Camp Cretaceous: What Do We Do Now?

by Ecaetheerein

We thought it'd be fun… We thought we'd be safe… But we didn't realize the horror waiting for us on the island. Claws, teeth, screaming… so much screaming. But despite the challenges, we survived the night. Well... some of us. And now that we've been left on the island, we're faced with the challenge of surviving until help arrives... If it arrives...

56. Ep56 Not Gonna Die

Author's note:

Well... y'all've waited a long time for this chapter. I know you're all very, VERY excited for this one. Will spend my shift at work wondering what y'all are saying... As I've said before, I was trying to get ahead of myself because this chapters starts a series of critical chapters. So hang in there!

This chapter, and the next series of chapters are all named after a song that sets the theme for the chapter. This chapter is Not Gonna Die by Skillet, if that offers any hope or insight into the future events.

*WARNINGS* *MAJOR SUICIDAL WARNING. BAD. VERY BAD. WORST YET. LIKE REALLY BAD. VERY DARK*

But yeah... read on and enjoy!

---

"Wakey, wakey," a deep voice comes from the phone. "Come on. It's time to get up. Don't want to be late today. Good morning, sunshine."

Kenji stares at the nightstand. Usually his alarm got him up no problem… But today, he just wasn't feeling it… He was still reeling from his breakup the day before…

"Wakey, wakey," the alarm goes off again before he silences it.

Kenji turns over in bed. The other bed was made neatly… It looked like no one had slept in it… He had fallen asleep before his father had come back to the hotel. He was probably back at work, having left before Kenji woke up. Or maybe he didn't come back… Maybe Kenji had slept alone…

The boy forces himself to sit up and stare at the floor, legs brushing the carpet. He had to get up and go to school… He'd have to face his friends… He'd have to face everything… He'd have to face the fact that the girl he loved so deeply had just rejected him… After everything they had gone through… After surviving the island… After their deep level of bonding… After being accepted by her family, loved by her, promising each other that they would have a future together… Just like that, they were done. Just like that, they were nothing… The future they had planned… The children… The things they would do… Their love for each other… Gone in the blink of an eye…

The pain comes back like a freight train and he curls up under the blanket again, crying for a few minutes… Never had a breakup been this hard… Never had he felt so abandoned and alone… Why did Sammy have to choose this… Why didn't his father come home… If he did, why didn't he check on Kenji?

Kenji felt like he had lost everything… These past few weeks, nothing had meant more to him than Sammy. She was his love. He had never felt this way about anyone else. He was captivated by her, completely and blindly in love. She was everything to him. She was his soulmate… He had given everything… everything he had to be worthy of her affection… He had given it his all, changed every negative thing about himself for her…

But it wasn't enough… He just couldn't change enough for her… He would never be good enough…

Sammy had been right… Maybe if he could be worthy of her love, he'd be worth something… She was such a beautiful person… Both inside and out. A literal angel. Her compassion was unmatched, her hope unstoppable, her joy unfathomable… She deserved someone worthy… Someone who was as pure hearted as she was.

And Kenji… he would never be able to be that… He was too selfish… Too manipulative… And the fact that he was so wrecked by this… The fact that he said he would walk away if he wasn't good enough, then had to be kicked out by Sammy said it all… He thought he had changed… But he hadn't… He was still the awful boy he was pre-island… He had just tricked everyone, including himself into thinking he had changed.

Sammy had every right to kick him out the door.

Lying in bed, he wonders why nobody had reminded him to go to school… Why wasn't somebody here to drive him? Oh… He had his license… He could get himself to school on his own…

He was alone…

With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart, he heads to the bathroom, rinsing off in the shower and getting dressed. As he brushes his teeth, he dismally looks himself over. "You look like a wreck," he tells himself.

Plain white T-shirt with a faint food stain down the front. Plain jeans. His hair a beheaded, recently showered mess…

He was already feeling down. He was already feeling abandoned, alone, and overwhelmed… The last thing Kenji needed was for everyone else to see it. For everyone to look at him and ask him what was wrong… Then he'd have to regale them with the tale of yesterday… And they'd either feel sympathetic for his pathetic self and criticize Sammy… Making her feel guilty for breaking up with him… Or they'd side with her and try to explain why everything was okay… Why she was right to do so, and try to skirt around outright saying he was unworthy… Oh, sure, they'd try to cheer him up, but if they sided with Sammy, they were confirming everything he knew… That Sammy was way better off without him in her life… That he'd never be able to change and that he should've left before he caused all this damage…

Neither option sounded fun. He was still hurt by her, but Sammy didn't need any criticism… As painful and wacky as her reasoning was, she had the right to break up with him… He probably made her feel bad with the way he reacted… She didn't deserve that… As much as he hated it, he did agree it was for the best… For her, at least… Maybe?

"It's not good for me…" he thinks. "God, I'm so selfish…"

If he really wanted what was best for Sammy, he wouldn't make her feel guilty… He loved how caring and sensitive she was towards other people… If he let her know how much it hurt, she'd feel horrible…

Maybe he should've kept his feelings to himself in the first place…

"We gotta change this," he tells the mirror, shaking his head as he changes. He pulls on a cleaner, white T-shirt with gold lettering, tidy black jeans, and a jean jacket. Throw in a nice watch for good measure… Style his hair. He almost forgot how to style his hair the way he used to. The way he had when he first came to Camp Cretaceous. After they came back from the island, he just let it lie flat on his head, or combed it over to one side. It took him a few minutes to floof it up to the volume he used to have.

He poses lacklusterly in the bathroom mirror. "Guess I look good…"

No, he had to look good. No one could know how bad he was hurting. He looked the part… Now he had to act the part…

His phone buzzes and he checks it. Kenji's heart stops… Sammy had texted him…

Cautiously, heart pounding, he opens their thread. "Hey. I just wanted to reach out after yesterday. I still love you, Kenji, and I don't want this to destroy our friendship. We don't have to shut each other out. I still love you. Hope you're having a good morning."

He blinks back tears. "You're fine… It's okay… Don't let her know it hurts… Pretend like you're fine… You did that for years, you can do it again."

Turning off his phone, he ignores her texts and gets in his car, driving to school.

---

"Can we talk real quick?" Sammy texts.

Ben stretches his arms, then answers. He was staying home from school, still recuperating from his small fever. "Yeah. I'm staying home, but shouldn't you be in school?"

"Holly's driving us," Sammy explains. "I broke up with Kenji yesterday. Well, not really broke up since we weren't actually dating, but I told him we couldn't be together."

Ben's eyebrows lift in surprise. "Oh. How did that go?"

"Not very well… I know there were many reasons why I broke it off, but was it a bad decision? I mean, we were both getting unhealthily close. It was causing problems, you know. It was just getting toxic for both of us, not being able to live without each other and changing who we are for each other. I don't want to be that dependent on someone where they become the reason for my existence. And I don't want him to be in the same position. And because of that, he was taking my attention away from God. My faith was wavering, not just because of Kenji, but because my focus wasn't on God… And God was telling me to break away."

"So what's wrong?" Ben asks. "It sounds like it will be healthier for you guys in the long run. Not necessarily fun right now, but better later on."

"What if I really hurt Kenji?" she asks. "He admitted that he changed everything he could just to be with me. What if I've destroyed him? He's not texting me back. I didn't want to hurt him…"

"That's not good," he texts. "Changing everything for you. His entire purpose in life has become trying to be enough for your affection. It's not healthy for him or you. He's trying to please you by being good enough. I think it definitely hurts right now, what you did, but maybe this will help him realize who he is… And that he doesn't need to prove himself to you to be worth something."

"He was mad at me for saying we couldn't marry because he wasn't Christian," Sammy explains. "Am I being selfish? Have I hurt him more by doing this? Should I have just loved him despite his beliefs? I mean, I do, but in a romantic way?"

"No, you didn't really want to do it," Ben texts. "You're not being selfish. It was hard on you and you didn't want to pull away. It wasn't your first choice. I don't think that's selfishness. And there's multiple reasons you pulled away, not limited to yourself. I think in the long run, this could be beneficial in many ways for both of you. As hard as this is on him, this is love. It may not feel like it, but you realize that neither of you are okay in this form of a relationship. I think it would be more selfish to stay in a relationship knowing it's toxic for both of you."

"I told him I wouldn't be able to marry him if he wasn't Christian," she says. "Is that going to hurt him more? Should I not have said that? Will he take that as he'll never be good enough?"

"Maybe it will be his wake up call," Ben says. "He'll never be good enough. I'll never be good enough. We're all going to fall short of being 'good enough', even with humans. No matter how hard you try and no matter how much you change, you're never going to be good enough for anyone. You might be able to fake it for a while, but you're not going to be happy. It's not going to be healthy. Sooner or later, things will fall apart. If you try to chase after happiness by being good enough for someone else, you're not going to find it. No matter how much you love someone, there's always going to be something about you they dislike, and vice versa."

"Right," Sammy responds.

"To love someone, you'll have to accept that neither of you are perfect," he says. "I think that's what Kenji needs to realize. That he'll never be perfect, and neither will you. He'll never be able to be 'good enough' for you, and that you're not what he's made you out to be. He's trying to change everything for you… As if you're the standard of perfection and that if he can live up to your standards, he'll finally be worth something. That's not healthy for either of you. It puts an unhealthy standard on you, and an unhealthy amount of pressure and self-hatred on himself."

"I didn't think about it that way…" she texts.

"Hopefully this rejection will help him come to realize all this," he says. "It hurts now, but if he learns lessons through it, it will be beneficial to him. As for you, Sam, don't feel the need to get back with him just to make him feel better. I know it hurts you and it hurts to think about how much pain he's in, but if you feel this is the best decision, don't go back on it. You heard God's voice, and you obeyed. God never said everything would be easy and painless. Often times the right thing to do is hard and painful. You have your faith and the Bible as a reason not to get back with him. You know it's better for you right now and you know it's better for him."

"It just feels like I'm a horrible person for hurting him this way, especially knowing everything he's gone through and how he feels," she admits.

"You're not doing this just for you," he reminds her. "This is also for him. This is for both of you. A romantic relationship between you guys has become toxic. And you don't have to put yourself in a toxic relationship to show love. Sometimes self-sacrifice is loving, but there comes a point where you have to have boundaries. Being in a toxic relationship because you want to show unconditional love to someone isn't really the answer. Letting yourself be abused to help change him isn't the answer, Sam."

"He's not abusing me," Sammy texts.

"No, and you're not abusing him," Ben agrees. "You're abusing yourselves through this relationship. The relationship isn't toxic because you're being outright toxic towards each other… You're being toxic towards yourselves, which makes it a toxic relationship. Neither of you are purposefully or even outright doing these things to each other. It's the state you guys are in and the relationship that's fueling these things. You're setting these unhealthy standards on yourselves and each other, but not on purpose. It's okay to break off a toxic relationship like this and still be friends. I think being friends won't hurt. For whatever reason, romance triggers these problems in you guys. Just take a step back and be friends, if he's willing. Let yourself heal and figure out what's going on in your head. You can give him a word of advice and be a shoulder to cry on, but as a friend."

"Thank you, Ben," she texts. "I really appreciate you. You're an amazing friend, and I'm really glad I can come to you with these things. We've arrived at school, sorry. I gotta go."

"You're welcome," Ben texts back, smiling. A despondent feeling settles in his stomach. "What if you're wrong…"

---

"Kenji's being more annoying than usual, what's going on?" Yasmina texts.

"Why'd you create a group chat excluding Sam and Kenj just to tell us that?" Brooklynn asks.

"Kenji annoying you is pretty normal," Darius reminds her.

"No, he's being particularly annoying with 'naega byeonhae' or whatever this meme he keeps sending me is," the athlete explains. "And Sammy's been pretty sad lately. What's going on between them? Anyone know?"

"Sounds relatively normal to me," Darius comments. "Even Sammy having her ups and downs."

"Trust me, this isn't the usual 'I'm going to annoy Yaz today' annoying," she insists. "This is the 'I'm feeling sad or hurt or whatever and need attention' annoying. And Sammy's just felt a bit distant lately."

"They broke up," Ben states.

"Wait, what?!" Brooklynn exclaims.

"Why?" Darius asks.

"What happened?" Yasmina adds.

"Long story," Ben says vaguely. "It's their story, I'm not going to go gossiping about it. If you want to know, ask them. I'd be careful, though. It's probably a hurtful, sensitive subject right now."

"I can't believe they'd break up after everything," Darius comments.

"Yeah, I'll ask Sammy later," Yasmina agrees. "Probably give her some time before I do, though."

"I hope they're both okay," Brooklynn texts, feeling bad for her friends. They had been through so much on the island… So much bonding, so much trauma. They were the perfect match for each other and were so madly in love. She couldn't fathom the two of them breaking apart…

Was it Kenji? Brooklynn had been there almost since the beginning of his 'Tell Tiana' drama. She knew he was afraid that he'd hurt her… And he went through a lot of turmoil trying to be worthy of her love, especially in the eyes of her family. Did he decide that she was better off without him? Did he break up with Sammy because he thought he'd hurt her?

Or did something happen and Sammy's parents broke them apart… Did they not trust Kenji anymore? Brooklynn couldn't picture them suddenly shunning him. He had gained their trust, and she couldn't imagine Kenji would do anything bad enough to break that trust…

She couldn't come up with any solution as to what happened. The two had had their ups and downs, but there was no question in anyone's minds that they'd end up a couple. Kenji and Sammy were the cheesiest, sappiest couple she had ever seen, with a deep affection for each other… What had happened to destroy that…?

Out of the corner of her eye, Brooklynn sees Sammy wheeling past her in the school hallway. Turning off her phone and pocketing it, she thought she'd at least ask Sammy how she was doing. She knew this was probably a painful topic, especially since it had just happened the day before. Sammy and Kenji most likely wanted a few days or so to recover and work through their own feelings before talking about it… But Brooklynn was still worried and curious. She'd ask how Sammy had been and leave it up to her friend to bring up the breakup…

Especially since Brooklynn had found out through Ben, who Sammy or Kenji must have privately confided in, and she didn't want to bring that up, possibly causing trust issues between Ben and whoever told him.

"Hey!" she smiles, catching up with her friend. "How's it been? I haven't seen you in person since like… Friday. Wow, feels like such a long time. Kinda weird to think for a few months we spent almost every waking moment with each other…"

"Yeah," Sammy nods. "Feels like a long time now. It also feels weird to spend days with just my family… That's how it used to be before the island. It's… It's just kinda weird. Everything. I hate it when things change… Even when they're ultimately good, I don't like change. It just… changes everything… I like familiarity and routine."

