Guest 2: I'm glad I haven't pissed off anyone too much with Kenji's death. JWD is mediocre at best IMO. As someone who's not a diehard JP fan, I do agree that they all have certain moments and good parts, for I don't think Dominions is mediocre at best. I did enjoy that it felt like Kenlynn was put on the back burner this season. No disrespect to the Kenlynn shippers, I just think that Darius and Brooklynn have the better chemistry. IDK why a cartoon made me frustrated at a fake relationship.
Darius waited for Brooklynn outside the school. He couldn't believe that she had agreed to a date this weekend. Aww, shit. Now I've got to figure out what I'm going to wear AGAIN. Ah, screw it. I'll figure that out later.
A minute later, Brooklynn came out. "Okay, great news. I talked to Tim. He said that I could stay after school, but only if you drove me home." Brooklynn gave a light chuckle. "I guess my parents like you more than I thought."
"Well, that's good news." Darius said. "So, did you tell him about us going on a date?"
Brooklynn's eyes widened. "Um, I actually still haven't said anything yet."
Darius smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry. I'll ask them if I can take you on a date when I drop you off at your house."
Darius walked back to the locker room, and quickly changed into his practice uniform, and Brooklynn waited for him on the bleachers. She got her phone out, and waited for Darius and his team to come out. She started filming the moment she saw him come out.
After doing a little opening monologue about the team and the players that were coming out, she called out to Darius when he got close enough. "Darius! Grab your best player on Defense and Offense. Bring them up here for a quick interview." Darius grabbed Blake, and Shawn, their star Safety. "Meet the three stars of the Hamilton High School. Will the three players introduce themselves and their position?"
Darius went first. "Darius Bowman, Quarterback."
"Blake de Jong, Wide Receiver." Blake introduced himself.
Shawn went last. "Shawn White, Safety." Before Brooklynn could ask, he quickly said, "No relation to the snowboarder."
She nodded. "Well Darius, Shawn, and Blake, what are the team's chances for this year?"
Shawn explained the defense. "Well, we've got a couple of big guys for the defensive linemen. Amazingly, they're all freshmen. Can't wait to see what these guys can do on. Our biggest problem has always been the pass defense. Our Corner Blocks are fast, just not fast enough. But hopefully the Safeties and Linebackers can put the pressure when they blitz. If not, then we can expect our defensive yardage to be the highest in the league."
Brooklynn turned the camera to the offensive players. "Well, we've got our star QB again, back from the dead. Freshman year, he threw for over 3,000 yards, and after taking some personal time off, he came back in his junior year, and broke the 4000 yard mark. We had one more game of the regular season, but he chose to go see dinosaurs. He took us to the championship game, and we won without him." Blake wiped his eyes, pushing his sadness down. "Last year, he didn't get to play, and freshman year, we didn't make it. We're gonna try to get you one more shot. Then, it's most likely off to collage for him."
Darius smiled. The coach blew the whistle, signaling that practice was about to start. Blake and Shawn immediately ran down. Darius turned to walk down, but said, "Love you." Then he quickly joined the team. Brooklynn was left with a smile on her face.
The practice went good. She saw what Shawn meant about the Corner Backs and their speed. But, in their defense, Blake was fast. And Darius easily put the ball where he wanted. He threw long bomb after long bomb. And Blake caught almost every single one. The running game was decent. They had a quick halfback, and great Defensive Linemen. Overall, she could see them going all the way this season.
After practice, Darius walked into the locker room. "I'll meet you back on the bleachers. I'm gonna be a few minutes."
"Alright, sounds good." Brooklynn said. She scrunched up her nose. "Make sure you shower with soap." Darius smiled and shook his head. Once the team was our of ear shot, she walked up to the coach. "Hey, coach?"
The man looked at her, and did a double take. "Hey, you're that Brooklynn girl, right? The internet girl. My daughters watch you all the time."
She smiled. "I'm glad they're fans. So, I was recording the practice just now, and wanted to know if you would be okay with me posting it on YouTube for my own channel? I was documenting what is going to be Darius's comeback season." Brooklynn explained.
