AN: I deleted the other version of this story due to creative differences. A lot of things have changed. Names for one. If you read this before Abbie Reynolds is now Mollie Reynolds. There are a few things about Mollie/Abbie that have changed as well. She is no longer mute but she still signs. The reason will be explained later in this chapter. Derrick Lang is now Casper Lang. The setting of the story has also changed from Virginia to the picturesque landscape of Wyoming. The name of the town is now Hidden Rocks, Wyoming. As other important elements change in each chapter I will alert you to them in notes at the beginning.

Chapter Two: Tuesday

Tuesday began like any other day for ninety eight percent of the students at Hidden Rocks High School. The sun still came up and the dawn still woke most of them from their dreams of prom, boys and chocolate chip cookies. However, for the remaining two percent of the student population Tuesday was not going to be a good day. No one would be prepared for the storm that was heading directly for the high school.

For Mollie, she was waking with a smile on her face for the first time in weeks. Sure, she felt bad about how she and Casper got together but it was her life and she was allowed to be happy about things. She knew no one would understand, least of all Emma. Emma was her best friend but there were some things Emma was against completely and stealing another girl's boy was number one on that particular list. All her other friends would be happy that she found someone to make her happy.

On normal days, Mollie would go for a shirt and skirt combantion. But today she took much longer to decide what she was going to wear. If she really thought about it Mollie only owned at most two pairs of pants. After staring at her closet for a very long time, she decided on a white long sleeved t-shirt and a soft pink knee length skirt. It wasn't quite warm enough for her to break out the flip flops so she chose her tan knee high boots.

Despite being able to get a ride to school from anyone in her house or on her block Mollie preferred to walk to school as long as the weather agreed. In that time, she could clear her head and prepare for the day ahead. It was her quiet time to pray and spend time with God. Mollie was not ashamed of being a Christian. She wore her faith on her sleeve and there was no denying that she put God first in her life and everyone else second. It was the main reason why Maddie called her "Thumper".

After she was dressed, Mollie went downstairs and had breakfast with her mom. Mollie and her mom Katherine had an amazing mother-daughter relationship. The pair did everything together. That winter their church had a ladies breakfast and the pair hosted the coolest table. Because Abbie's dad and older brothers were in the FBI, they had a FBI themed table. They won "Most Creative Theme" for the event. Anything mother-daughter related at school, church or within the community had their names on the top of the list.

"Doing anything interesting after school today?" Katherine asked her daughter.

"Not yet," Mollie replied. "Most likely library with Emma and Halle to work on our history project."

"You look nice today," Katherine said. "You only ever dress up for church. Who are you trying to impress?"

"No one special. I just felt like looking nice today."

"Have a good day. Before I forget, I got a letter from your father last night. He sends his love and he thinks the job should be completed in a few more weeks and he'll be home."

"That's good news," Mollie said with a smile.

"It's very good news indeed," Katherine agreed. "You should get going. You're going to be late for school. Bastian left already."

"That's because he's trying to get a date with Hannah Nichols," Abbie teased.

"How do you know so much?"

"Emma Ross is my best friend. And Sebastian isn't as sneaky as he would like to think he is."

Katherine laughed as she handed Mollie her lunch and the pair shared a hug. The day was starting out rather well.

After dropping Mollie off at home, Casper drove over to Maddie's house, as was the plan all along. He sat in his truck for about an hour contemplating what it was he was going to say to Maddie. He never really liked her; he mainly tolerated her. He always had a feeling that she was hiding things from him. He knew there was something that she wasn't telling him. Add the fact that Emma and her friends were convinced that Maddie had a hand in breaking up him and Halle that he had been questioning it himself.

He got out of the truck and walked up to the front door of Maddie's large home. He always felt out of place coming to her house. It was like a museum. Her parents were rarely around so it gave Maddie the opportunity to do whatever she wanted. He rang the bell.

"Well if it isn't my boyfriend," Maddie snapped. "What do you want Casper?"

"I need to talk to you. This, us it's not working. I know you're keeping things from me and I can't have that. Either you tell me the truth about what happened with you and Halle or we are over. For good this time. I have found someone who cares about me and doesn't lie and keep things from me."

"I know. You've moved on to perfect Mollie Reynolds. Oh wait she's not perfect! The harlot is such a goody-goody it makes me sick! You're going out with her? Have you lost your mind?"

