Author's note:

Sorry it's late, I might have to move my posting dates to between 10 and 15 days, Indpendence day and birthdays made things busy. I will tell you when the story is done in the last chapter.

Hope the bilingual Spanish conversation is easy to understand with the translations, and disclaimer, I don't speak Spanish. Google translate might be wrong.

Enjoy!

As Brooklynn stares at the knife, she remembers the beautiful sunset that came after her first suicide attempt on the island. The gorgeous hues, the whimsical clouds, the twittering birds. The magical, beautiful feeling it gave her. The symbolic hope it carried along after fighting all night. "See what you almost missed," Darius smiled down at her. "This beautiful sunrise. The night might be dark and scary. It might beat you down, and you might wonder if you'll make it. But just think, if you give up during the night, you'll miss the beauty of the sunrise. Never give up, Brooklynn. Hold on through the night to see the sunrise. Just fight a little longer. It's worth it. Just hold on during the night, I'll find you. You'll never be alone. I'll find you."

"Don't down on yourself," Yasmina said as she stroked a sweaty wisp of Brooklynn's hair out of her face, cradling the ill girl. "You're going through something. I don't blame you for wanting to curl up and not talk to anyone about it. Just know that you can."

"You're beautiful, you're kind, you're smart," Sammy said, holding Brooklynn lovingly in her arms like a mother. "You're important. Never forget that. You are loved. Even if all of your followers leave. Even if your family leaves. Even if we leave, yer loved. God. Jesus. Your Heavenly Father loves ya. And he will never forsake you. Yer never alone. We're here for ya. You're so precious and unique. You have no idea how many people would be hurt if you left. There'd be a hole in all our hearts where you used to be."

"We will never leave you, and that's a promise you can count on," Kenji said.

"Depression is the burden, not you," Ben explained. "We chose to be friends with you."

"Just hold on til the sunrise," Kenji said.

"You're beautiful and wonderful and unique," Ben said.

"You're a beautiful young girl who's been lied to by society and goaded into starving herself to feel pretty," Yasmina said. "I don't know what you're going through, but I'm here if you need me. You can talk to me, cry on me, whatever. I'm here for you."

Brooklynn wipes away her tears. They were new tears. Tears of joy and relief fall down her cheeks as she remembers her friends words. How could she have forgotten them? How could she have forgotten all these beautiful, poetic promises and confessions? How could she have let them get buried underneath all the depressed and suicidal thoughts?

"How can I possibly think I'm unloved and alone?" she thinks. "I have the biggest dang found family than any stupid anime! I'm overwhelmed with love and affection!"

Pushing away thoughts of Leah and her secrets, Brooklynn shakily stretches out her hand, giving the knife to Brandon. "I'm gonna fight," she whispers. "My allies are stronger than my enemies."

"You're stronger than your enemies, too," Brandon smiles, taking the knife and placing it in the sink.

Brooklynn lets out a shaky sob of relief. The pain and the urge to cut was still there, but now she felt relief. Relief that someone was there and someone would help her. Brandon kneels down, scoops her light body into his arms and carries her up the stairs bridal style.

"Darius!" the voice jolts Darius awake.

Lifting his head from the dusty, dirty ground, Darius looks around with panicked eyes. "Brooklynn?!" he shouts. He hears her scream, and scrambles to get to his feet. The boy races around the abandoned warehouse, searching for his friend. His heart races faster and faster with every scream she lets out.

Darius turns around a corner and finally spots Brooklynn. She was sitting on her knees, staring into the distance in shock. She had cut marks all over her body, as if someone had wrapped a sharp rope around her and pulled it tight. "Brook!" Darius shouts, running towards her. "What happened?!"

"She did it to me…" Brooklynn murmurs, still staring into the distance.

Darius turns around to see a woman he could only describe as demonic. Black hair matted and concealing part of her face. Her skin was a sickly grey and her eyes were swollen from crying. Her outfit resembled the one Brooklynn wore on the island, except the colors were shades of grey and black. Her hands ended in long, bloody knives, and hung by her sides in defeat. Darius almost felt sorry for this scary woman, until she smiled at him, taking pleasure in the pain she put Brooklynn through.

"It's my fault…" Brooklynn whispers, tears mixing with her blood. "It's my fault…"

"No, it's never your fault," Darius assures her, gently grabbing the sides of her face. "It's not your fault."

"It's your fault!" Brooklynn unexpectedly screeches, scaring Darius. She starts foaming at the mouth. "You weren't there! I was alone! You let her get me! She took it too far!"

Darius backs away on his hands and feet, shocked. "I didn't know she was there…" he whispers.

A hand appears on Brooklynn's shoulder, and the two look up. "Come," Darius's father says gently. "Come home with me."

Brooklynn takes his hand and he gently helps her to her feet. Holding his hand in hers like a child, she follows him down a beautiful hallway behind them.

"Wait!" Darius calls out, scrambling to follow them.

The two turn to look at him. "It's okay," Brooklynn whispers, her eyes sparkling. "Let me go."

As Darius watches, her wounds begin to disappear, leaving flawless, beautiful skin where they once were. White, angelic wings, beautiful beyond words, appear on her back. They mirror the ones Darius's father has.

"We'll see you someday, D-man," his father promises.

Darius blinks back tears. The woman with knife hands grabs him from behind and he struggles. "No! You can't leave! You have to stay! I-I need you!"

"It's okay," Brooklynn promises. "It's not your fault."

Darius feels as if two sides were fighting over him. Or more accurately, the evil woman who cut Brooklynn was trying to hold him back. Trying to stop him from letting go of his loved ones. Convince him it was his fault. Darius's father and Brooklynn assure him that it wasn't his fault and assure him that it was okay.

Darius awakes from his dream, tears streaming down his face. It felt so real… It hurt so much to see them.

He turns his head, and sees the other side of his bed is empty. "Brooklynn?" he asks, anxiety starting to rise. "Brook?!" Struggling to carefully move with a cast on, Darius rolls over and looks over the edge of the bed. Brooklynn hadn't fallen off…

"Where is she? Where is she?!" he begins to panic. "Calm down, calm down, maybe she's in the bathroom…"

Darius looks at the door leading to the bathroom. In their new house, him and Brandon's rooms shared a bathroom. The light was not on. The door was open, but Darius couldn't see anyone in there.

Muttering a few words Sammy wouldn't be proud of, Darius tries to carefully get out of bed and find his crutches. "Where is she, where is she?!" he hisses under his breath, trying to control his anxiety.

The door opens and Brandon carries Brooklynn back into the room. "Brook!" he exclaims quietly.

Brandon sets her on the bed. "What happened?" Darius asks in concern.

Brooklynn doesn't say anything. Instead, she scootches closer and curls up next to him. She looked exhausted as she closed her eyes.

"She was struggling with the urge to cut herself," Brandon explains, sitting down on the bed next to Brooklynn. "Stuck in her mind… wanted to escape the emotional pain with physical pain…"

"What's going on in your head?" Darius asks in concern, laying back down in bed and wrapping an arm underneath her. He didn't care if that arm would go numb during the night. "What's bothering you?"

Brooklynn opens her eyes and stares at him. Her expression was tired. She looked like she had carried the world on her shoulders and just couldn't carry it any longer. After a moment of looking tired, her face changes to relief. There was a sense of peace in her eyes as she looked at him. "Nothing right now," she whispers. "I'm tired."

"Okay," Darius sighs, wishing he could get to the bottom of what was causing her anguish, but respects her sleepiness. He feels the need to compliment her. "You're beautiful, you know."

Brooklynn sleepily opens her eyes again. "What about me?"

"E-Everything," Darius says. "Your smile. Your eyes."

"My eyes are pretty?" Brooklynn asks. Her usual doubting tone isn't there, though. It's replaced with a soft, grateful tone.

"Yes," Darius assures her.

"What color are they?" Brooklynn asks, nestling in closer and looking up at him with love in her eyes.

Darius senses the romantic tone in her voice and panics internally. "Arugula?" he suggests out of panic.

Brooklynn starts laughing, and Brandon falls off the bed. "I'm not good with colors and names, okay?" Darius stutters, chuckling himself.

"Say jade," Brandon hisses, collecting himself from his fit of laughter.

"Your eyes are a pretty jade color," Darius says.

Brooklynn smothers her giggles in Darius's shirt. "I see. Brandon is the artistic brother, and Darius is the factual brother."

Darius rolls his eyes, and lets her rest her head on his chest. He pulls her closer as she closes her eyes. Brandon walks around the bed and out the door, smiling at the two. Darius can't read what his expression was, and glares at his older brother as he tries to figure it out. Brandon reappears with Milton, and her brother lays down next to Brooklynn. Brandon sits at the edge of the bed, resting his chin on his hand. The three boys take turns staying awake and keeping an eye on Brooklynn as she slept. It might have been overkill, but they weren't about to allow her to feel alone or suicidal.

The next morning is Monday, and the four get ready for school. "You're not going to dress up a bit for your first day at school?" Milton asks as Brooklynn sits down at the breakfast table.

"Bruh, at this point, what's even the point in impressing strangers?" Brooklynn slumps, resting her head on her fist. She was dressed in a light grey, baggy hoodie, and had loose brown jeans. Her bleached blonde hair wasn't pulled back, and she hadn't done anything to her face, save for the eyepatch. "I look like a trainwreck, but hey, people don't expect much from a trainwreck."

