~Emerald Street 1991 4:30~
The car came to a sudden halt as Espio and Silver reached their destination after having to wait over six minutes for a stoplight to turn green, and having to deal with the traffic for twenty minutes due to some moron smashed into a tree while he was texting and driving. Well, they can at least relax at their home: The Chaotix Orphanage.
Huh? An orphanage? That's where the two live in? Really?
Yep. Silver is raised in this thriving orphanage ever since he was six years old when his parents died in a horrible car accident caused by a drunk driver at night. He can clearly remember the fatal day because he was in the car accident! They were coming home after a Fourth of July firework show ended in a nearby park close to their home, and while driving in the highway, the sound of police sirens surrounded the air as a few police cars were on a speed chase with a slightly broken red Chevy car steering the highway in various of directions; left and right. Silver's parents knew what this means, while Silver didn't since he never knew what a drunk driver would do back then. They tried their best to get out of the highway quickly by going over the speed limit (didn't care as long they're safe) to avoid the drunk driver, but then... Life flashed by for Silver as the drunken driver's car made impact to the unfortunate family.
Yet Silver miraculously survived the crash with minor injuries, but who or what saved him is still a mystery to him. The last detail he remembered is that he's in the Chaotix Orphanage, resting in a couch with a young yet mature six-year old Espio telling him the news about his parents fate of the car accident. Silver did take the news very badly; bawling on a near-by pillow with his 'never ending tears', losing his parents like this. However, Espio, knowing how it feels to lose parents at a young age, comforted Silver by saying, "They're not gone forever. Your parents are in a safe place called heaven where they'll watch you grow up below. You can't see it, but I know it exist since my parents are in heaven."
Hearing that from Espio, the young Silver wiped his tears from his eyes and gave out a tiny smile after knowing his parents will watch him forever, even in death. And with his parents are in a safe place, Silver has to grow up in a safe place, and he ended up in the Chaotix Orphanage; growing up with Espio and other orphans like him.
But even after nine years growing up in this orphanage, neither Silver nor Espio got adopted by any family for some reason. One family stated why they aren't adopted is because the two are the reason the young orphans are still optimistic and free. And it's true.
Now almost sixteen (his birthday is next Tuesday), Silver takes the role of being a brother figure to most of the orphans living here, along with Espio. And when these two enter the three storied building, the little kids from ages three to eight came rushing towards the two high school teens, hugging them as hard as he can. Most of them hugged Silver so hard, he lost his balance, falling to the wooden floor.
"H... Hey you guys!" Silver greeted the orphans. "I'm back from school!"
"Yea! That means we can play, right?" one orphan asked Silver.
Silver really wanted to, but with homework on his back, he answered, "Sorry. I have some homework I need to complete."
"Awww," the kids groaned in disappointment.
"But I'll play with you guys after dinner. I promise," Silver promised, hearing the orphans cheer for what's going to happen later in the day.
With the orphans that were hugging Espio, none of them hugged him hard, but one always did despite the warnings he gives out to this certain boy. His hug could break his ribs and possibly stab his heart. That kid would be...
"Charlie. Let go," Espio simply commanded the small boy.
"Oh, come on! I was bored after school and I simply have nothing left to do," Charlie whined to his brother figure, releasing him from his hug. "And how many times do I have to remind you, Espio! Call me Charmy! Not Charlie! I hate that name!"
Charlie Blythe, or Charmy due to his hyper personality, is an eight-year-old orphan who's family decided to ditch him since birth due to the fact his parents had him when they're only fifteen, and didn't want him ruining their 'lives'. But that didn't bother him as he thinks the orphanage caretaker is like a dad to him, along with Espio and Silver being his older brothers, mainly the former. And if Espio and Silver are acting like the older brothers, then Charmy acted like the annoying little brother! Stealing their personal items from their room, pulled pranks on them (mainly Espio), making their chores much more difficult than needed, and other stuff he can think of in his immature head.
Heck, he even looked like one! Standing at only 4'6 ft, having big brown-orange eyes, black messy hair, wearing an orange vest under his black shirt and khaki pants.
Still, Charmy is one of the most optimistic little orphans living here, never wanting anyone to cry when he's around. Why add 'one'? Well...