"No Maddie. I lost my mind when I started seeing you. I came here to have a civilized conversation with you Maddie. However, you can't be civil. You know what, let's save all the bullshit and just end this. We're through. Over. Done. Finished. Have a nice life Maddie."

He turned and left a fuming Maddie on her front steps. He felt good and happy about starting his life over with Mollie. He started his truck and drove off. He was free.

Casper had the disadvantage of living way out of town. So far out of town that he could snowed in overnight and not know it until morning. His parents owned and operated the resort on the mountain. Casper worked there all summer and winter. In the winter it was the best ski/hunters resort and in the summer a peaceful mountain haven for anyone trying to get away from everything. There had been rumors that a large number of celebrities had stayed at the resort but Casper would never say whom it was. That morning he had to take his brother Kent and his niece Bianca to school. His sister Greta, Bianca's mom, had to work late the night before so the six year old stayed with them for the night. He had wanted to get to Abbie before she left for school and give her a ride but he was late getting out of the house and dropping the kids off. By his clock in the truck, he had about thirty minutes before the first bell rang.

He knew Mollie's route to school and hoped to catch her and give her a ride. He wanted to do everything right with Abbie. She was a good girl and deserved the best. He sped through Hidden Valley pulling onto Harborside Drive. He saw her walking along the boardwalk. The morning light was reflecting off the water and it was silhouetting Mollie wonderfully. He could tell that her head was bowed in prayer. He watched her until her head popped up and looked his direction. He could see her bright smile.

"What are you doing here?" Mollie called out, pleased.

"I wanted to surprise you," Casper replied, reaching over to open the door for her. "Come on. Let your boyfriend give you a ride to school."

Mollie smiled and climbed into the cab, snuggling in next to Casper. For the first time in months, Mollie was happy. Little did they know they were about to drive headlong into the worst rumor storm in years. After Casper had left Maddie, she had gotten on MySpace and Facebook and sent out a nasty bulletin about Mollie. She sent it to everyone on her friend's list and it soon spread to every member of the junior class. Maddie needed as many people to hate Mollie as possible. It would be hard because she had a large fan base. It would be very hard for Maddie to convince any of Mollie's close personal friends that she did what Maddie was accusing her of doing.

Maddie then took the time to make up fliers denouncing Mollie's faith and a few other things. There were a lot of things you could attack Mollie about but her faith was not one of them. Maddie was not going to get away with this one. Unlike her other attacks, this one she was willing to let come back to her. Her others had been so well thought out and planned that no one could trace it back to her. But not this one. She wanted everyone to know that she was going after Mollie with everything she had.

Maddie and her minions had been at school for two hours before anyone else to post the fliers. Of Mollie's friends, Jo was the first to see them. She texted Emma hoping to stop the spread. It was too late though. One small bulletin had gotten to every member of the junior class.

Casper pulled into his parking space next to Jesse's truck. From the second Casper stopped the truck he knew something was amiss. Usually Jesse, Matt and Marc were loitering in the lot before the bell but they were nowhere to be seen. He climbed out of the truck and helped Mollie out. He held her hand and together they walked into the school. He stepped on a fallen sheet of paper. He got the shock of his life when he picked it up to throw it away.

"Oh my God," Derrick breathed. "That bitch!"

Mollie looked over his shoulder and saw the page as well. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran from Casper's side. He tried to follow her but the horrid wench stepped in front of him.

"Get out of my way Maddie," Casper sneered. "I have nothing to say to you. If you want to attack someone, attack me. Leave Mollie out of it."

"Attack it such a dirty word," Maddie sighed. "Can't you see Casper? They're just using you. You're just a toy to them, bending you to fit their plans to destroy me."

Emma was standing out of both Casper and Maddie's eye line. She had gotten the message about Maddie from Jo and was on standby to do damage control. Now she was just interested in what lie Maddie was going to tell now. Emma was pissed already that Maddie had attacked her best friend but to lump Emma and her friends with the likes of Maddie and her minions was enough to make her blood boil. She stayed hidden long enough to hear the rest of Maddie's "poor me" speech.

"Mollie doesn't have a vindictive bone in her body," Casper argued. "Why are you doing this to her?"

"All Mollie and Emma want is to have Odette and I kicked off the squad. They will do or say anything to make me the bad guy in the situation. Emma is so paranoid of losing her place that she will do anything to keep herself there. I think she over compensates for her absentee parents. I mean everyone knows that they dumped her off with her grandparents so they could island hop in Greece."

