Chapter 1 - What's Up, Suckers

Carson Lake was walking through the snow, sipping her coffee as the wind from the passing cars sent her dirty blonde hair flying forwards, her snow shoes hit the ice covered concrete, sometimes making her nearly lose her balance. She took one last sip from her coffee before throwing it in the nearest trash can without slowing her pace. She turned a corner and opened the door to the local store, light music and the slightest bit of heat hit her as she stepped inside, the smell of mint and candy wrapping around her immediately. She smiled as she shook her head to try and get the snow flakes out of her hair before walking towards the counter.

A woman in her sixties sat on the other side, reading a book. She looked up when she heard the familiar steps she'd been hearing every morning for the past ten years.

"Good morning Mrs. Kane, how are you feeling?" The young girl asked as she took a pack of Skittles and two packs of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, along with a packet of chips.

"Oh, stop asking me that dear. It makes me feel more sick than I already am. It's just the flu, it'll pass soon." The woman answered, waving her hand in dismissal.

"I know, but maybe if you stayed at home and let me take care of things here it would go away sooner."

"Carson, you've already spent more than a month working here instead of doing more serious jobs. I don't want you to stop working for Mr. Barnes to work in this place. He pays well, and you know it. He adores you."

Carson smiled at the mention of the sixty-year-old man who had been taking care of her since she was twelve. Her father, if he could even be called that, had decided that drug dealing was a good thing, that it would get him and his daughter more money, but whenever he offered it to her, she refused it. She started working for Mr. Barnes when she was ten, only doing small works for him like walking his dog or picking up his groceries. When she was thirteen she taught herself how to hunt, and started bringing him some game. She hated the thought of killing innocent animals, but it was all she could do. Her father wasn't a drug dealer at the time, so the money she earned he would take to spend on his own time. She had to start hunting for herself as well as for Mr. Barnes. Mr. Barnes started letting the girl stay over at his house when she turned fourteen since that was when her father got into the drug business.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Carson took a twenty dollar bill out of her phone case, sliding it across the counter.

Mrs. Kane took the money and gave Carson the change. The girl smiled at the woman and thanked her before heading towards the door.

"Why all the food?" Mrs. Kane asked, trying to keep the girl in the store. Mr. Barnes said he had news for her, and would tell her that morning, so him and Mrs. Kane decided he would come to the store that morning and tell her.

Carson gave the woman a weird look. "This is nothing compared to what I usually buy, Mrs. Kane, but to answer your question, Mr. Baker invited me at his place for the weekend. His two sons are visiting and he wants to take them out, so he thought I could, you know, give him a hand."

Mrs. Kane furrowed her eyebrows. Mr. Baker was one of the few people Carson had worked for, and he had become very fond of the girl, though something was off about him. The few times he'd come to the store he would always talk about her, almost as if she were his own daughter.

Carson was just about to walk out of the store when a man wearing a black coat and hat opened the door.

"Carson, darling, I'm so glad you're here," Mr. Barnes said as he closed the door behind him.

Carson smiled, but her face showed an expression of confusion. "Mr. Barnes, what are you doing here?" She asked, walking back towards the counter with the man.

"I was hoping I would find you here. I have news." As he said this, he sent Mrs. Kane a glance, and she took the hint, going to the room on the side of the store and shutting the door behind her.

Carson watched the woman go, then turned back to the man. "What's going on?"

Mr. Barnes took a deep breath, hoping the girl would accept what he was about to offer. "Carson, you've been working for me for a long time now, you're family. I've spent all my life in this little town, and so have you, but with you're father..." He paused, thinking of a better way to say this. "I feel like it's time for the two of us to have a better future, and I already have it planned out."

The girl's heart started beating faster with every word he said. He'd always talked about wanting to leave, but...

"Carson, dear, I'm moving to England in a month. And I want you to come with me."

Carson was silent, a million thoughts rushing through her head. But only one of them stuck out. She would be free. She would finally be free from this town and her father and she could start a new life.

