Author's note: About timing, you can ask for a specific time, but I have work and school and social activites (and a family!) so I'm not beholden to posting when you ask.
WARNING: elements of self harm, and depression. Not as strong as the last chapter, but we're dealing with the aftermath. You have been warned.
Bugs click and dinosaurs moan in the night as a motorcycle speeds through the jungles. Once in a while, the motorcycle skids to the side as Kenji almost loses control. The whole way there, all they could think about is Brooklynn. "Please be fine, please be fine, please be fine," Darius keeps repeating in his head.
"She'll make it, right?" Kenji asks, after almost veering into a bush.
"She will," Sammy says faithfully, even though there was a hint of fear and worry in her voice.
"She has to," Darius sighs. "She has to."
The three arrive at the main park and quietly creep towards the medical center. Kenji and Darius stand guard outside while Sammy heads in for the medicine. "I knew there was something going on," Darius sighs shakily. "I knew it. I should've pushed further. I should've asked her."
"Dude, Yaz pushed and she didn't open up," Kenji interrupts. "We tried our best to help her. At least, you and Yaz woke up quick enough to save her from jumping. Don't torture yourself by blaming it on yourself. There might not have been much you could've done."
"My friend almost died," Darius says. "I'm the leader, it's always going to be my fault to some degree."
"She'll be fine," Kenji assures, placing his hand on Darius's shoulder.
"I hope you're right," Darius smiles grimly.
"Found it," Sammy says, appearing in the doorway. "It was left out on a counter. Guess Yaz and Ben thought they packed it and grabbed something else."
"Good, now let's head back," Darius nods. The three teens race back to their motorcycle and hop on, thinking they would get away without an encounter. A hair raising roar made those hopes void.
"We need more water," Yasmina says, removing the damp washcloth from Brooklynn's forehead. The two campers had taken off her jacket and laid her down in the small, closed off room.
"I wish there was a way to get cold water," Ben mumbles. "All the stream water is lukewarm."
"It's the best we got," Yasmina sighs, looking down at Brooklynn.
The pinkette was sweating profusely as her fever ran high. She lets out a groan, eyes shutting tighter.
"I have no idea what to do for a fever," the athlete admits under her breath.
"I think the only thing we can do is keep her hydrated and cool," Ben shrugs. "Other than that, I don't think there's anything to give her."
Yasmina sighs as Ben heads down to retrieve more water. She continues to fan her feverish friend with the velociraptor paper files Ben found at the condos. He returns with more water, dips another washcloth in the bucket of water, and places it on her forehead.
"I'm sorry," Brooklynn groans.
"No, no, you're not in trouble," Ben shakes his head sympathetically. "We're never gonna punish you for being sick. It's okay."
"Don't down on yourself," Yasmina says, stroking a wet, sweaty wisp of hair out of her friends face. "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."
Brooklynn lets out a groan. The other two can't tell if she was groaning "Okay" or if she was in pain.
"Go, go, go!" Sammy urges as Rexy appears around a building. The queen of dinos roars as she spots the intruders in her territory.
"GAH!" Kenji exclaims, flooring it. The motorcycle takes off and Darius and Sammy have to hang on tight. Rexy begins to chase after them, hungry for a small snack and enraged that they trespassed.
"Come on, faster, faster, faster!" Darius says.
"We're not exactly the lightest bunch!" Kenji shouts as they nearly avoid hitting a tree.
Rexy begins to gain on them and the campers can feel her hot breath on their necks. "Turn!" Darius shouts.
Kenji veers to the right and the motorcycle flips over, sending the three riders tumbling on the ground. They waste no time in scrambling away from Rexy's hungry jaws. The T-rex snaps her teeth just inches from where Darius's head used to be.
They sprint into the jungle, heading in separate directions. Rexy decides to follow Sammy. She shrieks and races into the jungle.
"No, no, no!" Darius and Kenji say at the same time. They turn around and follow the huge beast.
"Hey! Over here!" Darius shouts, waving his arms as he comes up alongside Rexy. She takes notice and snaps at him. He throws himself into the bushes and hits his head on the tree trunk. Immediately, pain in his neck springs up and he staggers out of the bushes drunkenly. "Ugh, I forgot about my whiplash," he winces as he staggers just out of reach of Rexy's jaws.
"Take Darius and the medicine back to Camp," Kenji orders Sammy, coming up beside her. "I'll distract Rexy."
"But—" Sammy starts to protest.
"Don't argue!" Kenji says quickly. All he could get out before running away was a quick, "I love you," and he moves in for a quick kiss. Sammy moves her head and he catches her on the lips. It doesn't even register as he races off to distract Rexy. "HEY! OVER HERE!" he shouts, striking a flare gun and waving it over his head.
Rexy turns her head and roars. Kenji begins to run into the woods, still waving the flare gun. He tries to head through particularly heavy brush to give himself an advantage.
"Kenji!" Darius calls out, a little disoriented.
"Just go!" Sammy hisses, guiding him back to the motorcycle. She rights it and shakily steers it through the jungles back to camp.
"Come on," Yasmina murmurs. "Break your fever already."
Ben arrives with another bucket of water. Yasmina holds Brooklynn up to drink. The pinkette is too weak to lift her head, and Yasmina has to support her head as Ben lifts the bucket to her lips. She slowly sips the water, never opening her eyes.
"Drink it slowly, you need to get hydrated," Ben says softly.
Brooklynn drinks the water they give her and starts coughing. Yasmina lifts her up as she chokes on the water. Once she settles down, the athlete cradles her head and upper body in her arms. Ben gently places a wet washcloth on her forehead again.
Brooklynn groans, before her fever induces throwing up. Ben immediately jumps back, while Yasmina—who was unfortunate enough to be holding her—freezes. Brooklynn ends up vomiting on herself and her friend. Yasmina looks up at Ben, looking like she wanted to throw up herself.
"Sorry," Brooklynn whimpers, then starts to heave again. Ben reacts quickly, bringing an empty bucket for her to throw up in. Yasmina leans her over to heave into the bucket.
After retching and making a mess of herself, Brooklynn groans and goes limp in Yasmina's arms. "Are you done?" the athlete asks.
Brooklynn grunts in response, groaning in pain. Her loose hair had gotten in the vomit, and her arms and chest were covered in it. Yasmina's chest and arms were covered as well, not to mention her legs and shorts.
Yasmina looks up at Ben with disgust. "I feel like throwing up myself," she mouths, scrunching up her nose in an attempt to keep herself from smelling the horrid smell.
Ben smiles sympathetically, retrieving clothes pins and pining the athlete's nose for her; there was no way she could touch her face. "Vomit isn't new to me."
"Wha, wha," Yasmina sputters, almost in tears. "What do we do?!"