"I get that," she murmurs. "Even when you know something is going to make life better, the change still makes it scary… The unfamiliarity, the unknown… The hoping things will get better because of this decision, but not entirely sure because it hurts so much in the now…"

"Exactly…" she mumbles. "All you can do is hope that these decisions will ultimately better the lives of yours and the people you love…"

"Everything okay?" Brooklynn asks, concerned and curious.

"Yaw, just… broke up-ish with Kenji yesterday," she sighs.

Brooklynn gasps out of sympathy. "Oh no, what happened?"

Sammy shrugs, being vague with details. "We just… weren't working out very well. We both love each other but it's… We're just not right for each other right now. We were both kinda hurting ourselves in the relationship. We're both a little too attached to each other in a bad way… It's complicated… I think both of our problems stemming from this relationship will be better if we break apart."

"You guys… aren't friends anymore?" Yasmina asks, worried. The two had no idea when she had limped up behind them.

"No, we're still friends… Well… I'm willing to be friends," Sammy explains. "I just… I'm not ready for romance and it's hurting him, too. I just think it'd be better if we were just friends… I think Kenji agrees, he's just… taking some time to work through his feelings…"

Brooklynn glances at Yasmina, who meets her eyes. The athlete looked a little sick and scared… Tears threatening to spill out before she attempts to recompose herself. The Samji situation probably felt a little too familiar to her…

"I hope you guys can stay friends through this, too…" Yasmina murmurs. "Don't let this ruin everything…"

"I'm not," Sammy promises. "I still love him… And sometimes love is doing what's best even when it hurts. I know it's very painful… for both of us… But… in the end, I believe it'll help both of us heal…"

"I understand," Yasmina tells her. "I hope this helps you guys… however it does."

"Yeah…" Brooklynn murmurs, getting lost in thought. Both Sammy and Yasmina understood the feeling… The feeling that everything would be better due to one action, but that action hurt so much… They understood it… Sammy was willing to sacrifice her relationship with Kenji if it meant better for him…

Stepping out of the school, Brooklynn spots Darius talking to another kid. He holds onto the straps of his backpack, fiddling with the strings as the kid says something. A bright, enormous grin cracks on Darius's face and he starts laughing, moving his feets as he laughs.

He was so bright and happy and innocent… He had this happy, enthusiastic energy about him that spread to everyone else. He had this hunger for knowledge and an insatiable curiosity about the world around him. He had a deep compassion for his friends and family, and a strong desire to help those who couldn't help themselves. Darius had such strong loyalty… He had this strong, driving protective instinct inside him. Though he tried to hide it, he felt things deeply, and was very empathetic.

He was a beautiful young boy… They were all lucky to be friends with him… Lucky to have Darius in their lives.

But then he gained anxiety… He put pressure on himself… He doubted himself and held onto guilt… He blamed himself for the problems of his friends… All of it was weighing down on Darius… It was holding him back. Drowning him in fear and worry… Chipping away at his happiness and his energy… The happy, always curious boy had been slowly stripped away… Sometimes that boy would come back… But it was, for the most part, replaced by an anxious, guilt-ridden young man…

Darius shouldn't have had to have anxiety and guilt make him grow up… He should've grown up slowly, let his childhood fade away and the burdens of adulthood gradually be placed on his shoulders. Instead, he was thrown onto the island and the weight of adulthood and leadership was thrust upon him traumatically.

Brooklynn was in love with him… He meant the world to her. Darius made her heart flutter and his words calmed her in some of her dark moments…

But she was a toxin to him… A lot of his anxiety stemmed from her… From not being able to save or protect her… He didn't know her past… She was too far gone for redemption… He deserved better… And she didn't…

"If I die, I'll manifest his deepest fears," reason reminds her.

"But so has Sammy…" guilt hisses. "Kenji's deepest fear was not being good enough for her and hurting her… She broke up with him because they were hurting each other… She manifested his worst fear… But she did it because it was best for both of them… Dying will hurt Darius initially… It'll manifest his worst fears… But ultimately, it's for his own good…"

Brooklynn looks over at Yasmina, who had sat down on the bricks on the side of the stairs and was talking to Sammy about their breakup. Yasmina was like her older sister… In fact, Brooklynn would drop the "like" now… Yasmina was her older sister. She was her role model, her confident, her protector… Yasmina had become her family. They would bicker sometimes and got on each others nerves every now and then, but no one could mess with Brooklynn. Yasmina wouldn't allow it. Like a lion, the athlete would brutally attack those who dared to mess with her younger sister… Brooklynn was apart of Yasmina's pack, and the athlete was the alpha…

Yasmina would die for Brooklynn… She'd give her life in the most horrific, brutal way if it meant better for Brooklynn… She'd go to the ends of the Earth for her… Nothing could stop her love for her younger sister…

But Yasmina deserved better… She deserved someone better… So much had happened to her… She didn't deserve to be dragged into Brooklynn's mess… She didn't deserve the guilt that came from not being able to save her… Brooklynn was beyond saving…

Over by the side of the school was Kenji, talking to other boys his age. He had come such a long way since the first time she met him… He was so caring and protective… He'd die in an instant for all of them. He was always trying his best to make them laugh and feel better. He had taken his past and turned it into fuel to do better… He was an older brother to Brooklynn. A big, annoying, but ultimately caring older brother who would do anything for her.

He deserved better, too… He had come so far and had become an amazing individual… But he was plagued by the fear of never being good enough… Kenji would bow down and change himself to be worthy… He was afraid of being a horrible person, and would bend over backwards to please those he loved… If he didn't, he thought he was a bad person…

Brooklynn was too far gone… Kenji didn't deserve to be comparing himself to her… Or trying to be better for her… She'd just drag him down with her…

Sammy… She was so positive and joyful… Always having hope and never losing faith. She was the joy of the group, keeping everyone intact and being a mediator. She kept their spirits up and when things looked dark, she was the one to bring out the light in the situation.

She deserved better… Brooklynn's past had no light and she deserved darkness… Sammy had no place making friends with her… All Brooklynn would do is drag her down and make her depressed…

Ben… He was such a good friend… He had this unique ability to feel what they felt and know what they were thinking… He was so empathetic and compassionate, and such an amazing friend because of it…

But he deserved better as well… All Brooklynn was doing was torturing him… He could surely sense what she was feeling and thinking… All she was doing was giving him depressed, anxious energy… He deserved better friends who weren't always depressed and anxious and dragging him down with them…

All of her friends would be infinitely better without her. But they were too attached to her to pull away without it being painful…

"Like Sammy said, it's love to do what's hard for their own good," Brooklynn thinks. "It's ultimately better for them in the end… It'll be hard in the beginning, but it'll be better for them in the end…"

"Brook, you gonna come over to my house?" Sammy asks. "Have a girls sleepover?"

"No, thank you, I think I'll just head home and hang out with fam," Brooklynn says.

Yasmina glares at her suspiciously. "You're not… They're watching you, right?" "You're not trying to kill yourself, right?" was what she was trying to say.

"Yes, I'm not going to die," Brooklynn hugs her. "I'm too close to you guys to do that."

"But maybe… soon… I'll have to… I just have to pull away first…"

"Okay, I'll keep the offer in mind," Darius chuckles as Sammy's cousin, Raffa, jogs off. The boy shakes his head, amused by the Gutierrez kid's shenanigans. "You're a little too obsessed with matching people up, huh," he thinks, looking around for his friends.

Sammy and Yasmina were sitting near the stairs, seemingly in a deep conversation. Kenji was over by the side of the school, talking to a couple girls he'd seen around the school. Brooklynn and Ben were nowhere to be seen… Darius is reminded that Ben was out sick, but Brooklynn…

"Hey, where's Brooklynn?" he asks, approaching the other two girls.

"She headed back home," Sammy informs him.

"Alone?" Darius asks, trying to still the worry in him.

"She said she's going to hang with her family today," Yasmina explains.

"Is she… okay?" he asks hesitantly.

The athlete chews on her lip. "Mm… okay enough."

"She's okay," Darius tells himself. "She's probably okay… You trust Yaz, right? She wouldn't let Brooklynn go if something was seriously wrong… Just let her be today… Maybe tomorrow if this behavior persists, I'll talk to her…"

"Okay… I'm gonna go talk to Kenji," he says, looking over at his friend.

A look of sadness returns to Sammy's face… along with a longing smile.

"How you doing?" Darius asks out of concern.

"Just… hoping I made the right choice," she sighs.

Darius suppresses an eyebrow raise. "So you were the one who broke it off… Not sure what I was expecting…"

He gives his friend a firm hug. "Well, if you need anyone… I'm here, okay?"

"Okay," she nods, sniffing. "Thank ya, Darius."

He nods, feeling worried for his friends. "Check on them… Check on Ben and Brooklynn… What if Ben's not doing better? What if Brooklynn's in trouble?"

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he climbs the steps to greet Kenji. "They're fine… Ben's fine… Brooklynn's going to be okay… Kenji and Sammy are the ones who need help right now. Worry about them…"

As Darius approaches his friend, he hears Kenji flirting with the two girls. "What's your name again?" leaning against the building with one arm. "Can I call you mine?"

The girl in question giggles and flirts back before her and her friend catch their ride.

Kenji turns around and sees Darius. Like a kid caught stealing, he pauses for a second, before recovering. "Hey, what's up?" he asks casually.

Darius's gaze follows the girls… It was awfully soon for Kenji to move on from Sammy… Especially in such a casual, careless way… Had he truly moved on, or was he trying to cope?

As he turns back to his friend, he just catches the look of guilt before it's masked. "Who are they?" Darius asks, pushing the subject.

A little tense, Kenji shrugs it off. "I don't know, some cute chics. I actually didn't catch their names."

Darius just stares at him, knowing he wasn't as he seemed.

There was definitely guilt behind the older boys features and it started coming out as irritation. "What?" he snaps. "Why-why are you looking at me like that?"

"I know you guys broke up," he murmurs.

"Yeah? Th-then what's the problem, huh?" he gets defensive. "We're not together anymore, she doesn't… she doesn't want me. I can flirt with them. I could get with any girl willing, okay? I-I'm not obligated to stick with Sammy anymore."

Darius's mouth twists with concern. "Are you okay, Kenji?"

"Psht, I'm fine," he scoffs. "Great. Couldn't be better!"

Darius crosses his arms.

"Oookay, I mean, it's not like I'm happy, but I'm fine," his voice cracks at the end.

He sighs. "Kenji, you don't have to play that game with me."

"Et, et, et, I'm completely fine," Kenji insists. "F-I-N-E. I'm fine. F for feeling good. I for… interested in what the future holds. N for not upset and E for… eh… extremely cool with what happened."

Darius continues to give him that unbelieving look.

"I… I have to help out on the ranch," Kenji starts walking down the stairs before realizing what he said and stopping in his tracks, wincing. "I-I mean… Well… Maybe Mr. Pincus has… has something to do, you know. Their house is falling apart, I'm sure there's a project I could work on with them…"

Darius follows him down the stairs, then follows him back up when Kenji realized Sammy was still at the bottom. "Kenj, you're overworking yourself," he states.

"What? No!" he sputters. "I'm working just fine. If anything, I-I'm not doing enough!"

"You've worked on the ranch for three days straight," Darius argues. "You're overworking yourself!"

"Pshaw, three days? That's nothing," he scoffs. "Besides, what about you? You're stressing yourself out with all your anxiety. That's like… You're overworking your mind!"

Darius stutters. "That… no… that doesn't make sense. You're the one running yourself through hard, physical work for days on end. You need a break."

"Yeah? And you're taxing your brain with all your stress and anxiety!" he continues to deflect. "You need to R-E-L-A-X. Relax. I'm fine. You're the one who needs help."

Darius facepalms, groaning in frustration. This wasn't getting them anywhere… and Kenji did have a point. "Okay… You're right… I have been really stressed and anxious and I need to get over it… You're looking for something to do, right? Do you wanna help me?"

Kenji becomes confused. "I… I mean, yeah, sure, but how can I help?"

"Well, exposure therapy," Darius says, thinking up an excuse on the spot. "I'm scared of leaving the group alone and unattended… So maybe I need to try some time away from the group. You know, get exposed to my fears and slowly overcome them bit by bit."

"I still don't see how that involves me," his friend frowns.

"Well, I can't completely jump to alone time," Darius mumbles. "Maybe I can start out with just a little bit of it. You know, hang out with you without contact with the others. Get used to that. Cause, I mean, you're fine, right? I don't have to worry about you, so I'm not really challenging myself by leaving you alone. And I don't want to be completely alone yet, so…"

Darius's idea works and Kenji gives in. "Yeah… So, just head over to your house and play video games, I guess?"

"Yeah, lemme just talk to the girls and tell them what's up," Darius nods. "You can head to Mom's car. I'll catch up."

Kenji takes great care to avoid the stairs and Sammy as Darius approaches the girls. "Hey, so I got Kenji to come over to my house and play video games," he starts explaining. "It… Well, it'll help both of us. Maybe I can talk to him and I'll… I'll face my fears of you guys getting hurt when I'm not there."

"Aww, that's a good idea," Sammy smiles. "It'll be okay. We'll be fine."

"Just keep an eye on you know who," Darius mutters. "Text her every once in a while. Make sure she's alive…"

"Dad's taking me out to dinner for a Daddy-daughter date," Yasmina says. "But I'll have my phone with me, so I'll check in."

"Don't worry, Darius, we'll all be okay," Sammy promises. "Go have fun with Kenji."

Darius sighs. "Okay. Have fun with your Dad, Yaz."

At Darius's house, there's a lot of bickering over which game to play. "Okay, this one," Kenji picks up a Jurassic Park video game.

His friend's shoulders sag. "The one in which I was the first person to beat?"

"Oh… This was… that video game… Okay, moving on," Kenji stutters embarrassedly.

They finally settle on rock, paper, scissors and Darius wins. The two settle down to play Smash Bros… Though "settle down" was the opposite of the ensuing game. "Hey!" Darius protests, losing to his friend for the third time in a row.

"Boo-yah!" Kenji gloats obnoxiously, standing up and doing a little dance. "I beat you! All hail Kenji! All hail Kenji!"

Darius glares at him, miffed.

"Heheh, you suck," Kenji says in a singsong voice, sitting back down and taking a swig of soda.

"Well, you can be a funny weiner, can't you," Darius grumbles, making his friend snort out his drink.

