Even more characters!
Lola Scott: 25, aspiring singer and rapper and Barron and Sander's BFFL.
Barron James: 25, famous duo rapper with Sander and BFFL to Sander and Lola.
Sander Loyer: 24, famous duo rapper with Barron and BBFL to Barron and Lola.
Tess Tyler: 23, singer turned model and BFFL to Ella.
Ella Pador: 25, singer turned fashion designer and BFFL to Tess.
Peggy Dupree: 26, famous singer and distant friend of Tess and Ella.
Now a major eventful chapter for you!
Peggy sighed as she collected her suitcase from the boot of her new car and looked around the camp. It smelt like home.
She made her way to Brown's office and coincidently bumped into him on the way.
"Peggy? Peggy Dupree!" he smiled widely. "How are ya, love? How you doing?"
Peggy chuckled. "I'm great, Brown. Just feels great to be back... home." she added, happily.
Brown gave her a hug. "Nice to know. Lola, Barron and Sander checked in hours back."
"So, Tess and Ella aren't here yet?"
Brown shook his head. "Not yet, love. But Mitchie, Caitlyn and the dismembered Connect 3 are here as well."
Peggy's eyes lit up. "That's fantastic! I've been meaning to catch up with Mitchie after I opened for her a couple of times on her recent tour. Had to leave in London though, my grandmother fell sick."
"That's a shame." Brown shook his head sadly.
"Yeah, she's a little better. Mitchie and Caitlyn were so understanding! Even their friend, Mara offered to drive me all the way home from LA to Philly since I couldn't get a sooner flight home. Mara stayed throughout and had to leave after a couple of days to return to the tour, they're such wonderful girls, I'm glad I met them years ago. In this very place. Mara, I only met on tour though."
Brown whistled. "They are great girls. Mara's here as an instructor for her first time and the girls are excited to see everyone again."
"I can't wait either." Peggy grinned.
"Well, come on! Let's not waste time and let you rejuvenate. I bet driving from Philly did you done!"
"Yep, and I got flat tyres twice and had to call reinforcements." Peggy giggled as she followed Brown.
...
"Who's got what it takes to be, my guy-"
"What it takes to make, me shine-"
"Caitlyn!"
"Lola!"
Mitchie grinned, rolling her eyes. "Kill me now!" she said as her friends hugged each other. She herself got up and wrapped her arms around Lola and the boys.
Jason chuckled. "Guess who I found lurking about in the bushes." he announced to Caitlyn and Mitchie.
Lola raised her hands. "I was... Simply trying to make a freestyle rap about bushes." she said.
Barron grinned. "And you failed."
"Badly," Sander added. "I had to claw my ears off."
Lola hit them before laughing herself. "Hey, chicas! How have you guys been doing?" she asked, sitting beside Caitlyn.
"Well, I've been well." Caitlyn replied with a cheeky grin.
Mitchie just shook her head. "I've been mature. Did you know what crazy over here did on our first day back?"
"What?" Their friends asked.
"Messed up Brown's new truck with bird feathers with our 'home boy' Nate."
Lola gasped. "Nate? Nate Gray?"
"The one and only,"
They all turned to face Nate who smiled and sat beside Caitlyn on her other side.
"Ah, that Nate." Lola chuckled. "'Sup?"
"Nada. You?"
"Always was a one word ninja." Lola replied with her eyes narrowed.
The girls rolled their eyes as Nate did a stupid handshake with Barron and Sander.
"Nate, how was your recent tour?"
Nate smirked at Lola. "Great. Yours?"
"You..." Lola trailed off. "How's the family? Shane, Jason?"
"Decent. You?"
Lola bit back a curse. "Do you still fancy Caitlyn?"
Nate took one glance at Caitlyn's bemused face.
"Eh. You?"
"I'm not a-" Lola stopped herself, making the group laugh. "Yes or no answer." she gave up.
"Yes."
Caitlyn spat out her coke. "Wait," she said, wiping her mouth. "I already knew that!" she yelled, making everyone laugh again.
Lola tried Nate again. "How great does Caitlyn look today?"
"Really."
"Dang it! What's your favourite song on your new album?"
Nate smirked. "Chains."
"For fu-!"
"What's going on here?" Shane asked, joining the group with Nat.
Mitchie grinned up at him. "Lola and Nate are playing their one word answer game. Nate's pretty good, I'd admit."
Nat laughed. "I bet I can do better. I'll ask him a question. What do you think of me?"
Nate looked her up and down. "Bitch."
Nat playfully gasped. "Oh my gosh, he is good!"
