Author's note:
Soo I don't have a schedule for this thing. Between school, work, and a new puppy, I don't have a fixed schedule. So I might post every 2 to 3 days, or maybe 5 to 8 days. It depends.
Enjoy!
"DAAAAA SAVANNAHHHHH, MAMABEATSABABAAHHHHHH!" Kenji exclaims at the top of his lungs, slowly lifting Toothless into the air.
His friends groan at the rude awakening. "Can we just sleep?!" Brooklynn groans, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.
Darius sits up and stares at his friend sleepily. "Never a dull day in a life with Kenji."
"How is it that you've found a different way to wake us up for the past two weeks?" Ben asks, rubbing his eyes. "Haven't you run out of ideas?"
"Annoying and rude ways to wake us up, might I add," Yasmina growls.
"I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day," Sammy yawns with a weary chuckle.
"I have many more ideas, my bruhs," Kenji says, giving them finger guns. His friends groan in frustration.
"Come on, y'all, let's giddy up and start the day!" Sammy exclaims. Waking up early to do work was her type of morning living on a ranch.
"That's right, let's be productive!" Kenji exclaims.
"I thought you hated being productive," Yasmina frowns.
"That was before productive meant playing with dino hatchlings," Kenji shrugs, picking up Toothless. The Indoraptor hatchlings had grown as long as their forearm and were getting heavier to pick up. The black Indo climbs up onto him and sprawls across his shoulders like a fur coat.
The group begrudgingly gets up to start the day. Darius looks down at the ground. Bumpy and Tornado were awake and grazing in the grass. Blue was coming through the bushes from hunting at night. "Hey, Blue!" Darius calls, waving at her.
The velociraptor croaks out a reply, shaking her head and stopping beneath the stairs.
"Guess it's training time for you guys," Darius says, looking down at Mocha. The brown hatchling purrs and climbs up Darius' leg, clinging to his back like a lizard. "These guys won't be able to climb up us much longer," Darius says. "They're getting pretty big."
"How big do you think they'll get?" Brooklynn asks.
"Not sure," Darius shrugs. "Raptors are pretty tiny, but the I-rex was really big. Maybe they'll be somewhere in between."
"What are we gonna do with them when they get really big?" she asks.
"We'll figure it out when we get there. Right now let's just focus on training them," Darius says, shutting down the conversation before Brooklynn could turn it into what felt like an interrogation to him. "Come on, Bleach."
Brooklynn puts her hands on her hips. "Did you just call me Bleach?"
Darius went down the slide before she could finish her sentence.
"This is so cool," Kenji grins. "We gotta raptor calmly sitting next to the stairs. She's not even trying to eat us. She's protecting us! How many people can say that a raptor willingly decided to protect them?!"
"Cool, why did Darius call me Bleach?" Brooklynn frowns.
"Cause not only are your roots growing in, your pink hair is fading to a bleached white," Kenji explains, not even looking at her.
Brooklynn laughs. "Well, two can play at that game."
The rest of the group slides down the slide to meet Blue. The Indoraptors are excited for their hunting lessons. "They're growing up so fast," Kenji says, wrapping his arm around Yasmina to hold her up.
Yasmina gags, shoving him away. "Ack! You need a shower ASAP!"
Kenji laughs, lifting his arm next to Sammy. The Texan gags with a laugh. "I think we all need showers, but you are rank!"
"Just think, we've been wearing the same underwear for months now," Kenji grins. The others groan with disgust.
Brooklynn sticks out her tongue. "I did pack soap. We could wash our clothes. We should probably take showers as well…"
"There's small ponds around here we could take a bath in," Ben says. "Can't believe Brooklynn didn't suggest this before now."
"We've been busy with the Indoraptors," the fading pinkette protests.
"And apparently we didn't get close enough to Kenji," Yasmina smiles wryly.
Kenji bends down and lifts his arm to allow Toothless to smell. The hatchling makes an exaggerated face and plays dead. "Yep, I need a shower."
Sammy climbs back up to the shelter and comes down with the backpack of clothes. "All right, we'll send the Indos off to hunt and then take showers. Kenji, you'll go first. When you're done, bring back all your clothes so we can wash them. Including your underwear, which I'm assuming you have…"
"Yes, I have underwear," Kenji laughs. "I haven't been going commando for months. What am I gonna wear when I'm done, though? Want me to just waltz around naked?"
"Please don't, for all that is good in this world!" Yasmina says quickly.
"No, you're not strippin'," Sammy rolls her eyes. She hands him a pair of cargo pants. "But you can go commando and shirtless."
"Awesome," Kenji whispers, and heads off to find a pond to wash off in.
"Soap!" Yasmina calls after her, gently tapping her boot.
"Oh, right," Kenji says, turning around and retrieving the soap.
"And the raptors," Yasmina calls out again.
Kenji growls at her and comes back. "Hunt!" he exclaims, pointing to the woods. The others follow his lead, and Blue leads the hatchlings into the woods.
