Something About Alton

Part II: The Problem Child


Tuesday, 8th September, 1998

Remembering his way to the music room, Adam found two others in there aside from Ron, Ellie and Liv. At first glance, he thought they were a set of twin girls, but after closer inspection he saw one had distinctly more masculine features. His long, shaggy hair flowed down past his shoulders, like the girl's next to him.

"Adam!" Ron brought him over, "Hey, these are the people I was telling you about; this is Paula and Dan!"

"Hey guys," Adam greeted them. Both of them had a distinctly different sense of fashion compared to the mostly alternative crowd he'd met up to this point; the pair looked like they were ripped straight out of the psychedelic sixties with colourful, tie-dye clothes.

"Hey, man," Dan leant back against the desk, "So, you're new here, huh?"

"Yeah, that's right," Adam nodded, "I've only been here since Saturday."

"No worries, man," Dan put his arm around his sister's shoulder, "If your friends with Ron, you must be pretty cool, right?"

"He tells me you play guitar," Paula ran her hands down through her hair, "Me and Dan play music too."

"That's right," Dan grinned confidently, motioning to a drum kit in the corner of the room, "I play drums – hey, is the kit still set up?"

"I haven't touched it since before summer," Ron shrugged, "Go check it out."

From what he'd seen so far, the Mills twins, as Adam would later come to know them, were pretty easy-going; their personalities definitely matched their hippie fashion sense. He felt at ease talking to them for the first time, whereas when he met Eric the day before he felt more on edge, like he was being interrogated. Paula herself seemed very nice; she was always asking Adam questions, though it seemed like they came from a place of genuine interest. Her voice was smooth and calm, having a trance-like quality to it.

On the other hand, Dan was a little wackier; he still maintained a chill composure, but from what Adam could tell he was a bit of a goofball. He was a good drummer – that was for sure. Adam watched in appreciation as he played surf- and classic-rock beats.

"Hey, how're Mike and Eric?" Dan called over to Ron from behind the drum kit.

"Same as usual, I guess," Ron fiddled with the tuning pegs of his bass, "But Eric was pissed because Mike hadn't been at his uncle's."

"You don't have to worry about that," Paula stood up, "I've still got some; enough for us, probably."

"Hey, Adam, you ever tried it?" Dan approached him; Adam took this to mean the pot that Eric was so desperately hoping for last night.

"Uh, no, actually, I haven't," Adam answered politely as he thought on his situation; he used to look down upon potheads, and all drug-users in general, especially after his father would tell him how many fires had been indirectly caused by drug or alcohol misuse. Despite this, he was now directly involved with this crowd, the only friends he had made so far; sure, they were great people, but Adam would have steered clear of this kind of group were he still in Pittsburgh.

"You can try some with us," Paula smiled welcomingly, "I don't mind."

"Yeah, shit – how about after school?" Ron suggested eagerly, "I can see if I can get Mike and Eric to come – we can go up the woods behind Adam's house!"

"Shit, you live by the woods?" Dan raised an eyebrow, "Tough luck, man; that place is creepy as hell."

"So Eric explained," Liv piped up, "Honestly, what a load of bullshit..."

"Hey, I'm not necessarily saying I believe in any of that," Dan raised his hands, "All woods creep me out, that's all."

"It's just nature," Paula reasoned, "There's nothing to be scared of."

"Look, are we all up for going or not?" Ron said exasperatedly, looking at each person in the room, starting with Adam, to hear their response.

"Ellie?" he asked, "You gonna make it tonight, or is it gonna be another no-show?"

"I'm sorry," Ellie sighed, "I had some stuff to do; I'll make it tonight, but I don't want to smoke any."

This relieved Adam a little; if there was at least one other non-smoker, he wouldn't feel so bad about turning it down if he was offered.

-O-

Walking back through the front door of his new home, Adam was once again met with the sound of sobbing. Slowly walking into the living room, his suspicions were confirmed as he found Sarah lying with her head on mom's lap, her hair being gently stroked.

"Bad day again?" Adam asked rhetorically. Mom simply nodded and motioned for Adam to leave them both alone. Walking over to the bottom of the stairs, he was met by his grandpa coming down from his room. Hearing the whimpering of Sarah, he looked visibly irritated.