The older man nodded. "I saw you recording on the bleachers. I actually thought you were already with the film club. They do this thing every year. But what should have tipped me off is that they never film the practices. Join the film club, show them your footage, and they will help you post it on our channel. But only show clips of the team. Maybe film a bunch of practices and don't post anything until the last practice. This actually gets you a chance to know all of the players."
Brooklynn nodded. "Sounds good. I'll make sure to do that first thing tomorrow. Thanks coach."
About twenty minutes later, Darius came out of the locker room, changed and showered. It looked like he didn't dry off completely. His shirt was sticking to his chest a little bit, and his hair was still wet. He walked over, and asked, "You ready to go?"
"Yeah." she told him. The two walked back to the parking lot, and Darius unlocked the door to his jeep. "Wow. Did you buy this yourself? This is amazing."
Darius smiled. "It was actually my mother's. She left it to me in the Will when Brandon got his own car."
"That was sweet of her." she said.
"I had a pretty cool mom." Darius said as he started driving. The two teens talked about how boring school was. She told him that she was going to sign up for film club and post his comeback story on the YouTube channel. He liked that idea.
"So, what collages have you applied for?" Brooklynn asked him.
Darius thought for a moment. "I've gotten a bunch of recruitment offers from collages all over the country. Oregon State, Washington-Seattle. A lot of West Coast collages. I was even offered a scholarship to Ole Miss."
Brooklynn nodded with a smile. "Damn, they weren't kidding when they said you were good."
"What do you mean 'they'?" Darius asked.
"Oh, after you walked me to lunch, a lot of girls came over to ask if we were dating." Brooklynn explained. "They heard you say 'I love you'." Darius smiled and shook his head. "They kept going on and on about how they would have loved to date the star Quarterback. A couple of guys started going over your stats and some other stuff."
Darius started laughing. "Oh damn. You didn't get uncomfortable, did you?"
Brooklynn shook her. "No. I thought it was kind of cool. You're like a hero for this place."
Darius laughed a sad laugh. "Yeah, if they only knew what their 'hero' did in his sophomore year to pay for his mother's treatment."
Brooklynn looked at him. "You know that I don't hold the street racing against you, right? You did what you thought was best. You could have done nothing, but you stepped up. And anyone who blames you for what you did is not your friend. Just like how we don't hold a grudge over Sammy spying for Mantah Corp."
Darius put his hand in hers, and squeezed. "I love you." he said to her.
Brooklynn smiled and blushed, still not used to him saying it. "Love you too."
After Brooklynn directed Darius to her house, he pulled up to the curb. There was only one car in the driveway, but he didn't want to do anything without permission. "I'll walk you up." he said. Quickly coming around to her side, he opened Brooklynn's door, and offered a hand. She smiled, and accepted. As he walked on the lawn, he asked, "Hey, what's your last name again?"
Brooklynn realized she never shared her last name with anyone. "Oh yeah, you guys never knew this. It's Taylor."
"Brooklynn Taylor?" Darius clarified.
Brooklynn nodded. "Yup. I guess I just liked the sound of Brooklynn better."
Darius said, "You were on that Zendaya vibe. No last name, just the first name."
Brooklynn laughed. "I guess."
The two teens got to the door, and Darius knocked. A few minutes later, the door opened, revealing one of Brooklynn's parents. "Oh, hello you two."
"Hi Mr. Taylor. Thanks for allowing Brooklynn to stay with me for practice." Darius said, shaking the man's hand.
"Oh, it's no trouble. Thank you for taking her home." he said. "Would you like to come in? Jake is gonna be home soon. I'm just setting the table for dinner."
Darius smiled. "That's a very nice offer Mr. Taylor, but I promised my Uncle that I would make dinner when I got home."
"Next time then." the older man said with a smile.
Brooklynn decided that she should tell at least one parent now. "Um, Pops, Darius had offered to take me out this Saturday, and we were wondering if that would be okay with you and Dad?"
