"Alright kiddos, bed time," I told the recruits. I smiled as they grumbled, recalling when Drake and Jaxon used to do this to Taylor and me. They turned off their movie and Jennifer and Aaron silently put away their pool game with Stacey helping. Drake, Jaxon, and Taylor all moved out of the way as the recruits filed passed where I was standing in the doorway.

Jennifer was the last one out and she paused next to me, waiting until the other recruits were in their rooms. "I've never seen you smile so much. It's nice to see." She didn't give me a chance to say anything as she hurried passed us and into the girls' dorm.

"What did she mean?" Taylor asked, coming to stand by me.

I cleared my throat before saying, "Nothing." A two year old could tell I was lying. In truth, Jennifer had affected me more than I would like to admit. "Anyway, what do we want to do?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know why you even bother asking," Drake joked.

"Good point," I replied, laughing. I walked into the room and plopped onto the couch, kicking my feet up beside me. Drake sat down in the arm chair and pulled Taylor onto his lap, startling her and making me laugh. He smiled and kissed her cheek, making her angry expression turn to one of adoration.

Jaxon passed out our controllers. Then, he scooped my feet up into his arms. "What do you think you are doing?" I asked.

"Sitting down," he said in a duh voice. He sat down on the couch and let my feet fall into his lap.

"And you have to sit down right here?" I asked.

"Where else is there to sit?" he replied.

"How about the arm chair over there?" I asked, pointing to the other arm chair on the other side of the couch. "Or one of the bean bag chairs in front of us?"

"Nah, I can't see the screen as well from there," he said, enjoying the conversation way too much. "Besides, I'm comfortable here." To prove his point, he settled into the seat even more. "You're welcome to move though," he said. The challenge was clear in his voice.

I never could back down from a challenge.

Jaxon smirked, knowing he had me. "So, are we going to play the game now? Or are we just going to sit here?" Drake asked, his voice laced with amusement.

I turned to Drake and said, "Why does it matter? Taylor and I always beat you guys."

Jaxon and Drake scoffed before Jaxon said, "Yeah right! You haven't won a single game yet!"

"Please! We win every time!" Taylor cut in.

"You want to put your money where your mouth is?" Drake asked.

"Oh you are so on!" I replied.

We turned to the television screen as the game turned on. "Good luck boys," Taylor said.

This was going to be fun.

----------

"I accept cash only," I said, a victorious smirk on my face.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jaxon said. Drake and Jaxon pulled out their wallets and handed Taylor and I the money they owed us.

"Pleasure doing business with you boys," Taylor said.

"I declare a rematch on the grounds that you girls cheated!" Drake said.

"Well, have fun with that my darling brother, but we have been playing for three hours straight. It's already midnight!" I said. "I am going to go get me my beauty sleep."

"Please do, can't have that gorgeous face of yours disappearing on us now," Jaxon said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes and stood up, stretching as I did so. "Are you coming?" I asked Taylor.

"Sure," she replied, standing up from my brother's lap. Together, we walked out of the rec room and to the girls' dorm, leaving the boys to fight over the video game.

Taylor stopped me as I went to open the door of the room. "I'm really sorry. I know I should have told you about Drake and me. I also should have kept in better touch with you than barely a phone call a month. Heck, I should have just stayed here with you instead of leaving! I'm a really bad best friend," Taylor said, talking faster as she went on.

I put a hand on Taylor's shoulder, stopping her. "Taylor, stop apologizing! I already told you that I am totally fine with everything! I am so happy for you and Drake, and you called me when you could with your busy schedule. You didn't want this lifestyle, and you shouldn't have stayed just for me because it would have made you miserable!" I paused there and made her look away from her sneakers and at me. "You are the best friend I have ever had and ever will have."

She nodded, a tear escaping her eye from all the emotions running through her. I gave her a reassuring smile and squeezed her shoulder. "Now, are we done with the heart to heart? I am really tired, and I'm actually falling asleep as we're talking," I said jokingly.

