The Game

I'll update by the end of the week guys. Promise. I'm almost finished with the next chapter already. And trust me, the cliché romance will only be beginning. 

 

Now, I finished this before Shannon reviewed this fabulous story. So, it's not as good as they rest shall be. But, here it is! I finished earlier this week but I couldn't transfer this chapter from my computer to my iPod because it was being silly.
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Chapter 3 – Talk About the Unexpected

Through the day, it’s a normal camp day, with the addition of avoiding anyone involved with Jordan. Saying I don’t want to talk to Jordan is an understatement. Jordan has a tendency to be a little, well, temperamental. It’s not like he hits anyone, it’s more like he throws things. And seethes silently. He’s pretty scary when he’s mad. I also feel really bad that he got bitten. How was I supposed to know it would happen, though?

I get through the day without bumping into Jordan, and I end up going to the lake after curfew, trying to get my mind off things. Of course, I don’t go swimming, that would make noise and raise suspicion, but I just rest my feet in the water. All this guilt is building up inside me when I think about Jordan. When he’s not around River or Flint, he’s really a nice guy. The only reason why I know that is because he was the one who taught me how to swim. Jordan was gentle and tried to keep me calm at all times, and he didn’t once let River or Flint pull any pranks on me when he taught me.

I start to relax and I end up closing my eyes, letting the moon shine onto my skin. After a few minutes, I hear something come up beside me and I open my eyes to find the one person I’ve been avoiding.

“I thought you’d be here,” Jordan tells me, looking down at me with a small grin. I raise an eyebrow in an unasked question as he sits next to me, pulling off his flip-flops to rest his feet in the water next to me. ”Remember, four years ago?” he asks to start an explanation. I shake my head, and he grins. “After I taught you how to swim, you became so excited and you couldn’t sleep, so you came to the most peaceful place in camp to relax. And I found you here, asleep, so I took you back to your cabin.”

“That’s how I got to my cabin,” I smiled, shaking my head. “I would have never guessed you did that.” He’s exactly right. Four years ago, I couldn’t sleep because I could finally swim by myself. So, I came here to the lake. It was quiet and peaceful and I just lied under the stars. I must have fallen asleep and then I woke up in my cabin, thinking it was just a dream. But it seems that Jordan showed up and took me to my cabin.

“No one would, and that’s why I did it.” He sends me a smile, and I have to admit, it’s breathtaking. His teeth are straight thanks to braces and they are white. The green of his eyes are breathtaking too. They start at a pale green near the pupil, and then they grow darker as they

“Why do you hang out with Flint and River?” I blurt, and once I realize what I just asked, I look away, a blush creeping onto my cheeks. “I mean, I know Flint is your family, but why? There are so many other people to hang out with. And, they’re bad people, pulling pranks on us girls.”

“I’m not one to point fingers, but you did start it. You put fake spiders in out cabin,” he tells me with a grin. After a moment, he shrugs, the grin slipping off his face. “But, I hang out with them, and that’s just natural. Flint hangs out with River and so I follow suit. I don’t exactly mean to follow, but there’s no one else here to hang out with. No one who knows me as well as Flint and River, that is.”

“So, you feel like no one knows you as well as they do? You don’t do anything they do, do you?” I’m only asking because I want to know if the kindness is faked. Because if it is, I don’t know the Jordan I thought I did. And I don’t want that.

“Exactly. Just because I kinda follow Flint doesn’t mean I actually would do everything he does. I never even take place in the pranks, just so you know. And, by the way,” he adds, showing me his wrist. His right wrist is bandaged and I place my head in my hands, guilt washing over me. I want to just forget about it.

“You have no idea how sorry I am for that. I never knew that they were going to bite anyone, and J-” I hesitate, biting my lip. I don’t want to let it slip that Jared got us the snakes. “Just know,” I continue, “that I, well, um.” I stop, sighing and blushing at the fact that I’m stuttering. Why am I stuttering so much? “I just never wanted you to get hurt. I just meant to scare Flint and River.”

“What’s with the blush?” Jordan asks with a smile. That’s a good question. Why am I blushing? I have no reason to blush.