The man said, "Well, I don't have a problem with it. But let's see what your dad says when he comes home. If he doesn't agree with me, I'll think of a way to convince him." Darius smiled. "Well, I'll let you go home Darius. It was nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you too Mr. Taylor." Darius watched as Brooklynn got in the house. "See you tomorrow Brooke."
She waved. "Bye Darius." With that, the door shut, and Darius walked back to his jeep.
Later that evening, Darius had texted Sammy to let her know of that he might be going on a date with Brooklynn. Needless to say, she was very, VERY excited about this.
Sammy: Okay, where are you gonna take her?
Darius: IDK. Probably McDonalds.
Sammy: WTF? YOU DONT TAKE A GIRL TO MCDONALDS ON THE FIRST DATE!
WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?
Darius: I'm poor.
Sammy: So?
Take her to Starbucks then
Darius laughed as he responded.
D: I think I've got about a hundred saved in my piggy bank.
S: GREAT! ?
Wait... you still have a piggy bank?
D: piss off
S: make me bitch
Darius let out an even louder laugh. Uncle Josh, who was sitting next to Darius on the couch, asked, "The hell you laughing at boy?"
Darius shook his head. "Sammy just called me a bitch after I told her to piss off."
Josh let out his own laugh. "Oh man. Cowgirl Sammy? Damn. Do NOT get into a fight with her. Serves you right to get called a bitch."
The next day, Darius had no practice. His schedule was Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Fridays and Saturdays were game days, and Sundays and Wednesdays are rest days. So, Darius was able to take Brooklynn straight home without staying after school for two hours. He spent the rest of the week planning what he could do with Brooklynn. He didn't want to just take her to Starbucks and that be it. He thought maybe a walk in the park, a lunch at the Olive Garden. Well, what the hell do you do with someone you've spent six months on two dinosaur islands? Ugh, maybe I'm overthinking this.
Brooklynn was quickly accepted into the Film Club. The girl that was put in charge of the Football YouTube Channel allowed her to do all the work she wanted on the football team. Part of it was because they thought that if Brooklynn, an I internet sensation, was voicing it, it would draw more people to it. And Brooklynn recognized this easily, but in all honesty, wasn't offended. She had done that in collaborations with channels bigger than hers, so she wasn't in any good position to judge.
It took a few days, but finally, Brooklynn was able to give Darius an answer on if her parents would let her go out with him. "Hey." she said, walking up the stairs to catch up with him.
Darius smiled, and put her hand in his. Brooklynn was happy that she hasn't gotten used to this yet. "So, what have they decided?" he asked her.
"They said I could go out with you tomorrow," she explained, "but only if you plan to bring me home by five."
Darius nodded. "Alright, I can do that."
"Oh, and all future dates have to be scheduled on non school days." Brooklynn added.
Darius nodded again. "I agree with that actually. My uncle is giving me a similar rule. No extra activities outside of Football during the week. We really don't want me to fall behind after we just got caught up."
Brooklynn nodded along with him. "So, what time are you picking me up?"
Darius thought for a second. "I was thinking I could pick you up at like eleven. We can grab a bite, I'll show you around town. Then we'll grab a late lunch or something."
"Sounds like you got it all figured out." Brooklynn said.
Darius nodded. "So, you're staying here after school for the Film Club meeting?"
Brooklynn nodded. "Yeah. We're going to share what we've filmed for the week. It's gonna be this weekly thing. They mentioned that they give you a couple of styles to choose from. Could be anything. Sports, a short film, a documentary of sorts. You can even do a little series over the course of the club."
"So, you've got the first week of practice all finished up?" Darius asked.
"Stayed up for a while polishing the audio, making sure it was as close to perfect as I could get." Brooklynn explained. "And don't get me started on the script. It took forever for me to write that thing."
Darius smiled. "Well, thanks for doing it. I can't tell you how much it means for me to look up in the bleachers and see you. Even if you still have a camera in your face."
The two teens laughed. "Oh, that's right. I'm not going home straight after." Brooklynn realized. "You're not just going to wait in the parking lot for an hour and a half, right? I can always text you when we're done."