"Can I go now?" Kenji plants his hands on his hips.
Yasmina nods. Kenji walks off. "Wait," Yasmina calls out, just to mess with him. He gives her the middle finger.
"Kenji!" Sammy chastises him without even turning around.
"Sorry," he mumbles.
"Darius, Ben, you might wanna keep an eye on him," Sammy says. The two in question stare at her. "Not really watching him, but stay close enough that he can call for help if attacked," she explains. "Yaz, Brooklynn, who wants the first bath?"
"I will!" Brooklynn exclaims. "That way I don't have to deal with your filth in the water," she sneers at Yasmina. The older girl pulls her into a choke hold. "Oh, gosh, you're just as bad as Kenji!" Brooklynn exclaims, gagging.
"Yeah, right," Yasmina grumbles, releasing her.
The teens head to the small ponds to wash off. After everyone was cleaned up, they headed back to camp. The dirty clothes are placed in a basket salvaged from the wreckage. The boys were wearing cargo pants while the girls had on loose pants and sweatshirts. "Figured these would come in handy at some point," Brooklynn shrugs.
Blue comes back with the Indoraptor hatchlings. The younglings were proudly carrying tiny little dinosaurs in their mouth. Blue, on the other hand, looked exhausted. "We'll take them from here if you want a break," Sammy chuckles.
Blue huffs and sprints off into the woods.
Darius gasps. "Is that a Caudipteryx?!"
Mocha drops her prey and frowns at him.
Darius continues to geek out about their prey. "I didn't know they had these guys here!"
"What's the difference between these guys and Compies?" Kenji asks, uninterested.
"Compies are carnivores, Caudipteryx eat insects and plants," Darius explains. "I didn't know they had these guys! There's soo many dinosaurs I didn't know they made!"
"While you're havin' fun geekin' out, I'll check on Kenji's wounds and then wash our clothes," Sammy says, gesturing for Kenji to follow her up into the shelter. Ben helps Yasmina up the ladder. Usually Sammy liked to check up on everyone at the same time.
Brooklynn lays down next to Darius as they watch the Indoraptors eat their full and then bury the rest. "My Dad would've loved to see this," Darius murmurs, resting his chin on his crossed arms.
"I wish I could've met him," Brooklynn says, looking over at him. "I'm sorry about whatever happened. I can't imagine…"
"It's okay," Darius shrugs, not really wanting to talk about it. "Bad idea. Don't bring him up again if you don't want to talk about him."
"How are you handling it?" Brooklynn asks sympathetically.
"I'm good," Darius shrugs, even though it was a struggle for him every day not to think about it. "Last time you thought I needed cheering up, you went crazy and climbed the tree," he thinks. "Your leader can handle his own problems."
"Well, if you wanna talk, you can talk to me," Brooklynn says, putting her arm around him in an awkward hug.
"Thanks," Darius smiles, putting up a face.
"So what are we going to do the rest of the day?" Brooklynn asks.
Darius thinks for a moment. "I'd like to teach the hatchlings to swim. They keep falling in and don't know how to keep their head above water."
"Are you sure they could swim?" Brooklynn asks as Indigo comes over for a head rub. She was concerned for her baby.
Stress and doubt rise up in Darius again. "It can't hurt to see. I'm not gonna let them drown."
"Yeah," Brooklynn nods.
"Think I would suggest it if I thought they would get hurt?" Darius asks in his head. "Have more faith in me."
"Let's go tell the others, Poof," Brooklynn says, rubbing his head as she stands up.
Darius glares at her in confusion before he sighs. "Ha, ha, guess I deserved that."
The two climb the ladder and Darius proposes his idea to the others. "Pool day!" Kenji exclaims.
"Not if you're injured," Darius shakes his head. "The water's probably bacteria filled."
"Actually, Kenji's fine," Sammy says. "Yaz still needs time."
The athlete groans in frustration.
"I'd say your stitches only need about a little over a week before you can walk," Sammy adds. "If you stay off it and let it heal."
Yasmina sputters. "Fine," she grumbles.
The group heads down to the watering hole. Sinoceratops' and Triceratops' were drinking at the watering hole. The Indoraptors bend down into a hunting position, looking up at their alphas for the signal. The campers tell them no; it's not time to hunt. They head down to the water and lay down on their stomachs next to the edge. "Can anyone swim?" Brooklynn asks.
"I can swim," Yasmina says. "My older brother is training to be an Olympic swimmer."
"Oh, so he's a Michael Jordan?" Kenji asks.
"What?" Yasmina frowns.
"The famous swimmer, Michael…" Kenji pauses.
"Phelps?" Yasmina laughs. "Michael Phelps?"
"Yeah, him," Kenji laughs. "Michael Jordan. Pff. I can swim, too. We have a pool at my mansion."
"I'm a good swimmer," Brooklynn giggles. "Swam with sharks."