“I don’t even know,” I sigh, glancing up at his eyes. Just long enough to see the kindness in his eyes and I know I’m radiating apologies and guilt. As quickly as I looked up, I look down at my hands again with another sigh. I hear Jordan move a bit closer and I can feel the occasional brush of his arm against mine. After a few moments of silence, he sighs.

“It’s fine, you didn’t mean to have me get hurt,” Jordan tells me, trying to get me to look up at him. “I was just the unlucky one out of the bunch. I’ll be fine. It wasn’t a poisonous snake.” When I don’t budge, Jordan takes my face in his hands and lifts it out of mine. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll heal by the end of the week.”

I pull my head out of his hands and frown. “But that doesn’t exactly get rid of the guilt I’ve been feeling, Jordan. Look, if I hadn’t agreed to that stupid prank in the first place, nothing bad would have happened to you. I wouldn’t feel guilty. And we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

I let myself fall back and lie on the ground, looking up at the sky rather than at the lake. Jordan looks down at me, a good foot or two over me with a small frown. I keep my eyes away from his, trying to not see the emotions in his eyes and to not let him see the emotions in my eyes.

“Hey, look at me,” he whispers, and I can’t help but glance at him. He brushes a stray hair away from my face and my heart seems to stop, and I know something is going to happen. Something I probably don’t want to happen, to top that off. “Quick question,” he suddenly blurts, startling me.

“Shoot,” I tell him, sitting up. This causes him to move away a bit, but he’s still close enough to me that his arm constantly brushes mine.

“Are those contacts?” he asks me sheepishly. “I mean, when you first showed up, your eyes were-”

“Brown,” I finish for him. “I was wearing contacts then because people were intimidated by them. These eyes are all natural. Why do you ask?”

“Well, they’re beautiful. Why would you want to hide them? Or, rather, why did you?” Oh, I see where this is going. Jordan is flirting with me. He likes me. I should have guessed. All these compliments and being absolutely nice to me are signs of flirting. I’m such an idiot. Even being so close to me is flirt with me.

“Thanks,” I smile, pretending to be oblivious to his flirting. “The strange wolf eyes I have scared people, so I just hid them. But now I love them because they give me this confidence boost to pull the pranks.”

“Well, I’m glad you’ve stopped hiding them. Like I said, they’re beautiful.”

“Thanks,” I smile again. “God, I think it’s getting late,” I add, ready to leave. Jordan grabs his phone and checks the time, proving that it’s late.

“You’re right, it’s after one,” he tells me and stands. Holding he hand out to me, he gives me a smile. I take his hand and stand, and he doesn’t let go of my hand for a moment until I clear my throat. He blushes and lets go, looking away to cover his embarrassment. I shake my head with a grin and wave, walking away. “Wait, lemme walk you to your dorm since it’s close.”

“Sure,” I agree, shaking my head with a smile. He hurries beside me and walks with me in silence. It’s comfortable and every once in a while, our hands brush together, and when I look up at him, he blushes and looks away. It’s adorable, I have to admit. You know, it’s not every day a guy gets embarrassed when he touches your hand; usually, it’s the girl that gets embarrassed.

When we hear someone else walking, we freeze. Jordan doesn’t hesitate to grab my hand and press me against the nearest cabin, his face inches away from mine. I don’t breath, and he scarcely does, giving me the occasional smell of mint. The footsteps get closer and our eyes widen. Who could be out this time at night?

“Counselor,” I whisper as quietly as I can as realization hits. Jordan nods ever so slightly and starts thinking. He bites his lips and the closer the footsteps get, the more nervous I am.

“Just go with it,” he whispers, and I nod slightly. That’s when his lips press against mine, and my eyes widen even more. He pulls back a bit, repeating, “Go with it,” before pressing his lips on mine again. I see where he’s going with this. I’ve heard counselors are lenient when it comes to romance. Well, if we get caught, they could easily give us a break. So, I do the only thing I can think of: I kiss him back. I close my eyes as we kiss, making things as natural as things should. We pepper short and sweet kisses on each other’s lips until we finally hear what we’ve been waiting for.

“Hey, what’s going on – oh,” he hear and we break to see Jewels standing probably three or four feet away from us, her mouth in an O.