"Emma's parents died ten years ago," Casper argued. "You know that."

"That's just what she tells everyone."

"That's it wench!" Emma exclaimed coming out of hiding. "I had listened to you bad mouth a lot of people and I can't stand back and be silent anymore. You want to be Queen Bee that badly that you'll hurt innocent people in the process, you can have it."

"Why thank you Emma," Maddie said her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"I wasn't done. You can have the title when you tell everyone the truth about what went down at Winter Formal. Every chance you get, you try to run me down but somehow it always fails. Remember Amber Morris? Or how about Nellie McMurray, Maddie? Do you even remember what you did to her? I bet you can't. I'm not going to let you get away with it anymore. And, for the record Maddie, you're wrong about my parents. Everyone is actually."

"So what, it's not like it matters anyway," Maddie snapped. "What are they dead?"

"My mother is dead. My father is…somewhere where he can't hurt anyone ever again."

Emma had ever only told two people the truth about what had happened to her family. She told Mollie and she had told Jesse. There were days when Emma could clearly see, hear, and feel the night her mother had died. There were others when she completely forgot what her mother looked like. Her grandparents had not been prepared to take in a very afraid, confused, and angry seven-year-old little girl. The best thing they could think to do was to get away. Emily Blythe went away for six months and came back Emma Ross. While Emily Blythe was a calm, quiet little girl, Emma Ross was an overeager, loud, and at times rather obnoxious little girl.

The entire town knew of Jeffery Blythe's crimes and did their best to candy coat the subject of what had happened to Emily's family. It was then that Emma created the story that her parents were on a very long vacation and she wasn't sure if they were ever coming back. As she got older, she would create for herself a fantasy that her mother was coming back and that her father hadn't really done the terrible things he had done. Now at seventeen, when all her friends were starting to question the lies she had told as a child it had become harder to hide the truth that her father had murdered seven women in cold blood, including her mother.

"You're name isn't even Emma is it, Emily?" Maddie sneered. "You're Emily Blythe, daughter of convicted serial murderer Jeffery Blythe. You're entire life is a lie and you know it!"

"You heartless wench!" Emma screamed. "How dare you?! My mother was taken from me in the worst possible way ever and you would dare to use it as a means to burn me? At least I know where my parents are. When was the last time your parents even came back to Hidden Rocks, Maddie? They left you here to rot didn't they?"

All bets were off now. Maddie flew at Emma, claws first. For the very first time in her life, Emma Ross engaged in a fistfight at school or anywhere for that matter. Casper dove in between the two girls, pulling them apart. It lasted for a grand total of a nanosecond before he was shoved aside as the girls' open hands made contact with the others' face. Emma grabbed a hold of Maddie's perfectly dyed blonde hair and proceeded to drag her into the quad. In the quad, Emma was pulled away from Maddie by Jesse and Matt, while Marc and Sebastian stepped in front of Maddie.

"Is this what you want Emma?" Jesse asked. "Do you want to get suspended with only a month of school left?"

"Ten years of not knocking that bitch out is finally reached a boiling point Jesse!" Emma exclaimed. "After what she did to Mollie she deserves every ounce of the beat down I am about to give her."

"So losing your spot on the cheerleading squad, your seat as Student Council Vice President; not to mention having the permanent stigma of being in a fight, is worth beating Maddie to a pulp?"

"I'm willing to take my chances," Emma said, looking over at Maddie, who wore the smug look of victory on her face.

After Mollie had run off, she had met up with Becca, Jo and Halle. The four girls had a quick Holy Huddle, only to be interrupted by the shouts of "Fight!" coming from the quad. The girls' phones each buzzed with a new text message of the same verbiage. "Emma Maddie Fight Quad."

Without hesitation, they raced into the quad and fought through the crowd just in time to see Jesse and the boys step back from the dueling divas. Mollie came into Emma's view and Emma dropped her hand and turned to walk away. Jesse and the others followed suit, leaving a shocked and angry Maddie to fume.

"Coward!" Maddie yelled to Emma's back. "Run away! You're good at that. In fact it's the only thing you're good at Emma Ross!"

"Maddie!" Odette hissed, trying to get her best friend's attention.

"You cowardly little whore! This is far from over! Just wait! You and your little friends are going down!"

