Ok, finally, i figured out how to get this thingy to work. jeez,who would think somethingso simple as putting a chapter up would cause so much of a hassle. raises hand i did! i did! i just spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out how to put the A/N on. man, you take a couple of weeks to write something and you forget how to do everything. well enjoy!

Chapter 3 –present

Okay, let's play question and answer, shall we?

Question: Why am I here?

Answer: To make a public announcement of a certain problem and decision.

Question: Do I know my answer that I'm about to make public?

Answer: No way.

Question: Am I about to die of fright and wish that he was here?

Answer: You bet.

Everyone seems to think that this is some great joke or some fun party. Everyone gets to get dressed up and look all pretty but no one thinks of the one person that this affects the most. For me, my life could end here and now or I could live a whole new life. The decision is mine. When put like that it seems like such an easy choice. If only it were so black and white. A month ago, I would've thought that the world was so clear, so straightforward. But in that last month so much of me has changed. More than anyone can really know actually. Whoever came up with the thought that the world was black and white was an idiot. There is so much more.

But why do we have that 'in-between zone,' this 'gray area.' Why can't the choice just be black and white? Is that so hard? Black or white? Yes or no? No if's, and's, or but's. Straight question, straight answer, no complications anywhere.

So far the people I've met here have thought that this is some great joke. Oh yeah, I'm laughing oh so hard right now. They have dragged me through the great pain in the butt of getting this dress on, stuck me with a thousand pins it feels like and they have not proclaimed me done yet. What I haven't gone through enough yet? There is still more work to do, they say. Did I look that bad before? It's time for make up, they continue. Dear Lord, I hate make up.

Layer after layer of crap they put on my face. I think they are explaining what they are putting on to me but I don't really feel like paying attention. This is the last time I consider wearing a dress, make up and walk around with a giant pin cushion on my head.

I don't understand why I have to do this? Why a public announcement? Why cant I just make my choice in private and that be it. I make my choice, tell someone else and they tell just who needs to know. Everything always has to be so complicated. It didn't used to be. Why now? It's not fair. Not fair at all.

--A week and a half earlier

I headed off away from the unconscious, but still alive, George. Fear, disgust and anger all raced through me. It was something so obvious and yet I had missed it. How could I have been so blind! It was there staring me in the face! The whole time! But had I really missed it? Think truthfully, were you actually totally oblivious to this…curse? No. You may not have acknowledged it bit you knew it was there. That stupid little voice inside my head. Why couldn't it just shut up! If there is anyone listening to me, then someone help me find an off button for that voice!

It had seemed strange, being able to locate water and all that but was this what the gods granted me to destroy what was left of my ruined life. Then again, I reasoned, maybe he didn't almost die from me. Maybe he had some sort of heart problem or cholesterol or something like that. And the water on my hand, it was…it was because I was sweating! Sweating from fear. That's it! Nothing strange at all. You were just over-reacting because of the situation. That's all. That's all….

The houses and buildings dwindled slowly as I continued on my frantic run out of the city. Emotions continued to race through my body, propelling me ever farther and faster. Soon more and more trees were appearing on my right side. A dirt path that led into the woods became visible. I took the worn dirt path and drew further and further into the woods, with their blissful silence and solitude.

My footsteps slowed, my eyes taking in the scenery but actually seeing nothing. My feet came to a halt but my thoughts were still racing at a mile a minute. Attempting, and failing, to calm my racing thoughts, I began walking again. This time in a slower, calmer pace. I could feel the body of water, it was close. Once I get there, I will figure everything out. And when I get everything straight, it will make sense. It will, it must.

Just as I was thinking this, I noticed that in some areas the trees were dwindling again. Glancing around me, I walked off the dirt path. Branches and twigs snapped and cut my ankles. The crunch of leaves under my feet as I continued my hike. A fallen tree, almost like a bridge, over a small stream. It was even closer now. The stream had to start somewhere and that somewhere was where I wanted to go. I walked over the tree and within minutes found myself staring at the body of water I had been searching. The sun glittered over the water. It wasn't a river, that was for sure. But it seemed to big to be a pond and too small to be considered a lake. So what is it? A pake or a lond?

Walking over to the pond or lake or whatever you want to call it, I found a fair sized rock that I could sit on. Sitting on the rock, I found myself gazing into the water. Gazing into it as though all the answers would appear out of the water. I must be calm like the water. Calm. Tranquil. Serene. For every question, there is an answer. It's just that matter of finding the answers.