The boys laugh, and she chuckles with them. "Plus, I REALLY don't want the cute, popular girls and cool boys judging how super skinny and boney I am," she thinks to herself.

"Honestly, the outfit doesn't look that bad," Darius says, lazily putting a bite of egg in his mouth.

"You just wouldn't expect the daughter of a fashion designer to wear this," Brooklynn chuckles. "Wait! It's Mom's birthday today!"

"Oh, yeah!" Milton laughs. "We should call her up and say 'Happy birthday.'"

As they eat breakfast, Brooklynn calls her mother and tells her happy birthday. She and Milton discuss birthday plans with their mother and wish her a wonderful birthday before Milton brings up Brooklynn's breakdown the night before. Her mother immediately begins to worry.

"Mom, I'm fine," Brooklynn sighs. "It was nothing…"

"No, wanting to hurt yourself is not fine," her mother insists. "It's a good thing Brandon was there to help you. And you know you can call me whenever you want."

"If it makes you feel better, the drama with Leah is over," Milton assures her. "Leah posted a video last night apologizing to you and Yaz and talked about how she lied. The Internet's going wild after this. Big split in the Troopers, heheh."

"When?" Brooklynn asks.

"Around two last night?" Milton shrugs.

"That was before she threatened to come back in April…" Brooklynn thinks. "Did she sound sincere?"

"She did," Milton nods. "Apologized and said she felt bad because you were suicidal and she was only making things worse."

"Why would she apologize for making me feel suicidal and then threaten to hurt me again?" Brooklynn wonders. "Is this an act for her parents?"

"Guess she can change," Brandon smiles.

"Still don't like her," Darius shrugs, not looking up from his food.

Brooklynn shakes her head, wanting to change the subject from Leah. "What if you're at work, Mom? I can't call you then."

"At work is fine," her mother assures her. "I'll drop whatever I'm doing if you need help. Work is not as important as you."

"It was before Camp," Brooklynn thinks sadly. "You just feel obligated because now the other parents are watching your every move with me."

"Brook, do you hear me?" her mother says. "You can call me whenever you need me. I'm serious."

"Mom, can you be honest?" Brooklynn asks.

"... Yes," her mother hesitates.

"Am I a burden to you?" Brooklynn asks, ignoring the looks of shock and protest on the boy's faces.

Her mother sighs, knowing she had to be honest. "Look, YOU are not a burden. Your struggles are, and you're the one dealing with them. It's your burden, and as your mother, I'm here to help you with them."

"I'm high maintenance," Brooklynn says. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Even if you love me, you can't deny that having a kid with depression and suicidal thoughts is work."

"Brooklynn, you were higher maintenance as a baby," her mother chuckles. "Even when you're high maintenance, you can still be a blessing to our family."

Brooklynn sputters. "Explain that, please."

"Well, when you were a couple months old, you got extremely sick with a fever," Mrs. Monell explains. "We had to go to the hospital with you in the middle of the night. We were worried sick. Doctor's bills were piling up. You made us cancel our flight the next morning."

"How is that a blessing?" Brooklynn sighs.

"Because our flight crashed into the North Tower the next morning on September eleventh," her mother says.

Brooklynn's jaw drops, as do the boys. "Wait, you guys had tickets to the plane hijacked on 9/11?" Brooklynn asks in shock.

"Yep, if you hadn't gotten sick, the four of us would've flown into the Twin Towers," Mrs. Monell says.

Brooklynn slowly covers her mouth with the back of her hand. "I never knew that…"

"Me neither," Milton whistles. "Who knew getting sick could save your whole family…"

"Brook, these times right now might be difficult and stressful, but we love you," her mother says. "And you can call me whenever you need."

Brooklynn nods. "Thank you… Uh, Happy Birthday, I guess? We kinda have to go to school now."

Her mother laughs. "Alright, go to school. I love you. You, too, Milton."

The siblings tell her it back before ending the call and getting ready for school. "You guys lived in Boston?" Brandon asks.

"Yeah, before we moved to North Carolina," Milton nods.

"See, don't ever feel like you're a problem," Darius says, wrapping his arm around Brooklynn's shoulder. "Even when you think you're a problem, you could still be doing something good."

Brooklynn chuckles. "Very inspirational, Darius."

"Okay, I can't walk like this," Darius sighs, taking his arm back to use both his crutches. "Sorry. Would totally love to hug you as I walk, but that would end quite badly."

Brooklynn laughs and slings her backpack over her shoulder. "Wouldn't want that to happen."

"Pretty sure that situation wouldn't work out for the best…"

"Aight, finish your breakfast and git to school," Mr. Gutierrez says, setting plates down at the table.

Holly rolls Sammy to the table. "Where's Kenji?" Sammy asks, looking around for her friend.

A loud thumb accompanied by a grunt of pain comes from the stairs. "On the floor cause he fell down the stairs," Holly replies, deadpan. "Where else would he be?"

Kenji gets up from the floor and winces as he walks to the table. "What were ya tryin' to do?" Sandra asks.

"Was trying to slide down the rails with both hands," Kenji chuckles sheepishly. "Left hand slipped. Are you guys seeing stars, too?"

"Did ya hit your head?!" Sammy asks in concern.

"Just kidding," Kenji chuckles, sitting down. "About the stars thing. I did hit my head."

"Aight, clown boy, eat up and hurry on to school," Mr. Gutierrez rolls his eyes with a chuckle.

"But why?" Kenji asks with a laugh as he eats. "We're going to be held back a grade, anyway."

"What makes you say that?" Sandra asks.

"Generally, you have to be held back if you miss eighteen days of school," Kenji says. "We've missed three months due to the island and recovery. That's like fifty freaking days. And you guys have missed more than eighteen days, trying to find us and moving around a lot. I bet all the Gutierrez's, Monell's, Bowman's, and Fadoula's will get held back, too."

"Yee, y'all are being held back a grade," Mr. Gutierrez confirms. "And between doctors appointments and the court case and who knows what else, y'all will miss more school days."

"So, A, why are we going to school?" Kenji asks. "And B, haw."

"Because ya need to learn," Mr. Gutierrez plants his hands on his hips.

"Sucks to be you guys," Miriam chuckles, gesturing to the others. "Holly and I have already graduated, so y'all have fun starting school all over again."

"But none of this year will count to a grade," Kenji says. "It's pointless to get good grades this year because I'm not even going to graduate. I could be learning more about cattle, finding a job, and other stuff that is useful while I wait to get back into school and graduate next year."

"Or, you could be actually learning and getting to know your stuff now so that you can actually pass next year," Holly suggests with a smirk. "You were probably going to flunk algebra this year, anyway."

Kenji crosses his arms. "Don't talk logic to me, right now." This sends the family into laughter.

After eating and packing up for school, the Gutierrez's and Kenji head to their respective school buildings. Sammy and Kenji meet up with Darius and Brooklynn, then head to their classes. Due to Brooklynns brainiac-ness, she had skipped a grade. She was in the same grade and most of the same classes as Sammy and Yasmina when she moved to Texas. "Good thing, probably," Kenji says as he walks with Darius. He had to limp with crutches due to his cast. "Better for her to stay with someone she knows in case of… you know."

"Yeah, if she doesn't have a class with Sammy, then she has a class with Yasmina," Darius nods. "Until Yaz starts next week, let's just hope that the teachers keep an eye on her when she's not with Sammy."

"And when Ben comes, too, he can help you get around with your cast," Kenji says, tensing up and moving to catch Darius when he stumbles. Darius was a bright student and had also skipped a grade, so he and Ben were both in eighth grade. "Kid's just always around kids older than him," Kenji thinks, amused.

"I'm fine," Darius grumbles, righting himself and continuing on. He glances at the students walking by.

Kenji senses embarrassment. Through text that morning, Darius had relayed what happened the night before. The boy had expressed that he felt bad about not being able to find Brooklynn due to his stupid cast. Kenji knew how Darius felt on the island. He was a protector and wanted to be that guardian and leader figure to all his friends, especially Brooklynn. He felt threatened when he couldn't protect them or his leadership was undermined. With his cast undermining his ability to walk and help his friends, Darius was feeling moody.

To add insult to injury, Darius needed help from others. Like salt in a wound, the roles had been reversed and now he was the one who needed help. It was humiliating and insulting to a boy who wanted to be that strong protector for his friends.

Image and reputation came into play here, too. Kenji knew how other students would perceive them, and Darius knew, too. Kenji's hair was spiked up as usual, with nice jeans, a white shirt and a black jean jacket. It was a contrast to Darius' baggy, cargo pants covering his cast and graphic dino pun T-shirt. While Darius might be able to pass for a cool kid without his cast, Kenji came off as a pretty stereotypical jock. With Kenji helping Darius around, the younger boy felt like they were setting an image among the school. Unfortunately, that image had Darius looking weak and submissive to Kenji. With Darius's position of leadership on the island and his general need to protect, being considered "inferior" to Kenji was not making Darius feel any happier.

Kenji gives Darius a knowing smile. "Okay. Well, if you want help, I'm here."

By the time the campers know it, it's the end of the school day. A friendly boy approaches Kenji as he searches for his friends. "Howdy, I'm Raffa G, short for Raffael Gutierrez," the boy introduces himself, offering his hand. He had curly black hair and similar features to Uncle Jorge.

"I'm Kenji," he says, shaking Raffa's hand.

"Nice to meet ya, Kenny," Raffa says, mishearing his name. "So, what brings you here?"

