Yay! I got two reviews that time! I'm glad you guys are liking my phic. The chapter length is going to vary a lot, and I'm sorry if I end on cliffhangers, but I'm going to have to if the chapter gets too long. Here's chapter three, hope you like it

Sophie awoke because of the hot breath that was blown in her face. She kept her eyes closed. It was one of her cats, sleeping on her pillow with her. That was a big breath for a cat, the thought crossed her mind. Sophie felt a hand run along her jaw line. Definitely not one of her cats. Sophie opened her eyes. A figure loomed over her. The strange boy – Aiden. Sophie's mind stopped processing thoughts. She couldn't think of what to do. Then it came to her. She took a deep breath and prepared to scream – but a hand roughly covered her mouth. Aiden leaned closely to her ear, "Don't wake the other girl. Can I have one of the apples in your pack?"

Sophie pushed the hand off of her mouth as her eyes adjusted to the dim morning light. "I… I suppose," she whispered, wriggling uncomfortably under the scrutiny of Aiden's gaze. She had many questions for this boy. How long had he been here? What did he eat? Why was he here? Why was she so nervous around him?

But Aiden had risen before Sophie had summoned the courage to ask any of these questions out loud. She shifted under the blanket. Was she such a heavy sleeper that she didn't notice him upon her? The thought made her squirm. This guy gives me the creeps, she thought, making a list of misgivings in her head.

Sophie heard Aiden bite into an apple and saw Katie stir as the sound woke her. It was considerably lighter now than when Sophie first woke up. She curled herself into a little ball as Katie yanked off the covers.

"Get up, Sophie. Put on a sweatshirt, it's cold out this early," Sophie heard as a cloth bundle was flung in her face. She covered a whimper of dread for having to face a day with Aiden with a false groan of sleepiness.

Katie giggled at the sound. "Come on. I want to find out about this guy," she said, looking in his direction as she pulled on some shoes. Aiden was sitting on a large rock about 10 yards away, chewing his apple. Sophie rose, quickly pulling the sweatshirt over her head to block the early morning chill. Katie pulled two more apples out of the backpack, tossed one to Sophie, and beckoned her to follow her over to where Aiden was sitting. Sophie put her shoes on and followed Katie.

Katie sat down on the rock next to Aiden, and Sophie stood before them. They were silent, except for the munching and crunching of apple in their mouths... Aiden was almost finished with his; whereas Sophie was so nervous she had only taken a few bites. Both she and Katie were staring at Aiden intently, but on the contrary Aiden was focusing on biting off every scrap of edible flesh from the core of his apple.

When Aiden finished his apple, he sat on the rock silently while the girls finished their breakfasts. Katie finally spoke, "Judging by the fact that you haven't gotten up yet, you're just as curious about us as we are about you." Silence. "My name is Katie, and this is Sophie." Still no response from Aiden.

Sophie shifted her weight to her other foot. Didn't Katie see how much pressure she was putting on this guy? "Katie…"
she said in a low voice. "Don't push it." She didn't want anything to do with this stranger. Who knew what he was capable of? She could see the toned muscle beneath his black T-shirt and she could guess correctly that he was very lithe and strong from climbing trees. She noticed the callous on his jaw bone where he rested his chin on his violin. She wondered is the mass of curly brown hair on top of his head was soft to the touch. Sophie blinked, clearing her head of these thoughts. She knew nothing of this boy! He could have killed someone, for all she knew!

Katie dismissed Sophie's warning with a flick of her wrist. "Come on, Aiden. What did you mean by 'No one's found me before'? Why were you in the tree? Why'd you sleep in it? Do you live in that oak tree? Why? What's the story here?" as Katie fired these questions at Aiden, Sophie felt a twinge of pity for the young man being put on the spot like this.

Aiden contemplated his apple core before tossing it away. Sophie admired the fine muscles in his arm. Catching herself, she turned her thoughts to Aiden's mysterious past. Aiden fidgeted a bit, and then muttered, "If I tell you, you'll just go and tell everyone I'm here and they'll make me go back."

Katie exclaimed, "No we won't!" at the same time Sophie asked, "Go back where?"

Sophie caught the small and slightly lopsided grin that flashed across Aiden's face. She also caught the confused and nervous way his almond-shaped brown eyes viewed the situation. I suppose he's enjoying all the attention, Sophie thought. But he's also still nervous about being found out.

Aiden said slowly, "How do I know I can trust you?"

Katie stood up with her hands on her hips and said indignantly, "Well this camping trip isn't over until you tell us what's going on." And with that, she flounced off hack to the oak tree, throwing her apple core as far as she could as she went.

As Aiden stared after her, Sophie wondered what he was thinking about. She didn't know whether she should follow Katie or stay with Aiden. Then Aiden got up without a word and began walking in the opposite direction of the oak tree. Sophie kept standing there until he was out of sight and then she started jogging back to the oak tree to tell Katie that Aiden had left.

Sophie found Katie attempting to climb the oak tree. "What are you doing?" Sophie asked.

"I'm trying to see if there's stuff up here that will tell us about our mysterious friend here."

"Well speaking of Aiden, he just left."

"What! No, don't be silly, Sophie. He probably just went to the bathroom or something."

"There aren't any bathrooms around here."

"You know what I mean. For lack of a better word."

"I guess you're right," Sophie sighed.

""If course I'm right," Katie replied briskly. "Now look through his violin case and see is there are any clues in there."

Sophie obliged, opening the violin case and carefully lifting out its precious cargo. She put it to her chin and plucked the strings. "How does he make this sound so good?" she muttered to herself. "Guitar is much easier."