A/N: I know you had to wait an extremely long time for this chapter, and I actually am really sorry. I'm just not on the computer as much during the summer. To prove how busy to you I actually was, however… in three months I went to four different states and three different countries. At least four weeks of my summer, I didn't really have the access to this computer (for writing time. More like checking e-mail and getting off so that I wouldn't be rude to a visiting friend). So I couldn't write on the chapter! The thing that took the longest, however, is to choose which dress Audrey is going to wear. I had to visualize it to really describe it, so I went searching, then I had to choose… then I had to figure out some way to describe it! Anywho, enough of an author's note and onto my replies!

Replies

I – lol. Thanks for the happy birthday!

Lauren – Haha – Kevin should "look" familiar to you, since you know his … counterpart. Lol. Jk.

T.E.N. – Language, language. Lol.

Captain Oblivious – Should I just announce it to the world that Audrey is modeled after you, my dear sister?

Libby – Thanks for the happy birthday! … but I am confused… what were those numbers and things for…?

Angel LeeAnn – Thanks for the happy birthday! Well… I'm not driving too much and I still have my learner's permit (darn), but you better keep your pet birds inside. I've already hit one…

Plumkin – I agree. C.O.O.L., girl. All the way.

Shooting Starlight – CAPTAIN JACK!! Lol

What Happened Last?

I wrenched my eyes open and realized that the plane was in the air and that I had been sleeping. Kevin and Audrey were both silent, staring off into their own areas of space. I looked down at my watch and saw that it was ten thirty. We had been flying for about forty-five minutes. 'Only around three hours to go,' I thought with a sarcastic cheerfulness. 'Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.'

Chapter Seven – Beautiful Girl

I walked down the stairs and felt the hot, humid air of Costa Rica wash over me. The air seemed to be pressing in on me, trying to suffocate me.

"Over there," Audrey pointed to a Jeep parked beyond a chain-link fence. There was a tall man leaning against an army-green colored Jeep. He was wearing a cowboy hat pulled low over his brow. "That would be Knight," Audrey said.

"What's his job on the mission?" I asked as I picked my suitcase up from amid the large pile of luggage. "Need any help?" I asked Audrey, who was picking up a very large duffle bag.

"I got it," she grunted. "About Knight, though. He's kind of like… the co-leader. He's going to be going on the island with the rest of the team. You'll be staying back with J.C., apparently."

"What happened to not telling him anything?" Kevin asked, coming up beside her and giving her a cheeky grin when she glared at him.

"It's not like that information is confidential, Vinny," she said, stressing the nickname 'Vinny' as though he didn't like it when she called him that.

"Anything you say, Teddy," Kevin replied, still grinning.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "Where's a big stick when I need it?" she muttered under her breath.

"Guess you left that at home," Kevin replied.

"Yeah… I should have brought a bigger bag," she teased.

I walked silently next to them over the concrete toward the fence where the man Audrey called Knight stood waiting for us. They were excluding me from their conversation again. I could tell they had been friends for quite some time and weren't noticing that they weren't including me. It didn't appear as though they were anything more than friends, however.

Tina walked silently into the house and stared numbly around at her expensive furnishings. "Tina?" Brad called from the kitchen. "Eric? Is that you?"

"It's me," Tina said. Eric had gone. He had gone back to the island, after all that had happened. How could he? He was completely disregarding her feelings! It was so selfish of him! Sure, he needed money, for more reasons than one. But he was putting his life in danger. Did he know how she would live her life on the edge of her seat until he had returned safely?

He had said he wasn't going on the island. Had be been serious or just trying to make her feel better?

"Tina, honey?"

Tina looked up into the face of her husband. He still had blonde hair, just like he had way back when he was sixteen. It was cut in a neat style and his bright blue eyes held concern for his wife. "What's wrong?" Brad asked her.

"I… Eric…" Tina stuttered, searching for the right words.

Brad's face hardened. "What did he do?" he asked sternly. "Tina, what did he do to you? Are you all right?"

Tina spoke quickly. "No! Brad, it's nothing like that! How could you think of Eric like that?"

"Oh… well…" Brad said.

"No, it's… well… he's gone back," Tina sighed and sat down on a couch.

