Lie To Me

by Kimiko Heroux

Riley has never left Zeta point because of her brother. When she gets the chance to go on a mission, she finds more than she originally anticipated. Can she follow through? RexXOC

Lie To Me

Chapter One: My Brother

I hated this time. I never would have admitted it to anyone, especially my brother, Seth, that I never enjoyed the life I was living; I wanted to leave more than anything. He would have never approved of that. Moreover, he wouldn't have cared. It seemed that no one here cared of what I felt.

I slammed my fist against the desk and sighed in aggravation. Rod and Laura, the only two kids that lived with me, looked up from their studies and turned to me. I didn't look at either one of them, they gave the impression that they cared, but really that was a lie. They were just like the rest.

"Are you okay, Riley?" Laura questioned, cocking her head slightly and gazed at me in a faked concern. I ignored the glance by looking back down at the open text book before me.

I gritted my teeth and didn't look up. "I'm fine." I had my fists clenched under the desk where Rod and Laura couldn't see them. I wanted to hide everything; I didn't want them to think I was weak. If I hadn't given that impression already.

Rod gave a slight chuckle. "Homework getting too hard for ya?" he taunted, grinning as if that was an insult. He was in the real world far more than I was and I would have thought he would have picked up some more hurtful phrases than that.

I sighed, wishing to be alone. "No, Rod, it's not…" I trailed off.

Laura kept on. "Then what's the problem, Riley?" I hated her persistence. It was this annoying little voice that kept blabbing on and on.

I pounded both of my palms against the desk and stood up quickly. They had made me snap way too quickly. I was mad at myself for letting in so soon. "Why don't you both just shut up?" I snapped, heading for the door.

I stopped short, nearly running into Seth. He towered over me, glaring down at me. Even though he was my brother, he still scared me. How he'd changed in the last few years. It was three years ago that I had seen his last true smile. Most of the time, I never see him. He always stayed in the lab.

I stared up at him. "S-Seth…" I trailed off, trying to think of an excuse good enough to get him to let me through, out of this deathtrap.

But he ignored me; like he always did. "Rod. Laura. Another dinosaur has appeared. I suggest you two leave right away." He didn't look at me at all while saying this. He didn't seem at all like he cared that I was there or dead.

Rod grinned. "Awesome!"

He and Laura jumped to their feet and ran past me, out the door. This is how they got to go places; chasing the awakened dinosaurs all over the globe. All while I sat here, waiting for death.

"Seth…" I wanted to talk to my brother. I didn't know what about, but I just wanted to talk to him like I used to. Before dinosaurs took over his life.

But he ignored me, turning around, and walking away without so much as a single word to me. That is what had always happened; he acted as though I never existed. I was just something that was here and taking up space.

I again sighed as I walked back to my desk and slumped in the chair. Rod and Laura were gone now, so there was no reason to leave. I didn't think I was really able to either, since the maid, Helga, was always here, making sure I'm still studying. All she wanted was for me to study all day long.

I flipped to the inside cover of my text book, where all of my writings were. No one cared to provide me with any paper, so I wrote on the inside bindings of all of my books and on the edges of some of the pages. It's not like anyone bothered to look through my stuff anyway.

All my writings were a collection of my thoughts. The thoughts that I've had for God knows how long. No, not so much thoughts as dreams. Dreams of how I've always wanted me life to be like. Not this living hell that I've had to deal with.

I read through some of it, my words 'If I could be anywhere, I'd be wherever Seth is, because he's the one person that truly understands me' hit me as a flat-out lie. Seth didn't understand me, he barely remembered that I was around.

I felt like throwing that entire book into the trash. I was about to when a voice came from behind me, saying, "Miss Riley, what have I told you about abusing your possessions?"

I gave the monotone voice I always did while talking to Helga and cleared my throat. "Sorry, Helga, it won't happen again." That, I knew, was also a lie. Nothing was going to stop me from what I wanted, not even that old bat.

"Good, now get back to your studies." She walked out of the room before I could respond. Well, it wasn't like I had that much to say anyway. No one would understand me, not even if they lived in my shoes.

I had to admit, I was somewhat glad that no one was really ever watching over me. It always gave me a lot of time to think and do some mental games with myself. Presently, I was trying to reconstruct a model plane out of stuff I found lying around. And I hid the incomplete mass in a drawer of the desk, in the very back behind a few textbooks.

I pulled it out and set it on the desk. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a broken pencil, along with the gum in my mouth. I stuck the pencil in the gum and attached them to the nose of the "plane". It wasn't exactly the best propeller in the world, but it worked for me.

So far, I had the body complete. I didn't have anything to use as the wings yet, but I knew a ruler or something might work. I just wasn't completely sure where to get one. I walked over by Rod and Laura's desks and looked around, seeing pretty much the same things that were in my desk.

"What is this, Miss Riley?"

I spun around, seeing Helga eying my airplane. I ran over and put myself between her and my model. I didn't want her to get rid of it. "No, please, Helga. There's nothing to do around here. I never go anywhere. This is the only thing keeping me busy. I just wanna go somewhere!" I complained, just blurting what I was feeling out.

Helga seemed to ponder this for a moment. She then made a 'huh' kind of grunt and walked out of the room. I hadn't completely realized why until I heard somebody shouting.

"Helgaaa!"

I sighed. It was Dr. Z, as usual. I didn't know why, but lately for some reason, he's been staying in bed and yelling at people more than normal. I heard something about back problems, but it wasn't like I really cared.

I adjusted the tail of the plain, which was beginning to tilt downwards and then sighed. I couldn't keep doing this for the rest of my life, I had to go somewhere, do something.

I then opened the back cover of my textbook and in the middle, wrote 'Goal in Life: Get Out Of Here'.

Rod and Laura got back later that night. They were upbeat because they had successfully captured the dinosaur and turned it back into a card. Their favor with my brother made me angry. They had more respect from him than I ever had.

"How'd it go?" I questioned, though I already knew the answer. I just wanted to have some kind of conversation, especially about the outside world. Anything was better than this island.

Rod grinned triumphantly. "We totally beat the pants off of the D-Team. They didn't stand a chance!" he claimed.

I instantly perked up at the mentioning of other people. "Who is the D-Team?" I asked, eager to know more. 'Other people…from the outside world…' I thought, giving a slight smirk. 'I have to know more.'

Laura was next to speak. "They're these kids that are trying to beat us to the dinosaurs," she stated.

I nodded, understanding. Who wouldn't want their own dinosaurs? "What do they look like?" I let me curiosity take control; I didn't care how much I hated Rod and Laura, they were giving me the answers I've always wanted.

"There are three of them: two boys and a girl. Max, the leader, he has brown hair that sticks up like this." Rod took off his hat and pulled his hair straight up. Both Laura and I laughed at how stupid he looked. "There's the quiet one, Rex, he's a blonde and has mainly blue attire. And then there's the yappy girl, Zoe, that has pink hair like this." Rod grabbed the flowers out of two vases and held them horizontally at the sides of his head.

I laughed. "That D in their name, that stands for 'demented', right?" I wondered, 'Who the heck would have hair like that?!'

"Wouldn't doubt it."

I laid awake that night, thinking, planning. If only I could go on those missions as well, then I'd be happy. I would make sure Seth and Dr. Z would let me go; I was fed up with being ignored for a reason I didn't even know.

I sat up in bed and looked around. Nearby Rod and Laura were asleep in other beds. In the darkness of the night I felt alone, more alone than in the day. I felt like I was being sucked into a void of darkness, there was nothing but the frightening pitch black of the deep night.

I got out of bed and walked out of the room, quiet enough as to not wake up anyone. It was silent as I walked down the hallway to the laboratory, a few lights dim and barely lighting the way.

As I entered the lab, I saw that the lights in there were fully lit, bright to my eyes that were unused to anything but the dark. At the other end of the room, I saw Seth hunched over slightly, looking down at a monitor of some sort.

"Seth," I said, quietly, but still loud enough for him to hear. Though, he didn't respond. As normal, he ignored me. "Seth." My voice was raised. I wanted his attention—I demanded it.

The more he ignored my presence, the angrier I got. He had paid no attention to me for too long. "Seth!" I tried to control my anger, but this hole I had fallen into was too deep to escape from that easy.

"C'mon, Seth! I'm your sister! You can't just act like I don't exist; I'm tired of being disregarded as if I don't matter!" I yelled, letting all of the hard feelings to my brother pour out; I wanted him to hear the truth.

I wanted to make him hurt.

Chapter Two: My Impression

I stood there, glaring at Seth, awaiting his response, which I suspected would be ignorance. I knew he wouldn't say anything, even if I was at his throat with a knife, threatening to kill him.

"Seth…I don't care what you do, but I'm leaving. I want to get out of here. I want to know what the real world is like. And it's because of you, Seth, you're the one keeping me here. Tell me the truth, Seth, tell me what you're feeling. You don't care where I am, it doesn't even matter if I'm alive."

I didn't play my cards to the full extent that I could have, I could have said more, in a much better way, but I wanted to know what he would say.

But no response came. Seth didn't even turn; he merely kept looking down at the computer, clicking buttons and frequently typing.

"Fine." I turned to leave, though I wasn't satisfied that I hadn't gotten at all through to my brother. This, I considered, was just how it was going to be. Seth was going to be one of those people that just fade out of my life.

Though I knew I wouldn't forget him. I had my gift. I could remember any face that I saw, once I saw it, it'd be permanently burned into my memory. I could even remember my parents…

"Riley, wait."

My heart skipped a beat as I stopped. That was the first time he said my name—the first time he said anything to me for God knows how long. I had gotten through to him, though I hid my triumphant smirk.

I turned around and faced my brother. His facial expression didn't change, though by just what I said in those last few moments—everything I was hiding for all of that time—changed the way he thought of me. He had always thought of me as an immature little kid, but now I saw a slight hint of respect showing in his eyes.

Though even with this small change, I wanted to be out of here as soon as I could. Nothing changed that and none of what I said was a lie. All in all, no matter how much I despised Seth, he was my brother and I just couldn't bring myself to lie to him. Not even after all he has done.

"What?" I questioned nonchalantly, shoving my hands into my pockets. All of my enthusiasm had left me with all of my secrets.

