Authors note:
So, this week has been busy, and I have things going on, so the next chapter might take a while. Please stop telling me when and what to post; you are not in control. You may suggest events, but do NOT tell me what to write. I have a plotline, and whimsically changing everything just to add something that suits you is not easy, nor necessary. This is MY story, and you do NOT order me around.
Anyways, enjoy!
"Ben," Brooklynn hisses, shaking him. "Wake up!"
The boy grunts. "What's up?" he mumbles.
"Look at Kenji," Brooklynn giggles.
Ben turns over. Kenji had somehow balanced himself in his sleep on the edge of the bed. He was on his knees with his rear in the air. His head and torso was hanging dangerously close to the ground. He was gripping the mattress in his sleep, snoring loudly.
Ben smothers his laughter. "He has the weirdest sleeping positions! Him and Sammy!"
"Should I poke him?" Brooklynn grins, gesturing to Kenji's raised rump.
"It's your finger," Ben shrugs.
Brooklyn laughs and nudges Kenji tush with her foot instead. The boy grunts, opening his eyes. Underneath Ben's bed, he comes face to face with a werewolf. "HAUHHHHHH!" Kenji screams, trying to pull himself up onto the bed. He fumbles the move, topples off the bed, and lands in a heap on the floor.
Brooklynn and Ben jump. "Kenji?" Ben asks in concern.
They hear laughing from under the bed and Milton crawls out from under Ben's bed. He takes off the werewolf mask. "His face!"
"Milton!" Kenji snaps. "I am so done with your crap right now!"
"What are you going to do?" Milton shrugs, leaving the room.
Kenji growls in frustration. "What is his problem with me?!"
"I think he feels jealous," Ben suggests, stretching his arms. "You've kind of become Brooklynn's older brother."
"Why would he be jealous about that?" Brooklynn sputters. "He gets so annoyed with me… Plus, now I'm kind of high maintenance with my depression and suicidal thoughts… you'd think he'd want to give away all responsibility to someone else…"
"No, you're not high maintenance," Kenji argues, sitting on the bed next to you.
"Maybe he wants to have that responsibility," Ben says. "He's apologized for bullying you pre Camp Cretaceous. Maybe he truly wants to change, and feels upstaged by Kenji and me. Mostly Kenji, though."
"Eh," Brooklynn sighs. "I can't see it. I just… I can't unsee him from that jerk I knew."
"Give it time," Ben says. "If he's truly trying to change. Took you time to see Kenji the way he is now, instead of how he was when we met him."
"Yeah," Brooklynn nods. She yawns. "I really want to lay in bed and do nothing today."
"Nope," Kenji says, scooping her up in his arms. She was still really light and was extremely easy to pick up. "You're going to get ready for the day and have fun!"
"I don't feel like having fun," Brooklynn groans. "I don't got the motivation to have fun."
"Don't be a drama queen," Kenji chuckles as she lets her head flop back. "Depressed people stay in bed and do nothing with no motivation. You don't want to be depressed, right?"
"No," Brooklynn lifts her head and gives him a reluctant smirk.
"Then have fun!" Kenji says jumping up and down.
Brooklynn grips his shoulders and shrieks with laughter. "Stop jumping! Stop!"
Ben laughs as Kenji lets her down and she heads to the showers. Not caring to take a shower—cleanliness didn't feel like a top priority to him after everything he went through—Ben gets dressed in casual clothes for the day.
Kenji gets dressed before diving under Ben's bed to search through his bins. "You got a lot of costumes, bruh."
"I was into dressing up as a kid," Ben says. "Particularly superheroes, pirates, ninjas… anything brave and heroic."
"Did you dress up like a werewolf?" Kenji asks.
"I think I did at one point," Ben frowns, trying to remember.
"I'm still sour about being scared like that," Kenji sputters, heading to the kitchen to get breakfast.
Ben laughs and leaves the room to give Brooklynn privacy to change in the room. Breakfast is a hassle as Brooklynn's anorexia was trying to take a hold of her again. She sat there at the table, moving her hash browns around with her fork. Tears were slowly falling down her face. "Brook?" Milton asks.
"I don't want to eat," she mumbles.
"Why not?" her mother asks.
"I don't like the feeling of being full," Brooklynn sniffs. "And…"
"You gotta keep eating, to gain weight," Milton tells her. "You don't like being this skinny, right? Eating will fix that."
Brooklynn covers her face with her hands. "But I don't want to gain too much weight…"
"Then walk the balance," Milton suggests. "I believe you can do it."
Ben can tell that Milton was trying to be a supportive, helpful older brother, but he didn't understand how Brooklynn's anorexic mind worked. All his words do is make her struggle to hold back her tears. Brooklynn's mother gives Milton a shut-up look, and he looks down at his plate.
"Brook, you've got a long way to go before you're close to being overweight," Kenji steps in. "Plus, you need energy. Don't over eat, but try to eat more than you usually would."
"It's okay sweetie," Darius's mother says, taking her hand. "You don't have to stuff yourself, but you do need to get back to a healthy weight."
"Okay," Brooklynn wipes her eye and grudgingly puts another bite of food in her mouth.
"Set goals for yourself," Mrs. Pincus suggests. "Small ones and work your way up to a healthy appetite."
"You can do it!" Kenji exclaims, throwing his hands up energetically. He accidentally flips his fork and the sunny side up egg slaps him in the face, making the whole group laugh. Through his laughter, Ben notices that Milton is the only one not laughing at Kenji's antics.
After breakfast, the group heads to the hospital to see their bedridden friends. Brooklynn immediately heads for Darius's room, while Kenji hangs with Sammy outside. Her and her sisters were playing a game of tag in the grass near the hospital. To allow Sammy to participate, Holly would push her around in her wheelchair and try to get close enough that Sammy could tag her siblings. "Darius was washing up, so I decided to stay out here until he was done," Sammy explains.
Ben felt that was slightly suspicious. Yasmina's room was still open… or was it?
He found out pretty quickly why Sammy didn't want to spend time with Yasmina. "Out of the way, pipsqueak," Ghaleb snorts, pushing Ben to the side. He still didn't trust the boy around his sister, and entered Yasmina's room.
Ghaleb didn't even step a foot into the room before Yasmina snapped at him. "GET OUT, YOU SHRIMP!" she shouted at him.
Ghaleb immediately steps out, closes the door, and leans against the wall.
"So we're in that mood, today," Ben mumbles to himself.
Ghaleb sighs and slowly bumps his head on the wall. "Why is she so grumpy all of a sudden?"
"She's dealing with issues," Ben murmurs.
"If you're so smart, why don't you fix them?" Ghaleb says sarcastically.