"Back where?" Brad asked, sitting down next to her and gently rubbing her back.

"To Isla Sorna."

"WHAT?!" Brad cried. He jumped up from the couch.

"Brad; Jenny," Tina tried to hush him. She knew it was Jennifer's naptime.

"How could he be so stupid? What's he doing that for? Is he crazy? He could get killed!" Brad yelled.

Tina rested her head in her hands and began to cry softly. After all Eric had been through, you would think that he would have the sense to stay as far away from the island as possible.

"Tina, honey, I'm sorry," Brad said when he realized that his wife was crying. He sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell…"

"He's just so stupid," Tina choked out. "How could he be doing this? That's where Lane died!" She sobbed, and then continued. "It's been six years and he still can't let her go. I still miss her, yeah, but it's nothing compared to what he feels! Six whole years, Brad! And yet he's going back to the place where she died! How can he bear it? Why is he doing it? Does he want us to deal with a death of another close friend?"

Brad rocked her back and forth and she cried into his shoulder. "I know, Tina," he said softly. "It doesn't seem right. We'll do something; I promise."

Tina sniffed and nodded. "God, please don't let him die! Keep him safe!"

After going through security, we met Knight out by the Jeep. He looked very young, but his face was still weathered. His arms and legs were tan and muscular and he had a long scar from the corner of his right eye down to the middle of his neck. He had brown eyes and the hair that wasn't under his hat looked black. "Let me help you with that," he said in a gruff voice. He took Audrey's bag and tossed it in the back of the Jeep.

Audrey flinched, but accepted the man's offered hand and climbed into the vehicle.

Kevin and I tossed our own luggage into the back. Kevin climbed in next to Audrey and I was left with the seat next to Knight.

All was silent as we pulled out of the parking lot and headed to wherever we were to be staying that night.

"I hear you've been on the island before," Knight said to me after we had pulled onto the freeway.

"Uh… yeah," I said.

"Why are you staying on the mainland, then?" he asked, almost accusingly.

"…Because I've been on the island before," I said as though it was the most obvious answer. It really did appear that way. Who in their right mind would willingly return to Isla Sorna for a third visit? I knew I sure wasn't.

"Your point?" Knight asked. Audrey and Kevin sat silent in the back of the jeep.

"I've been on the island twice. Ninety percent of the world has never experienced all of that terror in their entire lives. Sure, a plane crash, however rare, is one thing. But to live for a combined time of nearly four months on an island infested with dinosaurs and every day you wonder if you'll live to see another sunset… that is something completely different, and I personally never want to feel those things again. Ever."

"You were just a kid then," Knight said as though he hadn't heard anything I had said. "It can't be that bad."

I looked over at him, amazed. "So having twenty foot high creatures - maybe even taller - having them trying to eat you and your friends is nothing? Being an afternoon snack to some sort of reptile means nothing to you?"

"Naw," he said, slapping the steering wheel. "Like I said, you were a kid and unprepared. We're going to have all sorts of experts along with us. Plus guns and things. We'll be fine!"

'I am so glad I'm not going to the island with him,' I thought.

Instead of replying to this obviously under-researched statement, I sat in silent contemplation. If this was one of the men who was going to be heading up this mission… what was J.C. going to be like? You had to have something wrong with you if you thought normal guns and a group of experts was enough to keep you safe on that island.

It took us about thirty minutes to reach the hotel we were staying at. A wave of relief washed over me when I saw that it wasn't the same one we had stayed in six summers ago…

In fact, this one appeared nicer. Practically everything in the foyer was marble. There was a large fountain in the middle of the room with live fish swimming around in its depths. An artist was sitting off to the side, ready to draw pictures of tourists next to their favorite movie stars or singers… or just by themselves, tanning on the beach. All of the employees looked very prim and proper. There was even a place where you could go to get your shoes shined.

The smiling lady behind the desk handed me my room key, along with a brochure describing the nearby activities. She then went on to give be a short, well practiced description of their formal restaurant, café, and breakfast rooms.