"We can't have one serious moment without you cracking a joke, can we Jaycee?" she asked, laughing.

"Serious isn't in my vocabulary," I stated matter-of-factly.

"Of course it isn't," she said. She laughed as she opened up the door and walked in with me following behind her.

----------

"Alright ladies! Rise and shine!" I yelled at the sleeping recruits in front of me. They all groaned, turning over and covering their heads with their pillows. Well, that failed. Time for Plan B.

"You have ten seconds to be on your feet or you will be running laps for ten hours straight," I said instead.

It's amazing what a little motivation will do. All the girls shot out of their beds, rushing to their feet. I smiled and said, "Good. Now that you are all awake, you have twenty minutes to get dressed and grab something from the kitchen for breakfast."

I turned to Taylor, who was standing next to me. "Ready?" I asked, an evil smile taking over my face.

"Oh, I was born ready!" she said, voice full of anticipation.

With that, we walked out of the girls' dorm and through the main room and headed to the door of the boys' dorm. Taylor and I stopped just outside of it, both of us going to stand next to the wall on opposite sides of the door.

I nodded at Taylor, and we pulled our ski masks down to cover our faces, completing our outfits. We hefted our water guns before Taylor threw open the door and I ran through, Taylor following closely behind.

We rushed into the room, startling the boys awake. As quickly as we could, Taylor and I "took out" our victims one by one, spraying them with colored vinegar. Once all the boys were soaked in pink vinegar, especially Drake and Jaxon, Taylor and I turned tail and ran.

Taylor took point while I followed, covering our retreat by shooting the boys as they chased after us. We barreled into the girls' dorm, the boys hot on our tails. I threw the door closed and locked it just as Jaxon reached the door. He banged on it, yelling "I'm going to get you for this Carter!"

Taylor and I pulled off our masks and collapsed on the ground, our now empty water guns falling onto the floor next to us. We were laughing too hard and tried to catch our breath.

I finally calmed down enough to ask, "How do you think he knew it was us?" That threw us into another uncontrollable fit of laughter.

We finally calmed down again, or at least enough to notice that all the recruits were staring at us. "What did you guys do?" Jennifer asked.

Taylor and I smirked at each other before I replied, "The boys ordered a wakeup call, and we obliged."

"With the help of some pink vinegar," Taylor added.

It's safe to say, that mixed with the reactions of the recruits sent us into another fit of hysterics.

Eventually, we got ourselves up off the ground, stashing our guns and getting dressed in our workout clothes. Jaxon and Drake were waiting for us when we came out, with their arms crossed over their chests and a scowl on their faces. The rest of the boys were flanking them, standing a little ways back. All of their hair was stained pink, their blonde hair making the pink obvious. You couldn't tell that Drake and Jaxon's hair was colored, but you could definitely smell it.

As Taylor and I got closer, the smell hit us hard, the pungent odor filling our noses. Taylor and I laughed, despite the smell threatening to kill us. "Did the showers stop working or did you just forget how to turn them on?" I called to the boys, making all the girls giggle as they came out behind us.

Jaxon and Drake's scowls turned into amused smiles. Taylor and I turned to each other at the same time. This was not going to be pleasant.

"Well, little sister, you are just so smart!" Drake said, him and Jaxon walking towards us. Drake continued, "I just want to hug you because you guys are so brilliant!"

I screeched as Drake lunged forward, wrapping me in a hug and getting the stinky vinegar smell all over me. At the same time, Jaxon lunged for Taylor, catching her in a stinky hug as well. We both struggled, trying to get out of their holds. Finally, Drake was laughing too hard and his grip loosened, letting me squeeze out of his hold. Taylor got loose too and we both backed away from the boys, who were rolling on the ground laughing.

After two minutes of watching them roll over each other clutching their stomachs, I finally said, "Yes, yes, you've had your fun. Can we get back to being adults with a job now?"

After a couple more minutes of them laughing about me calling them adults, they calmed down and we set to work.