"Usually a car, but sometimes a motorcycle if I'm feeling slick," Kenji says, leaving out that it was usually one of his fathers employees driving him on the motorcycle.

Raffa laughs. "A smart alec, I see. Why'd you move?"

"My dad moved his business here," Kenji explains. "We used to live in Jersey."

"Wow, do you have a lot of friends back home?" Raffa asks. "Any girlfriends?"

"Nope, starting afresh," the camper grins. It wasn't technically a lie.

"Ah, well, might I interest you in finding friends or a date?" Raffa offers. "As a boy, I discovered that I was blessed with the gift of matchmaking. I have a great memory and know everyone in this town. I know who's single and who's not, and if I don't, I'll find out. So, may I interest you in anyone?"

It takes Kenji a great deal of effort to not laugh at the recent to turn of the conversation. Thankfully, he had spent enough time with Yasmina to know how to stay completely deadpan when taken by surprise. "Oh, yeah, that would be great."

"So, what are your preferences?" Raffa asks. "What would you like in a girl?"

Kenji tries to decide what to do. "Should I go the sus way or describe Sammy?" he asks himself. "Well, I would like a nice, sweet girl," Kenji says, deciding to describe his best friend and see if Raffa catches on. "A girl-next-door, if you will. Someone I can laugh with and share stories with and really just be best friends."

"Ah, good choice," Raffa nods. "I've heard that those who marry their best friends have a lower rate of divorce."

"Yeah, someone who's just laid back and easy going," Kenji says, describing Sammy. "Sweet. Compassionate. A girl with a heart of gold. And maybe someone who's been rejected and hurt herself. I know the feeling."

"Someone you can relate to over heartache, understandable," Raffa nods. "Physical preferences?"

"Hmm," Kenji pretends to think. "I like dark hair and brown eyes. And a sweet smile. Maybe someone who's constantly told she's not pretty enough or skinny enough. Someone who's absolutely gorgeous, but is told by society that she doesn't fit the standards."

Raffa chuckles. "I know someone like that, but she's just been taken."

"Who?" Kenji asks.

"My cousin, but she just got a guy approved to date her in the future," Raffa says. "But that's exactly her."

"Hey!" Sammy sputters, crossing her arms. The boys had passed her without noticing during their conversation.

"Sammy!" Raffa exclaims, forgetting about Kenji and hugging the paraplegic. "How have you been?! I haven't seen you in so long!"

Sammy laughs. "Raffa, you saw me the day I came home because you and yer family were staying in our house."

"True, but that was over a week ago and so much has changed since then," Raffa insists. "You have the most interestin' life story ever, does life seem boring now?"

"Naw, I got flashbacks, anxiety, and trauma to spice things up," Sammy shrugs.

"Fair enough," Raffa laughs.

"I see ya met Kenji; were you tryin' to sell him a date?" Sammy asks, gesturing to her friend.

Raffa looks between Sammy and Kenji and it dawns on him. "Ohhhh, Kenji, not Kenny. Okay, that actually explains a lot of things."

"You're a very observant guy," Kenji chuckles. "New kid, describes Sammy… Naw, can't be her new friend."

"I have my less observant moments," Raffa says. "Usually, I'm very observant."

Sammy shakes her head behind him. "Okay, what's this about me bein' unable to fit the standards?"

"Was just saying you're limited edition," Kenji grins, leaning on the locker door next to her. "No one else is like you. A rare beauty."

"Soo, I'm fat but still beautiful?" Sammy quirks an eyebrow.

Kenji takes in a deep breath and throws his head back. "Do I need to argue with you about this? Cause I will win."

"Really?" Sammy challenges.

"Most of our arguments start and/or end with 'I love you more,' or 'You are beautiful and you cannot argue with me!'" Kenji informs Raffa.

The kid nods. "Sounds like Sammy. Welp, gotta go help with the vet clinic. You better treat my favorite cousin right!" Raffa gives him the peace sign as he heads off through the halls.

Once he's out of earshot, Sammy and Kenji burst into laughter. "I don't even know how I kept a straight face through that," Kenji wheezes.

"We're not even sure how he became convinced that he's got a 'rare talent,'" Sammy snorts. "Although he's paired two couples successfully now, so he might not be too far off."

"He's like a car salesman, but with dates," Kenji laughs.

"Raffa is… interesting," Sammy chuckles.

"As is most of your family," Kenji grins, making Sammy roll her eyes good naturedly. "So many teens came by to introduce themselves to me," Kenji says, leaning against the locker.

"Well, we might not be a small town, but we sure act like it," Sammy chuckles. "We're interested in anyone new."

"I'm not that interesting," Kenji grins.

"Are ya kiddin'?!" Sammy smiles. "Yer super interesting! Yer a full, fine, seven course meal."

Kenji smiles reminiscently.

"You're smart, you're kind, you're funny, everyone would want to be friends and…" Sammy starts to say, but a look of worry passes.

Kenji notices. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sammy nods, lying. "Hey, Brook, Darius!" She waves at the two, trying to change the subject. "We're over here!"

Kenji looks at her, suspicious, but drops the subject.

The next day, Kenji's math teacher calls him to talk after class. "Kenji, I would like to speak with you," Mr. Griffith says, beckoning with his finger as the bell rings.

Kenji sighs and heads up to his desk as other students leave. "Second day of school and I'm already in trouble?!"

As the last student leaves, Mr. Griffith pushes up his glasses. "I know you're new here and it's your second day, but I've noticed that you're not trying hard in school. You're not paying close attention to the lesson, and you're not trying hard. I know you're getting used to things around here, and you've just endured trauma, but can we make more of an effort here?"

"It's my second day, you're jumping on me, already?" Kenji raises his eyebrows.

"I'd like to catch things like this early on before they're a big problem," the teacher explains. "If you're struggling with paying attention or just the lessons in general, we can find ways to help you out."

Kenji shrugs. "This year isn't going to count towards my final grade because I've missed so much, so I don't see why I should pay attention."

"That's fair," Mr. Griffith laughs. "Next year, though, are you going to try your best?"

"I promise that I'll give my best, but I can't promise good grades," Kenji mumbles.

"Are you struggling with math?" Mr. Griffith asks, sitting down on top of his desk.

Kenji chuckles as he sits down on top of one of the front row desks. "It doesn't make much sense to me. Very few school subjects do. I don't see the point in learning what school forces us to learn."

"Fair enough," Mr. Griffith nods; this was not the first time a student had told him this. "Well, what are you going to do when you're an adult?"

"I don't know," Kenji shrugs. "I don't want to work in the condo business or business like that. My fathers job seems boring to me."

"What are your hobbies? Your skillset?" Mr. Griffith asks.

"Honestly, my hobby is being stupid and making people laugh," the boy sighs. "I was so focused on finding friends and girlfriends to make myself feel wanted and fill the hole my father left in my heart with his negligence, that I never really found a hobby."

"Wow," his teacher whistles. "You're… really honest about that."

"I'm honestly not embarrassed about it, anymore," Kenji shrugs. "It happened. My Dad is trying to mend our relationship now and I have a great group of friends. The best group of friends. Now I'm not as insecure as before. I don't need to be insecure and hide that part of my history."

"That's still quite honest," Mr. Griffith says. "You could be an influencer and talk about your experience."

"I guess," Kenji shrugs. "You probably wouldn't want me as your therapist, though."

"Do you like to make people laugh?" Mr. Griffith asks.

"Yeah, but I don't think stand up comedy or anything scripted would work," Kenji sighs. "Most of my humor comes from me saying something out of the blue or being weird."

Mr. Griffith nods. "So, whatever you do, you're probably not going to be dealing with math."

"Exactly, I don't see why I have to learn all this," Kenji throws his hands out.

Mr. Griffith laughs. "Regardless, you have to learn algebra to graduate. Do you know what the problem is? Is it a problem with understanding or focus?"

Kenji shrugs. "I don't know."

"Tell you what," Mr. Griffith says, clasping his hands and resting his elbows on his thighs. "My daughter is going to college to become a rocket scientist. But right now, she's got nothing to do until classes start in September. She's tutoring three other students struggling with math. This math course isn't going to matter this year because you lost so much time on Isla Nublar, so how about instead of spending time flunking my class, you use my class period to take tutoring from my daughter? She can help you figure out what's going on and you can actually learn it so that next year, you're excelling. Does that sound good?"

Kenji nods. "That's probably better than sitting in your class. No offense."

"None taken," Mr. Griffith chuckles. "Now git to your history class. Yer late."

"Not that it matters!" Kenji laughs as he heads out of the classroom.

The next day, Kenji gets to meet his teacher's daughter during his math period. "Hey, you must be Kenji," an older girl says quietly, waving to him from a table in the library.

Kenji nods and heads over to her. She had black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. The only thing that seemed to connect her appearance to her father was her excited smile. "I'm Krisha Griffith."

Kenji gives her a fist bump—it was what she offered instead of a handshake—and sits down across from her. "So, rocket scientist?"

"Yeah, I'm a weirdo, I always loved math," Krisha chuckles. "I'm also a bit obsessed with space and the skies and the stars. I get motion sick easily, so I figured instead of becoming an astronaut, I'd become a rocket scientist instead."

"That's quite impressive," Kenji chuckles. "You must be a boss at math. All those convoluted expressions and whatnot."

"Some people love math more than others," she shrugs. "And some struggle. Dad says you're not sure why you struggle."