“Oh, hey, Jewels,” I say sheepishly, going with the act. A blush creeps onto my cheeks and I send her a small, embarrassed smile.

“I’m just going to leave you two alone,” she tells us, a hint of a smile on her face. “But it’s pretty late, and the contest starts tomorrow, so hurry up, you two.” She walks away and I hear her mumble, “I knew she was going to be with one of those three.”

Once she’s gone, I let my head rest on the cabin behind me. I take a few deep breaths to get rid of the nerves that had washed over me. Jordan pulls away, unpinning me from the cabin wall, and sighs in relief, and I think in content.

“Nice acting,” he tells me. “Is that how you got in?”

“Is it how you got in?” I repeat.

“Yes,” he replies.

“Yeah, it was.” Yes, this is a performing arts summer camp. The four ways to get in are acting, singing, dancing, and art. I got in with my acting skills. Apparently, so did Jordan. Turns out, I did well enough to get in, and so did Jordan with his own acting.

“We should go,” he tells me and we start walking to my cabin. Only minutes later, we’re back at my cabin. We stand silently for a moment before I move to my door. I pause, listening to Jordan reluctantly walk away. That’s when I turn and call him back.

“Before you go,” I start, leaning on my door, “were you really acting?”

“Honestly?” he asks, turning around and walking back to me. He’s only a foot away now. I nod. “No. Were you?”

“At first, yeah. But, but the time Jewels showed up, I don’t know, I don’t think so. I have to go. See you tomorrow.” I wave and he smiles, kissing my cheek, and then he walks away. And with that, I walk into my cabin, lock the door, and go to my bed to sleep.

*~*~***~*~*

I scream as I wake up, feeling water and something slimy falling onto my face and body. Sitting up, I wipe water from my eyes, seeing River and Flint run out the door. Rissa and Zoe run out the door as I feeling something writhing in my lap. Again, I scream, looking down at the fish in my lap. I stand and push it off, yelling in frustration. I have one good day of no pranking and an actual make out session, and then I wake up to fish. I hate fish.

“Oh, they are going to pay,” I hiss angrily. I stand and quickly got to take a shower and change. Once I’m done, I still smell like fish, no matter how much perfume I use. Already irritated, I walk out of the cabin to see Rissa and Zoe walking back to the cabin. The sight of my best friend and my new friend, I relax, but only a bit.

“You okay?” Zoe asks, but her nose wrinkles in disgust. I guess the smell of fish is worse than I thought. I nod and sigh, looking down at my

“They got you good, girl,” Rissa tells me. “But I think I can formulate another plan by the end of the day. Easily.” Rissa and I smile at each other. I can see a plan brewing in her eyes, and I can’t wait for it. I know I’ll be completely okay with this one. I believe this is now all out war.

I hear the camp horn and it goes twelve times, for those who are seniors in high school, so we head to the camp fire grounds. The fire isn’t going since it’s just morning, and everyone is in their pajamas, or rather their shorts and shirts and flip-flops. Way too summer-y for actual pajamas, right?

“Campers, it is time to announce who you shall be working with in your contest. Jewels is handing out the papers with all the rules on them, and I am going to begin calling out who is going to be grouped,” Mr. Snow announces. And with that, he starts rambling off names. I feel someone walk over to me and I don’t have to glance over my shoulder to know it’s Jordan. I can smell the mint on his breath, stronger than it was last night.

“You excited about who you’re going to be grouped with?” he asks, his breath tickling my ear. I shrug, taking the paper from Jewels as she hands it to me. She glances between Jordan and I and bites her lip, a smile on her lips that she’s trying to contain.

“Try not to let anything like last night happen again, alright?” she whispers to us, and I feel a blush creep onto my cheeks involuntarily. Jordan nods and I nod too, Jordan taking my hand in his. Pulling away is not an option; I don’t act like I love it or go overboard with the romance; I just react normally. I read over the rules as he holds my hand, his thumb occasionally grazing over my knuckles. And it’s nice. I haven’t had a boyfriend in a while, so I think it’ll be fine.

