Don't Let Go teaser

{Story idea? Yeah? No? Okay.}

November 11^th 2015

“I have spent my whole life trying to die and now that I am, I have a reason to live.” Victoria whispers to Jaydan as he held her. Jayden stroked her scared covered arms and held her small form close to his chest. He never wanted to let go of her. He didn’t want to let her back into that world, a world that had only caused her pain and heart break. Victoria silently sobbed into him, whispering things between tears. I can’t do it. I can’t do this. It’s too much. I can’t handle this. I was doing well. I started eating again, I stopped hurting myself, and I found someone to help me. This just can’t be over now. It was finally going right. Victoria’s thoughts were louder than ever and they pounded against her skull but she couldn’t get the words to come out of her mouth.

“You could make it, Tori. You might not…” He couldn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t want to think of her dying, of losing her. He just wanted to make everything right but he couldn’t, he couldn’t fix this, he couldn’t fix her. She tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. She won’t be doing that much longer. Jayden tore his eyes away from her at the thought. He looked around the room. It was his little living room that had once felt some warm and cozy but now just felt cold, despite having the fireplace going. The sat on the love seat across from the stone fireplace. The wood floor shined against the light. The fire danced across the logs and played shadows along the olive green walls. Jayden tightened the blanket around Victoria as he stared at the picture sitting on the mantel, it was of his dad spinning his mom around after seeing her for the first time in months of being on tour. He was still in his army uniform and his mom had the biggest smile he had ever seen. Victoria may never smile like that now. Jayden thought closing his eyes. Victoria’s eyes snapped up to his face and her tears suddenly stopped. No, no, no, Jay. Just no, you can’t think like that. I can only handle one of us falling apart right now.

“Jay, stop.” Victoria’s voice pulled Jayden back to reality, as if he could truly leave it, and he realized he said his thoughts allowed. Victoria pulled back enough to look up at him, he unwilling let her move from his arms but he kept his eyes on the picture. “You have to come to grips of losing me, Jay. It is happening but it will be okay.” Victoria’s crystal blue eyes filled with tears but she blinked them back, if he couldn’t be strong for her, she would be strong for him.

“No, it is not okay, Victoria!” Jayden’s voice had more bight than he meant it to have. He closed his green eyes and took a calming breath. “I’ve never accepted it before and I won’t accepted it now. You aren’t going to die, Victoria. It just isn’t going to happen.” Jayden looked her right in the eye and she saw that he truly believed that. You really are an idiot if you think that Jay. Victoria smiled. It wasn’t a smile like his mom’s smile in the picture, her smile was small and sad and looked like it would break any moment.

“Jayden Wilson, I have cancer. I will die. You will move on. You will find someone new. That is how this is going to happen you have to accept it. But my darling,” Victoria sat all the way up and held his face in her hands. She didn’t know where these words were coming from or why she sounded so strong because on the inside she was falling apart. “You will love again and you will be fine, I promise you will. Besides, you’re a senior in high school and I’m self-destructive. This,” she gestures between them as her tears spilled over again. . “Wouldn’t have lasted long anyways.” She as giving him a clean break. He could take it, he could end it and move on. He should take it, it’s the easiest way to handle this. I don’t want easy. Jayden decided. I just want her. Jayden grasped both of her small wrists with one hand and took the back her neck with his other.

“I love you. I’m in it for the long haul. The chemo, the drama, the family, the medicine, everything. I’m in it because I love you and you cannot just push me away. Do you understand that Tori? I am yours no matter how long we have. You may never smile like my mom but I don’t need that, I just need you, okay? I just don’t want to lose you my dear. I don’t think I can do that.” Jason searched her face, seeking permission to kiss her, he didn’t wait long before he leaned in and kissed her passionately. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Jayden slowed it down, just wanting to be close to her tonight.

“I love you.” They whispered between kisses. We can get through this. They thought as they held each other the rest of the night. 