"If I knew exactly what it was, I would help her," Ben sighs. "That is, if she were to open up and let me help her."
"So she doesn't trust you enough to open up?" Ghaleb quirks an eyebrow.
"No, I…" Ben stutters. "She trusts me, just… I guess shutting down is her default."
"If she doesn't want to open up to you, don't force her to," Ghaleb growls. "That's just abuse."
"I know," Ben mumbles, looking down at the ground.
"Have you been forcing her to open up more than she's comfortable with?" Ghaleb narrows his eyes.
"No, no!" Ben exclaims. "I would never do that. I just wish she would open up. It's doing her no good to hold it all in and let it smolder. It's a hard balance to walk, knowing when to push and when to let go."
"Then back off," Ghaleb growls. "If you can't walk the balance, don't try. I don't want you abusing Yasmina."
Ben forces himself not to shrink under Ghaleb's scrutinizing gaze. "I don't want to abuse her either."
"Then back off," Ghaleb repeats coldly, staring at the door. It was heavily implied by the older boy that Ben would never be good enough for Yasmina. It didn't matter how much Ben would try, it didn't matter how much he changed; he would never be good enough.
Ben knew that. He knew that Ghaleb was too protective and he would never earn his approval to pursue Yasmina. Even so, he still wanted that approval. The whole reason Ghaleb was this protective was because he cared about Yasmina. Maybe if Ben could get Ghaleb's approval, he would be worthy of her affection…
Mr. and Mrs. Fadoula leave the room looking exasperated. "How is she?" Ghaleb asks with worry in his eyes.
"She's okay," Yasmina's mother sighs. "She just doesn't want to do anything. We've tried to get her to use crutches, or a walker, but she refuses to use anything but the wheelchair. Recently, she doesn't even want to use that."
"Would a prosthetic leg help?" Ben asks.
"She's not excited about that," Yasmina's step-father says grimly. "She outright opposed it."
The four exchange a look of dread and worry. It wasn't like the athlete to want to sit in bed or even a chair for very long. It was very uncharacteristic of her. "What does this mean?" Ghaleb asks hesitantly.
"It's fine if she doesn't use crutches or a prosthetic leg," Mrs. Fadoula says. "Some amputees don't use prosthetic legs and just use wheelchairs. I guess… in this case it's the mental state behind this."
"Usually she's not one to give up," Mr. Fadoula agrees. "It's… concerning… that she doesn't want to get back on her feet."
"Can I try talking to her?" Ghaleb asks, a heavy pit of dread in his stomach. His parents nod and he enters Yasmina's room. After a few minutes, Ben hears a muffled shout and Ghaleb leaves dejectedly.
"Ben, would you like to try?" Yasmina's mother sighs.
Ben gulps, ignores Ghaleb's glare, and enters the lion's den. Yasmina was staring at her leg stump, as if staring hard enough would make it grow back. It was an expression that Ben found difficult to read. There was self-loathing and depression, perhaps? Maybe a bit of anger and resentment and self-pity?
Yasmina looks up as Ben closes the door with an expression of anger and annoyance. When she sees it's him, her frown relaxes. It wasn't in a good way, though; instead of anger and frustration, she looked like she had given up on life. "I'm not using the crutches."
"Wasn't going to make you," Ben says. "We both know you can't be convinced otherwise when you've set your mind to it."
Yasmina's shoulders slump. She looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and failing. The idea made Ben's heart break. She shouldn't have to carry whatever burden she was carrying. And if she were to carry the weight of the world, Ben was sure she would've been able to. She was the strongest of them all.
Yasmina gives him a complicated look, giving Ben mixed signals. On one hand, she appeared to be slightly annoyed. It was almost as if she was asking him to leave with a look, too tired to actually say it. On the other hand, she almost seemed to want him to stay. She looked somewhat relieved that he was there. There was something in her expression… maybe the glistening tears ready to spill out, or the trembling lip, or the increasing intensity of her stare. It was as if she was crying out for help, but unable to say it. Like she was trapped in her own body, unable to escape and set herself free…
Ben's heart breaks and he blinks back tears as he moves forward to hug her. He embraces her, pulling her in and holding her tightly. She half-heartedly moves her arms around his back. Ben starts to question whether he read her expression right when she starts sobbing. He rubs her back gently as Yasmina sobs into his shirt.
She calms down and hiccups. Ben looks her over. Her hair was a matted mess, greasy and unkept. It wasn't that bad the day before. He knew that the hospital staff would help them take baths and keep clean, but she must've refused it. Her eyes were a bit puffy from crying, and had a hollow look about them. The sight was pitiful and heartbreaking. It was hard to see his friend reduced to this.
"What's wrong?" Ben asks, wanting so desperately to help.
"Everything," Yasmina mumbles.
"Anything in particular you want to talk about?" Ben asks.
Yasmina doesn't say a word; she stares at her hands with tears slowly dripping down her face.
It was agony for Ben. This was not the Yasmina he knew. He wanted her to shout at him for trying to get her to open up, scream in anger, shove him away. Something that seemed normal. Not this depressed, hopeless, spiritless girl sitting in front of him.
"Please, Yaz," Ben whispers. "Tell me what's wrong."
The athlete lifts her eyes and stares at him through her tears.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
She slowly shakes her head, not wanting to talk about it.
"You're depressed, aren't you?" Ben asks, seeing the same signs in Yasmina that they saw in Brooklynn.
Yasmina doesn't react at all to his statement.
"Are you suicidal?" Ben asks with increasing worry.
Yasmina still doesn't answer, merely staring at the wall. It was as if no one was there.
An awful, horrible thought enters Ben's mind, making him shudder. A picture of Yasmina committing suicide begins to torment him. Scenarios begin to fly through his mind. Finding her broken body beneath a bridge or on a road. A bullet in her mouth and blood foaming out. A rope tied to a high beam somewhere. Her lifeless body downstream…
Ben is broken of his horrible thoughts by Yasmina's gentle touch. She had moved her hand to gently stroke his cheek with worry. "You're pale," she croaks out, her throat sore from crying.
"I'm worried for you," Ben admits. "I can see something's going on. I wanna help you, Yaz. But you gotta let me."
Yasmina slowly crosses her arms, telling him that she wasn't going to open up any time soon and leaving Ben to struggle with fear.
"Please, Yaz," Ben begs, tears running down his face. "I know you're struggling. But I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."
Yasmina looks up at him, wiping away her tears. "I know, I know! I wish I could open up! I wish you could help me! But I don't know… I don't know what's going on! I don't know what's wrong with me! Even if I could open up, I couldn't tell you what's wrong!"
"Please," Ben whispers.