Seth seemed to be looking straight through me, not looking at me, but into me. Into my very soul. "Rod and Laura told me of your strong curiosity of the outside world." He paused as I nodded slowly, understanding, but at the same time pissed at Rod and Laura for their exceptionally large mouths. "So Dr. Z and I have a…proposition to make."

My brother's cold, expressionless voice sent a powerful chill down my spine, one he had never given before. How he had changed since we had last spoken to each other; it felt like an eternity. His words made me fight within myself. I wanted for so long to break free from the Alpha Gang, have nothing to do with them ever again, but this "proposition" of Seth's may be my only ticket out.

He kept talking. "Meet the so-called 'D-Team', earn their trust, and when you have done so, deprive them of all of their Dinosaur Cards."

I eyed him, knowing this wasn't the end. "What do I get out of this? There must be more…?" I stared at him, awaiting my end of the deal. There was no way I'd do that just for the heck of it.

"Your freedom, of course. That is what you have been wanting, correct?" He gave a slight grin, but not the kind I missed him having. This one showed greed: greed for complete power.

I considered this proposition. Seth was offering me what I've always wanted—what I've always craved. Freedom was the goal I was striving for. It was the very thing I was determined to acquire.

"And after that, you'll never ask for affiliation with me ever again?" I asked, making sure there were no loopholes in this. Something to pull me back again and get me stuck into the Alpha Gang's trap.

"That is correct."

I grinned, feeling more upbeat than I've ever been. "Okay, Seth, you've got yourself a deal."

The next morning, I awoke, my heart pounding in anticipation. Freedom. And for the smallest price I could think of. What was so hard about getting a bunch of brainless kids to trust you? I've had plenty of experience hiding my emotions and secrets, so for me, this should be simple.

I grabbed my sack that I had made in my spare time. It was overall easy to make; all I did was steal some of Rod and Laura's clothes and tie them together in such a way that it would be a pouch.

I didn't exactly know what to pack, since I didn't really have that much. Though beforehand, Seth had given me a tracker to hook to my clothes so that he would always know of my present location and a headset, just for communication. Other than the headset, the pack was pretty much empty, aside from some money that was given to me for emergencies. Either way, I knew it was important to travel light.

"It's no fair, Riley! You get to go undercover?!" Rod complained, watching me pack nothing into my pack. I sat down with it in my lap. "You are so lucky!" I already knew that if anyone was jealous, it would be Rod.

"When are you coming back?" Laura asked. Her little voice for once showed a hint of concern for me. She wanted me to come back.

I shrugged. "If I'm lucky, never," I replied, standing up and heading for the door. "Any place is better than here."

Using autopilot in one of the Alpha Gang's jets, I arrived in Japan. The sights and sounds of civilization enthralled me with an increasing adrenaline. I knew I would love it here; it was already far better than that island. I wasn't sure what kept me sane all of the years I was living there.

People were everywhere, walking down streets in a bustling rush. Some people seemed to have a place to be, but others were taking their sweet time, enjoying the nice day. I was glad I decided to come today of all days, especially because of the good weather.

I pulled out the headset and attached it to my ear, the mouthpiece curving around to the edge of my mouth. "Seth, you there?" I questioned, beginning to wander aimlessly down the street, looking around, but at the same time trying to appear as if I knew my way around. "Where is my destination?"

"HI RILEY!!"

I yelped at the sound of the loud voice. Some people turned to stare at me. "Ugh, Rod, what the heck?! Let me talk to my brother," I said, sighing and attempting to retain my anger. Rod, some days, would annoy me to death.

Laughter came from the other line. Rod was making fun of me yet again. "Actually, Riley, Seth had told me that I had to talk to you. Said he had some…things to take care of. Didn't really specify."

I shook my head in accordance to Rod's absolute stupidity. "Whatever. Where am I headed?" I asked, annoyed that I had to deal with him, but taking what came to me anyway.

"Okay. You're headed for the Taylor house, I guessing…" He trailed off.

"What do you mean you're guessing?! You don't know?! Didn't Seth tell you anything?!" My solution of "dealing with it" wasn't really going over well. It didn't help that Rod had a Nerd for a brain.

"Well…"

I didn't catch the rest of what he was saying. I felt something hit me in the back and I blacked out.

I opened my eyes. "What the—?" I stopped, noticing a kid looking down at me. He had weird hair and a visor with…uh…horns? What kind of idiot wore clothes like that?!

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. He was staring at me even as I sat up. I continued to stare. He was one freaky-looking dude.

I rubbed the back of my head, for some reason it was throbbing. "Does it really look like it?" I retaliated, looking around. I was in a building, probably this kid's house. I was lying on a couch. "What happened?" I tried thinking back, but it was all a blur. All I knew was that I was at one point talking to Rod.

He adverted his eyes off of me. "Well…I was…" He trailed off.

"He was attemptingto rollerblade blindfolded."

I looked around. The voice came from a blonde-haired boy who was sitting in a nearby chair. A slight smirk was plastered on his face as he glanced at the other boy and sighed, shaking his head causing his bangs to fall in front of his sapphire blue eyes. I couldn't help but think he was kinda cute.

Suddenly, something came back to me. A mental picture I never knew I had. I remembered a face, one similar to the blonde boy's. I immediately got the impression I knew him.

"Have we met before?" I asked him, the picture still in my mind. I knew for certain that I knew him, though it was impossible since I had never met anyone from the outside world.

He stared at me before shaking his head. "No, I don't think so…why?" He cocked his head slightly.

I shrugged. "I thought for sure…" I trailed off, leaving the rest of my sentence to be in my mind. If by some strange reason, I did know him, I'd have to ask Seth.

Chapter Three: My Issues

"By the way, I'm really sorry about before. I should have been watching…" The funny-haired boy said, still staring at me.

"But weren't you blindfolded?" I questioned, thinking back to our earlier conversation. I recalled the blonde-haired boy said he was attempting to rollerblade blindfolded, though I didn't exactly see the reason why.

"Right…" He trailed off, giving me a cheesy 'I'm really dumb, aren't I?' smirk. "Anyway, my name's Max."

Something in my mind clicked. What Rod said; the boy with the hair that sticks straight up: he's the leader of the D-Team. That must mean that the blonde kid was part of it too…But wasn't there three people?

"The name's Rex," the blonde kid continued, grinning. For some reason, I couldn't help but admire his eyes. It seemed like the vibrant cerulean color stood out more than I felt it should have.

I smiled back, but my smile looked really peculiar, like I just ate something that went bad a long while back. "I'm Riley."

Immediately I realized the mistake I told myself I wouldn't make. I was originally planning on a fake name, just for a safety precaution, but it seemed like the words just fell out uncontrollably. What the heck was going on?

Max suddenly jumped to his feet. "Hey, Riley, are you hungry? I can make you something to eat if you want, as an apology."

At that moment, I finally realized how hungry I really was. So unsurely, I said, "Uh…sure, I guess…" I trailed off, not really sure if that was a good choice or not. Max didn't exactly seem like the brightest of all people.

Max grinned as he darted out of the room. Something ran into the room just as he exited. It was a small bluish blur I couldn't really make out. It moved so fast as soon as I saw it, it was gone.

Suddenly, the blue blur jumped onto the small coffee table in front of the couch, along with a yellow one. When they stopped, I realized exactly what they were.

"Baby dinosaurs?" I questioned, mainly to myself as they turned to look at me suspiciously.

Rex immediately tried to cover up what they were. "No, they're not. They're—" I cut him off, no matter how much I really didn't want to.

"No doubt about it. This one's a triceratops and the other's a carnotaurus." I glanced at each one before smirking at Rex. "No need to hide it, Rex. You can trust me." I cringed when I said that, since it was mostly a lie. It felt hard for me to lie to him, but Seth was depending on me.

I leaned over toward the triceratops. "It's really—OWW!" It clamped down on my arm when I tried to touch it and wouldn't let go. "C'mon, get off!" I waved my arm, but the little dinosaur stuck fast.

Rex grabbed hold of the triceratops and tried pulling. "Let go, Chomp."

It felt like my arm was being torn off. "Yeah, all I was going to do was tell you how cute you are!"

Right away after I said that, the triceratops let go, realizing I was going to give it a compliment, and Rex fell backwards on the floor, the triceratops standing beside him and staring him as if asking 'what are you doing down there?'

Rex gave a slight grin. "Heh, got 'em."

"Thanks." I blushed a slight pink color.

I heard something blow up in the kitchen and Max yell, "REX, I BURNT THE WATER!!!"

Rex stood up and glanced over in the direction of the kitchen. He walked in while replying, "Max, you can't burn…how the heck did you do that?!"

"Well I just—"

"What did you add to it?!"

"I didn't put anything in it. I just added water and put it on the stove!"

I heard Rex sigh. "I'm just wondering how your house is still standing…"

I walked into the kitchen and looked around. The room was completely covered in flour, including on Max, who was in the middle of it all wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron, smiling like an idiot (which stands to reason). In his hands was a pot.

I stood there, staring at him. "Do I dare ask?" I questioned, glancing around at the now white room. I could see that in the pot was a black mass. "What's that?" I gestured to the pot.

"Water…" Rex said flatly. "Somehow Max managed to burn it."

"But you can't—" He cut me off, his voice not at all more enthusiastic than before.

"I know."

"Then how'd he—"

"Don't ask."

I glanced at Max who was trying to scrape the "burnt water" out of the pot onto a plate. "Uh, Max, I'm not hungry anymore. Thanks for trying though." I decided that was the best thing to do to someone that could kill you when he's trying to get you something to eat.

But apparently Max was trying to make other stuff as well. "But I was going to make you a milkshake! See?!" He clicked the On button on a blender. Inside of it was God knows what. I was pretty sure I saw a few spoons in there, but in a second, nothing was in there. Of course, Max forgot to put the cover on.

The contents of the blender sprayed everywhere, on everyone. Max seemed to enjoy it more than anyone; he opened his mouth and caught some of the "milkshake". He actually seemed to like the taste.

"Maaaaaax!!!"

We all turned toward the door, seeing a girl with pink hair in the shape of an elephant's ears standing there, covered in Max's specialty milkshake, glaring at Max. I immediately knew by her appearance that she wasn't the type of person I'd get along with. Already her annoying voice irritated me, even by that one little word.

"Hi Zoe," Max said as if she wasn't already angry at him and all was right with the world. "We were just about to eat. Do you want me to make you something?" Instantly, an alarm went off in my head.