Love & Loss

Preface:

No one really knows when babies start to understand concepts but this young boy did at barely the age of two, he may not of complete comprehended it but he knew love when he felt it. The little boy born with the jet black hair and bright blue eyes loved his parents deeply.
No one knew how his parents died. All they knew was the neighbor heard the screams of the mother and father and he found them crumbled on the floor with the dark hair baby pushed far away from them. The neighbor picked up the baby and the dark haired, bright eyed little thing cried at the sight of his unmoving parents and the neighbor felt for the child and took him in as his own, with the help of his wife he hoped to raise the boy as his own along with his own boy. Several months later, once the baby was settled, the adoptive parents and adoptive brother died the same as the boy’s parents had. The baby went into foster care and wherever the baby went death followed. Soon no one wanted the baby because the rumors also followed him around. At age 13 the boy was placed in an all-boys home where the other boys picked on him. All the boys there, and the adults picked on him and no one showed kindness toward dark haired blue eyed boy. But the house mother did. She took care of him, cleaned his wounds when he was hurt, made sure he always had food when the other boys took his and loved him as if he were hers for she too was once an outcast and she felt for the boy. She treated him just like a mother would and in his eyes she was like a mother, not long after finally seeing her in that way and not like a nice woman doing her job, she died, just like all the others. It was this that made him understand, whenever he felt something akin to love if not love itself, people died. Whenever he loved someone they would die soon after he felt it. Finally knowing what his curse was the boy made the decision to withdraw from society. He would not speak unless spoken too, he would not interact more than demanded, and he would by any means necessary for as long as he was in the system he would stay away from families that wanted to foster or adopt him. This promise to himself and to those dead was short lived: a family, a wife and a husband, both scientist wanted to foster and then one day adopt the boy for they were curious about the rumors that followed him. But the boy promised himself not to get attached or love them because he could not handle killing anyone else. The boy retreated to books, it was his only escape, he especially loved comic books because there he would find people like him trying to cope and understand what they were going through, but whatever he got he marked out the author’s name because he was unsure how his curse worked and he didn’t want them to die because he liked the way they wrote. At 14 and still with the scientist, they decided it was time to put him in school because the rumors were starting to sound like they were just rumors and they wanted to test it, to test him. The boy put up a long fight but by Monday morning he was attending his first day of school. He made up stories in his head about the teachers, he made them all have bad backgrounds and tried to make them as mean as possible, and he couldn’t afford to even like anyone. He never spoke a word, not when greeted, not when called on, not ever at school. The children all thought that he thought he was too good for them and that he was stuck up and snobby so they bullied him and teachers pitied him for that.