"I'm not sure if I struggle because I hate it, or if I hate it because I struggle," he says.

"You'll find it easier to learn if you enjoy it, or at least, are open to learning it," Krisha shrugs. "I hated English. Arts and languages are not exactly my thing. But I tried my best to be open about learning them. I just accepted that I had to learn them to graduate and did my best."

"No offense, but I would rather castrate a cow than learn math," Kenji says, making Krisha cover her mouth so as not to laugh too loudly. "Especially algebra. Like, algebra is such a turd. Always making others find his X. Stop asking me where your X went, and don't ask me about Y!"

Krisha recovers from her giggles. "Dad told me that you like to be funny. Think about it this way, I'm gonna show you the juicy insides about Algebra's break up with his X. Think of our tutoring sessions as tea time. I'm spillin' Algebra's tea."

Kenji grins. "Can we make a lot of dating jokes?"

"As many as you want, as long as you're actually learning the work," Krisha winks with a grin. The two get to work going over algebra. More than once, the two had to be shushed by the librarian for laughing too hard. While math was not his favorite subject, Kenji found that if he associated a joke with the process of doing a certain problem, he could remember it easier. "I'm sad I didn't have you as a teacher before," Kenji chuckles, leaning back in his chair. "I would've learned so much more if I was allowed to joke around."

"You'll get that in Dad's class," Krisha promises. "See you tomorrow!"

Kenji grins, and prepares to go to his history class. "Wonder if I can make jokes about history to remember it better," he thinks as he heads off. Finally finding a way to retain information had made him excited for school, something he didn't think was possible. "Maybe this year won't suck after all."

"You can take this back," Riley says haughtily, giving Leah back the friendship ring the girl had given her. Yasmina does the same. It vaguely registered that she was sitting in her old bedroom, the one she stayed in with Habeeba when they lived with their biological father. Leah was sitting on the bed with Yasmina and Riley was standing at the bottom of the bed.

"I didn't do anything," Leah says, half calm, half sad. Riley disappears and Leah turns to Yasmina. "You misunderstood me. I didn't hurt you. I didn't leave you."

Feelings of guilt well up in Yasmina. "You spread rumors about me."

"I didn't, you overreacted," Leah insists, still unnervingly calm. "All I wanted was a true friend during the hard times of losing Riley. All I wanted was someone to lean on, like you leaned on me when remembering your father."

The dream begins to morph and suddenly, Yasmina was running through an endless maze of hallways, not unlike those in the lab on Isla Nublar. "Yasmina Shammas!" her father's angry voice follows her as she runs. "An tahadar huna halana!"

Yasmina couldn't remember what that Arabic phrase meant. It vaguely registered as "Come back here!" She refuses to listen to him and keeps running away from him, knowing the punishment that would come if he got a hold of her.

Something big and fast begins to chase after her. Yasmina pushes herself to run faster through the maze. She can hear the sharp claws striking the ground as her mysterious assailant roars. The creature closes in; the athlete could feel its hot breath on her neck. Something snakes around her torso and picks her up. Yasmina looks down. The Scorpius rex had wrapped its tail around her and was using it like a second arm or a tentacle.

The Scorpius rex stares up at her as it holds her above its head. It stands up on its hind legs and curls its arms back. The monster howls like a werewolf, and Yasmina looks up. The halls disappeared and they were on a balcony under a full moon. The full moon shone bright red, and the world suddenly had a red glaze over it.

Yasmina looks to the doorway of the lab. Brooklynn stood in the doorway. She was wearing a black, gothic steampunk dress with a lace, mesh top covering her corset and arms. She looked horrifying with the red tint of the dream.

Yasmina looks down to see that the Scorpius rex had morphed again. Now it had the head of a wolf. The monster turned its head to the side to reveal another wolf snout. It ducks its head down to reveal another head. The creature's head rotates like a ball in a socket, revealing many wolf and raptor-like snouts attached to it. Yasmina screams in terror.

Yasmina's eyes snap open in fright, and she finds herself in Ben's dark bedroom. "What the… that's gotta be one of the scariest/weird dreams I've had so far," she thinks to herself, moving to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

But she can't move.

Yasmina tries to twitch any muscle in her body, but her limbs refuse to move. Trapped on her side, the athlete is forced to accept that the nightmare was not over. Only this time, the horror is continued by a hallucination.

She can sense presences in the room. Ben's peaceful, sleeping presence was behind her. But there was something else. Something sinister. Something evil in the room. And it was approaching her side of the bed. Yasmina can feel something sharp being dragged across her leg stump and up her left leg. A clawed hand presses into her left side and makes it hard to breathe for her.

The creature moves its hand along the bed and hovers it in front of her face. Its other arm on her side moves to crush her rib cage. Old feelings and memories she wishes to forget started to come back as she struggles to breathe.

The creature freezes for a second, then ducks down to stare her in the eyes like a jumpscare. If Yasmina could move, she would've jumped. She would've screamed. But she's forced to stay still due to her paralysis and stare back at the horrifying creature.

At first, the creature was blurry, like a solid shadow. Then it slowly came into focus. It had a human silhouette, but was black with shiny scales. The human-shaped head slowly morphs into the Scorpius' rex's snout. It's eyes glowed yellow and black horns grew out of the back of its head with a sickening crackle. It's sharp, bloody teeth are inches away from her face. Its breath was hot and stinking.

The creature tilts its head to stare eye to eye with her. It's yellow eyes roll back into its head as a white film comes up, like a shark or the Indominus rex.

Yasmina tries to scream again and again, but nothing will come out. Her heart pounds quickly; her breath quickens. Usually there was a small voice in the back of her head that reminded her it was a hallucination, but it wasn't there this time. There was only panic. "Ben! BEN!" she shouts in her mind, crying out for help. "Help! Help me! Wake up!"

Yasmina closes her eyes and opens them again, wishing that it would go away. The creature was still there, putting more and more weight onto her chest and making it a struggle to breathe. "Help me!" she shouts in her mind, forgetting that the creature wasn't real. How could it not be real?! "Ben! Please! Ben! GOD HELP ME!"

She can hear Ben startle awake behind her. He says her name and leans over her. "Yasmina?" he asks quietly, gently shaking her.

Yasmina can't say a word. "Help me!" she cries out in her head.

Ben wraps his arms around Yasmina and cradles her head, holding her close as he prays. "Lord, I ask that you deliver Yasmina from sleep paralysis. Give her peace at night and freedom from paralysis and nightmares. I speak Psalm 23:4 over her. She will walk through the valley of the shadow of death and you will be right by her side and she will fear no evil. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort her and drive away any demons or monsters antagonizing her."

As Ben prays, the creature slithers off of her bed and crawls out of sight. Yasmina starts to breathe easily as she drifts off to sleep.

Yasmina wakes up a couple hours later to soft daylight beginning to peek through the blinds. Ben was sitting up in bed next to her, reading his Bible like he did every morning. Most of the time, Yasmina slept in and wasn't awake in time to see him reading it. This was a disappointment because he would read out loud, and she would laugh and mess with him while he read.

Ben looks over at her. "Hey, did you sleep well?" he asks hesitantly.

"Yeah, a couple nightmares, but… it was fine," Yasmina says, biting her lip. "I actually had the worst hallucination ever," she thinks. "Never has a hallucination been so bad. I mean, they've been bad, but that was like a literal horror movie. I thought I was going to die…"

"Oh, good," Ben nods, cautiously going back to reading his Bible in his head. There was something about the way he was looking at her… almost like he was nervous. "Is he mad at me for messing with him when he reads his Bible?" she wonders as she turns over to face away from him. "Is he afraid I'll make fun of him? Have I made him feel bad?"

Anxiety begins to rise as she wonders if she did something wrong. Ben finishes reading his Bible in his head and gets dressed. Yasmina pulls the covers up over her face; giving him privacy to get dressed and her privacy to sigh. The Pincus's were packing up more and more of their belongings as they prepared to move to Texas on Friday. Yasmina had told them that she would help pack, but she didn't have the motivation to do it. She didn't even want to get out of bed. Her depression was getting the better of her. She didn't want to get up and do anything; she wanted to stay in bed and feel sad. It's not like she felt anything else these days.

"Other than anger…" she thinks, depressedly. Yasmina thinks back to the other day, when she snapped at him for bringing up church. He hadn't deserved that anger… he didn't deserve any of the explosions he seemed to always catch. Somehow, when Yasmina was angry at someone else, Ben always seemed to get the brunt of the explosion. Yasmina felt terrible about it; Ben was a wonderful friend. He was extremely patient with her and wasn't bothered by her tyraids… yet.

"He's strong in who he is now, and he's no longer a pushover," Yasmina thinks. "Sooner or later, if I'm really a jerk to him, he'll stand up and leave… Would he leave? Am I really that big of a jerk to him? Am I… am I a terrible person?"

Her dream comes back to her. "You misunderstood me. I didn't hurt you. I didn't leave you," Leah says in the dream.

"Is she right? … Was I overreacting?" Yasmina asks herself, guilt and fear rising. "Was I the one who messed up the relationship? … Did I truly push away a good friend? … Like I could possibly do to Ben?"

Anxiety is threatening to take over her mind. "No, Leah's a bully, and my friends would never leave me," she tells herself, repeating the phrase to try to convince herself of the truth.

"Yaz? You wanna help pack?" Ben asks, lifting the covers.

