"You think he's awake?" a quiet voice whispered, making my eyes close tighter. There was no way I was getting up right now. I still had a few minutes before the alarm went off.

Luckily, the voice, whoever it was, went away, allowing me to be back in peace and quiet.

Well, for a few more seconds, that is. I shot awake as soon as I was drenched in freezing cold water. I wiped the water from my face, seeing three of my devil siblings standing near my bed, holding a large bucket.

"You three are so dead!" I announced before hopping out of my bed. Alan, Nolan, and Orchid immediately ran out of my room and I followed them down the stairs. I didn't care if there was three of them. They were all dead to me.

"Whoa, Ryder, no running in the house," Mom said when she saw me come down the stairs. "And why are you soaked?"

"Ask the triplets!" I said. "They dumped water on me!"

"What?" Nolan asked innocently. All three of them were sitting at the dining table. "We did no such thing!"

"Yes, you did!" I said.

"We were sitting here the whole time," Orchid said.

I groaned. "Mom, why couldn't you stop having children after me? I would have been fine being an only child."

"Hey!" the triplets protested in unison.

"Ryder, just get changed," Mom said. "It's the first day of school today and I'm pretty sure you can't show up in soaking wet pajamas."

I scowled as I went up the stairs. Those little brats always got away with it. They may seem innocent, but they weren't. They were far from innocent.

When I was about to go into my bedroom, I saw my six year old sister walking down the hall, carrying a can of shaving cream. "Tulip, what are you doing with that?" I asked.

Tulip looked at me with a smile. "I put shaving cream in their shoes!"

I chuckled and gave her a high-five. "This is why you're my favorite sister. But don't tell Orchid that."

"I won't," she said before going to the washroom to return the shaving cream.

I went to my bedroom to get changed, thankful that I was the oldest boy of three. Alan and Nolan had to share a room while I got my own. Suckers. I was the only one that had my own room, in fact. Orchid had to share with Tulip, much to Orchid's dismay. She didn't want to share a room with her six year old sister, especially when she was turning fourteen soon.

When I was changed, I grabbed my school bag and went down the stairs. I dropped my bag on the floor and went to the kitchen, seeing Dad at the stove. "Is that bacon, I smell?" I asked, peering at the stove. "Hey, why don't we split the bacon fifty-fifty. Those brats don't have to know you made bacon."

"Ryder, don't call your siblings brats," Dad said. "Even if they are."

"So, about the bacon...”

Dad chuckled. "Your mother already knows I'm making it, so if I don't give the triplets any, she'll know. Next time. Now go sit down. Breakfast is almost ready."

I went to the dining table and sat down right as Tulip came skipping down the stairs. She sat down beside me, trying her best to look innocent.

Dad served us the breakfast and I smiled when I saw that he gave me an extra piece of bacon. He was the whole reason I loved bacon, anyway. When I was a baby, he would rip pieces of bacon up for me to eat.

"Are you three ready for high school?" Mom asked the triplets.

"Definitely," Alan said.

"You should be scared," I said. "The seniors love pushing freshmen into lockers."

"What?" Orchid asked. "They don't do that... Right, Mom?"

"Ryder's just teasing you," Mom said, giving me a sharp glare. "They don't do that, right, Ryder?"

I shrugged. "Depends. I'm a senior now, you're freshmen. I could be the one to start a new tradition."

"Ryder...” Mom warned.

"I'm kidding," I said. Well, partially, but she didn't have to know that.

When we were done eating, the triplets ran upstairs to put on their shoes. Tulip began giggling quietly, but she started laughing louder when all three of them exclaimed, "Ew!"

Dad noticed Tulip laughing and raised an eyebrow. "Tulip, what did you do?"

She didn't answer because the triplets came down the stairs, all holding their shoes. "Mom! Dad! Ryder put shaving cream in our shoes!" Nolan said.

"What? No I didn't!" I objected.

"I did!" Tulip announced proudly.

Mom sighed loudly. "Alan, Nolan, Orchid, just put on a different pair of shoes. I'll wash those when you're at school. And all of you, no more pranks, please."

When the triplets went to get new pairs of shoes to wear, I went to put mine on, as well as a sweater. Since they were now going to high school, I had to drive them there. The three of them fought on the way outside about who was going to sit in the passenger seat, but I kicked all three of them to the back.

We got to the high school in ten minutes and I had a huge headache. They argued the whole way there about the littlest of things.

As soon as they were out of the car, I locked it and headed inside of the building, happy to be away from them for a bit.

I put all my books into my locker, besides the one I needed for biology. I saw who my teacher was and I couldn't wait for that class. It was going to be fun for me.

When the bell rang, I went to my biology class and sat down in the back. My teacher wasn't there yet.

The teacher, Mr. McCormick, came in a few seconds before the tardy bell rang. When it did, he stood at the front of the class with the attendance sheet. "Welcome to grade twelve biology," he said. "I'm Mr. McCormick and...”

Some kid raised his hand. "Is Mrs. McCormick your wife?"

"Yes, she is," he replied.

"And how long have you been married?"

