Mack's (POV)

      "It was on purpose."

        ........

       What?

       I stare at Alex in pure disbelief.

       He just returns it with his unblinking gaze, nothing to show he's not completely serious.

       I raise an eyebrow.

       Is he crazy?

       Why, and I mean WHY would anyone purposely make us crash on the ATV?

       That's just not logical.

       I cough, placing my hand over my mouth. "Alex, I know you were a spy and all. Bu-." I'm cut off as Alex suddenly speaks.

      "You don't believe me." He states, hurt showing clearly in his eyes before he manages to look away.

      Suddenly, I feel like I just did something very, very wrong.

      But how am I supposed to believe this? Like I said, I know he used to be a spy, but that doesn't mean he's right about everything. And maybe that's the reason he's thinking this way.

      Why he's making this unbelievable accusations.

      Why he's accusing someone here of doing it.

      But then again......that phone conversations that we partly listened to.

      Could it.....

       No.

       I mentally shake my head.

       Ben was probably just talking about some bet or something. I mean, we did only hear parts of it.

      It was just the wheel coming loose.

     Nothing more, nothing less.

      I lightly place my hand on Alex's shoulder, only to feel even more like an idiot when he slightly flinches at my touch.

      He turns his head back to me, the shield in his eyes back up.

      "Look, I'm sorry, Alex. But I can't just believe that." I say as sincerely as possible.

      Am I just supposed to believe this?

       Conflicted thoughts fill my head.

      Alex nods his head, almost like he was expecting me to say that.

      "Sorry." I say again. "There's no proof, and are you really trying to accuse one of the people here to be capable of doing that?" I shake my head. "I can't."

     Alex looks away. "It's fine." He quietly assures. "It's probably nothing anyway." He stands up, climbing down the tree the same way we came up.

    I sigh. Gathering myself, I follow him down.

     When Alex gets to the final limb, he leans down, getting a firm grip on it. Then without a moments hesitation, he lets his legs drop through the gap between two limbs, the rest of his body following.

     My eyes widen.

     He dangles four feet from the ground for a second, his hands still securely holding onto the branch.

     Then in one swift motion, he lets go, falling gracefully to the ground. He lands in a crouch, the impact of his fall making little to no noise.

      I wistfully sigh.

     The perks of being a ninja.

      I wait patiently as Alex sets the ladder back up against the tree. Then I make my way down. Not nearly as graceful as I'd hoped.

      Tripping on the second to last rung, I land with a loud PLOP onto the slightly damp grass.

      I groan.

      Getting on my hands and knees, I collect my fallen crutches before standing up.

      As I look up, I'm met with the view of Alex's back heading into the house. His head downcast to the ground.

     My heart sinks.

    Why do I feel like I just made the worst decision in my life?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alex's (POV)
       
      Stupid, stupid, stupid.

     Why'd I open my mouth and say that?

      I climb up the stairs, heading towards my room.

      I should've left it alone, should've never brought it up. It's probably just me overreacting about all this.

      I'd expected Mack's reaction to be disbelief, then to completely not believe me whatsoever.

      So then, why do I feel so.....hurt?

       I walk into my room, shutting the door behind me.

       My chest feels heavy, a dark cloud seeming to of appeared out of nowhere hanging above my head.

       I sit down on the edge of my bed, taking a couple deep breaths.

       Just forget it Alex.

       Forget the ATV.

       Everything.

       And yet, I can't get Bens' conversation out of my head. The words replaying over, and over again.

      I place an elbow on each of my thighs, my head bending down to rest on my cupped hands.

      It doesn't matter.

~~~~~~~~~

       It's now six a-clock, and I'm sitting at the table for breakfast.

       I slouch, picking at my still full plate.

       I glance over at Mack who's also slightly slouching, a dejected air about him.

       Both of us have successfully been ignoring each other for the last ten minutes of sitting here.

      Lucy and Don I'm sure can feel the tension between us. Them both giving us curious glances every few minutes.

      The only noise being the clink of eating utensils tapping the plates.

      After a few more minutes of quiet, Don clears his throat. "So Mack." He looks specifically at him.

      "Your parents are coming to pick you up anytime now." Mack's eyes slightly widen, a small frown taking form on his lips.

      "Uh, when'd you figure that out?" Mack asks.

       Don rubs his forehead. "Well they called about twenty minutes ago." He pauses, his eyebrows furrowing. "But you know them, they like to wait until the last second before saying anything." He smirks, glancing over at Lucy.

       Mack looks down at his plate. "Oh, okay." He wipes his mouth with a napkin before standing to his feet.

      "Might as well go get my stuff together." He smiles over in Lucys' direction. "Thanks for breakfast." Then he turns, heading up the stairs.

        Lucy watches him leave, a sad frown on her face. She sighs once he's completely disappeared, going back to eating.

        I continue to absentmindedly move things around on my plate. Just the smell of the food itself making me feel nauseous.

       After about three minutes from when Mack went up stairs, I hear the crunch of gravel right outside.

       Don looks up. "Sounds like they're already here." He raises an eyebrow in surprise.

       Lucy nods. Then she gets up, picking up the dishes.

        I stand also, collecting my still full plate. Taking it over to the trashcan, I scrape it off, then set it on the countertop beside the sink.

      A knock on the front door sounds throughout the house.

      Lucy hurriedly puts down the dishes she was carrying, heading to the door.

      I hear the door open, then talking starts up in the living room.

      Making up my mind, I head around the long way to the living room.

     I peer around the corner.

      Lucy's talking to her sister, Frank standing next to the door while looking down at his phone.

      I turn towards the stairs as I hear footsteps.

     Mack's heading down with his suitcase, a frown on his face.

    "Bye Alex." He simply says as he passes me, walking into the living room.

     "Bye." I mumble back, not even sure if he heard me or not.

      I look out into the living room.

      Don's now talking quietly to Frank, Mack walking up to the group.

      Molly stops talking to Lucy, giving Mack a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

       I see Mack give a small smile.

      Frank on the other hand, doesn't even bother to acknowledge his sons' presence. His focus solely on Don.

     Lucy gives Mack a hug, and they all head out the door.

     And right before Frank turns towards the door to leave, I catch what he says to Don.

    "We're leaving on the twenty-first. Don't forget." He pats Don on the shoulder, then walks through the open door.

      My heart stops.

      They're leaving a week from today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N

        Hello!!!! I'm sooooo sorry about the late update!!! I've honestly been really busy, and just didn't have the time to just sit down, and write. I also don't feel like this chapter is very good, and I know it's short too.

       But don't worry....It's going to be getting real exciting soon.😏😜

        Questions:

        1. Who thinks Mack made a bad decision about not believing Alex?? 🖐🏻😂

        2. But, then again..... Put yourself in Mack's place. Would you believe it if someone just outright told you that a person you've known for at-least a couple years, tried to kill you?? (I'm honestly not sure what my reaction would be lol🤣)

        Okayyyy, so I've got good new, and I've got bad news.😳

      The bad news is......

      This book will probably be finished in about Ten more chapters.😱So yes, this is almost DONE!!!! (That would be really strange to me😮)

       The Good.......*Drum Roll*

        I'm making a book TWO!!!!!! 🎉🎊🎉🎊😃I'm planning on it starting around Alex's first day back to school, and then so on with some other stuff. 😉

        I'd love y'alls feedback on all that up there. ⬆️😃

        Next update: Sunday

       Thanks again everyone!!!! Oh yes, also if you Haven't voted in round Four of the contest I'm in, I'd absolutely appreciate it if you'd go and check it out!!

       VOTE!!!!!!

Maggy

Edited: 6/21/17