{ Chapter One: Don't Knock It (Out) 'til You Try it }

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WALKING INTO HER LIVING ROOM FROM HER LONG DAY AT SCHOOL, there are two things that instantly hit Janice, almost knocking her off her feet. One would be the potent mixture of body odour, heinous sweat, take-out from possibly three different fast food restaurants, and teenage boys; a stench that she's become so familiar with, she has become immune to, aside from the initial wrinkle of her nose.

However, the second thing that takes her mind to register the minute after she steps into the door frame, happens to be the speeding soccer ball hurdling at her face.

That, she is not immune to.

"Holy crap!" Janice ducks instinctively, dropping the school bag in her hands as she braces them over her head.

She feels the ball swerve inches from her scalp and into the kitchen behind her, a loud crash following along with rambunctious laughter. "It's not torture enough that I got detention. Now I've got insane idiots trying to assassinate me! Just so you know, whatever the hell broke, I'm not helping you pay for!"

"Aw, Plain Jane," Janice's nineteen year older brother, Karlo, pouts innocently, "I didn't know you were going to walk in, I swear!"

"Okay, fine, it's not your faul—"

"If I did, I would've thrown it much harder." Growling, Janice throws the first thing she gets her hands on — a pop can — and chucks it at her brother's head, who's sitting in the middle of the room.

"Fight, fight, fight!" shouts their other twin brothers, Alejandro and Aáron, who're acting as if they're five, rather than being only a year older than Janice's own seventeen.

Alejandro turns suddenly to his twin, sticking out his hand. "Five bucks that Janice pins Karlo down in ten minutes."

Aáron raises an eyebrow, something Janice always wished she herself had the face manipulation to do so. "You think Janice's gotten softer? Haven't you seen her with Stickler at football yesterday? Ten bucks that she does it in five."

Alejandro doesn't even hesitate (and Janice feels a little pride, putting aside that her twin brothers were betting on her like she was a circus freak— yeah, there went the pride), and they shake hands firmly.

"I don't even think it's even insulting at this point that you guys have more faith in our baby sister than me," Karlo said, sticking his tongue out at the smug boys in front of him, before turning to his sister. "Because we all know at this point that I'm always victor."

"Yeah, victor at always getting your butt handed to you," Janice responds, her schoolbags and horrid day forgotten as their banter bounces back and forth. "I'm sure all the girls get turned on by that ugly black splotch on your back. Wonder how hot they'd get if they knew you can't even handle two minutes with your 110 pound, 5"3 baby sister."

"What happened in that bedroom between us, stays in the bedroo—" cutting himself off, Karlo wrinkles his nose in disgust, "damn it, let me rephrase that so I don't sound like a freak—"

"Too late," Janice coughs, earning her a dirty look.

"—whatever, take fast!" Karlo leaps at Janice over their battered family couch, but she expects it, side stepping and kicking Karlo at his knees, effortlessly pinning him to the floor and pulling his arm behind him, placing her body weight on his back and trying to avoid his stupid legs, which were kicking haphazardly in desperation.

"You'd think you'd learn from the first 324 times you tried that," Janice said, "but I guess you'll always be a slow learner."

"Shut up, beast," Karlo mumbles, his face squished against the carpet. "I swear you're not female. You're not even human."

"Says the one whose face would fit in with aliens better than with our family."

Before Karlo can bite back, they hear the rustling of pockets and change in the direction in front of them.

"You couldn't have put on a show or something? I just lost ten bucks, sis!" Alejandro complains as he reluctantly hands over a crisp bill, not bothered that their older brother seems glued to the floor.

"That's what you get for betting on me!" Janice retorts, before getting up and leaving a hand out for Karlo to catch. Once they're both steady on their feet, she heads for the kitchen, before stopping dead right in front of broken glass.

"Uh, guys? Ten dollars might not be the only thing you should be worried about."

And like the greatest sister that she is, she bolts; clearly she isn't the stupid one in the family.

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IF YOU WERE TO DESCRIBE THE DIABLO FAMILY, indefinitely would there be 'loud', 'obnoxious', and 'insane' in your vocabulary, but 'absolutely incredible' would be underlined at least twice.

Ever since Marcus Diablo took the decision to bring a fourth addition to his family all those years ago by adopting Janice Evergreen (formerly known as, that is) to replace the female figure he'd lost in his wife a year prior, things seem oddly complete.

Complete in a testosterone, rowdy and deliciously awkward kind of way, but complete nonetheless.