My room was too big for a single person to be staying in. There were two beds, a desk, a very nice sitting area, plus a table and chairs and a balcony. The bathroom was about the size of the kitchen in my apartment. The view was amazing. I was rather high up, but that only meant that I could see more of the white-sanded beach stretched out below me. This, however, reminded me too much of my last trip to Costa Rica, so I walked back into my room and looked around.

I saw Lane, Tina, and Hannah standing a little separate from everyone else. I smiled at them, though I knew they wouldn't see it. Lane was so cute, resting most of her weight on one leg. She thought she was overweight, but she was only comparing herself to Sally and her posse. Did Lane know that I had liked her for at least two months now?

"What do you think we're going to be doing?" Tina asked her friends.

"Maybe we'll go horse back riding or swimming!" Hannah exclaimed excitedly.

I couldn't help but add to their conversation. "I hear we're going to be pulling the hairs out of your head," I said.

Lane jumped (only slightly, but it was enough that I noticed it) and turned around to face me.

"Yes, Eric?" she asked. She put on what I could only assume she found to be an annoyed face, but it was actually rather funny. So I laughed. Not out loud, no. I didn't want to make her feel stupid.

"You have a comment on a conversation you have no right to be listening to?" she added.

I smiled again and shook my head. "You're too much for me, Lane. Guess I better leave you alone before you tear me limb from limb."

"Don't worry, Eric," she said sarcastically. "I wouldn't act like one of your dinosaur friends."

I felt awkward in my suit. 'I bet I look like a penguin,' I thought sourly. I looked around for someone I knew. That's when I spotted Audrey walk in through the opposite door. All the thoughts that had been in my head suddenly stopped and seemed to almost disappear all together.

She was wearing a long white dress with thin straps leading over her shoulders and ending just at the bottom of her shoulder blades, where the dress met them. Black lace rimmed the top of the gown all the way around to the back where it trailed the back seam to the floor. A short train flowed behind her, but it wasn't long enough to be a hindrance. It fit snugly to her form until it reached her legs and fanned out so slightly, however, that you hardly noticed it. It looked like she had attacked her short brown hair with gel to make it curl (though it looked a touch spiky because of its length). The longer front strands – bangs, I suppose – were held out of her face with a jeweled bobby pin.

The room seemed to be glowing and all was hazy but her. She looked around the room and when she spotted me, she smiled and began walking toward me. When I had first met her, she seemed somewhat like a tomboy (with a sense of fashion, nonetheless), but the way she walked… And she was walking toward me!

"Hey, Eric," she said when she reached me.

I quickly snapped my gaping mouth shut. Okay, so it wasn't exactly gaping. It was just open a few centimeters. Even so, I felt a bit foolish. "Hey, Audrey," I replied. It didn't come out as calm as I would have liked, but at least it hadn't sounded desperate.

"Could I eat dinner with you?" she asked.

"Sure! Of course!" I said stupidly.

"Thanks," she said. She then looked around a bit before continuing with, "Do you have a table?"

"Um… no," I said. "I was just about to get one."

"Okay," she said.

It was then that a waiter decided to spot me and lead us to a nearby table with a great view of the coast. There were only two seats at the table. "Er…" I said, "will Kevin be joining us?"

"No," Audrey said as the waiter pulled the chair out for her. She sat down gracefully. "He likes room service." At this she rolled her eyes.

"Ah," I said as I sat down.

The waiter then listed to us the specials and took our drink orders. "I vill be back in a moment," he said with a heavy accent.

I watched his retreating back, but all the while I was thinking about Audrey. I was a bit afraid to look at her.

"So where did you go to college?" she asked me.

Feeling as though my head weighed a thousand pounds, I slowly turned to face her. The light from the setting sun was shining down on her hair, making the red highlights stand out.

All of a sudden, I was rushed into a whirlwind of memories of a certain redheaded girl in bright colored dresses, standing off to the side of the dance floor and watching all the couples slow dancing. An envious look was plainly written on her features.

"Sad, isn't it?" I could hear a voice echo through the room, sounding just like Sally Grude, one of my high school 'friends.' "She's such a geek. That dress looks horrible!"

"Eric?" Audrey said, looking at me queerly.

"Sorry," I snapped back to reality. "What did you say?"