"Uhh… Hey! Don't eat it!" Ben snaps loudly, pushing the Indoraptors away from the vomit.
Brooklynn flinches in pain from his volume.
"Okay, we need to get you and Brooklynn cleaned up," Ben says. "She needs to wait at least an hour before drinking again. It's…" he looks at his watch. "Five in the morning. Around six, she should be fine to drink again. Small sips of water, mind you."
Yasmina nods. Her mind had blanked; she couldn't remember what her parents did for her after throwing up.
"Let's take her down to the stream to wash her off," Ben suggests. "It might even cool her down."
Yasmina hoists Brooklynn up in her arms as Ben slides down the slide. He sits at the edge and catches Brooklynn and Yasmina so that they don't fall down. Then the athlete carries her feverish friend to the stream. She gently places her in the soft trickling water, then she and Ben tried to clean her as best they could. Ben holds Brooklynn's head above the water as Yasmina takes off her jacket. The vomit had soaked through to her purple tank top, so she had to take it off as well. Ben looks away in embarrassment.
"It's only a sports bra," Yasmina shrugs. "I've worked out at the gym in it."
Brooklynn lets out a soft laugh, wincing at the effort.
Yasmina looks down at her throw up stained shorts. The water washes away the throw up—the water was tinted red. Ben panics inside. "Why, why is there blood?!"
"Don't worry, it's normal…" Yasmina mumbles, her face flushing in embarrassment.
The two stare at each other awkwardly, before simultaneously deciding not to care. The two shrug. Was it really so embarrassing that Ben saw Yasmina in her underwear if Brooklynn was dying? Was it really such a big deal that Ben knew she was on her period—a normal bodily function in the female body?
"We're getting a little too personal here, aren't we?" Yasmina chuckles, taking off her shorts. "Throw up and all."
"Just think of it as training for motherhood," Ben chuckles. "I'll go clean up the shelter, and see how much the Indoraptors have eaten. Ugh."
Ben climbs back up into the shelter as Indigo, Princess, and Mocha slide down and scamper over to the girls. Indigo gently nuzzles her mother, and Brooklynn smiles weakly.
A special velociraptor strides out of the bushes and tilts her head. The campers hadn't seen her in a couple days; she had decided to take a much needed break from mothering the Indoraptors and protecting the campers. Tornado and Bumpy were full grown, and the raptor figured they could handle the problematic teens for a few days.
Blue approaches Yasmina, looks down at Brooklynn, up at Yasmina, then up at the shelter. Her expression asked: "What did I miss while I was gone?" The humorous look of confusion on what was supposed to be a mindless, killing machine was enough to send Yasmina into a fit of cackles.
Kenji pants as he runs through the heavy brush. The sticks left scratches on his face and hands as he tore through, but that didn't stop him. Rexy roars behind him, motivating him to run faster.
"I need something to distract her," he thinks as he rolls down a small hill. Unfortunately, he had rolled down into the plains with no cover for him. Fortunately, a variety of dinos had formed a small herd to sleep in. In the wee hours of the morning, they were beginning to wake up.
"Sorry, dinos," he thinks as he races towards them, waving the flare gun above his head. Rexy breaks through the treeline and roars. The herd bellows and takes off. Kenji is forced to run with them. He grabs a hold of a Parasarolouphous and struggles to climb on. "I did not think this through," he worries as Rexy begins to gain on the stampeding herd.
"I'm cold," Brooklynn shivers.
"Maybe it will help break your fever then," Yasmina whispers. Brooklynn weakly moves her hand closer to her friend and the athlete holds it. That's when she notices the cut scars. She had noticed them before, but never really given them a thought…
"Where did you get these scars?" she asks.
"Sorry," Brooklynn says, barely above a whisper.
Yasmina sighs. "You're not in trouble." She examines the marks. "This didn't happen on the island, though. They're too old for it."
Superstar groans in agreement. "Sorry."
"You're not in trouble," Yasmina smiles. "I would never get mad at you for this. I'd certainly try to stop you, but I'm not mad. I understand what you're going through… at least, the self harm part…"
Brooklynn makes a confused groan.
"I was born in Arizona," Yasmina chuckles. "A… A lot of things happened in that state. Traumatic things. Both my parents found new job opportunities—and we wanted to start afresh somewhere else—so we moved to North Dakota." Yasmina lets out a small laugh. "It was quite the change. Moving to a completely different state, with a new environment and a new school to get used to was very stressful on top of everything I was trying to work through."
"Did you…" Brooklynn whispers weakly.
"Yeah," Yasmina nods. "At night, I would sit out in the below freezing snow in only shorts and a T-shirt. In a way, the numbing of my body numbed my feelings and emotions. It became an obsessive habit. It… It went on for a while… I was fourteen when I stayed out for too long and my fingers and toes turned black. My parents found me and took me to the hospital. After that, I opened up a little."
"Did you get… therapy," Brooklynn asks.
"Yeah, but it didn't really help," Yasmina shrugs with a laugh. "We eventually quit because I refused to talk about anything. Why would I trust a stranger—no matter how experienced they are—with my deepest, darkest secrets.
"How did you… fix it?" Brooklynn sighs.
"I found another way to deal with the pain," Yasmina says. "Exercise. I always liked running and have been doing track for many, many years. But I got more serious about fitness after the frostbite incident. Started lifting weights and branching out into different sports. Running has always been my main thing but… doing other activities kept me from thinking about everything I went through."
"Self harm… in another way…" Brooklynn murmurs.
"Yeah, that's one way to look at it…" Yasmina mumbles. "Exercise in general can make you feel better, and it keeps you healthy. I might take it to an obsessive level, but… when we get back, I can help you out. Exercise definitely makes you feel better, and with the right diet, might make you feel better about your body… That is, if you want to…"
Brooklynn tries to nod.
"You're not going through this alone, anymore," Yasmina promises.
Ben comes down from the shelter, carrying cargo pants for Yasmina and wrestling to hold on to the last two Indoraptors. He throws the pants to Yasmina and takes a turn holding Brooklynn while she puts them on.
Brooklynn groans in pain. "I hope the others come back with the medicine soon," Ben grimaces.
Hearing her mother groan in pain, Indigo splashes into the water, swims towards her and pushes her snout against Brooklynn's mouth like a kiss. The pinkette starts crying, touched by the little dino's gesture of affection.
A loud roar of an engine is heard as Sammy shakily guides the motorcycle towards the shelter. She doesn't even bother to park it and lets it fall over as her and Darius race over to the stream as fast as they can. Blue backs up a few paces as the two crowd around her. "How's she doing?"
"Her fever refuses to break, she's so weak she can't sit up, and it hurts to open her eyes," Ben lists. "And she's thrown up the water we tried to give her."