"Honestly, that girl," he sighed, "She's lovely, but she's so difficult."

"It's not her fault," Adam defended her, though he knew it wouldn't do much in changing his Grandpa's mindset.

.

The clock read 6:03pm. Adam was wrapped up warm, dressed in a thick, pile-lined coat with a pair of sturdy boots on his feet. After giving them his address, he was told by Paula and Dan that they'd call for him at 6 o'clock-ish. Sure enough, there was a short series of knocks at the door. Not wanting his Grandpa to scold him for his hippie friends, Adam darted through his bedroom door and sprinted down the stairs, almost tripping over himself. Stumbling slightly as his feet reached the ground, he opened the door to be met by the Mills twins.

"Hey," Adam welcomed them inside, "You guys come in; we can go through the back, this way."

As the two came in and wiped their feet, Adam heard the sound of footsteps from further in the house. His mom emerged from the kitchen, accompanied by Grandpa.

"Hey, mom, these are Paula and Dan," Adam motioned, "We're just gonna hang out up in the woods."

"Which is which?" Grandpa scowled. Mom shot him a look before letting them go through the back.

"Of course, keep safe up there," she smiled, "Nice to meet you both."

Paula smiled thankfully at Adam's mom as she walked past, ignoring Grandpa completely, while Dan blanked them both. Opening the back door, Adam guided them across the back yard which led straight into Alton Woods. He seemed to remember a fence being here as a child; maybe Grandpa Louis saw no use in it once his own kids had grown up and the grandchildren didn't visit as frequently as they used to.

"Hey, what's up with the old man?" Dan asked, sounding offended.

"He's just old fashioned, I guess," Adam explained, "I wouldn't take it personally. Saturday was the first time I'd seen him in years and he didn't even say hello; he told me I needed a haircut."

The twins scoffed as they followed Adam further into the trees.

"Do you guys know where to meet?" Adam turned around and asked, realizing that he probably wasn't the best person to be leading this expedition. Paula chuckled and marched in front of him.

"I know my way around," she guided the two boys, "We've been up here a lot of times."

They followed Paula down narrow, winding paths in the woods, the path cleared out from use by walkers. Up ahead, Adam caught a glance of Mike, Liv and Ellie. Mike still appeared out-of-it, which Adam had perceived to be the norm for him, while Liv leaned tiredly against the tree trunk. Ellie looked the most nervous, constantly checking her surroundings, bouncing her one knee.

"Where's Ron and Eric?" Dan asked upon meeting the other three, looking around for the missing two.

"Guess they're running late," Liv sighed.

"It'd be rude to start without them," Paula decided.

Adam jumped as he heard the sounds of twigs cracking behind him; quickly turning in the direction of the sound, he saw Eric and Ron, the two skinheads, marching up the path towards them.

"Hey," Eric greeted everyone before turning to Paula and Dan, "Welcome back home."

"Are we ready now?" Liv asked, tired of waiting. Paula pulled out a small piece of paper from her pocket and Adam watched as she emptied a green-brown material onto it. Gently and precisely, she rolled up the paper.

"Tell me you brought a lighter, Eric," Paula extended her hand; Eric reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a lighter. The group formed into a tight circle as Paula lit the end of the joint. Taking a puff from it, she passed it to her left, to Dan. Adam would be up next.

As Dan took a drag, Adam looked over to Ellie, standing opposite to him in the circle. Her eyes were wide as she watched Paula and Dan – not with fear, exactly, but there was some kind of reluctance or apprehension in her eyes. Although he didn't know Ellie all that well, he didn't want her to be the only one sober out of seven other stoned teenagers, nor did he want her to feel that she had to succumb to the pressure.

"You're up, man," Dan held the joint out to Adam, "Just inhale, hold it in."

Adam looked at it for a second, smoke steaming out of its end. "You know what, I... I think I'll pass, this time."

"It's not that bad, Adam," Ron said reassuringly, "Trust me, it's just nice, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Adam nodded, "And I'd be all up for trying it another time, but I've gotta be home soon and my mom and Grandpa are like, really strict about this kind of stuff, you know?"