“Sam Adams,” I finally hear, and my head shoots up. “Jordan Summers, Zoe Parker, and,” he hesitates, his eyes flickering over to someone on the other side of him. “River Carlyle.”

“What?” I hear three voices scream. One is my own. The other two belong to River and Zoe.

“Wait, wait, Mr. Snow, you can’t put me with that horrible person!” I object, removing myself from my spot, leaving Jordan behind. “He torments me mercilessly. You can’t expect us to get along!”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with that witch!” River hisses, coming to stand beside me. “She is the bane on my existence, my nemesis, my arch-enemy. I can’t work with her!”

“My office, all four of you,” he orders, and Zoe and I walk together while River and Jordan walk together, all of us behind Mr. Snow. It only takes us minutes to get to his office, and it’s not the first time we’ve been here. Only one other time, and that was when Jared got banned from the camp. It’s like one of our own cabins, but it’s much bigger and has its own room for an office. Which is the first room you enter once you open the door. Once we arrive, we all sit down, going in the order of Zoe, me, Jordan, and River.

“Now, I know most of you don’t like each other,” Mr. Snow starts.

“I hate River,” I exclaim at the same time River huffs, “I hate Sam.” We glance at each other because of our timing but when we make eye contact, I turn away in anger.

“Alright, not that I don’t get that, but I have a very good reason to put you four together. Sam and Jordan have great acting talents, River and Sam have amazing singing voices,” he pauses as everyone stares at me. Well, the camp rules never stated we couldn’t have more than one talent to get in. I took advantage of that. “And Zoe is a wonderful artist. Let’s say you four put together a reenactment of a musical, I know it will be phenomenal. Please, try to work together.”

“Whatever,” I sigh and stand. Zoe stands with me and she walks out of the door ahead of me. “Thanks, Mr. Snow.” I walk out and I hear someone walk out behind me. “Thanks for making my life a bigger pain than it already was.”
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Yep. I already threw in the romance. I couldn't help myself. It runs in my veins. I'm sorry if you hate the fact that I already threw romance in this story.

So, like Shannon stated, I should stop with the polls, so I am. Now that I'm getting the creativeness flowing, I think I can come up with great pranks myself. Though, thanks for when you did, guys. I appreciated it!

Feedback and critique is always welcome. I need it as much as I need the support for this story.

I edited a bit this time, so yeah. If you see something I missed, point it out. Thanks.

 

Bump

 

Hey, guys, happy Valentine's Day!  I decided to finish and I really like it. It's kinda perfect for today. Now, there are a lot of memories in this story and a lot of dialogue, and I hope I balanced it out.
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Chapter 4 – Blast from the Past

I sit in my cabin until Rissa bursts in through the door. She gives a small scream and when she sees me, she just sends me an apologetic smile.

“Problems with who?” I ask automatically.

“Flint,” she spits out. “He’s unbearable. How can anyone put up with him? Flint is so annoying! How can River even put up with him?”

“So that’s who you were placed with. Sounds like fun. But I’m going to have a lot more fun because of River. So, until you deal with River, don’t whine to me.”

“What did River ever do to you anyway? I mean, sure, he knocked you down, but this hatred goes further than being knocked down.” I bite my lip as Rissa says this, and it triggers a memory I don’t want to bring back.

When I first got here, I disliked River. Now, it didn’t go as far as hatred until three years ago, when we were allowed to do some exercises concerning our talent. That year, I went for singing. Of course, River sings too, so I was in the class with him. I hadn’t known he sang, and I thought he acted as well. So, I tried steering clear of him by taking a singing exercise class. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

We were just a few days in the classes and I sang “Over the Rainbow” because it’s a classic. Once I was finished, everyone was allowed their critique of how I sang. Most people were positive. And then there was River. He uttered the most cynical comment anyone could ever say to me.

Now, River said it politely, waited his turn, trying to be innocent. But, when it was his turn, he said, “I’m surprised no one died listening to that. I bet your own mother would die if she had to listen to your wretched voice.”

And what caused the immense hatred against River.

