. My parents thought I couldn't handle going back to school in Jettison, and I agreed. I started Sophomore year at this preppy girl's school in Texas, and even though I hated almost everyone there, it was better than Jettison. Because Jettison reminded me too much of her.

"Hey Kier, you OK?" I look over at Finn, who's is anxiously glancing at me while still keeping an eye on the road.

"Yeah of course," I force a smile, "why wouldn't I be?" Turning on the radio, I lean my head against the window. I think I'm ready to go home.


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"Creed who?" I glare at my brother, who is refusing to make eye contact with me.

"Umm... Well... It's sort of Creed Matthews." Finn mutters.

"Finn, you can stop the car, because there is no way I am living in the same freaking house as Creed Matthews."

"Kieran..." Finn pleads. "He's not that bad anymore, I promise."

I glare at my brother. "Not that bad?! If he's anything like what he was four years ago, then he's still bad. Finn, Creed made my life a living hell Freshman year, and now you expect me to share a living space with him?! "

"Kier, listen to me," Finn pleads, "He needed a place to stay, OK? I can't tell you everything, but let's just say his home life isn't great, and he needed to crash for a couple of months."

"A couple of months?!"

"Kieran, he's my best friend, and I couldn't not let him stay at our house. Plus, it works out with Mom and Dad being gone."

I shoot my brother a death glare. "Fine. But I'm not going to look at him, or talk to him, and I swear if I even smell hi-"

"Yeah OK, I get it, Kier." Finn laughs, his green eyes sparkling. "You're still just as stubborn as you always were."

And Mom and Dad said this was OK?" I question.

"Yeah, they thought you could use two men protecting you in the house." Finn smirks.

I roll my eyes, but I can picture Mom and Dad saying something like that. That was the reason they made come back to Jettison after all. My parents are both doctors who made loads of money each year, and for some reason they decided to move to Africa for a year - trying to cure all the sick people over there or something. Even though I think this is the stupidest thing, they made me move back to Jettison because they "didn't like the idea of there kids being separated while they were gone." Or something dumb like that. But yeah, I'm living in a giant house my parents bought for no apparent reason, with just my brother. And Creed Matthews too, apparently.

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