In all honesty, Darius was going easy on his friend, allowing him victory after victory because Darius felt bad for him… But Kenji's gloating was getting on his nerves. "Could you not rub it in for five seconds, sore winner?!" he finally snaps frustratedly.

Kenji's demeanor instantly changes mid-dance. "Oh… I… I'm sorry…" he sits back down and stares at his controller.

Now Darius really felt bad. "It-It's fine, just… tone it down a bit…"

"... Sorry…" Kenji murmurs.

The mood was ruined, and Kenji was suddenly very subdued. "K-Kenji," Darius starts.

"It's fine…" he insists, still staring at the controller. "I'm sorry…"

"You're not… It's okay to trash talk, it's just…" he tries to explain, failing.

"I was being a jerk…" Kenji murmurs. "No, I get it…"

"What's wrong?" Darius asks. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really…" Kenji sniffs, looking at the other wall to conceal his features. He starts breathing harder, tears getting harder to resist. Sniffing, he gets up and paces the room.

Darius sits in his chair, unsure exactly what to do yet… Should he comfort him or leave him alone like he wanted?

Overcome with emotion, Kenji sits down on Darius's bed, holding his head in his hands and crying. Darius sits down and moves closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm here for you," he reminds him softly, half embracing him as he cries.

After sobbing for a bit, Kenji stutters out, "I… I'm sorry… I'm such a mess-s-s…"

"You just went through a… hard breakup," Darius murmurs. "It's okay."

"No… a… a mess in general…" he sobs, running his hands through his hair. "Why… Why would she leave me…?"

Darius rubs his shoulder, not knowing how to answer that.

"She… She said it was cause God told her to… She can't marry unbelievers…" he explains through his tears. "Why… Is that true? Why is she letting her religion control her? … Or… Or is it an excuse? Is it her way of saying I'm not worthy without outright saying it?"

"Why do you think Sammy would be trying to tell you you're not worthy?" Darius asks.

Kenji half sputters, half sobs. "Isn't it obvious? I'll never change… That's got to be why she broke up with me… Cause sooner or later everyone realizes I'm toxic and leaves…"

"Who's left you?" he frowns.

"Sammy," he sniffs. "My Dad didn't care enough to spend time with me. I couldn't commit to a relationship… with friendships and romances alike… I'm selfish and petty… Narcissistic… Just… Why would anyone stay friends with me for long periods of time… I'm only manageable in small doses… If at all… I'm toxic…"

"That's not true," Darius insists. "You're not toxic at all! You're not a bad friend! You don't have to try to prove yourself worthy."

Kenji turns his head slightly to look at Darius, still hunched over. "Then why did she break up with me?"

"I… I don't know… I wasn't there, I don't know her reasons," he stutters. "But I do know she feels bad and… wonders if she made the right choice."

Somehow, that made Kenji feel worse. "She said Christians can't marry non-believers cause it causes problems in the marriage. She said that we're toxic for each other… That I was making her feel like she had to prove herself to me, and I was making her break rules to do so… She doesn't want to get married later unless I'm Christian… So… I'll never be able to earn her love…"

"She… She really said that?" Darius says in disbelief. "Maybe she… Was she just struggling with her past insecurities and it had nothing to do with you?"

Kenji doesn't acknowledge the assessment. "I don't believe the same way she does… And… I can't fake it for her… So, in a way… it feels like she's telling me I'll never be good enough… There's always going to be one more step and I'll never be able to reach the top… Is she… Is she wrong to do this? Is she right?"

He looks at his friend, expecting an answer on the faith aspect. Darius chews on his cheek. "I know it says that in the Bible… Christians not marrying unbelievers… But I don't… I don't see that as something important enough to break off such a strong, good relationship… But at the same time… It is her choice…"

"Exactly," Kenji sobs. "I know it's her choice and that if she doesn't want to be in a relationship with me, she shouldn't be forced to… But at the same time it hurts… it hurts so much… I… I feel like I've lost all purpose in my life… I can't… I can't ever be a good person. I'll never be worthy… Never lead a good life…"

"Maybe… Kenji, that's not good," Darius sighs. "Losing your purpose in life over this. I mean, I get it… But it's not healthy. You don't have to be 'worthy' of Sammy's love to be a good person. Who you are shouldn't be measured by how much she loves you. Maybe… Maybe it'll be good to take a step back from her. Maybe you can find your own purpose in life, you know? Not be controlled by her opinions of you."

Kenji initially seemed open to his words, but the pain set in. "Let's… Let's pick up where we left off," he stutters, wiping his eyes. "I'll tone down the gloating…"

Sighing, Darius lets the subject go. The two return to their previous task. It took a couple rounds to get back into the game and out of the depressive, sad spirit, but soon they were hollering at each other and trash talking again.

"Why don't you get a little more dressed up before we go," Mr. Fadoula suggests as they arrive home. "You wanna wear your prosthetic, too?"

"Yeah, we'll be sitting most of the time, right?" Yasmina asks.

"Probably," he nods.

Yasmina takes a look through her closet. She didn't want to get too fancy for a daddy-daughter date, but she couldn't be casual either… The problem was, her attire consisted entirely of athletic wear, hoodies, and shorts. Yasmina Lalia Fadoula didn't dress up. Ever.

She sits on the floor crisscross as she glances over all her clothes. She was stumped. Tilting her head and torso to the side, she spots something in the corner of her closet. The athlete takes it out and studies it. It was a burgundy, off-the-shoulder romper. She had no memory of getting this… Perhaps it was unintentionally stolen from Sammy or Brooklynn?

Having no other ideas, she tries it on. The outfit required a strapless bra, which she wasn't too keen on wearing, but everything else was too casual. She'd have to settle with the romper and the pesky strapless bra. The bra fit comfortably… for the first twenty minutes or so of wear. Sooner or later she'd be fidgeting with it. But it wasn't very often that she had a special occasion where she needed to dress up, so Yasmina would deal with it for a couple of hours.

Picking sandals that were easy to put on over her prosthetic foot, an intrusive thought comes. "What if I have to run?"

Yasmina tschs at herself. "Why would I need to run?"

Scenarios of her and her father getting attacked by something and having to run through the woods come to her mind… Even though they would be going to a restaurant most likely inside the mall. She shakes her head and pushes away her overactive imagination, putting on her sandals anyway.

Discovering she had a bit of makeup, probably bought for a fancy event in the past, she attempts a simple eyeliner look. It… could be better. "Psht, I sound like a Pick Me girl," Yasmina scoffs at herself, groaning and laughing at the thought. "I'm nOt likE othEr gIrls, I'm OnE of thE bOis," she mimics. Truly, she just never cared enough to learn or get the supplies. Once in a while she aspired to be able to recreate gorgeous makeup looks, but she never really found the need for them.

… Perhaps one day she would. "Maybe someday I can learn to impress Ben," she thinks. Despite being alone in her room, she blushes in embarrassment. "It wouldn't really do anything. If he can love me on the island when I'm covered in dirt, debris, and sweat, makeup won't change anything…"

That was perhaps the most nerve-wracking, yet endearing thought to her… The idea that she didn't have to do anything to make him fall in love with her…

"Are you ready?" her father knocks on her door.

She blinks. "Yeah!"

The two drive to the mall and park in the handicapped section. There, Yasmina begins the process of putting on her prosthetic. Her prosthesis encouraged only about an hour at a time now, so Yasmina would put off wearing it until the last second.

Mr. Fadoula had decided upon the Cheesecake Factory, and the lady at the front said the wait time was thirty minutes. "Well, do you want to sit down in the waiting room or walk around the mall for a bit?" he asks.

Yasmina glances at the full waiting room… Yeah, too many people. "Let's walk around for a bit," she decides.

The two take the elevator instead of the escalator and stroll slowly through the mall. "Remember every time we went into a shoe store, Jabari would go and rearrange all the shoes and make more work for the retail workers?" her step-father recalls.

"I used to do that at the grocery store with the vegetables," Yasmina admits. "I feel so bad about it now," she laughs with shame.

They arrive on the other side of the mall and sit down on a bench in a quiet spot. Yasmina takes off the prosthetic and elevates her limb for the time being to prevent swelling. The two are quiet for a second. "How are things going?" Mr. Fadoula asks.

"With what?" she asks.

He lifts his hands in a half-hearted shrug. "Activities? Friends? Life in general?"

"Eh," Yasmina shrugs. "Okay… Sammy and Kenji broke up."

Her step-father's eyebrows raise. "Really?" he asks in surprise. "Those two?"

"Exactly," she nods. "... I didn't think that of all couples they'd be the ones to break up."

"Was it an easy breakup?" he asks.

"No… I don't think Kenji's talking to her anymore," Yasmina sighs. "I'm not sure if their friendship will survive this… And the paranoid side of me is afraid of what it will do to the group…"

"Still reminded of Leah?" he asks.

She nods. "It scares me: the idea of going down that road with a friend. Dating and becoming more than friends, then watching it not work out. Everything you guys used to be was ruined because you took it too far… And then the damage it can cause to the friend group. Either one or both pull away from their mutual friends because they don't want to be reminded of the other… I just… I don't know what we'd do if we lost Kenji and Sammy… They'd still be alive, but they'd be gone… I hope they can at least salvage their friendship. For them… for everyone… They were such good friends… It hurts to see them like this."

"Sometimes dating doesn't work out between friends and sometimes it does," he tells her. "You don't need to be scared of stepping out and taking that risk. And just because you broke up, doesn't mean you can't be friends again."

"I think Kenji's too hurt to reconcile their friendship… At least, right now," she sighs. "Sammy… She didn't mean to hurt him, but he took it in a way she didn't intend… Although I don't agree with some of her reasoning, I know her. She never meant to hurt him and she did what she truly thought was best… Maybe she was a bit blinded, but she never meant to hurt him…"

"Why do you think she was blinded?" her step-father asks.

"Religion," Yasmina mumbles. "She said she thinks God told her to break up with him. And that a Christian and non-Christian can't work out together. I guess… I don't disagree completely with her reasoning on why they wouldn't work well together, I just… I just know how this hits him and think she's being a little ridiculous breaking things off completely so early in their relationship."

"What were her reasons?"

"She said their different belief systems would clash. Cause problems because their foundations of truth were built on two different systems. And she does have a point… I use the same theory when pairing characters together. But still… Why go through everything they did just to break up like this?"

Her step-father shrugs. "People can grow apart without doing anything wrong. Maybe she's grown stronger in her beliefs and it was weighing on her conscience."

"I guess I don't get it…" Yasmina murmurs.

"Would you go against your conscience for your friends?" he asks.

"Probably?" she phrases more like a question. "I… My morals get fuzzy when the people I love are in danger."

"Would you radically change what you believe for them?" Mr. Fadoula asks. "Would you change your interests? Hobbies? Religion?"

Yasmina is silent. "... I don't know…"

"Like you said, Sammy didn't mean to hurt him and certainly didn't want to," he states, "but she felt strongly enough about whatever was bothering her to break apart. Maybe you'd do the same in her situation."

The thought hurt… The idea of Yasmina hurting her friends? Breaking apart because her conscience didn't like something? … It just didn't sit right with her…

"I know with your friends from Camp, and even your new friends in school and whatnot, you're being exposed to a lot of different ideas and beliefs," her step-father says. "If you start to see things differently and change your beliefs, that's okay."

"Why do you think I'd change?" she asks suspiciously.

He shrugs. "What I'm saying is don't be afraid to change. Don't be afraid to embrace different ideas. Your Mom and I will still love you if you think differently."

Yasmina is quiet, weighing his words and motives.

"Your Mom and I were talking," he continues. "You're… You're not a disappointment to me, Yasmina. You don't have to earn my love."

The athlete blinks back tears, remembering that conversation with her mother.

"How well you do in track doesn't matter to me," he insists. "How well you perform in athletics doesn't change my love for you. Your leg doesn't change how much I love you. What you think, believe, and like doesn't affect how much I love you. You don't need to earn my love. Okay?" He rubs her shoulder soothingly.

She looks up at him with teary eyes. "I… Why? Why… Why doesn't it affect it?"

"Why should it affect my love for you?" he shoots back.

Yasmina's slightly taken aback… "Be… Because… I'm not… I'm not your kid…"

"Biologically," he shrugs. "But that doesn't make a difference to me. Brooklynn's not biologically your sister, but you still see her as one, right?"

"Yeah…" she murmurs.

"Do you… Why do you think I can't love you if you don't earn it?" he asks.

"... I guess I just don't really understand how love could be unconditional," she admits.

"I think you understand it," he says, thoughtfully. "You can give it. You love your friends and family unconditionally. It's why anyone would love you unconditionally that you don't understand… right?"

She sniffs. "... And why would they?"

"Why should you love your siblings unconditionally?" he asks. "You may not always like them and they constantly get on your nerves, but you don't stop loving them, right?"

She nods.

"Could they make you stop loving you?" he asks. "Is there a reason you love them? Something that if they stopped doing, you'd stop loving them?"
"No… I mean… They'd have to become a really horrible person before I'd stop loving them," she mumbles. "Like kill someone else I love… Or if they betrayed me like Leah did…"

"But they don't have to continue to earn it, right?" he asks. "They don't have to do anything to earn your love. They could lose it in an extreme situation, but they don't have to earn it. It's not like Ghaleb has to always be strong for you, otherwise you'll stop loving him. It's not like Habeeba has to always be sweet, otherwise you'll stop loving her."

"No… they don't have to earn it…" Yasmina agrees.

"So, why do you think you have to earn love?" her step-father presses.

She sits there numbly, searching herself for a coherent answer. "... Because… I was never good enough… for him…"

Mr. Fadoula nods, rubbing her back as her tears leave dark spots on her shorts. "I guess I… If he couldn't love me because I was such a disappointment… How could anyone else love me…"

"Would you stop loving your friends or siblings if they were a disappointment?" he asks.

"No… Not if they were a disappointment… If they intentionally hurt me or someone else I love, maybe they could lose my love, but… they… they can't reach the level of disappointment to make me stop loving them…" she murmurs.

"So… maybe it wasn't you that was the problem," her step-father suggests. "It was never you. You were never the issue. He… I think he was devoid of love. Or if he had love, he loved himself. He never loved you, and that wasn't your fault. You… Yasmina, you never could've earned his 'love.' He was a cold-hearted man and no matter how much you would've done, it would never be enough for him. But that's not a reflection of you, that's a reflection of him. That's his problem, not yours. He was abusive and controlling. Neither of those things show love. What he… He wasn't making you earn his love. He was making you conform to his… impossibly strict image of what he wanted his daughter to be, in order to earn favor and relief. It was never love that you were trying to earn… It was favor. He wanted you to fear him."