My mother actually died a couple months before I even applied for the camp. She was the one who pushed me into believing in myself, to take the chance and try to get into the camp. And I ended up doing what she wanted. The application was accepted and I was due for my initiation at the end of April. Now, the only reason why she believed in me so much and pushed me to my dreams was because she was dying of cancer. Mom was getting better and was out of the hospital and doing things a normal mother would do. Instead of the cancer killing her, she was out for a run to the store because she wanted to celebrate my acceptance with ice cream and cake. She had been in a hit and run and to this day no one knows who hit my mother. And that’s why it hurt when River made his snide comment. And why I will never forgive him.

“And that’s why I hate him,” I tell her, realizing I’ve been telling her the whole story. I glance over at her after looking down at the necklace I always wear. It has a heart around a cross, a teal pendant in the center of the cross. It was given to me by my mother right before she died. The last thing she truly gave to me. Rissa’s eyes are watering and I can’t believe she’s about to cry. She has this tough-girl demeanor and it never occurred to me that she would feel that saddened over the story about my mother. Or really anything.

“My father died of cancer when I was a little girl,” she sniffles. “River was that insensitive to make that comment about your mother?”

“Well, he didn’t know – no one did – but it would have been nice if he hadn’t brought up my mother. If he hadn’t, then maybe we could’ve been friends. But he just had to say it. And when he did, I attacked him, literally. I went under cabin arrest because of my behavior. I was under it for a whole month, only allowed out for meals. It was probably the worst month of my life, you know. No matter what, I had to stay here. At least the pranks stopped for a while, you know?”

“Well, what about some of your best pranks? You know, against River,” she smiles.

“Well, once we shaved his head while he slept, and that was at the end of last year,” I smirk. It’s the reason why his hair is shorter than last year. “And the one time I we pushed him into the lake while he was sleeping.” That was almost two years ago. I remember watching – I lived really close to the lake that year – and I watched him sit up on his mattress, yawn, and move to stand. And down into the water he went. Take about a wakeup call. “And I think my all-time favorite was when put post-it notes all over his cabin. It took a while, but Jared helped, and so did one of our old friends, Gwen, so it wasn’t that bad.”

“I bet River almost died when he fell into the lake,” Rissa breathes in between laughs. She’s been laughing so hard over the fact that we pushed him into the lake.

“Yeah, he was pissed. That was the prank that got Jared kicked out. He kinda just let every little prank get blamed on him. Every single one, including the fake spiders and all the little, childish things, he took the blame for. Jared admitted to everything and that’s why he got banned from camp. No one wanted him to take the blame, but I guess he decided it was important we finish what we started, and he wasn’t one of the key players in the game.” I shrug, frowning. It’s a bit sad, not having Jared here. He was the funny one that actually brought the six of us together. “Ever since, we’ve been so much more careful, but I think this year, we’re letting the pranks go and throw caution to the wind.”

“Good luck with the game,” Rissa says seriously. “Girls gotta win this game.”

“With you on my team, I think we got this,” I smile. “Though I feel sorry for Jared. He was an amazing actor, I was taught by him all the best stuff. How to determine when a person is lying, the way to keep in character no matter how funny, how to convince people and to act like I’m not lying, all the perfect stuff to pull off the pranks. And now, he’s just gone.”

I think back for a moment, going back to the day that Jared actually got kicked out.

It was one of the last few days of camp. It wasn’t long after we pulled the prank on River that Mr. Snow heard an “anonymous” tip on who might have did that to him. I was one of the suspects. Now, our friend Gwen – who left camp because of the pranking – also did it and so did Zoe and Jared, but it was just me. I did it according to Mr. Snow. I was taken to his office and was interrogated. But right before I was about to admit I had taken part in all of the pranks over the years, Jared burst in.

Now, Mr. Snow and I were not expecting it, so I screamed and he just jumped. Jared looked at me apologetically, kissed my forehead, and gave me the saddest look he had ever worn.

“Mr. Snow, I did it. I asked a couple friends from out of camp to help me out,” he confessed, though he was easily straying from the truth. “And every prank for the last three years was my fault. I organized them and everything. Sam never did anything.”

“Jared, what are you doing?” I whispered, gazing at him in awe. He was actually taking the blame. And it was River’s fault as much as mine.

