Chapter Seven: Why'd You Have to Go and Pick Me?

Shelby

"This couldn't be more perfect." I admitted to Scott, while holding onto him as we walked down a bushy path. Light shone through the trees and the new morning had come. It was ... just right.

"Do you think they did this on purpose?" Scott wondered looking down at me.

"I don't know ... I thought they just drew names out of a hat. Ideally, this is not the best situation." I began. "I mean, here we are two ... hormonal teenagers completely in love and all alone." I sighed. "What was Peter thinking?" I joked.

"He trusts us." Scott answered. "And if we were gonna do something, we would've already." I looked down, avoiding his glance as he pulled me in for a hug. That was exactly the opposite of what I was hoping he'd say. I loved Scott and I wanted to express my feelings for him in every way. It just felt weird that the only thing we had done was kissed ... and it had been limited kissing.

"You're right." I admitted, kissing him softly. Suddenly, the birds in the trees and the sky didn't seem so bright anymore. Our relationship was getting more routine and ... limited. I hated it. If I had my say, Scott and I would be running off together. Now. Right now. We would even get hitched if he wanted to ... but I wanted more and I didn't want to make him feel pressured into anything ...

Augie

"I can't believe what Dawn said to me. She honestly hates all white people." Katherine told me.

"I'm not surprised." I answered as we reached an area with a lot of rocks with damp grass. "A stream is near." I added.

"Don't you think it's terrible? How can anyone hate someone based on their outward appearance ... something they have absolutely no control over!" Katherine exclaimed, trying to get me to agree with her. "I'm so thankful for my parents because my 'biological' parents didn't care about me. I would've been living on the streets or in a gang if it wasn't for them." She admitted graciously as I continued down the trail. We had made excellent progress and then, we only had five more clues to find.

"Haven't you ever experienced prejudice? I know lots of people that hate me because I'm Mexican and probably hate you too."

"Yeah." She paused. "But that's different. I mean she's here with us ... her family doesn't seem to be like that. I just don't understand it. It's like ... she could've easily turned out to have blonde hair and green eyes, just like I have blue eyes and you could've turned out looking different too. I mean everyone's so mixed up in this country ... it's like you're hating yourself when you're racist."

"Uh-huh." I nodded, hoping that she would stop soon. I was more interested in this trail than with anything she had to say. "Do you see that?" Katherine nodded.

"That must be the next clue." She stated, equally as excited as I was.

"I'll go down and get it and you wait." Katherine demanded before I could protest. True. I had retrieved most of the other clues, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Katherine climbed down the side of a mountain-like area as small pebbles tumbled from under her feet. I began to worry, realizing just how dangerous this was and how much trouble she was having. "Do you need any help?!" I called out, but she just put her hand up, steadied herself and kept going. The clue-box was near the end of the brook and she was almost there.

"Whoo! I've got it!" Katherine waved the clue back at me as I smiled and put down my pack. I needed a water break. The sun was pounding down on us, unusually warm. The water felt good going down my throat as every part of me began to relax. I sat down on a tall rock, running a little water over my head. I looked down to see where Katherine was. She should've been halfway up here by now, but I didn't hear any sounds of her feet moving or ... anything.

"Kathy are you ..." My voice trailed off as I noticed that she wasn't anywhere to be found. Her pack was at the edge of the stream, but I didn't see her. Immediately, I started rushing down the mountain, thinking the worst had happened. All I knew was that she had disappeared.

Jasper

"Would you shut up and trust me?" I asked Dawn who had got her ankle stuck under a tree root and sprained it. She was about the least graceful person I knew in the woods ... and we were still lost.

"Why should I? You know, this is like the worst, possible situation." She admitted, pouting.

"Then I'll just leave you. I'll go back to Horizon and pretend like I never heard of you before." I gave in, sitting beside her.

"I know what you're thinking. Just because my stupid ankle hurts doesn't mean I won't fight back ... Don't even think about it!"

"Do I give off the vibe of some type of perverted predator? I'm just trying to help." I handed her a long tree branch, which I had found on the ground, and wrapped a piece of material around her ankle.

"Please ... don't try to help me. I..." Dawn's voice trailed off as she passed out in my arms.

"Dawn, Dawn!" I yelled as her frail body lay in my arms. This was not what I had planned to happen at all ... this was so much worse.

(A/N: Not much ...just a transition chapter with more conflicts to be explored. Tell me what you think and who you want to hear about in the next chapter!! And, of course, REVIEW!! Thanks to veruca and spikesluvs13 for reviewing this year!! LolNL)