There was an awkward silence as Dan reached over Adam to pass the blunt to Eric, who plucked it out of his hands. Adam looked back up at Ellie, who looked slightly more relieved. By the time it was passed to her, all she had to do was shake her head quietly. This was met with less apprehension.

Time went on and the effects of the weed kicked in for the smokers, making most of them more easy-going while enhancing Ron and Dan's goofiness.

"Don't bring up the monster," Eric demanded, "It's gonna freak me out, I'm gonna get all paranoid. Don't say anything about it."

"You're the only one bringing it up," Liv laughed. Adam and Ellie trailed back slightly.

"Not a smoker?" Adam asked her.

"No, not at all," Ellie shook her head, "I mean, I've never even touched a cigarette. I'm friends with Liv and the others and they're all really into it, but... I don't know, I just never wanted to."

"Yeah, I get it," Adam nodded understandingly, "I tried a cigarette once back in Pittsburgh. Not worth it."

"I guess it's nice that you're not into that," Ellie crossed her arms, rubbing them to keep herself warm; whereas the others had more layers on, Ellie was dressed in just a white, sleeveless top. "I always feel bad when I turn them down, you know?"

"Well, you don't have to feel bad," Adam advised her, "It's up to you whether you want it or not. If they don't like it when you don't, that's not your problem."

"I get it," Ellie smiled, "Just, like... peer pressure, you know?"

"You seem smarter than to give in to it," Adam smiled back.

"Well," Ellie grinned, "You come off more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am."

The group eventually entered a clearing; a ring of logs, makeshift wooden seats, were positioned in a circle. In the centre, there was a burnt spot on the ground. Adam assumed this to be a sort of campsite or hangout for the group. He and Ellie shared a log to sit on; on the one next to them, Liv sat close to Eric, eventually moving onto his knee. Paula was roped into doing a mock tribal dance with Dan and Ron around the burnt patch while Mike laughed at them hysterically, the most emotion Adam had seen him display thus far.

"So, you're into music, right?" Ellie asked, "That's really cool – my parents tried to get me to learn piano when I was a kid, but I couldn't get the hang of it."

"Why not?" Adam asked.

"I guess it was hard to keep practicing while doing all the other stuff they wanted me to do," Ellie sighed, "They really put a lot of pressure on me, to be successful at something, but the pressure just..."

Ellie trailed off, stopping herself from getting too emotional.

"Yeah, I get it," Adam said sympathetically, "It just gets too much, right?"

"Right."

"Hey," Ron addressed the group, "We should come up here, like, Friday night or something – camp up here for the night, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me," Eric grinned, wrapping his arm around Liv's waist.

"Mike, you'll be able to get us more by then, right?" Ron turned around.

"Yeah, definitely," Mike said half-heartedly, slowly grinning.

"Adam, do you have a tent?" Paula asked.

"I'll have a look, my Grandpa might have an old one or something," Adam shrugged, knowing that they definitely didn't bring one with them from Pittsburgh.

The hours passed and it started getting dark; too dark for Eric, though he tried to play it tough for Liv.

"Scared of the monster?" Ron teased him.

"Shut the fuck up about the monster!" Eric groaned while Liv laughed, "I just don't want to get lost in the fucking woods when it's dark!"

"It is getting pretty late," Paula reasoned, "Let's call it a night, yeah?"

"Good with me," Adam sat up, Ellie rising with him. The gang left their seats and went out the same way they came in. Adam found it incredibly cold; it must have been even worse for Ellie, who was shivering, teeth chattering as she walked beside him.

"Hey, here you go," Adam took his jacket off, handing it to Ellie before joking – "But next time, you've gotta bring your own!"

"Oh, thanks," Ellie sighed in relief, throwing the jacket over her and zipping it right up to her neck. It was a little big for her, but it would warm her up nonetheless. Adam followed the others down an alternative path, one that wouldn't take them out right in his backyard. Eric, Ron, Mike, Liv and Ellie said their goodbyes; they all had to go a different way home.

"Hey," Ellie quietly took Adam to one side, handing him his jacket back, "If you haven't got a tent, I've got one."

