“Action!” Greg declared as he raised his hand equipped with a video camera, he partly sat on his bike with his leg propping him up to stay in one spot as he started recording, breaths stilled slightly.

“The weather hasn’t changed at all…” Emmet acted dead serious, clutching onto the handlebars on his own bike. He wearily glanced up at the sky then back down at Greg directly. “Put the fucking camera away, this isn’t the time to be screwing around!”

“It’s documentation.” Greg slightly furrowed his brows, his reaction not being seen on camera. “Information, important! For the government!”

“Everyone can see this, you idiot.” Emmet had a slight falter. “It’s coming from the sun! Greg! And–… I forgot my line.” He trailed off, looking down as he put his hand to his chin.

Greg didn't scold as he lowered his hand and stopped recording. “I didn’t bring the script this time, we should wrap this up anyway.”

Emmet smiled sheepishly with amusement, straightening up. “Are you sure this makes sense Greg? The dialogue sounds really… Pretend.”

Greg looked at him with a mocking offended expression. “It’s in the middle of production, and how dare you question my draft.”

“No I mean, other things you’ve written have been really good.” Emmet raised his hands. “This just feels a little abnormal.”

“I’m experimenting.” Greg said plainly with a small nod. “We’re nearing the fourth of July, so I started writing after watching independence day, wanted fun so I’m playing with different subjects–” 

“Greg, that movie is like thirty something years old.” Emmet said slowly.

“So?!” Greg knitted his eyebrows, confused by the point he was trying to make. “Anyway I just wanna say I’d prefer to get all the filming done by next weekend, have it officially done by the fourth.”

Emmet shook his head. “Only a month away, you have to edit all that and we still have so many pages left in the script.”

Greg scoffed a little, putting his camera back into the bag at his side. “Doubting me… I’m ahead of everything I aim to achieve.”

Emmet sighed a little, watching him put his camera away. “Get a second pair of hands to help you edit that shat…” He trailed off a little. “That a new camera?” He gestured towards the bag.

“Uh…” Greg completely lost train of thought for a moment, stalling. “No, it’s older… I haven’t used it since Nathan stopped making stuff with me. He was hoarding it.” He took a moment before adding on to his reasoning. “Thought the crappy lens on this one fitted the scene better.”

Emmet looked at Greg with mild concern. “I haven't seen Nathan in like ages. Is he doing okay?”

Greg only nodded and had nothing else to add, which made Emmet stare at him for a couple solid seconds before breaking away.

“Alrighty, well…” Emmet shifted his position a little, prepping to ride his bike. “I need to go back home and do my chores. But I’ll meet up with you at the mall in like, forty minutes. K?” Emmet started riding off and Greg nodded, going in the opposite direction.

Greg parked recklessly in the driveway of his house and threw his bike aside as he hobbled forward towards the front door. He reached his hand out and it froze in the air as the door opened for him.

Nathan only gave him a small look as he opened the door fully, he had a resting bitchface and Greg was kinda used to it, walking past him slowly with lack of greeting to get inside and jog upstairs.

Nathan blew up at his hair as he walked across the front lawn to get to the mailbox. He opened it and took out the mail, shuffling through the envelopes. “Ptf fuckin’... Filler mail.” He joked to himself plainly in near mumbles before looking down the street to see what was irritating his peripheral vision.

A girl his age with black hair waved a little to him as she walked down the sidewalk she was sharing with him, she eventually came to a stop, giving them a couple dozen feet of distance.

Nathan gawked at her in silence for a few seconds before slowly waving back. She gave no words or anything in return, so Nathan turned to go back inside with his hand full of useless papers. His steps lagged a little and his head barely turned to hear better before he stepped inside fully, trying to hear who was down walking on the opposite end of the sidewalk.

There were two girls, one he recognized as Charlotte, and the other walked along her side holding her hand, shorter and presumably her younger sister. Nathan turned and went inside fully as they continued their conversation.

“Charlie?” Her voice was youthful, and she looked up slightly to make eye contact with Charlotte, her steps while walking more full of pent up energy.

“Yes Emma?” Charlie held back a yawn, looking down at the sidewalk and acknowledging the small cracks in the concrete.

“When’ll summer break end?” Emma asked simply, barely swinging their arms together.

Charlie forced herself to look up slightly before answering. “August.”

“That’s after July, right?” Emma asked with innocence.

“Hmhn.” Charlie nodded and kept her head up after seeing someone up ahead on the sidewalk. When they approached, Charlie sighed heavily. “Ivy, I need a break. I'm so done with this silverware bull.”

“Your dad is still upset about that?” Ivy knitted her eyebrows.

“It’s all been rooted into every dispute where I do anything wrong.” Charlie struggled not to let her voice be too bitter. “Apparently I do a lot wrong.”

“Hi Ivy!” Emma beamed, waving at her with oblivious warmness.

Ivy waved back a little with a small smile. “Hello, how are you doing Emma?”

“Good! This summer was alotta better than my last.” Emma’s smile was genuine, in her own little world.

“I need to find a part time job.” Charlie told Ivy bluntly, and Emma puckered her lips in a small frown, averting her eyes.

“Hmm, let’s distract your sister with some pretzels or something.” Ivy referred to Charlie as she put her hand out to hold Emma’s and lead them further down the sidewalk towards their destination.

She happily skipped forward and complied, hearing Charlie walk behind them with her boots clicking against the concrete. 

Nathan walked inside his house and tossed the mail onto the kitchen counter as he passed it, going towards the couch in the living room.

Greg jogged back down the stairs and made a beeline for the kitchen, now lacking the camera bag that was at his side previously.

