Sighing as she collapsed on her bed, Kate Lawson closed her eyes and thought about her mother and the move she'd forced on her. They had been living a perfectly happy life in California, and then one day her mother had met John Hayes and two months later they were walking down the aisle. Now she'd forced Kate to move to Florida and live with her new stepdad and stepsister and three stepbrothers. Brendyn, her seventeen year old stepbrother, was fairly nice, though he wasn’t very talkative and though he was nice enough, didn't talk to her if he didn't have to. Breeyanna, her stepsister, was sixteen, the same as her, and a totally popular snob, the kind of person Kate despised. Brandyn and Braydyn were a year younger, and Kate got along with them much better, though she was still a little mad at them for allowing their father to propose. Right now, she was taking a breather from her new family and the move. She'd just finished up her school year last week, and had been forced to pack and prepare her things for her flight over here. She'd been living with her best friend Hayden back in California while the school year finished up, and her mom had enrolled her in a school that went year-round, which meant that instead of going to school for nine months and getting a three month break, there were four different tracks and after one went for three months they'd get a one month break and when they went back another track went off and so on. It just so happened that on Monday, red track-the track Kate and her new stepsiblings were on-were going back to school, so Kate got absolutely no break. Such joy. After nine months of school, she got to go for three more before she got a break. Grabbing her signed Babe Ruth baseball her paternal grandfather had given her when she'd turned nine and had hit her first home run, she threw it up in the air the caught it, repeating the process over and over.

The door opened, and Kate caught the ball then turned her head toward the door, where Brandyn stood. He had golden blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, and was very tall, maybe six feet, exactly like his father and older and identical twin brother. Kate knew which was which, mostly because Kate had a knack for remembering names and faces.

     "Hey Brandyn, what's up?" She asked, sitting up and placing her baseball back in the holder she kept it in. A Babe Ruth ball was something to treasure and preserve and keep safe with your life.

     "Dad says it's time for dinner," he said with a sigh. He was eyeing her baseball with longing, and she smiled to herself. She knew how envious her three stepbrothers were of her piece of the past, but she would never let them touch it.

     "I'm not really hungry. Just tired. Can I just skip tonight?" She asked.

     "But Kate, California’s three hours ahead of Florida and it’s only eight. You should be wide awake." Brandyn, the logic.

     "Oh yeah. Guess they wouldn't fall for that one," Kate said with a wry grin. "Oh well. Let's go, then. Although I don't think they'd remember the time difference being backwards between all their wedded bliss," she said, causing both of them to start laughing as they headed downstairs.

They shoved each other all the way down the stairs, and Brandyn got down before her, so she jumped the rest of the way and tackled him head on, knocking to him to the floor with a yell. They wrestled around, and Breeyanna came flying into the room, her boyfriend-the head quarterback Chris Dawson-behind her.

     "Brandyn! Kate! What are you doing?! We have company!" She shrieked, nearly busting both of their eardrums.

     "I hate to break it to you, Bree, but the guy that's only with you because you're easy doesn't constitute as company," Kate said, sitting on top on Brandyn, her arm across Brandyn's neck, not tight enough to choke him, but enough to make it look like she was and make it impossible for him to get up.

     "First of all, do not call me Bree, and second of all, Chris is not with me because of that. We happen to love each other," she said, her hands on her hips.

Watching in high amusement as Chris nearly ran out of the house and Breeyanna followed, continually asking what was wrong. Kate and Brandyn broke into fits of laughter, and soon they were both gasping for breath, eager for air. Brendyn and Braydyn came into the room now, trying to figure out why their brother and stepsister were laughing like mental patients. Kate tried explaining but soon gave up and gave the responsibility to Brandyn, but he just laughed harder, and soon all four of them were laughing, and when Breeyanna walked back into the house, looking ready to murder them, she and the guys all ran for the bathroom. Because of her short five foot five height, Kate made it first, always having enjoyed running. She took her time, and when she reemerged, all three brothers raced into the bathroom. Kate didn't want to think about how that would work out, so she just went into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Her mother was sitting at one end of the table and John at the other, both gazing adoringly at the other. Mounds of food were sitting between them, and Kate was glad, because despite her stick thin frame, she ate like a guy. She was told she also dressed and walked like a guy. Just because she liked to wear basketball shorts with a loose top she had found in the men's section with her hair pulled back in a ponytail didn't mean that she dressed like a guy. It just meant she liked being comfortable. And sure, she slouched when she walked, but it was comfortable, and she didn't like standing up straight for everyone to see. She liked going around unnoticed. Brendyn, Brandyn, and Braydyn-how unbelievably confusing!!-came back into the room and sat down, staring at the food longingly. Brendyn reached for a piece of bread, but his father slapped his hand away and told him to wait until Breeyanna got to the table.

     "She's sitting in my seat," she spat out five minutes later when she finally came into the kitchen, her icy gaze immediately finding Kate's.

     "Now honey, I know you've always sat there, but Kate's made a lot of sacrifices for all of us, and the least we could do is let her sit wherever she wants at the dinner table," John responded calmly, defending his stepdaughter against his blood daughter. Ooh, maybe living here wasn't going to be so bad after all.