Before going upstairs to his room, Silver noticed that all but one certain young orphan is missing from the crowd. He knows where that missing orphan is: either the kitchen or the backyard. His first guess is the kitchen, knowing that orphan loves to take a small snack before dinner begins in six, mainly something sweet. When he peeked his head to the kitchen door, he can only see two people preparing for dinner, something involving rice, but no sign of the kid. That means the kid is hiding. Great.
However, Silver remembered Cream offering him her remaining strawberry cupcake during lunch, but he forgot he had it, yet lucky he did at the same time. He searched for the cupcake inside his backpack, and with only a few shuffles coming out of his backpack, he found it, still sealed inside a Ziploc bag, surprisingly not crushed.
He entered the kitchen, holding the plastic bag with the small cake, and yelled, "Marine! I'm home!"
Nothing. No words even came out of the two people preparing dinner. She sure is a feisty one alright.
Silver removed the cupcake from the Ziploc bag, putting it close to his mouth while announcing, "Come out right now! Captain Silver has gotten a sweet cupcake from Cream, and I'd hate to eat it all by my-"
Those words are enough to make the cupcake disappear from Silver's hand and into the missing girl's hands: Marine Ranta. She's taller than Charmy by only 3 inches (4'9 ft), having brown hair tied into two downward pigtails, blue eyes, slight pale skin, wearing a green tank-top, black shorts and a golden compass necklace Silver gave to her on her 9th birthday last week.
Marine, finishing her cupcake, greeted Silver in a friendly tone, blue eyes full of sparkles (not literally), "Captain Silver! Welcome back! How was school?"
Oh, how Silver didn't want to answer this question. But not wanting to make Marine sad, he responded, "Great, like always!"
"Well that's good to hear from you, captain! And thanks for giving me this amazing cupcake from shipmate Cream!"
Captain? Shipmate? Silver is used to Marine saying pirate terms because unlike most girls her age, Marine absolutely loves anything with pirates or adventure; better for Marine if it's both. She always had dreams of exploring the world one day, and maybe find her missing parents if possible.
That's why she's in the Chaotix Orphanage. Marine's parents were famous explorers who vanished two years after sailing to the 'cursed' Bermuda Triangle, and when Marine heard the news from her family friends, she thought it was a joke and they'll come back like they always do. But two years passed and no sign if they're alive or dead, yet Marine is still positive that they'll be reunited one day, not whining and crying unlike most people who think their parents are dead.
Silver liked that about Marine. She's the most optimistic and energetic orphan in here, more than Charmy. Never the girl to cry over petty things or to give up on anything, Marine remains a strong girl both inside and outside. Though while she's very optimistic, there are two flaws that somewhat bothers everyone in some way, even Silver.
"And speaking of Cream, did you ask her what makes her cupcakes taste so delicious?" Marine asked Silver.
"Um... Well, I-" Silver tried to answer until Marine pops in and interrupts him.
"Why do I want to know? Well, I know her and her mother's recipes are secret, but I want to know how to make them on my own in time for someone's birthday coming up in a few days! And that reminds me, do you know what kind of gift..."
Yeah. One: she's extremely curious on everything. From what's going on with the world to learning how to cook and even the desire to find out if vampires exist after reading Twilight (of all novels). And two: chatterbox, though not that annoying as Charmy's. Once she starts talking, Marine will jump into one topic to the next in less than ten to twenty seconds, making it impossible to stop her motor mouth. But despite those flaws, she remained well-liked to the orphanage.
"... I thought about giving her a doll, but that's just plain boring," Marine continued to Silver. "And I was thinking making a charm bracelet out of seashells. Only problem is that I don't know how to make a charm bracelet."
"Why don't you ask the others?" Silver suggested, picking up his backpack back to his shoulder, "Maybe they'll teach you."
"I don't know Captain Silver. The shipmates here are a bit younger than me, so I doubt they'll know anything about making jewelry. And I don't think shipmate Espio would have any interest in making a bracelet."
"Yeah, he wouldn't," Silver agreed with Marine. Espio somehow doesn't like to make any type of jewelry such as necklaces or bracelets as they're too girly for his taste. "How about-"
But before Silver can make another suggestion to Marine, Charmy stormed into the kitchen, almost knocking down both Silver and Marine before the young boy can scream out, "Vector! Is it done? Tell me dinner is done because I'm hungry and bored!"
