Chapter 7-

Soon enough Peter, Sophie, and I were back at Horizon. Home. It really had become that to me. I loved waking up and seeing the mountain and the woods. I loved the smell, too. Most days you could smell someone's burn pile and it smelled amazing. The night we got back I spent all by myself. I was reflecting. But not on what most people would think. I wasn't thinking about my mom, or my old life. I was thinking about the day I found out about my mom's death. Samantha had been telling me about her mom. I had been mean to her and now I felt bad.

"Damn you, conscience." I muttered. I wanted to go apologize to her now but it was midnight and too late. I would have to wait until morning.

That night I slept maybe two hours total. By 4 in the morning I was sick of lying around doing nothing. I got up and changed into a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, and my Princeton hoodie. I got that hoodie when my basketball team played in a championship at the school. I then grabbed my ipod, a Christmas present from my dad last year, and headed out the door. I figured I'd take a quick run and go back to the cabin and shower before breakfast. My plan changed a little when I got to the docks, though.

Scott and I hadn't talked much since we had kissed. Just a few snippets of conversation here and there. I was trying to keep my distance from him because somehow Shelby found out about the kiss. If I even smiled at him I figured she would bite my head off. I felt bad that the two of them were having a hard time on my account but there was nothing I could do about it so I let it go. The second the dock was in sight, however, I saw two familiar figures I knew to be Scott and Shelby. I realized I was happy when I saw them. They loved each other as much as J and I loved each other.

"At lease some of us can be together." I said under my breath. I started running again, this time towards the Administration Building. Scott and Shelby looked up when I passed in their line of vision. Shelby didn't look too pissed to see me and Scott waved. I waved back and knew things were going to be okay.

After my run, which ended up taking an extra 30 minutes due to my Scott and Shelby run in which made me upset about J, I hopped in the shower and washed the sadness off me. Today I put the past in the past for good. There was only one thing left to do. Make amends with Samantha Parks.

I found her sitting by herself in the dining room. I got my breakfast and headed over to her. "Mind if I sit here?" I asked.

"Whatever." She replied.

I sat and started eating. "Hey." I said after I swallowed. "Sorry about when I left. You know, you were telling me about your parents and I blew you off? That was mean of me and I apologize."

"Whatever." Samantha repeated.

I decided to press my luck. "If you ever want to talk about it let me know, okay?"

"What . . ." she started.

I cut her off by holding up my hand, "Please." I said. "Don't say whatever again." I smiled at her and she smiled back. Now we were getting somewhere.

But for every step forward there's always two steps back. Samantha shut her mouth until the food on out plates was gone. She finally broke the silence and said, "It sucks, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it does." I managed to choke out. All the emotions were rushing back to me but I forced them away.

"But at least you've got your dad. You and Peter seem pretty close."

I smiled thinking of what a great guy my dad was. "We are." I replied. "What about you? Do you have anyone you're really close to?"

Samantha thought about it and shook her head. "No. There was this girl in my last foster home who was pretty cool but we never really talked. I mean, we had conversations but they were always about guys or makeup or whatever."

"Well, whenever you want to talk about anything I'm here." I could see doubt in her eyes so I added, "And don't worry about me telling my dad or Sophie. I don't tell them everything."

Samantha went quiet again. When she spoke what she said surprised me. "Why don't you want your dad and Sophie to get married?"

I took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know." I said honestly. "I think because . . . I want it to be just me and my dad, you know? I like that. If Sophie becomes a part of our family I'm afraid he won't have time for me any more."

"Don't worry about your dad ditching you. He loves Sophie, obviously, but its way more obvious that he loves you. To be honest I get jealous of you guys sometimes."

"Really?" I asked. Samantha nodded. We smiled at each other again.

"Whoa!" I thought. "What did I start taking advice from Samantha Parks?" This day was getting weirder and weirder.