     "But dad!! How can you defend her! Not only has she stolen my seat, but she and Brandyn just broke Chris and me up! Are you going to let her get away with that?!" Everyone was staring at Breeyanna with raised eyebrows. It was easy tot ell that everyone had heard what she'd said, and it wasn't Kate's fault.

     "Breeyanna, don't go blaming Kate for your breakup. If anyone is to blame, it's Chris for not realizing what a great thing he had. He was an idiot to let you break up with him, and all you can do is move on," Kate's mother, Michelle, said soothingly, using her maternal instincts to calm her new stepdaughter down. It was easy to see how much she wanted all of her new stepchildren to like her, and it seemed they all did. It was just that Breeyanna didn't like Kate. Everyone else did, though.

     "Whatever," Breeyanna grumbled, but she sat down in the chair next to Brendyn. Kate was sitting between Braydyn and Brandyn, a fact she didn't mind since they got along well and joked with each other easily, like guys do with other guys.

Kate didn't exactly enjoy being known as one of the guys, but she just didn't fit in as the popular girl that she knew her mother had always secretly hoped she'd blossomed into. She knew that was never going to happen, but now she had Breeyanna, and that was better than anything she could ask for. Breeyanna was a cheerleader. She had long blonde hair that she took the time to do in the morning. She dressed in skirts and cute jeans that fit her well with a top and shoes that always matched perfectly. She had millions of boyfriends and had guys waiting for their chance to date her. Kate had stick straight, mousey brown hair that hung relentlessly, no matter what she tried to do with it. She was on the football team, and had a tryout for her new school's tomorrow. Kate took no time in the morning besides to shower and throw on some basketball shorts and a top, rarely matching. Kate wore either skater shoes or Converse everyday. She had never had a boyfriend and was lucky if she had one guy that was crazy enough to want to date her, which happened as often as Kate cleaned her room. Which was never. So even though Kate's mother loved her to death, she was obviously thrilled about having a daughter to take shopping and but girl clothes for.

After dinner, Kate helped Brendyn with the dishes, and they actually had a decent conversation. They talked about football tryouts tomorrow, and she'd learned that she was the only girl to ever try out, and if she was good enough, she would be the only girl in the history of the school to be on the team. He'd given her pointers on the things to do and the field, and other things like who to hang around and who to watch out for. When they were done with that, Kate headed back up to her room and plugged her ipod into her speakers. Cranking it up as loud as possible without blowing the speakers, she hummed along as she prepared her backpack and made sure she had everything she'd need for her junior year. Even though it was Saturday, she wanted to be prepared and have everything ready so she could have some extra time to sleep in. Changing the song to Savin' Me by Nickelback, she began singing all out. Nickelback was her favorite band, and she knew all of their songs. Looking at her clock, she saw it was nearly eleven, but she wasn't tired at all, still running on California time. Forcing herself to climb into bed, she grabbed the new book she'd set on her nightstand and read while listening to her music, something she did often. It soothed her somehow, and didn't break her concentration.

She heard Brandyn, Braydyn, Brendyn, and Breeyanna climb up the stairs, heading to their rooms. There were five rooms on the second floor, and their parents slept in the downstairs room John had originally converted for her. Kate thought it was sweet that they had given Kate their old room and they had taken the one that was supposed to be hers, but Kate didn’t suspect it was at all out of selflessness. After all, both were still young, in their mid thirties. They were both young when their children had been born. Kate’s father had died when she was two of a fatal car accident, and her mother had only borne her, so she didn’t have any other siblings. John’s wife had died five years ago of leukemia. She was happy that her mother and stepfather had been given a second chance at love, but she was still slightly bitter about the whole thing. Her door was flung open, and Breeyanna stood there, glaring at her through narrow eyes, her gaze scanning over Kate’s room in disapproval. Kate liked her room, though. It was painted green, and there were millions of posters of various athletes scattered all over. Her bookshelf was neatly organized, though, and Breeyanna’s eyes widened when she saw it.

     “Wow. So you like reading?” She asked, temporarily forgetting that she was mad at her new stepsister.

     “Yep,” Kate said simply, not bothering to take her eyes and mind off of her book.

     “Well, then I guess you’ll either be hanging out with the jocks or the nerds on Monday. Can’t say I’m jealous. I just wanted to say that you better be ready for school, because I don’t want people to be making fun of me or giving me any crap about you. I prefer it if people didn’t know we were stepsisters, though I’m sure Brandyn and Braydyn will be talking about you nonstop, so it won’t stay a secret for long. Goodnight,” she said primly before closing the door once more. Sighing, Kate set down her book and lay her head down, closing her eyes and imagining her first day. She couldn’t imagine it though, after she’d been going to the same school with the same people since school started up. Oh well. Only Monday would tell how she would be accepted and where. She only hoped that she was invisible, as she was at her old school, only to be noticed by someone that actually bothered to try and see her. This thought in her head, she fell asleep, nestled deeply in her blankets.