"I never learned how to swim," Ben grins sheepishly. "Too scared of water."
"Never learned to swim, either," Sammy shrugs. "I'll wash our clothes while you guys teach them to swim."
"I can swim," Darius cringes. "I'm not too strong, though."
"Okay, so Darius, Kenji, and I will teach the hatchlings to swim?" Brooklynn asks.
"Sounds good to me," Kenji shrugs.
The three wade into the water and beckon the Indoraptors in. They hold up the dinos and try to teach them to kick their legs. Kenji even demonstrates the doggy paddle for them. By the end of the swimming lesson, the Indo's had the basic idea. They were still working on actually doing it.
"Duh. Duh. Duh. Duh, duh. Duh, duh, duh. Duh. Duh, duh. Do, do, do. Do, do. Do, do," Kenji sings, holding up Toothless as he makes her glide through the water. The hatchling squeaks in delight as her Daddy makes her feel as if she was flying.
"What are you singing?" Yasmina tilts her head in confusion.
"Uh, doi," Kenji says, giving her a look of shock. "The How To Train Your Dragon theme song. What else would I be singing? This little girl screams dragon!"
"Test flight, right?" Brooklynn grins. Kenji nods, and gives his fellow How To Train Your Dragon fan a high five.
"Why are you so obsessed with that movie?" Yasmina asks, annoyed with the constant pop culture references.
"First off, because it's absolutely amazing," Kenji states. "Second, Toothless is the cutest creature in movie history. Third… it's kinda my comfort movie… because I like Hiccup's relationship with Stoic…"
"Aww," Sammy smiles sympathetically. "It really is a great movie."
Yasmina rolls her eyes. "Honestly, the only reason I dislike it is because my siblings watched it too many times."
"There's no such thing as too much How To Train Your Dragon," Kenji says decisively.
The group heads back to the shelter. Ben supports Yasmina while Brooklynn and Darius try to corale their Indos. Kenji picks up Toothless, puts her on his head, and pretends that she was flying. The little black Indo purrs and squeaks, enjoying it. Sammy joins in, humming the song with him.
The campers eat lunch and get dressed in their slightly damp clothes. Ben looks over at Yasmina, who's eyebrow is twitching as she listens to Kenji goof off. He chuckles. "Hey, Yaz, you wanna ride on Bumpy with me? I'm gonna take Sammy and Tornado out and help them."
Yasmina gives him a grateful smile.
"Why don't you bring your bow and quiver?" Ben suggests. "Practice shooting off of a moving Ankylosaurus."
"It's extremely hard to shoot a moving target, much less be moving," Brooklynn says.
"I'm learning how to shoot a moving target back home," Yasmina shrugs. "It'll be good practice."
Sammy retrieves her bow and quiver, and she and Ben help Yasmina up onto Bumpy. Then Sammy mounts Tornado and the three start to lumber off into the woods.
Yasmina Fadoula, the girl on fire!" Kenji exclaims, imitating the Hunger Games host. "And Ben Pincus, the boy with the bread!"
Yasmina thinks for a second, before realizing why he kept smirking at her when he said Ben was the Winter Soldier and Peeta. "My favorite character is Bucky, the Winter Soldier. He's… he's kinda my second fictional character crush."
"Who's your first?" Kenji grins.
"Peeta Mellark from the Hunger Games," Yasmina chuckles sheepishly.
"He did not just!" Yasmina growls in her head. She moves to flip him off, but Sammy's watching. Instead, she bumps her wrists together to communicate that she was irritated at Kenji. Mr. VIP just laughs.
As Yasmina is preoccupied with Kenji, Darius mouths the words: "Thank you," to Ben. The blonde gives him a thumbs up.
From the beginning, there was a bit of trouble with the dinosaurs. Tornado was still prone to occasionally bucking. Sammy wasn't knocked off, though.
"Why don't you like Princess?" Ben sighs, rubbing the back of her head. "It's not like she's done anything to you."
"Maybe she feels like she has to compete for your attention," Sammy suggests. "We had that problem with two of our dogs. The best thing to do would get professional help, but, ya know, we don't have that luxury."
"What can we do?" Ben asks.
"We can try the techniques we used on our dogs back at the shelter," Sammy says, yelping as Tornado catches her by surprise. She rights herself on the Triceratops' back.
"All right, girl on fire," Ben laughs. "What's your target?"
"See that leaf? The brown one among the green?" Yasmina says, picking out her target. "Let's walk a few yards and then turn back for it." While Bumpy lumbers on, the athlete gets a feel for how Bumpy moves at a steady pace. Then, once the Ankylosaurus turns around, she lifts the bow and draws back the arrow. She works on trying to keep the bow steady and compensate for Bumpy's lumbering. She releases and hits a green leaf two leaves away from her target. Instead of being irritated, she marvels. "Dang, this bow is so silent! The only noise is from the arrow hitting its target! This would be so much easier when dealing with skittish deer."
"You hunt deer?" Ben asks.