"All over herself and me, might I add," Yasmina says.
"Oof," Sammy grimaces. She feels Brooklynn's forehead. "She's definitely burning up. Let's take her back up to the shelter and give her the medicine."
"Where's Kenji?" Ben asks, looking around.
"He took off and distracted Rexy so that we could get back here," Sammy explains.
"Well, somebody needs to help him!" Yasmina protests.
"Thank you for volunteering," Darius grins.
"At your command," Yasmina grins, taking off on her own to find her friend. Ben climbs up into the shelter and throws the athlete her bow and arrow, then helps Darius and Sammy lift Brooklynn up the ladder. Blue follows the Trackstar into the woods to locate their missing teammate.
The crew gets Brooklynn situated on the deck and Sammy applies the topical solution to her leg. Then she gives the pinkette antibiotics for the Compy venom.
"Brook," Darius whispers, gently nudging her. "Look."
The Superstar slowly opens her eyes, groaning in pain from the effort. But it was worth it. The sun was beginning to rise through the trees, scattering dazzling speckles of light through the tree leaves. Through the jungle, the campers could see the grey sky slowly giving way to baby blue and pastel pink and soft orange. Soft, wispy clouds drift through the sky and the stars start to twinkle out in the rising sun. Colorful birds of red, blue, and yellow plumage dart happily through the sky, with green and pink ones flitting around here and there. The tropical aviaries chirp and twitter in the morning light. Even the Brachiosaurus herd ambling through the trees near the shelter felt majestic. The whole thing felt special, magnificent. Beautiful. It felt even more special since she almost missed it entirely…
"It's beautiful…" she says, closing her eyes as tears slip out.
"See what you almost missed," Darius whispers, smiling down on 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."
Brooklynn lets out a small sob.
"Just fight a little longer," Darius says. "It's worth it. Just hold on during the night, I'll find you. You'll never be alone. I'll find you."
Brooklynn shakily sobs, touched by his words. Darius leans down to gently kiss her burning forehead and watches the beautiful sunrise.
The sun starts to rise as Kenji clings to the poor Parasarolophous. The herd runs scared, and the poor dino carrying the humans weight falls behind. Losing hope of joining the pack, the young dino veers off alone into the woods. Kenji hops off, rolls on the ground and sprints away. He gains on the young Parasarolophous and passes it just in time. Rexy breaks through the foliage and knocks over the herbivore.
Kenji hears a sickening crack and keeps running. Rexy grabs the herbivore in her jaws and shakes it like a dog, throwing it in Kenji's direction. The alpha male is hit with the dead dino and knocked to the ground.
He whimpers as Rexy looms over him. He struggles to crawl his way out from underneath the herbivore. With Rexy's hot, smelly breath puffing out at his face, it seemed hopeless.
Fortunately for Kenji, Yasmina decided that it was the perfect time to show off her athletic skills. As Rexy bends down to eat her kill, Yasmina jumps onto her snout, somersaults down her neck and back, and stabs the T-rex with a silver, metal arrow.
The carnivore lets out a terrifying, enraged roar and turns around to try to bite Yasmina. She rolls off and falls on the grass. Before Rexy can bite her, Blue attacks.
"Come on!" Yasmina urges, pulling Kenji out from underneath the Parasarolophous body.
Rexy roars, bites the neck of the dead herbivore and stalks off. She had her food; the queen of dinos didn't really want more conflict.
Both humans sigh with relief. Even Blue's tense battle stance relaxed. The three head back to Camp. "Changed your outfit, I see," Kenji remarks.
"Just training for motherhood," Yasmina says sarcastically.
"How's Brooklynn?" the alpha male asks in concern.
"Her fever was high last I checked," the athlete says. "And she had thrown up…" She gestures to her cargo pants and sports bra.
"Oh," Kenji says, laughing sympathetically.
"How did it go with Rexy?" Yasmina asks.
"Uhhh…" he thinks for a moment, then recalls one of his actions. "OH MY GOSH, I KISSED SAMMY!"
"What?!" she exclaims, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down to her level. "What happened?!"
Blue jumps and starts looking around, concerned about their panicking. Was there a predator? Why were they shouting?
"Well, Darius was about to be eaten, so I was just going to quickly say goodbye on the off chance I didn't survive," Kenji rants. "And so I told her that I loved her and moved in to kiss her cheek, and she moved her head so I kissed her on the LIPS! Oh my gosh, I kissed Sammy, even if it was a quick, accidental kiss! Yaz! What do I do?!"
"Stop freaking out, number one," Yasmina laughs. "It was a simple kiss, no need to freak out completely. It's definitely a start in the right direction, but considering how you guys were in a tight situation, and it was accidental, she probably doesn't think anything of it."
Kenji deflates. Blue does as well. If the level headed girl was laughing, the ridiculous boy was overreacting to some human thing.
"But good for you!" Yasmina says, good naturedly punching his shoulder. "You're making progress!"
"Yeah," Kenji rubs his shoulder where she punched it. "Oh my gosh, I kissed her."
"Well, you'll have to follow up on it," the athlete grins. "After Brooklynn's fever breaks. Hopefully we've given her the antibiotics in time."
"Come on, let's move it," the alpha male says, quickening his pace. The two race back to camp.
"Can you hand me the brush?" Alan Grant asks, pulling his tan hat lower over his eyes to shield them from the sun. One of the other paleontologists hands him a brush and he begins to dust off the bone. After dusting a bit, he sits back and wipes off the sweat from his forehead. Then he tunes into the news station playing over the radio. An old, familiar voice was speaking.
"You were the one who first advocated the ban on the island," the news reporter says. "What made you change your mind?"
"Oh, no, I haven't changed my mind about the ban," Ian Malcom's voice says. Alan Grant could practically see him and the way he used his hands to emphasize his words. "The ban has been placed on Isla Nublar to keep history from repeating itself and keep people from being eaten. The ban is there to make sure that man leaves dinosaur alone, and in turn, dinosaur leaves man alone. What I think we should do is lift it for a select few—not because they're special or important—but because people need help. There are children, young children, stranded with dinosaurs, and by preventing a rescue operation to land, the ban is doing the opposite of what it is intended to do: keep people safe."
"My God," Alan breathes, feeling bad for the children stuck on the island.
"Morality has always been difficult to define," Ian continues. "One man may define the aspects of morality differently than another. I think that one thing most good people can agree on is protecting the innocent. The young children who can't defend themselves. The elderly, and the mothers. When a society begins to forsake the children and the innocent, that's when it has really become immoral. I think we need to start looking at our actions. Think about the consequences. The consequences of this recent accident is the loss of life. Men, women, and children alike. Jurassic World did not learn from its predecessors mistakes and now the loss of life is even greater. They've been wielding genetic power like a kid who's found his Dad's gun. And now that gun has been set off and look who's been caught in the blast?"