"NO!" Rex and I yelled simultaneously. We looked at each other, and I felt my face light up a deep crimson. Everyone stared at us.

In a second's time, Zoe was right in front of my face, looking me up and down, as if she was trying to spot a flaw in the way I was designed. "Who are you?!" she demanded, as if I just did something horribly, horribly wrong.

Max perked up and grinned really cheekily. "Thaaat's Riley! I hit her when rollerblading!" he blurted out as if it was something to be extremely excited about and he had a lot of fun harming me. What a big mouth he had.

"Trying to rollerblade," Rex corrected, sighing in annoyance. "Blindfolded." He shook his head in accordance to Max's stupidity.

A little green dinosaur walked up by my leg and stared at me, cocking its head in curiosity. It looked up at me and made a little squealing noise that I couldn't tell was out of fear or a kind of contentment.

I looked down at it. "A parasaurolophus?" I questioned, mainly to myself, recognizing the features that revealed its species. I saw the weird glances that everyone was giving me, "What?"

Right at that moment, the triceratops and the carnotaurus ran in the room, right for some of the milkshake. They were both about to eat some when Rex advised them, "Uh, I wouldn't eat that if I were you, guys." The baby dinosaurs stopped and looked at him.

Max glared at him for giving that warning. "Oh, I see you're jealous of my great cooking ability! So you tell Chomp and Ace not to eat it?! That's pretty rude if you as me." Yeah, if you asked him. Maybe they should've asked the dinosaurs after they died of food poisoning.

Rex laughed, obviously thinking what Max said was all a joke. "Jealous? Hardly! I just don't want them to get poisoned and die all because your idiocy."

Max continued to glare. "Sounds like jealousy to me!"

To keep them from tearing each other apart right then and there, limb by limb, Zoe and I (no matter how much I wanted to team up with that brat) had to pull them away from each other, but either way, they were still yelling. They were interrupted by the little green dinosaur screeching the most irritating sound (aside from Zoe's voice) I've ever heard.

Zoe smiled, obviously happy about it for some dumb reason. "Paris thinks she can stop your fighting by singing!" she exclaimed, letting go of Max to clasp her hands together.

I laughed, all of what Zoe said seeming like a joke to me. It was all just too much to take. "Ha! You call that singing?! I've heard dying birds make more pleasant sounds than that," I scoffed, shoving my hands into my pockets.

Zoe was steamed at my remark. "For your information, Paris happens to be an excellent singer, especially for a dinosaur! Let's see you sing better!" she snapped, glaring at me like she was about to try to kill me. Oh well.

I turned and gave the devious smirk Seth always gave. "Naw, I don't want to make you look bad. Besides, I don't want to waste my breath proving something to someone that doesn't matter." The first part was a lie. I would have loved nothing more than to make her feel humiliated.

It took both Max and Rex to hold her back. Her anger made my smile; the way I could just stand here and make her blood boil, it all was just too easy. I realized I was more like my brother than I originally thought.

'This is all too simple. Why didn't Seth just send Rod and Laura to go and steal the Dinosaur Cards?' I wondered. The thought made me remember my past conversation with Rod. "Hey, where's my headset?" I wondered aloud.

Max and Rex turned to look at me, but Zoe didn't stop glaring at me. It was obvious to know why.

"What's a headset?" Max asked. I should have known that was coming. After all, curiosity kills the cat. But since Max was who he was, it was probably going to back to bite me in the end.

I instantly tried to cover up the fact that I said something out loud that I wasn't supposed to. "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. Don't mind me." I tried to smile, but it felt really hard. For some reason, I felt really guilty for hiding things all of a sudden. It never bothered me back at Zeta Point, but things felt different now.

I felt different.

Chapter Four: My Confusion

Later, when I had to tell everyone I was visiting Japan for a vacation (another lie), Max's parents, Spike and Aki, opened their home up to me. Their generosity surprised me; I didn't know that people were so nice. Not only had they welcomed me, but I also learned that Rex stayed there as well. Oddly, when I heard that fact, I felt an unusual rush of adrenaline.

"You can sleep in my room, Riley." Max led me down the hallway to his bedroom the farthest door in the hall, not even looking at me when he talked. "Rex said it'd help make up from the rollerblading incident."

I smiled slightly, flushing lightly. It totally seemed like Rex to say something like that. The thought made me feel really weird: a good kind of weird I never felt before. This made me confused? What was happening to me? I didn't feel sick, but in the same, way, I didn't feel healthy either. This feeling was driving me insane. What was it?

Max opened up the door at the end of the hallway, obviously his bedroom. The room inside was completely trashed, more damage than a tornado could possibly manage doing. And it smelled…kinda weird.

I tried to be polite about it, but only rude remarks came to my head. Being nice sometimes was just so difficult. "You know, Max, I can always hit the couch. That way, you'll get your own room," I tried, grinning cheesily, hoping he wouldn't be offended by the way I was trying to get out of the situation. "But thanks for the offer anyway." I hated being nice to someone so dumb.

Max shrugged, probably hiding his relief that he got his own room. "Okay then." Just then his cell phone rang. "Hello?"

I stared at him wide-eyed. "Uh, Max, don't you have to answer your cell before talking to the person calling?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at his absolute stupidity. There were so many insults I could come up with.

Max seemed surprised at my statement, as if what I just said was a flat-out lie that didn't make even a hint of sense. Finally, he got the idea. "Oh yeah." He pulled out his cell phone and answered. "Hello?"

I could hear the voice yelling on the other line as clear as day. If I was deaf, I could have heard it. "WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER ON THE FIRST RING?!?!" I knew by the yappy, high-pitched voice that it was Zoe, who had left a few hours before.
"I COULD HAVE DIED IN THOSE TWO SECONDS THAT YOU WERE DISTRACTED!!!"

I sighed. "It's too bad you didn't…" I mumbled to myself, rolling my eyes. I then decided to wander around the house, since it seemed Zoe had Max occupied for the time being, so it was obvious he couldn't give me the grand tour. I actually slightly felt sorry for him, though not very much. He was an idiot and that's all there was to it.

I began to walk down the hall a few feet when I began to hear music playing nearby. I stopped at the door to the room it was coming from, the room right next to Max's. For a moment, I just stood there, taking in the harmonic sounds that seemed to flow perfectly together in the most beautiful of rhapsodies. I wondered who was playing the music. Aki seemed like the type to play some kind of instrument.

I knocked on the door, and to my dismay, the music stopped playing. I heard footsteps inside getting louder and after a few moments, the door opened. Much to my surprise—and I had to admit, oddly it was also to my pleasure—it was Rex.

Suddenly, I ran out of words. I felt my face heat up when I just stood there staring at him like an absolute idiot. Nothing I was planning on saying came out or had a single chance of coming out. I was deeply confused why everything seemed so hard to get out, and why everything seemed to change when he was around. It was late at night, later than I was used to staying up, and suddenly, I was wide awake.

Rex stood there, staring back at me, probably expecting me to say something. "Uh, do you need something, Riley?" he asked, obviously confused at why I was acting so quiet.

I tried to think of something I could possibly say, but I couldn't get any of my thoughts straight. "I, uh…heard pretty music," I managed to say, but that's the last thing I wanted to say and I turned about twenty shades of red. "It sounded really nice." I was mentally yelling at myself for saying something so stupid.

"Oh, uh, you heard that?" he questioned. When I said nothing—when I could say nothing—he continued. "I play the violin…you can come in and listen if you want." He gave me a sweet smile that made me turn even redder. I couldn't think about anything correctly, he interrupted all of my thoughts.

I suddenly felt tense. Being in the same room as him made me scared, but for some reason, at the same time, really excited. My heart couldn't stop thudding a powerful beat; I could hear it in my ears. "S-sure," I stuttered. "I'd love y—that." I wanted to flog myself for nearly screwing up on my words.

I followed Rex into his room, where it was the exact opposite of Max's. I couldn't see anything dirty or out of place, and everything seemed to belong in its current position; it'd be wrong if it was rearranged. On the bed, I caught sight of a small, wooden violin. Even it seemed perfect in its current place.

I unsurely seated myself on the bed, putting my feet up and leaning my back against the wall as Rex picked up the violin and the bow and sat down on the corner of the bed. I felt uncomfortable him being just right there, a few feet away, even if he wasn't looking at me.

Slowly he raised the violin so the lower bout would rest below his chin. He lifted the bow to the neck and began to play a soft, lullaby-like melody. The notes seemed to waft through the air as if it was a light, gentle breeze. Never before had I heard such sound, hearing it suddenly filled me with happiness. It was so soothing that I felt like the entire building could fall down on top of me and I wouldn't care.

This all felt like a dream, it was all too perfect to be reality. Even if this actually was a dream, I wouldn't believe it. None of my dreams have ever been this complete, this faultless. But all I knew was that this was one dream I would never want to wake up from.

I opened my eyes, bright light shining in through the window, burning my eyes that were unused to the early morning. I looked around at the room and everything inside it; this wasn't Zeta Point.

Suddenly, memories of yesterday came back in one big flood of images. My brother, Seth, sent me here, I remembered, but that memory was abruptly interrupted by the remembrance of late last night. I was in here listening to music. I must have fallen asleep, since the room was empty and there was a blanket wrapped around me. I couldn't help but smile. Rex.

I walked out of Rex's room, where I immediately heard a voice—I soon recognized it as Max—yelling, complaining about something. I was surprised that he never complained about how much his room reeked. It was a deathtrap in there.

I entered the dining room, where Max was fighting with Ace over a single piece of bacon in a tug-of-war fashion. It was easy to see that Ace was winning. He gulped down the bacon, accidentally chomping down on Max's hand in the process. He yelled in pain.

I let out a slight chuckle, but only because I was in a surprisingly good mood that morning. I told Max, "Looks like Ace has got the upper hand, Max. Or at least your left one." I grinned at him tauntingly as I walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mrs. Taylor," I greeted as I entered the room.

Max's mom turned away from her cooking at smiled at me politely. "Good morning to you, too, Riley. Get a good night's sleep?" she asked, turning back to the bowl before her.

"Yep." I was surprised I actually didn't have to lie. Truthfully, that felt like the best night's sleep I'd ever had. I decided to express my good mood. "Thanks again for letting me stay here, Mrs. Taylor."

She chuckled. "Please, Riley. Call me Aki."