"Oh," Adam nodded, surprised.

"Yeah, so if you wanted to... we could share it?"

Adam glanced at the others, conversing amongst themselves as they'd done all night.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Adam smiled. He felt a tinge of something, like when he had a crush on Hannah all that time ago. He tried to contain himself.

"Great," Ellie smiled back, "Guess I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

"Right, see ya!" Adam waved as Ellie joined the other four.

"Hey, we can walk you home if you want," Paula offered, placing a hand on Adam's shoulder, "We're not far from you anyway."

"If that's okay with you?" Adam asked, not wanting to inconvenience them.

"No worries, brother," Dan patted him on the back, "Let's go!"

-O-

As Adam walked back inside, mom stomped in from the kitchen.

"Christ, you're alive!" she looked furious, "You didn't think to tell me you'd be out that long?!"

"I'm sorry," Adam stammered, "I didn't know we'd be so long..."

"What the hell were you even doing?" she demanded, "Being out so long – on a school night, too – seriously?"

"We just hung out up there," Adam explained, neglecting to mention the drug use, even though he didn't partake in any himself, "They've got this little clearing they all sit in, it's cool. We're thinking of camping up there Friday night, actually?"

He felt kind of cheeky to ask for permission to go out late, immediately after being scolded for being out so late. Nevertheless, mom reluctantly agreed.

"Camping, okay – how?" she sighed, "We don't have a tent here."

"I know, but my friend offered to share theirs," Adam answered.

Mom nodded, her expression of frustration changing to slight happiness. "Sounds like you're making a lot of friends."

"Yeah," Adam nodded proudly, "Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are."

"I'm not surprised," she tutted, "It's nice."

They paused for a moment. Adam was pretty tired, and it was late enough as is. He moved to go up the stairs.

"Well, like you said, I've got school tomorrow," Adam yawned, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Wait, Adam," mom grabbed his arm as he walked up the steps, "I'm sorry if you feel like I'm neglecting you."

Adam stopped, a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Well, with everything that's happening, and your sister's problems..." she looked down, "She has so much trouble coping with change, and I feel like I've had to put more... effort, on her."

"Mom, it's okay. I know Sarah has her needs, I understand that."

Mom looked up at him, smiling gratefully. "You're a good older brother. Can you go check on her before you go to bed?"

"Sure thing," Adam nodded, carrying on up the stairs. He opened the first door on the right – Sarah's bedroom. The room's light was still on, but Sarah was curled up asleep in bed, blankets wrapped tight around her. Adam looked at her and smiled sweetly at the sight of her sleeping. He glanced over at her desk, papers, pencils and crayons strewn across it. Quietly pulling the door back to, Adam carefully flicked the switch, turning the light off, before going to bed.

-O-

The family crowded around the small kitchen table for breakfast, Adam occasionally bumping elbows with his sister to his right and his grandpa to his left. He listened in to mom and grandpa's chatter; how mom's job as a cashier at a nearby supermarket was due to start the following Monday, but she hoped that a job with better pay would come up that she could apply for. Growing slightly bored of the conversation, he glanced over at Sarah. She was sat staring out into nothing, hands clasped together and tucked between her knees.

"Hey," Adam nudged her playfully. She swayed slightly as he pushed her, but showed no other reaction. Concerned, Adam nudged her harder this time. "Hey, Sarah?"

Sarah blinked repeatedly, as though coming out of a trance. She looked up at Adam, then to grandpa, then to mom.

"You okay, honey?" mom asked. Sarah nodded and continued eating her breakfast.

"Hey, how 'bout I walk you to school?" Adam asked, "That'd be fun, right?"

Sarah smiled and nodded her head.

"Will you have enough time before school starts?" Grandpa asked, licking crumbs of toast from the corners of his mouth.

"Probably; I can always run back, I guess."

-O-

The sky was grey and cloudy, painting the whole town in a bleak manner. Adam adjusted Sarah's bobble hat as they walked down the street.

"Where did you go?" Sarah asked bluntly, providing no context. Adam thought for a moment before realising she likely meant where he was last night.

"Oh, I was just up in the woods with my friends," Adam answered, "Sorry, I didn't see you before you fell asleep."

