Hello again my wonderful readers! I kinda feel like there is only a few people reading this story and that no one is really enjoying it so please tell me if u are and if u like it because it would mean so much to me...Oh, I almost forgot!

Guest: Aww I'm so glad you like this story so much! And don't worry I understood what you were trying to say just fine and ahhh comment ur name next time cause I want you to know how much I love you!

And i almost forgot the disclaimer again hahah: I do NOT own lorien legacies or the characters, just the plot!

Joseph

"Aim higher! Hit it faster! Come on what was that Joseph? Pick up the pace!" Cole continues to bark commands at me as I hit the swinging punching bag with all my might. But just as last time, it only does a small swing and doesn't hit the ceiling. I slowly pant and lean down with my hands on my knees to try and regain my breath. I've been in the training room for about three hours trying to get my mind off of... well, a lot of things. But I haven't been able focus ,y stupid head, I was up all night texting. I turn my head to try and see John and Stanley to see them standing right in front of me with their arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Bro, that's your fifth swing and it still isn't getting to head level"

"Yeah come on! You used to be able to hit it every time!"

"Do you need some food or something cause you seem out of it..." I roll my eyes at their continuing comments about my health and punching abilities, and lift my hands off my knees to look at them.

"Yeah I'm fine... Just t-tired" I mumble, raising my shirt to wipe the sweat away from my face. I yawn to prove my statement and Stanley rolls his eyes while John stays blank faced. I look at John questioningly and he just shrugs and walks away.

"Uh..." I say trailing off while I look to Stanley who just continues to watch John look away with a confused look on his face. "What's his deal?" Stan finally looks away from him and shrugs his shoulders innocently.

"No clue, man" he says ruffling my hair, knowing it pisses me off. I glare at him and am about to comeback with some snarky comment when Cole's voice cuts through the busy room.

"Okay everyone, gather around" he yells, gesturing us to walk closer to him. The about 30 people in here slowly walk over, cutting off their personal conversations. Cole begins speaking about progress reports or something like that. My eyes scan the room for John but he seems to have disappeared, I only see about twenty five guys and five girls, which is a pretty big amount of girls, considering that about two weeks ago we had none. I give up on trying to spot John and my eyes travel to the huge window of the training room. Across the street I catch a couple of girls walking together and laughing and my breath hitches when I see a flash of brown hair. My mind involuntarily travels to Marina and it causes a smile to slowly spread across my face. The girl however, turns and I can see that it wasn't her, and I can't control the disappointment that rushes through me.

"-and are there any other volunteers?" Cole finishes, looking around the room at the hands now waving in the air. I look to Stanley to see his in the air too and he gives me a confused look.

"Are you crazy, bro?" He says incredulously, bumping my shoulder with his, "Raise your hand!"

I don't have the time to tell him that I wasn't listening before he yanks my hand into the air. I give him a pointed look and am about to lower it when Cole sees my hand up and smiles.

"And Joseph. Well, that's the ten people we needed. You are all free to go back to training" he waves us off before briskly walking out of the room. Stanley whoops in excitement and pats my back excitedly.

"Can you believe it!" he says, almost bouncing with excitement. I start to chuckle at his anxiousness when he turns back into his normal self and slaps me. I slap him back and before you know it we are wrestling on the ground. We struggle for a minute before I do a complicated trick to flip him over so i'm on top of him.

"Now might be a good time to ask, what did we just volunteer for?" I say panting through my words. He pushes me off him roughly and laughs soundlessly.

"You might know if you weren't so busy checking those girls out from across the street" He winks at me and I roll my eyes. I don't bother to top him what or rather, who I was thinking about, because it would just end in a countless amount of teasing. "but, they're sending a group of members to that high school across the street" he continues, starting to walk back over to the punching bag station. My eyes widen involuntarily and I accidentally give a small gasp. Stanley just smirks and gestures to the punching bags, I shake my head quickly and start backing away from me with my hands in front of me.

"No way, i'm done with those things for today"

As i walk away, all I can hear is him laughing at me.

I'm walking to the vending machine to grab a bottle of water when I hear a crash behind me. I decide to ignore it and start pressing the buttons on the vending machine. When I lean down to grab my water and hear another thump against the machine, I look up to see ahhh standing against it with his arms crossed.

"Oh uh, hey John" I look around nervously, but i'm not sure why because he hasn't even said anything yet. "are you okay?" he just shakes his head and gestures to me.

"Doesn't matter" he says, still looking very serious. "i know why you were up so late last night" My eyes furrow in confusion, even though I can feel the blush rising on my cheeks. "you were u texting a girl" he said, his grin finally slipping through. I open and close my mouth a few times, trying to figure out how to respond. I think through a very well-written speech in my head but all that comes out is...

"Uhm ah- how- uh do you- uh... that it was a girl?" I curse my myself for getting flustered thinking about Marina again and John continues to smirk at me teasingly.

"Because you had that stupid grin on your face and you were.." he says, pausing for a dramatic effect, and he leans in closer to me and whispers in my ear, "giggling" he starts howling with laughter. I smack the back of his head and try to play it off cool, but i'm guessing by the huge grin on his face, i'm guessing that i'm failing miserably.

"Ok, so what if I was?" I say crossing my arms, defensively. John continues to laugh at me when I try to come of as threatening.

"It's funny watching you be in love" he teases, i roll my eyes he start shuffling his shoulders, doing a little dance in place.

"I'm not in love" I mumble quietly but he just continues to dance in place and starts to sing.

"Jospeh has a crush...Joseph has a crush... Joseph had a crush!" he yells, cupping his hands over his mouth to makes the words louder.

"Would you quit it?!" I whisper-yell at him when I see people around us giving us curious looks. He shrugs innocently and opens his mouth to repeat himself again when I punch him right in the jaw, but not hard enough for it to cause any real pain.

"Ok, fine. But be careful" he says, but his grin slowly starts fading into another serious look. "just.." he hesitates, looking at me with sad eyes. "don't make the same mistakes i did, ok buddy?" He grabs my shoulder and grips it hard until I respond.

"Ok" I say hesitantly, starting to chuckle to try and lighten is mood. "I'm the older one bro, quit acting like you are" I say, I give him one more grin and then is turn to walk back to my room.

The walk is slow and peaceful as I let myself get lost in my thoughts. I unlock my door and walk over to lay down on my bed. I sigh, trying to shake my head of all the events of today, well... except one. I'm about to shut my eyes and doze off when my phone buzzes lightly next to me. I pick it up and a smile slowly lights my face when I see the name on the screen.

From Marina:

So we're still on?

I slowly grin and type in a few words and hit the send button. I throw my phone back on the bed and sigh while running a hand through my hair. I look out my window to see the girl of the ninth herself, walking with one of her friends with black hair. She laughs at something she said and looks down to her pocket and pulls out her phone. Her hair is blowing in the wind and she irritatingly brushes it out of her face, which makes me smile. She pulls out her phone and I smile lights her face instantly when she reads my message. I see her smirk as she replies to my text again, then walks out of my line of vision while continuing to laugh with her friend.

From Marina:

Can't wait ;)

Oh trust me, I can't wait either.

AHHH I CANT WAIT EITHER! So they were up texting all night, how romantic! And now they are scheduling meet-ups! The friendship is risingggg

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