This went on till he was 15. He foolishly believed his curse was over, that he forced himself to forget love. But no one can forget it forever. One day they got a new student, a tall, red headed, freckle faced girl that had her green eyes on a tall dark headed blue eyed boy who foolishly let her. She sat with him during every class and every lunch for three weeks. She heard the rumors and the stories the kids told but she didn’t care, she wanted a friend and he seemed like the friendliest person at school. On the four week she talked to him but he didn’t speak to her. She thought maybe he was mute or just really shy and that was okay. This went on for months and slowly he learned everything about her and she broke down his walls and he felt himself falling in love with her. He pushed that as far away as he could, as deep down as he could. One day they were at the park, like they do every day after school. They sat on a pile of rocks and she talked about everything and nothing and anything in between.
“Lila,” He whispered on that day. It was the first time she heard his voice. She stared wide eyed at him, thinking her ears played tricks on her.
“Drake?” She whispered back, tears welling up in her eyes. His voice was smooth and rich for a 15 year old.
“We need to stop. We need to stop this, us. It’s too dangerous for you.” He whispered, not looking into her eyes.
“I heard the rumors, and I don’t care. I don’t think those people died because of you. I really really like you, and I know it’s weird because I shouldn’t feel like I know you because you never talk, but I do, I do know you, I’ve talked to your foster parents and I know everything about you just like you know everything about me because we friends and friend’s should know this stuff. So it’s okay, this is okay, we are okay.” She rushed on, words falling over each other, she didn’t want to lose him, he saw that and it brought tears to his eyes as well.
“You don’t know everything.” Was the only thing he could think of to say at the time. 
“Then tell me. Tell me so we can be okay, Drake, please, let us be okay.” If anyone had overheard the conversation they would have thought these two were much older than what they are because what she feels and what he denies is more than what most feel in a lifetime.
“They aren’t rumors,” He looked into her eyes and she watched tears streak down his face. “If I feel love or affection that person I feel it towards, dies.” Lila reached for his hand but he pulled back.
“Lila, we aren’t okay. If I let this go on, you will die, and I could never live with myself if you died because of me, because of my feelings for you.”
“I don’t care.” She whispered.
“You should, Lila, because this is real, I could kill you but I don’t want to.”
“We are real, what we have, this connection is real, Drake, nothing can stop it, don’t you see that?” She took his hand in hers and he didn’t pull back.
“That’s what I’m afraid of. And you should be too.”
“Drake, for the past few months, I have fallen in love with you, nothing can change that no matter how scared we might be. And I won’t leave without a fight, okay?” She placed her hand on his cheek and he leans into, feeling in more pain than ever before. He couldn’t love her. He couldn’t kill her. He wouldn’t, he would try everything in his power to keep the curse away from her.
“Lila, I’m so scared. But I have to be alone, it’s my curse to be alone. I can’t kill you, I can’t lose you like that. I have to be alone from now on.” He closed his eyes and let his pain wash over him like a wave, drowning his love for her. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her and it made it ten times harder.
“Let’s be alone together then.” Her voice was so hopeful it caused a sob to rise up in his throat.
“That didn’t work out last time.” He croaked out.
“Those were the worst three weeks in my life, Drake. If I’m going to die at least I’m not alone and I got to feel like this,” she placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. “I got to fall in love with a wonderful person and maybe we don’t get to have a long life together but we can this one moment, together… before it all ends.” He opened his eyes to see her looking more determined than ever before.
“Drake, I want to hear you say it. Say it and finally feel it for me.” Drake shook his head.
“It’s okay,” She pulled herself right into his lap and he held her tightly.
“I’m ready to die if that means we get to have us for even just this moment.” Lila leaned up and pressed her lips to his and he pulled her even closer to him and deepened the kiss, and on her lips he said, “I love you.” His feeling opened like a dam bursting and all the love he had forced down came rushing back up and melted into the kiss. He wrapped his arms around, her hands went into his hair, pulling themselves even closer. They pulled back and she started to fight for breath and she held in a scream of pain but her eyes never lost that love she held for him, she was truly ready to die for them. Tears rolled down even faster as he pressed his forehead to hers. She reached up and put her hand on his cheek. She tried to kiss him again but the action took too much effort, caused too much pain so she just lied there, in his arms, trying with all her might to speak to him one last time. With her last breath she managed a quiet, “I love you, Drake.” When all she wanted was to scream it to the heavens, but she couldn’t. Her breath slowed, her eyes dimmed and her body went limp in his arms. He pulled back staring at her darkened eyes. No, no, please. His thoughts cried.
“Please don’t go. I need you.” He begged as hugged her to his chest. All the love he felt got washed away with loss and hurt. He held her lifeless body and cried with so much pain that it turned into screams until he had nothing left to yell. Nothing left to cry. Nothing left to be. 

I finally wrote something good!

Is a 5 page prologue tooooo long? Naaaahhh....

I'll post it soon boys and girls, once I get feedback on it from my mom!

Love you all!

-Brittney

He and She (Finally I wrote something for it)

Kaleb holds her tightly against his chest. 
"I am not leaving you. I can't leave you. I won't. " He whispers into her soft black hair, tears rolling down his cheeks. She feebly pushes against his board chest, forcing him to lean back. She takes a deep breath and looks into his usually strong face but now looks so broken, so damaged.
"I didn't take a hit for you to have," she swallows the lump in her throat. "you die with me." He looks into her watery chestnut eyes that reflect his moss colored ones. 
"I love you, Kaleb." She whispers her lips pressing together, forming a tight pink line. 
"Don't leave. Please." He begs as her eyes began to dim. 
"Go, Kaleb. Please. I love you so much." She begs. She begins to feel her mind slip away. She grasps what little life she had left, what little Kaleb she could see. 
"I'll come back. I'll come get you." He pleads. Looking for any form of life in her ashen face. 
"I won't be here. I won't know." Her voices rises to panic, she uses what energy she has left to grip to his shirt. She doesn't want him to leave. She doesn't want to die alone. But she knows he needs to leave. He needs to live. 
"Kaleb." The desperateness in her voice, the strain in it, the tears rolling down her face, and then The darkness swimming in her eyes starts to cloud over. She starts going under. 
"Ssshh." He rocks her gently back in forth. Tears streaming down his face. The voices in the distance grow louder. The gun shots closer.
She starts going limp, her breathing shallow. 
"I'll find you. I promise, my love, I will." Her wide fearful eyes tell him what she can't form into words. 
"I'll help you remember. I'll get you back." He kisses her forehead and the voices, the shots, they get louder. Kaleb won't leave her side. Not till she is gone. 
"I love you, Kirek. I love you so much, always know that. Remember that. Just focus on it, my love. Just focus on my name. I-i love you." 
Kaleb jumps down as a bullet whizzes past his head. 
"I love you, Kirek." He gently places her on the ground. Her dimmed eyes never leaving his face. 
"I'll come back." He whispers kissing her forehead. He jumps up and runs behind the wall. He watches his Kirek as her chest slows. Her eyes don't leave his face when she mouths two words and her breath stops.