"What's it like?" Sarah quickly asked, staring straight ahead as she walked a few paces ahead of Adam.

"What, the woods? I guess it's pretty big, but the others seem to know their way around."

"Is there anything up there?"

Adam was a little taken aback by Sarah's unusual chattiness, but he wasn't about to discourage her. Maybe having conversations like this could make her feel more confident and outgoing at school?

"Uh, nothing really, I guess," Adam answered truthfully before getting more playful, "Unless you count the big, scary monsters."

Sarah looked back up at Adam, a look of genuine fright in her eyes.

"I'm just kidding!" Adam quickly reassured her, "Really, I didn't see much up there except for this clearing where my friends go to hang out."

"Could I go in?" Sarah asked.

"Into the woods? No way. Not on your own, at least."

The two reached the school gates. A member of staff stood by there, welcoming the parents and their children.

"I wanted to stay up for you, but I got too tired," Sarah explained.

"Hello, Sarah!" the teacher greeted her, "And you must be her... older brother?"

"That's right," Adam smiled, "I'm Adam."

Sarah wandered through the gate. "See you later, Sarah!"

The small girl turned and waved back at Adam.

"Have a good day," the teacher smiled before Adam left. Looking at the time on his watch, he'd better run if he planned on getting to school in time.

-O-

The music room was bustling with the sound of music and chatter. Adam's heart just skipped a beat when he found out Ellie was another big Beatles fan, having listened to them since she was a little kid.

"You're kidding, I love the Beatles!" Adam exclaimed excitedly, "Yeah, for one of my birthdays not long after I started learning guitar, my mom and dad got me this Beatles songbook..."

Eager to show off, Adam started playing the opening of the song Michelle, though he didn't have the courage to sing along with it. Regardless, the guitar playing stood on its own. Ellie looked on impressively; bobbing her head on beat with the music.

"That's really good!" Ellie complimented him, "How long did you say you'd been playing for?"

Adam puffed as he tried to remember. "Since I was like, eleven, maybe?"

"You're very talented," Ellie smiled and tilted her head, her long, silky black hair drooping over her shoulder. "Hey, about Friday night – are you still up for, like, sharing the tent?"

"Uh, yeah, definitely," Adam stuttered, "You know, as long as you are!"

"It's fine by me," Ellie chuckled as her cheeks turned red, "You got your own sleeping bag?"

Some confident part of Adam's psyche urged him to reply with something smooth like 'No, I thought we would share one of those, too', but it was quickly shot down.

"I'll get one," Adam replied.

"Hey, are we all still doing this Friday?" Dan asked loudly, addressing the whole room.

"Yeah, for sure," Ron affirmed, "What time are we gonna meet?"

"Right after school?" Liv suggested, "Just bring snacks and whatever."

"Yeah, I can totally get us some," Dan pointed, "Paula, you can come help me carry, right?"

"Sure," Paula nodded before looking at Adam, "And Adam, why don't you come with us? You probably still need help finding the way up, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I could use some help," Adam admitted, "And I'll help get us snacks, obviously."

That was that; date and time set, with the group assuming that Eric and Mike would be fine with the arrangement. Everyone carried on with whatever conversation they were having, including Adam and Ellie.

"You got anything planned tonight?" Adam asked nervously, plucking aimlessly at the guitar strings, too scared to look Ellie in the eye.

"I guess not," Ellie shifted in her seat, "What about you?"

Adam gulped and braced himself. "Well, I was thinking we could hang out tonight, if you wanted?"

"What, just us?"

"Well, or with the others, if you want..."

Ellie leant in slightly, lowering the tone of her voice. "Adam, I'd love to, really – but it's my parents, right? They're just, so overprotective and strict..."

"Yeah..."

"And I don't think they'd like it if they found out I was going out somewhere with just a boy, you know?"

"So why don't you just tell them that you're going out with the others, too?" Adam asked, grinning cheekily. Ellie scoffed in amusement.

"What? Lie to my parents?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Ellie smiled, shaking her head.

"I mean, you've been talking about how your parents are a little restrictive, right?" Adam encouraged her, surprised at what he was saying, "Come on, be a little rebellious!"