"Always gotta talk philosophically, huh?" Alan rolls his eyes with a chuckle.
"Some are saying that this mission is pointless," the news reporter says. "How do you know that the children are alive?"
"Well, we've been able to communicate with them," Ian says. "It's not as impossible for young teenagers to survive on that island as people make it out to be. Eric Kirby here survived longer and he was the age of the youngest currently on the island."
"Yeah, the way I see it is that they haven't beat my record of eight weeks on a Jurassic island," Eric Kirby butts in. "My parents had no idea whether I was alive or dead and they still traveled to the island. Here I am now. Who's to say that those campers haven't survived?"
"I hear that there have been many volunteers for the rescue mission," the news caster says.
"Oh, definitely," Eric says. "We've had a lot of support for this. A lot of people like Ian and myself, who have had experience on the island, are willing to lend a hand. We have many medical forces ready on standby and many volunteers ready to head to the island. This has become a huge effort, and we're so thankful for the support."
Alan tunes out the rest of the report as he heads back to his small office. The older man starts flipping through different papers and files. "I had to have kept the Kirby's phone number," he murmurs to himself. "I stepped up for Eric, and by God, I'll step up for these kids."
For the next two days, Brooklynn's fever raged on, hardly ever cooling down. The campers got no sleep, constantly fanning her and retrieving water and worrying about her. Two nights passed after giving her the medicine before her fever broke and she started to feel better. Her Compy bite began to heal as well. The next day consisted of making sure her fever didn't come back and telling her how loved she was. All the campers tried to help her in some way.
Yasmina continues to empathize with Brooklynn and encourage her. The athlete tells her about some of her self-harming experiences so that the Superstar didn't feel so alone. She also spoke of her experience with dieting and distorted body images. "Dieting is one of those things that can become very harmful very quickly," Yasmina says. "Sometimes people restrict their diet and food intake so much and it's really detrimental."
"What's the right way?" Brooklynn rasps.
"Depends on you," the athlete shrugs. "Big companies and businesses like to tell you that there's only one way to diet, and their's is the right way, but that's just plain stupid. Everybody's body is different. Everyone's metabolism is different. What's healthy for me might be starving you of certain nutrients, and vice versa. Some people need more calories, others need less. Some people need to eat more meat, while others work better on vegetables. It's a personal thing and can't be a cookie cutter formula created by big companies."
"That makes sense," Brooklynn tries to nod.
"And don't listen to all these people trying to tell you how you should look," Yasmina sputters. "It's detrimental to think that you have to look a certain way. You shouldn't have to restrict your diet just to get their approval. Trust me, I get it. Being an athlete in the public eye gets you a lot of scrutiny about your body. And just attention in general… Besides, you of all people should know that it's all about the editing and camera angle. Certain camera angles make you look thin, while others make you look fat. And all the supermodel pictures are edited to some degree. They might not even have the 'perfect' body!"
Brooklynn lets out a soft chuckle. "I just… want to be beautiful."
"If this is about guys, then you've got the wrong idea," Yasmina smirks. "Guys are attracted to many different body types. It's a personal preference—I learned this from my older brother. Sure, they say that most men find the hourglass figure attractive, but that's not the only figure they can like. Who says that you can only like one look? Besides, you're beautiful in many other ways. You've got the prettiest green eyes. I'm kinda jealous."
"Really?" Brooklynn murmurs.
"Yeah, and I've always wanted freckles," Yasmina shrugs. "And you can wear bright colors well. Wait, scratch that. Bright pink hair would draw too much attention to myself, I'm not jealous of that."
Brooklynn smirks.
"It really does depend on the guy, Brook," Kenji butts in. "And like Yaz said, we can like many different shapes. But personality plays a bigger role. If you're a jerk, we don't want to be with you. That's not to say that we'd date you if you were ugly. If you were ugly, there's probably no chance that you'd be more than a friend. Ugly and beautiful are in the eye of the beholder, though."
"And perceptions matter," Yasmina says, crossing her arms. "Certain stereotypes come into play."
"Yeah, hawt hourglass figures would be good for one night stands, but for a long-term relationship? Nuh, uh," Kenji shakes his head. The girls stare at him. "What?" Kenji shrugs. "Generally if you're super hawt," he smooths back his hair, "and put a lot of effort into it, you're self absorbed and won't be serious about commitment. I speak from past experiences here. What makes you think girls can't be the same? A thicker, homey girl with a great personality is more attractive in the long run, heh. Teen boys can just be stupid and focus on hawtness."
"And that's why romance as teenagers is pointless," Yasmina smiles decisively.
"You've got quite an opinion about romance," Kenji snickers.
"Don't be so worried about your physical appearance," Yasmina ignores the comment with an eye roll. "Take care of yourself, but your inner self is more important than a full figure."
"Thank you," Brooklynn murmurs.
Ben focused more on the depression and suicidal attempt. "What made you want to do it?" he asks while it was his turn to watch over her.
"I…" Brooklynn groans, still feeling achy. "I thought… I thought I wasn't helping. I just… the world doesn't need me. You guys don't need me. All I was was a jerk to you guys…"
Ben smiles sympathetically. "No, you weren't. You made mistakes, but we all did. What matters is that you moved forward and changed. No need to beat yourself up over it."
"I can't do it again," Brooklynn rasps. "I'm wasting supplies and time. I'm definitely not helping."
"You need to find a reason to live," Ben says solemnly. "Why keep going if your life is meaningless?"
Brooklynn groans.
"Your life is not meaningless," Ben says. "But if you don't find at least some meaning for yourself to your life, it's going to be easier to kill yourself."
"What is the meaning of my life?" Brooklynn asks.
Ben thinks for a moment. "You're a great friend. You're a smart person. You enjoy teaching others. There's many things. But you have to find it for yourself."
"Okay…" Brooklynn nods.
Sammy tries to help uplift her and tell her how precious she was. "You're beautiful, you're kind, you're smart. You're important. Never forget that. You are loved. Even if all your followers leave. Even if your family leaves. Even if we leave, yer loved."
"Who?" Brooklynn asks, laying in Sammy's arms.
"God," Sammy whispers. "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."
"I didn't think I was that… special," Brooklynn sniffles.
"Ya are," Sammy whispers. "Don't ever forget about that."
Kenji tried to help encourage her and make her laugh by playing funny jokes. Ben and Darius disappear with him—along with Bumpy. Sammy and Yasmina carry Brooklynn to the railing and sit her up to try to find the boys. Pretty soon, they appear. Darius was riding on Bumpy with Ben and Kenji walking alongside the Ankylosaurus. The two younger boys looked as if they were forced into it, but the alpha male was wholeheartedly performing Prince Ali.