"Charlie, get back here!" Espio yelled, entering the kitchen, annoyed Charmy is barging into the kitchen to annoy Vector. Again. And like always, bugging him on what's for dinner. Espio then warned Charmy with, "You better not disturb Vector making dinner. If you do, then no-"
CRASH!
"Dinner for you," Espio finished his sentence, face-palming himself after Charmy crashed into his legal guardian: Vector Maher. With the harsh impact, Vector accidentally dropped the pot of rice porridge into the ground, making a mess on the floor and getting onto Vector's green shirt and faded jeans.
Vector is the one who rescued Espio twelve years ago, along with others in the past, and is one of the few helpers working in the Orphanage full time, not to mention part owner of this orphanage as well; the other half belonged to his brother who he rarely sees. Generous, sympathetic and selfless are words people would describe Vector, but sometimes when he gets frustrated like now...
"CHARMY! It took me an hour to get that ready!" Vector scolded Charmy. "Now I have to do it again, and dinner will start later than usual!"
He loses control of his temper, but there's no violence involved when is temper blows up fortunately.
Grabbing a towel from the counter, Silver started wiping the porridge off the floor while Marine freshened the room by spraying Febreze into the kitchen to prevent it from smelling like chicken soup for the rest of the day. Espio grabbed the empty pot, and started to wash the inside of it with a bottle of dish soap. Vector sighed in relief, seeing that Silver and Espio were generous to help him with cleaning up the mess, and the older green haired man gave a bat-like stare to Charmy, backing up in fear until he bonked his head from the door.
"Now Charmy, what do you have to say to yourself?" Vector asked, now up close to Charmy's face.
Charmy, not handling Vector's intimidating glare, burst into tears and cried, "I'M SORRY VECTOR! Please don't make me starve tonight! I'm so sorry! Forgive me! Vector, please don't send me to my room without dinner! Just give me a small portion of what we're having! I..."
"Alright, alright. I won't punish you," Vector replied in defeat of Charmy's dramatic apology, "but you're going to help me cook dinner to make up for the mess you made me do. You got that?"
"Yea!"
But before the two can start making another pot of rice porridge, the phone ringed through the whole kitchen, only for the ringing to stop when Espio answered the phone after the third ring.
"Hello, Chaotix Orphanage," Espio started, putting the clean pot near the oven.
"Oh, it's you," the voice spoke in a bored tone.
Espio recognized the voice from the phone, and he knew Shadow is talking to him. Shadow volunteers in their neighborhood library at least three to four days after school for an unknown reason, but he always helps out if it's worth his time. And the library is worth his time as Shadow reads to the little kids, organize the books very well, and knowing which book is available or not.
Mind back on this phone call, Espio continued the conversation with Shadow by asking him, "Shadow, what is it?"
"I didn't expect you to pick up this call, so can you tell Vector that the books he asked for are here? There's five children books and a novel about angels, and I don't want anyone else to take them."
"Vector is busy making dinner. He's doing it again because Charlie made a mess in the kitchen again."
"I was hungry!" Charmy called out to Espio, overhearing Espio's comment.
Ignoring the comment from Charmy, Espio sighed and went back on the phone with Shadow. "Anyway, Venice and I can pick up the books once we're done with our homework. Is that okay with you, Shadow?"
"Yeah. As long as you get them, it doesn't matter to me. And be here before six. Got it?" Shadow added.
"Got it, Shadow," Espio answered back, ending the call. He turned to Silver, who's finished with cleaning the floor from the porridge. "Venice, once we're done with homework, we need to pick up books from the library. You got it?"
"I do, and the only homework I have is from Geometry, so I'll be able to finish up quickly," Silver agreed, ready to leave the kitchen. However, he stopped as Marine was tugging on parts of his pants, knowing she has something to tell Silver.
He turned around and asked Marine nicely, "Marine, is there something you want to tell me?"
"Yes, Captain Silver," Marine started, "Can I go to the library with you?"
"Why?"
"I need to see if there's a book on how to make charm bracelets. So can I go?"
Silver only needed two seconds to answer Marine's request. He responded with, "Of course! At least you know how to behave in the library unlike a 'certain shipmate'."
"Hey!" Charmy yelled once again, knowing Silver is talking about Charmy. This boy and his hyper personality will make Shadow blow his temper, and will literally make a mess out of the library if Charmy sets foot on a library. No wait, any library as a matter of fact.