“Telling the truth, Cupcake,” he whispered back, smiling at me. “Just, give me my punishment, Mr. Snow. I’ll take it easily.”

“I can’t believe you, Jared. You are never allowed at this camp again after the end of this summer. I just can’t believe it,” he whispered. Jared practically froze, staring with an open mouth, his eyes wide. I couldn’t believe it either. Jared, a boy who always flirted with me no matter what, just gave up a chance of a lifetime.

“Sounds like he really liked you,” Rissa smiles. “But I know he just teases, you know. He’s always been like that.”

I smile and nod knowing exactly what she means whine Zoe busts into the cabin. “River and Jordan want to start working on our project. Like, right now.” I sigh, nodding. I wave to Rissa and start walking towards Zoe. She goes ahead of me and I follow, upset that I have to start working with River.

*~*~***~*~*

“You were so off key,” River argues, his arms crossed dramatically.

“No, I wasn’t,” I retort. “I think I know how to sing.”

“I know so much better than you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Really.”

“Guys!” Zoe interrupts. “Can we please try to get one scene done?”

“As long as he behaves,” I glare at River. His eyes stare back at me, so blue and filled with hatred I can hardly stand them. They are beautiful, or at least would be if I didn’t hate him and the hatred wasn’t there. If only he was nice.

“As long as she learns how to sing,” he throws back. And that’s when Jordan butts in, pushing me away from River. He takes me off the stage and outside, causing me to breathe normally. We’ve been trying to act out a scene from a play/musical I wrote anonymously a while back, and that’s the only reason why River will work with the play, because he doesn’t know I wrote it. If he did, all hell would break loose.

“Calm down, alright. He’s just trying to get you angry and all that,” Jordan tells me, leading me behind the theatre. It’s only place we can work, and no one else seems to need it. It’s near the woods, and no one’s allowed to go to the woods.

“He’s being an asshole, that’s what he’s doing,” I reply, leaning on the wall once we get back there.

“Look, it’ll be okay,” I hear him say as I close my eyes. I hear him walk closer and I feel his breath on my lips, and I know he’s close. I smile at his closeness, and that’s when he kisses me once again. It’s been about a week since our first kiss, and I guess we’ve kinda become a couple, and I do like him a lot. He’s so sweet to me and I don’t know; we just click.

After a small make-out secession, I hear footsteps and I reluctantly push Jordan away. He nods and leans away, sighing slightly. He and I both now that I need to keep this away from River, because if he ever caught wind of this, it wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Because I know he would ruin it.

“Will you hurry up? I know he pissed you off, but girl, we have a play to work on,” she tells me, sending us a strange, suspicious look. I know she suspects, but if she knows, well, let’s just say the only secret she can keep is about our game.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m calm now, let’s hit this shit,” I tell her, throwing my arm around her. She smirks and walks back with me into the theatre. I walk back onto the stage where River is waiting, his arms still crossed. He’s such a little drama king. Like, why should everything be about him? He could always try, oh, I don’t know, working together like this project needs. But whatever.

*~*~***~*~*

“Can’t you just do this simple part without making it stupid?” he yells at me.

“Can’t you just shut up? I think I know what I’m doing,” I retort, yelling at probably the same volume.

“Can you just realize you suck? You can’t sing for shit!”

“Neither than you, do you think I can handle your stupid voice?” Okay, so, I lied there. His voice is actually beautiful. But I would never admit that to him or anyone. Trust me, if he knew, I would never hear the end of it.

“At least I know my mother loves my voice!” he screams, and this last sentence bursts out of his mouth faster than I can blink: “Because my mother isn’t dead!”

Did you heart that crack? That was my heart shattering. All the anger leaves and the sadness pours in. He brought her up again. The one person who pushed me harder than anyone else, and he just had to push it in my face that she’s gone from my life forever.

“Sam,” I hear from Zoe, and I can hardly feel myself back away from River, or the tears starting to fall down my cheeks. Once he sees this, the anger leaves his face too, and I see remorse fill his eyes. He tries walking towards me, and I see words form from his mouth, but I can’t hear anything except, “I’m sorry, she died on impact.” And without warning, I’m stumbling down the stairs pushing past Zoe and Jordan, and running. I don’t know where to or how long I run, but I run, and I can’t stop the tears from flowing.