The girls laugh as Darius lacklusterly pretends to be a Prince. Bumpy comes to a stop and Kenji and Ben kneel down to point at Darius—the latter half heartedly. Still, it was very entertaining for Brooklynn. The whole group was singing that song for the rest of the day.
As for Darius, he was a combination of pretty much everyone. While it was his turn to watch over Brooklynn, she began to apologize. "I'm sorry for snapping at you in the gyrosphere," she rasps. "I'm sorry for blaming you when I was the one who provoked the Sinoceratops. I…"
"Don't," Darius tries to say.
"I'm sorry for smacking you when we found Ben," Brooklynn continues. "I'm sorry for making you feel inadequate."
"Brook, you don't have to apologize," Darius smiles. "I forgive you."
"You're too good," she whispers. "I'm so broken; so unworthy of your friendship and…"
"No," Darius says, instructing Sammy to watch over her as he slides down. He disappears into the woods for about fifteen minutes before climbing back up the ladder. He hands Brooklynn a hammer made from an almost square block of stone and a stick. "You are still worthy," he says.
Brooklynn chuckles hoarsely. "Thank you for the Mjolnir of your friendship."
That night, the mood was pretty depressing. As Darius gently strokes back her hair, Brooklynn whispers: "This feels sad."
"Hey, Kenji, Sammy," Darius says. "You guys are sleep deprived; entertain Brooklynn."
The two in question freeze. "Uhhh…" Kenji stutters. "I can't do it on command, I'm an improv kinda guy."
"Think of one of your hypothetical questions," Yasmina suggests.
"Uhhh…" Kenji frowns. "Hey, Sammy. How would you react if your husband turned out to be a lizard man?"
The group starts chuckling. "Wut?" Sammy laughs in confusion. "I wouldn't marry a lizard man!"
"Okay, say you married him and then he said, 'I have something to tell you,' and showed you that he was a lizard man?" Kenji suggests.
"I'd tell the authorities," Sammy says.
"But he trusted you with his secret!" Kenji exclaims.
"Well, let's say… 'John' should've told me beforehand! He was lyin' to me!" Sammy laughs.
"But he didn't know if he could trust you!" Kenji protests.
"Hey, 'John' has no excuse!" Sammy shakes her head. "He shouldn't be interbreedin' anyway!"
Kenji starts laughing. "You married John the Baptist!"
"Where'd you get John the Baptist from! I said John!" Sammy laughs.
"John the Baptist is a lizard man!" Kenji exclaims in awe. "He ate locusts!"
By now the group was laughing.
Kenji scoots over to Sammy and holds her nose. "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and lizard men." Then he pretends to dunk her in the imaginary water.
He lifts up a wheezing Sammy. "Baptizing lizard men," she cackles.
"Come on! We have to get those baptizing reps in!" Kenji exclaims, dunking her again and again. Sammy appeared to be doing situps. "Get those praise and worship reps in!"
"Praise the Lord!" Sammy tries to say through her wheezing, pretending to raise the roof with her hands. The two collapse into a heap of cackles.
"Ohh boy," Yasmina chuckles, watching the scene unfold.
Kenji sits up and watches his hands shake with laughter as he pants. "I invented quaking."
"You invented quaker oats?" Sammy pants.
"No, quaking!" Kenji collapses into giggles again. "Quaking oats!"
The alpha male holds her again and says: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, John the Baptist, and quaking oats." Then he dunks her. The now red-faced Texan does not come up again as Mr. VIP rolls on the floor guffawing.
"This is very entertaining, but I'm not sure I follow their logic," Ben laughs.
"That's because there is none," Yasmina snickers. "They're following the same logic as Life, Liberty, and Eggs."
"LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE FREHEHEHE!" Kenji tries to shout, but ends up wheezing halfway through.
"Omg, stop," Yasmina shakes her head with a laugh.
"No! Don't stop, this is funny!" Brooklynn laughs.
"You heard the Princess!" Kenji laughs. "She likes eggs and lizard men and quaker oats!"
The Indoraptors become very energized by the chaotic energy released by Sammy and Kenji and start jumping around. Toothless jumps onto Kenji's face like a lizard, sending his friends into another fit of howls that was sure to attract a predator.
Finally, the sleep deprived loopies were corralled into sleeping. Yasmina takes the first watch over Brooklynn while the others sleep. As Darius closes his eyes and falls into dream world, things start to get dark.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Darius wails, trying to run towards his friend. Brooklynn laid broken on the ground, twisted in a horrible position.
Kenji holds him back in anger. His grip is tighter than humanly possible. "This is your fault," he hisses with a guttural growl. "You left us alone. You killed her!"
"I didn't mean to," Darius sobs, trying to reach for Brooklynn.
"She wouldn't have jumped if you were here!" Sammy shouts accusingly.
"How could you just leave?!" Ben shouts.
"You're our leader!" Yasmina shouts, shoving him hard. "We depend on you! You can't abandon us like that!"
"I didn't mean to," Darius cries. His friends crowd in and continue to throw insults at him and guilt him about Brooklynn's death. Darius shuts his eyes tight as cries out. "I'm sorry!"
Darius sits up quickly, panting. Things are pretty quiet. Brooklynn is quiet with her eyes closed. She was still recovering from her fever and was feeling weak. Darius sits next to her, watching her with increasing worry. "Hey, you okay?" he asks.
Brooklynn opens her eyes and quirks an eyebrow. "I was resting, I'm fine."
"You sure? You can talk to me," Darius reminds her.
The pinkette rolls her eyes. "Now look who's annoying."
"Heyy," Darius protests. "It's stressful when your friend is depressed! But that'll make you stressed if I tell you that I'm stressed because of you, which would then stress me out and… ugh…"
Sammy notices how stressed Darius is, and pulls him to the side. "What's wrong?"
He sighs. "Remember how I told you that I think God talks to me through dreams?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, I think God's trying to warn me not to leave you guys. I keep having dreams about you guys dying because I left you alone. I can't abandon you guys."
Sammy stares sympathetically. "How long have you had dreams like that?"
"Ever since the Second-in-command challenge," Darius admits. "Every night since then."
"Darius," Sammy sighs. "You know, God uses dreams to talk to some people, but the Devil can use them as well."
"How can I tell when it's God, and when it's the Devil?" Darius asks.
"Well, after you have those dreams, how do you feel?" the Texan asks. "God said that he has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power and love and a sound mind. Which one do you have after a dream?"
Darius thinks for a moment. "Fear and stress and worry…"
"The Devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy," Sammy says. "He's stealin' your joy, killin' your energy, and destroyin' your ability to live. You're becomin' so scared of dyin' that you refuse to leave us or let us leave you. That ain't healthy."