Still watching the water, my racing thoughts began to slow just enough to allow me to think straight. Now, Rochelle, reason through this. A logical answer can be found for everything. Think logical. First things first, just because something bad happens to you doesn't mean that there is a curse on you. In all actuality, it's just a bad stroke of fate, of luck. It's no reason to get your panties in a twist. Your emotions were running high at the moment. That's all.

Secondly, there is no such thing as magic and curses. That's just nonsense from children's stories. Saying that magic is real is like saying that there are mermaids and talking fish. It's just nonsense. Quickly, I sent up a prayer to anyone who may be listening. Please don't let that come back and bite me in the butt.

Everything is perfectly fine with me. Oh, I wish that there was someone I could ask. Someone who had all the answers.

I tilted my face up to the sky and shouted. "Mom, I know that you knew about this! Why not tell me! Why! Feeling lost and alone and very, very confused is not getting me any answers. I wish that you had told me. Why didn't you? Why? You said before that I wasn't ready, do I seem ready now! I'm ready to fill out my own form for a one way ticket to the looney bin!" I didn't even realize that I had stood up, that tears were streaming down my face but I couldn't stop the words. They had started and they weren't about to stop.

"What else should I know that you didn't tell me! Am I going to burst into flames when I turn twenty! No, that would be too crazy, even for this little whatever you want to call it. Is someone going to now come to me and tell me that you didn't even die? Or that you didn't die from cancer? Or that you are now living happily somewhere with a whole new family? Why did you leave me? I need you! I can't do this alone!"

I turned and walked over to the nearest tree and punched it. Once, twice, three times and still kept going. Screams erupted from me with every punch. Knuckles raw, red and bleeding, I fell to the ground hot tears still streaming down my face. Weakly I pounded the side of my hand against the ground. "Why, Mom, why," I whispered softly.

Soon I couldn't stand it anymore. I needed to escape and escape in any means that I could. The lake. My escape. With a running start, I dove into the lake. Staying underwater for as long as possible. I could feel my lungs beginning to ache from the lack of oxygen but I didn't want to go up. Hell waited for me outside my refuge of the water. Take a gulp of water. That's all it takes, a soft voice whispered. I knew it wasn't the voice in my head. That one is always cocky and arrogant or is just stupid but this one was calm and fluid. Like…like…water.

The ache in my lungs was becoming unbearable. I needed oxygen. I opened my mouth and took a gulp of the water. I expected to choke and sputter and end up flailing to reach the surface but what was expected didn't happen. Instead the unexpected happened. My lungs lost the constant ache. My body momentarily satisfied with its supply of oxygen. Did I die somehow? How long was I under? How long have I been under? A shining light, the sun, I realized. I could see the shape of the sun, moving freely with the water.

With a powerful stroke, I swam up to the surface. I took a deep breathe as soon as my head was above water. Slowly I swam to the ground. There was no way that I could technically be still alive. I mean, I know that under extreme circumstances a person could hold their breath for up to five minutes but I was under for longer than that. Much longer.

I crawled away from the water. Shock and confusion still coursed through my body and for some reason my legs wouldn't obey my commands to stand up. Exhausted beyond imagination, I collapsed onto the ground, facing the sky. "I'm sorry, Mom," I whispered. My eyes fluttered closed and all thought processes began to slow.

The sun was drying my body, warming me down to my core. The sun, the one thing that can make me fall asleep in under five minutes. I could feel all the anger and fear and hurt dissolve and evaporate from my body. A small smile graced my face as, for the first time in many month, I felt happy. Light and free and happy.

Then I felt cold, so cold. As if I had just gone from the desert to the artic. There was a shadow above me, blocking out all the light and happiness. I could feel this shadow watching me, I guess waiting for something to happen. He wants something to happen, I'll give him something. He moved closer to me, the tips of his feet almost touching my hips. I was still close to the water. Used once as an escape, always an escape.

In a blur, I was up and diving into the water. Usually I swam with my eyes closed but now I found that I could see clearly under the surface. If anything my eyesight was better under water than over. That's odd. I kept to the shadowed areas where he would have trouble seeing me. One more step towards me. Come on, just one more. He was searching the water, moving slowly towards my little hideout. He took that last little step. He was close enough for me to reach him easily. Perfect.