When I finally stop, I hardly know where I am, I just know I’m at least one hundred feet away from camp, sitting at the base of a tree, and the tears keep gushing out as the memory of my mother’s death rushes in.

As I said, my mother died in a car accident. I was twelve, and this was right before the May I left for Camp Secret for the first time. She said that this was a great opportunity; that the best actresses and actors got into the camp and I finally got in. She was absolutely thrilled. My dad offered to go get the cake and ice cream, but she said, “Garth, I think that the doctor letting me out of the hospital is a sign that I can finally do things myself.” And with that she left. We thought she would take a few minutes, but those minutes turned into an hour. No Mom.

Two hours went by, and that’s when someone finally came to the door. Instead of my mother, it was an officer. I was confused, but I could tell something was wrong. My mother was gone, and someone else was already here.

“Are you Mr. Adams?” the officer asked when my father finally answered. He nodded, and the officer sighed. “Sir, your wife, Kristy Adams, was in a car crash earlier today.”

“Is my mom okay?” I asked, hiding behind my father. The man looked at me and his gray eyes pooled with sadness.

“I’m sorry, she died on impact.”

I finally wipe away a couple tears away from my eyes, taking a deep breath. I hear footsteps, and they’re too heavy to be Zoe’s, so I have to guess it’s Jordan.

“I’m not in the mood for anything right now, okay? I just want to cry.”

“And it’s my fault,” I hear a sad tone in a whisper. I look back and see River, looking down at me. He sits next to me, his knees pulled near his chest, his arms resting on them. I look away from him, sniffling slightly. I’m not ready to look at him. Not after the memories he just brought up.

“Look,” I start, frowning, “I just have to know why you’re here.”

“Well, I, um, I was just, um,” he stumbles, and I glance at him, noticing he’s a bright shade of red. He looks over at me, his eyes filled with so much sadness it’s almost unbearable. And that's something I would never originally say, but God damn, the boy looks all over miserable.

“Yeah…” I trail off, watching him. And he takes a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry.”
*~*~•••~*~*
What? River is sorry?! Yeah, a lot of memories. Lots of italics. So, yeah.

It develops her past and gives an insight on how it's elite, how they never get caught, stuff like that because Shan mentioned I could work on it. And it's very helpful, really. I'll also build more on River, Rissa, Zoe, Jordan, Jared, and possibly Flint. Though Flint isn't an important character. Yet.

I also feel that I should start walling you guys so you know when I've updated. I just didn't get enough feedback or know anyone read this last update except one.

I'm starting a new story too called "A Deal...Not With the Devil" so this will be updated less frequently when I start updating it. I'll try juggling both of the stories, but this is my number one priority to finish. Don't worry, my ending is already in mind. So, most likely, I'm going to finish.

So, feedback is wonderful, and so is critique. And mistakes I've made, let me know, alright? Thanks guys!

 

Hey guys, bad news. I'm taking a break from writing. Why? Because of my grades. I have two Ds, and I need to bring them up. I'm going to get Cs anyway so that means I won't be on till the end of May unless I get my grades up to Bs. So, yeah, I'm sorry guys but grades are much more important than writing. I promise I will still be writing this story over everything when I get back. If I get back. I may even start it over because this thread might be too far for me to find when I get back, but I'm gonna try.

 

Oh. My. Gosh! Person who bumped this: THANK YOU!

I've been meaning to write, really, but I'm swamped with Latin classes. I have to do a whole semester in a day tomorrow (whoops...) and I have creative writing classes next month. So, maybe, I'll write. And I've been talking to my best friend maybe too much..?

Okay, actually...

These are just excuses. I can't come up with a good chapter. I just hate everything I'm writing right now. It's all so drab. And I can write marvelous details on the first page, and on the second, it. Is. Crap. I hate it. I hate it so much right now. If you guys can maybe bear with me, I will have a new chapter by the end of next month. These creative writing classes should help me. Should. If not, well...I might end this story. Or at least give you guys a summary of how I want to end this.

I love you guys! Thanks for this.