Three days later…

"Ok, Jaden, do you have any two's?"

"Gooooo fish!"

The whole gang was gathered at Avery's cabin: Destiny, Jaden, Avery, and Rebecca, who, Jaden decided, wasn't really that bad, aside from being a little…erm…blonde.

Jaden drew a card from the deck. "Ok, Rebecca, do you have any jacks?"

"Wait, are the jacks the ones with the J on them or the ones with the K on them?"

Destiny rolled her eyes and said in a slow voice "The jacks are the ones with the J's on them."

"Oh! Ok! Go fish!" Rebecca scratched her head. "Why do they say go fish anyway? There's no fish in this deck!"

Avery got up and helped Rebecca off the floor. "Babe, let's go for a walk. I'll explain it all."

"Ok!" Rebecca said as they left. "You know what else I don't get? Sporks. You can have spoons, and you can have forks, but you can't put them together."

There was a bit of an awkward silence after they left. Then Jaden finally said "So, it was nice of you guys to invite me to crash here for a few weeks."

"Well, what else would we do? It was us or a hotel. Plus, I think Avery's starting to like you." Destiny popped a few popcorn kernels into her mouth. "But you know what I've always wondered? Before we met, what was your life like? I've told you all about my childhood, but never once have you talked about your parents or schooling or…stuff."

"Well…it's kind of complicated."

"Come on, tell me! You trust me, right?"

Jaden sighed. "I was sent off to boarding school at 5. Haven't seen mom or dad since. A letter every once in a while, maybe a phone call once every couple of years. Other than that, zip contact."

"Oh." Another awkward silence engulfed the room. Destiny twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's ok. You get used to it. Heck, I can barely even remember what my parents look like anymore and I don't care. Doesn't affect my life a great deal."

"But don't you…love your parents? Isn't there some invisible, unspoken bond?"

"I haven't interacted with them enough to even really care about them, so no, no bond."

"So you don't even bother with your parents? Ever?"

"Not much." Jaden shrugged.

"Well that's…that's wrong!" Destiny exclaimed, leaping up. Jaden, however was as cool as a cucumber.

"Why? They don't care about me."

"Yes they do, you just don't know it! You're their son, they have to care!"

"Why do you care so much, anyway? I'm a big boy. I can take care of my family issues by myself."

"Because you're lucky enough to actually have parents!"

An understanding look crossed Jaden's face, but before he could say anything, Avery and Rebecca barged in.

"Hi everybody!" Rebecca chirped, plopping down on the floor. "I know how to play go fish now!" she said proudly.

"Good for you!" Destiny said in a voice one might use when talking to a three year old. "Can you also recite you ABC's and count to 5?"

"Yeah!" Rebecca clapped her hands.

Destiny looked into Avery's eyes, silently saying "Are you serious? It's not too late to back out."

"Ok, dinnertime!" Avery led everyone into the kitchen.

********************************************************************************This is really just a filler chapter. I only made this to explain my version of Jaden's roots. The next chapter will jump right into the thick of things.