"Maddie!"

"What?!" Maddie snapped spinning around to face Principal Roberts. "Oh. Good morning ma'am."

"My office now," Mrs. Roberts said. "I do believe we have a no tolerance policy for bullying and whatever else it is that is going on today. See you in a moment."

Mollie and Casper stole away from their friends. He had to try to make her understand that Maddie's attack on her had absolutely nothing to do with her but everything to do with him. Maddie was angry that he had broken up with her and was using it as an excuse to be hateful to Mollie.

"God has already forgiven Maddie and so have I," Mollie sighed. "It's not that big a deal."

Casper pulled her closer to him, placing a soft kiss on the side of her head. The pair walked down to her first class, leaving her with the promise that he would be there waiting when she got out. Emma watched from the sidelines half excited for her best friend and half enraged at Casper. He had a lot of things working against him; his reputation for flitting from girl to girl, his latest thing with Maddie and several other rumors that hadn't been put to rest. Casper walked off down the hall and Emma hurried after him.

"Hey Casper, wait up a second!" Emma called out to him, jogging down the hall to him.

"I don't have time for you right now Emma. I have to get to shop," Casper said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Shut it for a second will you? I have to know what's going on with you and Mollie," Emma said. "If this is some plot of Maddie's and you are just using Mollie so help me I'll-"

"You'll what Emma? What's the worst thing you can think of?" Casper taunted.

"It took the FBI seven years to find the bodies of the women he killed. They will never find yours."

"You admit it then? Your dad was the Hidden Rocks Killer," Casper prodded.

Emma's gaze hit the floor. She hated having to admit that Jeffery Blythe was her father. "Yes. Jeffery Blythe was my father. He is a sadist, sexual killer. But that's not what I want to talk to you about."

"Emma, I'm not going to hurt Mollie. Emma, look at me," Casper said softly. Emma looked up at Casper. "Not all guys hit. I care about Mollie too much to ever hurt her. However I don't have a snowball's chance in hell with her if you, her best friend, want me dead."

"I don't tell Mollie who she can and can't date," Emma whispered. "I just advise to stay away from unacceptable people."

"I need you to not hate me, Emma."

"You do have a lot of things working against you Casper," Emma sighed. "I mean you break up with Halle without even hearing her side of the story. You move on to the meanest mean girl in the history of mean girls. How can I trust you to not do the same things to Mollie?"

"What do you want from me? You want me to take a lie detector test? Sign a contract in my own blood? What would make you happy Emily?"

"How do you still know that name?" Emma gasped. "No one has called me Emily in ten years. Not Nanna or Papa, anyone. Hell, even Jesse doesn't know it. Well they do now. Thanks to Maddie's big fat mouth."

"I was in your second grade class when you left as Emily and came back as Emma. It's not really something you can forget that easily. Emma, please, just give me a chance to prove to you and everyone else that I am not going to do something to Mollie that will warrant my painful and immediate death."

"But if I even hear the slightest rumor that-"

"I know. Pain and death will be sure to follow, worse than anything I can ever imagine," Casper finished. "Be happy for her Emma. She needs you to be okay with this. She needs you to. Now more than ever."

"What do you mean?" Emma questioned.

"Ask Mollie."

The bell rang and Casper left a confused and stunned Emma in the hallway. What on earth could be going on in Mollie's life that would warrant her not telling her best friend about it? Emma slipped into Mr. Workman's class unnoticed. She pulled her textbook out of her bag and began to read the chapter they would be lecturing on that day. This had not been the best start for a day. She just wanted today to be over with so she could forget it ever happened.

Halfway through class, Mr. Workman's desk phone rang. His face was grim as he nodded and spoke quietly into the phone. He rubbed his forehead and sighed in annoyance as he jotted down something on a sheet of paper. He hung up and he sighed again. "Would the following students please see Mrs. Roberts; Emma Ross, Mollie Reynolds, Becca Cornwallis, Joella Constable, Matt Montgomery, Marc O'Ryan and Jesse and Halle Valmont?"

"What's this about Mr. Workman?" Jo asked.

"Sorry Jo, Mrs. Handy wasn't specific. Just get going so you don't miss too much more of class."

