Hello again, everybody. I apologize for just now putting this up, but I got a little busy. This story, unlike my last one, isn't completed. So if there is something you would like to suggest for this story feel free to tell me. I'm not saying it will definitely be put in but if I like it, it might be. Hope you guys like the story. Here it goes.
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Chapter 1- Home
It was three days after they had arrived home. The pilot, Abby, Ian, and Jory had been found and had arrived home the day before. Everyone was trying to get back to how things were before they left, but they found it hard to do that after all they had been through.
Daley sat on the chair in Lex's room, while Lex sat at his computer. Occasionally laughter could be heard behind the closed door. Daley and Lex's parents were surprised at how friendly they acted towards each other. Before they left the two barely talked to each other and now they were the best of friends. Daley and Lex tried to explain to their parents that they had really bonded out in the jungle.
"So do you think everything is going to be different with you and Nathan now that we're home?" Lex asked Daley.
"I'm not sure. At least it's summer and I don't have to worry about school yet. Nathan and I can just kind of focus on us right now. I think we should be okay." She answered him.
"Where is Nathan today anyway, you haven't talked to him all day."
"He called this morning. He's at the park with his little sister. He'll come over after dinner."
Lex could see the smile creep onto Daley's face.
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Eric had been taking a walk around town trying to find something to do. He was just so bored now that he didn't have to do chores to survive. The problem was that there wasn't much in this town to do. He had walked past the school, thank god it was summer, he thought to himself. He already bought an ice cream from the corner vendor. He was now walking past the pool where a numerous amount of five year olds were being yelled at by a lifeguard for running around the pool deck, and the wait a minute...
He opened the gate and entered the pool area. Slowly he walked up to a blonde girl who was lying on her back in a pool chair.
"Do you mind? You're blocking my light." The blonde spat at him.
"Sorry, Taylor. I should have remembered that you value your tan." Eric playfully spat back at her.
Taylor sat up and opened her eyes. "Eric what are you doing here?"
"I was on a walk and I just happened to stumble upon you in here. Don't I get a kiss?" Eric asked.
"Of course you do." She reached over and gave him a light kiss. "I was bored so I decided to come work on my tan."
"I was bored too. You could have called me and I would of come over. I bet we wouldn't have been bored then." He smiled playfully at her.
"Ha, Ha. Very funny. And I did call you, but your dad told me you were on a walk." She smiled the same smile back. Taylor got up and put her shorts on, and packed up her towel. Together her and Eric walked out of the pool area, to finish their walk.
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Jackson was sitting in his hammock in the backyard of his foster home. He was watching the rest of the foster kids in the home run around the yard playing tag.
There was Nick, he was 13 with shaggy blond hair that hung down just above his dark blue eyes, and he thought he was all high and mighty. Typical 13-year-old boy. He wasn't playing tag though, it wasn't cool.
Then there was Karen and Kim; they were eight-year-old twin sisters, and complete opposites. Kim was the tough one, a demon in disguise so to say, while Karen was the shy, sensitive one. They both shared the same long brown hair and big brown eyes. If they didn't act so different, Jackson wouldn't be able to tell them apart on a count of their foster mother. See, she liked to get sucked into that silly unwritten rule that is dress your twins alike until they get enough of a backbone to tell you they can dress themselves. Jackson thought it was a little ridiculous but figured it wasn't exactly squashing their creativity.
And rounding out the bunch was Danielle, a five-year-old little girl with curly blond locks who Jackson had nicknamed Dannie. They had instantly gravitated towards each other when he arrived. Weird, huh. A five year old and a sixteen year old being friends? Not so much actually. He looked out for her when her sisters picked on her, and she was always there to make him smile. He loved her more than anything.
As Jackson watched Kim chase Karen around the yard, and Dannie trying to keep up with them, a smile grew on his face. This had been the best house he had even been in, and he loved each of the people in it. He felt so lucky to be living here, so fortunate to have a great group of friends, and so... so... bored.