Yaz sighs. "I guess," she mumbles. She sits up and pushes her hair out of her face. It was a tangled mess. "Good grief," she mutters as she looks at a giant, frustrating knot in her hair. "When was the last time I brushed my hair?" she asks herself. "Yesterday morning… Was my nightmare that bad?"

"Want me to brush your hair?" Ben tentatively offers.

"Sure," Yasmina murmurs. Ben finds a brush and begins to gently comb out the tangles. Yasmina gets lost in her own thoughts as she worries about her friends. "Am I a good friend? Ben is so kind and caring. He's always understanding and there if you need him, and he's so patient. Sammy is such a good friend. She's always thinking of others and is so sweet. Darius is such a good leader and friend. I can always count on him. Kenji's changed so much… he's such a strong, understanding friend. Practically my older brother. Brooklynn is so wonderful… she doesn't deserve the depression and suicidal thoughts that she has…"

"And I do…" the familiar voices whisper.

"They're such good friends, they don't deserve me," Yaz tells herself. "Not with the way I snap at them and become distrustful at the slightest thing…"

"Yaz," Ben says.

"What?" Yasmina turns around, realizing he had been saying her name several times.

Ben looks sad. "Was he trying to tell me something important? Does he feel unappreciated?" Yaz worries.

"Are you okay, Yasmina?" he asks, worried.

Yasmina sighs shakily. "He's just worried about me… just worried…" "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… can't focus much…"

Ben nods, understanding.

Yasmina helps him pack up items in his room, but her heart wasn't into it. Several times, she found herself zoning out and Ben trying to talk to her. This persists into the next two days. By Wednesday, Yasmina was tired of feeling stuck in her mind. Of feeling depressed…

As she helped the Pincus's pack up more and more, Yasmina started playing with a rubber band. She had it around her wrist like a hair tie, and would pull at it. The rubber band would snap back and make her wrist sting. But it was distracting from her anxiety and worry, so she kept doing it. It was a way for her to get out of her mind, but a very discreet way to do it.

Unfortunately, it seemed Ben could read her mind. After watching her pull on the rubber band several times, Ben grabbed her wrist and took the band. Yasmina curls back her lips in a half snarl, half sneer as she rolls her eyes. But Ben didn't give it back.

During their lunch break, Yasmina watches Leah's latest video. It was shocking and confusing, yet relieving at the same time to see Leah apologize and openly admit that she had lied about Yasmina and Brooklynn. It made the athlete's day to see the truth finally come out. "Now Brooklynn shouldn't be under attack anymore and she can start to heal," she thinks happily, texting her friend.

"Yeah, our parents talk to her parents and got her to tell the truth," Brooklynn texts back.

"She won't be bothering you anymore," Yasmina promises, trying to reaffirm her friends safety. Brooklynn was free from Leah's reign, and Yasmina wanted to make sure she knew it. "And if she tries it again, I can put her six feet under… the water."

Brooklynn takes a few minutes to answer back. "Why are you so obsessed with murder?"

There were no emojis, nothing to give Yasmina a clue as to Brooklynn's tone. "Is she mad? Is this a joke? Does she not like how dark I can go? Did I make her mad?" the athlete worries excessively, unsure how her friend was feeling.

"I'm sorry. Is it annoying?" Yasmina texts back, worried. After a few minutes of no answering, she texts again. "I just want to protect you. I'm not trying to scare you or anything."

Yasmina forces herself to not text again. "Don't ramble, wait for her to answer back," she thinks.

"I'm just tired, okay?" Brooklynn answers.

This leaves Yasmina even more worried. "Is she doing okay? Is she feeling suicidal? Did I do something? Is she mad at me? Is she okay?!"

She rests her head on the table. "Yaz?" Ben asks.

"Is Brook okay?"

"She seemed fine when I texted her. Why?"

"Nothing… she just said she was tired…"

Ben smiles. "Don't worry, I'm sure she's okay. And the others will protect her if something's wrong."

Yasmina nods. "Okay… she's probably okay… I hope…"

"Don't do anything stupid, Brooklynn," the girl tells herself. "Don't go putting something on the Internet that will make Leah mad… and certainly don't let Yaz murder her."

"Hey, there!" a new voice startles Brooklynn out of her thoughts. She turns around to see the popular girl group approaching her. "Are ya Brooklynn?" the ringleader asks.

"Yeah," Brooklynn mumbles, rummaging through her locker.

"I'm Sophie," the girl says, sticking out her hand.

"Hi," Brooklynn says nervously, shaking her hand.

"I'm Kaitlyn," one of the other girls says.

"Mia."

"Mckenzie."

"Joanna."

"Nice to meet you guys," Brooklynn nods, her anxiety rising. "Don't try to be friends with me, I already have Leah to deal with. I don't need another popular girls group pulling me in and making my depression worse."

"I like your style," Mia comments with a smile.

"My style?" Brooklynn asks, looking at her boring, dark colored baggy sweatshirt and cargo pants she borrowed from Darius.

"Yeah," Joanna nods. "The baggy clothes and the bleached hair give off a Billie Eilish vibe."

"They do?" Brooklynn looks down at her clothes in confusion. She was just trying to hide her body…

"It's a cool style, almost grunge," Mckenzie grins.

"You're Brooklynnunboxestheworld, right?" Sophie asks.

Brooklynn's chest constricts. "Y-Yeah," she nods.

"What made your family decide to move here?" Mckenzie asks. "Like, out of all the states you and the other campers were from, why Texas?"

"Sammy's ranch," Brooklynn mumbles. "Too friendly. Too popular…" she thinks. Her anxiety rises, and she feels the need to run away from them. "I… I have to get back… home…"

"Do you want to hang out with us sometime later?" Sophie asks, sweetly.

Her voice blends with the other sounds in the school and Brooklynn has trouble hearing her. "Uh… we'll, we'll see."

Her heart rate increases and it becomes hard to breathe. "I can't be friends with them. I have all the friends I need. I can't get stuck with the popular girls again. I can't. I can't. I can't!"

"Are ya okay?" Kaitlyn asks in concern, reaching out to hold Brooklynn's arm as she sees the new girl hyperventilating.

Brooklynn jerks her arm back and turns away. "I… I'm good," she wheezes, walking away. Her chest hurts and she holds her hand to it as she tries to leave the school. Students begin to stare at her as she stumbles through the halls. "Sorry," she apologizes as she bumps into a guy. She stumbles over and lands on her knees, one hand on the ground, and the other clutching her chest.

"Do you need the school nurse?" Mia asks as the popular girls follow her.

"Brooklynn, are you okay!" a muffled voice calls out as more students stare at her and whisper in worry.

"I can carry you to the nurses office," the older boy she ran into offers, kneeling down and putting his hand on her back.

Panic and fear rises up in her. "No, no!" Brooklynn shrugs off his hand, scared of him. Scared of an unknown guy taking her somewhere when she couldn't breathe.

"Brooklynn!" Darius exclaims, coming by her side. He struggles to kneel down next to her with his cast. "Brook!"

She grabs onto his arm as she tries to focus her vision on him. The world was spinning… Why was the world spinning? "Am I dying?" she panics as she hyperventilates. "Am I dying?! Am I having a heart attack?!"

Someone slides their arm around her back and under her legs and scoops her up. As Brooklynn's head slumps onto his shoulder, she can make out Kenji's determined face as he carries her through the halls. "Move, move it!" Milton orders as he and Brandon walk ahead of Kenji, making room in the crowd of students. They make their way to an empty classroom and Kenji sets Brooklynn down in a seat.

"Brook, what's wrong?" Brandon asks. The boys crouch down next to her, trying to understand what was happening.

With her friends and family surrounding her, the panic and anxiety begins to subside. "Anxiety attack," Brooklynn says shakily, gulping down air as she's able to breathe.

"Do you need the nurse?" Mr. Griffith asks. He had been cleaning up his classroom when they burst in.

Brooklynn shakes her head, wiping back a wisp of hair stuck to her forehead. "I just… needed to get away from the crowd. Everyone staring at me didn't help."

Sammy and Darius open the door and come in. "Brooklynn," Sammy says with worry, wheeling to her friend's side. "What happened?"

"Anxiety attack," Brooklynn sighs, lifting up her hand. Her hand was trembling.

"You feeling better?" Darius asks, hyperventilating himself.

"Yeah, it's subsiding," Brooklynn nods. "I just feel weak now. I think my heart's starting to go back to its normal rate."

"What do you think triggered it?" Milton asks.

"The popular girls," Brooklynn sighs. "I started… started worrying that they would be like Leah and hurt me… they were concerned when I started hyperventilating and that made it worse. Then some guy volunteered to carry me to the nurses office… he probably didn't mean any harm, but at the moment, I didn't feel comfortable with a strange boy touching me."

"Sophie and her friends are actually really nice," Sammy says, reassuring her friend. "If they don't like someone, they just stay silent. They're not the bullying type, and when they compliment you, they genuinely mean it."

Brooklynn nods. "I still don't want any new friends right now. I have the best group and… I don't need to be making new friends and trying to balance new relationships right now."

"You wanna head to the car and go home?" Kenji asks.

"I think I want to sit down for a little while longer," Brooklynn says, looking at her shaking hands. "The other students will try to talk to me. I don't want to talk to the other students after that anxiety episode…"

"Sammy, Darius, you guys want to head to the car now?" Brandon suggests. "Since it will take you guys longer to leave the building in your conditions."

"Brooklynn needs me," Darius argues.