Shane shook his head. "You guys don't know him like I do. Come on, we would spend hours on end back in the day playing this stupid game. All right, let me see..." he mumbled. "Okay. Why do you act like a jerk?"
Nate raised his eyebrows. "Loyalty?" he asked.
"How is that an answer?" Barron asked, receiving a hit from Lola.
"Loyalty as in how?" Shane smirked.
"People."
"In how?"
"Friendship."
"And...?"
"Brothers." Nate finished.
Jason frowned. "What do you mean, us?"
"Model." Nate smiled. He had this in the bag.
"A role model?" Jason asked.
"Yes."
Shane awed. "You look up to us? That's so... weirdly sweet." he admitted.
Nate rolled his eyes. "Friendship." he repeated.
"And?"
"Losing... my way. Damn it." Truth be told, his next answer was 'Caitlyn' but he'll never admit it.
Shane high fived Jason. "We got him. Lola, he's all yours."
Lola laughed. "Thanks weirdos. But seriously, Nate? Great to have you back. Not as a jerk." she smiled, giving him a fist bump.
"Room for one more?" A quiet voice asked.
Mitchie gasped. "Peggy! How are you? How's your grandmother! Come and sit!"
Peggy laughed. "Damn, girl! Let me sit first."
Mitchie blushed, grinning. "We missed you so much!"
"We did. Once Mara came back, she couldn't stop talking about your big brother and how hot he looked." Caitlyn added.
Peggy giggled. "He did give her his number and told me that when I saw her again, I should ask her out on a date for him. Lazy ass."
"Where is Mara, anyway?"
Shane and Jason looked at each other. "She's, uh..."
"She said something about tuning or kissing her new guitar."
Caitlyn nodded. "Yep, that's something Mara would do all right." she said.
"But didn't she tune her guitar at home before she left for her parents?"
"Oh, Shane got it wrong. She's playing her new guitar by the lake. That's where we spotted her last."
"Ah, the serenity of the lake. That's something she would do, again." Caitlyn agreed.
Mitchie shrugged. "I guess."
"Look at this! The gang back together!" Caitlyn grinned. "Only, we need Tess and Ella."
"Yeah, who can forget them?" Peggy mumbled. "I better go and check out who's my new roomie."
Mitchie looked at her. "Oh, right. Do you want us to follow? Girls' catch up time?"
"No, you guys are cool. I'll be phoning my parents soon, anyway."
Caitlyn nodded, giving her a hug. "Well, see you later."
Peggy nodded, standing up and leaving. As soon as she got to her room, the tears fell freely as she hugged her pillow.
...
"Hey, Beautiful."
Caitlyn jumped, turning around to find Nate smirking. "You jerk! Scared the bejeezus out of me!"
"I need you to listen to something."
Caitlyn smiled. "A new song?"
Nate nodded. "Yeah. I just... need an opinion."
Caitlyn blushed, placing her folded clothes on the dresser before sitting beside him on her bed. "Try me."
Before Nate could play the song, there was a knock on the door.
"It's soaking out there!" Nat and Mitchie squealed before entering.
"Really? I just came in about a minute ago," Nate replied.
Mitchie nodded. "It just started pouring. Brown's sending a storm signal out. Jason and Shane are going out to check for any stragglers."
Nate shot up. "Just them? If there's a storm then they need to be inside. Safe." he said, opening the door.
"I'll go with you!"
Nat turned to Caitlyn. "You sit back down. Nate's a big boy."
Nate smiled gently at Caitlyn. "You stay here, okay?"
Caitlyn shook her head. "I know how you are with storms. I'm coming." she replied, grabbing her coat. "Come on."
They knew they couldn't stop her so Nate sighed and grabbed Caitlyn's hand and they left.
The rain poured heavily down on them as they called out Shane's and Jason's names.
"They can't be that far, surely?" Caitlyn asked as they reached the woods.
Nate shrugged. "There's a cabin up this way. Used to be our mom's because she like the serenity of it. Maybe they're there."
Caitlyn nodded, biting her lip. "Are you sure? Isn't there a cliff around here?"
"We'll reach the cabin before the cliff if I remember my way correctly."
The redhead sighed, agreeing as her hand held Nate's tightly. "If we die, I'll blame you."
"How?" Nate chuckled as he helped her over a fallen tree. "We'll be dead, won't we?"
"Ass." Caitlyn mumbled.
Ten minutes later, they still did not find the cabin. "I swear it was around here."
"Uh, are you sure?"
"Why?"
"I found the cliff."
