CHAPTER 24

FIRST NIGHT IN THE WOODS

LLOYD'S POV:

The entire day to escape from the castle shouldn't of taken that long. We were already at the entrance of the woods by the time it was sunset. That meant we needed to go ahead and pitch our tents. I didn't want the others to know about Zelda`s little problem. Well, maybe not right now, but in the near future. If there is a future, which I have faith that there will be. Once our tents were set up and the fire was made, Zelda had stayed with us for a few minutes until she descended into her tent and called it a night. I had asked her if I could bring dinner out to her a little bit later, and she said I could. I was able to gather some dry meat and fruit. I decided to put the meat over the fire to let it be moist. Once it was finish, I took some into the tent for Zelda. She was already in her grown form by the time I got in there.

She took the plate without hesitation. "Thank you, Lloyd."

"No problem," I said, "You know, now that we're out here, I think it's time you make plans on when you're going to tell everybody about this."

"I already have. Once we have everyone gathered around, that's when I'll say something."

"Oh, alright. I just wanted to make sure."

Zelda sighed. "You're right, Lloyd. I shouldn't be keeping this a secret. I don't get why I've always done it for the last four and a half years."

"Why did you do it?"

"I didn't want anyone to one. I thought that if they did know, then I would be considered an outcast. They would push me away and I would never be loved again."

"That's not true. No matter what the cause or the issue is, you'll always have people that love you. The personality that you have doesn't matter to anyone else. It only matters to you. A person loves other people for who they are, not because of what happens to them. I've known that my entire life, even the days when I was a bad kid. You told me about all this and my feelings haven't changed for you. I understand that a person's way of life comes from their heart. It always has and it always will. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. By the way, did you say that you have feelings for me?"

I started blushing. "Well, I meant that I had feelings for you in the way that a boyfriend would. No, wait. I meant that I had feelings for you in a way that a friend. Wait, wait. That's not right."

Zelda started laughing. "Oh, Lloyd. You can be so funny at times."

"Yeah. Well, I better go make sure that Monica and Nick haven't been taken away by robbers or kidnappers, if you know what I mean."

"Alright then."

"I'll come by to check on you later."

"Alright. I'll just finish up with dinner and go on to bed."

"Ok, goodnight, Zelda." I walked out of the tent, relieved to see that Monica and Nick were still sitting out here eating dinner. I was starting to get hungry, so I did the same thing. I grabbed my plate and started eating. Nick kept looking at me, but I decided to keep my eyes away from him. It didn't work, so I decided to just say something. "Listen, you don't wanna talk to me, you don't wanna listen to me and you don't wanna hear the words that come out of my mouth. Why are you looking at me?"

"I just wanna say I'm sorry," Nick said.

"Say what now?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble a couple of days ago. I was angry, okay. I have been all this time. I just don't trust Brad the way you all do and there's a real reason why I don't. Remember that time I came home with a cold?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Brad decided it would be funny if he stuck me in a freezer for six whole hours. He took of my hoodie and he took off my shirt. Plus my shoes. I was sitting in the freezer with nothing but my jeans and socks. Once I got out of there, I started sneezing. I should be lucky that he left my hoodie and shirt out there. I didn't know what he dud with my shoes and I didn't care. That's when I knew that I would never forgive him and that's why I refused to believe that he became good. It was all because of that."

"You don't trust him because he locked you in a freezer for six hours?"

"Wouldn't you feel that same way if he did the same thing to you?"

"Well, I would be mad, but I wouldn't hate him for the rest of my life."

"That's where I made the mistake. I shouldn't of been mad about that. It was a silly prank and I shouldn't of taken it seriously. That's just the type of person I am. I take everything seriously."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I want to apologize for the way I acted and I was hoping we could make up right here, right now. What do you say? Can we be friends again?" He held his hand out.

I pushed it away. "You really think I'm gonna accept your handshake after the way you treated me? I'm sorry, Nick, but the way you treated me was just unacceptable. I just can't be friends with you anymore."

Nick sighed. "I understand. I guess our friendship was just never meant to be. Well, I guess I better call it a night. We have a big day tomorrow if we wanna find everybody else. Goodnight, you guys."

"Goodnight, Nick," Monica said.

"Yeah," I said, "Whatever."

"Well, at least you two aren't fighting anymore."

"Are you kidding? That was an argument. It just wasn't a very loud one."

"Why have you two been arguing so much?"

"Because I became Brad`s friend and he didn't accept that fact."

"That's what the fighting was all about? Nick stopped being your friend because you became friends with Brad? Nick can be so difficult to deal with."

"I know. It was way harder to become friends when him than it was to end our friendship. Why did we even become friends in the first place?"

"You were the one that said he needed friends."

"I thought you were the one to say that."

"No, you were. Look, it doesn't matter. You and Nick aren't even friends anymore, so why even bother talking about him? That's just wasting your breath. I think it's best if you sleep on it."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"Aren't I always?"

I sighed and got up. "Goodnight, Monica."

"Goodnight, Lloyd. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Don't you think?"

"Yeah. Whatever." I crawled into my tent for the night.

I fell into a dreamless sleep, but I felt as though I was tossing and turning all night. I didn't think I was sleeping at all. Once the sun was shining, I tried to sleep in, but it didn't really matter if I did sleep in or not. As leader, I had to get up in the morning. So I did. And I made breakfast. That made everybody get up. Zelda was back in her ten year old form. I'm not sure why, but she looks really pretty grown up. I'm just expressing my own opinion.

"Good morning, everyone," Zelda said.

"Morning, Zelda," I said.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

No, not really, but I didn't want her to know that. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"That's always good to hear."

I heard a rustling sound from one of the bushes. Everyone else must've heard it, too, because we were all silent. I thought it may have been a squirrel or something, but it was more than that. It was someone that I was hoping to see.

"Hey, guys." It was Brad.

"Brad?" I asked, "Is that really you?"

"Brad, you're okay," Monica said.

"We were all so worried about you," Zelda said.

"I will admit that I was a bit worried, but not too much," Nick said.

I placed my hand on Brad`s shoulder. "What happened to you, Brad? Where did you go?"

"Didn't you read the note that I left?" Brad asked, "I went to go find my parents."

"Did you find them?"

"I did. I came out here to collect some wood when I found you guys. Come on."

We followed Brad down the trail. Along the way, Brad was picking up logs for firewood. I'm pretty sure he hasn't had breakfast. We continued down the trail until we found a little cottage to where the trail ends. It's kind of like going through the woods to get to grandmother's house. That's what I think. We started walking up to the door, seeing what would happen next.

LOOKS LIKE THEY FOUND BRAD. HE FOUND HIS PARENTS. NOW ITS TIME FOR THE OTHER'S TO MEET THEM.

I WILL SAY THAT IT'S BEEN A LONG WEEK, SO I DON'T REALLY FEEL LIKE TALKING.

I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS CHAPTER.

PLEASE REVIEW.