"Hello," I Lied.

Nate

Ashleigh's obvious flirting is starting to annoy me, but I'm grateful for Jack for getting rid of the obnoxious cop. I don't know why the cop looked so..hmm...impressed by Jack, I mean, he's got black spiky hair and piercings. It's not like cops love that type. Unless he's gay. EWWIE, IMAGES!

After Jack gives me his number, I uncap the gas tank and fill it up. When I'm done, I notice that Jack is leaning against my car, staring at me. "What?" I ask.

He shrugs, looking embarrassed. After they leave, I drive home and park the car in the driveway. "Dad? Kyle? Anyone home?" I call out. No one. Hmm, I think to myself. It's not usual for everyone to be missing from the house at once.

I should probably explain. When Kyle and I were 14, our mom was attacked by a gang. Our father had fought them off, but my mom...she died in the hospital after surgery. The police tried to press charges, but the gang found ways to threaten us and even tried to kill our father in our own home.

However, the police couldn't get anyone in prison for more than 5 months at a time, and the murderers let us know, clearly, that they were not going to stop until one or all of us were dead.

So the police moved us to a safer location, but they found us again. This time, Kyle was held under gunpoint outside of school, but he lived. It's still traumatizing, I guess. They had promised to get all of us, to kill us. So now we're here, in a small town south of nowhere. Yeah, it sucks.

The worse thing is, if they somehow find out where we live, they could kill us all like they said. The police have made it clear we're not to release ANY information that could get in the hands of the wrong person.

I'm drifting off to sleep in Kyle's bed when the front door slams shut. Worried that it's Kyle, I get out of his bed and plop down on my own. After a few minutes, I head downstairs and found my dad in the kitchen, leaning his head against the fridge.

"Dad, what's wrong?" He jumps, startled.

"Oh, son, I didn't realize you- Oh, nothing. This job's just..it's really getting me down. Among other issues. But that's not important. Where's Kyle? I want to take you boys out to dinner." I shrug, knowing he meant a business dinner.

"Uhm..I'd call him, but.." We both know that no one in the family owned a cell phone, thanks to keeping money tight, and dad. He's scared that if we talked to one of our old friends from home, the killers could somehow track us down. Paranoid? Yes, but that's how it has to be.

Suddenly, for the second time that day, the front door slams shut. Kyle marches into the kitchen and starts yelling, face red, "I'm sick and fucking tired of this!" We stare at him, not sure what to think.

"Kyle..?" I ask, but he just slams his fist onto the table. "Dad, I want to move out. I want to go to college. Nate and I are both missing out on our futures, and it's not fair!"

Dad sighs, rubbing his temples. "It can be arranged, if that's what you want. I just..it's so dangerous.." He says. I had no problems with college. I never wanted to go. Really, I just want to make it big. Write and sing songs. But of course, until something changes, that can never happen..

"Boys, go get dressed. I want to take you out to dinner, we can talk later." Dad says, looking pained.

Kyle still looks pissed. "Why can't we talk about this now?"

Dad snaps, something he rarely does. "JUST DO IT!" So we both tread up to our room, Kyle looking pissed and stomping, myself, trying to stay out of both their way.

"Gah! I just can't stand it! I mean, how am I ever going to live my life?"

I shrug. "Kyle..it's not as bad as it could be. They..could have found us a long time ago. We could be dead, li-like mom.." I stutter. Calming down, my brother sits down on my bed next to me.

"I know, I'm sorry. And I know that this isn't fair for you either..But maybe..I don't know, maybe someday, your songs can get out there. I mean, they're too amazing not to." He pulls my notebook from under my bed; he knows where I keep all my stuff.

Propping it open, he reads, "Take this pain and shove it away, your face is too much for me to take.." He smiles, closing the book. "Let's go." And we head downstairs.