Nate groaned as he turned in the direction she was looking. "We have to go back the way we-"
"What was that?"
A snap sounded again and Nate and Caitlyn walked up to it, their phones shining in the direction.
"Stay behind me," Nate warned.
Caitlyn chuckled. "You think I'll be the first to get killed? You got another thing coming."
Nate rolled his eyes even though she couldn't see it in the heavy rain. They both walked closer to the bush.
"Shane? Jason? If that's you playing a prank on us, then give it up." Nate shakily called out.
Suddenly a wild dog emerged, growling.
"Oh my God..." Caitlyn muttered as they slowly started to back away.
"I thought wolves were extinct." Nate said, holding Caitlyn tight to his body.
Caitlyn nodded. "That's no wolf. That's... a wild dog!"
"Hey, there buddy! Please don't eat us," Nate whined, closing his eyes as Caitlyn continued to slowly drag them back.
She turned around and found her right foot by the edge of the cliff. "We either die by getting eaten or we die by falling down this cliff." she gulped.
Nate's eyes opened as he looked back at the vast space beyond them.
"We should have waited back at the cabin."
"We really should have," Caitlyn mumbled. "If we're going to die, I have to tell you something."
Nate raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes, really! Anyway, I've had this stupid crush on you since we were kids!"
"You already know my answer."
Caitlyn awed. "Really? I guess we should kiss before doggy here kills us for sport."
It was a quick kiss but it said all that they wanted it to.
Nate couldn't stop thinking about how her lips tasted like strawberries.
Caitlyn couldn't stop thinking about how his lips tasted like cinnamon.
Suddenly, Caitlyn tripped, bringing Nate down with her.
"Nate!" she screamed fearfully.
"Caity, don't let go. Hold on!" Nate called back, looking down and swallowing.
The wild dog continued to snarl at them, making Caitlyn lose her grip a little.
"Help! Somebody help us!" she sobbed.
Nate's heart lurched as he tried climbing the wall, his hand gripping Caitlyn's tightly as she continued to hold his weight.
"I'll-I'll try and climb the wall so you can let go. Don't let go just yet, though."
Caitlyn nodded, wincing as his body put strain on hers. "I don't want to die, yet."
"I-I know. Same here. Rather not die falling of a cliff or being eaten by some hideous creature." Nate replied.
"Somebody help!" Caitlyn screamed.
They sighed breaths of relief when they heard a familiar voice.
"Over here! I hear someone!"
"Shane!" Nate called out.
Shane's heart stopped as he, Sander, Barron, Brown and Jason cut their way out of the trees and bushes. "Guys, it's Nate."
"We're coming!" Brown yelled, rushing to the cliff only to find the wild dog had turned on them. "Ah, Dmitri, was it?" Brown asked the dog.
The dog snapped and snarled at him.
"Where's your owner gone, eh? Come on, there's a good boy." Brown continued, leading the dog off with a rabbit he found by the tree. "Go get them, I have this covered."
Shane and Jason nodded, gesturing to Sander and Barron to tie the rope they held.
Jason looked over the edge and saw Caitlyn's mascara-stained face. "We're going to get you guys up, just hold on."
"I can't!" she sobbed.
"You can!" Shane yelled at her. He wasn't going to lose his little brother again.
Barron joined them. "We've tied the rope around a tree. We gotta fling them down for the both of them."
"Okay, Nate? A rope is going to fall beside you now. You grab on to it and don't let go." Shane instructed.
"What about Caity? Help her first!"
Jason shook his head. "As she's holding you, you're priority. We'll be quick, I promise."
The rope landed beside Nate and he grabbed it, his heart jumping for miles. Caitlyn's free hand found a niche in the wall and she held on for dear life.
"Okay, pull!" Sander instructed the guys.
When Nate reached the top, he collapsed into Jason's arms, sobbing.
"Okay, Caitlyn, we're going to get you up, now." Shane told her, flinging the rope beside her.
Caitlyn tried to grab it but it was far away from her. "Move it to the left a bit! I can't reach-"
They froze at her scream and Nate scrambled to the edge. "Caity!"
"I'm-I'm fine. I got it. J-Just hurry up."
They didn't waste any more time as they pulled at the rope and Caitlyn climbed on it, crawling away from the edge as possible as she could.
She froze as she reached Nate's arms, her features frozen.
"Caity, speak to me."
"She's in shock." Jason told him, placing his jacket over her shoulders and lifting her into his arms. "Let's get back."
Nate turned behind him at the cliff and gulped. This was going to be one for the camp fire.