Yasmina wanted to ask for help. She wanted to cry out for help! She wanted to tell him everything that was going on and let him tell her everything was going to be okay, that things would be alright. But nothing was coming out. She didn't know how to put any of it in words; she herself didn't understand it all. "I know I'm difficult, and I know you don't understand me…" Yasmina pleads in her head. "But… maybe you could just trust me? Just hold me… even if you don't understand why?" But she couldn't say it out loud.
Yasmina was beginning to worry that Ben wouldn't understand her complicated, silent plea for help when he moves closer and pulls her into another hug. Yasmina begins to sob again, this time a bit of relief was mixed into those tears.
The two embrace for a while, before Ben's mother texts him. "Time for your eye appointment."
"I have to go," Ben sighs. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything?"
"If you have to go, it wouldn't matter," Yasmina mumbles with a tiny chuckle.
"You can text me with anything," Ben reminds her, pulling her into a quick hug. "Please do."
She nods as he leaves the room, filled with worry. "Why can't you open up to me?" he wonders as he grudgingly gets in his mothers car.
Back in Yasmina's room, Kenji and Brooklynn visit her. "Yaz!" Kenji grins.
"Close off," Yasmina tells herself, forcing her body to comply, despite not having the will to. "Don't let them see your depression. Close off. Shut it down."
"Hey," she smirks. "Any trolls I need to murder for you, Brook?"
Brooklynn chuckles. "Nope, I'd prefer you not to go to jail."
Yasmina sputters. "I will protect you at the cost of their life."
Kenji laughs, then begins to talk in a goofy voice. "'OhHhH, Leah popped up in the news as killed in a mysterious homicide.' 'Oh, I wonder what happened?' 'Eh, Yaz murdered her.'"
"Allegedly," Yasmina grins, making her friends laugh.
"Why do you have a face on your shirt?" Milton asks as his mother passes him the plate of pancakes.
Kenji looks down at his shirt. "Because it's a Star Wars shirt and Anakin's face happened to be on it."
"Eh, at least it's nicer to look at than yours," Milton shrugs.
"Milton," Brooklynn rolls her eyes. "Promising not to bully your sibling doesn't mean changing them out for another."
"I promised not to bully you, never said anything but Kenji," Milton retorts. "Plus, he's not technically my sibling."
"Well, he's like a brother to me, so there," Brooklynn huffs.
"So?" Milton sputters. "Doesn't mean I have to be nice to him."
"Since he's a human being, you should be nice to him," his mother chastises.
"Do I have to be nice to Hitler?" Milton asks, deadpan.
"Kenji is not Hilter," Brooklynn argues.
"How about the Mafia?" Milton suggests.
"Kenji is a good guy, why do you have to bully him?!" Brooklynn argues, trying to stand up for her friend.
Kenji puts his hand on her wrist. "It's fine, Brook. Doesn't bother me. He's just jEalOuS that I'm so much hawter." Kenji smooths his hair back with a smirk.
Ben watches the whole encounter as he silently eats his food. "If it didn't bother you, you probably wouldn't deflect to your appearances. Next up is wealth."
"You couldn't melt ice cream in the middle of July," Milton hisses.
"At least I could pay to have someone melt it for me," Kenji retorts with an annoying grin.
"There it is," Ben thinks as he puts another bite of food in his mouth.
"Don't know why Brooklynn thinks you're such a good older brother," Milton hisses. "A narc is the last thing she needs."
"Totally agree," Kenji shrugs, looking at Ben. They both knew Milton wanted to be the older brother Kenji had become to Brooklynn, which was one reason why Kenji had refrained from throwing back insults. "Which is one reason why I changed."
"Thought you changed for Sammy," Milton sneers.
"She was a contributing factor," Kenji chuckles.
"Well, you must not have changed enough if you don't have the guts to go meet her father," Milton ridicules.
"Milton, enough!" his mother snaps.
Kenji's face remains relaxed and unchanged, as if he was unbothered. But under the table, Ben can see his fists clench.
After breakfast, Ben confronts Kenji about it. "Hey, you okay after Milton roasted you?"
"I'm good, bruh," Kenji shrugs.
Ben quirks an eyebrow. "Are we really going to pretend like this?"
Kenji sighs. "It's not that he bothers me. I know why he's acting that way. It's more that he pointed out what I've been struggling with…"
"What, talking to Mr. Gutierrez?" Ben asks.
"Yeah, he really intimidates me," Kenji groans. "He's the father of my love interest, and could kill me in multiple ways if I ever hurt Sammy."
"You have nothing to worry about," Ben smiles at him.
"Do I really?" Kenji frowns. "It's just… What if I haven't changed? What if Milton is right? What if I'm still the same narcissistic boy you guys first met, and…"
"But you're not," Ben argues.
"I can't do that to Sammy," Kenji continues on as if Ben hadn't said anything. "I can't do that to Brooklynn, or Yaz, or you, or Darius, or anyone!"
"You do realize that a narcissist wouldn't be talking that way," Ben points out. "A narcissist cares only about themselves. If you were a narcissist, you wouldn't be worried about this."
"Fair enough," Kenji relents.
"You're a better person than you think you are," Ben encourages him. "I'm sure Mr. Gutierrez will love you."
Kenji's eyes widen at the thought of meeting the burly man. "Nahhh, I can't meet him. I really don't want to."
"So you're just going to marry Sammy and never meet her father?" Ben teases.
Kenji lets out an exaggerated sigh.
"Okay, if it makes you feel better, Yaz's father is way more intimidating," Ben laughs.
"No way!" Kenji sputters.
"Okay, wide, 5'10" Texan or beefy, 6'5" bodybuilder?" Ben asks.
"Texan!" Kenji exclaims. "He's got guns, cattle, who knows what other ways he could kill me!"
"Okay, but they're Christian, and God commands us not to murder people," Ben counters.
Kenji laughs. "I doubt he'll think it applies to me, since I want to date his daughter. Besides, Yaz's Dad actually seems to like you and trust you with his daughter."
"Yeah, he is a really nice guy," Ben nods. "But I'm not sure he knows how I feel about Yaz…"
"You seriously think Ghaleb's been quiet and not told anyone how you feel about her?" Kenji asks.
"Shutting down might run in the family," Ben snarkily retorts.
Kenji snorts.
"Ghaleb is something else, though," Ben chuckles nervously. "Between him and Mr. Gutierrez, I think Ghaleb might have a higher chance of commiting murder."
"He is really bent on you not getting anywhere near Yaz," Kenji nods.
"So it's scarier to have a crush on Yaz," Ben says triumphantly.
