Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Mwaah-ha-ha...

Scary big thanks to elliefrog, VioletDreams13, escarlet 12, checkers, BriCalgary & Molly01 for fav'ing and following this story (&ME!) and reviewing. You make writing this story worthwhile.

So elliefrog & VioletDreams13 has some ideas about what is happening in this story. Aliens? Magical nymphs? Sneaky prankster teacher? Great ideas, absolutely. I'd love to see them developed actually, but sadly...no, none of those are in this story. Keep the ideas coming, I know that someone can work it out!

And to the anonymous guest reviewer: Yeah...I kind of love this brand of Edward too.

:-D

EPOV

Unfortunately after three hours of wandering in the forest, the complaints started again. I suppose I should be grateful that they held out that long.

"How much further?" Victoria moans. She has been asking the same question repeatedly for the past fifteen minutes. At this stage I'd almost be disappointed if she didn't ask.

"I don't know," I say. It's the only honest thing I can say.

"Just face it, man," Tyler sighs. "We're lost."

"We're not lost."

It's a lie. We are totally lost.

I don't understand how it happened. The compass has steadily pointed us in the direction of the visitors center yet we still haven't reached it. Judging by the length of time elapsed and the pace that we are walking at, we should have reached it almost an hour ago.

But we haven't.

And I'm scared to tell my classmates.

They had trusted me to lead them back and I had failed. Maybe it would have better for us to have stayed at the campsite. Sure it was creepy and what happened was beyond all explanation, but if someone were to start looking for us, they would start their first. Sadly, if we were to turn back now, we would probably end up more lost than we already are.

I am about to suggest that we take a break and eat what we have left of our food, when I notice a gap in the trees ahead. I'm so relieved that I could cry. We were never really lost, my calculations must have been wrong.

Not that I intended to tell anyone that either.

My relief is short lived. There is no building in sight, just a road. A road that hasn't been used in so long that there are ferns and grass growing from its many cracks. It's unusual to see such a long stretch of roadway in a state of disrepair. I try to remember if there have been any new highways built in the last fifty years that would allow this one to be abandoned completely.

I'm so distracted by the old road that I don't see the attack coming. One minute I'm standing on two legs, the next I'm sprawled out on the asphalt with an angry giant standing over me.

"What the fuck is this, huh?" Emmett shouts. I'm as terrified by his words as I am by the unhygienic saliva flying out of his mouth. "Where the hell are we?"

He grabs me by the front of my shirt before I can answer and slams my head down on the hard surface. My eyes feel wet but I'm definitely not crying. He must have just spat in my eyes or something.

Yeah...that's what happened.

"Hey, get off him!" Jasper yells. My vision is blurry but I can see Eric, Jasper and Tyler trying to pull Emmett off me. When they manage to pry him away, I'm surprised to see Bella rush to my side.

"Oh my god, Edward. Are you okay?" She asks sadly. I'm touched to see her so worried about me but I feel humiliated that I couldn't defend myself.

Her fingers gingerly touch the back of my head before I move away from her. As much as I want to feel her hands on me, the pain in my head is unbearable.

"I'm fine," I murmur, easing myself to my feet again. I can tell that she doesn't believe me, which is fine because I'm lying through my teeth. I'm in agony. Thankfully she turns her attention to Emmett.

"How could you do that to him?" Bella shrieks, getting far too close to him for my liking, yet apparently my damaged brain sees it differently. I've always found Bella attractive but watching her defend me...so, so hot.

"Me?" Emmett roars. "He's the one who got us lost in the fucking forest, then led us to an abandoned road. This is like every god damn horror movie ever made! We're all gonna die out here and it's all his fault!"

Oh god...he's right. If we don't make it home, if something horrible happens to us, it will all be my fault.

"What...? Are you crying, Cullen?" Emmett laughs.

Probably. I can hear sobbing.

"Jesus Christ, I can't deal with this shit anymore," he sighs. "I'm leaving. Anyone who wants to come with me, let's go. Cry baby and his merry little band of freaks can stay here and rot for all I care, but they're not coming with us."

I just stand there staring at my feet and listening to their footsteps as they walk away.

I know the jocks and groupies are definitely leaving with Emmett, and after my pitiful display of weakness, I'm pretty sure that everyone else is going to leave too. Emmett is the logical choice. He can protect and lead the group better than I can.

All I have done so far is fail.

When the sound of footsteps fade off into the distance, I hear someone clear their throat. I slowly raise my head expecting to see Jasper, maybe Alice too. But the sight that greets me is almost unbelievable.

Emmett must have hit my head on the ground harder than I thought. Maybe my eyesight is damaged or I've lost the ability to count.

Because I see eight pairs of eyes staring back at me.

So...who do you think stayed on Team Edward? And who chose to go with Emmett? What side would you choose? Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.