"Yeah, my Dad's a hunter and a survivalist," Yasmina says.
"Okay, just to clear things up, what exactly does every member in your family do?" Sammy laughs.
"My Dad does crossfit professionally," Yasmina says. "He's competed in a lot of high level competitions. Since his incident as a kid, he's learned how to survive in the wilderness and hunt animals. My brother, Ghaleb, is a professional swimmer. He also enjoys hunting with rifles, and he'll run track with me. I'm faster than him," Yasmina cackles happily. "My sister, Habeeba, likes to paint. She's an awesome artist. Entered quite a few competitions. Jabari, my younger brother, is musically gifted and plays the drums, guitar, piano, and… oh, the tuba. How could I forget that?"
Ben gets down from Bumpy and retrieves the arrow for Yasmina. She thanks him and continues. "My Mom is gifted in culinary and gardening skills. She's only famous because she's in the family with Dad, me and Ghaleb. She's pretty shy… like me."
"Sounds like a fun family," Ben smiles.
"Yeah," Yasmina nods. "My siblings are my best friends. Dad would take us all camping and take me and Ghaleb hunting for deer and rabbits. Me and my brother would always have friendly competitions. Well… friendly on Ghaleb's end." Yasmina chuckles dryly. "If you're not prepared to lose, don't challenge me. I can get… well, you probably already know."
Sammy and Ben laugh. "Yee, we get it," Sammy says.
"Haw," Ben answers, earning a gentle slap on the back of the head from Yasmina.
After practicing a couple more shots, Yasmina finally hits her target. "It's actually easier to shoot a moving target than to be moving yourself. That's what I think, at least."
"Hey, you wanna race Sammy?" Ben whispers in her ear. The athlete nods eagerly as she slings the bow over her back.
"Bet you can't catch us, Sam!" Ben exclaims, spurring on Bumpy. The Ankylosaurus bellows and takes off.
"Oh, ho, ho, so that's how it is," Sammy cackles, urging Tornado to chase them. The two dinosaurs race each other through the woods before bursting through the trees and running through the fields. Bumpy is naturally faster, as she's older, but Ben slows her down a bit so that the two dinosaurs were neck and neck. Their riders laugh with joy.
"We're gonna beat you!" Sammy exclaims, urging Tornado on. The juvenile Triceratops bellows and puts on speed.
"Faster, faster!" Yasmina urges, laughing. She had wrapped her arms around Ben's torso to keep herself on the galloping Ankylosaurus.
Ben looks back at her, laughing and grinning with delight. This was the first time she had had anything remotely similar to a race in about two months. He had a feeling there would be more sprints with Bumpy in the future. "Yes, Ma'am," he laughs, and encourages Bumpy to run faster.
Bumpy starts to catch up to Tornado and they pass the Texan. "We're beating you!" Yasmina exclaims, laughing.
Sammy laughs. "Not fair! Bumpy's older!"
The group runs through a large herd of Ankylosaurus, Sinoceratops, and Triceratops. The herd spooks and begins to run with them. "Whoops," Ben shrugs with a chuckle.
The campers run with the herd for a while before veering off and heading back to camp. Yasmina chuckles happily and hugs Ben from behind. "Thanks. This was the best."
"You're welcome," Ben smirks. "It's good for the rest of us, too. Now you're not grumpy."
Yasmina shoves him forward good-naturedly. The three laugh at the friendly roast as they head back.
Meanwhile, back at the shelter, Brooklynn was chatting away. She had started up a conversation about dinosaurs with Darius—which he did enjoy—but the young boy needed a bit of a break from social interactions—particularly Miss Chatterbox. He was too nice to say anything, though, and sat through the conversation wearily.
Thankfully, Kenji understood how Darius felt and calls Brooklynn over to help him check their food supply. The two sort through it and take an inventory. "We could probably restock the meat," Brooklynn says, sitting up.
"Yeah," Kenji nods. He stares at the bag for a second. "I want shrimp."
Brooklynn laughs. "Lobster tails aren't meant to be here."
Kenji stares at her for a second before snorting. "Is that what it's like living with me constantly saying random things? I like it!"
Superstar rolls her eyes. "Yeah, except it's not always fun."
"That implies that you do enjoy some of it," Kenji waggles his eyebrows with a stupid grin.
She shakes her head, over it. "Actually that quote was from Sammy's friend… Juan? Idk, they're the class clowns of their school. He's apparently a weirdo."
"Oh… really?" Kenji says, frowning. He couldn't remember a Juan.
"I think you'd like him," Brooklynn laughs. "I mean, I've never met him, but he sounds like someone you'd wanna hang out with. Everything those two do sounds exactly like what you and Sammy do. You guys have, like, the same relationship. Except he's got years of friendship going. I'd like to see you guys meet."
"That wouldn't go over well," Kenji grumbles, crossing his arms as anger wells up inside him.