Darius shoo his head. "No, me and some of the guys like to use our spare time to practice some basic drills or a new trick play they've been working on. It helps us get familiar with our own positions better before we have a game."
"Alright, so you've got your thing, and I've got mine." Brooklynn sighed with relief. "Well, I'll see you at lunch." she said as she entered homeroom.
"Love you." Darius said.
Brooklynn smiled with a blush. "Love you too."
After School
Brooklynn entered the room where the Film Club met. She waited for everyone else to get settled. Once the leader started, Brooklynn volunteered to go first with her own film.
"What's good Hamilton High school? It's your girl Brooklynn comin' at ya with this week's practice highlights for the Broncs. Like and subscribe to receive notifications of new uploads.
"Lets first start off with welcoming back from the dead, Darius Bowman. After missing the state championship game last season due to being stuck on Isla Nublar for six months, he's come back looking stronger than ever.
"The focus for the offense this week was to work on their deep passing attack. Bowman, who is returning from an impressive Junior season of 4,095 passing yards, was able to throw long bomb after long bomb. His best Receiver, Blake de Jong, repeatedly outran the Corner Blocks in the Zone Coverage. This a dynamic duo I can't wait to see in action.
"Now, if you're like me, you will agree that the defense is the most important part of a Football team. Safety Shawn White was able to give the Tight Ends a run for their money in the man to man coverage. He managed to break up multiple attempts along the Wheel Route plays and the short passes, and managing to immediately tackle the Receivers once the ball was in their possession.
"While the Corner Blocks and the deep coverage might need a little fine tuning, don't count this defense out just yet. The most impressive feat of this defense might just be the all freshman linemen. These four were able to break up the pocket quickly, causing Bowman to scramble, even forcing him to run a few times. I personally can't wait to see these guys in action.
"Special teams is also doing good. Kicker Philip Williams managed to break his own practice record, kicking a perfect 35 yard field goal.
"With the season less than three weeks away from starting, all eyes will be focused on Bowman. With only one more year before his collage career, will Darius be able to add a state championship win to his resume? Like everyone else, I can't wait for the season to start and watch his comeback. Thanks for watching this weeks video, and I'll see you in the next one."
Brooklynn smiled as her video ended. The group loved it of course. She knew that they were kissing her butt mainly because of her own massive following on YouTube. But she couldn't care less about it. She knew that as long as she kept doing it for Darius, she would enjoy this.
On the field
Darius, Blake, Shawn, and a few other players were practicing some plays out on the field. They always made sure to get extra practice time any way they could. They wanted to get the plays drilled into their memory. Nobody was actually trying, they just wanted to make sure they got the plays right.
After doing this for about an hour, the teens decided to take a break. One of the guys asked, "Hey, does anyone know who the girl that's been filming us all week is?"
"Her name is Brooklynn." Blake answered. "Darius's new girl."
The teens laughed. Darius even smiled. "So, what, is she one of those nerdy film types? I mean, I'm not judging, but I gotta know what's up with that." another asked.
Darius said, "She's one of the girls that was stuck on Nublar with me."
There was a collective mix of nods and ahhs. "Wait, she didn't look like the farm girl, and she didn't look as athletic as that trackstar prodigy. Ate you saying that vlogger chick that my sister watches all the time is YOUR girlfriend?"
The other boys gave a mix of oohs and laughs. Darius still smiled. "Hey, speaking of Nublar, what was it like out there man? Running from dinosaurs every day?" Shawn asked.
Another chimed in. "There were rumors spreading that a new dinosaur had gotten out. Is it true?"
Darius got a little tense. Blake saw this, and said, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
The others realized they might have appeared pushy. The teens let out a mix of apologies. Darius shook his head. "You guys are fine. I don't mind talking about it. Yes, there were hybrid dinosaurs. Made from other animals, and created into monsters. The first one was a white dinosaur. It could camouflage, and managed to almost kill us a few times. They called it the Indominous Rex."