Marine jumped up and down in joy, cheering, "Thank you Captain Silver! Tell me when we're going, and I'll be there!"
"Okay, Marine," Silver nodded in agreement, going upstairs and into his room to work on his math homework.
~Library 5:00 (Blaze)~
Where's the book I was looking for? Blaze thought, searching through the shelves of the various of teen novels again. She wanted to read a book about angels, but it wasn't there. Blaze likes to read novels about the abnormal, though most of them feature the protagonist falling in love with their 'prince charming', and it's one of the few ways to get her mind away from events that happen in school.
Sighing that the book she desired to read wasn't there, Blaze scanned through the shelves to see if there's any novels worth reading to her. She didn't want to read books about vampires since Twilight made her incinerate the book after reading the first chapter, and she can tell that the plots with vampires are too predictable.
The books she spotted ranged from realistic romance to a remake of a popular fairy tale and two siblings having powers and running away from the cursed government. While the last two seemed interesting to Blaze, it wasn't enough for her to get the book. She really needed to find at least one book that will make her re-read it to get her mind off of her day. Especially the parts where Silver was involved.
Blaze was about to continue to look until a book with a cover of a boy and a girl was just lying there open. She picked up the book and read the title of the fallen novel.
"Battle Royale." Blaze muttered the title to herself. Based from the title, she knew it wasn't a fantasy novel, but an action novel. However, Blaze wanted to know more about the book, and flipped to the back of the novel where she read the summary on what it's going to be about. Seeing the words 'nightmare scenario' and 'violent exploitation' made Blaze wanting to rent the book. Controversial books sometimes interest Blaze since she wants to know what makes the book gain that title. Finished reading the summary of the novel, Blaze smiled to herself as she held it close to her chest.
She then grabbed a magazine called Glitter out of the magazine section, mainly to make dumb remarks about the models in there. Some remarks she made were how skinny they were, the diets they advised, and the gaudy and revealing clothes they would wear. And girls wanted to be like them? As if. Blaze knew girls in her old school would literally kill themselves to have a body like the models, and will whine about gaining a pound or saying how ugly they look when they look fine. It's ridiculous for Blaze to see girls to act like this. And Blaze is the lucky girls who doesn't care for looks, unless it's a special occasion.
Dumb models, Blaze scoffed as she hid the magazine behind the Battle Royale book. She left the young adult section and went to the section where novels with stronger themes were and wanted to give her mom one. Mainly the ones written by Nicholas Sparks.
~Library 5:15 (Silver)~
Silver, Espio, and Marine entered the library quietly when shortly after their arrival, they were greeted by Shadow. He had tan skin, crimson eyes, short black hair with red streaks, wearing a black shirt, two golden bracelets, one in each side, black pants, and white air shoes. Shadow walked to the three, hands in his jean pockets, and guided the three to the shelves where the books that were on the wait-list were ready to be picked up.
"Well, here's the books that Vector asked for," Shadow told the three. "They're due in September 26, so remind Vector about that."
"Will do, Shadow," Espio responded calmly, carrying the books.
"And Silver..."
Silver somewhat shuttered in surprise as he didn't expect Shadow to call him. "Y... yes, Shadow?"
"I know this is unusual for me to ask you a question, but answer to me honestly. Did you get soaked with milk in lunch by a girl?"
Crap. Silver cursed in his mind. He didn't want to hear that again; especially not in front of Marine!
Marine, oblivious to what Shadow is talking about, she asked Silver, "Captain Silver, what is this mate talking about? Did you forget to tell me something I don't know?"
She's on to me! Silver panicked inside his mind, and still calm on the outside, Silver told Marine, "Um... Marine, why don't you get your book while I talk with Shadow. Okay?"
Nodding her head, Marine walked away from Silver and to the isle full of guide books on how to make a certain item, mainly jewelry to sweets. Seeing Marine gone to not hear Silver's blunder, Silver sighed in relief and turned his attention back to Shadow.
"Oh, the question. Well, yes it's true," Silver answered to Shadow.
"Okay. And what made her do that action towards you?" Shadow questioned Silver.
"I accidentally ruined her lunch by kicking a soccer ball right into her tray, spilling her lunch into her hair and clothes."
"Soccer?" Shadow knew Silver didn't play soccer, so he wanted to know why he kicked a soccer ball during lunch.