"What's your problem?" Brooklynn asks, planting her hands on her hips. "You haven't even met him, why are you prejudiced against him?"
"It's nothing," Kenji shrugs, glaring at her.
"What, are you mad that Sammy can goof off with another guy?" Brooklynn asks. "She goofs off with Ben and Darius and Yaz and me. You don't have a problem with that!"
"I know you guys," he huffs.
"Well, why do you assume you would hate him?" she frowns.
"Because he got to Sammy first!" Kenji snaps. "Friendship is very important to her, how could I compete with Juan?! Plus, she never told me about this 'Juan.' Why wouldn't she tell me about him? What's going on between them that she can't tell me?!"
Brooklynn's jaw drops in shock. Kenji stares back with wide eyes, equally as shocked by his outburst. His face turns bright red and he hastily walks into the jungles.
Brooklynn chuckles in confusion. "Wait, what? Kenji, you cannot just say that and walk away! Get back here!" She follows him into the woods.
Darius watches them walk into the woods, confused about what they were shouting over. "Welp, alone time for me," he shrugs, scratching Mocha's chin.
"You cannot just walk away without an explanation, Kenji!" Brooklynn exclaims, coming up behind him. "You're jealous of Juan and Sammy's friendship, why?!"
Kenji pushes a branch out of his way as he tries to escape Miss Nosy. The branch comes back to hit Brooklynn in the face. She stumbles back a bit and shakes her head. "This is, like, the biggest tea I've ever heard on this island!"
Kenji stops walking quickly and turns around. Brooklynn bumps into him and backs up a bit. "Fine," he says through gritted teeth and red cheeks. "I… I kinda have a crush on Sammy, and it… it makes me jealous to think of her with someone else."
Brooklynn purses her lips to keep from squealing. "Okay, if it makes you feel better, I'm not entirely sure if Juan exists. She talks about a lot of people. It might have even been her sister that said that."
"I know I shouldn't feel jealous; it's not like we're dating or anything," Kenji says, starting to ramble from nerves. "It's just, she's, you know, the only girl who's ever seemed to like me. Like, really like me. But I can't tell if it's romantic or friendship with her."
"Why do you have a crush on her?" Brooklynn asks, her lips forming a small smile despite her best efforts.
"Because she…" Kenji sighs. "She actually cares. I'd say she's my best friend. She's not trying to compete with me and she's not putting me down despite all my mess ups. And she listens when I talk to her; she doesn't write me off as a narc or a wimp or whatever you wanna call me. She sees the bad in me, but instead of focusing on it, she talks about the good in me and encourages me to overcome my flaws. And it seems as though no matter how much I mess up, she'll always forgive me. I guess… it was nice to be believed in for a change. Instead of being reminded of how terrible I am."
"Aww," the sound escapes her lips before the pinkette can stop it.
"And I thought that she was my closest friend, but…" Kenji sighs again. "I just… it's a special friendship. I… I never really allowed myself to think it was a crush."
"Why not?" Brooklynn asks, thinking this was the cutest love story she had ever seen.
"Because… I didn't treat my other girlfriends right," Kenji mumbles, looking down. "They were trophies; challenges conquered. It was all about the image. There's pressure on guys—especially on the rich and famous like me—to have a girlfriend. You have to look the part. You have to have it all together. You have to be cool, be super swag, have the most popular, pretty girlfriend. It was basically just a contest for me. A contest that if you win, people will like you and look up to you like you're cool. I never respected my girlfriends; they were just… they were just there for a couple days, maybe a week, and then I would move on to the next conquest. I think they felt the same way. It was all a show."
Brooklynn chuckles bitterly. "I get that."
"I didn't want to think I had a crush on Sammy because I don't want to treat her that way," Kenji says. "I want to date her, definitely! But… at the same time, I don't. This is different. My other dates were due to selfish reasons of wanting something for me. But thinking about dating Sammy in that way breaks my heart. I care about her feelings and her heart more than mine. If I… If I was to date her and break her heart, it would break me. If we ever got together, it wouldn't be for an image. It would be because we love each other. And I would be so careful about our relationship, because I don't want to hurt her."
Kenji is tearing up a bit. Brooklynn lets out a squeal, holding her hands to her mouth. After some cutified gibberish, she says: "You should tell Sammy how you feel! I wouldn't be surprised if she felt the same way."
Kenji's cheeks heat up. "No, no, no, no, no! No, I can't do that. I just realized that I love her in a romantic way! I can't just walk up to her and tell her that I want to spend the rest of my life with her! It'll just come out as awkward gibberish!"
"No it won't," Brooklynn encourages. "Just tell her everything you told me."
"It's not that easy!" Kenji hisses.
"Come on, I thought you were Mister Smooth," Brooklynn teases. "You telling me you can't just walk up to her and flirt? I've seen you flirt with her before."