My hand reached out, grabbed his ankle and pulled him into the water. In his surprise, he sunk like a rock. Quickly, I scrambled out of the water and watched the ripples that formed when I had pulled him in. He finally surfaced. I braced myself, ready to run, ready for threats and insults. But neither came. He came up sputtering and splashing, all of his clothes soaked. Then he laughed. A loud, genuine laugh.

Incredulous, I stared at him. Was this guy totally nuts? Here he was after being rudely pulled into the water, swimming around and laughing! He must be absolutely crazy. He has to be. Any normal person would've surfaced and then charged after me, ready to kill me. And yet here he was, still swimming and laughing to himself.

With a look of amazement, I turned away from him, swimming around in the water like a moron. These last couple of days had been one hell of a trip. For one last laugh, I turned back towards the water, expecting to still find him swimming around lie an idiot. He's gone! How…?

"Looking for someone?"

I turned and screamed. Screamed loud and long. This cannot be possible. He was just behind me in the water and now he's in front of me. Not possible. There was now way that he could've gotten out of the water and walked around me without me noticing.

"Must you continue screaming? It is really beginning to hurt my ears."

My mouth clamped shut. Calm, deep breaths Rochelle. Come on. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, out…. I could see the relief on his face. Smirking slightly to myself, I opened my mouth to start screaming again. The scream caught abruptly in my throat. He had put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming again.

"I asked you nicely to stop. It seems only right that you stop."

"Gew or 'and off of my mou."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes at him. Smiling, I hacked a giant loogie and spit it into his hand.

"Uh! That's so disgusting! You could've just asked for me to take my hand away. You didn't have to hack a giant loogie in it."

"I did ask. You didn't move your hand." With that I walked around him, back towards the forest. Back towards silence and solitude.

"Where are you going?"

"What?"

"Where are you going?"

"Leave me alone."

"No."

I felt him grab my upper arm, glaring I repeated myself, "I said leave me alone."

He pulled my backwards, towards him and away from the woods. "And I said no."

"Leave me alone or I'll bite you."

Smirking he replied, "Where?"

"Don't tempt me."

Still smiling, he just stared at me. There he was holding my arm captive and now silent, just staring at me. "You know, it's rude to stare," I said curtly.

"I know."

"And yet, you continue to do so."

"It's fun."

"It's fun," I repeated, incredulous. He really is bonkers. He has to be. There is no way a person can be sane and act this weird. Who are you to talk? You're not exactly the definition of sane. That stupid voice again. Why is it in everybody's head, there is that one really annoying voice that you just can't turn off? I heard myself continue talking. "I don't believe you."

"What's not to believe?" He had let go of my arm. Probably when I was momentarily lost in my thoughts. But he wouldn't quit staring at me. Part of me wanted to laugh hysterically but the other part wanted to fight him and stare right on back.

Fine, staring contest it is. You want to play, let's play. He was tall, at least five foot eight. Then again everyone was tall compared to me. I was expecting to see an annoyingly perfect guy. Blonde hair, blue eyes the whole perfect shebang. Somehow though, he had broken that 'perfect' mold. Tanned skin, playful green eyes, blonde hair. Yet the blonde hair worked for him. Looking closer at his wet hair, I saw that the tips of his hair were green. Green, interesting.

He yawned, breaking the silence. "Iths is getting bowing."

"I'm sorry, did you say something? I don't normally try to translate what people are saying while they yawn."

"This is getting boring."

"What are you ADD?"

"No, but I have thoroughly examined you and, though the view is quite pleasing, am beginning to get bored."

Moving closer to him, I whispered softly, "Then I guess the view wasn't all that pleasing."

He shook his head. "No trust me, the view was very pleasing."

I moved another step closer to him. Our bodies were almost touching. His eyes flickered with amazement and he glanced down at my lips and back at my eyes. "Want to know something else that is pleasing," I asked even softer.

He face leaned down towards mine. In an equally soft voice, he replied, "What?"

"This."

He moved his face, as if to kiss me, and that's when I struck him right where it hurts. Shock and then pain showed on his face as he held his badly aching body part. He knelt on the ground, rocking back and forth. I knelt down next to him and lifted his face. "Try to remember to breathe."

I got up and turned to leave for probably the hundredth time. My ears picked up his ragged breathing. Obviously he was trying to say something but it wasn't working at the moment. Maybe he hurts too badly to talk. Ha! Good. Laughing to myself, I walked towards the woods.

"Where are you going," I heard him call out.