"Knuckles kicked a ball in my back and-"
"I got it," Shadow understood what the silver-haired teen was going to say next. He knew that because Knuckles did that to Shadow once! And the scene with the two wasn't pretty to see. Getting that off his head, he asked one more question, "Anything else?"
"Well, I did offered her some help to get new clothes."
"And her response...?"
"Take a wild guess on what happened," Silver replied, knowing Shadow will get it.
Shadow didn't need to as he knew what happened to Silver, even if he didn't witnessed it.
"I think she soaked me in milk is because she never received any help from anyone, besides her parents," Silver continued. "But I want to ask her right now if that's true."
"Might be," Shadow answered. "And one more question. Is the girl you were talking about named Blaze?"
Silver's eyes widen in surprise when he heard Shadow asking him this question. He cleared his throat, and questioned Shadow, "How did you-"
"Sonic told me during track practice," Shadow told Silver like it was petty news. "Does the girl in your story had mid-long lavender hair, yellow eyes, and wearing magenta high heels?"
"Yes," Silver answered.
"She's here and you can ask her right now," Shadow added, randomly pointing to some shelf, thinking Blaze is there.
Silver bolted away from the pick-up shelves, frantically but silently searching for Blaze right now. She couldn't possibly be in the kid's section, so Silver tried the non-fiction side, sci-fi section, and the books about how to operate a certain computer program, but no sign of Blaze anywhere. Maybe she left and Shadow didn't see her at all. Or she's in another section.
He was later joined with Espio who's holding the six books tight to his chest. Espio wanted to meet this girl and, like Silver, wanted to know if Silver's explanation is true.
"Well? Found that girl?" Espio asked Silver, taking in deep breaths.
"Not yet," Silver breathed out, "but Blaze has to be here. I just-"
"Hey! Get down from there, kid!" a voice echoed through the fiction section. Silver and Espio turned around to see who yelled, and both of their eyes widen in horror as they spotted Marine clinging onto one of the shelves with her charm bracelet book and Blaze standing there with her arms crossed, yelling at her, a fallen stool laying sideways. But why would Marine be-
Oh, crap. Why? Silver and Espio both groaned at the same time in their minds. They remembered Marine recently took a liking towards James Patterson novels, and saw Marine trying to grab a book titled Danial X from the shelves, but once she grabbed the novel, she started to fall from letting go of the shelves. Silver was about to use his psychokinesis powers to save her, but before he or Espio did anything, Blaze quickly jumped in the air, dropping her two books and magazine, and snatched a surprised Marine in her arms.
Both Silver and Espio remained speechless on what Blaze has done. She just saved Marine from getting an injury. Silver was the most surprised as he didn't expect Blaze to save Marine like that. He thought she would let Marine fall, but she ended up saving her in the end.
Blaze gently let go of Marine while she picked up her two books and magazine off the floor. She gave the pigtailed girl a small smile before she asked Marine, "Are you okay?"
"Uh... yes mate," Marine nervously answered. "I'm okay."
"Good. Next time, be a bit more careful. You might hurt yourself if you pull that stunt again."
But before she can leave, Marine snatched Glitter magazine out of Blaze's hands, flipping through various of pages until she stopped at a certain one. Marine then rushed to Silver and Espio, who were on their way to the fiction section, and shoved the magazine close to their faces in excitement.
"Marine!" both of the boys called out. "Thank-"
But they didn't get to finish their sentence as Marine interrupted them about the picture she wanted to show them. "Look, look, look mates! There's Rouge on the ad for Swan Ice Cream! Doesn't she look beautiful, mates?"
"She sure does," Silver agreed with Marine.
"Uh-huh," Espio answered dully, not caring about models.
Silver had to admit, Rouge did look fantastic in that picture. Tan skin, short white hair tied in a small ponytail, and aquamarine eyes with blue eye shadow, it's Rouge alright. In the ad, Rouge is wearing a golden dress that shows off her curves perfectly and not too much of her chest, along with high heels showing her strong legs. She's shown smiling and winking one of her eyes while eating her ice cream. It's no wonder Rouge got scouted.
Blaze somewhat saw Rouge's picture in the magazine, and asked Marine, "Do you know her?"
Marine was about to tell Blaze, but Silver answered to her before Marine had the chance. "Yes. Her name is Rouge Bayle, and she's one of my friends."