At that moment, Rex entered the room. He looked as though he just got out of the shower, since I never saw his hair look so shiny and sleek. I couldn't help but blush when he smiled at me. I couldn't get over how cute he looked with the wet look. No matter how much I tried not to think of it, the thought just kept coming right back.

"Hey, Riley," he said about as nonchalantly as anyone could get. He ran his fingers through his wet hair. "Sleep well?" I realized this was a repeat of the conversation I had just seconds before, but I could care less. Again things felt so different. I felt the tension, the static.

"Yeah. Totally," I replied, trying not to stare at him, but failing. Miserably. I felt like a total idiot and the luckiest person in the world both at the same time. It was so confusing, but I felt like it didn't ever have to make sense. It was perfect just how it was now.

Aki again chuckled and we both looked at her. She smiled and said nothing, turning back to her cooking. It was obvious to me that she knew something I didn't and thought it was amusing. I wished I knew what it was.

Zoe dropped by after breakfast. Her good spirits dropped as soon as she saw that I was still here. That increased my good mood even more, enough that I made the decision that I'd cut back slightly on my sarcasm for the day. For that to happen, it would have been a miracle back at Zeta Point, but this wasn't Zeta Point.

Zoe noticed my slight kindness. Apparently, that gave her an "excellent idea". "Hey, why don't we go shopping?!" she exclaimed, suddenly excited that I was around. If only I felt the same way with her.

"Shopping?!" Max and Rex moaned at the same time, distress plastered on their faces. I had to admit, I wasn't too thrilled either, but I said nothing.

Zoe shook her head. "No. just Riley and I. Afterwards, we could get lunch, and then go sightseeing!" Though we pretty much hated each other, apparently she tried to give me "a second chance", and actually seemed pretty psyched about it. "What do you say, Riley?" She turned to me and grinned.

Truthfully, I just wanted to lounge around the house the entire day, but I disregarded that side—the one that hated Zoe to the core—and thought about my mission, my deal with my brother. I had to get everyone to trust me, even Zoe, no matter how much I didn't want to. I sighed. "Fine." I thought about the money in my sack—a few hundred dollars I was provided with—and how much I might spend.

"Awesome! Let's go!" Zoe jumped up, grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the house, Paris in close pursuit. I had to tell myself repeatedly that it wasn't gonna kill me, but probably close to it. It was all for Seth.

The first place Zoe took me was the mall. A few minutes passed and we (when I say 'we', I mean just Zoe) were trying on outfit after outfit. I sat in a chair, bored out of my mind, as Zoe showcased different outfits, asking me which one was best as if I cared. Honestly, I didn't know, nor did I care.

"What about this one, Riley?" Zoe questioned, wearing a light blue skirt with a white blouse. This was about the tenth thing she showed me and this event wasn't getting any more fun than when we started.

I sighed in boredom. "Does it really matter?" I retaliated, slouching in the chair I was in and looking up at the ceiling above. It was actually more entertaining than Zoe was. "What's wrong with the clothes you already own?"

Zoe rolled her eyes at me and my lack of fashion sense as if that would make me want to see more. "Ugh, fine, why don't we head over to the food court and get something to eat? I'll buy these first." She grabbed all of the clothes she tried on and headed toward the check-out counter.

"So, Riley, exactly where are you from?" Zoe asked, sitting down with a tray of food, shopping bags surrounding her chair. There was nothing on my side of the table, which showed exactly how much fun I was having.

It was easy for me to lie now, since it was only Zoe, and she didn't really matter to me. "I'm from the U.S. I came to sightsee and stuff," I replied, the lying easier than ever. I thought about what the 'stuff' was and why I was really here. Seth was the answer. It was all him.

"So what do you think of Japan so far?" I hated her constant barrage of questions; I would have to remember all the things I told her, so I wouldn't be caught in my lies. That was the one thing I didn't want to do.

"It's a really nice place and you have really good friends." At least that was the truth, but even though I said 'friends', only one person came to mind. I rested my chin on my palm and began to daydream, so much I missed whatever Zoe said.

"Riley? Did you hear me? Riley?" That was an obvious answer, she should have known the answer by the non-responsive expression I wore on my face. "Riley!"

I snapped back into attention, though I didn't really want to. My imaginings were far more important and entertaining than Zoe could ever be. "What?" I asked, feeling as though nothing was wrong, and it didn't matter if I ignored her or not. To me, it didn't.

"What are you thinking about?!"

I knew that Zoe was a huge blabbermouth and in a day's time, whatever I said would find its way everywhere. So I shook my head, acting as it was all just no big deal. "It's nothing, Zoe." Even though I said it didn't matter, it was easy for me to tell that Zoe was the type to be overly persistent. I was right.

"You can tell me, Riley. You can tell me anything, because you're my friend." If I could confide to anyone, it most definitely wouldn't be her, no matter what she said. I just felt I couldn't trust her, no matter what.

I wanted to blurt out 'in your dreams', but I promised myself that I would be nicer today because of my previous good mood. I cursed myself because of my lack of common sense. "No, really. It's nothing," I persisted, trying to keep my temper and sarcasm under control.

Zoe thought a moment. "Let's see…you stopped talking after referring to Max and Rex. Are you crushing on one of them?" She smirked and I just wanted to flog her. I never wanted to hurt anyone more.

I felt my face grow hot. 'Stupid! Stupid!' I yelled at myself for making it seem so obvious. I knew I had to cover it up as best as I could. "No, I was just thinking about stuff before that. Whatever gave you that idea?" I tried to give her a look showing I thought that she was insane. I held my hands under the table from refraining from strangling her then and there.

"Well, I just thought—" I cut her off, standing up.

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong." I slammed my hands on the table like I did back at Zeta Point when I was angry at Rod and Laura, and walked away.

Chapter Five: My Cover

I wandered through the mall vacantly. I was thinking about buying a journal and pens, so I had something to write in. I had forgotten my textbook, but I had a compulsion to write in something.

I stopped at the window of a bookstore and looked inside at all of the novels and stories on display. I never got a chance to get a book of my own, so I was considering using this chance to finally read something.

"Try a mystery. Those are always interesting."

I turned. Behind me Rod and Laura were grinning at me. Alpha Scanners were in their hands and I couldn't help but be slightly envious. "Naw, I was thinking more of a drama," I stated. "I want something that'll keep me reading."

Rod shook his head. "How about something to keep your head on your mission? We have been trying to contact you, but you never responded. What's that about?" he questioned, eying me.

I shrugged. "Don't look at me, guys. I was minding my own business when Max came along. He hit me when trying to rollerblade blindfolded. I think the headset went flying and broke. I don't know where it is."

Laura sighed. "I guess we'll have to tell Seth to get you another one. Anyway, how are things working out so far?" she questioned.

I decided to leave the part about the violin out. "For now, I'm staying with the Taylor's. Nobody suspects anything yet, but I'm having a hard time connecting with Zoe. She's just so annoying. Otherwise, everything's going a-ok. But an FYI, never ask Max to make you something to eat." I thought back at my first major event at the Taylor's and smirked slightly.

Rod looked at me suspiciously. "What's with the smile? You're not actually having a good time, are you?" he questioned, staring at me. I would never admit it to them, but he was actually not very far from the truth.

My eyes trailed from my past roommates to something off in the distance. "Uh-oh, you guys gotta hightail it. Zoe's coming. You can't blow my cover, Seth'll kill me, I know it. Go!" I shoved them away and walked into the bookstore, trying to seem like I was there the entire time.

Almost immediately, I spotted a journal I nearly fell in love with. It was black with a rose trim around the sides of the cover and on the front, was the word 'Journal' written in golden cursive font. I knew right away that was the one I was going to be writing in.

Zoe walked into the store, exhausted from carrying all of her shopping bags. "Riley, this is where you were the entire time? I was looking all over for you!" she exclaimed, dropping the bags and letting out a groan.

I grinned at her pain, still holding the journal. "Yep," I answered simply, pulling a package of pens off the rack. "I thought that as long as I'm here, I could write down everything that's happened so far." The truth just fell out, but it wasn't that important anyway.

Zoe seemed to care less of this. She fell onto the floor, not really caring if people stared at her. "You could have helped carry this stuff, you know." She let out an over-enthusiastic sigh.

I smirked. "Yeah, I know." I looked over at a shelf of books and then walked over to it. "But you kinda cramp my style. You're a—no offense—kind of a buzz kill." Even though I said I didn't, I actually meant to add offense. She ticked me off more than once, now it was payback.

"You're nice." She glared at me, though she didn't look at all threatening. I knew I could take her any day of the week.

I picked up a book and looked at the cover. "Yep, I'm aware." I put the book back and walked over to check out the things I picked out.

Zoe grabbed her bags when I began to walk out of the store. "Ya know, earlier I thought I saw you talking to someone. They looked like people I knew." I knew where she was going with this.

I froze. My cover; I couldn't blow this. Seth would murder me. "What? I wasn't talking to anyone. You must have been mistaken…" I trailed off. 'She couldn't figure it out. No…'

Zoe paused, thinking this through. Soon, she smiled. "Okay, I guess you're right. What would Rod and Laura be doing here of all places?" She laughed as my eyes trailed away at a nearby bench. Rod and Laura gave me a thumbs-up and I nodded to them slowly.

I hobbled through the doors, my arms feeling like they were about to fall off. Zoe had made me carry most of her shopping bags on the way back and we never even stopped for a rest.

Entering the living room, I dropped all of the bags onto the floor except for the one with my own purchases in. One bag compared to Zoe's seven. I groaned as I collapsed on the couch.

Rex grinned at me. "I see you had a good time," he said, looking at all of Zoe's bags. "What did you get?"

I briefly glanced over at all of Zoe's bags as she entered the room. "No, that's all of Zoe's crap. She made me carry all of it," I said as Zoe glared at me.

"Riley, these are all of my designer clothes!" she yelled.

I turned to Rex and smirked. "See what I mean? Crap."

He laughed slightly as he noticed the single small bag still grasped in my hand. "Okay, then what's that?" he asked.

I lifted up the bag and pulled out the journal. "Book" was really all I felt like saying. Though oddly, it took Max's attention. He stared at it as if it was the most valuable thing in the world.

He must have been looking at the rose on the sides. His mouth watered and he lunged at me and stole the journal. "Ooh, yummy flowers!" He then did the worst thing he could have done at that moment. It was the thing that really made me snap: He tried to bite off the rose.