Ellie looked down, a smile spreading from cheek to cheek. "Okay, fine. Where do you want to meet?"

-O-

For the third day in a row, Adam came home to noise, except this time it wasn't just Sarah crying; grandpa and mom's raised voices could be heard.

"Come on already, leave the damn kid alone!" he heard his grandpa's gruff voice echo from the other room, "She's got problems, Sandy, she can't be fixed!"

"Don't say that! Why the hell would you say that in front of her?!"

"You're not seriously telling me that Curt put up with this crap?"

Adam dropped his things, slamming the front door behind him and rushing in to the living room where he found mom and grandpa on their feet, up in each other's faces and shouting at each other. Sarah sat curled on the couch, sobbing into her knees.

"What's going on?!" Adam demanded.

"Then there's this deviant and his stoner friends!" grandpa wagged his finger at him, "You can act like you don't know, kid, but I've seen those kids before – hippie burnouts, that's what they are!"

"What are you talking about?" Adam spat, rushing over to Sarah to comfort her. "Sarah – Sarah, it's me, it's Adam."

Mom and grandpa continued arguing incoherently at each other while Adam wrapped his arms around his younger sister. "It's okay," he whispered," Come on, let's go upstairs, huh? Let's go draw in your room."

Sarah took his hand as Adam led her upstairs, gently pulling the living room door to behind them in an effort to muffle the fight. Wiping away tears still running down her face, Sarah showed Adam into her room, walking over to her desk and sitting in a lone chair. Adam shut the bedroom door behind them before kneeling by her desk.

"These are your drawings?" Adam's eyes scanned over them, "I did see them on here last night, but I didn't look through them."

Many of them were similar; a simple tree line on top of a block of green crayon, which he took to be the grass of their backyard, and a blue sky. There were some differences; in some, the sky was slightly cloudy, some had skies of complete grey, but they were generally depicting the same scene – the view from Sarah's bedroom window.

"Why don't we draw a new one?" Adam suggested, "We can both draw it together, yeah?"

Sarah nods, sniffling, as she lays her crayons out on the desk, blunted from constant use. Fetching a fresh sheet of A4 paper, the two began sketching another woods drawing. Adam drew a stick-figure of himself, using a yellow crayon to draw his mop-like bleached hair, before moving on to drawing the grass around him and some basic trees. He glanced over at Sarah's side of the page, where she was doing a similar thing.

After the sky was finally filled in – they settled on blue – the two had finished their hard work. Adam patted Sarah on the back upon finishing their masterpiece.

"Hey, nice work!" he exclaimed, looking over at her side of the page. There Sarah was, in stick figure form. There was something that stood out, though; in between Sarah's trees, she had drawn a completely blank figure. It had no face, no hair, no defining features, like Sarah had neglected to include its details.

"Oh, you forgot about this," Adam pointed, "Who's that? You gonna give them a face and hair?"

Sarah paused for a minute, looking at the figure like she wasn't quite sure what Adam saw wrong. "That's the woods monster."

Adam looked down at her, baffled, "What do you mean, 'woods monster'?"

"Like you said," Sarah replied matter-of-factly, "The monster that lives in the woods."

Remembering their conversation from that morning, Adam sighed and put his arm around Sarah. "Sarah, I was only kidding when I said about the monster – trust me, I've been up there, there's no monster living in the woods, okay?"

The little girl nodded her head gently, her eyes looking to the window.

"Sarah..." Adam asked, "That's not what made you upset today, is it?"

Sarah looked back at Adam and shook her head 'no'.

"Then what did make you upset?"

His sister looked down, shuffling between her drawings. She was becoming visibly more uncomfortable. "I just felt sad."

Not wanting to press her further, Adam heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. By the impact and speed they moved, he could tell they were his mom's. She opened the door to Sarah's room, finding her son kneeling down beside his sister. Sarah looked away and welled up.

"I'm sorry, Sarah," she sighed apologetically, slowly moving over towards her, "I didn't mean to shout and scare you."

"What the hell happened?" Adam whispered angrily. Mom shook her head dismissively, as if to say they'd talk about it later. Reluctantly, Adam left the room, leaving mom to reconcile with her daughter.