The eight of them gathered up their stuff and left the classroom. On the way out the eight ran into Odette and Zach O'Ryan, Marc's twin brother. Grouping together in the quad the group was met by Jenna Malone and Leah Martin. Casper slipped in behind Mollie. With this many people from Camp Emma and Maddie joining in one place could only mean that Principal Roberts caught wind of the very public fight that Emma and Maddie had that morning. Things were not looking good for either side.

Of the eighteen students filing into the office that morning half would have shocked most of the student body. For some Mrs. Roberts' office was their second home. For Mrs. Ilene Handy, the head secretary of the high school, who had been there longer than most of these students had been alive, was surprised and shocked to call most of the names into the office. She shook her head and sighed softly as the students filed into the main office. In all her years at the high school, she had never seen such an open war between classmates.

"Mrs. Roberts would like you all to take a seat in the conference room," Mrs. Handy said. "She'll be with you shortly."

The two sides filed into the conference room and took seats at the table. Lines were clear when everyone sat down. Maddie and her friends on one side and Emma and hers on the other. Dirty looks and glares were exchanged. Soft chatter could be heard from various members of the room, but all fell silent when Mrs. Roberts and her two vice principals Misters Rapp and Pascal. Mrs. Roberts wasted no time in starting the meeting.

"Never in my twenty years in education have I seen the things I have seen you in this room pull. Never! You may not believe it but we have record of every argument, rumor, dare I say fight you have had. Did you know that in the 1500's when the nobles would wage private wars between themselves the king would step in, seize their lands and strip them of their titles? The king would redistribute the lands and give the titles to other nobles and leave the warring ones with nothing?"

She looked around the room at the different faces. Some looked smug, as if they were thinking she was going to side with them. "Every single one of you in this room, in one way or another, been a frontrunner, attacker, victim, or behind the scenes strategist in this private war. Now, I am coming in as King to strip you of your titles and seize your lands."

Jo, unsure if anyone else had the courage to speak up was the first to say anything. "What exactly does that mean, Mrs. Roberts?"

"Well for you Miss Constable your reign as section leader and rifle captain of the colorgaurd, done. Over with. Going to be given to the next ranking member of the guard."

"Mrs. Roberts, you can't take away the honors and awards we've been given!" Jo protested. Looks of shock hit every single person sitting in the conference room. For some they were adding up what they would be losing.

"I can and I will," Mrs. Roberts said. "As of right now Emma Ross, Mollie Reynolds, Leah Martin, Jenna Malone, Odette Williams and Maddison Kingsly are no longer members of the Hidden Rocks Cheerleading squad. Emma not only are you losing your place on the squad you are also losing the co-captain role as well. Jesse Valmont you are no longer Drum Major nor will you be permitted to march. Marc O'Ryan and Sebastian Reynolds, you are no longer on the varsity football team. You will be on the bottom string of the freshman team."

"Time out Mrs. R!" Marc exclaimed. "Both Bastian and I are being scouted next season. You can't demote us!"

"Watch me. It seems several of you are on Student Council. Let's see, Matt Montgomery Student Council President, not anymore. Looks like Emma takes another hit. Halle Valmont, I will be withdrawing my nomination for Outstanding Student Leader in Community Outreach and you are no longer Senior Class President. Shall the carnage continue?"

Tears welled in Halle's eyes. Months of hard work, dedication and sacrifice gone in a matter of seconds. Mrs. Roberts took stock of the various looks of shock and despair on the faces of some of her best and brightest students. It really did pain her to do this to all of them but it was necessary to make her point. Mollie was the first to raise her hand.

"What can we do to have our honors restored to us?" Mollie asked.

"For the record I second that request," Sebastian piped up.

The rest of the room murmured in agreement. Mrs. Roberts took a large file from Mr. Pascal and opened it up. She had spent a good deal of time on the phone putting details into order. She opened the files and handed each student a packet of papers. Mollie and Becca began to thumb through the pages.

"Mollie asked what it will take to be reinstated to your honors and this is the solution. You will all attend a team building camp starting Thursday morning. Based on your attitudes and your ability to work together and on the reports from your counselors; I will be able to make a more definite decision."

"Mrs. Roberts, ma'am," Jo began. "None of us can afford to miss a week of school. There must be another way."

"If you refuse to go to camp you will be suspended for the remainder of this week and all of next week and your honors and achievements taken away. You will start your senior year with nothing, unable to do the things you love. For some of you it doesn't matter one way or another. Nevertheless, those of you who have entirely too much to lose I suggest you take this chance. You have ten minutes to decide."