Darius sighs. "I guess not."
"If God was tryin' to warn ya, I don't think he would make you stressed and anxious," Sammy says. "I think this is the Devil tryin' to antagonize you."
"Yeah," Darius nods. "But what if you're wrong? What if you guys die and I can't stop it from happening?"
"I think you need to relax," Sammy smiles, watching his gaze drift worryingly to Brooklynn.
"Uh, I'm fine," Darius say quickly, panic rising up inside of him.
"We'll be fine," Sammy says, gently pushing him towards Kenji. "We have the two tanks, spear crazy Ben, Katniss Everdeen Yasmina, and I'm skilled in taking care of sick people. We'll be fine if you and Kenji head to the watering hole to relax for a bit. We're not gonna die or anything. We'll all be fine."
"I really don't need to do this—" Darius starts to say.
"Darius, go!" Brooklynn orders. "You've been way too stressed about me and everyone else. Go relax."
"But—" Darius tries to protest.
"No," Ben says firmly. "Go relax. We'll be fine."
"I'm taking the SIC with me," Darius says worryingly.
"I'm number three," Yasmina smirks. "We got this. No dinos attacked us here yet. And we got Blue on our side, plus two giant armored herbivores. I think we're covered."
"Okay, fine," Darius relents through gritted teeth before sliding down the slide after Kenji. The younger kid drags his feet as he follows Kenji to the watering hole.
The alpha male sits down next to a tree and lets out a huge sigh. "Come sit by me and relax."
Darius rolls his eyes and sits down next to Kenji. He can't relax, though, and fidgets. "Are they fine? What if Rexy attacked them? What if they need my help?!"
As if he could hear his thoughts, Kenji says, "You need to chill, bruh. The others are gonna be fine. Just R-E-L-A-X. Relax."
"How can you be so calm?" Darius asks accusatively. "How can you not be worrying about them?"
"Because I trust that Yaz would protect them if anything would attack," Kenji says. "And Ben would be her little sidekick with the spear. Bumpy and Tornado would battle it out with whoever challenges their family. Blue would definitely come to their rescue. And Sammy wouldn't let Brooklynn die. B's been doing a lot better, what are the chances of her suddenly dying?"
"I guess I can't think of it that way," Darius grumbles.
"Look, you want us to trust you with our lives," Kenji sighs. "Trust the others that they can take care of themselves."
Darius looks down at his hands.
"Let's change the subject to something light hearted," Kenji suggests. "Like crushes."
"That's not light hearted," Darius laughs.
"Oh, come on," Kenji sputters. "How about Ben's crush on Yaz."
"He's got a crush on Yaz?" Darius asks in surprise.
Kenji busts out laughing. "Bruh, do you not pay attention?! It's soo obvious! That boi's totally into her and she's way too stubborn to notice!"
"Okay, has he ever said it out loud?" Darius asks, grinning.
"Nah, but he definitely does," Kenji snickers. "Everytime I ask him he starts blushing and stuttering. It's so obvious."
"If you say so," Darius shrugs. "I don't see anything romantic between them, but they would make a good couple. She trusts him, and he would be a good balance for her… spitfire personality."
He and Kenji laugh. "How about you, bruh?" Kenji asks, folding his hands behind his neck. "Got any special girl."
Darius gives him a suspicious side eye. "What about you, Lover boy?"
"Hey, I asked you first, bruh."
"I asked you second, brah."
"No more bro talk for you, we've gone over this before."
Darius laughs.
"Okay, we'll both say it if I go first," Kenji compromises.
"Deal," Darius nods, finally starting to relax an inch.
Kenji sighs. "I like Sammy."
"Like romantically?" the oblivious cinnamon roll asks.
Kenji dramatically face palms. "Duh! That's what a crush is!"
"Wait, Sammy?" Darius asks in shock. "Like Texan Sammy. Sammy with the flower shirt. The Sammy who likes to say Yeehaw?"
"Yes, that Sammy," Kenji chuckles. "I know, it's quite a shock."
"How did that even happen?" Darius asks. "She seems so unlikely."
"I know, I was surprised, too," Kenji sighs. "It snuck up on me. But Sammy is so amazing, I just can't help but fall head over heels in love with her every day! She's just so kind and sweet and happy. She holds no wrongs; it's like I'm perfect in her eyes. And she makes me feel so strong and powerful, like I can do anything. And she's so funny. One time in school, I asked a guy who was successfully dating how he did it, and he said, 'Find the girl next door, the one that you can actually hang out with.' He told me I would probably fall in love with someone I could joke around with and boy, was he spot on!"
Darius laughs. "Aww, you're adorable when you're love struck."
"So what about you?" Kenji grins.
Darius's cheeks flush. "I'm not interested in romance but… I don't know. I'm not sure if it's a crush or if she's just a really good friend…"
"Brooklynn?" Kenji grins.
"Yeah," Darius grimaces. "I mean, I love her. As a friend, definitely, but I'm not sure if I have a crush or not…"
"Does she consume your thoughts?" Kenji asks. "Is she all you think about?"
"Well, right now, yeah," Darius nods. "It's kinda hard not to think about her after she tried to kill herself."
"Okay, do you picture yourself with her in the future?" Kenji probes. "Do you see yourself having some sort of future with her?"
"Yeah, but I see all of you guys in the future with me," Darius protests.
"Okay, you probably don't have a crush," Kenji decides. "Or it's a tiny, tiny one. Which is okay, you don't have to feel pressured to have a crush on her. You guys can just be friends."
Darius's eyes widen. "Wow, that's not the type of advice I'd expect from you."
"Heh," Kenji chuckles sheepishly.
"If you could give dating advice to your twelve year old self, what would it be?" Darius asks.
"I'd have a lot of advice for my twelve year old self," Kenji leans back. "First off, don't date until you're at least fifteen—fourteen if you absolutely must. Twelve is just too young for that and you should be focusing on friendships… nonexistent friendships. At twelve, you're pretty immature and inexperienced and really little. Romance shouldn't even be on your radar, much like yours. You're young; no need to fill your life with heartaches and dating pressure. You have your whole adulthood for that."
"Wow…" Darius mumbles, feeling a bit relieved that someone older told him he didn't have to date so earlier.
"Second, don't date just because of peer pressure," Kenji states. "Don't feel like you have to date to be good enough. It's totally okay if you never get married and are just the fun uncle who spoils your nieces and nephews. It's actually better to wait until you're older to date. Don't let anyone tell you that you have to date to be cool. Be strong in who you are and don't feel like you have to have someone to be good enough."
Darius smiles sympathetically at Kenji.