Welcome Home

After being gone for two years Maylee finally comes back to her home town for her finally year of high school. She soon learns not much has changed. Well expect for her. The town welcomes her back with some questions.

Where has she been?
Why is she so different?
Where's her parents?
Whose the little boy with her?

Everyone asks her this things over and over until she meets Treymen, (who was the new boy in school till she came back that is) who treats her like any other person till something unthinkable happens and the truth has to come out.

The Weapon

The world is filled with lies.
Trust no one.
Crying is a sign of weakness.
Survival of the fittest.
Fight to the death.
The only one you can count on is you.
You are weak until you can pull your weight.
You are not your own.
You are mine and you are a weapon.

These are the words I have believed in my entire life.
This is what I grew up on.
This is my life.
I am not my own.
I am a weapon.
But.
My life is a lie.
It doesn't even exist.

She and He

She loved him. 
He loves her. 
She doesn't know him anymore.
He never forgot her. 
She is lost from him. 
He will find her. 
She's forgotten. 
He remembers. 
She's afraid. 
He's afraid. 
She wonders, Who is this man?
He wonders, Where did she go?
He believes that love will find a way. 
She doesn't realize he is her way. 
She died.
He lives. 
They are broken
They are lost
They are ___

This is the story of....

This is the story of two people who knew.

As soon as they looked into each others eyes, they knew.

They knew that they wouldn't stop thinking about each other, till the next time they saw one other.

They knew that they would see each other when ever they could.

They knew they loved each other.
They knew it all and planed every moment of theirs so they could be together, so they wouldn't be apart.

Or they thought they did.

This is the story of love and loss.

Some people don't believe in love at first sight they don't believe in fairy tales and true love's kiss.

But these two did, they still do even though they have lost so much but they have also loved so much and so deeply so they had strength and hope on their side.

But sometimes that isn't enough.

One day Tyler told Penny he was going to visit his parents in Florida and wanted her to come with him so they could meet her. Penny told him she wanted to and said she would. The day to leave comes and Penny tells Tyler over the phone something has come up and she can't go with him but he should go because life is short and he would regret not going to see them when he lives with aunt so far away.

Tyler agrees but promises to call her everyday.

But some promises can't always be kept.

Days pass and no call.

Penny worries but can't call.

This is the story of two people who get lost and can't see the path set before them and need each other to see. But they must fight on their own to see what the true path is.

This is the story of two people who must fight for their love to prevail.

Wish I may, Wish I might

Every year on my birthday my brother, older than me by a year, would ask me what I wished for, because as a fairytale obsessed four year old, I didn’t want anything I simply wished for it. And every year on my birthday I would answer, ‘I wish for the thing I can’t have’. Most thought I was quoting something and there wasn’t any way I could sound so mature, but when you lose your site at the age of three and you don’t remember being able to see and your parent’s treat you like a fragile thing half the time and then don’t pay attention to you for the rest, you grow up quickly.