Yasmina nods. "I… I know that… But I don't… I don't really believe it."

Her step-father nods. "Yep… That's the hard part. Retraining what he's programmed into you. But I'll say it again, you don't have to earn my love. Running harder and working harder won't make me love you more. And not doing as well won't make me love you less. It doesn't matter to me. All the fame and fortune and trophies and accomplishments. I'm proud of you for it, but it doesn't matter when compared to you. You've stuck with Brooklynn through all of her depressive episodes and 'nobody loves me' moments… You've stuck with her when she's at her lowest. Right?"

She sniffs and nods.

"Don't think that we won't do the same for you," he insists. At your lowest, most vulnerable, weakest moment, we'll be there. When you're unable to help yourself, we'll be there. I don't expect anything in return. You could hate me, curse me out, denounce me, and I would still love you."

Yasmina hesitantly leans against his shoulder, before giving in and relaxing. She had taken the longest to warm up to her step-father. Even then, she was still hesitant to trust him… Even now, there were still parts of her that were wary of trusting him. Those wounds her father had inflicted were deepset and hard to heal… Slowly but surely, though, she was healing… Maybe she was a bit more convinced of what he was saying… Maybe she was starting to truly believe that she didn't have to earn love… from anyone…

"I'm… I'm glad to have you now," she murmurs, stepping out of her comfort zone to express her feelings in words. "I'm glad for you and Mom… There are… other parents… who make me appreciate you guys."

"Yeah?" he exhales.

"Like Kenji's Dad… Or Brooklynn's parents," she names. Noticing his jaw tighten, she frowns. "What?"

He sighs. "Colin and Stephanie are getting divorced. I don't know if Brooklynn and Milton know yet."

Yasmina's jaw drops and she wipes away her tears. "I thought they were going to stay together for Brooklynn."

"Nope," he shakes his head. "Colin doesn't… He thinks they'd be better off separated."

Yasmina groans. "Brooklynn's going to take it hard… I hope she's doing okay. She probably doesn't know. Hasn't said anything about it yet."

"Yeah, just be careful with it," he says. "Don't bring it up. Let her talk about it, you know?"
Yasmina nods.

The two sit in silence for a while. "Man, it's taking a while to get a table," she says, looking at the buzzer they were given.

"Must be pretty busy," he comments.

After a moment of silence, Yasmina looks at her prosthetic leg. "Would a prosthetic leg be an advantage or a disadvantage in a zombie apocalypse?"

He chuckles. "Uhhh…"

"Cause on one hand, you could be like a lizard and detach a limb if necessary," she says, making him laugh. "But on the other hand, it doesn't grow back like a lizard… I wanna be a lizard."

Mr. Fadoula laughs. "That sounds like something Kenji would say."

"I'm not sure if he's rubbed off on me, or if he's just brought out a side of me I didn't realize existed," she snorts.

Staring at her prosthetic leg, the small urge to put it back on comes. There was no reason to. They didn't have to rush. Still, she gave into the compulsion and started reassembling her leg.

"You don't have to put it on," her step-father reminds her.

"I know," she shrugs and smiles. "I just wanted to."

She was grateful that she did.

After a few minutes of silence, commotion occurs behind them. The usual echoing business of the mall begins to get louder. The normal chattiness starts to turn into loud shouting and cries. Frowning, the two turn around on the bench to look behind them. The echo starts to get closer and sound more like screaming. They were in a less crowded area, but the few there were running towards them, looking behind them in fear.

Yasmina and her father stand up, confused and getting nervous. The people around them were turning tail and fleeing, running towards them, away from something the Fadoula's couldn't see. The echo was definitely the sound of people screaming in terror. Suddenly loud bangs sounded, echoing and bouncing off the huge walls.

It sounded like gunshots.

They ran.

It was an awkward gait as she was still getting used to walking, but Yasmina ran. She ran with everyone else.

Her step-father stops behind a large pillar and pulls her along. "Get down!" he hisses.

Yasmina crouches down behind the pillar, using it for cover in case the shooter gets closer. Mr. Fadoula steps out from behind the pillar and scans the area, his hand on his concealed carry at his belt. She had never seen him look so serious. Never had she seen him prepared to fight. Never had she seen him prepared to shoot someone if necessary.

Her heart pounds. Her fingers shake. What was going on? Was it some psycho with bloodlust? Was it a violent riot spurred on by social tension? Where was the shooter? Was there multiple? What was happening?!

Yasmina looks up at the second level. Where was the instigator? If the shooter was on the first level, she had cover, but if they were on the top, she could be in danger. What if there was more than one? Her step-father's hand was still at his holster.

The two wait in dread. Yasmina is shaking… waiting… Waiting to hear more gunshots… Waiting for a bloodbath… The terror from being captured by InGen comes back…

… Nothing was happening. Finally, Mr. Fadoula relaxes enough to take his hand off his holster. "Walk in front of me," he instructs, moving her at a faster pace than he usually would. "Stay in between the poles," he tells her, nudging her with his hand as she starts to move out of line.

The two reach the entrance of the last store before the end of the mall. The other group running with them was hanging out there, laughing and joking with each other. Still shaking with fear, Yasmina is almost irritated at them. How could they be so casual? How were they not shaking in fear?

"What happened?" she whispers to her step-father.

"I don't know," he shakes his head, scanning the area again.

"Was that gunshots?" she shivers.

"I don't know," he answers again.

They wait for a while, wondering if they would be forced to evacuate, or hear an announcement. Nothing comes. After a few minutes, they hesitantly decide to follow other people up the stairs and outside to the parking lot. On their way out, they hear a couple loud bangs… Sounding exactly like the gunshots they had heard. Only they were from the mall stores slamming the metal grates down, the ones that were meant to protect and lock down the stores.

"Maybe that's what that sound was…" she suggests.

"Maybe," he agrees.

"Then what spooked everyone into locking down?" she wonders aloud.

Outside, they waited. Other people were abuzz with the subject. Mr. Fadoula conversed with them, but no one had any knowledge of what had happened. The police hadn't seemed to be called, so their initial thoughts of a shooting appeared to be a false alarm. They also called Yasmina's mother, who was surprised to say the least. But since there seemed to be no danger, and the wait for a table at the restaurant was finally over, the two decided to go back in and continue where they left off.

"I thought I was about to watch you shoot to defend," Yasmina lets out a shaky sigh as they sit down.

"I'm glad I didn't have to," he sighs. "You know, if that had actually been a shooting, people don't know how to respond. They all ran in a straight line, out in the open. Easy targets. No one looked for cover."

Yasmina nods. "Would you… would you have pulled it out?"

He looks at the ceiling in thought. "I wouldn't pull out my gun unless I truly had to use it. Especially since it seems to be a false alarm, pulling it out prematurely would've caused more panic."

"If you saw someone else with a gun, would you shoot them?" she asks.

"I'd assess the situation," he says. "My main worry was how to keep you safe. If someone was threatening you with a gun, I'd shoot with no hesitation."

"What if this hypothetical person was threatening me with something other than a gun?" Yasmina asks curiously.

"It would depend on the situation," he says. "In some situations, yes, a gun would probably be more effective in saving you. In other situations, it might be better to use brute strength."

"Or just walk towards them," she chuckles. "You terrified Ben and Kenji the first time they saw you."

"I punched a T-rex in the face, that's different," he excuses.

"How is that different?!" she exclaims. "You just proved why people are intimidated by you!"

He chuckles. "It was a lot of luck, I guess. Right angle, perhaps. Even with immense strength, it's hardly believable."

"I wish I could've seen it," Yasmina grumbles, bummed that she was unconscious during that event. "... I wanna be able to carry a gun."

"To protect yourself?" he asks. "Because if you're planning assassination attempts, I'm not allowing it."

"Nah, I have the knife Grandfather gave me," she rolls her eyes. "Yeah, to protect myself and others. As much as I like to use brute strength and dirty tactics, it's dangerous to be close enough to someone to fight that way… And it's not like it's inherently evil to have one. It's just an object. A potentially dangerous one, sure, but knives and cars can be seen in the same way. They're just objects. It's the way you use them that makes them good or bad. In a life or death situation where you or someone else is at risk, a gun would be good to have. The way I view it and use it, it's protection."

He nods in agreement. "That's why your Mom carries. To protect you guys and herself. Her and Bonnie convinced Brooklynn's Mom to carry."

"Yeah, Brook and her Mom are pretty small and light…" Yasmina nods. "Neither would do well in a fight. Brooklynn would put up a fight, sure, but between her frame and weight, she doesn't have much to work with… I've got more advantages than Brooklynn, but still… We're both girls… Relatively pretty… Makes us targets… If we were attacked on the street, I'd want a gun for that extra advantage… It would be for protection…"

"Yeah, you and Brooklynn aren't getting guns anytime soon, even if you were of legal age," her stepfather says.

"Well, Brooklynn for obvious reasons, but why me?" Yasmina tilts her head.

He lowers his fork. "Not too long ago, we were dealing with you wanting to run away and kill yourself, right?"

"Kinda…" Yasmina chuckles sheepishly.

"And you're only half joking when you talk about murder, right?" he lifts an eyebrow.

"Only in self-defense," she argues.

"Yaz, I don't think you're trustworthy with a weapon just yet," he says. "We don't even trust you with your Grandfather's knife, I'm not giving you a gun anytime soon."

"I'd only use it for protection, I swear," she insists.

"Your idea of protection is a little screwed up," he comments.

"It is not!" she laughs in disbelief and protest.

"Your idea of a threat against your friends is anyone who mildly pisses them off," he says, only half joking himself.

"Not true!" she protests, still laughing. "I'd only kill someone who deserves it."

"Exactly, I don't trust your judgment," he stabs a noodle.

Yasmina tschs, but knew he wasn't too far off. "Okay, so maybe I'm a little unhinged."

"Maybe, just a bit," he sarcastically says.

After some light hearted conversations, Mr. Fadoula reveals the reason behind the daddy-daughter date. "Okay, so whatever happened back there kind of stole my thunder, but your Mom and I were talking about you. As you and I were talking earlier, you… you've dealt with trust issues. Trust issues with many relationship roles, but specifically with parental roles. I know because of the trauma you've dealt with, it's hard for you to trust me. It can even be difficult to trust your Mom."

Yasmina nods, knowing all of this.

"I want you to trust me," he says. "I'm not, you know, going to force you to or make you feel bad if you don't. I just want you to know that your Mom and I have your best interests and needs at heart. We love you, Yasmina. We want the best for you, in every area of your life. We're not perfect and we're going to mess up sometimes as parents, but our intentions are never to hurt you."

She nods, smiling a little awkwardly, unsure what to do.

Mr. Fadoula pulls out a small, silver ring from his pocket. The design made it appear as if it had been braided with two strands of metal, with tiny, little silver stones embedded in the two strands. "This is a promise ring," he says.

"Like a purity ring?" she scrunches up her nose in confusion.

"Not in the traditional, religious sense," he shrugs. "That was our inspiration, but we put our own twist on it. This ring is a symbol of your Mom and I's promise to always be there for you. We will always love you and do what we know to be the best for you. You're my daughter, Yasmina. I love you, and I will protect you and be there for you. That is a promise."

"Maybe the false alarm didn't steal your thunder," she smiles, thinking about how it tied into his promise.

He chuckles. "There's also a promise on your part. Your Mom and I will do our very best to protect and guide you. All we ask is that you keep that in mind as you go through life. You're sixteen now. You're becoming an adult and will start living on your own eventually. Making your own decisions and whatnot. We want you to become independent and strong, Yasmina. But we also want to be there for you. We'd never try to steer you wrong. And I want you to remember that. If we tell you something, we're not trying to hurt you. We can't control your decisions, but our advice is meant to help guide you."

He holds out the ring for her. Yasmina smiles softly and takes it. "I will," she says awkwardly, not sure how else to respond. "Thank you… Where should I wear it?"

"On your nose," he jokes. "Traditionally on your left ring finger, and it'll be replaced with your wedding ring, but you don't have to do that."

Yasmina puts it on her left ring finger, admiring it. "Maybe I'll continue to wear it with the wedding ring."

"So you'll wear three rings on one finger?" he grins.

Yasmina smirks at him mischievously. "What makes you think I'm not the one going to propose?"

He laughs. "You would be the one to propose," he nods.

"Eh, I don't know," she shrugs.

"Go for it," he encourages. "Be the one to pop the question. Not right now. In this hypothetical situation."

Yasmina laughs, taking a bite of food to hide her embarrassed blush. The idea of marriage was intimidating… But not as much as it used to be…

On their way back, they stop by the Bowman's house. "How'd the date go?" Darius asks.

Yasmina shows off her ring. "It's a promise ring," she explains vaguely.

"Ooh, slayyyy," Kenji chimes, still hanging out with his friend.

She laughs. "It was fun. Except for the shooting thingy…"

The athlete realizes her mistake in saying that in front of the overprotective doofuses when their eyes widen. "What?!" Darius exclaims.
"What shooting?!" Kenji stands up.

"Wasn't a real shooting," she explains. "I think what happened was that some kids got into a fight and spooked people. The stores started slamming the metal grates down and it sounded like gunshots, so everyone ran. All we saw was people running and screaming and then loud bangs. It was pretty scary. Dad was ready to pull out his gun… I thought we were going to have to fight for our lives."

The boys are stunned. "Ugh, I wish had been there," Darius groans anxiously.

"I'm fine," Yasmina sputters. "Nothing happened. Besides, I think my Dad could've handled it."

They nod. "Glad you're okay," Darius sighs.

"Still think you have to protect us?" she asks.

"Well, yeah… But I guess you… having a close call is decent exposure," he grumbles.

His friends snicker. "If we can call it a close call," she rolls her eyes. "I'm fine now. If it makes you feel better, I'll carry around my Grandfather's knife wherever I go."

"You're not getting ahold of that knife," her stepfather butts in.

"I'm Yasmina the Unhinged!" she declares loudly. "Gimme a knife!"

The boys take a moment to cackle.

"No, the Unhinged can suck it because we're not supplying her with the means to go murder someone," he rolls his eyes.

Yasmina sputters, hunching forward. "Anyway, I swear, I'm fine. In the moment, it was terrifying, but nothing bad actually happened."

"Sounds pretty scary," Kenji shivers.

"Yeah, in the moment," she nods. "But I'm fine now. And hopefully you guys are, too."