I dove at him and tackled him to the floor. He screamed like a girl as I snatched the journal back. I whacked him in the head with it, so hard his hair that normally stood straight up was reduced to less than half of its normal size.

Max glared at me, showing his dislike of his new "hairstyle". "Hey, I can't help that you bought a book that looked soooo goooood!" he complained, beginning to stare at it again. He tried to reach for it, but I pulled it away. "Riley!"

"What's the deal with his hair?" Zoe questioned, walking over to Max. He gave her an annoyed look as she began to poke it. Suddenly, it puffed back up to its normal size and shape, so unexpectedly that Zoe jumped backwards and tripped over the coffee table.

Rex and I laughed at her. I was glad I wasn't the only one that found that funny. "Get new legs today when you were shopping?" I questioned the sarcasm in my voice impossible to miss.

Chomp, Ace, and Paris ran over to investigate the fallen Zoe. Suddenly, Chomp walked over to her head and bit her nose, making her jump up. She was angry. "That little pipsqueak bit me!" she exclaimed, as if none of us saw it and weren't already laughing. She glared at Max, who was laughing his off. "Max, learn to control him!"

Max was too busy laughing to reply. He fell out of his chair onto the floor, in such a laughing fit that his eyes were filled with tears. Okay, maybe it wasn't that funny, but apparently he thought it was.

Zoe whacked him over the head. "Stop laughing! That wasn't funny, I could have DIED!" she shouted, sounding serious.

I spoke up, smirking. This was my moment and no one ruins my moment. "Yeah, but you didn't…too bad."

In an instant, she was on top of me, trying to punch me. She wanted me to apologize, I could see that in her eyes, but I didn't want to apologize, this was just too much fun for me.

I shoved her off of me and stood up, glaring at her. "Don't ever threaten me. That is always a mistake," I snarled, grabbing my journal and walking out of the room. I didn't know what came over me at that instant. For a moment, I had become Seth.

I walked out of the house, sitting down on the stoop to write. Next to me, I noticed, was a small package. Oddly, I realized it was addressed to me as I picked it up. I opened it and found a new headset and below that, I noticed, was the textbook I used to write in. There was a note attached to it that said:

Miss Riley,

Don't forget to keep up your studies.

Helga

I couldn't help but smile at it. I never really considered the idea that she would really care that I was away. I sat the textbook down and put on the headset, figuring that everyone back at Zeta Point was awaiting some news from me.

"Hey, Seth, you there?" I realized I would probably talk to Rod again, just as before, though it was too late to take back my words.

"Nope, this is Laura!" a voice squeaked from the other line. I sighed; a different person each time.

A voice came from farther off, though still I knew it came from Zeta Point. "Hey, Laura, Seth told me to talk to Riley!" I knew immediately it was Rod. Surprise, surprise. "C'mon, gimme the headset!"

"Nope! Seth said I could do it this time!" Laura's voice yelled back.

"You're not old enough!"

"Yeah, I am! I'm almost as old as you and Seth believes in me!"

"Still, respect your elders!"

I heard static as Rod and Laura began to physically fight over the headset. I considered the idea that they both missed me, but that soon was discarded for the idea that they both just wanted the chance to use the headset.

"Hi Riley! This is—OWW!" Rod stopped.

"Okay, I'm back," Laura stated to me, having apparently done something painful to Rod in order to get the headset back. "What's your current status?"

I sighed, all of that waiting and for the same person to be talking to me as in the beginning of the conversation. "Okay, I've infiltrated the Taylor house, Max and Rex seem to trust me, but I just had another fight with Zoe. She's gonna take some time to get through to," I admitted, opening up my new journal and doodling a giant heart on the first page. I began to color it in.

"Well, I know you can do it, Riley. I bet they don't suspect a thing!" Laura had so much confidence in me, more than I would have originally given her credit for. Apparently she looked up to me.

I laughed slightly. "Thanks, I guess. I don't know, honestly, this may be sorta hard. What do I do if Max breaks the headset again?" I questioned, thinking back to the day before, when I first met the D-Team.

"Don't worry. We have better ways to contact you than you know. When you get your hands on those Dinosaur Cards, we'll already be aware and sending a jet to pick you up for a smooth getaway." By the tone of her voice, I could tell she was smiling.

I stopped doodling and said nothing. Though I knew it was my mission—my duty to pose as I bystander and then get the D-Team's cards and give them to Seth, I couldn't help but get a slight pit in my stomach. I didn't know why, but for some reason, what I was doing felt wrong.

"Riley? Riley? Riley!" Laura's voice rang over and over to me, but my thoughts clouded over her voice. What I hadn't noticed, I was too busy to see Zoe and Paris walk out of the Taylor house and see me sitting there on the stoop.

I turned just as Zoe began yelling at me. "Riley?! What are you doing?!" she snapped, grabbing the note from on top of the textbook. She read it before shoving it in my face. "How's Helga? Last time I checked, she was the Alpha Gang's maid! You don't happen to be with them, do you?" She reached down to pick up my beloved textbook.

In an instant, she was bleeding from the nose. She had pushed me off the edge, she had made me snap. I ripped off the headset, so I wouldn't have a free hand to strangle her with. I snatched up my journal and textbook. "How dare you make that presumption of me! Don't even compare me to them!" I snapped, the lying easy since I was angry at her.

Zoe glared at me, blood seeping down her face, and she couldn't hide the fact that she was about to cry. Her voice shook when she tried to talk. "I only thought…" she trailed off, gulping back tears.

My face softened slightly. I shook my head. "Though you don't know of my past," I began, "don't think wrong of me. I wouldn't have anything to do with them." I breezed pas her and walked into the house.

Chapter six: My Moment

I don't know what's happening to me. Whenever he's nearby, I can't look away. I feel warm—like I'm on fire and it seems like everything revolves around him. When he played his music for me, I couldn't help but think that things couldn't get any better than that…

I looked up from my journal, hearing voices walking down the hallway. I was in Rex's room, since it was the only room in the house that was both quiet and didn't smell. I instantly panicked, recognizing one of the voices as Rex's.

There was nothing I could do, so I pretended to be occupied with writing in my journal as Rex entered the room. He seemed surprised when he saw me sitting there on his bed, my journal in my lap.

"Oh, sorry, Riley. You can sleep in here if you want," he stated, clearly not sure of what he should say. He incessantly ran his fingers through his bangs, absent-mindedly making me stare in sheer incredulity.

I wasn't exactly sure of what to say either. "No, that's fine…though sorry about falling asleep last night. You could have just woke me up and kicked me out," I admitted, the conversation failing.

He sat down on the bed, the opposite side of me, just as the night before. He shook his head slightly. "Naw, I didn't want to disturb you." He didn't even look at me as he said any of this.

I paused, thinking. "Oh…thanks I guess." I tried to take my eyes off of him, though even before I tried, I already knew it was impossible. He had something, a unique essence that drew me to him.

Rex was silent, staring at the floor in some sort of a daze. At a second glance, I saw that he was blushing a light rose pink. I couldn't help but think of how cute he was. His crystal, sapphire blue eyes shined brightly in the light. The way his hair fell into his face seemed absolutely perfect.

Suddenly, he spoke up, his voice soft, flowing as calm as a careless breeze. "Have you ever waned to do something so badly, but have no clue on how to do it?" he questioned, still staring at the floor.

I didn't smile nor frown. I was confused as to what he was getting at. Though I decided to answer anyway. "Yes, I have," I replied in a whisper, which was as loud as it seemed right to be. "…Why?"

I don't know how, but suddenly we were close to each other, so close we were almost touching. I felt like I was burning up as I blushed like mad. I could feel static, the rush of adrenaline that seemed to make him seem like the most important thing there was or ever will be. He was now looking at me as I stared hypnotically into his deep, mesmerizing eyes.

We both leaned toward each other, this very moment feeling like heaven on earth. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest; I was so nervous that it almost felt like I was trembling, though everything was still and silent. I felt that nothing could possibly ruin this moment.

We were just inches from each other when Ace decided it was a good time to drop by and say hello. He cut right between us and we both moved away from each other, the moment ruined just when I felt like it couldn't have been.

Rex glared at his baby dinosaur, sighing in annoyance at the same time. "Some days I just hate you so much," he scoffed.

I laughed slightly, grabbing my journal and standing up. "Oh well…" I sighed. I began to walk out of the room. I grabbed the doorknob, and looked back at Rex, who was smiling at me. I grinned back at him and walked out of the room.

I didn't sleep well that night; my mind was swimming with thoughts and my heart beating as if I just had run a marathon. It was completely silent that night, though the beautiful music that Rex had played the night before still filled my ears. I was mad at myself for sleeping through it, and I would've given anything to hear it again. I hadn't forgotten how it felt like when I heard it—I never forgot how I felt this entire time I was here…

"Riley! Riley! Riley! RILEY!"

My eyes snapped open. Max was staring at me; his face was just merely a few inches away from mine. Talk about a rude awakening. I shoved him away while questioning, my bad mood revealed in my tone, "What do you want? Can't anyone get any sleep around here?"

Max was talking a mile a minute. I was only half awake, so all of his words seemed to blur. But there was one sentence that seemed to come out crystal clear. "Zoe is here and wants to talk to you!" he shouted, so loud that I was instantly wide awake.

"What?!" I tried to get off the couch so fast, I fell. I jumped back up onto my feet and stared at Max. "What does she want?!" Panic began to rise from my stomach and seemed to reside as a pit in my throat. She knew I wasn't who I said I was.

Max shrugged. "Don't ask me…though she did seem like she wanted to kill you…Does that make a difference?" he questioned, showing off his absolute stupidity.

"What do you think?!" I walked off, just incase Max's idiocy had any chance of rubbing off.

I entered the kitchen and saw Zoe leaning against the counter, glaring at me with sheer hate in her eyes. Paris wasn't with her, so I guessed she wasn't planning on staying that long. She wanted to deal with me and go.

I cocked my head. "Yes?" I questioned, smiling slightly. I knew that no matter how much she tried, she couldn't lay a finger on me. If she tried, she'd be a limb short of a normal person.

Her face lightened, her hateful expression faded. "I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I know that under it all, you're a great person, and maybe that great person will forgive me?" she questioned.