"Third, don't go into a relationship thinking only of you," Kenji says softly. "If you truly like someone, you should be waking up everyday thinking, 'How can I help them and make them happy?' If you're dating her just for the image or for some sort of gain for yourself, then it's selfishness or peer pressure. When you really love someone, you put their happiness before yours."
"That's… really good advice," Darius murmurs. "I take it they're all from experience?"
"Sadly, yes," Kenji sighs. "If I could go back and fix my dating life, I would."
"The third tip sounds like it's geared towards Sammy," Darius says.
The alpha male nods. "I was actually scared to date her for fear I would take advantage of her. I'm still a bit scared of it, but Yaz and Ben have talked to me about it. They say I've gotten much better at being others-centered and if my biggest fear is hurting Sammy, that's probably a sign that I won't."
"You would never, you're too nice for that," Darius shakes his head. "And thanks for the advice, I'll definitely keep it in mind."
"Don't feel pressured into having a crush on Brooklynn," Kenji says, clapping him on the back. "We all think you guys would make a cute couple, but if you guys are just friends right now, that's completely fine. That said, we're gonna tease you about a relationship. If it gets to feel like peer pressure, you can tell us."
"Thanks brah," Darius says, offering his fist.
Kenji merely rolls his eyes and fist bumps him back.
Darius leans back against the tree and closes his eyes. The next thing he knows, Kenji is gently shaking him awake. "Ugh, how long have I been asleep?"
"Three years," Kenji says, deadpan. "Sammy and I are now married and have six children. Ben and Yaz have three, and Brooklynn is holding out for her Prince Charming."
Darius quirks an eyebrow. "You had six kids in three years?"
"It's been a busy three years," the alpha male breaks his composure. "Come on, there's… I think Nebulaceratops' at the watering hole."
Darius looks to see a herd approaching the watering hole. Sinoceratops', Triceratops', Brachiosaurus' and other herbivores were coming to drink. Among them were a small group of a rarer breed called Kosmoceratops. "They're Kosmoceratops," he says with a laugh, heading down to the water.
"Oh, something to do with space," Kenji shrugs at his mess up.
The two boys head to the edge of the water and take a drink with the herbivores, feeling at one with nature. The serene feeling made them reluctant to head home, but the sun was getting low in the sky. Kenji looks over at Darius, who is smiling as he watches the dinos interact. The alpha male didn't want to leave; Darius was finally relaxing and seemed to have forgotten about stressing over the team for the moment. Alas, they had to head back.
"A part of me wants to stay here where it's peaceful," Darius admits as they walk back to the tree.
"Yeah, I get that," Kenji nods.
Unfortunately, it was no longer peaceful. The boys hear thundering footsteps behind them and look up to see Sarah the Ceratosaurus standing fifteen feet away. For a dinosaur her size, they were surprised they hadn't heard her coming. The predator gives them a look.
Kenji pulls out his butterknife and holds it out in front of him, whimpering as she snorts.
"Run," Darius whispers. The two boys sprint away and a hair raising roar follows them. Fortunately for them, Sarah had already had her fill and wanted to wash down her latest meal with a drink. The apathetic Ceratosaurus snorts and lumbers over to the watering hole.
The boys run for a while before realizing that the predator wasn't chasing them. "Phew!" Kenji sighs. "Guess we were too scrawny of a meal for her."
"Let's head back to the others," Darius pants.
The group is concerned when Darius and Kenji arrive sweaty and panting. "What happened to y'all?" Sammy asks, concerned.
"Haha, Sarah found us," Darius pants. "But she wasn't hungry because she never chased us."
"Well, that's a miracle!" Sammy exclaims, pulling the two boys into a bear hug. Over her shoulder, Darius smirks at Kenji, now knowing how he felt about the Texan. Kenji gives him an immature, mocking sneer as Sammy pulls back.
Up in the shelter, Darius takes a turn sitting next to a sleeping Brooklynn. Yasmina comes to sit by him. "You're a lot less stressed. What did you guys talk about?"
"Crushes," Darius shrugs. "And dating."
Yasmina is immediately on edge. "What, did he give you dating advice?"
"Yeah," Darius nods.
"I'd immediately discredit anything he says, but Sammy did tell me I should stop judging a book by it's cover…" Yasmina grumbles. "What did Kenji say?"
"That I should wait until I'm older to date, don't give in to peer pressure, and don't date someone when I'm in it only for myself," Darius regurgitates.
Yasmina's eyes widen. "Wow… that's actually solid advice…"
"I think he spoke from experience," Darius smiles.
"Most likely," Yasmina nods.
"Kenji would never steer me wrong," Darius whispers. "None of you guys would."
"Yeah," Yasmina murmurs, watching Sammy tease Tornado with a branch. The Texan laughs as her dino jumps onto her hindlegs to grab the branch, only to bellow as her rider pulls it out of reach.
Kenji—his conversation with Darius on his mind—nervously approaches Sammy. "Hello."
"Howdy," Sammy smiles. The tree branch is ripped from her grasp as Tornado rough houses.
Kenji purses his lips, wondering how to broach the subject. "Have you ever had a crush on a guy?"
"Have I?" Sammy says with a laugh. "I couldn't even count the list of crushes I've had. The most came from like when I was twelve. I've tried to keep myself from fallin' all the time, because… no one has liked me back… And the ones that do are just usin' me as the happy, nice girl rebound until their old girlfriends get jealous and come back."
"No," Kenji breathes, unable to believe anyone would want to use her like that.
"Yee," Sammy says bitterly. "If I'm bein' bitter honest, I was just the happy-go-lucky fat girl that was too nice to say no for her own good and all the boys know they can try to use me until their old girlfriends come back." Her voice falters at the end as she realizes what she just said.
"Then they were crappy boyfriends and crappy friends," Kenji states. "And you don't need them. They should be blessed to have even spoken to you."
Sammy smiles. "I know that I'm loved and have many friends but… I want to have a special guy I can share my future with. I'm tryin' to trust that God has a guy in mind, but it's difficult when I'm just that girl next door with everyone. I'd like to find someone who loves me…"
"I do," Kenji admits.
Sammy smiles sadly. "I know, and I'm thankful that I have your friendship. But… I want someone special… I'm just waitin' on God to show me the right guy."
The pain in Kenji's chest is sharp. "Hopefully you can see him when your God shows you him," he says, trying not to show how hurtful the friendzone was. "Cause you can't see me."
"Don't even think about it," Sammy tells herself, looking at the tree the shelter was attached to. "It didn't matter how close you got to all your guy friends… you were always the girl next door. Don't expect Kenji to see you any different. Don't set yourself up for heartbreak…" A silent tear slides down her cheek.