"Didn't we already have this part of the conversation?"

"Maybe. Where are you going?"

I turned back to him, still kneeling on the ground. "Why?"

"I have to give you something."

"And I'm sure that I don't want whatever it is that you are going to give to me."

"Are you so sure?"

Curiosity got the better of me and I found myself walking back towards him. I was standing in front of his kneeling form. "What?"

"This." His hand wrapped around my ankle and jerked. One minute I was standing, the next I can on the ground struggling to catch my breath. Under different circumstances, I would've laughed at the sensation of, for that split second, my body being perfectly horizontal in the air. This wasn't the time though.

"That was what I owed you."

"Oh yeah. Well, I hate to break it to you," I started to say while trying to make my body move. "Fudge ripple!"

Somehow while I was trying to get my body to move, he had gotten on top of me. Fudge it! Absolutely fudge it! He was sitting on my waist, pinning me to the ground.

"Since you're just sitting there, I thought we could have a little chat."

"Like hell we will," I shrieked at him and began thrashing around. Punches flying at his torso and trying to reach his face. My attempts failed miserably and all it got me was both arms pinned down above me while the rest of me was pinned down at the waist. There was no way I could get my legs to get even close to hitting him and, try as I might, I couldn't get him off my arms.

"Ok, I didn't want to have to fully pin you down but you won't stop hitting me." He seemed sincere, but I have just recently learned that it's faulty to trust people. They always take that trust and use it against you. So why did I trust him to not hurt me? Ah! Brain cramp!

"Now first things first, since I am the winner of that little…obstacle, I guess. Couldn't really be called a fight, unless you want to, then I guess it would be alright. But technically, I don't think it's considered a fight because neither of got bloodied up. Well, your knuckles are already bloodied up and you did throw multiple hits at me, so maybe it could be considered a fight. But…."

"Can't you just say what it was that you wanted to? You just keep talking about nothing. Absolutely nothing!"

"What? Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that. But since I did technically win that fight then there should be some sort of prize. And I know the perfect thing."

With that he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. Oh my god! I don't even know him and here he is kissing me! Think Rochelle, think girl. That's it! Yes, perfect! He began to deepen the kiss, prying my lips apart. Softly, I moved my mouth away from his and felt him kiss my jaw line. I buried my face I his neck and…bit! Mom always said, if you're going to bite someone to get away, bite like a horse. Don't stop till your teeth meet. Man I love my mom!

"My god! Are you a vampire," he yelled, patting his now slightly bleeding neck. "That hurt!"

"That's normally the point. And it's not even bleeding that bad you big baby."

"I am not a baby!"

"You're sure acting like one."

"I am not!"

I shrugged. "You want to fight on it? You already lost, what else can you lose?"

His arms flew up into the air in exasperation, or frustration, whichever. He began to pace, muttering to himself. Actually, it looked like he was having a very animated conversation with himself. Who knows? He's already bonkers. Then he stopped, turned towards me and walked over.

"I'm Aaron," he said, holding out his hand.

I looked at him skeptically. Raising an eyebrow, I replied, "Isn't that a girl's name?"

"No….Well, it can be. But it's only a girl's name if it's spelled with an 'e'…."

"And your name is spelled with an 'e'?"

"No, it's not!"

Rolling my eyes, I said disbelievingly, "Sure, it's not."

Frustration getting the better of him, he walked up to me. He was standing very close to me, so close. His penetrating gaze met my own. "You want to fight me on that," he whispered hotly.

"I don't care. You already lost once, who's to say that you won't again," I whispered nonchalantly.

"Touché, Rochelle, touché."

"Wait a second, how do you know my name? I never said anything about me." Confused, again, I took a couple of steps away from him. This day was becoming way too weird for my tastes.

Again he looked at me with that penetrating gaze of his. "What do you want Rochelle?"

Too tired to argue or lie, I just said what was in my heart. "The truth. That's what I want."

"And the truth you shall get."

Ok, i kno that this kinda ends at a cliffie. trust me i didnt plan it. im just really stuck so i decided to post what i have. and i guess its not that bad of a cliffie but whatever way you spin it, im still stuck. if anyone gets any ideas while reading this, im more than open for suggestions. my sister says to add a man with a gun...think that could work? who knows. maybe ill end up getting so stuck ill end up doing just that. well hope you liked it! Come on ppl, leave reviews when you read. Its no fun having a story that ppl readbut don't review.