I was hesitant. I hated Zoe's guts, but Seth said I would have to befriend all of the D-Team. Though I kept telling myself that, it became harder to do. Zoe would have some dumb reason to knock me off the edge, and I'd have to build that trust all over again. I couldn't keep screwing up.

I sighed, holding out my hand. "I'm sorry, too." It took all my strength to get those words out, but at least it worked. Zoe smiled and shook my hand. I forced a smile, it seemed only right to do so.

"Hey, Rex, ten bucks says it won't last."

I turned and glared at Max, who was standing in the doorway smiling like the idiot he was. Rex was leaning against the wall nearby with a nonchalant expression on his face. He looked at me and smiled slightly, my face turning red.

"You're not honestly going to take that bet, are you Rex?" Zoe asked him, slight anger in her voice in waiting for his answer. I assumed it was Max's remark that made her that little bit ticked off.

"I'm not one to gamble," he replied suavely, smirking. "Besides, I don't want to lose money to Max." I could tell by his expression that he was ready for whatever Zoe did to exert her anger.

"What are you saying, Rex?! Are you saying I have a bad temper?!" She glared at him, seeming like she was about to tear him apart.

"Well, I wasn't going to say it out loud…"

He snickered.

She pounced.

She swung her fist, but he ducked, so her fist connected with something else, something that wasn't a target. Max's face. Almost instantly, I heard a painful-sounding crack. When he spit blood out of his mouth, I knew for certain that Zoe had dislocated his jaw, damaging a few teeth in the process.

As Rex and Zoe rushed to help Max, I stood there staring at him, not sure whether to care that he was hurt or not. Sure, it was all Zoe's fault for Max's injury, but I knew Max had it coming eventually; he was an idiot and something like that was bound to happen sometime. It was all just his dumb luck.

I began to walk away slowly, and that action caught Zoe's attention. Before she could even think of yelling at me for the lack of assistance, I said rather flatly, "I'm getting him an icepack."

"Bummer about Max's injury, huh?" I questioned, looking at Rex who was sitting the chair across from me. We were the only ones there at the time, everyone else gone, having taken Max to the hospital because of his little "accident".

Rex slumped in his chair. "Yeah, but it was only one of those wrong place at the wrong time situations. Max gets that a lot," he answered, sighing. "He'll be fine, though." He tapped his fingers absent-mindedly on his leg, zoning out.

I smiled slightly as I shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Just making conversation." My mind wandered back to the memories of last night, and I could feel my heart beginning to pound.

"Oh…"

I looked at the clock. It was almost noon. I decided against my better judgment that it was a good time to talk to Seth, Rod, Laura, or whoever decides to talk to me or at least was stuck having to talk to me, but I didn't want to leave Rex. That ever-present essence was keeping me there, telling me to stay. I sighed, trying to make that ever-so difficult decision. I knew that if it was up to me, and only me, I would choose to stay in less than a nanosecond.

I exhaled in exasperation, knowing that Seth and my mission came first, no matter what (or who) I thought was more important. I stood up quickly, a little too fast for my own comfort. "I'm going out to—er, stretch my legs a bit," I lied, the words burning as soon as they left my lips. They burned more than hellfire.

I didn't wait for his response for the large chance I would end up staying. I wanted to flog myself repeatedly for lying to Rex, but it had to be done. My stay with the Taylors was supposed to be temporary.

I pulled out the headset as I headed up the steps. Putting the headset on, I questioned softly, for the chance Rex would hear me, "Anyone there? Seth? Rod?" I seated myself in a chair as soon as I was sure Rex was out of earshot. I impatiently awaited someone to answer. "He-llo?"

A voice came cold and crisp. "Riley, what is your current status?" For once, it was Seth. His voice remained the same from when I talked to him in person; there was no hint of him caring about my wellbeing.

"'Bout time, bro," I sighed, still quite impatient. I wanted to get down stairs as soon as possible, though I would have never told Seth why. "Current status, you ask? Well…right now I'm here alone with Rex. Max and Zoe are out, Zoe accidentally punched him in the face so he had to go to the hospital..." I couldn't help but smirk at the remembrance of that event.

"About the mission," he said rather flatly. I could tell he was hiding his annoyance with me and replacing it with a nonchalant attitude. Out of everyone I knew, my brother had to be the person that cared the least.

"Oh…uh, well…about that, uh, I really haven't gotten around to that part quite yet. Things have been really busy around here and so I really never got the chance to do that…" I trailed off, deciding to shut up instead of blabbing on and on like the idiot Seth probably thought I was.

I didn't expect him to yell at me. "The mission is your top priority! I'll give you one more day, Riley. Screw this up and you'll be locked back up like before. Do I make myself clear?" he questioned, making my heart pick up speed with the threat.

I tried to make it sound as though I didn't care what would happen to me or where I would end up. "Crystal," I replied suavely, my voice shaking no matter how much I tried to sound calm. Those few sentences shook me to my very core.

"Good. Don't fail me." He hung up abruptly.

My hands were shaking as I took off the headset. I had never been so afraid of Seth until that very moment. If I played my cards incorrectly, I would go back to square one and lose everything I had worked for.

I would lose Rex.

Chapter seven: My Decision

"Hey, guys, we're back!" Zoe called, entering the house, all cheery as if all was right in the world. Though I knew she was wrong. I knew for certain that nothing, nothing at all, was right.

Ever since my talk with Seth, I had said nothing, and kept a horrified expression plastered onto my face. Rex had asked me what was wrong, but I didn't answer him. I couldn't answer him, no matter how much I wanted to.

Zoe and Max, who had this weird-looking thing on the side of his face that was injured by Zoe, walked into the living room where we were sitting. I was sitting in a chair, nearly completely motionless, staring blankly at the wall before me.

Zoe looked at me, her face showing that she was obviously perplexed about something. "What's wrong with Riley?" she questioned, waving her hand rapidly in front of my face. "Hellllooo? Anyone home?"

Rex glanced at me and then at Zoe, shrugging. "I don't know. She went out for a while and since then, she didn't say a word. She hasn't moved for the last half hour," he stated, obviously keeping track.

Thoughts ran through my mind, so fast I could barely keep up with all of them. All I knew for certain was that I wasn't going back to Zeta Point. I had worked way too hard to get out of there to get thrown back in. And no matter what I chose, something had to be sacrificed. My freedom or my only friends.

"Tonight," I whispered to myself, attempting to sort through my countless thoughts. I stood up and grabbed my journal tightly in my hand, trying to make my final decision.

I couldn't write in my journal, no matter how much I wanted to and how much I tried. Nothing could describe the emotions—the searing pain—that flowed through me during those agonizing moments. Finally, after much thought, I scribbled two little words in the center of the page.

I'm torn…

I couldn't hold any of my emotions in anymore. This was the most important—and hardest—decision I had ever made, I knew for certain that it would affect my life forever. Though why did all of the important problems have to be so hard? Why would I have to lose so much?

Tears began to dampen the page as I let out everything I was feeling. My whole world was crashing down on me, but I didn't—I couldn't care. Life was just too hard to bear. I rested my chin on my knees, setting my beloved journal beside me with the most care. I wiped my tears, but the tears kept falling.

I cried.

I cried for everything I would lose, everything that I had strived to gain. Everything that I felt had fought against me, and that they would win. Win because of my foolishness. It all felt like I was at an impasse, nothing would be gained, but much would be lost. I was stuck in the very hole I began to dig when I confronted my brother three days ago.

"Riley, are you okay?" I recognized the voice as soon as I heard the first syllable escape their lips.

I looked up and saw none other than Zoe standing in the doorway, looking at me with a face of deep (or maybe just faked) concern. I didn't want anyone, especially the likes of her, to see me like this. This was my one moment of weakness, and I wanted to be alone to ponder my thoughts.

I scowled at my lap, looking back down. "No…why do you give a crap?" I snapped harshly, wanting her gone. I respected her like I respected a stranger on the street, like someone I didn't know.

She walked over and sat down next to me. She put her hand on my shoulder, trying to seem friendly, but I could easily see through that petty charade. "Because you're my friend…I know that you don't really like me, but…that doesn't mean I have to hate you. And this isn't a gesture for you to like me—you don't have to, but I just want you to know that I trust you and will be here whenever you need someone. So I just wanted you to know that I'll be here for you."

Her words didn't help my rotten mood; they only reassured me that my mission was still proceeding smoothly without as much as a single flaw or problem. It only meant I was more of a traitor than a friend. The D-Team had done so much for me already; they had given so much for me to feel welcome, so how did Seth just automatically expect me to stab the backs of those who were my only true friends.

I sighed, but didn't smile. I had to lie again, just to make sure Zoe didn't expect anything was going on. "Thanks," I said, wiping my eyes. I leaned my head back against the wall and mumbled quiet enough that Zoe couldn't hear, "Oh, Bro, what did you drag me into this time…?" I brought my fist lightly down onto the floor.

We heard a loud crash from in a different room and almost immediately, two voices yelling at each other. I quickly jumped up and darted out of the room, Zoe reluctantly following me. Whatever happened, I could tell from the voices, must have ticked someone off pretty good.

I stopped abruptly in the doorway of Rex's bedroom, seeing Max and Rex yelling at each other. I was completely horrified at what I saw; between them, on the floor, was Rex's violin, smashed into many little pieces. I knew from the very start that it was Max's doing, and he would soon pay.

Zoe was soon trying to take over the ongoing situation and put it into her own, stupid hands. "What the heck is going on in here?" she demanded, glaring back and forth between Max and Rex, awaiting an answer from one of them.

Rex was the first to speak, though it all came out as a yell. "Max was messing around and broke my violin! If he was as smart as a normal person, none of this would have even happened!" he shouted, brushing past me and walking out of the room.

Zoe chased after him before I could move a millimeter. "Rex, wait!" she yelled, running to catch up to him.

I glared at Max, barely holding myself back from tearing him into pieces. He stared back at me with an expression that clearly questioned, 'You're going to kill me now, aren't you?' I said nothing as I walked into the room, knowing well of what I was going to do.

I knelt down next to the broken violin and began to pick up piece carefully and slowly, as if it would disintegrate at the slightest touch. All of them in my arms and making sure not to drop any, I stood up. I looked at Max, slightly forgiving him and said, "Tell Rex and Zoe I'll be out."