"No, no, no," Kenji argues. "You have Ghaleb to worry about, and Mr. Fadoula only if you hurt Yaz. Her mom probably wouldn't do much, and Habeeba and Jabari are too nice. I have Sammy's Papa, Mama, older sisters, uncles, and extended family that will come together to hunt me down like a Mexican Mafia."
Ben laughs at the thought. "True. But you're overthinking this. You're a great guy, and I'm sure that he'll like you. You'll be a great addition to the Gutierrez family."
"A dramatic one, I can guarantee that," Kenji chuckles as they enter Darius's room. Darius smirks at them. "What?" Kenji asks, as his father appears suddenly from behind the door. Kenji jumps with a yelp. "Dad!"
"Hello, son," his father says, trying to hold back a smirk.
"You came all the way from New Jersey just to scare me?" Kenji asks, offended.
"No, I came to see you," his father chuckles. "Scaring you was a bonus."
Kenji overdramatically scoffs.
"Don't be so dramatic," his father rolls his eyes good naturedly.
"Oh my gosh, you gave me a heart attack!" Kenji exclaims, falling over onto the floor and pretending to pass out.
"Is this how you act on a normal day?" Mr. Kon asks.
"Yup, pretty much," Kenji chuckles.
"You can't be related to me," his father sputters, sitting back down in the chair.
"Don't be a drama queen," Kenji laughs, getting up.
"Oh, I'm the drama queen?" his father quirks an eyebrow. "What does that make you?"
"The drama princess," Kenji says, putting his hands on his knees and trying to flip his hair.
Ben and Darius were sent into howls of laughter as Yasmina opened the door at that moment. She holds her hand up to make her brother stop pushing her and gives Kenji a concerned look. "I'm not sure if I should be concerned or used to walking in on you twerking."
"Kenji twerking is a regular occurance?" Ghaleb asks with increasing concern as the group laughs. "What kind of kid are you raising?"
"I didn't teach him to do that," Mr. Kon laughs.
"You walked in at the wrong time," Kenji wheezes.
"Kenji," Yasmina says solemnly. "There is never a good time to walk in on you doing the WAP dance."
Ben and Kenji hold their stomachs as Darius asks: "What's WAP stand for?"
"Weaponized assault penguins," Yasmina says, deadpan, causing Ben and Kenji to fall over on the floor with laughter.
"Weaponized assault penguins?" Darius asks, doubting it.
"Yep, weaponized assault penguins," Ghaleb nods. "That's exactly what it stands for."
Darius gives them a look of doubt, but doesn't question it.
Later that day, before they had to go back home, Ben talks to Kenji again. He was avoiding Sammy because her father was around. "You know," Ben says, startling the older boy. "If you don't have anything to hide, you wouldn't be afraid of talking to him."
"But I do have some stuff to hide…" Kenji sighs. "Ben, I... I got a girl pregnant a couple years ago. What kind of father would allow his daughter to marry a guy like me?"
"Woah," Ben says, staring off into space as he comprehends this.
"What will Mr. Gutierrez think of me?" Kenji asks solemnly.
"That you're an inexperienced teen boy who's made mistakes and learned from them," Ben says. "It can't be as bad as you're thinking it is."
Kenji shakes his head. "I know, but… I still can't bring myself to meet him."
Ben sighs. "Maybe if negative sources are eliminated, he'd have more confidence," he wonders. His eyes land on Milton. "Well, I've tried to encourage Kenji. Might as well talk to Milton. His harassment is getting annoying, anyway."
Ben approaches Milton, trying to appear more confident than he was. "Hey, Milton."
"Sup," the boy nods, checking something on his phone.
Ben looks at him. "Always on your phone, huh? Does it run in the family?"
Milton chuckles. "Pretty much."
"I wish Brooklynn would get off social media," Ben sighs, hoping this would lead the conversation to Kenji. "People are just bullying her and trolling her."
"Yeah, I guess it's not good for her," Milton agrees. "Especially now that she's provoked Leahkangaroo. That girl basically runs Youtube."
"Seriously?" Ben asks.
"Yeah," Milton nods. "Think of the top Youtubers like MrBeast, PewDiePie, James Charles. She's in the league with them. But she's also created a legion of other Youtubers that basically work for her. They span all different types of videos. Toy players, Minecrafters, Fortnite players, vloggers, storytellers, makeup artists. She's basically created her own army of Youtubers and fans."
"Why?" Ben asks.
"To spread her name and get more followers," Milton says. "She finds new and naive Youtubers and contacts them. She makes a couple videos with them and initiates them into her group. They make videos that she suggests, does what she wants them to do, promotes her, stuff like that. In exchange, she'll direct viewers and other Youtubers their way and give them subscribers."
"And that's how Brooklynn fell in with her?" Ben crosses his arms.
"Yup," Milton nods. "Brook got famous because of Leah's influence. I'd say the majority of Brooklanders are also Troopers."
"That's not good," Ben grimaces.
"No, definitely not," Milton sighs.
"I wish she didn't fall in with Leah to begin with," Ben groans. "Would make things so much easier."
Milton crosses his arms defensively. "Yeah, but we can't go back and change the past. We can change the future and keep her away from bullies and players." He sends a glare Kenji's way.
Ben sees his chance. "Look, Kenji is a good guy with Brooklynn's wellbeing in mind."
"They all say that," Milton rolls his eyes.
"But he's put actions behind it," Ben counters.
"He's not a good guy, I can feel it," Milton sputters. "I don't want him around Brooklynn."
"What proof do you have?" Ben asks. "He's continually shown himself to be trustworthy and reliable, especially for her. Brooklynn knows she can go to him and he'll encourage and protect her."
"And he could easily take advantage of her," Milton argues.
"If he really wanted to take advantage of her, wouldn't he have done it on the island where there were no adults to stop him?" Ben asks.
"Maybe he did while you guys weren't looking," Milton growls.
"We were always watching Brooklynn, and Kenji never would've had the chance," Ben retorts. "Nor would he have tried. Do you think that maybe your dislike for Kenji has more to do with you than him?"
"Anyone who supports players is immediately questionable," Milton snaps at Ben. "Wouldn't be surprising if you've fallen in with Kenji."
Ben is taken aback. "Do I strike you as the type to be violent?"
"No, but you're the type to wuss out and do whatever he tells you to do," Milton ridicules.
Ben clenches his fists in rage, feeling the same urge to hit Milton as he did with Leah. "I will protect and defend my friends, and that means all my friends. Kenji is a good guy who truly cares about the rest of us. I'm not going to stand by and listen to you bully him. Just because Brooklynn trusts him, doesn't mean you need to go after him! You're bullying him because you feel insecure about your abilities as an older brother, not because he's a bad guy! We're not stupid, we can all see that you're mad at yourself for not being there for Brooklynn! You're mad at yourself because you bullied her and left her on her own! Don't make the situation worse by trying to remove Kenji, who's supported and kept her alive during her time of need!"