"Why can't she just see it?" Kenji looks away, fighting to hold the tears back. "She's such a wonderful girl, how can she be treated like that? How can there not be hundreds of guys falling at her feet every day? She's been hurt so many times she's blinded to my love for her…"
Kenji hugs Sammy tightly. Neither of them notices the others tears.
Much to the disappointment of the group—who were rooting for their friends to confess—Tornado decided to interrupt by taking off into the jungles. Sammy sighs in frustration. "Thank you, Kenji," she says as she grudgingly leaves to find her dino. Mr. VIP's sad gaze follows her.
That night, Yasmina and Sammy share the Brooklynn shift. Sammy cradles the pinkette in her arms and Yasmina rests the younger girls legs in her lap. The athlete wrestles with her thoughts, trying to decide if she really wanted to trust Sammy again. She had gotten to know the Texan a lot more over the two months they were together, and she was starting to believe that the Mantah Corp thing was an anomaly in Sammy's personality. But she was still hesitant…
"She looks so much younger when she's… vulnerable," Yasmina breaks the silence with a whisper, watching Brooklynn sleep in Sammy's arms. The pinkette shifts in her sleep, moving like a small child in her mothers arms.
"She does," Sammy murmurs.
"She seemed so strong and sure of herself when we first met," Yasmina says. "And the more we got to know her, the more that crumbled… The more I've gotten to know all of you, the more you change…"
"True friends are there for you and care for you despite your flaws and deepest secrets," Sammy says.
Yasmina decides to test the Texan. "What are Kenji's darkest secrets? He seems like he'd have a past."
"I'm not tellin' you," Sammy shrugs. "If he trusted me with 'em, I'm not gonna go break that trust." She looks over at Yasmina, who was deep in thought. "You… didn't want to know his secrets, did you?"
Yasmina shakes her head. "I… want a friend like that. One who… who won't go blabbing your deepest secrets to the entire school…"
"Sounds like there's a story behind that," Sammy says quietly.
"Yeah," Yasmina whispers, squirming a bit. "Here goes nothing," she thinks. "When I was seven, I met two girls: Leah and Riley. It took me two years, but I finally started calling them my best friends. I shared everything with them, all my secrets… everything. We grew up so close and would push each other to be better. They pushed me to try out for the track team, I pushed Riley to sing and Leah to enter art competitions…"
"What happened?" Sammy asks.
"When we were ten, Leah and Riley started crushing on the same guy," Yasmina continues. "It was cute and girly… until Josh liked Leah back at eleven and they started dating. Riley said she was fine with it, and never said a word during the entire year of breaking up and getting back together. But when they finally broke up for good… There was some sort of girl conference Riley and Leah went to. Riley told her story about how her best friend dated the guy she liked and how it gave Riley depression. She didn't mention names, but Leah knew. They started fighting after that."
"No," Sammy breathes.
"I tried to mediate between them, but they refused to be friends again," Yasmina whispers. "Riley moved to another neighborhood and another school and refused to answer us. Leah refused to talk to me, too. And when I asked her why, she yelled at me. Went off on how I sided with Riley and how she didn't want to be friends with me anymore."
"No," Sammy frowns. "That's so mean! You didn't do anything!"
"I didn't even know anything was going on until they started fighting," Yasmina admits, a tear slipping out. "I still don't even know what happened fully. They left me out of so much. I confided in Ghaleb, my older brother. I've always been able to come to him with everything."
Her fists clench with anger. "I don't know what happened. Either Habeeba overheard and told her friends who told their older siblings and that's how it got out, or Ghaleb threatened Leah, I don't know. Either way, Leah found out and accused me of spreading mean rumors about her. So to get me back, she spread rumors about me through the school. Some were fake and made up and… some were my dark secrets that I had trusted with her."
"That's horrible!" Sammy gasps.
"We moved to North Dakota after that and I haven't had to see her again," Yasmina says, sniffing. "But it still hurts so much! How can this hurt so much?" Once the words came out, it became impossible for Yasmina to stop them. "I hate emotional pain, I can't fight it! I can't fight through it, I can barely distract myself! I can bear through the physical pain but the emotional pain I can't stop! There's nothing I can fight! It's intangible and hurts so much!"
Sammy rubs her back as Yasmina pants, almost physically in pain. "There's this sharp pain in my chest that comes every time I think of her and I can't stop it!"
"She stabbed you in the heart," the Texan says sympathetically.
"How can it hurt physically?" Yasmina sobs. "I was scared of being friends with Brooklynn cause she just seemed like the popular girl who loves drama. And I was scared of trusting Kenji because I was afraid he was a Josh. And when you and Brooklynn started flirting with him in Spanish, I was scared that the stupid love triangle would happen all over again and I would be right where I started."
"That would never happen," Sammy assures.
"I hate Leah," Yasmina breathes hard, sobbing. "I hate her! She hurt me so much and I don't know how to heal! This was three years ago and I can't heal from this!"
Sammy gently pulls Yasmina to rest on her shoulder. "Forgive her," Sammy says softly. "Holding in all this hatred and anger isn't hurting her, it's hurting you. You can't move on because you're still holding onto that grudge."
Yasmina hiccups, starting to calm down. "I wish I could run away from my problems. I've tried, but it's impossible…"
"You don't have to run away," Ben speaks up, sitting up.
"How long have you been listening?" Yasmina asks accusatively.
"Kinda heard the whole thing," Ben says sheepishly. "I couldn't fall asleep."
"Me, too," Darius says, sitting up. "I didn't know if I should say something or pretend to be asleep.
"Okay, who else heard all that?" Yasmina sighs.
"I'm surprised you didn't notice I wasn't snoring," Kenji pipes up.
"I wasn't fully paying attention until you started crying," Brooklynn yawns.
Yasmina groans, covering her face in shame.
"It's okay, we want to help you heal," Ben says. "We've trusted you with our pasts and secrets. You can trust us."
"I don't know if I can heal," Yasmina mumbles.
"You can heal, and you are healing," Sammy says soothingly. "You came to me to open up about it, and you're not completely freaking out that everyone knows. You've healed enough that you can break down another wall."
Yasmina covers her mouth with one hand, crying again.
"What's wrong?" Darius asks as he and the other boys scoot over to her.
"Nothing's wrong," Yasmina sobs, burying her face in Sammy's shoulder. "These are h-happy tears."
The boys crowd in for a hug, and Brooklynn holds Yasmina's hand. "You can come to us, Yaz," Brooklynn says. "We'll find you in the night and help guide you through the dark together."
"Thank you," Yasmina says, sighing shakily. The campers stay there in a long embrace, comforting each other. The Indoraptors wake up and squeeze in affectionately, wanting to join in on the hug.
"You will always have your camp fam," Sammy smiles, squeezing her friends tighter.