There wasn't much to do today so he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He started to dial. 5-5-5-3-7...
A pair of hands rested on his shoulders from behind him.
"Hey, I was just about to call you." Jackson moved to the right a little bit so Melissa could sit down.
"I hope you don't mind, Nick let me in." She sat down beside him. She had only met his family a few days ago, but she had already grown on them.
"No, I don't mind at all." He leaned towards her and gave her a kiss. Just then they heard a set of giggles being suppressed.
"Karen, Kim, and Dannie will you guys please go inside?" Jackson asked them.
They all turned to go inside, and the two could faintly here the twins singing, "Jackson and Melissa sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."
"I'm sorry about them. They can sometimes be a handful."
"They'll grow out of it. I remember being that way when I was little. My big sister and me would follow my older brother around. We would laugh at him and his girlfriend, even though we really liked her."
Jackson looked a little puzzled. "I didn't know you had a brother."
Melissa's face fell a little bit. "Yeah, Colin. He graduated college about 3 years ago, and moved to New York City to become a fire fighter. It was something he had always wanted to do. He wanted to help save people's lives. One day, he ran into a burning building and he never came out."
Even though Melissa didn't look very sad, he could tell she was still hurt by this. "I'm sorry. How come you've never told me this before?"
"I don't know. I don't really talk much about him. I wasn't as close to him as I am my sister. I think it was the age difference. I definitely miss him, but he knew what he was getting into to, and he was okay with it." Jackson had pulled Melissa into a hug.
"I'm sorry that that happened to him, and you. It's not really fair."
Melissa pulled out of the hug and looked him in the face. "It's nothing compared to the pain you've felt in life."
"Different people have different pain, Mel. One's no easier than the other. But my pain has gotten easier since I found you." He pulled Melissa into another deep kiss, and once again heard giggles coming from the upstairs window.
"Girls!!!"
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Nathan sat on the park bench watching his ten year old sister Maria run around the playground with the other kids in the park. They had been there for a while and Nathan was getting bored.
"Maria, come on, it's time to go home." Nathan shouted to her.
"Just ten more minutes." Maria pleaded with him. He wasn't falling for it.
"No, we need to leave now." Maria climbed down from the jungle gym and ran over to him.
"You just want to leave so you can go hang out with Daley."
"No, we have to be home for dinner. And what do you have against Daley?" Nathan asked her as they started their walk home.
"Nothing. I like her, she's nice."
"Are you mad that I hang out with her a lot. Do you feel like I don't have time for you anymore?"
"I understand that you really like Daley. I do too; I think she makes you happy. I just have to learn to accept that I won't be able to hang with you so much. Now I have to hang out with Josh. Goodie..." Both of them laughed at her comment. Josh was their 14-year-old brother. Maria wasn't as close to him as she was with Nathan. He thought it was uncool to hang out with your little sister, but Nathan didn't care.
"Thanks Maria. It means a lot to me that you like her too." He said as they approached their house. "And no matter what. I will always be there for you. I promise. Now let's get inside before mom gets mad."
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Daley and Lex were sitting down to dinner with their parents.
"So Daley." Lex's mom started. "How's Nathan? Is he coming over later?"
"Yeah he's going to come over after dinner once I call him."
"Well, we think Nathan's a great guy." Daley's dad said.
"Thanks Dad. May I be excused?" She asked. Her dad nodded.
Daley walked into her room and began to call Nathan.
"Hello."
"Hey Nathan. Do you still want to come over?"
"Um, sure. I have an idea though. How about we get the rest of the group to come over?"
"I guess so. Let me ask my dad if it's okay." Nathan could hear Daley attempt to cover the phone and shout through the house. "My dad says it's fine. You call Jackson and Melissa and I'll call Taylor and Eric."
"Okay." Nathan replied. "I'll see you in about an hour."
"Okay. See you soon. Bye."
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Okay, I know. A little dull, but it's just the first chapter. I had to explain about everyone's family so I could get a background on them. Review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and any ideas you have for the story.