Milton shoves Ben backwards and the boy falls back on his behind. "Don't tell me what I feel!" he snaps. "Kenji is a bad guy, and I'll protect Brooklynn from anyone I see as a threat! Including you!"
Brooklynn's older brother stomps away, leaving Ben feeling even more of a failure. "This can't get any worse," he groans to himself.
A shadow passes over him and he looks up. Ghaleb had his arms crossed and stood over him. "I stand corrected," Ben sighs.
"That went well," Ghaleb says with a smirk.
"Just trying to fix the tension between him and Kenji," Ben groans.
"Some good that did," Ghaleb chuckles. "Now he's on your back."
"Maybe you could talk to him?" Ben asks. "I think he wants to be more like you. Protective of his sister."
"Eh, maybe," Ghaleb shrugs. "I'd hate it if someone tried to stop me from protecting Yasmina. But by removing Brook's closest friends, he'd be putting her in a bad position."
"So I did have a point and wasn't just nagging?" Ben asks, standing up.
Ghaleb shrugs, not saying either way.
"What?" Ben asks. "Do you feel the same way about me with Yaz?"
"You're not worthy of her affection," Ghaleb says decisively. "If you thought trying to make peace would make me think otherwise, you have another thought coming."
Ben tries to explain that that wasn't what was going on, but Ghaleb leaves before he can. Ben's shoulder sag with defeat, and he heads home feeling more hopeless than before.
"Ghaleb!" Mr. Fadoula snaps, gently whacking the side of his step-sons head. "What was that back there?!"
Ghaleb ducks. "What?"
Mr. Fadoula gestures to where Ben used to be sitting. "Why are you bullying him?!"
"I'm not!" Ghaleb insists.
"Really?!" Mr. Fadoula asks. "Then what was that?"
"I was just telling him to back off of Yazzy," Ghaleb says, shrinking back slightly.
Mr. Fadoula sighs. "Ghaleb, I appreciate you trying to help protect your sister, but you're overstepping your boundaries."
"I just don't trust Ben with her!" Ghaleb argues.
"Why?" his father prompts.
"He…" Ghaleb mumbles. "He… we just don't know him! What if he's not who he says he is? What if he ends up hurting Yasmina down the road?!"
"Ben?" Mr. Fadoula quirks an eyebrow. "Does he seem like the type that would hurt Yasmina?"
"We don't know him!" Ghaleb argues. "And even if he isn't the abusive type, he doesn't seem brave enough to protect her! If she was in trouble, he would wuss out!"
"Ghaleb, the six of them just survived multiple, multiple, multiple dino encounters!" Mr. Fadoula growls. "I think he would be able to handle protecting her!"
Ghaleb looks at the ground.
"What's really going on?" his father asks.
"I…" Ghaleb sighs. "I just… The idea of her getting stuck in an abusive relationship like Mom…"
"I get that you're very protective of Yasmina," Mr. Fadoula smiles. "That's a good thing. But you can't be controlling her life and bullying her friends. I want you to give Ben a chance. I trust him, and he seems to be a good kid. He's very soft spoken, and stays calm and patient with your sister. A guy who wants to be with her will need that."
Ghaleb lets out a reluctant chuckle.
"Please," Mr. Fadoula says, putting his hand on his step-sons shoulder. "I trust him. Besides, in the end, it's not up to us. It's Yasmina's decision."
"Sammy!" Brooklynn says as she gives the girl a hug from behind.
Sammy jumps before laughing. "Oh, hey!"
"Oh, you got your stitches out!" Kenji exclaims, hugging her awkwardly. It was difficult with her in a wheelchair.
"Yeah, I did," Sammy says, forcing herself to smile. "Doesn't it look so much better?"
"It seriously does," Brooklynn nods. "It's healing up so well. I wish I could get my stitches out, but it's not finished healing up yet."
The knife wounds Mitch had inflicted on Sammy were clean and sharp, and she had kept them relatively uninfected during the short few days before rescue, so the wounds healed up pretty quickly. Brooklynn's stitches, on the other hand, were wider and jagged and would take more time to heal.
"Don't worry, they'll come out soon and it will look so much better," Sammy says, smiling up at Brooklynn.
Ben watches his friends interact from the other side of the room. He felt that Sammy was acting weird. It was almost as if he was watching a Nickelodeon show. Her hand movements were exaggerated, and her smiles overdramatic. Everything felt forced, like she was acting for a camera.
"How are you doing, Sammy?" Brooklynn asks, catching on to Sammy's act.
"Doin' wonderful!" Sammy shrugs. "Never been better."
Brooklynn glances doubtfully at Kenji and Ben. Kenji silently sighs and shakes his head, having fought the battle several times.
Ben felt the need to have a go himself, though. "Sammy, look, you don't need to pretend in front of us."
Sammy's smile becomes even more forced, but there was a hint… irritation, perhaps? "I'm not pretendin'."
"Sam, you don't look so good," Brooklynn says, before wincing at her word choice.
Sammy is visibly hurt by the words, but she tries to hide it.
"No, that's not what I meant," Brooklynn sighs. "You look fine, I just mean you seem unhappy."
"I'm fine," Sammy shrugs.
"You can talk to us about whatever you're feeling," Ben encourages.
"I wear my heart on my sleeve," Sammy says decisively. "I'm feeling fine."
"Sammy," Ben starts.
"I'm fine!" Sammy exclaims, trying to make it sound happy, but there's an obvious tone of annoyance in her voice.
Ben stops pushing, feeling shut out again. The rest of their hospital stay, Ben watches from a corner. Sammy was continuing to act like everything was fine and that she was happy, even when everyone could clearly see it was fake. Yasmina, on the other hand, was pretending to be snarky and grumpy, even though she had no motivation to do anything. Brooklynn was laughing and smiling, but her dark voices were beginning to strike harder. Kenji, for the most part, was completely fine. But there was an element of self-consciousness and low confidence about him. Darius seemed to be the only one who wasn't pretending, until Brooklynn mentioned that their families were going to go back to their separate states in two days. Anxiety flickers across Darius's face, but for his friends sake, he hides it. No one else noticed.
Ben notices it all, though. He heads to bed feeling shut out and useless. "God, I want to help my friends," he sobs in his head. "It's hard to help them when they won't let me. What can I do?!"