"More or less," Kenji shrugs. He seemed more light hearted and free now.

"Maybe things are getting better…" she thinks. Maybe their friend group wouldn't tank like she had been worried about.

"Come on. We're having a hoedown showdown," Sammy texts. "Cookies, games, everything. It'll be fun!"

Brooklynn chews on her lip… As much as she wanted to go, she needed to pull away from her friends.

The problem was, Milton had agreed to go, and Brooklynn didn't have a believable excuse as to why she wanted to stay home. Her friends would be too suspicious…

A feeling of butterflies forms at the thought of Darius getting flustered and worried… Then guilt rises up…

"Guess I can't weasel my way out of this one," she sighs to herself, texting Sammy back and getting ready. It was a casual group hang out, plus their siblings. She wouldn't do too much dressing up… But maybe she'd change her shirt to something a little less… covered in paint. The sweatpants were staying, though.

Milton and Brooklynn arrive and per usual, it's a rowdy hangout. The Gutierrez girls were making cookies and brownies for the heck of it. Lots of laughter, lots of shouting, lots of chaos, the works.

But it was missing Kenji.

Brooklynn wasn't surprised that he'd be hesitant to come. He was still hurting and avoiding Sammy. Her sisters would only add to that feeling of pain. Oddly enough, Holly didn't show any signs of aggression or anger towards the mention of him in the slightest. Still, he wouldn't want to face her. Shelby and Sandra missed him, and the former would try to bring up what happened. Even if Kenji was brave enough to be in the same room as Sammy, the rest of her family—particularly Shelby—would make it insufferable.

To her shock, he did eventually come over. Not without his false confidence, though. "Hey, you came!" Darius grins.

"You're late," Shelby tells him.

"Nah, the party doesn't start without me," he states matter-of-factly, flipping his hair out of his eyes. "Everyone else is just very early."

It was a bit awkward knowing that Kenji was avoiding Sammy and hadn't said more than "Hello" to her. But while they weren't speaking to each other, they didn't allow it to disturb and ruin the others fun. The goodies helped with that.

"Yaz almost died yesterday," Kenji announces obnoxiously.

"I did not!" she sputters. "I'm not gonna die. I'm immortal!"
"What makes you think you're immortal?" he asks.

"I haven't died," she grins.

"That's true, for all we know, you could be immortal," Kenji jumps on the subject.

"Being immortal means you can't ever die," Milton says.

"Yeah, exactly, we're all still alive," Kenji smirks.

"But you almost died on the island," Milton argues.

"... But I didn't," Kenji reminds him, cackling evilly.

"You're not immortal!" Milton insists.

"I'm not gonna die ever!" Kenji exclaims, grabbing a charging cable and handing it to him. "Do it! Try to kill me! Prove me wrong, yo!"

"Kill you… with a charing cable?" Milton lifts an eyebrow, laughing despite himself.

"It'll work as a rope, yeah," Kenji laughs.

"I'll hang you like a criminal," Milton declares darkly, jokingly moving forward.

A quick flash of pain appears in Kenji's eyes, before that goofy front returns.

"Psht, he'll pop like a cartoon character," Yasmina rolls her eyes. "He's immortal in the cartoon sense."

The group continues on with the argument. As Brooklynn helps Miriam and Habeeba make peanut butter cookies, she contemplates the conversation on a serious note. "That would honestly suck to be immortal," she thinks. "Your misery would have no end… There'd be no escape… And if my friends were immortal, too, they'd forever be affected by me…"

"Hey," a whisper tickles her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. "Are you okay?" Darius asks, leaning close to her ear. His hand was on her back beneath her shoulder, a warm, comforting presence. He was close… Worried for her and leaning in.

That feeling of butterflies comes back. "Y-yeah," Brooklynn stutters, looking down at the cookies to hide her blush. Gosh, why was he making her so flustered as of late…

"You sure?" Darius asks. There was worry in his voice… "You've been very quiet lately. Spending more time at home."

"With my family," she insists. It was mostly a lie. Her parents were getting divorced. They hadn't said so, but Brooklynn and Milton knew. It was in the air. There was less fighting. There was an air of relief on her father's part, and a feeling of anger and pain on her mother's part. Plus there was the fact that Mr. Monell was referring to his wife as "Ms. Drischoll", her maiden name, so that was a telling factor…

Of her family, Mrs. Monell and Milton had had the most change. While they weren't always there and weren't always making the best decisions, they were trying. Recently, her mother had been trying to spend a lot more time with them, and was devoting a lot more energy towards them. Brooklynn suspected that she was trying to make up for the pain that would be caused by the divorce…

Her father, on the other hand, had only changed for a few months. Recently, he had been aloof and distant, almost relieved. He was selfish… The change was only temporary. He wanted out of the marriage and he was finally getting his way.

"He'll abandon me… Who wouldn't if they had the chance… Who wouldn't after dealing with me for so many years…" Brooklynn thinks.

"Maybe my friends won't… Darius certainly won't…"

"Hey," he brings her back. "What's wrong?"

"Just… a little down lately," she admits, knowing she couldn't fully lie to his face. He'd see through it… And she'd feel bad… worse than she already did. "Kind of… tired… Socially drained, you know? I'm introverted. After a while I feel like Yaz."

Darius gives her a long, thoughtful stare before giving her a sympathetic smile. It made her stomach flutter… "Yeah? Nothing's going on?"

She wasn't going to tell him about the divorce. That would just make him worry about her and fret himself to death… How could one kid make her feel so giddy, yet so guilty at the same time?

Brooklynn was really getting flustered by how close he was to her… "No, not much," she insists, shrugging his hand off her back. "It's nice sometimes to just be alone. Not a lot of noise, not a lot of chaos… Just time to recharge."

"If only that were true…"

"Well… Just… Don't let that quiet time… give way to thoughts, you know?" he sighs. "Recharge, but don't isolate yourself. I love you… I'd drop everything and come to you if you needed me."

Brooklynn blushes. "And I'd live for you…" "I'd die for you, too… Unfortunately, the second option is what's best for you…"

The happy, innocent smile that spread across his face looked so freeing. It was as if she had just taken off a small burden. If only he knew what she planned to do…

"It's better for him… Right?" she asks herself.

Darius realizes how prolonged their gaze was, blushes and pulls away, stuttering. "I, uh… Gotta make sure Yaz doesn't castrate Kenji…" Face heating up, he shuffles into the living room.

Brooklynn continues on with making the cookies, thankful that that particular excuse—strange as it was—didn't raise a single eyebrow.

After all the goodies were made and cooled, the group sat down in the living room to play games. Namely truth or dare. A lot of peer pressure took place. "We always play truth or truth," Sandra admits. "Our parents didn't like the dare part."

"Hey, the truth part can be just as bad," Yasmina lifts an eyebrow.

"Yeah, wait until someone asks you… Actually, you probably don't want to know," Kenji stops himself in front of the younger children.

"Come on, we'll keep the dares PG," Milton insists.

That promise went down the drain in about two minutes.

"Truth or dare?" Yasmina asks, having spun the bottle.

"Dare," Brooklynn chooses.

Yasmina thinks for a moment, then chooses violence. Or perhaps revenge, as she was currently sitting with one leg up and an elbow rested on that knee, covering one ear since the treats were in the center of the circle and the group was snacking. It was Brooklynn's suggestion they put it right there, and the athlete had given her a bit of a dirty look. Perhaps that was the motive behind her dare. "I dare you to kiss the next person the bottle lands on," she smirks mischievously.

Brooklynn barks out an indignant laugh, unable to believe it.

Ghaleb sighs. "I would've put it up to Kenji to start that one."

"Don't give him ideas!" Yasmina hisses.

"You started it!" her brother protests.

Quickly, before Yasmina could give any specifications, Brooklynn spun the bottle, wanting the dare over and knowing the athlete wouldn't back down.

The bottle slows and points to said athlete.

"... S***," the athlete mutters under her breath as the room roars with laughter. "Well, that backfired."

"Well, aren't you glad you didn't specify what kind of kiss I have to give you," Brooklynn smirks, sauntering over to her friend and giving her a loud kiss on the cheek.

Yasmina grimaces and chooses a dare from Brooklynn.

Despite their audience, kissing became a theme, much to the chagrin of Sammy and Miriam. The girls were worried about their parents walking in at the wrong moment… For the most part, it was kept PG for the sake of the younger girls, but that didn't stop it from being awkward.

"Truth," Ben chooses, eyes wide. He went the smart-er route.

"Who was your first crush?" Milton tries to embarrass him.

"Yaz," Ben answers without hesitation, taking the fun away from him.

As the dares go around, a more subtle theme becomes clear: ships. Now that the idea of kissing had been added to the table, those willing to go to such lengths were using it to nudge their favorite ships in the right direction. Some kisses were random and meant to be funny and awkward, like Milton having to give Ben a smooch on the cheek. Much heel digging was done during that one before they got it over with. Some were cute, like Shelby being dared to give the happiest person in the room a kiss.

But then there were those that got awkward… Awkward because there might be feelings involved.

Ghaleb and Miriam had already been dared to kiss twice, and both resorted to picking truth after that. Didn't help too much with the awkward shipping, but at least there wasn't pecking involved. Kenji attempted to set up Rio and Jabari just for the heck of it… Didn't blow over very well.

"No," Rio states strongly, the second after Kenji dared Jabari.

"... Okay, stand on your head," the alpha male backs down, shocked by the sternness in her voice.

No one dared set up Sammy and Kenji after their breakup, not even Shelby. Yasmina and Ben were definitely a favorite among the group, but Ben continued to pick truth, while Yasmina glared coldly at everyone who was thinking of a dare for her. It was only a matter of time before Kenji got a hold of one of the two and set them up, though.

Brooklynn, consequently, was nervous. Her and Darius were definitely a favorite ship among the siblings… for the most part. They were also the only "Camp couple"—as Sammy had dubbed Samji, Benmina, and Darilynn—that had yet to kiss, both during the game and in life. Sammy and Kenji had had their fair share, and Ben and Yasmina had kissed on the island. Darius and Brooklynn, on the other hand… They had nothing on their record, and with the look some of the others gave them, that might change.

She was lucky Kenji, Brandon, and Yasmina hadn't gotten a turn with her or Darius since the idea of kissing arose.

But, Brooklynn couldn't do what Ben was doing and keep choosing truth… As risky as the dares were, she had a secret to keep… And while logically, she couldn't see them asking her such a private, uncomfortable question during the game, some of them were getting desperate… She wasn't going to give any of them a chance.

"Truth or dare, Yaz," Kenji asks.

"Mmmm… dare," she chooses, not liking the idea of truth.

He grins evilly; he finally had his chance. "I dare you to kiss Ben. On the lips," he specifies, knowing that she'd find a loophole if she could.

A look of pure rage hiding flustered fear comes over the athlete's face. "You…" she hisses, face heating up at the idea.

Brooklynn looks down, refusing to show any support to Kenji's dare, unlike most of the others who were encouraging it. Surely, if she showed any support, Yasmina would come back with vengeance… Plus, Brooklynn understood her friend's position… She was desperately hoping she could get through without being dared to kiss Darius.

At least Yasmina had the excuse that she hated romance… Or that's what she could tell Ben. The others knew of her crush on him, but he didn't.

Brooklynn didn't have that privilege… If she tried to downright refuse kissing Darius, what would he think… Would he be hurt? He didn't want to kiss her either, but no one questioned that… Would he take it the wrong way if she said no? Would it hurt him? And it wasn't like she didn't want to kiss him… She just couldn't.

An exasperated groan from Yasmina brings Brooklynn back to the game. The others appeared to have pressured her enough for her to cave. "Fine," she growls through clenched teeth. Face a warm color, she swiftly moves towards Ben, willing herself to do it before chickening out.

"Yaz—mmph!" Ben starts to protest before being cut off… violently.

The athlete pulls back and moves over to her seat. Both hold their mouths in minor pain. "That was graceful," Miriam snorts, sitting next to Ben with a great view of the awkward kiss.

"I think that was more headbutting than kissing," Ghaleb teases his sister, receiving a cookie thrown at him which he impressively caught with his mouth.

"Ow," Ben holds his lip.

"Did she bite you?!" Kenji wheezes.

"... I think I bit me?" Ben shrugs in confusion. "We just kinda smashed faces together…"

Yasmina was holding the sides of her face in her hands, even more embarrassed. Her first attempt at kissing Ben… could've gone better.

"Alright, it's your turn," Brooklynn says, trying to move the game on for her friend's sake.

The bottle points to Kenji and a look of pure, evil vengeance sets into the athlete's face.

Kenji looks up at her, eyes wide. He could sense the karma coming back, and it wasn't going to be good. Eyes flickering in Sammy's direction, the color begins to drain from his face. Would she go there?

A change in her expressions appears and Yasmina rolls her eyes. She didn't have the anger in her to put him through that much suffering… But she would still have her fun. "I dare you to… kiss the most handsome person in the room," she smirks.

Relief comes upon him as the group laughs and jeers. "Hey, Milton," he says, allowing the boy to freeze and the group to shriek in shock. "Move, you're in front of the mirror," he continues, making the group howl with laughter as he gives his own reflection a big kiss.

The athlete shakes her head and gives up. "You could've at least humored me after I spared you from the dare I had in mind," she mutters as he sits back down.

The group decides after a certain number of people, the game would end and they would move on. Brooklynn gains more and more hope as well as more and more anxiety as each person gets picked. She was so close to escaping without kissing Darius…

But Kenji just had to land her as the last person to go. "Truth or dare?" he asks, a scheming glint in his eye.

There was no escaping it. She couldn't pick truth… She had vowed to not give anyone the chance to get her secret out of her. But Brooklynn knows what he was going to say…

Well, she almost made it.

"Dare," she sighs, giving up.

That troublemaking grin creeps onto his face. "I dare you to… KISS DARIUS!"

"What?!" Darius protests as the group laughs.

Yasmina gives Brooklynn a sympathetic look… But made no move to protest. Perhaps she should've stood up and fought the group when Yasmina had to kiss Ben…

"Come on, get more creative," Brooklynn tries to goad him. The intensifying blush made that extremely difficult to do convincingly. "You've given out so many kissing dares. Do something different!"

He crosses his arms. "Make out with Darius for seven minutes in the closet."

The two definitely weren't blushing now… "What?!" Brooklynn exclaims. "I…"

"No!" Darius draws the line. "Too far, Kenji!"

"So, a simple kiss on the lips wouldn't be that bad, then?" the alpha male grins.