"Found it…" I mumbled to myself, weaving my way through the mall crowds that always seem to be in a hurry getting places, but never lessen. I saw my destination before me and I walked inside, instantly hearing music playing in the background. By the sounds of it, it seemed to be country music. Walking up to the desk, I caught the clerk's attention.

He looked up from the magazine he was reading. "How may I help you?" he questioned, closing the magazine and merely dropping it onto the floor by his feet instead of putting it away. He seemed very annoyed with me, though I had just gotten there a few seconds before and hadn't said anything yet.

I went right down to business. "Can you repair this?" I asked, carefully placing all of the pieces of the broken violin onto the desk counter.

He picked up a few violin shards and examined them as if he knew what he was doing, an expression on his face that clearly stated that he hated this job and would much rather be reading his magazine. "We have a professional coming in an hour or so that could probably fix it, but it's in pretty bad condition, so I'd say you'd be better off price-wise just buying a new one," he advised, probably just to get me off his lazy back.

I knew that he was either newly hired here, really lazy, or a combination of the both. So that pretty much just annoyed the crap out of me, so much I really did want to get off his back. I sighed. "Fine, I'll be back in two hours," I replied, beginning to walk out of the music store.

The background music had gotten my attention and made me smile slightly. There was a single phrase I heard that caught my outmost interest, "But you're just so cool, run your hands through your hair. Absent-mindedly making me want you." I instantly remembered the morning of the day before and laughed.

"The irony," I mused, exiting the store.

I wandered around the mall for a while, just waiting for those two hours to pass so I could go back and get Rex's violin fixed. I finally sat down at a bench, exhausted from all of the meaningless wandering.

"Don't tell me. Another shopping spree?"

I looked up from my lap, seeing Rod and oddly not Laura standing before me, grinning as usual. It felt like he was always following me around, since he was usually the only one I talked to.

I sighed, not really wanting to talk to him anyway. "No, just running an errand…" I replied, mindlessly running my fingers through my hair. He was probably going to ask how the mission was going, as if I really wanted to get it done, as if I wanted to hurt the D-Team.

Rod shrugged. "I heard from Seth you have one more day. You're going to go for it, right? You have the D-Team right in the palm of your hand, it's the perfect time to strike." He honestly had never been in my situation.

"Yeah, I guess…" I trailed off, thinking about how much it'll hurt to steal from those who had generously given me so much. It felt like I was about to stab them with a knife they had given me.

Rod finally noticed my reluctance; he was so ignorant. "Don't tell me you want to back out! Seth is counting on you! Isn't that what you wanted? Respect from your older brother? Freedom?"

The things he said cut right through me, hitting me hard. I was completely torn of what I should do. I got the freedom—the respect from my brother—that I had wanted, that I needed. I didn't want to lose that, not now, not ever. No one seemed to understand what I was going through, what I had to bear just for contentment.

"Yes, that's what I've always wanted…" I smiled slightly at him. "You actually listened when I talked to you." The smile turned back into a frown as fast as it came. "But there's stuff I didn't ever tell you. New things…things that are out of my hands."

He seemed confused at the last statement. "You lost me…Are you saying that you actually made friends with them? You don't want to complete the mission?"

I didn't answer because I knew he was right. There was something…something that made me think that it couldn't be done. Not by me. "…But it has to be done," I mumbled, thinking of all of the sacrifices that'll have to be made. I would get past it, I had to.

I stood up and looked down at Rod. "I have to go. The mission will progress like normal. Tonight will be the night." I walked away from him, hurting from all of my thoughts, all of what he said. This, I knew, would be very difficult.

"So is it fixable?" I questioned, leaning forward to look at the remnants of Rex's violin. I wanted it to be fixed; I didn't want to buy a new one. This one was special, it had Rex's essence.

The so-called "professional" scratched his chin before adjusting his glasses for the fifth time in the last two minutes. "Yes, but it would cost quite a bit. I'd advise you to buy a new violin altogether," he stated.

'Thanks Captain,' I thought, mentally rolling my eyes. 'Tell me something this loser of a clerk hasn't already said.' Though I didn't let my annoyance show. "No, I'll pay whatever it costs for it to be fixed. How much?" I questioned, determined to put that beautiful instrument back into Rex's beautiful hands.

I slowly opened the door and walked in. The violin would be ready in about two days, so that meant after I was gone. I gave the Taylor's address so they could mail it, knowing I wouldn't be there to pick it up.

In the living room, I saw Zoe fighting with Max, something wedged in his mouth. Rex was calmly sitting in the chair, watching the event commence without the slightest hint of wanting to help.

I looked around the room, seeing it completely destroyed. I came up with two theories. Either the dinosaurs had fun or it was all Max and Zoe's doing. "Uh, what's in Max's mouth?" I questioned, not sure if I dared to hear the answer.

"One of the plastic gingerbread men from the Candy Land game," Rex replied, not taking his eyes off of the ongoing situation before him. "Max thought it was a real gingerbread man and is trying to eat it."

I shook my head at Max's stupidity. "Surprise, surprise," I mumbled, sitting on the arm of the chair Rex was in to watch. He didn't seem too bothered by it.

Immediately, the fighting stopped and Zoe stared at me, a grin suddenly pasted onto her face. "Ah-hah, I knew you liked Rex and that proves it!"

Some proof.

I fell off the arm of the chair. "Ow…Honestly Zoe, that's the worst proof I've ever heard of. If you said your proof was that now Max is eating the game board, which he is right now, I would have more of a chance of believing you." I lifted my finger, pointing to Max, who was chewing on the corner of the Candy Land game board. At the mention of his name, he lifted his head and looked at me.

Zoe glared at him. "Max…" she growled, "Do you know how much I paid for that?!" Dumb question. He didn't even know what money was. To him it was probably the lettuce that people traded for stuff.

Max jumped to his feet, knowing full well of what Zoe was going to do. He grabbed the game board and took off running, Zoe in hot pursuit. She tackled him to the floor and they started beating on each other.

I turned to Rex. "Should we help them somehow?" I questioned, wondering of what may commence from this fight. It seemed pretty well matched up. Idiot versus prissy girl.

Rex shrugged. "No, it's best to stay out of it." He grimaced at Max and Zoe, who had their heads turned away from each other and were slapping each other. Max was screaming in a high-pitched voice.

"Yeah, okay, I'll go along with that." I couldn't take my eyes off of the horrific event going on before us. I stood up. "I'm going to uh…go…not here." I walked out of the room and up the stairs.

I pulled out the headset and put it on for what might be the last time. "Okay, whoever's there, talk to me…" I trailed off, thinking of what I was about to do that very night. No much how much it would hurt, I had to do it…

"Hey, Riley, it's me!" a voice came.

I mentally rolled my eyes. "Rod, aren't you already annoyed with talking to me? It seems like you're always the only one there," I stated, sighing. "Where everyone else goes all the time will forever be a mystery to me…"

"Is there an actual reason you called?" He seemed surprisingly impatient, despite how laidback he normally was. "I was kinda in the middle of something."

I decided to get back to business. "Okay, I'm going for it tonight around eleven. You'll be ready, right?" I couldn't believe I was actually going through with this. I was going the final mile to freedom.

"Yep. Totally. Seth, Laura, and me will be there in a helicopter to pick you up. Capiche?" He didn't really notice his bad grammar.

I sighed. "Yeah…I guess…Truth be told, I don't really want to go through with this. But…it has to be done." I cringed, thinking of my exact plans and how I was going to do this.

"You know if you want to back out—" I cut him off, somewhat angry.

"No, I can't, Rod! Seth threatened to throw me back to Zeta Point! I can't let that happen after everything I've worked for. I can't bow out, not after getting this freedom that I've always dreamed of having. I just can't, Rod…No matter how much I like Rex…" I suddenly realized what I just said and lit up a bright red.

Rod grew unusually quiet. So much that I had thought that he hung up on me. "He-llo? Rod? Rod? You okay?" I called into the headset, wondering why he didn't say anything. "You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he finally answered, sighing. He seemed like all the life was suddenly drained from him.

"Are you okay?" I had never heard him this miserable, not at all, even back when I lived at Zeta Point. "Was it something I said?" My mind instantly went back to when I accidentally slipped about liking Rex.

He was silent, either meaning that the answer to my question was yes or he was just thinking. "Can I tell you something, Riley?" he asked suddenly. He was quiet as if he didn't want anyone else around to hear.

"Yes, anything. What's on your mind, Rod?" I tried to be as nice as I could, since he seemed pretty down about something.

"Well, Laura has always looked up to you and thought of you as an older sister. I did too at first, but over time it became…" he trailed off and I could hear him take a deep breath, though I already knew what he was going to say. "…something…more." His voice completely dropped at the last word.

I didn't really know how to respond to that. Rod had always been around, always doing something to make everyone laugh, I knew him almost my entire life, but I never really took anything emotional into consideration. There it was in my face the entire time. I felt stupid for not realizing it earlier or ever for that matter.

I let out a sigh, getting ready to break it to him. "Oh Rod…" I trailed off, realizing he had already hung up.

Chapter eight: My Betrayal

I walked down the stairs to see Max and Zoe still fighting, and Rex still sitting in the same chair. Honestly, I was slightly annoyed with them still going at it, for the same reasons, still not really getting anywhere.

Finally, I sighed, walked over to them, and pulled them apart by yanking their ears, they both yelling now at me for the pain in their heads. Too. Freakin'. Bad. "Will you two ever quit?! You're giving me a headache!" I whined, glaring back and forth between them. I turned to Max. "You! You buy Zoe a new game!" I turned to Zoe. "You! You…you change your hairstyle! It's freakin' me out! Are we clear?" I looked back and forth between them, saying nothing about how much Max's hair scared me, just to be somewhat fair.

They both crossed their arms and looked away from each other, not saying a word. I took that as a yes. "Good." I let go of their ears and walked over to Rex. He seemed slightly surprised I handled that so well.

"Simple yet effective. Congrats on finding that out," he said, smirking at me, his eyes shining its normal sapphire color. It was really disappointing—no, it was very painful—that I had to leave him.

"I was surprised that actually worked honestly," I admitted, uncomfortably shuffling my feet side to side. I couldn't believe I was about to betray those who I've nonchalantly made small talk with that same day. I wasn't sure; it just didn't seem right in my eyes.