She looked at me a moment before replying. "Nothing." She looked out the window and sighed.

I ran a hang through my hair and looked around the dining room. It was a rather awkward, sitting at a table with someone I had only met that morning. What made it even more awkward was the fact that it was a beautiful woman I was sitting with… and it was only too easy to notice the glances that were floating her way from the other guys in the restaurant. I had no license to glare at them, however, which was a strange thing in itself.

Feeling the sudden need to initiate conversation, I turned to her and said, "Where do you live?"

This did indeed start a conversation. We talked mostly about where we lived and what we liked about it until our food came. We were silent for a few moments before a sudden question hit me and I asked her, "Why does Kevin call you 'Teddy'?"

Audrey laughed and cut through her steak. "Well… my last name is Roosevelt," she explained.

I smiled. "Ah," I said. "So is this something that everyone calls you or just Kevin?"

"Um… kind of just Kevin," she said. "My dad used to call me 'Teddy,' but…" She sighed and cut through her steak a little too vigorously and squirt juice on a passing waiter. "OH! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed.

I tried my hardest not to laugh as the waiter tried to assure her that it was fine and no harm had come out of it.

We moved on to a different subject once the waiter had gone and Audrey had stopped being embarrassed.

Dinner went by too quickly in my opinion. It was the first time in a long time that I had been so distracted, I had hardly thought about Lane at all!

I said goodbye to Audrey in the lobby and began walking toward the elevator (she was going to wait for Kevin) when someone called my name. I turned around and saw a man dressed in slacks and a black polo shirt. He had the kind of face that made him look as though he felt more important than everyone else. When his mouth was closed, it was a bit pinched. He looked rather tan, as though he had spent a lot of time in Costa Rica.

He gave me a short-lived smile, then waved me over. I slowly walked over to him and he motioned that I should follow him to a secluded part of the lobby where there were two chairs facing each other right next to a window. I followed him cautiously and didn't sit down when he motioned for me to. "I'm sorry," I said, trying to be polite, "but I don't know who you are."

"Forgive me," he said in an English accent. "I did not wish to be overheard. I am J.C., the man you talked to over the phone."

"Oh," I said quickly. His voice did sound a bit familiar…

I sat down, feeling a lot more comfortable.

J.C. sat down as well. He then turned to me and said, "Tell me, Eric, are there any questions you would like answered? Most of them will be answered at the meeting with the team tomorrow evening, but I can tell you a bit of the information you need to know tonight."

"Um…" I thought for a couple seconds. I knew what I wanted to ask. "Why am I here, sir? Kevin and Audrey were very hesitant in what they shared with me. I just want to know why you need me so badly."

"I believe I have said that your experience with the islands put us high on our list for our team," J.C. answered me. "I knew that you would most likely not wish to return to the island for a third time, but thought that you might possibly be willing to talk over the radio with our team, leading them around and such. They will have an… an expert along with them, who knows much about the… creatures there," his eyes shifted about to make sure no one was listening to him. Clearly he didn't want anyone to know what he was talking about. "His name is Landon Grey, a paleontologist. Have you heard of him?"

I nodded slightly. Dr. Grey had written several books on dinosaurs and different plant life from that era. I supposed he would be a good one to be tagging along with, even if he was rather stupid to be going to the island, due to how much he knew about dinosaurs. There were very few things I could ever disagree with in his works.

"Well… we would like you on the line just in case they come across something he doesn't know," J.C. said.

"Okay," I said slowly. "But what exactly are they going to be doing… where they're going?"

"Ah, that I can't tell you until tomorrow," J.C. said, smiling at me. "If you have no more questions…" I shook my head, "then I will see you tomorrow at the meeting. Audrey will pick you up at six p.m. Make sure you're in the lobby."

He stood up and walked away brusquely.

'Interesting,' I thought.

Author's Note: Well… that was a long chapter by my writing standards! I hope you all enjoyed it, even though I know it wasn't worth the wait. Hopefully things will be easier to write from here on out so my next update definitely won't take this long! I just have to make sure I update another story that I haven't done anything with since May!!! Thanks for bearing with me, you guys! You're great! PLEASE REVIEW!!