As hard as they tried, Kenji would not back down. And to their chagrin, no one else would stand up for them. Even Sammy, Miriam, and Ben weren't on their side. The whole group, more or less, wanted the two to get together.

"Fine!" Brooklynn sighs sharply.

"Let's get it over with," Darius mutters, turning red when he looks at her.

Brooklynn wills herself to get up and move towards him… To kiss him… To kiss Darius… Her crush… The one who made her so flustered… The one who she couldn't bear to hurt…

Her legs weren't moving…

"She's frozen," Jabari laughs.

"Let's help her," Brandon laughs. He and Kenji grab her arms, pick her up and carry her over to Darius.

"Hey! Wh-WHOA!" Brooklynn protests as they practically throw her down onto Darius. She lands on top of him and the two stare at each other in shock, then scramble to get away from each other.

"Come on! Stop backing out!" Ghaleb jeers.

Brooklynn curls into a ball and holds her head, more embarrassed and panicked than ever. As much as her heart fluttered at the idea of kissing him, she couldn't… Darius deserved better. She couldn't take his innocence… She couldn't take his first kiss. He deserved better… This was bad… One of the main reasons she was planning her death was because of this! Because he was in love with her and shouldn't be! She couldn't kiss him now!

But the group wouldn't back down…

Mustering up her courage, Brooklynn closes her eyes, grabs Darius's face and kisses him.

The group erupts into chaos as the two quickly break away and run to opposite sides of the room. Darius was incoherent and flustered, while Brooklynn crouched down behind a chair… She had kissed Darius… She couldn't take it back… Oh gosh, she couldn't give back what she took from him…

"Okay, okay, show's over," Yasmina announces for her friend's benefit, even though a part of her enjoyed it.

Slowly, the party died down. But Brooklynn was still in shock. Standing outside on the deck, she stares despondently at the stars. "How could Darius ever love me?" she asks sadly. "He couldn't… He's completely innocent… He doesn't know what I've done… Why loving me hurts him… He doesn't understand why I need to die…"

"Hey," his voice startles her. Darius comes to stand next to her on the deck. The two look at everything but each other, still a little embarrassed after the dare. "Um…" he stutters. "That was… awkward… Not that you're awkward! Just… the whole situation… Not how I envisioned my first kiss to go."

Brooklynn chuckles, shame and embarrassment rising up. "I thought we could've made it without anyone daring us…"

"We were one dare away," he sighs. "Hey… can we… Can we not let this get between us? I mean, Kenji and Sammy have already broken up and their friendship's up in the air. And I don't know what's going on between Ben and Yaz. Not that it's anything bad, I just know Yaz is really scared of her own feelings… That has nothing to do with what I'm trying to say."

A small smile forms despite her best efforts at Darius's flustered rambling.

"Just… I don't want this to cause a divide between us," he says. "You're… You're my best friend, Brook. I don't want to lose you just because of a stupid kissing dare Kenji was too stubborn to let go."

The demons in her told her not to say it… It would only lead the conversation where she didn't want it to go… But Brooklynn was too curious… Something in her compelled her to ask the question. "Why do you think the dare was stupid?"

Darius's face heats up. "Uh… Just… Cause he's trying to set us up and all and he made it really awkward and… I kinda wish we had stood our ground. Refused the dare. It's not like we would've died if we had refused to do the dare."

A bit hurt, Brooklynn continues with her question. "You didn't want to kiss me?"

"N-no!" Darius says quickly. "It's not that! It's… It's just really awkward to have your first kiss in front of your siblings and friends as they're waiting eagerly for you to do it."

Brooklynn closes her eyes, grossed out by his description of the event. "Well, I don't blame you if you discount it. I would hardly call it a 'first kiss.'"

Darius holds his breath, looking very uncomfortable, and Brooklynn wonders what was bothering him. "I… I'd have rathered our first kiss to be… more romantic and special. Heck, forget romantic, just not as dumb as being dared into it…"

"I'd have rathered our first kiss…" his words play back in her head.

Brooklynn knew he had a crush on her… She knew Darius was falling for her… Still, him talking about wanting to kiss her in a more romantic and special way shocked her… How… How true was his love? What was the depths of his affection? It was Darius, this wasn't a surface crush… But just how deep was his love?

Could… Could he love her despite her past?

Her heart pounds. She holds her hands against her heart as she looks at him. He was serious… Dead serious… The squeamish twelve year old she knew whenever romance was brought up wasn't there… Instead, a young man smiled softly at her. As uncomfortable as he could feel about romance, he was starting to accept it… Because of her… Because he loved her and his feelings were starting to grow…

The cool breeze sent a shiver up her spine and gently moved the wispy strands of hair into her face. The corners of his mouth lift even higher and he gently brushes a strand away from her face, behind her ear. His fingers softly trail down to her jaw, coming to rest beneath her chin. Brooklynn gazes at him, her breath caught. There was no fear in his eyes. No discomfort or embarrassment. Just passion… Love… Love for her.

His fingers gently lift her chin as he moves in. The moonlight illuminates his lips just before they press against hers. Her heart leapt; her mind stilled at the touch of his lips. All hesitations regarding love fall away at his embrace. Softly exhaling, Brooklynn leans in, kissing back as her eyes flutter closed. He was gentle and tender, kissing her like a gentleman. He wasn't shy, though, with his left arm gently wrapping around her back, other hand gently cupping her cheek as he kisses her. His presence was warm and comforting; she felt as if she could drift away in his embrace. Still holding her hands to her heart, she gently moves one to rest on his chest. Oh, how she could stay there with him…

Darius pulls back slightly, gazing deeply into her eyes. Brooklynn gently reaches up and lifts up her eyepatch, removing the barrier between them. This feeling inside her… It was… peace? Contentment? Love? She felt safe and peaceful in his arms… Like this was where she was meant to be.

The opening of the back door catches Darius's attention, but Brooklynn can't tear her eyes away from him. She loved him… She loved him so much…

"Uh, ehem, sorry to interrupt but Milton says you guys need to head home," Ben chuckles, hating to break up the romance.

Darius looks back at her, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow at school," he says, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

As if she was in a happy daze, Brooklynn heads back inside and follows her brother back to the car. Kenji—being one of the only ones with a car and a license—drives the two back to their house. The two boys try to tease her about the game, but she was in a trance and they quickly got bored trying to talk to her.

Heading up to her room, she lays back on her bed, taking in everything. The kiss… There was no way out of it. The two were head over heels in love with each other. That part of her that wanted to be with him rises again…

It had been so long since she had willingly accepted his love… Darius's love of any kind. She had vowed to pull away… To distance herself from them. She hadn't realized just how lonely she was… Just how much she craved affection and love.

Darius loved her… She couldn't deny it. She had never been able to deny it… And she loved him, but the problem was she felt she wasn't good enough for him…

"But he doesn't care," a gentle voice reminds her. "He loves me… despite my flaws… He'd love me no matter what. Even if he knew my secret, he'd still love me."

"But he deserves better!" the voices in her head shout. "I'm selfish for wanting him! I can't love him!"

"But killing myself is selfish, too… I'll be hurting my friends and family in the process."

"It's a small price to pay for long-term relief. I'm such a horrible person…"

"There are others who have done far worse than me… Am I truly unforgivable?"

"Yes, there's no way out of this. I don't deserve forgiveness!"

"But Darius and the others are still willing to give it to me."

"They're naive! They deserve better!"

"Or maybe I'm not as bad as I think. Kenji feels the same way, but I know that he's not a bad person. We're all our worst critics. I'm willing to forgive Kenji for anything he did in the past. Why can't I forgive myself?"

"Because I'm unlovable! I'm unforgivable!"

"Kenji and Yaz feel the same way, but I'd argue with them. Why am I any different? What makes my past so much worse than theirs?"

For the first time in what feels like forever, Brooklynn allows hope to resurface. She still wanted what was best for her friends… She still felt like a terrible human being…

But hope hadn't died. In fact, Darius's kiss seemed to resurrect it. She felt complete with him… Like it was just meant to be. Being with him felt like the right place to be. Allowing herself to imagine a future with him, she dreams. They'd stay friends for years… At least until he was eighteen. That would be at least six years of friendship. At least six years of growing stronger together and getting to know each other and making memories… Memories like the ones on the island, only dinosaur-free. Then he'd propose to her and they'd get married… Maybe after a few years have children. They'd be good parents… Loving parents.

As she imagines children with Darius, a tear slips out. She wanted it. She wanted it all. She wanted the years of friendship. The years of just growing up together. Then the years of blissful marriage with it's ups and downs. Then the kids…

"I want to put Darius's happiness first, right?! Why am I wishing for all of this?!" guilt screams.

Yes, she wanted to see Darius happy… And he was so happy in her dreams. She wanted to meet their kids… Her heart longed to know people who didn't even exist.

"He's only happy because I want him to be… He wouldn't actually be happy if he knew what I did…"

"Then tell him…" that soft voice comes back.

She entertains the idea… The idea of coming clean about her secret…

"He doesn't deserve that! Let his mind be clean! Don't break his heart!" guilt cries.

"I believe he'll find out eventually… That's one reason I want to kill myself. If he'll find out eventually, why not now?"

"Because it will hurt him!"

"But I fear it'll hurt him inevitably… Why not now? Why not as soon as possible if I'm so worried that he'll get hurt? Why not now so that he'll have less time to get attached and more time to heal?"

Back and forth… Back and forth her thoughts go… Neither one giving in.

Finally, Brooklynn settles on one thing… Either path she took, there was a chance she would hurt Darius… She would definitely hurt Darius by killing herself… But ultimately, she believed that would be good for him. And she believed he'd find out her secret eventually… So the only thing left to figure out was when… When would he find out?

He would find out eventually… So why was she so afraid of telling him now? What was holding her back? If anything, she should want to tell him immediately… If she really wanted to end it as soon as possible, she'd do it now…

She should come clean…

Brooklynn paces around her room before she finally comes to a decision. She was going to do it… She was going to tell Darius. She was going to call him immediately and come clean before she could talk herself out of it. She owed it to him. If he was going to fall in love with her, he should know what was in her past… He should know why she wanted to kill herself. He'd blame himself if she died. He needed to know that it wasn't him.

Shaking herself out, Brooklynn sits on the bed and picks up her phone. She was going to do it… Her big secret, the one she had spent so much effort hiding… She was going to tell him.

Fear was racing through her veins at the thought of pressing that button… But at the same time, relief was present. Relief that it would be over. Relief that she wouldn't have to hide it. Relief that… she'd be on her way to completing what she started… Because there was no way Darius would be able to still love her… And even if he thinks he can, he can't… For his own good… But at least with her secret out, there would be way less lies… And maybe if her friends were still disillusioned, she could use her secret to explain her death…

Either way, it would be over… Her secret would be out and one way or another, this whole thing would end…

Sitting there, holding her phone in her shaking hands, her imagination plays around with the scenarios… What she'd say to him, what he would say back… It was utterly useless. He wasn't going to say exactly what she envisioned. And even what she said would change with his responses… She was stalling.

"Just do it," she whispers to herself. "Just get it over with…"

As she clicks into his contact and moves to press the call button, a notification pops up. Brooklynn accidentally clicks that instead. Sighing in frustration, she rolls her eyes. "Stupid phone," she mutters, looking at what she had clicked on… Then she goes cold. It was Leah… She had sent a message. "It's Leah, b****," it read. "I'm back."

Brooklynn becomes numb. What was Leah planning on doing? What had she done? They were well into April… Leah had said April would be the time for her revenge.

"Call Darius," that gentle voice says urgently. "Don't back down. Leah can wait."

But fear got the best of her. Brooklynn starts checking Leah's Youtube account. Nothing… Her other social media platforms show nothing as well… Then Leah sends a Youtube link.

"Don't click on it," that voice says, a little more sternly this time.

"What did she do?" worry fills her head.

"Don't watch it," her conscience says.

"What did she post…"

"Don't. Watch. It."

Ignoring her conscience, she clicks on it anyway. She knew it was bad… This was going to be bad… This couldn't end well… But she had to know. She had to know what Leah had done.

The link led to a completely unknown Youtube channel… Checking it out first, she sees this was the only video the channel had posted… The video had been posted thirty minutes ago…

Shaking, Brooklynn plays the video, waiting for what feels like forever for it to load. At first she was confused… Then familiar faces appear… Something starts to take place…

It was graphic… Nothing blotted out… Nothing hidden… Just footage…

Footage of her…

Footage of her secret…

And it was out there for the whole world to see.

Brooklynn's jaw drops with horror. Eyes glued to the horrid scene on her phone, she gaps. It was even worse than what she remembered. Her memory of the event was hazy with her brains attempt to push it away… But this was it. And it was worse than she could imagine…

Her secret… It was out there for the world to see. But it was so much worse than that. It was a video. It was footage. It wasn't just someone retelling the story. It wasn't a witness speaking or a description of the event. It was footage. Evidence. If she had wanted to deny the whole event, she couldn't argue with this! This was concrete evidence! Out there for the whole world to see!

It was out there for the whole world to see… This! This monstrosity! This hidden secret! Everything! A complete, graphic picture of what happened! Visuals, audio, everything! There was no way to deny her secret!

Her stomach was churning…

Horrified but unable to look away, Brooklynn watches the whole video through…

"Call Darius," the voice whispers.

Brooklynn looks at the views… Only forty minutes ago had the video been posted, and there was already fifty views… It was only going to grow as people recognized her… It was going to spread like wildfire… It was going to be all over the Internet… Everyone was going to hear about it and see it…

"Call Darius," it says again.

Brooklynn bursts into tears. Everything… Everything had crashed down. Her resolve to tell her friends what happened disappears. Why should she?! She had a video of it floating around on the Internet! They could find it themselves!

They were going to find it… Her friends were going to see it… If she thought the idea of her friends knowing was bad, the idea of her friends seeing it was far worse… Now they'd be able to witness the footage… See secondhand what she did…

They would be horrified… Disgusted… Ashamed to call her their friend…

"Call Darius," the voice says more urgently.

"Do it! Do it now! Leave this place! It'd be better to leave now! They'll find out soon enough! When they find it, they won't be able to look me in the eye! I have to die! Do it!"

Sobbing on her bed, she made up her mind… This was it… This was the last straw… This was the final push that tipped her over the edge. She wasn't going to stick around to see how her friends reacted… With the footage leaked, this opened up a whole new can of worms… Dangers… Her friends would be better off without her… She was the instigator… With her removed, things could get better…

She couldn't handle the shame… The fear… The anxiety… The overwhelming feeling of guilt… It was too much…

"Do it… Do it! Do it!" the voices chime in her head.