-O-

Adam walked up the road to the school entrance, where he and Ellie had agreed to meet since Adam wasn't familiar with many other locations in the town. He felt nervous and his heart was beating fast. He'd come to acknowledge that he was becoming attracted to Ellie, that there was a sense of kindred between them; that while they accepted the people they were friends with, they weren't all that interested in indulging in the same activities. After the previous night, he came to realise that they provided sort of company for each other, that he'd feel a lot lonelier being sober and hanging out with a group of stoners if Ellie wasn't there.

Turning the corner and looking straight down the road, Adam saw her. She was standing still, looking around for Adam with her hands held together in front of her before laying her eyes on him and waving. She looked really pretty – she wore a green knitted jumper that matched her eye colour, a pair of black, slightly baggy jeans and a pair of black boots. The outfit was understated but it suited her perfectly, taking Adam's breath away.

"Hi," Ellie grinned at Adam's gawking, "So, what's the plan?"

"I... I don't know," Adam scanned the area, "Why don't we just walk around, see if we can find something to do?"

"Okay," Ellie said doubtfully, "I'm not sure what you're hoping to find around here, but sure!"

As they walked and talked together, Adam hardly looked at Ellie. It was a kind of feeling he'd felt before, when he found a girl too pretty to look at; like if he looked at her, he'd be doing something wrong. They discovered that Ellie was right; there really was very little to do around here. There were a few small parks, a skate park that was currently occupied by a combined group of freshmen and middle school kids, and a couple of fields set up to play sports on, which were unused.

"Hey, why don't we head up the woods?" Adam suggested, "Do you know your way around?"

"Yeah, I've been with Liv plenty of times," Ellie shivered, "I don't know, it is kind of creepy around there."

"We'll be fine," Adam flirted, "You've got me if anything goes wrong."

"Okay, fine," Ellie caved, "Let's have a look around. I know a way in from here..."

Adam followed her across the street, following roads that took them out of the town's residential areas and into a dirt parking lot, preceding a footpath that lead into the woods.

"Still want to go in?" Ellie asked.

"Why not?" Adam answered, and the two walked in, side by side.

The sun was still in the sky, meaning that they could see their way around fairly well. The paths were well cleared out, signs at their sides offering warnings to walkers: "Be Advised NOT TO WALK ALONE".

"Why would they put that up?" Ellie asked curiously.

"Probably for safety," Adam replied, "If there's someone else with you, you're less likely to get lost, I guess."

Walking further, they found the clearing they were at the previous night. Adam patted his hand on the wooden logs, checking if they were dry.

"Want to sit here for a while?" Adam offered.

"Yeah, sure," Ellie sat with him and looked around the clearing, "Do you think everyone will be able to fit their tents in?"

"I mean, probably," Adam guessed, "If enough people share, it shouldn't be a problem."

"You still don't mind sharing?" Ellie asked.

"Of course not – I mean, do you?"

"Yeah, I still do!" Ellie affirmed, "You're like, already the person I'm closest with in this group, and I've only known you for about three days."

Adam blushed. "Yeah, I feel the same way, you know?"

"It's just, as much as I love our friends," Ellie turned slightly to face Adam better, "I've never been interested in the same kind of stuff they have, you know? Like, the smoking and everything. I guess it's partly because of my upbringing, but I'd say it's mostly just because I have no interest, right?"

"Yeah, I get it," Adam nodded understandingly, "I feel the same way, you know? I'm just not as into that stuff as they are, it feels like."

"Yeah. I just felt so lonely before, you know?"

"Really?"

"I was the only one not doing their stuff, and I just felt kind of left out," Ellie put her hand down in the small space between them.

"I noticed," Adam smiled, "Yesterday, you looked pretty uncomfortable. That's the main reason I turned it down, honestly; I could just tell you didn't want to do it, and I didn't want you to feel pressured or anything."

Ellie paused for a few seconds. "Thank you," she smiled. The two sat in silence, silently acknowledging the special bond they had formed, knowing that they could count on each other to have their backs.


Part II: The Problem Child - 5702 words