"Yes," she finally said.

Mr. Barnes looked at her, shock obvious in his eyes. He hadn't expected her to agree so quickly.

"Where exactly in England?" The girl asked, excitement bubbling up inside her.

Mr. Barnes smiled and shook his head. "I still need to decide that, but I was hoping you would choose. Perhaps tell me when you come back from your trip with Mr. Baker and his kids. Just don't decide to not come with me because of one of the boys." He winked at the last part, exiting the store without another word, leaving Carson by the counter in pure shock, which she quickly recovered from with a few screams of joy.

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Bradley Baker was standing in front of his father's door, his brother, his mom, and Ted all standing with him. His mother knocked, and in less than a second the door opened, revealing Elliot Baker.

"Hi," Elliot said, stepping out of the way to let them into the house.

"Good morning," Karen answered, walking inside.

"Come on," Elliot said to his sons as they walked inside, following their mother.

"What did you do to yourself?" Karen asked, noticing the cast on her ex husband's hand.

"This? This is nothing. Guy back in September, he got tangled up in the bailer, took his whole arm off." Elliot answered as if it were no big deal.

"Cool," the youngest of the Baker brothers, Caleb, commented.

"No it's not," Karen said, glaring at her son.

"The cast comes off next week, it'll be as good as new," Elliot said, trying to ease the tension.

He offered his son his hand and he shook it, squeezing it.

"Oh, hey, you trying to break the other one?" Elliot asked, laughing.

"Uh, Ted says a firm handshake shows strong character," Caleb answered shyly.

"Oh, so that's been my problem all this time?" Elliot said, trying to come off as if he were kidding, but there was a hint of annoyance in his voice. he gripped his son's hand harder and started messing around with him.

Bradley stopped paying attention, looking around the house. That was, until his mother spoke up.

"Love what you've done with the place," Karen said, walking back into the room.

Elliot looked at her for a minute before answering. "Yeah, feng shui and motifs over there and everything."

"Maybe you should be a decorator. You have some spare time now," Karen answered in her passive aggressive tone.

"You know, Elliot, if you're interested, I could talk to my guys down at the warehouse, see if they could use a hand," Ted said, speaking up for the first time.

Bradley zoned out a bit again, just staring out the window. That was, until the front door burst open.

"WHAT'S UP SUCKERS?! Did somebody order a Carson Lake with their Skittles? 'Cause here I am!"

Everyone turned towards the doorway. A girl was already walking around the house, heading towards the kitchen where she dropped her bag on the table. She walked back into the living room, leaning against the wall near Elliot.

Bradley took a second to examine her. She had long dirty blonde hair that fell down her back. She must have been a little shorter than him, but she seemed around his age. He caught her gaze and noticed her eyes glimmering. Literally. They were some kind of color he couldn't quite place, almost like they were golden. They were beautiful to look at, but she shifted her gaze away from his in a matter of seconds, and he did the same.

Elliot finally spoke up, answering the question everyone in the room was silently wondering. "Everyone, this is Carson Lake. She's been working with me for a few months and I thought it would be nice if she came with us." He turned towards Karen, his look wavering a bit. "That's ok, right?"

Karen looked from Elliot to Caleb to Bradley and, finally, towards the girl. She tried to suppress a sigh of relief. She didn't want her sons to be alone with her ex husband, and something in the golden eyes of the girl told her she could be trusted, so she nodded her head, agreeing to the idea. "Alright, come say goodbye."

Caleb hugged his mother and they exchanged 'I love you's before she and the man she was with started to leave. Carson felt a pang of jealousy and nostalgia when she saw the boys's mom looking at her. Sure, she'd left when she was six, but her mother was her world when she was a kid...

Carson looked over at the older boy, following his gaze until she saw Elliot talking to the woman that Carson figured was his ex wife. The girl shook her head and looked away from the scene as Elliot closed the door, making it slam.