Blake laughed. Darius looked at him for a second. "Sorry, sorry. It's just that it was going real good until you said it's name. I mean, clearly the damn thing was made by a corporation. Only THEY could come up with a name that stupid."
Darius gave a low chuckle. "Well, I guess you're not entirely wrong. When we were headed to the boats, we got separated from one of our campers. And we decided that we needed to keep going, we didn't even stop to look for him. We missed the boat, and spent like two months trying to survive. We thought that help would come. Long story short, we had to fight poachers, survive dinosaur attacks, we eventually found Ben, we had to fight two more hybrid dinosaurs, fight off mercs, finally get off the damn island, and then we were stuck on ANOTHER dinosaur island for like a week."
Shawn spoke up. "Wow. The man upstairs REALLY hates your ass, doesn't he?"
The boys laughed at this. "Yeah, I was thinking that the entire time we were there."
"Wait, you said TWO MORE hybrid dinosaurs?" Blake asked.
Another one points out, "He mentions poachers and mercs, but you first ask a out the dinosaurs?"
Darius defended him saying, "No no, he's got a point. These things were ugly as hell. It was all black, had red eyes, stood like a human, and had the roar of a demon. I'm not even joking, it's hard for me to imagine that Wu actually created that thing."
"But you said there were two of them." one of the Corner Backs pointed out.
"There was originally just one." Darius explained. "Brooklynn and Sammy only found one chamber where it came from. The ugly fucker could recreate itself."
"How's that possible?" the other Receiver asked.
"I don't know." Darius answered honestly. "The only theory I have is the DNA that was used is similar to the blood of those star fishes we learned about last year. They can reproduce by themselves, right? So something in its genetic code fused with the star fish DNA. Wu really fucked up with this thing."
"Wu?" Shawn asked. "What's he have to do with this?"
"So, after we killed the Scorpius Rex's," Darius stopped for a second to keep himself from laughing. How was he so afraid of a dinosaur called Scorpius? "Dammit Blake, now I can't help but notice how ridiculous it sounds. Anyways, Wu shows up with these mercs. This is six months months after the park fell. He's looking for his laptop because he's been... hired to... to make more..." The teen stopped to think for a minute. "Oh shit. I've got to make a call."
As he walked off, Blake asked, "Are you alright dude?"
Darius shook his head. "No, I'm not." After getting far enough away from earshot, he calls Sammy.
After a few seconds, she answers, " Hey, can I call you back in a few minutes?"
Darius interrupted. "Do you still have the flash drive from Wu's laptop?"
"Yeah, why?" Sammy was confused.
The older teen explained, "We never gave the footage to the FBI, did we?"
Sammy said, "Um, in my questioning after we got back, I was afraid to hand it over. I was explicitly asked by the agent questioning 'did you steal something'. I didn't want to admit that I had the flash drive because I didn't want to risk my family again."
Darius nodded. "I get it. Look, I don't want to ask you to do anything yet, but do we still feel like Wu is dangerous?"
"I mean, I don't exactly think he's trustworthy." she admitted. "Should we do something about this?"
Darius thought for a moment. "I just got to thinking about our time and everything we went through on Nublar. And you did want to use this information to keep Mantah Corp away from your family, but..."
"Mantah Corp doesn't exist anymore." Sammy finished. "I mean, is Wu even able to make dinosaurs anymore? Is his boss so mad that he fired or... even potentially killed him?"
"And how long are we willing to wait before Wu finally figures out how to make hybrid dinosaurs again?" Darius asked. They both sighed. "What do you want to do? I'll let you make the choice."
Sammy bit her cheek. "I really don't want this to come back and bite us in the ass. We should send this in."
"Okay." Darius said. "I'll call Jones again. If he still has the phone number. Maybe he can get the FBI to start an investigation."
"Alright." Sammy sighed again. "Hows Brooklynn?"
Darius smiled. "She's doing good. I'm just waiting for her film thing to finish up."
"Oh yeah, she joined that film club." Sammy remembered. "Are you all set for your date?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna take her to Starbucks, a walk around town, and a late lunch at Olive Garden." Darius told her.