The next morning, Ben wakes up feeling gloomy. Milton and Kenji were at it again, and Brooklynn shed more tears over food and her appearance. Ghaleb continued to give Ben a judging stare, as if he was watching his every move to evaluate him. Ben wanted to curl up in bed and not do anything. "Is this what depression is like?" he wonders, before pushing the thought away. "No. I am not depressed! This is just a bad day."
Ben visits Darius's room first, not wanting to deal with Yasmina or Sammy at the moment. He walks into the room, putting on a small smile. "Hey, Darius."
"Hey, Ben," Darius grins, then starts laughing.
"Did they give you laughing gas to make you sleep?" Ben asks in confusion.
"Nah, I have no idea what they give me," Darius laughs. "I just had a funny dream about you."
"Oh," Ben smiles. Darius's laugh was contagious. "What was the dream?"
Darius laughs. "Okay, so I think we were all in anime style. Or manga… I don't know what the difference between them is. Whatever, something like that, with the big eyes and the super powers."
"Kenji and Brooklynn would probably know," Ben chuckles.
"Whatever," Darius sputters. "Anyway, you were like a superhero or something. There was this lightning bolt that kept coming down from the sky and powering up these nine stones. And you would draw on the power of the lightning bolt, channeled through the stones, and would attack this villain. The villain had all of us under mind control. You kept attacking and trying to break the mind control. It didn't look like anything was happening, and the villain kept trying to make you lose hope. But on the inside, the power of the stones and lightning bolt were breaking the mind control and you emerged victorious."
"Dang, that sounds like a very exciting dream," Ben laughs.
"Yeah," Darius nods. "I don't know what any of it means. It might have just been an interesting dream, but it felt important. It felt like the dreams I had on the island."
"What's the difference between a special dream and a regular one?" Ben asks.
"Well, I think there's three types of dreams for me," Darius sighs. "Regular ones, demonic ones, and Godly, prophetic ones. The regular ones are just strange and weird. The demonic ones usually leave me feeling anxious and stressed, and usually involve death and guilt. The Godly ones are usually metaphorical and I can remember the details vividly. I'm pretty sure a couple had double meanings, too."
"So what do you think this dream meant?" Ben asks.
"Not sure," Darius scratches his head. "Didn't make much sense to me, but it involved you, so I thought I might pass it along. Thought it might be more relevant to you than me."
Ben lets out a small chuckle. "I guess so. What were the stones?"
"I have no idea," Darius sighs. "I could see so clearly the names, but I can't pronounce them. You might understand them better, word geek."
"Hey," Ben protests with a laugh as Darius begins to write the names down.
"Three of the stones stabilized and strengthened you during the fight," Darius explains. "They were lodged into your battle armor and would give you power. Three were attached to your arm gauntlets and would attack and break the power of the villain. Then the other three would do both, and were floating around your head."
Ben takes the piece of paper. There were nine words written down: Agapē, Chara, Eirēnē, Makrothymia, Chrēstotēs, Agathōsynē, Pistis, Prautēs, and Enkrateia. "Oh, I think it's Greek," Ben says.
"Course you know what language it is," Darius laughs. "I have no idea how to pronounce them, so don't mind me butchering them."
"So what did what?" Ben asks, taking out another piece of paper and preparing to organize what Darius says.
"So the three that strengthened and protected you were the Makrothymia, Pistis, and Enkrateia," Darius begins. "Pistis fitted into the center of your chest armor. It was almost like a generator. When the lightning bolt wasn't striking you, it would give you power to go on while waiting for the next lightning bolt. Enkrateia fitted into a spot on the front of your helmet. It kept all the stones together and kept you on track. Makrothymia fitted onto the front of your belt. It was powered by the Pistis stone, and kept you strong. It also created shields to protect you from the words the villain sent to make you lose hope."
"Okay," Ben mumbles, writing it all down.
"The three that attacked and destroyed the villains' power were Chrēstotēs, Agathōsynē, and Prautēs," Darius continues "Agathōsynē was the stone that sort of beckoned those who were under mind control towards you. It was the opposite of the villain's tyranny, and when people noticed it's power, they began to turn to it. Chrēstotēs would slowly break apart the cold chains around people's hearts with its powers. Prautēs was what guided and worked with Chrēstotēs. It was like a gentle wind."
"Hmm," Ben nods.
"Then Agapē, Chara, and Eriēnē did both," Darius explains. "Agapē kept you focused on the task at hand, as well as helped generate energy. When mind controlled friends would shout horrible words at you, Agapē would protect you from them and keep you moving forward. At the same time, it worked with the three attached to your arm gauntlets and would break through the mind control. Chara was pretty much the same. It would energize you and keep you from tiring when you endured attack after attack. It also drew in mind controlled people because they were lacking it and it began to spread to them. The villain would send earthquakes and storms your way, and Eriēnē kept you grounded during the attacks. It also drew in people because they were missing that and quaking during the villains' attacks."
"That sounds really epic," Ben chuckles, searching up the meanings of the words. He was sure he had heard those words before… He knew Agapē meant love in Greek…
"Agapē means love," Ben says. "Chara means joy… Eriēnē means peace… Makrothymia means patience or long suffering… Chrēstotēs means kindness… Agathōsynē means goodness… Pistis means faithfulness… Prautēs means gentleness, and Enkrateia means—"
"Self control," Darius interrupts.
"So you do know Greek," Ben smirks teasingly.
"No, I just guessed it!" Darius insists. "I didn't know what any of those words mean, or even what language they were in. But self control was the logical answer. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control."
"Yeah, it's the fruit of the spirit," Ben murmurs. He thinks about everything Darius said. "So love would keep me focused and protect me and break through the bad guys mind control. Joy would energize me and draw people in because they were lacking it. Peace would keep me grounded during attacks, and draw people in because they were missing it. Patience kept me strong and held up against the words that tried to make me lose hope. Kindness slowly broke through the cold chains around their hearts. Goodness is the opposite of the villain's powers and draws people in. Faithfulness gave me power to go on. Gentleness guided kindness and worked with it. And self control kept the others working together and kept me on track."
"While I'm sure that I had that dream for a reason, I bet you could turn any dream into one with meaning," Darius grins.
"I didn't give your dream any meaning or interpretation," Ben shrugs. "I'm just translating the Greek words to English. Everything else you said fits in."
"Good thing you know how to figure it out," Darius laughs. "Without those definitions, I wouldn't be able to get anything out of it other than a laugh. I would guess that the lightning bolt powering you up was God and the villain was Satan, but the rest depends solely on knowing Greek."
Ben smiles gratefully at Darius, then up at the ceiling. "Well, I thank God for that dream, and thank you, Darius, for telling me about it."
"You needed that, whatever it was, didn't you?" Darius asks.