"That was before I liked her," Kenji says, rubbing the back of his neck. "I can flirt with girls who are pretty, I can flirt with girls that are playing hard to get. Sammy? I don't know! She's so different. That's what I like about her. At the same time, that's what makes me nervous about telling her! And what if she doesn't feel the same way and I've made our friendship awkward?! I don't want to do that!"
"Omg, you're so cute!" Brooklynn giggles. "You guys are such a cute ship! This is the best tea ever. You should totally tell—"
Brooklynn yelps as Kenji grabs her jacket and pulls her up to meet his eyes. All he did was force her on to her toes as he looms over her. "If you tell a single soul what I've told you, you will regret it," he says darkly, staring her in the eyes.
Brooklynn gulps and whimpers. "What are you going to do?" she whispers nervously. "You wouldn't hurt me, would you?"
Kenji relents, letting her down on her heels. "You know me too well," he sighs, looking away. "I would never be able to hurt you…" He pulls her up again. "I'll tell Darius that you have a crush on him."
Brooklynn laughs. "No, don't! Don't!" She continues laughing. "Sorry, the intimidating-ness of the situation was lost when you said you'd never hurt me."
"Oh, I'm not intimidating anymore, huh?" Kenji quirks an eyebrow mischievously. He bends down and slings Brooklynn over his shoulder. "I'm gonna go to Darius, drop you in his arms, and then tell him you're his damsel in distress. I'll make sure he knows how you feel about him and—dang, you are really light!"
"Hey!" Brooklynn protests. "I'm not that light! Why does everyone keep saying that?"
"Okay, time to go deliver you to Darius," Kenji says, walking back to camp.
"No, don't! Kenji, no!" Brooklynn shrieks, kicking her legs and hitting his head. "Stop! Don't do that! I promise I won't tell Sammy! I swear!"
Kenji stops walking. "You swear that you'll never tell Sammy?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Brooklynn nods.
"And you won't go gossiping to Yaz?" Kenji insists.
"I won't gossip with Yaz," Brooklynn shakes her head vigorously.
"And you won't tell Darius?" Kenji adds.
"I won't tell Darius," Brooklynn says quickly.
"You won't tell Ben?" Kenji frowns.
"I won't tell Ben, I won't tell Roxie, I won't tell Blue, I won't tell Indigo, how many more people do I have to list?" Brooklynn asks, listing off her fingers.
"You can't tell your followers," Kenji adds.
"I won't tell my followers," Brooklynn promises.
"Okay, good, we're on the same page," Kenji grins. "If you break your promise, I'll tell Darius."
"I get it," Brooklynn nods. "Can you put me down?"
"No," Kenji snickers. He starts tickling her sides while she is defenseless on his shoulder. The pinkette starts shrieking and squirming in his grasp. He walks back to shelter, still tickling her. Ben, Sammy, and Yasmina were arriving. Sammy giggles, holds Brooklynn's legs and tickles the back of her knees. Superstar's face turns red and she starts squeaking. "S-s-s-s-sto-p-p-p i-i-i-t-t-t!" she says, barely able to make a sound.
"Guys, stop torturing her," Darius laughs, shooing away Sammy. Kenji puts down Brooklynn and she stumbles back into Darius, out of breath.
"Jerk," she wheezes. Kenji shrugs unapologetically.
Across the globe in Liverpool, Roxie was back at her family's restaurant, working. She had flown back to spend the week with her family—forced by Dave and the families. As much as they wanted the campers to come back, Roxie needed rest. She had been working like a machine. Even so, her "vacation" was helping out around her family's restaurant. "What do you need, Galway?" Roxie asks, looking around a fridge.
"Mild sauce," her younger brother says, taking chicken wings out of the oven.
Roxie heads into the walk-in fridge, finds the tub, and refills the bottle.
A customer walks in and stops at the cash register. "May I help you?" Roxie's younger sister asks.
"Uh, yes, I'd like to order," the man says with an American accent. "Oh, can I choose a song, please?"
Roxie's sister, confused, obliges. Someone Like You by Adele turned to Low Rider by War. Immediately, Roxie pops around the fridge. "David!"
Dave and her younger sister start laughing. "I love how you knew exactly who it was even though you didn't see him walking in," the younger girl laughs.
"Because I've heard him play it too many times!" Roxie grumbles.
"Be funny if it wasn't me. Right, I'd like to get a Roxie sub with hot-headed sauce," the man grins.
"David!" Roxie sticks her head around the fridge again to good-naturedly glare at him.
Dave grins sheepishly. "Oh, we can most definitely serve you that," Roxie's sister grins mischievously.
"Jacqueline!" Roxie snaps. Dave and Jacqueline snicker.
Roxie rolls her eyes. "You can come back here. We're starting to clean. I'll give you a tour later, and you can meet my family. And the brats." Roxie gently bumps her sister as she walks past her. The sixteen year old merely cackles at her sister's annoyance.
"So, Jacky, right?" Dave holds out his hand to shake.
"Pleasure to meet you, Dave," Jacky smirks. "I hear you're a good match for my sister."