She thinks over her options. The only person around was her brother… He was gaming with his friends… Her father was working late, as was her mother… Her mother was on her way home. As soon as her mother got here, Milton would go out to meet his new girlfriend for an ice cream date… When would she have the chance to do it…?

Her phone rings and Brooklynn stares at it in horror. It was her mother… Composing herself just enough, she answers it. "Hello?"

"Hey, sorry, my phone's about to die and my car just broke down," her mother explains. "Can you tell Milton that he can't go on the date? I don't want you to be left home alone and I don't know how long it will take me to get back and—"

The phone call ends abruptly.

Brooklynn stares at her phone… Her mother's phone obviously just died… She was stuck away from the house for who knows how long… Her father wasn't home… And Milton didn't know that his date was canceled…

The perfect opportunity was presented.

She pulls herself together, putting on her fake face. If she could convince Milton that their mother was on her way and that he could leave her for five minutes, maybe he'd go… But she would need to seem stable enough for him to leave.

Brooklynn hears Milton open his bedroom door, and she hurriedly sits at her desk. She pulls out her diary and pretends to stare romantically out her window as he opens the door. "Hey, have you been able to reach Mom?" he asks.

She nods. "Her phone died. She's on her way back. Maybe five minutes away."

His shoulders sag and he exhales sharply through his nose, but he doesn't complain.

"You can go meet Chlamydia," Brooklynn says, then watches as he laughs hysterically. "... Yeah, that's not her name," she realizes her mistake, laughing with him to play her part. "What's her name again?"

"Clementia?" he wheezes.

"Yeah, her. You can go meet Miss Citrus," Brooklynn teases.

"No, I'm supposed to be watching you," he states.

"Mom's on her way," Brooklynn states, turning back to her diary. Maybe it wouldn't be as easy to convince him…

"Whatcha writing?" he asks.

Brooklynn quickly flips the book shut. "Nothing," she squeaks. "Just… private stuff…"

She was desperately praying he didn't grab it and look… There was nothing new written in it…

"Stuff I should be concerned about?" he crossed his arms.

"No, cause you were fully encouraging it," she rolls her eyes.

His obnoxious snickers annoy her, but she ignores him. "Hehehe, didn't seem too private to me."

Brooklynn fakes a wistful stare out the window, letting out her inner theater kid one last time. "He kissed me…"

"Actually, you kissed him," Milton flops down on her bed.

"No, afterwards, on the deck… in the moonlight," she swoons. "It was beautiful…"

"Eugh," Milton pretends to barf. He gags himself with his finger. "You guys are sickening."

"I… I've never felt this way before…" Brooklynn acts confused. "He… He loves me… I… I'm loved…"

Even though he rolled his eyes, Milton smiles. "Call him."

"Hmm?" she blinks.

"Call him and tell him how you feel," he sputters. But it was clear he was buying her hopeful, falling-in-love act. "You love-sick idiot."

"Yeah…" she murmurs. "Go meet your girlfriend. I'll stay on the phone with Darius until Mom gets back. Probably longer…"

That part seemed to satisfy him. "Fine," he sighs. "Just let me know when Mom gets back," he says, standing in her doorway as she pulls up Darius's contact, pretending to call him.

"Okay, go have fun!" she says, putting the phone to her ear. "Love is in the air!"

He rolls his eyes and waits until she pretends to talk to Darius before heading downstairs. Brooklynn was grateful that he didn't seem to notice the complete silence on the other end. It was his mistake.

Hearing him drive off, Brooklynn sneaks into her mother's bathroom and finds the medicine cabinet. After thinking for weeks about the best way to end her life, she had figured overdose was the easiest… Simple, painless, and the easiest to get her hands on. Especially now.

Barely glancing at the bottle, she gets a glass and takes an uncounted number. She didn't care how many. It was enough to kill her.

After swallowing the last one, a pit of dread settles in her stomach… There was no turning back… Yeah, she could call the ambulance and get help at this point… But her window was closing…

"Call the first responders," her conscience says.

Rejecting it, she paces her house for a few minutes, then texts Milton that their mother had arrived.

What if she did… What if she came too soon? What if she called the ambulance and they saved her? What if her plan didn't work?

Brooklynn checks the views on the video… One hundred and twenty-two… It was climbing rapidly…

"I need to write goodbye letters," she thinks to herself.

Heading back upstairs, Brooklynn pulls out paper and a pen. Tapping her desk, she decides to write to Milton first. He would probably feel bad afterwards… Definitely some guilt. Despite their bickering, she didn't want him to take the blame for what happened to her. Especially since some of her friends might end up blaming him, too…

Putting on her sad, depressed playlist, she gets to work. "Dear Milton. If you're reading this, I guess I've succeeded."

She thinks for a moment, wondering what to say… "I hope I didn't ruin your date with Clementia. She was really nice when I met her. I truly hope you guys had a good time. I wasn't encouraging you to go just for my plan. I hope she's the one for you."

"Call the ambulance," that small voice tells her.

Pushing it away, she continues. "We weren't always the closest siblings, and we fought quite a lot. Said a lot of things I wish we could take back. But I do care for you. You've been there for me after the island and while not perfect, you've been trying. I really appreciate it.

"Don't go blaming yourself. I lied and tried to make you leave. Don't go pretending that you're the reason I'm gone. It's a lot of things and seriously, you're not really one of them. I just know things would be better for everyone if I was gone, and I don't want to live anyway, so this was the best option for everyone. You know how much our parents have been fighting. Things aren't working out. There's more, but I don't want to go into it. I just know that things are better without me in the world. It hurts, but you all will see eventually.

"Don't blame yourself. Seriously. Don't do it. I forbid you from doing it. It's not your fault. Just move on and forget me. Remember the few good times if you just can't forget me…

"Hopefully you can move on, Milton. I love you."

"Call the ambulance."

Folding up the letter and putting it into an envelope, she addresses it to her brother and continues. She writes to her mother next. "Dear Mom. I hope you're doing better now. Maybe now you and Dad can find happiness without me interfering.

"Don't take my death too hard. I'm not worth all the trouble, anyways. I know you told me otherwise, but it's not true. Thank you for trying to be there after the island. We weren't always close, but the effort and change is touching. I just know things would be better without me there.

"Don't blame yourself, please. It's not your fault. I just took advantage when I had the chance. Honestly, I wasn't even planning on it until a few minutes before you called. It's not your fault, merely a perfect storm. Don't take on the guilt."

A small tear slips out.

"I wish we could've gotten closer. I wish we could've had more heart-to-hearts and more mother-daughter dates. I wish I could've seen your job as a fashion designer flourish and maybe have been your model. I wish I could've been the one to bury you and not the other way around, but it wouldn't have worked… Please don't take it hard, Mom. I love you."

Brooklynn thinks for a few minutes, stumped on her father's letter…

"Call the police," the voice whispers again.

She shakes her head and attempts the letter. "Dear Dad. I hope you had a good night. I hope I didn't ruin it… Just like I ruined our family."

"Is that too passive aggressive?" she wonders.

After debate, she decides to keep it. "I think everyone deep down knows things would be better off without me. They just, for whatever reason, don't want to accept it. I appreciate the effort you gave in the beginning to help me… And I know you never really try to be there as much as Mom and Milton. I think that's for the best… At least you seem to get that I'm not worth it.

"I hope you and Mom find happiness, even if that's separated from each other. Just don't forget about Milton… He needs you. Take care, Dad."

Queasy at the words, she still adds: "I love you."

Having her family out of the way, Brooklynn moves onto her friends. The tears wouldn't stop falling after that… This was harder than she thought it'd be.

"Call the ambulance," the persistent conscience whispers.

About an hour goes by and she just begins Darius's letter. It was harder to get through than she thought it would be. She wanted each letter to be perfect… Each letter had to convey her love for them. How she felt about them. How much they meant to her. Why she had ended her life. There was so much to put into words… So much that was difficult through her tears.

Darius's was left for last… His was going to wreck her… How could she put into words everything she was feeling?

"Call for help," the soft voice whispers, becoming more and more inaudible.

Her stomach felt sick… Brooklynn worried she wouldn't be able to finish Darius's letter due to her anxiety and sadness.

"It's just period cramps, you're due to start any day now. Get through it," she tells herself harshly.

About halfway through his letter, her pain begins to get worse. They were like extreme period cramps. Her stomach constricted and churned painfully, making her curl up on the chair. It hurt… It was hurting so much… But not as much as her mind…

"Get through this," she grits her teeth, her tears leaving water stains on the paper.

The pain became too much, though… Her writing started to look more like chicken scratch and she was struggling to focus… Her watery eyes made it difficult to see what she was writing, and her mind was elsewhere. It was becoming impossible to think of heartfelt words when she was so distracted by the pain… The only words that wanted to come out on paper were "Help me…"

Her chest starts to hurt… A sharp, beating pain makes her whimper… She was doubled over on the chair in pain… It was beginning to feel hard to breathe.

"This was supposed to be painless," she thinks, wanting to lay down. She stumbles off of her chair like a drunkard. The pain in her body and this newfound dizziness leads to her on the floor, body aching.

Whimpering and crying out, Brooklynn curls up on the floor, wanting desperately for it to be over. She wanted to die even more now… The pain was unbearable… Would it just end already?! This was supposed to be painless! She just wanted to go! She just wanted to be free of the pain! Instead, she had given herself more pain!

"Pull me out, pull me out, pull me out," her music sings. The music was interrupted by a notification… Then another… Then another…

"Answer it," her conscience says. "Get up and answer it."

Brooklynn refuses to move towards her phone… She was going to stick with her decision… Though she was writhing in agony, she wouldn't back down… No, not when she was so close to ending her suffering for good…

Her phone starts ringing…

The pain gets worse and she cries out… Was all of this worth it?

Her phone rings again and she wanted to answer it… Her will was breaking and she wanted so badly to answer it… But getting to it was difficult.

Desperate, but lacking coordination, she barely manages to get onto her knees. She was so dizzy… The world was spinning… She sways on her hands and knees for a few seconds before nausea gets the best of her. The bitter taste of vomit hardly registers in light of her horrible pain.

Her phone rings a third time. She looks up at her desk and tries to reach for it, sobbing. Her whole world was spinning and she misses horribly, falling flat on her face again. Now she was beginning to regret her decision…

Her phone stops ringing and through her tears she turns over and stares up at it. Brooklynn reaches up for it, hand unsteady and missing every time from her dizziness and double vision. "I'm not ready to die, not yet. Pull me out of the train wreck," her music plays.

"Please! I'm not! I'm not ready to die!" she screams in her head. Pulling her legs up to her chest and laying on her side, Brooklynn lets out a hopeless scream. "Please! Someone come! Mom! Mom, come home! Milton, come back! Darius! Yaz! Kenji! Someone! Anyone! I don't want to die! Not like this! Help!"

She was scared. She was in so much pain now… Her whole body ached and burned and screamed in agony. Her stomach was sickened and her body was attempting to purge itself of the poison. Her vision was swimming and the world was spinning. Vertigo didn't make her nausea any better and she vomits what little was left in her stomach.

What was going to happen to her… Brooklynn had never thought anything of the afterlife before… But faced with imminent death… She was terrified… What would happen? Would she cease to exist? Would she just disappear? Gone into nothing? Were her friends right and there was a Heaven and Hell? Would she be damned to spend eternity burning in Hell for everything she had done? Would her suffering be a hundred times worse there? Would she be reincarnated? Would she come back to life somewhere else? Would she never even leave her body? Would she be forced to lay there, body dead but soul alive, until she deteriorated? Would she be forced to witness helplessly as she was buried alive? Or even cremated? Would she become a ghost and haunt her friends? Be forced to watch as they deal with the pain she caused them?

Her phone rings a fourth time and she feebly reaches up. She successfully knocks it off the desk. The phone's still ringing as she drags herself closer. Her shaking hands turn it over, aiming to answer the call. To get a hold of someone.

The screen was black.

The phone was laughing at her.

Her hands were covered in blood.

Brooklynn screams. She drops the phone and curls in on herself. She could hear what sounded like Darius on the other side of the phone, but he was garbled… She was losing consciousness…

She comes to coughing out more bile. Her hands weren't covered in blood… The back of her head was aching like she had hit it on the desk… And her phone was still on… But she couldn't move. Her body was limp; her limbs like lead. But she still had that horrible pain in her stomach.

"Somebody… Anybody… Help me… Or let me die…" she cries, slowly slipping into darkness.

---

"What's that stupid grin for?" Yasmina smirks.

Darius blinks at her. "Nothing…" he refuses to meet her eyes, looking at the walls of her bedroom to hide his blush.

The athlete barks out a laugh. "Did you like that awkward kiss back there?"

"No!" he says quickly, face heating up. "First off, that was too awkward to like at all. And second, why didn't you stick up for us!"

"Psht, did you stick up for me?" she crosses her arms.

"No…" he grumbles, listening to her cackle.

Yasmina lightly punches his arm. "Seriously, why do you look so lovestruck?"

"NothIng," his voice cracks.

More maniacal laughter from the athlete. "Come on, what happened?"

With a dramatic sigh Darius falls back on the pillows. "Fine… I kissed Brooklynn."

Yasmina does a spit take, having taken an untimely sip of water. "You… kissed Brooklynn?"

"Yes…" he mutters. "Out on the deck. I was making sure we didn't let the dare ruin our friendship and she asked me if I didn't want to kiss her. And so I started rambling trying to explain that I just wanted it to be more special… And there was a breeze and the moonlight was shining just right… I-I, next thing I know, I'm kissing her."

Yasmina was wheezing from shock. "You kissed Brooklynn!" she whisper yells, her mouth wide with joy.

"I did…" Darius's eyes widen. He had kissed a girl… His best friend… Woah…

"Did you like it?" she asks, giggling like a gremlin.

"Well, duh!" he barks.

"I'm just saying, you're Mister-squeaks-at-the-mention-of-romance," she shrugs.

"I am well aware of how I feel about that," Darius groans. "And it's still… ew… no… Don't want to do that… But kissing… Not too bad."

This sends Yasmina into hysterics. "Did you French her?"

"Yaz!" Darius protests, slapping her with a pillow. The athlete falls off her bed and continues wheezing on the floor. "Ew! That—no!" he stutters. "I'm nowhere near that level yet! Just let me get used to a simple kiss! I mean, how would you feel if you started imagining you and Ben… fondu-ing."