                                                           Chapter 1

“Darling, are you ready to get up?” My mother’s sweet concerned voice filled my dream and it vanished. “Mother?” I ask sitting up. “Yes, darling? I’m here.” I feel my mother’s arm wrap around my shoulders. “Mother, must I go to school? I know it’s my last year but my grades are so good I can skip and-” “No! No, you must go to school. Darling you’ll be fine.” “I’m the new girl. The new girl is never fine. Plus, the kids will laugh at me, and mess with Frodo. The teachers never approve of Frodo anyways.” “Frodo has been trained not to let any kids ‘mess with him’. The teachers have be informed and Frodo’s personal trainer has taught him where to take you but just in case the school is assigning you a ‘hallway buddy’, to make sure you don’t miss your classes and that you get the correct books for each class.” “But mother-” “No buts! You will be going to school and that’s final!” I feel my mother roughly leave my side. “Mother I didn’t mean-” “Tracy will be in soon to help you get ready.” I hear my mother’s angry steps fade away and my sisters happy skipping and humming fills the hall and soon my room. “You haven’t gotten up yet?” Tracy asks me sitting next to me. “No, Mother and I just-” “I heard. In fact I think the whole town heard mother’s shouts.” Tracy laughs and I force a smile. “Come on, let’s get you dressed.” My younger sister said pulling me from bed. “Where’s Frodo?” I ask my hands going out to lead me. “Frodo!” My sister calls out and I hear my dog’s panting feel the room. “Good morning, Frodo.” I say reaching down to pet the dog. He pushed his head into my hand and welcome my petting. “You ready for school?” I ask the dog. “I’m sure he is.” Tracy answers. “Will you tell me what he looks like again?” I hear my sister’s smile as she tells me Frodo is a dark brown with a blond almost golden paw and has one ear pointed and the other ear floppy. “Thank you.” I say smiling. “Come on, I have the perfect outfit for you.” “What is it?” I ask as she drags me to where I think the closet is. We’ve just moved here to Sage and I haven’t learned where everything is yet. “It’s the new dress mother bought you. I think it will help you stand out on your first day.” “I don’t need to stand out.” “But it will look great with your golden colored hair and those new cream sunglasses.” “What’s it look like?” “It’s a pale pink lacey long dress with flowing sleeves. It’s so pretty! Please where it! For me?” I sigh and hold out my hands. “That’s the spirit!” Tracy says and I can just imagine her beaming smile. I put the dress on and beg Tracy to braid my hair down my back. “Wow.” I hear Tracy say. “What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask looking around franticly. “No, it’s okay. You just look so pretty. Here are some ballet flats that will pull it altogether. We better hurry, Mother is waiting for us.” I nod and pick up Frodo’s lead and follow them out of my room and out of the house. We load Frodo up first then I slide into the seat followed by Tracy then Mary. “You look so pretty sissy.” Mary says. “Thank you, Marry.” I say then stare out the window. I wish I could see the new town pass by, the tress, the clouds, and the sunny sky. But I can’t. We don’t know if I’ll ever be able to. “Stop it, Wendy.” Mother’s voice ordered interring my thoughts. “Stop what?” I ask leaning my head on the window, unlike the house, this car has been with us through everything. “It’s not going to come true.” Mother answered harshly.

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“And this is your hallway buddy, Robbie. I’ve given him your list of classes and altered all your teachers about Frodo. Please feel free to come to me if there is any trouble.” I nod and force a smile. Knowing full well that my mother was still here. “Wendy,” Mother’s over chipper voice sounded. “The principal and I are going to go finish some paperwork. I’ll see you after school, darling.” “Alright, mother, goodbye.” I say and feel her hug me. No good luck. No I love you. Just I’ll see you after school. Which is a lie because she’ll still be at work till almost eleven. “So what’s with the outfit and special treatment? You a princess or something?” A deep voice asked. “No. Now if you point me in the direction of the office I must go tell my Mother I need a new ‘Hallway buddy’.” I say turning to where I heard my mother earlier. “It’s that way.” My idiotic ‘buddy’ told me. “I don’t know if you know this,” I say hoping he didn’t walk away. “Know what?” He asks. Good. I’m not talking to the wall. I sigh. “But I’ve lost my sight so saying ‘That way’ isn’t going to help anyone.” “So you can’t see anything?” He says after a while. “No, I can’t.” “Oh, uh, my aunt’s deaf.” “That’s not really the same thing.” I say hiding a smirk. “Well, the office is,” I feel him putting his hands on my shoulders. I feel a little tingly feeling build up inside me and I shrug it off. “That way, if you put your hand on the wall you can feel your way to the second door, that’s the office. I mean if you want to get a new buddy. But I kinda need this so I won’t get kicked out of school.” I could hear a smirk in his voice. Who is this, the bad boy? “Please let go of me.” I say shrugging him off. “Okay. As much as I hate it here, it gets me out of the house. I still am going to be your buddy, I can’t get kicked out of school.” I sigh. “I don’t wish to cause trouble so I think it’s best for everyone if I don’t have a bad boy as my ‘buddy’.” “Who said I was the bad boy.” “I can hear it in your voice and how you still have your hands on my shoulders.” I hear a door up the door open and he quickly takes his hands off of me. “Thank you. Now to my first class please.” I say holding Frodo’s leash tighter. “After you.” I say. “Do I go in front of your dog or do you hold my hand or how does this work?” “I can take your arm and you can lead me to my class, Frodo will make sure I won’t run into anything.” I say reaching out slightly. “Is this the norm. for a blind person?” “It makes seeing people more comfortable.” I answer smiling. “Okay, right this way, Princess.” I hide a smirk. He just thinks he’s all that doesn’t he? “I think you should stop calling me princess.” I say smirking. “And where is the fun in that?” Robbie asks and I can hear his smirk.