"All right," the man said, "now the party can start."

"This place is a lot smaller than your last place," the younger boy said, falling on the couch.

Elliot shook his head, then looked at me. "Boys, this is Carson, Carson this is Caleb," he pointed to the boy on the couch, "and Bradley. He's about your age... how old did you say you were again?"

Carson rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm fifteen, Elliot, just like I was two days ago when you last asked."

The two looked at each other for a second before Elliot mumbled something under his breath.

"So uh, where are we gonna sleep?" Bradley asked.

Carson's ears perked up at this, because she had no idea either.

"I figured you guys could just take my bed and I'll crash on the couch," Elliot answered.

Carson looked between the younger boys. "So you want me to sleep with them?" The blonde let out a dry laugh. "I'm gonna take the floor."

"Yeah, and he snores," Caleb whined, pointing at his brother.

"At least I don't wet the bed," Bradley shot back.

"That was like, three years ago," Caleb defended, sounding hurt.

Carson let out a snort, getting the boys's attention. "Yeah, well, I get night terrors, so..."

Elliot looked at her before letting out a laugh. "You're gonna figure it out. What do you want to do today?"

"Anything, just not bowling again," Bradley said immediately.

Caleb looked at Carson. "He just doesn't want to go because he sucks."

"Shut up Caleb," Bradley said.

"I always beat him," the younger boy said in a lower voice, pretending the others couldn't hear except for Carson. He then turned towards his dad, and without missing a beat he said "Do you have pancakes?"

Carson started laughing while Bradley let out an annoyed sigh. "We just ate."

"Yeah, but he's a growing boy, he needs to eat all the time. Go get your stuff put away and I'll see if I can get you some pancakes, alright?" Elliot said turning towards the kitchen. "Oh, and Bradley?" He added. The boy turned towards him. Elliot pointed at the blonde girl that had already walked into the bed room. "Careful if you're gonna try anything, ok? She's a feisty one." He then disappeared into the kitchen, leaving a blushing boy to walk into the room. He started putting his stuff in the closet and Caleb began taking his stuff out of his bag. When he couldn't find a place for his shirt, he threw it at his brother.

"Here, put this over there," he said.

Bradley caught the shirt and threw it back with a little more force. "No, keep your crap on your side of the room."

Caleb ducked from the shirt at the last second, muttering an "idiot" under his breath, thinking his brother hadn't heard him.

"Well, don't throw things at me, then," Bradley said, having heard the young boy's comment.

A laugh was heard from the corner of the room. Bradley turned towards it, only to see a figure on the floor.

"You weren't serious when you said you were going to sleep on the floor, right?" Bradley asked the girl.

Carson looked away from her phone, sending the boy a smirk. "What does it look like?"

He shook his head. "I'm not gonna let you sleep on the floor."

"What are you gonna do about it?" Carson asked in a challenging tone, thinking the boy wouldn't even go near her. She stood corrected, because in a total of three seconds, Bradley was picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.

"BRADLEY!" She screamed, but laughter could be heard escaping her mouth. Bradley soon joined in with the laughter, spinning around, making the girl scream again.

"Guys," Caleb said from the edge of the bed, but the two didn't hear.

"Guys!" Caleb tried again, this time a little louder. The two teens stopped their laughter. Bradley put Carson down and the two of them neared the place where Caleb was sitting down. Both their eyes widened when they saw what Caleb was holding.

"Holy..." Bradley muttered.

Caleb was holding a gun.

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OK SO GUYS JUST SO YOU KNOW.

Working with fanfics in movies that last like two days is pretty hard, especially if you don't want the characters to already know each other and then end up together, so yeah, we all know what's gonna happen, but I'm warning you, there will be some fluffy parts and you'll think 'wait, this happened in a day?' well yes, it did, because that's what you have to do if you want to develop the characters's relationships. That said, it's not like they're gonna end up together on chapter three. It's not moving that fast.

Thanks for the attention byeeeee