She aborts her attempt to get back on the bed, snorting with laughter. "I'm sorry… What kind of a euphemism is that?!"

"How uncomfortable does it make you feel to imagine you and Ben doing the do?" Darius asks as she climbs back up. "Whatever you want to call it! Parking the porpoise, the horizontal tango, the humpty dumpty."

Yasmina wipes away her tears. "Sex, Darius. Just say sex."

"No," he says sternly, shaking his head. "Nope, not saying it."

"You do realize I came up with an entire prank revolving around me and him… fondu-ing," she snickers. "So, no, I don't have too much of a problem imagining it."

"Bah," he waves her off, laying back down. "I'm still trying to process my first kiss…"

"You're cute," she smirks, laying down next to him. "Funny how you have a huge crush on her but are scared of the idea of romance."

"Yeah, haha, you have the same problem," he points out.

"Fair," she nods.

The two are silent for a moment. "... What would it be like?" Darius asks.

"Hmm?" Yasmina looks over at him.

"To date? Get married?" he asks. "What would it be like?"

She shrugs. "I don't know… You could watch romance movies, but I doubt they're actually accurate… Or they're only accurate for a certain amount of time… I imagine being married is like… being best friends, but with kids involved. And sex." she adds, much to his chagrin.

"Bleh," he groans. "What would it be like to have kids… I want kids. Eventually."

"Really?" she raises an eyebrow.

"You don't?" Darius asks.

"Mm… Not really," Yasmina mumbles. "Kids kinda scare me."

"You're scared of them making sounds you don't like," he teases.

"That too," she agrees. "And birth sounds painful… I mean, I've imagined having kids with Ben, but it's still scary… Maybe I'd adopt. I don't know. We don't have to think about that just yet."

"Yeah…" he murmurs, thinking about his vision. The one about his future daughter with Brooklynn…

"I've never really thought about the future," Darius admits.

"What do you mean?" Yasmina asks.

"I just… haven't had room to think about it," he sighs. "I've been so worried about Brooklynn and you guys and surviving the present that I haven't… haven't thought about it… I mean, I've thought about the possibility of Brook dying… I've thought about bad things, but… I haven't really thought about the good things."

"So do it," Yasmina murmurs. "Start dreaming about the good things. Where would you want to live? What would you do? What would you and Brooklynn do?"

Darius starts to picture it… A small house maybe a town away from where they were now. What would their jobs be… Perhaps Brooklynn had started singing and releasing music… She had talked about that before on the island. Maybe he was a paleontologist… Or… Or… He couldn't really think about what he would do.

"I don't know what I'd do…" he says.

"What would you name your kids then?" she asks, half asleep. "How many would you have? What would they be like?"

"Hmmm… I think… We'd probably have a daughter first," he says. "... I like the name Rachel… And Emily… And Mackenzie… Maybe a boy after her. Lucas… or Ethan… Or Asher."

"So the most popular, unoriginal names ever," Yasmina comments with a sleepy chuckle.

"What would you pick? A weird name no one's ever heard of like Mephibosheth?" Darius snidely remarks.

"No, but I'm not picking something common!" she laughs.

"Between you and Ben, your kids are going to have weird names," Darius sniffs.

"Not weird, just different with meanings," Yasmina mumbles.

It becomes quiet as Yasmina starts to drift off and Darius imagines his future family… In a world where Brooklynn does heal and she doesn't kill herself… It was calming to think about it… He had been too worried in the present to think about her overcoming her thoughts in the future…

Out of the blue, Yasmina sits up quickly, staring wide eyed at the corner of her room. "Yaz?" Darius startles. "What's wrong…?"

Yasmina doesn't say a word. Her eyes were playing tricks on her… They had to be… For standing in the corner of her room was an intruder… A monster… Something straight out of a horror film…

It was a woman with matted black hair in her face, like the Ring. Her skin was ashy gray, and her eyes were blinded and clouded over, as if they were rotting. She had gray pants and perhaps a gray shirt, but it was hard to tell with the hair everywhere. Long, bloody knives hung where there should've been fingers. Snaking around her arms and shoulders was a black boa-constrictor that looked familiar…

"Yaz, what's going on?" Darius asks, getting worried. Was she hallucinating? What was going on?

Yasmina looks at Darius and her own hands. The boa-constrictors were wound around their necks and arms, like shackles chaining them to the woman…

When she looks up again, the woman and snakes were gone. Whirling around, she frantically searches her room for the intruders.

"Yaz, what are you looking for?" Darius asks.

Terrified and bewildered, she describes what she saw. When she looks back, Darius had grown cold. "What?" she asks, her turn to be worried.

"Do… Did her clothes look like Brooklynn's, but gray?" he asks.

Yasmina shrugs. "I don't know! I couldn't really see her clothes. Maybe?"

"I think I've seen her before in a dream…" he murmurs. "She had cut up Brooklynn… And she held me back when I tried to reach her…"

"I've seen those snakes before… I think it was when we were at the beach," she says, voice a little shaky. "In the mirror. They were around my neck when I was feeling…"

"Feeling what?" Darius asks. "... Feeling what Yaz?"

"Guilt…" she thinks. "You said she was dressed like Brooklynn?"

"Yeah. She had cut up Brooklynn," he says. "Then my Dad came and picked Brooklynn up. They both had wings… They told me to let them go, but the monster lady kept pulling me back."

Yasmina sits on her bed, putting the pieces together… Something dawns on her… And a feeling of dread sets in.

"I'm a failure," fear whispers.

Hastily, Yasmina pulls out her phone and begins swiping furiously through Youtube.

"Yaz!" Darius snaps, panicking. "What's going on?!"

"I'm not seeing anything…" she murmurs, checking Brooklynn, Leah, and any other account affiliated with Leah. "Something's happened… Something's happened… Something's happened!"

"What?" Darius asks. "What happened?"

"Text her," Yasmina says. Darius stares in confusion. "Text Brooklynn!" she snaps. "Something's wrong!"

Worried, confused, and beginning to feel paranoid, Darius texts Brooklynn. She doesn't answer… She doesn't answer the second, either…

"She's not answering…" he murmurs.

"Something's wrong!" Yasmina growls, searching furiously for anything that could hurt Brooklynn… Nothing was coming up.

"She might not have her phone on her at the moment," Darius reasons, moreso for himself.

"That's not like her!" Yasmina snaps, tossing her phone down in frustration, as her hands were shaking too much.

"I'll call her," Darius says, trying to stay calm.

"I'm putting on my leg," Yasmina decides, hurriedly grabbing her gear and reassembling her prosthetic leg.

Darius lets the phone ring until it goes to voicemail. "She's not answering…" he sighs, really beginning to worry now.

"We have to find her!" Yasmina hisses.

"What do you think happened?" he asks, taking off his pajama bottoms and pulling on jeans.

"I don't know!" she growls, pulling on loose shorts and pulling off her shirt. "These hallucinations have been weird, sure, but there's something bad about this one…"

"Yeah, I don't have a good feeling either," Darius agrees, picking up his phone and calling Brooklynn again as the athlete quickly pulls on a sports bra. Neither one could be bothered to be embarrassed… Brooklynn's life could very well be on the line…

"We're going," Yasmina decides as the phone goes to voicemail again. "Come on."

The two hurry downstairs and Yasmina swipes the keys to Ghaleb's car. "It's technically both of ours, I just didn't have a license for a while," she states, starting up the engine and pulling out of the driveway.

"Come on… Come on… Pick up!" Darius snaps as the third attempt remains futile.

"Get ahold of Milton," Yasmina says, speeding more than she should. "He's supposed to be watching her."

"I'm trying!" he growls. "Come on… Somebody pick up…" he mutters, texting Kenji, Sammy, and Ben as well. "Milton says… I'm going to kill him," he sighs.

"What?" Yasmina asks. "What did he do?"

"He's on a date. Mrs. Monell is supposed to be home with Brooklynn. Brooklynn said she was," Darius reads.

"So he doesn't even know for sure that their Mom is home?!" Yasmina exclaims.

"He said Brooklynn called me and was going to stay on the phone with me until their Mom came home," he sighs. "Few minutes after he left, she texted him that their Mom had arrived."

"She never called you!" Yasmina snaps.

"I know!" he retorts.

"So she's been home… alone… For who knows how long…" Yasmina whispers, voice shaking.

"She lied," Darius breathes. "It's not just that she's home alone… She lied… So that he would leave…"

Reality hits like a freight train. Brooklynn was doing it… She was killing herself… There was no other explanation… This was a deliberate attempt to get the house to herself…

As they speed their way to Brooklynn's house, neither one can stop imagining what they would find. How she was attempting it…

As Darius calls her for the fourth time, he can't stop thinking about her… Images of her dead force their way into his mind… What if she cut herself… Her wrists… Her neck… Blood dripping down her and pooling around her lifeless body… Like in his dream… Like when she couldn't handle her emotions… She had cut herself to deal with the pain before… What if that was her end… What if it was just one cut too deep… Like the time Brandon found her in the kitchen… Except Brandon wasn't there this time…

No one was there this time.

Yasmina saw a gun… A bullet in her head… A bleeding hole in her forehead, blood pooling on the floor… Her mother's gun in her limp hand… Mrs. Monell had recently gotten a firearm for self-defense, encouraged by Mrs. Gutierrez and Mrs. Fadoula… So that, if the situation called for it, she wouldn't be completely defenseless… So that she could protect herself and her children… Same reason the Gutierrez's and Fadoula's carried… What if that weapon meant to protect Brooklynn ended up being her demise…

What was meant to protect her became her demise…

"She's made it before," Darius breaks the silence, texting their friends again. "We saved her on the island."

"She was delirious," Yasmina says gravely. "Feverish. Out of her mind."

"She's out of her mind, now, too!" Darius argues.

"But she's fully aware of what she's doing this time!" Yasmina practically shouts. "This isn't spurred on by a fever! And she wasn't fully wanting to do it then! This is different! This is calculated!"

The two are silent in horror. Both phones are hopelessly silent as well… Their friends weren't answering back… The only response they got was Milton saying he would cut his date short and go back home.

"Do you think she planned this?" Yasmina whimpers.

"Planned it enough to get Milton out of the house… And keep her mother away," Darius says. "Beyond that…"

"How long…" Yasmina whispers, blinking back tears. "How long do you think…"

"I don't know…" Darius murmurs.

Yasmina skids into their driveway and the two race to the door. "Do you have a key?!" Darius asks.

"No, not on this keychain!" she snaps. "It's probably in my bag… Back home…"

"Don't worry about that right now, I should have a key!" Darius says, searching his pants. "Hopefully…"

"You don't have it, do you?" she growls.

"Well, you don't have one either!" he snaps.

"It's in my bag!" she says, heading back to check the car. "I keep my keychain with my license."

"So you don't have either?!" he exclaims.

"I didn't grab my bag in the rush!" she snaps.

"How do we get in then, the door's locked!" Darius grabs the sides of his head.

Yasmina reaches into the back seat with a triumphant 'Aha!' "I left my bag in the backseat! Here… Here's my driver's license… Got it!"

The two race back to Brooklynn's front door with the house key and get in. "Brooklynn!" Yasmina shouts, scanning the living room.

"Brook!" Darius calls, looking through the kitchen.

They could hear Milton's dog going crazy inside, locked up in his crate, most likely. "Brooklynn!" Yasmina screams.

"She's got to be in her room!" Darius says, racing up the stairs. Yasmina isn't far behind.

Darius carefully opens up the door, then throws it wide open. "Brooklynn!" he cries, his voice cracking.

Brooklynn was laying on her side next to her desk, sickly pale. Vomit was all over her arms, face, and the floor. Her phone was lying just within her finger tips. They couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

"Brook!" Yasmina wails as the two crumble next to her. "No!"

"No, please! Brooklynn!" Darius turns her over and taps her cheek. "Wake up! Please! Wake up!"

A pained, gurgling sound escapes her blue lips.

"She's alive!" Yasmina weeps.

"Brook! Brook!" Darius tries to get a response.

"She's not breathing well!" the athlete whimpers, watching the shallow and rapid rise and fall of her friend's chest. "What do we do?! … Darius!"

Yasmina's voice was there, but it wasn't registering… Nothing seemed to register except for her… She had to wake up… She had to respond…

Yasmina backs up and sits back on her knees, frantically looking around the room. What do they do… What do they do?! What do they do for… whatever she did to herself! The athlete was hyperventilating, and it didn't help that Darius couldn't seem to see her. Brooklynn was dying and Yasmina didn't know what to do and it seemed as if Darius couldn't be reached… She felt abandoned in the situation. Abandoned in the desperate search for something to do for their friend. Her breathing could not be controlled.

"She overdosed…" Darius whispers shakily, still trying to see if Brooklynn was responsive.

"Overdose… overdose…" Yasmina whispers, panicking. "Drugs… Poison… What do we do for poison… What would Sammy do for poison…"

But Sammy wasn't there… They had no medic with them. There was no way for them to save her with their own power.

Suddenly, it clicks in her brain. They weren't on the island! She knew that, but she hadn't fully realized it. Panic had set in and they were back on the island… But they weren't on the island! There was medical help! Brooklynn could be saved!

"Darius! Darius! Do you think the ambulance will get here in time?!" she asks as she dials 911.

Finally, Yasmina smacks him, getting his attention. "Uh…" he stutters, coming to the same realization that they were back in the modern world as she puts the phone to her ear. "N-No! They won't make it in time!"

As Yasmina panickedly explains the situation, Darius's attention turns back to Brooklynn. "Please," he whispers, turning her on her side as her body heaves again.

A horrible gasping sound comes from her as her eyes flutter open. "Brooklynn!" he exclaims, holding her head and torso in his arms.

It takes a few seconds before her eye focused on him and processed his face. A pained grunt that vaguely sounded like his name comes out. "I… I'm sorry…" she groans, barely above a whisper as her eyes rolls back.

"Brooklynn?" he gently shakes her. "Brooklynn? Brooklynn!"

---

Outro note:

Since there's been a bit of confusion, (I realized I mispoke in my comment, meant to say attempted) I'll straighten this out. The next 6 chapters are solely from one perspective, one for each camper. This will give each camper a chance to show their side of the aftermath. Some events will be shared across the chapters, but there's so much content to cover that there will be new information revealed in each chapter. The first 5 are all connected, number 6 sort of in it's own world.

Next chapter is Sammy's: Thy Will Be Done

Release date: April 1st {no pranks this time ;)} at 8:00 am, est