Dave facepalms. "Oh boy." is all he says.
After closing up, Dave gets to meet the employees. "Leo and Fiora don't usually work here, but Galway and Luca are cooks, Jacky is a cashier, and occasionally Nico helps out cleaning dishes," Roxie explains. "Keaton's too much trouble to be a help yet." The nine year old grins, showing off his missing teeth.
"Sounds like a fun, family business," Dave says, shaking hands with Roxie's father.
"So, are you guys gonna have children?" Nico asks, mischievously.
Roxie gives him a forced smile that reads, "I'm going to kill you when Dave is gone."
Dave stutters, a bit taken aback by the blunt question. "Well, uh… I mean, if we get married."
Roxie smacks his arm. "The way to answer that question is to knock the little git around."
"But that's what you do," Jacky says. "Dave is the cool dad who gives the kids treats."
"Oh my Lord," Roxie sighs, covering her face. "Siblings."
"So this is your boyfriend your siblings have been talking about," one of the non-related workers says, shaking Dave's hand.
Roxie's siblings start laughing as the brunette groans. Dave just sits there, grinning nervously. "Gerald, enough," Roxie mumbles.
"They basically have kids," Jacky says. "And they're trying to save them from dinosaurs."
"Ah, so when's the wedding?" Gerald asks.
"Guys, quit teasing your sister," her father says. "That goes for you, too, Gerald… and every worker here."
"Thank you, Dad," Roxie mumbles as her mother comes in and gives her a hug.
"Oh, is this your friend from Jurassic World?" her mother asks, giving Dave a hug. He awkwardly pats him on the back.
Roxie cringes. "Yes, this is Dave. Dave, this is my mother."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gianfortoni," Dave says, nodding.
Roxie's brother, Luca, starts up a conversation about whether pineapple belongs on pizza. Dave turns to Roxie. "Interesting family, you got there."
The brunette grimaces. "They're such an embarrassment."
"You're fine, my family's just as bad as yours," Dave chuckles. "You should've seen my last girlfriend's welcome…"
"Oh, you've dated before?" Roxie whispers, making sure her siblings couldn't hear.
"Does that come as a surprise?" Dave asks offendedly. "She didn't stick around for too long. Thought I was a slacker."
"You're not that bad," Roxie shrugs. "You've taken care of the rescue efforts while I'm relaxing."
"Yeah, cause this is 'relaxing,'" Dave grins, gesturing to the oven.
"I'm a workaholic," she shrugs.
"She really is," Jacky nods.
"I wanna go to America," Keaton whines. "Why does Roxie get to go?"
"Because she's an adult," Roxie's mother says. "You have school."
"Is work really busy, lately?" Roxie asks her father.
"Not really," he shrugs.
"Why not come with me?" Roxie asks. "Mom, you could bring Keaton and Nico… maybe Jacky. They could hang out with the Guiterrez family. That is, if they're willing. I haven't asked them."
"I'm sure they'd be fine with it," Dave laughs. "But it's better to ask. You sure you guys could come? What about school?"
"Oh, we're homeschooled," Jacky shrugs. "Is the Guiterrez family the ones with a ranch in Texas?"
Roxie nods. "They have a ton of animals. I've lost count. And another family member of theirs owns a veterinary office."
"Mom, can I please go?" Jacky begs. "It would be a good experience!"
"She wants to become a vet," the camp counselor whispers to Dave.
Her mother hesitates. "You work here, Jacky. You can't just abandon your duties."
"I'll make up however you want, Dad!" Jacky begs. "I'll work extra days and hours if I need to!"
Her dad thinks for a second. "Well, Marissa's schedule is pretty open, and Mitchel and Kara came back from vacation. I can ask them, and see if they'll cover for you."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jacky pipes, hugging her parents.
"I can ask the Guiterrez family if they're fine with you guys invading their house," Roxie giggles. "I'm not pushing it. This is kind of rude."
"If they hesitate, you guys can just take a tour of America with us as we try to get the campers back," Dave chuckles.
"Yes!" Jacky grins.
As the family talks about their upcoming trip—and the older brothers complain about how they were being left behind—Dave leans over to Roxie. "Since you're supposed to be relaxing, wanna grab a cup of coffee or something with me?"
Before Roxie can answer, her phone rings. "Yes, I'd love to," Roxie says hurriedly, pulling her phone out to see an unknown number. "Hello?" she answers.
"Maybe it could be an official date?" Dave asks under his breath.
"What?" Roxie says, gesturing for her family to shut up. "Really?... You would?... Oh, yes, of course! Thank you!" She hangs up.
"Who was that?" Dave asks.
"The US ambassador for Costa Rica!" Roxie exclaims. "He wants to meet with us and discuss the ban on the island! We have a meeting with him in two days!"
"Well, let's get crackalackin!" Dave exclaims, throwing his coat on.