New story!!!!

Here is s sneak peek guys!!
Enjoy!

“What’s your name?” Sam asked Jane quietly. “I don’t know… Bret called me Janie. I think that’s my name.” Sam finally looked at the girl. Jane stared back. Sam had blond hair pulled back into bun. Her eyes were brown and her skin was covered with dirt. When Jane thought about it Bret was covered with dirt too. “So you don’t know who you are?” “I woke up to Bret standing over me trying to wake me up. While someone kept saying that it wasn’t going to work because I’ve been in a comma for two years...” Jane sniffled and wiped more tears away. “Oh my gosh… I can’t even think what that feels like. And waking to this new world we live in.”

New story! Check out this sneak peek!

                                     The Beginning

Maybe it’s too soon. Aunt Jackie was suddenly dead just a few months ago. Maybe I should wait longer before going through her things. I think as the journal in my hands starts to blur with fresh tears. “I got your message and got here as fast as I could.” I hear the second-well he’s not second anymore since Aunt Jackie is gone- most important person in the behind me but I don’t turn around. “Raine, are you okay?” He asks me. “I found her personal journal. She wrote her name on the front in the fancy letters that no one else knows how to write in.” My voice is just above a whisper. “Come here, Raine.” I don’t move because my eyes catch something else. Her favorite book thrown under her bed. I can barely make out the cover of it but I just know. Why is it under there? She loved that thing. “Thorne, I’m sorry you had to miss work just because I was upset I should have called my dad.” I say tearing my eyes away from the bed and looking at him. I had to look up because he was 6’8” and I’m only 5’8”, and that’s just barely. “You know I miss work anytime for you.” He says quietly his brown eyes showing his feelings for me. He loves me but I don’t know how I feel. It’s been this way ever since he suddenly came into my life. “What are you thinking about?” Thorne asks me guiding me to Jackie’s couch, I never said that we were in her huge house and after six months I’m finally looking through her stuff, she left everything to me in her will that no one knew about, it was crazy but so was everything else. I’m thinking about the day I first met you. The real first time not the one that everyone says is true. I was ten so it was seven years ago. I was walking along the border with Aunt Jackie, something that wasn’t allowed in our small city, when I saw something or someone stumbling on the outside of the border. I pointed and asked Jackie what or who that was. Next thing I know I’m lying in my bed, just waking up, with Jackie leaning over me faking a smile. She said that we were running, racing when I fainted. They say I got over heated but when Jackie and I were alone she leaned close and whispered, “You can’t tell anyone. No one can be trusted, no one but each other and that boy.” Then mom and dad came back in. I want to tell him but I promised Jackie I wouldn’t tell a soul so all I say is, “I’m thinking about… How much I miss Aunt Jackie.” I lied. I’m a very bad liar and Thorne knows that and my answer isn’t the real one but he just nods. He gives me a look that I know too well. “I just miss her so much. I thought I be over it by now but… I’m not.” I force more tears to come and try not to smile when my voice cracks at the parts I want it to. Bad at lying. Good at acting. They aren’t the same. Even when I act I can’t lie. And I hate it. So I try to stay along the lines of the truth. “I know.” Thorne says putting his arms around me and just holds me for a moment long enough to talk but not to long for anyone to wonder. “We need to talk.” He whispers. “Not here. Not safe.” I whisper back.  Aunt Jackie always said that her house was bugged by someone. She wasn’t sure who and neither are we but we know that Jackie was never wrong so we play it safe and don’t break any rules till we’re in the park in a secret place that Jackie showed us. “I love you.” Thorne says when we pull apart. “I love you too.” It was lie. But the problem was… That wasn’t hard to say because I’ve been saying it for the past year. Here when someone starts to date someone else you have to marry them in the end or you don’t marry at all so you have to love them or you have to learn to love them. It was unfair. But that’s The City. Our City. “I’m going to take you to the park. Grab your favorite book of our Aunt’s and we’ll go read it under the trees.” It was code. He knew something caught