The principals left the room. The second the door latched the two ticking atom bombs of Maddie and Emma exploded. Glares and claws were about to come out again.

"This is all your fault!" they screamed at each other. "It is not!"

"Can it! Both of you!" Jesse shouted, standing up. "I have worked too hard and too long to make drum major to have it taken away because the two of you have drug me into a stupid girl battle!"

"I agree completely with Jesse," Matt said. "I was elected by the biggest margin in school history. I am not about to let James Hatfield take it from me. You two better get it together or so help me I'll-"

"You'll what Matt?" Emma challenged. "What could possibly do that is worse than never seeing my mom again?"

"Never mind," Matt said, sitting back down next to Becca.

"Well I don't care. I'm not going," Maddie said. "I don't really care about cheerleading that much anymore. Or anything else for that matter."

"Bullshit!" Emma, Casper and shockingly Mollie, exclaimed.

"Bullshit Maddie! Somehow, I'm thinking that calling me a whore, a fake Christian and everything else that you have said in the last twelve hours is not caring about anything. For the record Maddie, I didn't steal Casper from you. He came to me. He wanted someone who he could talk to, someone who would actually listen to him and not put him down or ignore him in every instance. You drove him away! You drove away the guy you worked so hard to steal from your best friend."

Casper took Mollie's hands in his trying to calm her down. "Calm down baby. What are you talking about? Both you and Emma keep talking about what happened at Winter Formal. Halle left me not the other way around."

"You were played Casper!" Emma exclaimed. "I tried to tell you yesterday before Jesse stopped me. Halle was an innocent bystander in the deception."

"You have no idea what you're talking about Emma!" Maddie shouted. "You shouldn't really be lecturing us on lying and manipulating when your entire life is a goddamn lie!"

"I've kept things from people to keep myself sane and out of respect for the families that lost their loved ones because of what my father did. Do you have any idea what it's like to come home from school and find the FBI there arresting your father? Do you have any idea what it's like to be seven years old and have to testify in court in front of hundreds of people that you watched your father murder your mother in cold blood? Anyone? Oh, I didn't think so. Excuse me for not broadcasting it all over the country!"

"How long are you going to let them argue?" Mr. Rapp asked.

"I give them about five more minutes. Did you contact the parents?"

"Yes ma'am. The Reynolds' mother should be arriving any moment. Mrs. Valmont should be right behind her for the Valmont twins. The O'Ryan boys' aunt is at work and said that the boys are to go straight home. Emma is to go home with Mollie as her grandmother is on her shift at the hospital and can't get away. Joella and Becca can leave together. The rest can either go home in their own cars or stay at school for I.S.S. For some of these kids being in I.S.S will be a major shock for them."

Back in the room, Matt and his democratic methods had taken over. "So who's going to camp?"

"Forget this shit," Zach said. "You girls can have your 'Breakfast Club' week. We'll take suspension. It's not like we're losing anything."

Zach O'Ryan, Marc's twin brother had a point. He and his friends Bobby and Harris didn't really do that much with the school. They were like permanent fixtures in detention and in Mrs. Roberts' office. It really didn't matter to them one way or another. They were only in this because each of them were dating a member of Maddie's crew.

The room had grown silent and the principals decided that they were all dead or in agreement. They entered and looked over the faces in the room.

"For those who have decided to go to camp stay put. For those who have opted to not please report to Mrs. Handy for I.S.S," Mrs. Roberts said. Zach, Bobby and Harris left the table and the room. "All right then. Roommates are as followed and will not be up for negotiation. Room one: Jenna Malone and Becca Cornwallis. Room two: Odette Williams and Joella Constable. Room three: Halle Valmont, Leah Martin and Mollie Reynolds. Room four: Maddie Kingsly and Emma Ross-"

"You can't put me with her!" Emma and Maddie exclaimed.

"Ladies what part of 'not open for negotiation' did you fail to understand?" Mrs. Roberts snapped.

"Sorry ma'am," they said softly.