Ben nods. "I think the message God is trying to get through to me is to hold to him no matter the circumstances. Right now, it feels like things are falling apart and people are growing colder."
"But God's powers are working from the inside-out, and sometimes it takes time," Darius nods.
"Exactly," Ben nods. "Kindness, gentleness, goodness, and love I think I have a pretty good hold on. Faith in God that his plan is working will need to be strengthened. Peace and joy will need to be found. Self control, too. Patience, I'll definitely need to work on."
"You seem pretty patient," Darius tilts his head.
"Yeah, but when you're watching your friends seemingly slip away, it's hard to be patient," Ben explains.
"That's true," Darius nods. "I get that…"
"Think you could use that lesson, too?" Ben asks.
"Probably," Darius nods.
"All right, I'm going to be standing in faith no matter the circumstances and be patient," Ben exhales, offering his fist. "It'll be a battle, but I'm going to fight it. What about you?"
"Definitely," Darius smiles, bumping Ben's fist with his. "I'm in."
The next morning, Ben wakes up to muffled crying. Immediately knowing who it was, he turns over. "Brook."
The girl turns to him, her hoodie sleeve wet with tears. "A lot of my followers are turning against me."
Ben takes her phone and scrolls through the comments. After reading a couple of them, he had a good idea what had happened. "Looks like Leah's been spreading rumors about you."
Brooklynn takes her phone back with a sob. "They said I'm just a… you know… female dog. They said I was ugly and hideous…"
"And should it matter to you?" Ben asks, trying to lift her spirits.
"I know it shouldn't but…" Brooklynn cries.
Kenji snorts and wakes up. "Wassa matter?" He notices Brooklynn crying and pulls her into a hug. "Don't cry."
"Leah's been spreading rumors about me," Brooklynn explains with a sniff.
"People are stupid for believing that an angel like you would do anything but good things," Kenji mumbles sleepily, and Brooklynn reluctantly chuckles.
"You're beautiful and strong and important," Ben tells her. "Probably need to change things up a bit," Ben thinks to himself. "It's getting repetitive and she might think we're saying it out of habit."
"Let's get up, guys," Darius's mother says gently, poking her head through the door. "We have a big day, today."
The three give each other a worried look. It was time to leave Maryland and head back to their respective states. Everyone but Yasmina was officially moving to Texas. Even then, the athlete was almost a hundred percent moving to Texas. While they all knew they were going to be together again, the idea of being separate by states for a couple days scared them.
"Ben, why don't you go take a shower and get dressed?" Mrs. Bowman suggests, entering the room to help comfort Brooklynn.
Ben heads into the bathroom, feeling kicked out and useless. "Why am I always getting shut out?" he wonders. "God, is nothing working?"
"No, stay patient, stay faithful, stay joyful," Ben reminds himself. "Sometimes it takes time for things to work. And we have a lot to work through."
He didn't feel like doing anything but being grumpy and moody. "Lord, your joy is my strength. Please give me your joy to get through this."
On a whim, he turns on worship music before getting in the showers. The slow, choral music mixed with the worship lyrics calms Ben. His grumpy, foul mood disappears as he hums the lyrics. "Thank you, Lord, for saving us from death. Thank you for rescuing us off the island. Thank you."
As he showers, Ben begins to praise God for more and more things. He becomes very specific, and remembers instances where he should've died and was blessed with life, or times when his friends were rescued from death. The more he remembers and thanks God for, the more joy he begins to have. It was hard to be depressed and upset when he was grateful and going over every good thing his Lord had done. Between the worship music, and the praising, Ben leaves the shower feeling positive and joyful.
When he comes back into the room, Brooklynn had gotten dressed in black sweatpants and a gray hoodie. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she was staring out the window. "It's raining," she says glumly.
Ben gets an idea. "Let's go play in the rain!"
Kenji turns to him in confusion. It seemed that Brooklynn's depressed demeanor had spread to him. "What?"
"Come on!" Ben exclaims, grabbing his friends hands and dragging them out of his room. "Let's go play in the rain! It'll be fun!"
Kenji and Brooklynn follow him outside and watch him spin around in the rain. "Is he okay?" Brooklynn asks the older boy.
"Not sure," Kenji mumbles. "Ben! What are you smoking?!"
Ben laughs. "I'm high on the Lord!"
"You're what?" Brooklynn asks in confusion, chuckling slightly.
"I have the joy of the Lord!" Ben explains, coming back up onto their porch. "God saved us from so much and protected us on the island! And he's still protecting us now! If he protected us there, why won't he protect us now? Come on! Let's be joyful together! God is with us, why be depressed?!"
Smiles begin to form on his friends' faces.
"Come on, let's not let the weather make us sad!" Ben grins. "Rain is so important! It waters the plants and washes away filth! And it's so much fun to play in!"
Ben runs back out into the rain, spinning around with his arms wide open. He begins to stomp his feet in the puddles like a little child. "I haven't had this much fun in the rain since… well, ever!" Ben exclaims. "I was too scared of lightning to play as a kid!"
"But being struck by lightning is the best part!" Kenji calls out, making his friends laugh.
"Ooh! Ooh! Lay down in the street and pretend to be dead!" Brooklynn laughs, pulling out her phone. Ben does so, and she takes a picture. "Update… Ben's been struck by lightning…" Brooklynn mumbles as she texts Yasmina. The girl starts laughing. "Yaz says to come back to life. We need BCB."
Ben laughs. "Well, come play with your BCB!"
Kenji lets out a whoop before running out into the rain. He kicks water at Ben and the two begin to have a muddy water fight. Brooklynn runs out and joins them. "Ah! I can't get my stitches wet!" she laughs.
"Then why did you join?!" Kenji cackles.
The three start shrieking as a blast of cold water hits them from behind. They race out into the street to avoid the spray of water. Brandon tries to follow them with the hose, but it isn't long enough. "Got ya!" he laughs.
Ghaleb and Milton chase Ben and Kenji around with big buckets of water. Ben shrieks as Ghaleb catches up and pours the cold water down his head and back. "Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!" he exclaims, stomping his feet as he laughs. The older boy howls with laughter.
Milton kept trying to catch Kenji. In an attempt to get him soaked, Milton throws the water while running, and ends up running straight into the water. His pants and the bottom of his shirt is completely soaked. "Gosh darn it!" he exclaims as Kenji sniggers.
Brooklynn races back into the driveway to avoid a car and shrieks as Brandon sprays her back. He chases her around; the two shrieking with laughter. "Do you have any water balloons, Ben?"
"Maybe," Ben says, searching through the garage with Brandon. "Here we are!" he exclaims triumphantly, holding up a pack of water balloons. The two boys begin to fill up the bucket with water balloons. Once finished, the take a handful and start throwing them at the others.