The Diablo's brought the gift to the present, their affectionate and saccharine attitudes the highlights of their suburban neighbourhood; where a house on the east side of the street rests, a white shuttered three-story house with windows almost covering every inch and painted cornflower blue (and repainted every year because who wants chipping bark as an impression?).

If there's anything legendary about house 53, it wouldn't be how beautiful it looks — even if it wasn't bad on the eye itself in its own personal, quirky way — or the second-hand furniture and thrift shop antiques, but the life it holds. Because it wasn't just house with a family; it was alive, breathing and exhaling emotion, exuding sweat, hardship and familiarity.

But if you are to pass-by the gorgeous Poppy Ave. any day ranging of the week from dawn to dusk during your annual job or a casual drive through the streets, you'll be too mesmerized by the park adjoined with their front yard (an impressive sized one, you'd must admit) full of effloresced flowers, clean cut grass, bodies running up and down, and the chanting of shouts and names being yelled into the air.

And if there's one thing Janice has learned over the years, it's that it can also be a battleground, especially when it involves her, a couple other neighbourhood boys a little younger or a whole lot older, her brothers, and a football.

"Hut, hut, hut!" screams Karlo as he rears back his arm and lets the ball spiral out of his hand. "Jane, you can do this!"

There's mud streaks on her clothes, tears up her pants and there wasn't really anything left to say about how the bun in her hair is going to leave some ferocious knots at the end of the day, but nothing matters except the sudden burst of adrenaline pumping in her head and making her almost fly across the area of the park, stomping the ground in the same fashion as her heart seemed to, her arms outstretched and her eyes zeroed in on nothing but the ball.

She sees the collision happening in front of her, but it takes only a moment to register. Avery Colton and Dean Chasty, two African-American boys built almost twice her size and on the opposing team, seem to bang into each other harder than bullets do out of a gun.

She ends up jumping over their well-toned bodies as they struggle to regain their balance, bursts of speed making her legs feel like lead.

Just before they give up, though, she floors the shaky, chalked white line, marking her touchdown official.

"Oh, yeah! Jane's still got it!" she yells so loud that even her throat protesting from the running doesn't feel so raw.

But it doesn't hurt as much as when five boys tackle her to the ground, the dog pile most likely building by the ton.

Doesn't mean the smile on her face dims even a little.

"Can't," she gasps, "breathe!"

Laughing, her teammates gradually push themselves off of her, before Karlo helps pick her up. "Nice work, little sis. You've finally scored more touchdowns than half the people here."

"Because half the people here are out before the halftime finishes," she said, making a mixture of yelps and laughs roll off around her.

Aàron jogs his way up to her, giving her a rough pat on the back. "You got me twenty bucks from the new guy who joined today. You're the best."

"Why is it that you only know how to show appreciation through gambling on me?" she sighs, before giving him a rough shove back. "But that money's going to dad, anyways, so I don't mind."

He shoots her a glare. "I don't get it, Karlo broke the glass vase! Not Alejandro or me!"

"Yeah, but you're paying for it," she said smugly. "So it doesn't matter in the end, huh?"

"I'll tell you what's unfair," said Jared Ion, one of the guys playing with them and newcomer Aàron aforementioned, "is that a girl almost half my height just dodged my, may I add very accurate and stellar, tackle. And beat me in football."

"You gotta keep up with the big boys, darling," Janice tells him in a sickly-sweet tone, along with a cheesy wink that makes her brothers and neighbourhood old timers chuckle.

There were fifteen boys altogether that usually came to the park. There were the three Diablo boys, of course, and then the neighbourhood guys that wanted to waste their time over the choice of spending it on chores or studying.

Some of their female cousins or sisters would come, but they were a great deal younger, especially since anyone over the age fourteen practically got into their boy infatuation and mud with sweat just didn't add up right for most of them.

She knew most of everyone who came to participate, growing up with the lot that became her second family. The neighbourhood was considered pretty small, and it was very rare that people moved in or out of the place (but, like Jared, things happened).

But being such a close knit place meant that Jane was an honorary part of their clique — even though she's, well, a she. And maybe she doesn't really give a crap about her gender. That doesn't mean their acceptance is any small feat.

Though, she isn't always accepted; the blue van on the street beside her with a familiar, dreaded license plate would be a prime example.

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A/N: First chapter, ahoy!

That isn't that bad of a start, right? xD Anyways, hopefully this chapter was something genuinely interesting. I really hope you all stick to this novel the way I have big plans for this. Don't forget to leave a comment on what you think of the characters and plot already! Your support is one of the biggest things that could happen to me right now, and I really appreciate all of you for doing it. Thanks once more for taking the time to read!

Regards, Sarena x