"They have set aside two rooms for you boys. I don't care how you split yourselves up. I have also split you into two teams of seven. As with the room assignments, the teams are also not up for negotiation. Team Forgiveness with be captained by Sebastian Reynolds. With Casper Lang as Encouragement Officer; Peacekeeping Officer Matt Montgomery, and Negotiating Officer Halle Valmont. The rest of the team will be Joella Constable, Maddie Kingsly and Emma Ross. Team Unity will be captained by Jenna Malone. Encouragement Officer Becca Cornwallis, Peacekeeping, Jesse Valmont, and Negotiator Marc O'Ryan. The rest of the team will be made up Leah Martin, Odette Williams and Mollie Reynolds."

Emma and Maddie couldn't believe that they were not only forced roommates but had to be on the same team. Mrs. Roberts continued to explain. "As you'll notice none of you are with your best friends or boyfriends. The idea is for you all to work together and try to rely on those you have sworn to hate. Maybe, just maybe at the end of this experience you will be able to walk away with a better understanding of where the other person is coming from. You are all dismissed for the remainder of the day. If you choose to not go home, you will be in I.S.S with Zach, Bobby and Harris. On the packet, you will find when you are to report back to school for camp on Thursday. Good day."

Mrs. Roberts stood from the table and walked toward the door. "This is your first and only chance. If you fail this camp I will have no choice but to follow through on removing your accolades."

They gathered their things and headed out to main portion of the office. They were met at the doors by Mr. Rapp. He was charged to see that each student either left campus or remained for I.S.S. Mollie cringed as she saw her mother's silver sedan drive up. The look on her face was that of extremely not happy. Mollie gave Casper a quick hug before climbing into the car with her brother. Jesse and Halle had a similar steely look glared at them by their extremely prim and proper mother. Abbie could only imagine the lecture the Valmont twins would be getting on the ride home.

Katherine didn't say a word to either child until they came to the first red light on Main and Fireside Drive. "So which one of you would like to explain why I am picking you up from school a whole six and a half hours early?"

Not sure how to begin, Mollie paused while her brother jumped in. "I'm a little fuzzy on those details myself Ma," Sebastian said. "It has to do mainly with the animosity between Emma and Maddie Kingsly, which came to a, rather large blowup this morning after Maddie publicly trashed my sister for starting a relationship with Casper Lang."

Katherine looked over at her daughter, who was staring out the window. She was so hurt and angry about the morning that she didn't want to explain much of anything. Much less her relationship with Casper. When she was ready, she would talk to her mother about it. However, it was not today. Today she wanted to be angry. And that was what she planned on doing for the rest of the day.

Mollie went up to her room and sat down at her desk. Her wall above her desk were hundreds of pictures she had taken of her friends. Mollie loved photography as she loved God. She loved that her house sat on the lake. She loved to look out her balcony and watch the sun sink down into the water. Sometimes when she was up early enough she would watch the sun come out of the water. Their old house in Seattle had the same view. She had told her mother that she would always have to live close to the water.

About an hour after coming home from school, Katherine knocked softly on her only daughter's door. She came into the room carrying two cups of coffee and a plate of muffins. Mollie took it as a peace offering.

"Do you want to tell me about what happened today?" Katherine asked, sitting down next to Mollie on her bed.

"I don't know Mom," Mollie began. "For the first time since Dad left on assignment two years ago, I finally felt like I was allowed to be happy."

"Why do you feel like you're not allowed to be happy?"

"Because he's not here to see it. I guess that if I hold back everything it will be fresh and new for when he is home. I don't know how you do it Mom."

"Mollie, your dad wants you to be happy and live your life even though he's not here. Just like he wants Sebastian to be. It kills him that he has to spend so much time away from us. He wants to know that you and your brothers are doing everything you can to make memories to share with him when he comes home. I know he doesn't want you to sit in your room and only be happy and active when he's around."

"Why would Maddie say such things about me Mom? What have I ever done to her? I love her and only ever try to be a good friend to her. I just don't understand. Maybe just some people are un-loveable."

"Now you know that's not true. Jesus himself was best friends with one of the most despised people of his day. Matthew was a tax collector. In our day and age, Matthew was the equivalent of the IRS or even Maddie. That doesn't mean that Jesus loved him any less because of it. Jesus taught us to love, because he first loved us."

"But she makes it so hard to Mom," Mollie said, hanging her head.

"The journey is never easy. However, you always have his love and guidance helping you through the day. With time I think even Maddie will come around. You'll see. Besides, you always have me and your brothers to turn to. You have eight extraordinary young men who would go to the ends of the earth for you. Nine if you want to count Casper. It will be alright."

"I hope you're right Mom."