"Wow, you actually put effort into the date." Sammy said inpressed. "Looks like Yaz owes me another 20 bucks. She thought you were gonna go the easy route and take her for a movie."
Darius shook his head with a small laugh. "Heh, don't think it didn't cross my mind. Alright, I'll call Jones either tonight or tomorrow. You realize you may need to send the drive to him yeah?"
Sammy nodded. "Anything to keep us safe and stop Wu permanently."
Darius nodded as well. "Alright, I'm gonna hang up. Sorry for the sudden call. I just wanted to know how we proceed."
"Yeah, any time." Sammy assured him. "Stay safe, alright?"
"You too." he said, then hung up.
Darius walked back to his group of friends. Blake asked again, "Everything cool man?"
Darius nodded. "Yeah. Um, I just... It's hard to explain right now."
Everyone nodded. Brooklynn came out a few minutes later and found him sitting with his teammates. "Hey. You ready to go?"
Darius nodded. "See you guys later." The two teens got into the jeep, and drove to Brooklynn's. "So, how was it?" he asked.
Brooklynn scoffed and sighed. "It was just a bunch of people praising me, not actually giving me anything to work towards or improve."
He laughed. "Yeah, that's gotta suck." After a few minutes, he said, "Hey, remember the flash drive we copied from Wu's laptop?"
Brooklynn gasped. "What happened? Please don't tell me we dropped it somewhere."
Darius shook his head. "No. Sammy still has it. We decided that we were gonna give it to Agent Jones. Hopefully, he will give it to the FBI. Then, Wu won't be able to make more hybrids."
"But, and I hate how selfish I'm going to sound, we don't have to do anything other than give him the drive? And he's just going to send it off to somebody else?" Brooklynn clarified.
"Yeah." Darius assured her. "Nobody, aside from me and Sammy, needs to do anything. At the most, he may ask for statements. But that should be it. Nobody needs to plan some sort of op. They will do the investigating and put an end to Wu's overrated science experiments. I hope."
Brooklynn scoffed. "Good. You know, as he held me hostage with Hawkes, the man actually had the audacity to defend his work. He said that he was a visionary pushing the boundaries science. He says that he hopes one day, we will understand that."
Shaking his head, Darius muttered, "Asshole. A true scientist looks for ways to make the world a better place to live in, not look for the highest bidder to fund his projects."
"That's actually pretty close to what I told him." Brooklynn mused. A few minutes later, Darius pulled up in front of her house. "Thanks for driving me home back and forth all this week. I can't wait for tomorrow." As she got out, she made sure to look back. Before she shut the door, she said, "Love you."
Darius smiled. "Love you too. See you tomorrow." He watched as she ran up the lawn and into her house. He drove off once she got in the house.
The next morning, Brandon, who was calling from the collage in UCLA, helped his younger brother get ready. "Alright, don't overthink it. You're just taking her for a walk and brunch. No, wait... It's not brunch since you guys are gonna eat at like One or Two. Can you technically call it Lunch?"
Darius shook his head. "Not helping dude."
"Sorry, but now I really want to know." Brand said. "Hey Siri, what's a noun for lunch and dinner?"
"Here are some results." the voice answered. "The most common term for a meal between lunch and dinner is called a snack."
Darius burst out laughing. Brandon grumbled, "Stupid piece of crap. That's not what it's called."
Darius was still laughing, but managed to say between gasps, "Good to know we're having a snack instead of a full meal."
"Whatever man." Brandon said, feeling very sour with Siri. "Piece of crap anyways. Hey, I'm actually impressed that you've managed to plan a whole date. I would have gone the easy route and did a movie."
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Darius reasoned. "What do you do with the person you were stuck on an island for six months? You've literally faced life and death with each other. What do you do when that's over?"
Brandon shrugged. "Alright, I've gotta get back to my class. I've been gone for like eight minutes talking to you. I had to hide in the bathroom."
Darius chuckled. "I appreciate that bro. Alright, I'll talk later. See ya man."
"Good luck!" Brandon said to him.