My final hours came and passed. Everyone was soon asleep. Zoe had decided to spend the night over at the Taylor's for some dumb reason, so earlier went back over to her house to get some stuff, including Paris. That made my work easier, now all of the dinosaurs were in one place.

It was quarter to eleven when I emerged from my bed on the couch. I knew what I had to do, though there was still a lump in my throat. There was a thought that lingered that it wasn't too late to back out. I tried to ignore it, knowing of my mission that I couldn't avoid.

I walked over to Zoe, who was asleep on the floor nearby. Paris was sound asleep next to her. I picked up her Dino Holder and withdrew Paris back into her card. Still holding the Dino Holder, I crept down the hallway. First off, was Max's room, no matter how much I didn't want to go in there.

I opened up his door slowly, trying to shove stuff away from it so I could get it open enough to force myself through. That's when the smell hit me, hit me like a freight train. I held my breath, entering the deathtrap.

I made my way to Max's bed, dodging God knows what. Chomp was lying on Max's stomach, Max mumbling something about pancakes and drooling. I shook my head and facepalmed before returning Chomp to his card and snatching up Max's Dino Holder.

Glad to get out of Max's room, I walked back down the hall to Rex's door. This pained me like nothing else ever had, knowing full well of my next actions. My hand trembled as I reached for the doorknob. I had to do this, my freedom was at stake, and that was the one thing I refused to lose.

I managed to open the door and I walked slowly, looking around as if it was my very first time in there. It was dark, seemingly much different from when I was in there in the day. It seemed like the darkness was trying to engulf everything, just like my want for freedom. Engulfed all of my desires, becoming my absolute craving.

I walked over to Rex's bed. How peacefully Rex was sleeping almost brought me to tears. He perfectly quiet, only the rhythmic sound of his breathing filling the silence. I hated to steal from someone so tranquil, so defenseless.

I picked up his Dino Holder from on his nightstand, nearly setting it back down on multiple occasions. Reluctantly, I returned Ace, who was curled up next to Rex to his card. I couldn't believe what I was doing; the sound of my heart was beating in my ears, so loud it deafened me.

I walked out of the room, my palms sweating, making the Dino Holders hard to hold on to. I was shaking uncontrollably, it was impossible that this was the reality I was living. Walking out the door, I pulled out the headset for what would probably be the very last time.

"Okay, guys, you're on your way, right?" I questioned in a hoarse whisper, making sure not to be too loud.

"Roger that, Riley, we're almost there," came Laura's high-pitched voice. "We'll be there in a few short moments!"

"Be where?" I wasn't answered, as I was nearly squashed under a helicopter. I leapt out of the way narrowly, landing on my knees in a half-crouch. In the process, I nearly lost the Dino Holders under the landing helicopter, but barely retained my grip on them.

"C'mon, what are you trying to do, kill me?!" I snapped, making sure to prove my point but still not be too loud, boarding the helicopter. I noticed the only ones in the chopper were Seth, Rod, and Laura. I was overall surprised that Seth showed up, though he was the one I directed the question to.

He said nothing, taking off immediately. He, as usual, didn't even bother to look at me. He never really changed, even after confronting him and talking to him on that single occasion afterwards.

Instead, it was Rod who decided to speak up, completely upbeat and different from before. "Oh yeah, Riley. Me and Laura were talking—" Surprise, surprise. "—and we found this really good song we both wanted you to hear!"

"Yeah, it's really awesome! And we think it applies very well!" Laura agreed happily, grinning. I never saw her smile that wide for some time, since the only girl that was really around for the last few days was Zoe and most of the time, she was either hurting someone or yelling at me.

'Yeah, but applies to what?' I wondered. I glanced out the window, holding the Dino Holders tighter in my arms. We were quickly approaching the shoreline and soon we'd be over the ocean. "Okay, then. Let's hear it," I replied, trying to force a smile. I wondered what good song they may have found.

Apparently, they (I was assuming Rod) installed a CD player into the helicopter and hooked up speakers, because as soon as he put in what seemed like a burned CD, music came from all sides. But really hit me, more than the bass of the music, was the lyrics:

A candle burns away

The ashes full of lies

I gave my soul to you

You cut me from behind

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide

You're scared of the truth, I'm tired of the lies

Cause who I am

Is where you want to be

Don't act like an angel

You've fallen again

You're no superhero

I've found in the end

So lie to me once again

And tell me everything will be alright

Lie to me once again

And ask yourself before we say good bye

Well good bye

Was it worth it in the end?

You said you were there for me

You wouldn't let me fall

All the times I shared with you

Were you even there at all?

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide

You're scared of the truth, I'm tired of the lies

Cause who I am

Is where you want to be

Don't act like an angel

You've fallen again

You're no superhero

I've found in the end

So lie to me once again

And tell me everything will be alright

Lie to me once again

And ask yourself before we say good bye

Well good bye

Was it worth it in the end?

Why'd you have to up and run away

A million miles away

I want to close my eyes and make believe

That I never found you

Just when I put my guard away

It's the same old story

You left me broken and betrayed

It's the same old story

Don't act like an angel

You've fallen again

You're no superhero

I've found in the end

So lie to me once again

And tell me everything will be alright

Lie to me once again

And ask yourself before we say good bye

Well good bye

Was it worth it in the end?

Lie to me once again

It's the same old story

Lie to me once again

It's the same old story

Was it worth it in the end?

Those words hit me like a bullet. When the song had finally ended, I was in utter shock. Rod must have told Laura of how much I liked Rex and my reluctance to complete the mission. They knew what I felt, how I would have felt if I had followed through with this. I knew this wasn't what I should be doing. I was betraying those I should be putting all my trust in. At that moment, only one thing came to my mind. The one thing I should be doing: I have to get out of there.

I looked quickly out the window. We were already about a half mile away from the shore and now over the ocean. It wasn't too late, it couldn't have been. Whatever I did, I had to get back.

"Thanks guys. I really owe you one," I mumbled, ripping the tracker off my shirt and stepping on it, shattering it to pieces. I opened the sliding door on the side of the chopper. "But now, I must go."

Seth spun around, hearing the last statement. "Riley, what are you doing?!" he questioned, knowing that I was about to jump.

"What I should have done a long time ago. Abandon the mission." I turned and without a second thought so I wouldn't hesitate, jumped into the open space below. Whatever I did, I couldn't let go of the Dino Holders.

I hit the water below, my feet directly below me so I wouldn't hit the water too hard. I felt the sting of the water through my shoes. The cold hit me almost immediately, making me instantly shiver.

My head submerged under water and I struggled to rise to the surface. I coughed up water, but in my reckless haste, did what I told myself not to do. I dropped a Dino Holder. I squinted hard at the other two in my hands and made out the designs of the element symbols. Electricity and Grass. Wind was missing.

I instantly hit panic. I couldn't lose Rex's Dino Holder, I got a sickening feeling just thinking about it. I dove under water, holding my breath. I opened my eyes to see where the Dino Holder was, but I barely caught a glimpse of it when the salt water burned my eyes. Though that small glance was enough.

Despite nearly running out of oxygen, I dove down as fast as I could toward the plummeting Dino Holder. I felt something hit my fingers, praying for dear life that it wasn't just some dumb fish. I grasped onto it, holding the other two in my other hand. But that's when I ran out of oxygen.

I gulped in water, coughing at the horrible taste and the fact there was no air in it. My body felt heavy as I tried to rise to the surface for air and some hope of survival. Though it felt impossible to keep going. My body went numb from the cold and I lapsed into unconsciousness…

Am I dead? Everything's so black…so cold…I wonder if…if anyone found me…I don't remember much of what happened…did I drown? Oh… I remember now…Rex's Dino Holder…wait, what is that sound? Can it be? Yes…I hear voices…they're…they're calling for me…

My eyes felt so heavy. I didn't know exactly how I managed to open them so quickly. To my surprise, I was on the shore and it was so bright out. I assumed it was the morning. Though that was not of my concern. Not at all.

The first thing I saw—the only thing I wanted to see—was right in front of my eyes. Looking down at me, his eyes so soft and full of concern I just wanted to cry, the light shining off his hair so perfectly it seemed to glow, was Rex. Once he saw I was awake, he smiled sweetly, his face soft and angelic.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly. It felt soothing to hear his captivating voice again, despite the pain in my stomach from swallowing all of that seawater.

"Y-yeah, I think…" I trailed off, shivering. I was absolutely freezing. I thought moving would help, so I sat up, a painful feeling shooting up my chest. I was both cold and in pain. Great.

"It was lucky we found you," Zoe said, taking me by surprise. I had been so mesmerized by Rex; I hadn't realized she and Max were standing right there beside me a few feet away.

Suddenly, I was filled with a pain much more than the physical I was feeling. I felt guilty for everything I had done. "I-I'm really sorry guys. I should have told you earlier…" I trailed off, trying to piece together what I was going to confess.

Rex helped me up, supporting me from losing my balance and falling. He saw how cold I was and took off his sweatshirt, putting over my shoulders. The smell of his essence made me warmer than the sweatshirt did.

"What do you mean?" Zoe questioned, eyeing me warily. She knew I was in no state to fight her, so she had nothing to worry about.

I looked her in the eyes. "I'm sorry…you were right all along, Zoe. I was part of the Alpha Gang…my mission was to steal your Dinosaur Cards and give them back to my brother, Seth…but…" I trailed off, my throat burning.

"But you couldn't do it…" Rex continued softly, knowing exactly why I couldn't continue on with my mission. He knew that he was the reason. He was the one the song was talking about.

I nodded slowly. It felt like heaven to be confessing everything I wanted to say from the very beginning, but hell physically, since I nearly drowned. "I'm really sorry…" It felt like I couldn't say sorry enough, especially after everything I did.

I looked around at everyone, their Dino Holders safely in their hands. I couldn't believe that it was me that nearly threatened everyone this happiness they exerted right now. I would have wrecked my own happiness as well.

I looked at Rex in the eyes and smiled. He was right there, I was with him. I was happy. For once I had nothing to hide. As he smiled back at me, I blushed a red that couldn't have been worse if I was running a fever.

"We're just glad you're safe, Riley. Even though you nearly—" Zoe was cut off by Max, who shushed her.

He whacked her in the head. "Shut up, they're having a moment!"

I laughed softly. "Yes Max. We are." I looked back at Rex, smiling a smile I couldn't fake, and kissed.