"Sixteen years," he replied. "Anyway, I'm going to take attendance first before we do anything else." He began taking attendance and when he landed on Ryder Prince, he sighed. "Ryder?"

I raised my hand. "Here!"

He looked at me and sighed again before continuing the attendance. I couldn't blame him. I was quite the annoying nephew, thanks to my dad's genes.

My uncle Tony finished taking attendance and placed it on his desk. "So, like I said, my name is Mr. McCormick. This is my eighteenth year teaching at this school and I expect all of you to follow the classroom expectations." He then looked at me. "I'm talking about you, Ryder."

"What?" I asked innocently. "I always follow classroom expectations."

Tony gave me a flat look and I gave him an innocent smile. He then sighed and shook his head before going over classroom expectations. After he finished, he then began talking about the course outline and, apparently, we were going to start dissecting something next week after going over the safety of going to the biology lab.

I had to admit, I hated dissecting things. It was disgusting.

When biology ended, I had to go to my calculus class, and we basically did the same thing; going over classroom expectations and the outline. After calculus was history and then, finally, it was lunch.

While at was at my locker, the triplets ran up to me. "Can you take us out for lunch?" Nolan asked. "Please?"

"I would, but I kind of promised Elizabeth and Julia I'd take them out for lunch, which means there isn't enough room for all of you," I said. "That, and you're annoying brats so, no."

"We're not annoying," Orchid objected.

"Sure you're not," I said before closing my locker and heading outside of the school where my cousins, Elizabeth and Julia, were waiting. Elizabeth was my dad's cousin's daughter so we weren't technically cousins, but we were close enough to refer to each other as cousins. Julia, on the other, was my actual cousin as she was Tony's daughter and Tony was my mom's brother.

"I hate school," Julia muttered as we got into the car with Elizabeth sitting in the front seat and Julia in the back. "Class is so boring. What about you guys?" The three of us were all in different grades. I was a senior, Elizabeth was a junior, and Julia was a sophomore.

"Your dad's my biology teacher," I said as I pulled out of the parking lot and began driving to McDonald's. "So I'm going to have fun being an annoying student. And I believe he actually taught my parents during his first year of teaching."

"Yeah, he did," Julia said. "He goes on and on about how your dad was probably the most annoying student. And your mom."

I chuckled. My parents were awesome.

By the time we got our lunch and arrived back at the school, it was time for our next class. Luckily for me, my teacher didn't mind that I ate in class.

School went by kind of fast, but I wasn't really paying attention. It was the first day and we didn't do anything important.

When school ended, I met the triplets outside of the school so I could drive them home. Like on the way to school, they argued the whole way back. I was so happy to drop them off before I went to possibly my favorite place on earth.

My dance studio.

I loved dancing. I had been dancing since I was almost four years old and there was nothing else I wanted to do more than dance.

I was the first one to arrive in the studio, which happened almost all the time. I usually got there early so I could dance by myself for a bit before everyone else started arriving.

When all seven of us were there, the studio head, Lilith, walked out of her office and into the studio. "So, I have some news for all of you," she said. "You know I've been auditioning to find our eighth dancer since Clementine moved away and I have found our eighth dancer. Her name is Mae and she's new to Miami, so when she gets her, please make her feel welcome. In the meantime, Ryder, can you lead the warm-up?"

"Sure," I said, going to the front of the studio.

"Don't torture us this time," one of my fellow dancers, Arthur, said.

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't torture you last time."

"Yes, you did," he said. "I mean, we get that you're this freaky expert dancer, but we do not need to do extreme warm ups. My core still hurts from last time."

"Fine, I'll go easy on you guys," I said before I started leading the warm-up.

It wasn't long before Lilith walked back into the studio, this time with a girl. She was on the short side and she had long blond hair. And I think she was even in some of my classes at school. "Everyone, this is Mae," Lilith said. "Mae, this is Ryder, Arthur, Amelia, Milton, Isla, Dempsey, and Marnie."

We all greeted Mae and she seemed a bit shy, to be honest.

"So," Lilith said. "How about today, we have a freestyle circle? That way, Mae can get to know all of your styles and you can know hers?"

We all nodded in agreement as we got into a wide circle. Lilith put on music, but everyone seemed a bit hesitant to go first.

"Come on," Lilith said. "Somebody go first."

"I vote Ryder!" Arthur said.

"I second Ryder!" Isla said.

"Third it!" Marnie said.

I sighed, getting into the circle as I listened to the music for a bit. I then began dancing to the music, doing a mix of my two favorite styles, contemporary and hip-hop. One thing I loved about dancing was how I just got lost in the music at times. It was such an amazing feeling.

When I finished, I went back to where I was standing and Arthur went. One by one, everyone went to show their styles. And when Mae went, I was in compete shock.

She was such an amazing dancer. Her turns, her jumps, her everything.

"Looks like you have some competition," Arthur told me while Mae was dancing.

"What? No," I said. "We're a team, Arthur. We dance together, not against each other. There is no competition."

No matter what I just said, I definitely did have competition. But I was not about to give up my spot as the best dancer in the studio, especially not to a new girl.