Noticing Silver is here in the library, Blaze thought to herself, Why the hell is he here? before responding back to Silver, "Then how come I didn't see her with you?"
"She had to do some photo shoots for some advertisements," Silver explained to Blaze.
"Oh," said Blaze in a flat tone. "And why are you here?"
"To pick up books. And I want to ask you something."
"What is it?"
"Is the reason you refused my help is you never received help from anyone besides your parents?"
Blaze's eyes grew in shock when Silver asked her a question. She never heard anyone attempting to ask her that kind of question before. Why won't he leave her alone? Why? Why?
Instead of answering Silver, Blaze grabbed the magazine from Marine's hands before she walked to the check out center. But before she was away from Silver, Marine, and Espio, the girl she saved walked towards her with a huge smile pasted on her face.
"What?" Blaze questioned the small girl.
"Thank you for saving me. I thought I was going to worry Captain Silver and Espio for a moment," Marine thanked Blaze.
"Yeah. It's no problem. And shouldn't you be advised by your siblings or something?"
"I don't have siblings, but Silver and Espio are like my older brothers to me," Marine explained to Blaze.
"Really?"
"Yep. All three of us live at the Chaotix Orphanage."
Wait. Orphanage?
Blaze didn't think Silver would be an orphan. He didn't even look like one! She thought Silver would live in a large house in a somewhat high class neighborhood with parents having great jobs. But hearing this from this girl she barely knew for two minutes totally shattered what Blaze thought about Silver's life outside of school.
Marine, seeing the look on Blaze's face, asked, "Something wrong, mate?"
"N... no. It's nothing... Uh..." Blaze tried to answer, though she's struggling as she didn't know this girl's name.
"Marine Ranta is my name if you want to know," Marine informed Blaze. "What's your name?"
Should Blaze tell Marine her name like she did with Amy at school? Or could she just not say her name?
Not deciding what to do with her mind scrambled, she answered, "Blaze." in a nervous tone before quickly going to the check out center, leaving a confused Marine turning her head to the left.
Silver and Espio caught up to her again, looking at Marine on what happened with her. Espio gave Marine a 'Are you crazy' glance before asking her:
"What's up with her?" Espio questioned Marine.
"Not sure," Marine answered back to Espio, "but she seemed a bit shy. Right, Silver?"
No response.
"Silver?" Marine called to the silver-haired teen, eyes not blinking.
Nothing.
"Venice Faust, respond," Espio ordered Silver who blinked his eyes.
"Oh, uh... sorry. I kind of dozed off for a moment," Silver apologized to Espio.
Believing what Silver had said, Espio guided Marine to the check out center to rent her two books, leaving Silver behind.
The reason Silver dozed off for a while is that he didn't get an answer from Blaze on why she didn't accept his help. He thought Blaze would answer, but she ended up walking away from him. Great.
Though on the bright side, Silver did witness Blaze having a sweet side to her by saving Marine from her fall. Maybe Blaze isn't a mean girl. Maybe she's a nice girl who had a rough past, causing her to act like this; pushing others away in order to avoid getting hurt. Silver didn't get his answer today, but he wanted to do something no one dared to do to Blaze in ten years:
Get to know her a bit better. Starting tomorrow.
Author's Note: WHEW! It took four days to write this chapter, and it's done! Also, it's the introduction of Charlie (Charmy), Marine, Shadow (even if it's short) and Rouge (though she's in a picture)!
Now for the names. This time, we're doing Silver/Venice! Venice was suppose to be Silver's name for Sonic '06, named after the city Soleanna is based on, but was scrapped. Venice (somehow a girl's name) is Latin (oddly) for "favor, giving", as Silver is generous to do favors for others. The last name Faust is Latin (again) for "fortunate"; Silver being fortunate that he has great friends and living a good life despite losing his parents as a kid.
The book that I mentioned, Battle Royale by Koushun Takami is controversial and violent; having gory images, mention of 'that', and 14-15 year old teens killing each other. If you can't handle what the novel offers, then don't read it. (Despite this, I love the book and the movie!)
And yes, I love James Patterson's work (mainly the Maximum Ride series).
Again, I don't own Sonic, and you can guess who owns that series.
Also, thanks for the 500 views and the great reviews! If you like the story, don't forget to review! And please have proper grammar when writing the reviews. I had a hard time reading some of them.