"It's okay, Darius," Brooklynn says. "You can head to the car and rest your leg."

Anger and indignation rises up, but he hides it. "All right," Darius grumbles, leaving the classroom with Sammy following behind him.

The girls and the guy who offered to help Brooklynn were still there, along with a couple other students who were concerned and/or wanted to know the hot gossip around the school. "Is she okay?" Sophie asks, truly concerned. "Was that like a medical condition or a panic attack?"

"She's fine," Darius says firmly, anger rising. "She'd just like to be left alone."

"Okay," Sophie sighs. "I guess she's embarrassed. If whatever happened back there happens again, just let her know that we can help her in any way she needs."

"She's got the rest of us for that," Darius growls. "It'd be better if you just let her be."

Sophie and her friends take a small step back as Darius limps off, irritated and angry. Sammy wheels up to the girls as he heads off. Darius can just make out what she was saying. "She's… going through some things. She'd just prefer not to deal with any new people."

"Does our title of 'popular girls' have anything to do with it?" Sophie asks. "She hasn't been on Youtube since Leahkangaroo lied about her and your other friend."

"You might say that…" Sammy says hesitantly. "And Darius is just very protective."

Darius turns around to see Sophie shrug. "I understand that," she says, quite chilled about things. "Have a nice day, Sammy."

"You, too," Sammy nods, wheeling herself away to catch up with Darius.

Darius shakes his head and continues on. "Just stay away from Brooklynn," he thinks. "You seem nice but that was Leah, too."

"What was it like on the island?" one of Sammy's friends asks, closing her textbook.

Sammy sighs. "Scary. It was scary, Lucy."

"How did you guys survive?" Saige asks, eyes wide with fright.

"By God's grace, honestly," Sammy says, leaning her head on her hand. "Ben raised an Ankylosaurus and I had a Triceratops, and then a velociraptor decided to adopt us and protect us. So we had a lot of dino help, too."

"You're kiddin'," Harper laughs. "Velociraptor?"

"Yeah," Sammy nods.

"What's been goin' on with Mantah Corp and all that?" Bell asks.

Sammy feels a pain in her chest at the mention of that name. "Well…" she sighs. "We have the official trials in… a week. Saturday."

"That's in two days!" Lucy exclaims.

"The next Saturday," Harper sputters. "In nine days, she'll have the trial. My gosh, you're denser than lead."

"What did they do to you?" Bell asks in concern. "We heard that y'all brought a case against them, but we weren't sure why."

Sammy gets that nervous feeling in her stomach whenever she thought about the incident. "They… We owed them money after they gave us a loan for the ranch. We couldn't pay them back in time, so they said either me or Rio could go to Jurassic World and spy and steal for them."

Her friends gasp.

"That's why I went to Isla Nublar," Sammy sighs, feeling awful about it.

"So yer goin' to court because they sent you to spy?" Saige asks.

"No, cause they…" Sammy trails off, remembering the torturing session. She lets out a shaky sigh. "They… tried to make me give them the information I knew."

"How?" Bell asks.

"We're not the bad guys," Mitch hissed in her ear. He leaned in closer; his cold, calloused hand moved down her neck an inch to her collarbone. Sammy whimpered; she shuddered to think of what would happen if his hand continued on it's path.

Sammy starts to envision what would've happened if Tiff hadn't been there… would things have been better? Worse? "Can we change the subject? I hate to remember this, I don't want to remember this; what's been going on in your lives? Anything new? What about you, Lucy? Did you tell Ezra how you felt? Did he like you back?"

Her hands shake and her eyes get teary as she rambles, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Uhh, I'm not into Ezra anymore," Lucy says, glancing at the other girls in confusion.

"Oh, then who's your crush now?" Sammy asks, taking in a deep breath and putting her effort into pushing away the flashbacks.

"The new guy, Kevin," Lucy says, forgetting about Sammy's troubles and remembering her new crush. "He's so cute!"
"Who's Kevin?" Sammy asks, trying to picture this new boy.

"Kenji, it's not Kevin," Harper groans. "His name is Kenji. Good grief, even I know that."

Indignation rises up in Sammy. "Why does no one know his name?"

"This is Lucy we're talking about," Saige giggles.

"Yeah, but Raffa thought he was Kenny," Sammy argues.

"The two people we're talking about have very short attention spans and horrible focus," Harper reminds her.

"Fair enough," Sammy chuckles.

"And Milton and Brandon are so cute, too," Saige sighs. "Especially Milton."

Sammy snorts. "His sister would beg to differ."

"Well, since Bell has a boyfriend already, and Harper just doesn't care—" Saige starts.

"I'd rather not look like a complete idiot around a bunch of guys," Harper blows a wisp of her dark purple hair out of her face.

"Sammy, Lucy, and I can have the new boys," Saige giggles mischievously. "I can get Milton, Lucy can have Kenji, and Sammy can have Brandon, since he seems like a really nice guy. Helping his younger brother with the cast around."

"Idk, I think Kenji might be into Mr. Griffith's daughter," Harper suggests, nodding to them a couple tables away. Kenji was sitting at a table with Krisha, working on math problems.

"She's his tutor," Sammy says, trying to disguise the disgust in her voice at the thought of Kenji dating the college girl. "She's just his tutor," she repeats to herself forcefully.

"Until they say it, he's open," Lucy giggles.

The girls begin to hatch a plot to talk to the boys and get their phone numbers. Sammy sits there, fuming. She wasn't one to anger, but listening to her friends discuss swooning Kenji made her furious… He was her man. It wasn't fair to her friends, as she hadn't told them yet that they were waiting until she could date—unofficially dating as Sammy and her sisters called it—but it still made Sammy mad. Didn't help that her head was now filled with ideas of Kenji falling in love with his tutor. "He did say she was a funny tutor… and a nice girl…" Sammy thinks, jealous. "She's pretty, too…"

Irritated and angry, Sammy decides to change the subject back to what they were originally in the library for. "¿No deberíamos estar estudiando? (Shouldn't we be studying?)" Sammy interrupts.

"What?" Harper frowns.

Sammy smiles wryly. "Well, maybe that's a sign that we should be studying for Spanish class. Aunt Lucy let us go to the library for a reason."

"Me?" Lucy asks.

"No, my aunt," Sammy groans. "My uncle's wife, Lucy."

The girls nod and get back to their studies. Sammy glances warily at Kenji before going back to her Spanish textbook.

When Sammy got home, Holly noticed her glum behavior. "What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothin'," Sammy mutters.

"Has it got somethin' to do with school?" Holly asks.

"Quizás, (Maybe,)" Sammy shrugs, still not looking at her.

"C'mon," the older girl sighs, laying down on the bed next to Sammy. "What's the matter?"

Sammy groans. "If I tell ya, do you promise not to go crazy older sister?"

"Does it got somethin' to do with Kenji?" Holly sits up quickly.

"See, this is what I mean!" Sammy exclaims, taking her pillow and hugging it over her face.

"Aight, I promise I won't go crazy older sister," Holly grumbles, resting her chin on her fist. "Mientras sea mundano. (As long as it's mundane.)"

Sammy sighs. "It's not Kenji, it's me. I'm just… I'm scared he's gonna leave me and find another girl… I'm scared I'm not good enough for him."
"So, it's Kenji, then," Holly says.

"El no es el problema, (No, he's not the problem,)" Sammy sighs. "I am. I'm scared I'm not a buena niña. What if I'm not good enough for him? What if… ¿Y si hay alguien mejor para él? (What if there's someone better for him?)"

Holly makes a funny face. "So… are you worried for él or you?"

Sammy and Holly look up to see Kenji standing in the doorway with a look of confusion. "You're speaking bilingual, I know I'm not wanted here," Kenji chuckles, lifting his hands and backing away.

"No, that's not true, you're wanted here," Holly gestures for him to come in, knowing he was part of whatever the problem was.

"That's even worse!" Kenji exclaims with fear, running away. "You never want me!" the girls hear him shout from down the hall.

Sammy and Holly laugh at his fear. "He ain't Estúpido," Sammy laughs.

"Pero en serio, (But seriously,)" Holly sighs. "I can't tell if you're preocupada por él or you. (worried for him) Are you worried that you're not buena for him and will hurt him? O no eres lo suficientemente buena (or you're not good enough), and he will leave you and hurt you?"

The girl groans. "I guess I'm not asustada (scared) of hurting him… and I'm not scared of him hurting me. Solo estoy asustada de que se vaya. (I'm just scared that he'll leave.)"

"Entonces (So), he's all hat and no cattle?" Holly asks, drawing her legs up to her chest. "Cause if he's really a buen chico, he won't just leave you as soon as another nice girl leaves. Si crees que se irá (If you think he'll leave), then you don't trust him."

"No, he's confiable, (trustworthy)" Sammy argues. "He'll stick with me, come Hell or high water."

"Then, qué objeción tiene? (what is your problem?)" Holly asks. "If you think he'll just up and leave, no confías en él. (you don't trust him.)"

Sammy closes her eyes and blinks back tears. "Lo sé, lo sé… (I know, I know…) I do trust him, and he is a good guy. It's… I don't believe in myself. Yo dudo de mi mismo. (I doubt myself.) I wonder if I'm worthy… Y si… Y si yo soy el problema? (What if I'm the problem?) … What if I was always the problem?"

