I caught Melody up on everything that happened in June. From the pet shelter, to Nicky showing up, all the way to what happened yesterday.

"I leave alone for one month, and look in how much trouble you get into." Melody said.

"It wasn't my fault." I insisted. Melody glared at me. "Some of it." I added. Melody rolled her eyes. Again for a few seconds we didn't say anything, then I asked her how camp was. Then Melody started rambling on about camp. The horses mostly. I leaned back in the seat, this was the Melody I knew.

"Hello? Kyle why are you smiling?" Melody asked.

"Nothing, just glad you're back." I said smiling. She looked at me like I made a joke that she didn't understand. I didn't care, because at this point, I had my best friend back and I wanted nothing else for the rest of the summer.

•••

"Let's eat!" Mrs. Reed said a little while later.

"Oh thank goodness I'm starved." Zach said. "What fast food place are we going to?"

"Olive Garden." Mr. Reed said. 

"Olive Garden?!" All the Reed children shouted. Everyone started shouting, other than me.

"What's wrong with Olive Garden?" I asked Melody. "Sure it's a bit fancy and they don't have a lot of buttery food, but then again. I've never seen a restaurant that had good enough buttery food."

"Last time we went all as a family. It was chaos. Ten kids, at one table. Finding something for everyone? Not a easy job." Melody said. "Pricey too."

"I don't care, we are going like a perfectly normal family." Mrs. Reed told her kids.

"But we aren't normal!" Jack insisted. Mrs. Reed glared at him, Jack stopped complaining. We pulled up into Olive Garden.

"Can't be that bad." I told Melody.

"Famous last words." Melody told me. We both smiled, remembering those were the exact words I told Melody before we watched the Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters movie.

Those really were the famous last words.

•••

"Mommy I want the pasta with the red sauce."

"Daddy I want the Mac&Cheese."

"I want rice!"

"They don't have rice."

"But I want it!"

"I want the long pasta with the white sauce."

"And I want another table." Melody said to me. I laughed. "I'm not kidding it's so loud." I laughed again. "Kyle this isn't funny!" Melody insisted. I looked down the table, at everyone arguing and telling their confused parents that were trying to get everyone's order.

"This isn't funny?" I asked Melody laughing.

"People are looking at us already."
Melody said. She buried her head in her hands. "Already."

"Stop being so dramatic." I told her.

"I'm not being dramatic." Melody said, her head still buried in her arms. "I'm being truthful." She finished.

"Keep telling yourself that." I told her.

"I will, thank you very much." Melody told me. I laughed again. "Stop laughing at me!" Melody said. She hit me on the arm.

"I'm not laughing." I said, biting the inside of my mouth.

"Really? Watch. 1..." Melody started. I bit on the inside of my cheeks harder. "2..." I started smiling again. "3..." Melody finished. I laughed. "Told you so." Melody said proudly. Then she put her head back in her arms. The waitress came around to our end of the table.

"Do you know what you want?" She asked me. "While they're... Figuring out what they want."

"I'll take fettuccine pasta, with no sauce. A few packs of butter on the side." I told her. She looked at me strangely, but wrote it down anyway.

"What do you want Miss?" The waitress asked Melody.

"Fettuccine Alfredo." She mumbled in her arms, not bothering to pick her head up. The waitress looked at me with a confused face on.

"She'll take the fettuccine Alfredo." I told the waitress.

"Salad or soup for you two?" She asked me again, not even glancing at Melody again. I shook Melody's arm.

"What do you want?" I asked her.

"Salad." She mumbled into her arms again.

"Salad for both of us." I told the waitress.

"Alright, will that be all?" She asked me, her expression telling me she didn't want to go ask Mrs. Reed what everyone wanted again.

"Hot chocolate." Melody mumbled.

"She'll take some hot chocolate, in the middle of the summer-" Melody hit my arm. "Hey!" I said to her before continuing. "And I'll take a lemonade." I said, rubbing my arm. The waitress left to the other side of the table. "Hey! That hurt!" I told Melody.

"No it didn't." Melody muttered.

"Yes it did." I insisted.

"Yeah, like a little." Melody mumbled.

"But still." I insisted again. Melody didn't respond. "Hey." I hit her arm playfully. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Melody said. She lied worse than Minho.

"Yeah, I'm not buying it." I told her.

"I'll tell you later, I don't want to talk about it now." Melody said. She took her head from her arms and put a fake smile on.

"You're fake smiles suck almost as mine do." I told her.

"Nah, yours suck a lot more." Melody told me. By the time the food came we were smiling and laughing again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note

Ummmmmmmm hi?????? I didn't reach 1000 words. I'm sorry. Really sorry. Like a lot. But to be honest here, I think that it seems longer than it is, because of all the dialogue.

This is Nicky Gilbert. The step sister that showed up at Kyle and Alice's doorstep. Yes, they wear pretty good looking clothes, but they are divas. Nicky had a back story though. I was thinking on doing a mini short story from her view. What do you think? What happened when Kyle and Alice left.

Please give feedback and please comment and vote. Those things really do make my day, and I know I don't say it enough. But I'm really thankful for all you readers. Even if there aren't a ton.

If you ever want to chat, feel free to PM me.

Word Count: 1009