Darius finished getting ready. He shaved the hairs on his face, aside from his mustache. That's staying. He wore his faded jeans, black and white Vans, and put on a cream colored hoodie. He grabbed his keys and wallets. "Hey, have fun champ." Josh said as he left the house.
"Thanks Uncle." Darius responded with a smile. "Love you guys. See you tonight."
The teen drove to Brooklynn's house, parked his jeep on the curb, and walked up to the door. After knocking on the door, it opened after a few seconds. And Mr. Taylor opened. "Hello Darius! So nice to see you!"
Darius smiled. "Nice to see you too Mr. Taylor."
The older man scoffed. "Please, call me Tim. Come inside." Darius followed Tim into the house to the living room. "You can leave your shoes on if you want. Brooklynn will be down in a minute. Please sit down. Do you need anything to drink? Water? Soda?"
Not wanting to be rude, the teen said, "Water is alright. Thank you." A second later, another man, who Darius recognized as Brooklynn's other father, Jake was it? sat down on the other side of the room on the smaller couch. "Good to see you again Mr. Taylor." the teen said, putting his hand out to shake.
The older man shook his hand. "Hello Darius." The older man just went back to sitting and staring at him.
Darius looked around the room, trying to see if there was something that he could make small talk with. God, I hate small talk. It's just so meaningless. And it's not even supposed to go anywhere. And if you're trying to start a long conversation, it just puts more pressure to come up with a topic to continue the conversation. Lucky for him, Darius was saved by Tim coming back with a glass of iced water and a coaster. The teen said thank you and took a sip. He noticed a picture of Tim and Brooklynn wearing snow gear. "Where was that picture taken? One of Brooklynn's videos?"
Tim smiled. "Her video in Greenland. They wanted to get some more tourist attention, so they asked her to scale a glacier for them."
Darius smiled as well. "Nice."
"Just out of curiosity Darius" Jake asked. The teen looked him in the eyes. "how many videos of Brooklynn's did you see before you got to Nublar?"
Tim gave Jake a look of annoyance and was about to say something until Darius quickly said, "Actually, I don't think I've watched ANY of her videos. I don't use YouTube for much except music. I don't know why everyone goes crazy over Spotify Premium. I like my skippable ads for free."
The two men chuckled slightly. "But in all seriousness, did you ever recognize her on the ride to the camp from the dock?"
Darius answered, "I mean, I figured she was SOME person on YouTube, probably invited by Jurassic World to get some attention for the camp. But again, even after I found out, I still haven't seen her videos. No offence to her."
Tim said, "We don't take offence to it Darius. In all honesty, you have my respect even more now."
"Thank you sir." Darius said gratefully.
Brooklynn's voice said, "Dad, Pops, is Darius here yet?"
"He's in the living room with us sweetie." Jake told her.
Darius heard the footsteps come down the stairs. Brooklynn entered the room wearing a pair of black jeans ripped at the knees, white high top Converse, a checkered tank top, and a jean jacket in her hand. The teens smiled at each other. "Hey. You ready to go?"
"Yeah." Darius said. He stood up with his glass in his hand. "Where's the sink?"
Tim shook his head. "You can just leave it on the coaster. I'll pick it up later."
Darius nodded, and shook Tim's head. "It was good to see you again Tim. Mr. Taylor." Jake shook the teen's hand. The two teens practically ran to the jeep, and Darius drove off. "So, how's your day been?" he asked.
"Well, it just got a whole lot better." Brooklynn said with a smile. "Where are we going?"
"First, I'm gonna take you to Starbucks for some coffee." Darius heard her audibly gasp and sigh in happiness. "Then, we're gonna go for a walk around town, then grab some lunch. I'm going to drop you off at Five though."
Brooklynn nodded and smiled. "Sounds good."
Aaaaaaand scene. So glad this chapter is done. I'm going to do a lot of filler before we get to Fallen Kingdom. I actually wasn't sure if me killing off Kenji was gonna go well, but it seems for the most part people enjoyed it. Anyways, hope ya'll have a good day, stay home, stay safe.