Holly's suspicious stare softens. "Oh, Sammy, he should be thinking that. No tú. (Not you.) You do realize that he se sometió a nuestras críticas for you? (put himself through our criticism) He seemed pretty upset when we rejected him. Si él pone todo ese esfuerzo por ti, ¿lo tirará a la basura? (If he's put in all that effort for you, would he throw it away?)"

Her sister groans. "I know… I feel terrible about doubting him like this! I see him with otras chicas and I get jealous! (other girls) And he doesn't deserve the desconfianza! (distrust) He's proved himself to me, me siento tan mal por sentirme así! (I feel so bad for feeling this way!)"

"Sam, don't beat yerself up over it," Holly murmurs. "It's PTSD, we wouldn't get mad if you were miedo al agua, would we? (scared of water)"

"No," Sammy shakes her head.

"It's irrational if you know he's trustworthy, but that doesn't stop you from being scared," she shrugs. "Has tenido experiencias pasadas with boys breaking your trust. (You've had past experiences) Naturally, you'd be wary. Yo también me pongo celosa. (I get jealous, too.) Sometimes I get scared that Justin will cheat, just like Liam did… Justin es bueno, but I'm still scared."

Sammy nods, understanding.

"But you can't let that fear destroy your relationship," Holly continues. "It can break your relationship. Pero no te sientas culpable por eso. (But don't feel guilty about it.) If you can really trust him, por qué no le dices cómo te sientes? (why don't you tell him how you feel?)"

Sammy nods and hugs her sister. "Gracias, Holly," she murmurs. "Thank you for being a super awesome older sister. Wouldn't change you for anyone else."

Her sister smiles. "Con gusto. I still don't trust him, but… it's based on my own experiences. If he passed Dad's test and… okay, he did seem very genuine when we tested him…" Holly sighs. "He seems to be a good guy, Sammy. Maybe… Maybe he is the guy for you. Promise me you'll be honest with him about what's going on and don't ruin your relationship?"

"I promise," Sammy smiles.

"Don't text her, she's probably in school," Yasmina tells herself over and over again, wishing she could pace Ben's bedroom. But since the other day, when she had made a joke about killing Leah and Brooklynn had said something about it, the other girl had given her cold silence. The athlete hadn't texted her back, knowing she was in school and she was tired.

But it worried her. "Is Brooklynn okay?" she wonders. "Is she doing okay? Is there something wrong and she's just lashing out like I do? Have I done something wrong? Did she not like my comment? Did it put a wedge between us?"

Sighing, she decides against her anxiety and better judgement to text her. "Hey, ur probably in school, but answer when u can. Are u doing okay? Is something wrong? Has something happened to make u mad?"

Yasmina forces herself to put the phone down—well, gently toss it to the edge of the bed to keep her from compulsively checking it. The phone bounces off the bed and onto the floor next to Ben as he was packing up the last bit of his stuff. He looks at the phone and laughs. "Why you yeeting your phone?" he asks with laughter.

Yasmina smiles, but it's forced. She lays back on the bed, worrying. Her phone rings and the athlete's panic spikes. "Is that Brooklynn? Is she mad?" Scenarios of Brooklynn calling her up and telling her that she doesn't want to be friends anymore float through her mind as her phone rings. She knew it was irrational, but the thoughts didn't…

"Hello?" Ben answers Yasmina's phone.

Yasmina sits up as he puts it on speaker phone. "Hello, how are you doing today?" the unknown telemarketer asks.

"Terrible," Ben answers.

"Would Geico be able to help?" the telemarketer asks.

"Not particularly, since I'm thirteen and don't have a car," Ben answers, making the telemarketer laugh.

"Understandable. Well, have a great day."

"You, too," Ben laughs, hanging up.

Yasmina chuckles, and he hands her back her phone. She sighs and lays back again. "It was just a telemarketer, Brooklynn wouldn't just call you up and leave you…" she assures herself.

Ben leaves the room to go to the store with his father. As he leaves, the worry and anxiety overwhelm Yasmina and she covers her face. "I can't lose my friends… What if they leave? What if I've done something to make them dislike me? What if I'm a bad friend?!"

She starts to cry at the thought. Yasmina gets up and hops around the bed while leaning on it, trying to move around to cope with her crying. "I'm a terrible friend," the voice whispers. "Why wouldn't they leave me? I snap at them, I yell, I don't trust them…"

"Was it all a lie?" her words to Sammy next to the crashed vane come back. "Pretending you cared about… You just needed someone to hide what you were doing! Tell me I'm wrong."

Yasmina can remember the silent, guilty look on Sammy's face. The sadness and guilt etched on her face was burned into the athlete's memory. "I'm such an idiot…"

"You are wrong!" Sammy insisted, desperately. "I just didn't know how to say it, how to explain it to you! Just because I spied doesn't change who I am!"

"Don't touch me!" Yasmina snarled. "Go away, Sammy."

Yasmina turns around and sits down on the edge of the bed. She covers her mouth, remembering the venom in her voice. The pain in Sammy's eyes… "I held her crimes against her, and here I am threatening to commit murder for my friends…" Yasmina mutters, the venom that used to be pointed at Sammy now pointed at herself in disgust.

"I told you she'd get in the way!" Yasmina snapped at Ben. "If it wasn't for her, I could've made the van!"

"Am I likeable? Am I respectable?" Darius sniffed, laying his head on her chest.

Yasmina winces at the memories.

"It's hard to respect you when you're self-absorbed and ridiculous!" she shouted at Kenji.

"The reason I goof off during an argument?" Kenji seethed, crouching down in front of her. "To try to cool things down and ease the tension! And I use humor to soften the blow! I don't want to hurt you!"

"I don't deserve them," Yasmina sobs.

"And here I am afraid they'll leave…" the dark voice mutters. "They should leave! If I truly cared about my friends, I'd leave them! They don't deserve the treatment I give them! I should run away! Or—"

"Yasmina?" Mrs. Pincus asks, interrupting Yasmina's suicidal thoughts.

The girl looks up, still covering her mouth as she sobs.

Mrs. Pincus sighs. "Would you like to talk to your Mom?" She holds out her phone.

Yasmina nods and leans over to take the phone. "Is something wrong, Yasmina?" her mother asks over the phone as Mrs. Pincus closes the door.

Yasmina cries, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Am I a bad friend, Mom?"

"Yasmina, what are you talking about?" her mother asks. "You're a wonderful friend, what's wrong?"

"I…" Yasmina sniffs, wiping her eyes. "I had a dream last night that… that I was the one who overreacted… Leah didn't do anything wrong, and I was the one at fault."

Yasmina feels like she's choking as she cries. "But you know that's not what happened," her mother assures her. "She was the one in the wrong, and she's still a bully now."

"I know," the girl cries. "But I'm scared that my friends will leave me. I'm scared that I'm mean and that I'm pushing them away!"

"What makes you think you're mean?"

"I'm distrustful and I snap at them a lot. I yelled at Ben when I thought he was trying to pressure me into his religion, but I was overreacting. I've made them all feel unwanted and unloved…"

"Yazzy, I don't think you're as bad as you think you are."

"But they're still better friends than I am," Yasmina argues, sighing shakily. "Sammy and Ben and Darius are so kind and understanding. Kenji's so protective, and Brooklynn's such a good friend."

"And how are you none of those things?" her mother pries.

"I'm not good with words, and I'm volatile," Yasmina argues. "Brooklynn's been silent. I know she's talked to Darius about her problems, and probably Sammy and Kenji. Does she not trust me to open up? And Ben's been hesitant around me. I don't know if I scared him when I… when I snapped at him on Sunday."

"Honey, maybe Brooklynn's opening up more to the others because she can see them in person?" her mother suggests. "And maybe Ben just doesn't want to make YOU feel uncomfortable with his religion."

"I don't want him to feel like he can't talk to me, though," Yasmina cries. "Is this an irrational fear? Am I crazy to be afraid that they'll leave, after all they've done?"

"Yasmina," her mother sighs. "It is an irrational fear, but that doesn't make you crazy. Leah hurt you, and broke your trust. It's not uncommon to be afraid of it happening again. Even if it seems completely irrational, PTSD can still affect you."

Yasmina wipes her eyes. "You think I have PTSD from Leah?"

"It was something that traumatized you," her mother says. "Yasmina, don't feel bad about this anxiety. You're not… You're not a bad friend for worrying about this. And I think you're overthinking your flaws and actions. You are a good friend, honey. You can't have the same relationship with your friends that they have with each other. Sammy might be more empathetic and Kenji might be more protective in an older brother way, but that doesn't take away from you. You can't be the same as them. Life would be boring if you were the same friend to everyone, and everyone was the same friend to you."

Yasmina nods, sighing through her tears.

"It's okay to feel this way," her mother assures her. "But you need to tell these thoughts no. They're not true, and you can't let them take over your mind. You're a great friend, and they're not going to leave you. Even if they do, I'm always going to be here for you, sweetie. And you can always come to me."

Yasmina smiles for the first time in a few days; a true smile. "Thank you, Mom."

"Why don't you tell your friends how you're feeling?" her mother suggests. "Explain to them what you're afraid of. If they're your close friends, you can trust them with this. And chances are, they might feel the same way."

"I will," Yasmina nods, wiping away the tears. "Thank you, Mom. I…" She sniffs, rarely ever saying this. "I'm grateful to have you."

"And I'm thankful that you're my daughter and that you're alive," her mother says. "I love you, Yasmina."

"I love you, too, Mom," Yasmina smiles tearfully.