"Stop!" Brooklynn groans as Kenji tries to tickle her for the umpteenth time. "This is worse than Milton's 'birthday tickles.'"
"Birthday tickles?" Sammy asks.
"It's the annual tickle fest," Brooklynn rolls her eyes. "It's to mark the special occasion of my birthday. He celebrates my birthday by torturing me."
"What else do you do for your birthday, besides being tortured?" Kenji grins.
"Have a party with family and friends," Brooklynn shrugs. "One of the Brooklanders usually raises money from the fan club and sends me a gift. You can vote on what to send me and the gift with the highest votes wins. It's an odd birthday tradition."
Yasmina laughs. "You think you have it odd? My birthdays on April 1st, so my traditional birthday party usually revolves around my family pranking me. They come up with a new theme each year. On my fifteenth birthday, they wrapped everything in my room in tin foil and duct tape—while I was asleep!"
Kenji wheezes. "Man, I wish my family would do that. I just get an extravagant present from my father and a couple presents from the employees."
"I have a whole celebration at my house," Sammy grins. "It's a big hoedown at our house when there's a birthday. Usually we let all the cows out of the barn to graze and then party in there."
"Typical," Yasmina nods.
"You makin' fun of us Texans?" Sammy laughs, gently slapping her arm.
"Oh, who's the guy who said, 'Lobsters aren't meant to be here?'" Brooklynn asks. Kenji gives her a look out of the corner of his eye.
"Roy, my cousin," Sammy laughs.
"I thought it was Juan," Brooklynn chuckles sheepishly.
Sammy gives her an incredulous look. "I've never known a Juan."
"What do ya mean? You know everyone! How could you not know a Juan?!" Brooklynn laughs.
"I've never met a Juan!" Sammy laughs.
"I knew there wasn't a Juan!" Kenji exclaims. "Never heard you talk about him."
"She talks about a lot of people!" Brooklyn protests.
"But I pay attention," Kenji hufffs. "And I never heard the name 'Juan.'"
Sammy laughs. "Okay, okay, what's your routine, Ben?"
"A small party with my family," Ben shrugs. "Oh, and my cousins usually pull some sorta stunt on me. Last year they threw me in the river."
"They sound so mean!" Yasmina laughs.
"This coming birthday, I'm gonna have something special planned for them as payback," Ben says, rubbing his hands together.
"What's your routine, Darius?" Brooklynn asks.
Darius stiffens unnoticeably. "A party with family, usually. It's always dinosaur themed."
The group laughs, and moves onto everyone's favorite music. Darius's smile feels like a mask plastered onto his face. He had a hard time focusing on the conversation; instead, he was thinking of his father. "He's not going to be around for this birthday, either," he thinks sadly.
"Darius?" Brooklynn says, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"What?" he asks.
"Who's your favorite artist?" Brooklynn asks again. "Are you okay?"
"Picasso," Darius replies like a wisebutt.
"No, what musical artist do you like?" Brooklynn giggles.
"Michael Jackson, Kriss Kross, Def Leppard," Darius lists. "I like a lot of 80s music. Particularly rap and rock." "Because my Dad loved it," he thinks heartbrokenly.
"Noice," Kenji says. "Sammy?"
"I like Country," she says. "And Skillet."
"The girl with the Hawanaiian shirt… likes Skillet?" Kenji says, looking her up and down.
Sammy laughs. "I like a lotta music. Country, Skillet, worship, umm… Lindsey Stirling! I'm a bit obsessed with her music."
"I've heard of her," Yasmina nods. "She's got some good beats."
"I only listened to one of her songs," Brooklynn says. "Cause it was trending on Youtube. Lose You Now."
Sammy whimpers. "That song is soo sad! She created it for her late father and friend!"
"It's a really beautiful song," Brooklynn nods.
"Can ya sing it?" Sammy asks.
"Yeah," Brooklynn nods, and begins. Her voice is soft and mournful as Yasmina taps out the drum beat.
Darius turns away to look out at the trees, trying to hold it together. The lyrics hit on a different level for him, especially after finding out that it was written out of grief. He closes his eyes and blinks quickly, cursing the tears that tried to rebel. An overwhelming feeling grief presses on his chest and he wishes she would stop singing. He wishes he could leave. He wishes his father never died.
Brooklynn finishes and the others clap. Darius claps, too, so as not to draw suspicion. The young girl tilts her head at him. "Are you okay, Darius?"
"I'm fine," he says, trying to shrug, even though it felt like the weight of the world was on them. "I'm good."
"You sure?" Brooklynn frowns in concern.
"I'm good," Darius says a little more forcefully. "I'm thinking about having a sort of contest to figure out who would be the second in command," he says, quickly changing the subject. "You guys can try to convince me that you'd be good for the team."
"Chaos time," Ben sighs. The group laughs and begins to discuss the competition. This gives Darius enough time to pull up his mask and compose himself. "Don't let them see you cry," he thinks. "Don't let them think that you need help. You don't need help. You're their leader."