"No fair! You're puppy guarding!" Kenji shouts, running to avoid the water balloons. Milton darts in, grabs one, throws it, and the water balloon hits Kenji square in the ear. "I can't hear now!" Kenji shouts, running straight towards the two. He fights with Milton for a water balloon and pops it over the boy's head. Brooklynn, Ghaleb, Ben, and Brandon move in and fight for the water balloons, shrieking and laughing as they get soaked.
"Ooh! Wait, can you fill two water balloons? Around the same size?" Kenji asks with a mischievous grin. Brandon and Ben fill up two, and Kenji disappears behind the car. He comes around with the water balloons down his shirt, cackling. "I'm so immature," he wheezes.
"You look like an anime girl," Milton snickers, while the others fall down on the concrete with laughter.
Brooklynn shields her phone from the rain and Kenji smiles for the camera, holding up the water balloons in an awkward way. Brooklynn can only take two pictures before she's convulsing with laughter. "We're showing this at your wedding."
Kenji laughs and drops his hands. The water balloons fall out and burst on the ground. The group cackles again.
"All right, you guys," Mrs. Pincus says, carrying suitcases out of the house as it stops raining. "Head back in, get changed and let's go meet your friends at the hospital."
Brooklynn and Kenji start to look sad, but Ben refuses to allow sadness. "Come on! Let's go see Darius, Yaz, and Sammy!"
Ben and Kenji get dressed while Brooklynn waits outside. An idea strikes the boy, and Ben opens Brooklynn's suitcase. "What are you doing?" Kenji whispers, pulling a dry shirt over his head.
"Picking out an outfit for her," Ben whispers back, pulling out nice jeans and a fancy, cream-colored blouse with a bow around the neck.
"That's called death, don't touch her clothes," Kenji says. But he doesn't move to stop Ben.
Ben leaves the outfit laid out on the bed and leaves. "I have an idea for your outfit, Brook, trust me," he tells her as she walks in. She looks confused, but changes into it anyway; not having the motivation to choose anything else. When Brooklynn is finished getting dressed, Ben pulls out a couple items from his dress-up bin. "Put on your eye patch."
Brooklynn obliges, and Ben ties a red and black striped line of cloth around her head like a pirate. He does the same with a longer black strip of cloth, this time around her waist. "Voila!" Ben exclaims. "You're a fashionable pirate!"
Brooklynn giggles. "This actually looks cute."
"Got any boots?" Ben asks.
"Of course," Brooklynn sputters, offended he would think otherwise. She finds knee length, shiny black boots with a thick, two-inch heel. She adds silver studs to her ears and a silver bracelet to her right wrist to complete the look.
"You might want this," Ben grins, handing her a pirate hook. She puts it on her left hand and poses in the mirror. "All right, matey!" she laughs. "Let's go plunder the hospital!"
"Ay, ay, Captain!" Ben salutes her with a grin.
Brooklynn struts around the living room to show off her outfit. Her confidence had been lifted and she wasn't feeling self-deprecating anymore. The others clap and whistle as she poses and shows off her outfit.
"Why do heels make girls so much more confident?" Ben asks as they get in the car. "I'd have thought they would make you less confident cause you'd be unstable."
Brooklynn laughs. "It makes you stand up straight and makes you look more curvy. That is, if you can walk in them."
"I can't decide if Yaz would kill heels, or look like a newborn horse," Kenji says, putting a finger to his chin.
Ben and Brooklynn laugh. "She's too shy to pull off heels," Brooklynn says. "And too practical and tomboyish."
"But she could totally rock heels," Ben argues.
"Yeah," Brooklynn nods. "Let's ask her."
And ask her, they did. As soon as Yasmina was dressed, Kenji, Ben and Brooklynn walked into her room. "Can you walk in heels?" Kenji asks without a hello or good morning.
Yasmina frowns. "Wait, wha—" she gasps when she sees Brooklynn. "Oh! You look so fabulous! You're an elegant baddie!"
Brooklynn poses with a grin.
They roll Yasmina into the hospital courtyard to meet Sammy. The Texan was looking gloomy when they arrived. But as soon as she saw them, she plastered that fake smile on her lips again. "Oooh!" she squeals. "You look so cute Brooklynn!"
"Thank you," Brooklynn says, flipping her hair with a laugh.
Ben takes her hands and begins to spin around. The two laugh as they spin faster and faster until they fall down. Darius is wheeled out in his wheelchair. "He's finally out of bed!" Kenji exclaims, whooping.
A small smile creeps onto Darius's face. "Love the outfit, Brook."
She grins. Ben and Kenji begin to do si do, and Brooklynn joins in. The siblings join in and begin to dance and goof off. Brooklynn pretends to be a pirate and with a laugh, Darius pretends to be her parrot. Kenji pulls Sammy back on her big wheels and spins her around. Her laugh is now genuine.
"Dance with me!" Ben encourages, holding out his hands to Yasmina.
"I…" Yasmina stutters. "I only have one leg, Ben, I can't dance…"
"Yes you can!" Ben insists with a huge smile. He just couldn't hold back his joy. "Come on, I'll help you."
Yasmina looks over at the others. Sammy's face was turning red from laughter because Kenji had slipped and her wheelchair had toppled over on top of her. Darius was laughing and squawking with Brooklynn and Brandon. The other teens and kids were running around and dancing and laughing. It seemed everyone had found joy but her…
"Come on, Yaz," Ben pleads, holding out his hands.
Yasmina gives him a small smile and finally takes his hands. He pulls her up and wraps his arms around her torso. He begins to spin around and around while holding her. Yasmina starts laughing as they spin faster and faster. Ben gets dizzy and lets her stand on her right leg. "Woo! You're heavy!"
"Hey!" she protests with a laugh.
"You're all muscle!" Ben explains. "Like two hundred pounds of muscle!"
"I'm not that heavy!" Yasmina laughs.
"Don't call my sister fat!" Ghaleb exclaims, picking up Yasmina and carrying her away. To Ben's surprise, there was more dramaticness in his voice than anger.
"All right," Mr. Gutierrez says, coming out with the rest of the parents. "Time for you guys to go home!"
The campers look at each other with worry and hesitance. "Don't worry," Ben says, smiling at them. "We'll be back together soon. We'll all be safe. The Lord will be with you."
Calmed by his confident words, the campers climb into their respective cars and begin to drive off, some heading to the airport, some driving back to their state. Most were fighting worry and stress at the thought of spending even a couple days apart. But not Ben. "I stand with you, Lord," he says as his parents drive back home.
Well, it wouldn't be their home for long.