"Is everything okay?" Ben asks hesitantly, making Yasmina jump.

"D*** it, Ben! Sorry," she startles, then winces at her foul language.

Her mother laughs on the phone. "Can I talk to Emma?"

Yasmina hands the phone to Ben, who hands it to his mother. Ben comes over and sits on his bed next to her. "What's wrong?" he asks, putting an arm around her shoulder.

She wipes away her tears. "Can we have a group facetime? I want to talk to the group about this."

Ben takes a deep breath and nods. "Okay, yeah, what's wrong?" he asks as he texts the group.

"It's not, like… a serious problem," Yasmina chuckles nervously.

"Is it something dangerous?" he asks in concern.

"No," she shakes her head. "Well… if these… thoughts… continue, they could get dangerous…"

"Oh," Ben nods, seeming to get what she was implying.

As he tries to coordinate the group facetime, Yasmina leans on his shoulder. "I can't figure out what you are…" she murmurs.

"A Caucasian, male Homo Sapien," Ben answers without looking up from his phone.

Yasmina cackles. "No, I mean, I can't figure out what you are to me," she rephrases. "Sammy's my mom friend, but she's also like a sister. Brooklynn's my younger sister. Darius is my younger brother. Kenji's my older brother. You… I'm not sure…"

"Am I a brother?" he asks.

"No," she shakes her head. "But you're closer than a friend…"

"Am I your best friend?" Ben asks.

"You're better than a best friend," Yasmina says, sighing. "What's better than a best friend? I don't know. Either way, I hope you know that I love you. I love you all."

"I love you more," Ben smiles.

"I'll get a lawyer," Kenji interrupts from the camera. Ben had set up the facetime while Yasmina was talking, and she hadn't paid attention. Kenji and Darius were sharing a screen while Brooklynn and Sammy were sitting on Sammy's bed together.

"You what?" Yasmina asks.

"His new favorite response to 'I love you more,'" Brooklynn rolls her eyes.

"Sammy said that she loved him more, and he said, 'I'll get a lawyer,' and she said, 'I'll get a lawyer, too,'" Darius explains.

"So now Kenji and I are goin' to court to see who loves each other more," Sammy laughs.

"When did this happen?" Yasmina asks.

"This week," Brooklynn says. "You guys need to get here! You're missing out on all the new inside jokes!"

Yasmina winces, remembering what she wanted to talk about. "Yeah, um… Guys, I wanted to talk about something… uh…" she stutters, trying to figure out how to talk about it.

"What's wrong?" Kenji asks.

"Do you… Do you guys ever… ever feel afraid that… that you'll lose the rest of us?" Yasmina asks. "Like, the others will leave or die or not like you anymore?"

"Bruh, same!" Brooklynn exclaims. "All three! That's like my biggest fear right now!"

Sammy laughs. "Holly and I had a talk about that earlier today, actually."

Darius sighs. "The dying part… hits hard. I'm so scared you guys will get hurt or commit…"

"Oh yeah, definitely on the suicide thing," Ben nods. "That's a big fear of mine, especially for two unnamed girls. And just the fear of not being able to save you guys in general."

"Yeah, that one, too," Darius nods.

"Preach," Kenji chuckles.

Yasmina is stunned. "B-but, you guys are like the best friends ever! Why would you guys be scared that we'll leave you? Why would you be afraid that you couldn't protect us?"

"Well, why are you scared?" Sammy asks.

Yasmina looks down. "Well… I know I can be… a jerk… to you guys… I snap a lot…"

"You're inflating that," Ben says. "You don't snap that often."

"You can be hot tempered and pitch a hissy fit once in a while, but we wouldn't leave you for that," Sammy assures her.

"Yeah, seriously, Yaz, you don't have anything to worry about," Brooklynn nods. "You're the best older sister I've ever had. You and Sammy. You're so protective and you're always there."

"You really are amazing, Yaz," Darius agrees. "Seriously, I wouldn't change that hot temper for anything. It can be difficult, but it's what protects us sometimes."

"It makes you fun to mess with," Kenji grins, making the group laugh. "But on a serious note, are you worried we'll do what Leah did?"

The athlete winces; his question hit the nail on the spot. "Yeah…"

"You don't ever have to worry about that," Kenji assures her. "You gotta leave me before I ever leave you."

"And me," Sammy nods.

"Me, too," Darius and Brooklynn say together.

"You don't have to worry about us doing that," Ben wraps an arm around her, smiling. "And don't ever tell yourself that you're a bad friend. Don't hate yourself for anything. You're amazing and a wonderful friend and no one could replace you."

Yasmina smiles. "Don't worry about not being able to save us. You're stronger and braver than you look."

Ben smiles and gazes deeply into her eyes as the others laugh at her low key roast. Yasmina stares back, but feels… unsure of what was going on between them. Before she can ask, Brooklynn pipes up. "I ship it."

"We're not dating!" Yasmina snaps, tearing her gaze away and glaring at the other girl.

"You said that way too quickly, Yaz," Kenji teases.

"I say everything quickly," Yasmina retorts.

"I mean… I was thinking of kissing you," Ben admits with a blush.

Yasmina instinctively pushes his chest away, making the others cackle. "Back to the original subject?" she grumbles.

"Yaz is right, you're a strong, courageous friend, Ben," Sammy pipes up.

"I'm proud to call you my friend," Kenji thumps his fist to his chest.

"Yeah, you're our strong, empathetic friend," Darius says.

"That's what I was going to say!" Brooklynn exclaims.

Ben chuckles. "What about you, Darius? Our fearless leader?"

"I'm just afraid I won't be able to protect you guys…" Darius mutters.

"Don't ever think that, you're amazing," Brooklynn assures him. "He just about hisses like a cat whenever someone makes me nervous."

"Yeah, bruh, you're a really good friend," Kenji nods.

"Seriously good," Sammy agrees.

"You're impressively good at leading us, even when we didn't get along," Yasmina agrees.

Darius smiles gratefully. "Brooklynn?"

"I guess I just have the same fear as Yaz, that you guys will act the same as Leah," Brooklynn sighs. "And it's completely irrational as you guys are the absolute best."

Yasmina laughs. "Rational or irrational, doesn't make a difference. The fears still there, and it's still stupid."

"You don't have to worry about that," Ben shakes his head.

"We're here for you for life," Sammy promises.

"Don't ever feel unloved or alone," Darius tells her.

"The closest you'll get to losing us is me and Yaz going to prison to protect you," Kenji assures her, making her laugh. "What were you and Holly talking about, Sam?"

"I… I'm scared that I'm not good enough for you," Sammy admits quietly. "That you'll find another girl who's nicer and worthy of your love."

Kenji speaks incoherent gibberish indignantly. "You think I'd leave you for someone else?! Sammy, you da best gurl I've ever met! And even if there was someone 'better' and 'more worthy' then you, you're my girl! I'm not leaving you for anyone in the world!"

"You really don't have anything to worry about, Sam," Brooklynn assures. "You're the best. You're our mom friend."

"Yeah, you don't have anything to fear," Darius promises.

"I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncared for, you're truly amazing," Yasmina apologizes.

"Yaz," Sammy sighs. "You don't need to apologize."

"You seriously don't have to worry about Kenji leaving you," Ben promises. "You should hear him when you're not around. He's like a star-struck puppy when he talks about you."

The group laughs. Kenji tschs and rolls his eyes. "I never look like a puppy," he says, making his voice go deep.

Sammy leans over the edge of her bed and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Immediately, Kenji blushes and starts acting bashful, making his friends roar with laughter.

"Wait, you guys are in the same house?" Yasmina laughs.

"Yeah, we're sitting next to Sammy's bed," Darius nods, pointing up at the girls.

"Oh," Ben laughs. "All right, you cute little puppy, you know you're a great friend and we're never going to leave you, right?"

"Yeah, you're like a second older brother," Yasmina agrees.

"I second that," Brooklynn chuckles.

"Third," Darius nods.

"Now I'm glad all those other boys left me," Sammy smiles. "Cause I wouldn't have found you if they didn't."

Kenji blushes. "Okay, okay, enough cheesy talk. We're never going to leave each other and we're never going to betray each other. Problem solved. The fears are irrational."

"We need to get to dinner," Sammy says. "See you guys tomorrow!"

Ben and Yasmina say goodbye and end the call. Ben pulls her into a hug. "You're not a bad friend, okay? I'm not going to leave you. If I've seemed weird recently, I just don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable talking about what you're interested in," Yasmina says, her smile falling. "Just don't try to force me into your religion. You can talk about it, just don't pressure me."

Ben smiles. "Okay. Don't blame yourself for the actions of Leah or us. You're a great friend, you know that, right?"

"I guess after being friends with someone who blamed the problem on me… once bitten, twice shy," Yasmina shrugs, a small smile on her face.

Ben chuckles. "This isn't the first time you've been shy. I'm here for you."

She smiles bigger. "Stop being cheesy and find me my wheelchair so I can get to dinner."

"Hey," Ben sputters. "Now you're being mean."

"Sorry," Yasmina's face changes.

"I'm kidding," Ben laughs. "Don't worry. I'll just carry you to the table since your wheelchair is packed up."

"No, that's not nEcEssAry!" Yasmina squeaks as he wraps his arms around her and waddles out of the room. She laughs as he drops her in the chair. "Thanks."

Ben grins. "Come on, finish up. The sooner we go to bed, the sooner we get to Texas."