my eye, and that I wanted to look at it and the journal privately. “Okay.” I fake a sniff and force a few more tears as I started to wonder around the cluttered room. Aunt Jackie loved books and journals and her house showed it. Everywhere free space should be wasn’t. It was crammed with notebooks, books, paper, pens, and napkins she wrote on if there was no paper. I make it look like I trip be the bed, which wasn’t hard since books scattered the floor, and take a peek under the bed. “Thorne, I think this is my Aunt’s favorite book. Wonder how it got under here.” I say pulling it out from under her bed. “Who knows? Do you have everything? Good, let’s get going before the sunsets.” It’s code again. He means we don’t have much time left. The City has a curfew. When the sunsets you must be in your house or else you will… Well, no one really stayed out passed the ‘or else’ so no one knows. I smile and put the journal and book in my book bag. Thorne grabs my hand and pulls me out of the house. We make our way toward the park and sit under the trees where no cameras were and no one could hear us. “So what is that?” Thorne asked picking up the book. “It was my Aunt’s favorite. I don’t think she would have kept it under her bed unless there was a reason.” I whisper opening it. A note fluttered onto my lap. Thorne picked it up and almost dropped it after reading it. “What does it say?” I ask grabbing the note when he didn’t answer. ‘I’m alive. I’m hiding. Raine, you’re the only one who can find me. I love you, sweetie. If you’ve already read the journal then you know I’m your real mom and everything around you is false. Keep Thorne close. You can trust him. He is a Super and so are you.’  I placed the note back in the book and snapped it shut. “She’s my mom. You’re a Super. I’m a Super… That can’t be right.” My voice was barely a whisper. “She said that everything around us is false.” Us. Not just me. He’s with me in this. I started to shake and wanted to scream. “Can you read the journal? I don’t think I could.” I whisper and take of my bracelet. The City has us all wear these bracelets, it’s where our money is, it tells us who we are and who everyone around us is, and is our phone. It also tracks us. We aren’t allowed to take off the bracelets but I feel a giant weight off of my shoulders when I do. I always thought it was because when I had it on I had this headache that never went away unless it was off. Now it may be because I’m a Super and the bracelets keep my powers on off mode. “Raine, it’s just lines and lines of mixed up letters.” I look over his shoulder and roll my eyes. “You just wanted me to look at it. It’s written clear as day.” I say looking back at the ground. “What? No, it’s not. I can’t make out a thing… It looks like a code. But I can’t figure it out.” “Thorne, if you wanted me to read it you could have just asked. You don’t have to lie with me.” I say pulling the journal out of his hands and start to read aloud, “‘Dear my sweet daughter, Raine. If you’re reading this then it means someone has faked my death. Hunny, I know this is hard I’ve been called your aunt for years but I’m your real mother. Your parents, the people you live with now, they aren’t even related to us. But the only way for us to live in The City was for me to give you to that family and make the Bracelets that control our powers. You can read anything. Any tongue, any code, any form of writing even if it’s smudged. You can even read in the dark, with no light. It’s called being a Recoder. You may have another power but I’m not sure. My power is that no one can kill me, I can’t die unless of old age: Adapter. I miss you my deer daughter. I’ve written everything in this journal to help you find me and get out of The City. Only trust Thorne. No. one. else. He has two powers. He can read minds and talk through them: Mindling. And he can see which path is right; he can tell how to get out of a maze being blind folded: Seeing. Don’t let anyone else see this, they’ll know something is up. Don’t worry I’ll guide you through The City so you can escape.’” I look up and Thorne. “Wow.” He whispers. “Thorne, I’m scared.” I whisper closing the journal. “I know. But we can do this.” “How?” My mind was everywhere. How could we do anything? I’m only seventeen, I can’t go anywhere without sending a message to my par- people I live with and Thorne is only nineteen, and he just got a job as the math teacher at the school. “You heard your mom.” Thorne says looking down at me. He puts his arms around me and I feel safe almost at once. “We’re Supers.”