We followed Ty and Tara to a supply shack, and were told to grab food rations for a week. We all did and set off. I sort of trailed behind, and Crispin, being awesome as he is, noticed and hung back to walk with me. "Something's bothering you," he said, looking down at me as we followed the group. His smoky blue eyes met my boring green ones and I directed my gaze to the floor. "Nothing's wrong," I mumbled and shoved my hands in my pockets. "No, I'm positive. Now spill before I tickle it out of you," he said, trying to lighten the mood. The other day we were cutting through the tall grass and I broke out into a fit of giggles, cause I'm ticklish. I guess he noticed, cause he started reaching towards me and I backed up, whispering "Ok, ok, I'll tell, just don't come any closer," He chuckled and his hands dropped to his sides, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I kind of have a really bad fear of looking stupid. I know, dumb fear to have for a girl like me who frequently screws up like everything. It causes me to have major anxiety attacks. I hear voices in my head telling me I'm stupid and a fail, and my breathing gets heavy, and my insides start turning and I have a total breakdown. Like, if given the opportunity, I could curl up into a ball in the corner and cry for an hour or two. It's bad, but I don't want anyone to know. Promise you won't tell?" I asked, looking up at him. At that exact moment in time I honestly felt as if a two ton weight was lifted off my chest. I really could tell him everything. He nodded and we kept walking. But, I was tired. I haven't really been all that active, plus I'm naturally lazy. So I did the rational thing. I jumped on his back. He happily carried me, and we were flooded with looks from the other recruits. As we walked past one particular girl, she turned to her friend and whispered something I could only assume was about me. So, like any normal, civilized person would do, I screamed "Screw you, Barbie Beeyotch!" and stuck my tongue out at her like I was five. I know, real mature, right? Don't judge. She just scoffed and I heard one genius girl yell "OOOOOOOOHHHHH, BURN!" from the back of the crowd. The girl had waist length blond hair and green eyes that sparkled with mischief. She kind of looked like a very pale girl version of the guy from Zelda, otherwise known as Link, with the green tunic thingy and white tights, her brown belt and brown shoes. A boy walked up beside her, and I must admit, he was…..interesting looking. He had black hair on one side, and bleach blond on the other, and muted crimson eyes. He sported a Superman tee under the basic hoodie and jeans, with blue converse and red laces. He simply turned to the girl and quietly stated in a shy voice, "Need some ice for that burn Clara?" before turning back to face me. "No one asked you freak," she scoffed, and his gaze shot up from the floor. His pupils dilated and the small bit of crimson left started profusely glowing. "What did you call me?" he asked voice gruff and deep, different from before. He had picked the Clara girl up by her shirt now, and they were inches apart. He had his fist held back like he could bash her face in, and in his current state, I had no doubt that he would. His sister just screamed "SETH! SETH COME BACK SETH! DON'T DO ANYTHING YOU WOULD REGRET!" but even she was smart enough not to approach the boy. He dropped her to the floor and she scurried back, fear probably permanently plastered onto her face. Whispers flew around as everyone's eyes were on Seth, who dropped to his knees with his head in his hands. I, being the absolute idiot I am, went over to him. Gasps flew around as I bent down and put my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Seth?" I asked, and he turned around, his gaze met mine, his eyes filled with sorrow. "People may talk, but I think the beast mode you pulled out right there was epic." He cracked a smile and rose, people still looking at him as if he was a monster. His sister just stood, mouth agape, staring at me like I was Notch or something. "How did you-" "I'm a wizard," I said, moving my hands up and down like an idiot. She giggled and stuck out her hand. "I'm Kaitlyn," she said, and I took her hand and I shook it. That sounded way better before I said it…..anyway, I said "I'm Mari, this is Crispin, Tobi, Piper, Tara and Ty." With each name I motioned to the person I was talkin about and they waved. "Well, you know me and you also know Seth, so we are all introduced!" Kaitlyn smiled. "There's room for two more in our group," Ty said, and Tara confirmed it. "Want to join?" Piper asked, and immediately the twins were ecstatic. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" Kaitlyn beamed, and Seth shot the group a wary smile, hands still shoved in his pockets, though he brought his hood up. The twins joined us as we walked along. I noticed that Crispin and Kaity (Kaitlyn's new official nickname, courtesy of moi) were getting along mighty well, and I made a mental note of it so I could tease him later. Since I had been ditched by Crispin (jokingly) I decided to walk with Seth. All the sudden, after some silence, he quietly and shyly said, "You know, every other group turned me away. They all accepted Kaitlyn but turned me away. She refused to go without me, so we were refused entry to every other group. Literally I had planned that tonight I was going to sneak out of the Sky Army and leave Kaitlyn here so she could be liked and have friends and not have to worry about her freak of a brother. Sorry, I'll shut up now," he said, stuffing his hands farther into his pockets, if that was even possible, and returning his gaze to the ground. I could practically hear the hurt coating his voice, and it killed me. We were at the tents, and were waiting for the groups to be assigned to biomes, so we were in the middle of a massive crowd. He slowly looked up, and I reached forward and hugged him. He kind of just awkwardly stood there for a sec, but he kind of softened up a bit. "Thanks Mari, you're an awesome person," I looked back up at him and simply asked "Friends?" He thought for a moment before he nodded and said, "Friends." We turned to face the stage as Ty got everyone's attention.