“Hey Greg..” Nathan taunted lightly, propping himself up over the back of the couch, speaking to him indirectly

Greg glanced over his shoulder. “What?” He questioned, hearing Nathan out as he looked around in the kitchen.

“Finch girl is walking past our house at this exact moment…” Nathan rounded the couch, his voice having a nonchalant ring to his voice. 

Greg stared at the cabinet in front of him for a solid moment, trying to figure out what he meant. “Oh, Nathan.” He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like her like that anymore…”

“Sure…” Nathan fell onto his back on the couch as he pulled out his phone. “Open opportunity to talk with her. Pretty sure she was meeting up with that girl, what’s her name?” He glanced up at the ceiling. "The one down the street? You used to play with her.”

Nathan pondered for a second before Greg answered. “Ivy Brooke?”

“Yeah, that one.” Nathan nodded. “You’d have an excuse to go hang out with them, because you know Ivy.”

“Barely.” Greg walked out of the kitchen. “I’m not going out to talk to two girls by myself, that’s just weird.”

“Weird.” Nathan scoffed and looked up at his phone as Greg sat down next to his resting head. “You’re too young to be lookin’ like you're doing anything perverted.”

“You’re going to drop your phone on your face again...” Greg commented with a bored tone, considering something silently.

“No I won't.” Nathan said blandly. “Damn it, where's the security in settings?–” Greg snatched the phone right as it slipped out of Nathan's hands and Nathan flinched, thinking it was going to hit his face.

Greg stood up quickly and ran around the couch. “Say what, you can have your phone back if you come along with me to say hi.” He smiled, hiding the phone behind his back as he slowly walked backwards to the front door.

“No.” Nathan hissed glaring at Greg over the back of the couch with his arm hanging over. “Give me back my phone.”

“Come on, Nathan. You need some friends, and you seem like you're the one who wants to say hi.”

“I don’t want friends.” Nathan replied in a bitter tone. “And I couldn't care less about them.”

“Okay.” Greg stepped back with an understanding nod. “Guess I’ll be back with your phone in a few hours.” He turned around to walk away.

“A few hours!?” Nathan asked, appalled. “Where the hell are you going?!”

“The mall. You can go without music and scrolling for a bit.” Greg answered blissfully. He ran out the door and Nathan flopped off the couch, darting after him.

“Hmm, how many times can you fail a permit test?” Charlie asked, kicking a pebble away on the sidewalk.

“Uh, you might need to go back to the basics.” Ivy laughed sorely.

Charlie barely smiled with slight amusement. “Just messing with you.”

“You’ll figure it out soon.” Ivy nodded slightly, trying to be reassuring and positive.

Charlie gave a sarcastic expression. “Or maybe not, I’m not the issue–” She abruptly stopped to look over her shoulder, hearing the shuffle and grapple of two pairs of feet racing up.

“Ivy!” Greg beamed, walking up by her other side with bubbliness, only having good intentions. “How are you doing? It’s been awhile.”

“I’m fine.” Ivy smiled softly with a small nod directed towards him. “And it has been some time~ How are you?”

“Also fine.” Greg shrugged before looking over at Nathan who was hesitantly trailing behind the rest of them. “Have you met my twin brother Nathan?” He lightly gestured.

“Just brother is fine to mention” Nathan sighed lightly, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“You’re twins??” Charlie asked, seeming surprised as she pointed at Nathan and barely motioned towards Greg.

“Fraternal. Not identical.” Nathan told Charlie bluntly, looking down at her since she was shorter.

Charlie looked up at him for a solid couple seconds out of disfavor before breaking away, deciding not to reply.

Greg brushed off the interaction because he wasn’t a part of it. “Can I ask where you guys are heading?”

Ivy tucked her hair behind her ear as she answered. “We’re heading to the mall to get Emma some art supplies.”

“New markers!” Emma jumped in with a joyful smile. “The good ones, boy I never thought I’d get them.”

“You better not lose any.” Charlie said simply, grabbing her hand back for some sort of security, tone calm.

“I won’t. I promise.” Emma smiled warmly, closing her eyes.

“Oh.” Greg’s eyes lit up a little. “I’m meeting up with my friend there, mind if we tag along?”

Charlie blew up at her bangs. “Go ahead.” She welcomed.

“I’m getting dragged into this and I don’t like it…” Nathan sighed a little grimly, mostly blaming Greg as he stared at the back of his head.

“How are you getting dragged into this?” Charlie asked Nathan flatly, hearing his lowered voice.

Nathan stopped himself from looking over in her direction fully, pausing a moment to answer. “Uh, babysitting Greg.” He fibbed obviously.

“Hmm good excuse.” Charlie mocked with irony. “What is he, a couple minutes younger than you?”

“How’d you guess we’re both sixteen?” Nathan asked just as sarcastically, keeping full focus on her.

“Do you two know each other?” Ivy asked Nathan and Charlie a little baffled, voice bewildered. “You seem like you do…”

They both stared at her a little alarmed for a moment, too sheepish to give any explanations.

Greg heard both their lack of answers and assumed they weren't fond of the topic, so he jumped in a little anxiously. “Charlotte, right?” He asked Charlie, leaning down ever so slightly to see her face under the visor of her baseball cap.

“She likes being called Charlie more.” Emma informed him, budding herself in to be part of the group. “I’m her little sister, Emma. Emma Finch.” She clarified, pulling her hand from Charlie’s to shake Greg’s hand properly, which he offered to first.

She turned on her heel shortly and went up to shake Nathan’s hand. “Ew– Why are your hands all sweaty?” She faltered, disgusted as she wiped her hand down on her clothing.

“It’s hot today.” Nathan replied, flustered.