All plans have flaws, my plan's fatal flaw? Well, guess who still has a day left of counselling with Colton? My only saving grace is the children. Not a sentence I imagined myself saying but god am I thankful for them. Surely with a buffer in place he can't do much?

Right?

Standing still, my body inflates and deflates rapidly. Damn, I need to get out of my head. Right, c'mon Lexi, nice thoughts, nice thoughts! Beaches, guys in swimming shorts on beaches, guys in swimming shorts on beaches with abs, guys in swimming shorts on beaches with sweat glistening down them, running towards me to ravis–

"Alexis!" Oh for heaves sake.

To my disappointment, I open my eyes, making a mental note not to forget my day dream in a hurry, turn and face Lianna. "Yes?"

"Are we going to be standing here all day?"

"No Lianna, we're just waiting for Colton and the other campers." I force a smile.

Speak of the devil and he shall arrive the saying goes, and Satan my friends has just made an entrance. Walking towards us, he treads through the sand, dodgeball's in a bag swung over his shoulder, red horns above his head and a tail behind him.

Okay, maybe not but he's still evil!

His rigid body spots me and if it's possible his scowl grows, wrapping around his face and taking hostages.

But that's not even the best part. Ten shades darker and sporting green hair he literally looks like he's been taken out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Imagine an Oompa Loompa but with abs. Got it? Now there you go: Colton.

I would come to regret it, but I just had to say something. Maybe it was the sun that was making me delirious, shining on the lake and sparkling on the grains of the man-made beach beside it. Or was it the fact that I hadn't slept in proper bed in days. I couldn't tell you but I also couldn't stop myself.

"Looking good buddy, that colour really makes your uniform pop." I smirk.

Okay now that, that felt good.

Little giggles erupt out of the girls' chests around me, small and innocent but capable of angering the beast in front of me.

He growls. He literally growls at me. And suddenly, we're in a werewolf fic.

"What pack are you from then?" I ask, holding back a chuckle.

A wiggle of an eyebrow's enough to turn the man-eating wolf into a confused pup.

"Werewolves? You know, because you growled?"

Silence.

"Alright maybe it wasn't as funny as I thought." Wow, tough crowd.

"Are you a fucking idiot?" he asks.

All around me miniature versions of us gasp, and I know for sure Gianna's going to get at least one angry phone call from a mom.

I stare at him blankly, not finding the situation as amusing anymore.

"Well?" he persists.

"What do you want Colton?" I sigh.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe to ask why I look like the tan version of the joker?" he shouts waving his arms around.

"One stop flapping, you ain't flying anytime soon. Two, turn this on its head, why have you done far worse to me, huh?" He doesn't reply. "That's what I thought, now let's just play some damn dodgeball."

I don't know where my confidence came from but at this point I'm clinging onto it for dear life. One point to me Pretty Boy.

Don't get me wrong though, Colton isn't backing down, his stance stiff, his face unmoving, words a whisper on his tongue:

"This isn't over. You can't keep this up for long, sooner or later you'll crack like you always do."

But I was already gone setting up the activity, pretending I never heard when in reality the threat rang in my head on loop.

Screams, tears and a clock.

It counts the hours of torture, reminding us of what happened. Only three hours ago was I at the lake and yet now transported in time, it's almost as if I'm in a different world.

A scream startles me and I turn my attention to the mini me on a bed as white as snow. Framed by a room as blank as an unpainted canvas, the situation looks bleak.

An Ankle at an angle that shouldn't be possible, bends creating a hill for red liquid to flow down. It stains our unfortunate picture and matches the colour of the line on the monitor next to me that continues bleeping.

How does one so small have so much blood to bleed?

In case you're wondering, unfortunately, I wasn't the one injured no matter how much I wished I was. The tiny girl in front of me didn't deserve to be in so much pain. And it's all my fault. Just like how Peyton's–

I shake my head. Now isn't the time to think about that. Point is, I shouldn't have ever gotten so confident around Colton. I should've known he always wins. I'm an idiot.

Moving my hand over, I interlace my fingers with Briella's delicate ones. "I'm so sorry."

It takes her a minute or two to calm down enough to choke out her next words. "Why? It—it wasn't your fault."

"If I hadn't angered Colton he wouldn't have pelted the dodgeball so hard at us in the girls versus boy's tournament and you wouldn't have been hit. The force wouldn't have taken you down." It's pathetic, I know, trying to explain my worries to an eight-year-old in pain who probably can't grasp what I'm trying to say, but I'm desperate.

"No–" She lets out a small sob before continuing, "Colton is mean to you, I–I liked seeing you being brave to him... maybe–maybe I can be brave like you when those boys try to–to be mean to me?"

Reality hits me again, poor little Briella in front of me has fallen backwards, tripped over the dodgeball and landed the wrong way on her ankle. As a result, she has cuts up and down her legs and on her hands, particles of sand stuck to them and irritating them further. Yet here she is trying to comfort me.

I sigh at myself, before giving a small smile. "Briella, you are the bravest person I know, look at you, you little trooper, so strong even with your war wounds."

She giggles a little, the sound strangled by left over tears. "Thank you, but y-you are bravest."

I shake my head. "We both are."

She beams up at me and I grin back, stroking her hair in comfort. For a few minutes I lace my fingers through the strands of her hair, twirling them, watching Briella close her eyes and relax against me–

"Get me a doctor stat, I won't let him die on my watch! You hear me, this boy is not dying today!" Tanner rushes in, a boy with a minuscule scratches in his arms.

I can't help but laugh when Braden comes in after him, shaking his head. "Give me my camper back Tanner, I had a plaster ready back at the archery field."

"A plaster won't save him!"

"He has a scratch from a thorn bush..."

Tanner tilts his head slightly. "Well why didn't you just say so?" He passes the boy to Braden and leaves the room.

Braden sighs in annoyance while the camper giggles. "Look, I love that kid but between you and me, I think he was dropped on his head when he was a baby."

"Oh, be quiet, you know he was only trying to put a smile on your camper's face, and it worked." I laugh.

"But did he need to be a drama queen about it?"

"I heard that!" Tanner jumps back into the room with a grin, popping the collar of his camp t-shirt. "Listen to your girlfriend, she knows what she's talking about."

Again, I turn beetroot, noticing a familiar pattern occurring when I'm around Braden and friends. Was there something I didn't know?"

"Oh, shut up man." Braden smirks, making me melt at the sight.

"Hey," Tanner holds his hands up, "don't hate the player hate the game. But I'll leave you two love birds alone now, I need to go back to my own campers now," he turns to the boy, "feel better lil' dude!"

Once more, my skin is brighter than all of Briella's blood combined but Braden just gives me a wink.

Quickly, I turn away trying to find something else to latch onto... Tanner!

"See you later!" I give a small, desperate wave from the bed, Tanner reciprocating it with a smirk and leaving.

I look back at Braden with dread but spot him eyeing Briella in concern to my relief, only just having realised her predicament.

"Jeez! Are you okay?" he asks.

Briella nods.

"What happened?"

She looks at me, almost for permission and I smile in encouragement. "Colton... he got mad at Alexis and threw a dodgeball too hard and it knocked me down. I-I tripped backwards over the ball and hurt my ankle."

Barely having a chance to gage his reaction, Braden leaves the room in a hurry, not a word said, leaving me and Briella in confusion.

Huh?

so hi! i'm back! but guess what, i'm going to be uploading three chapters today!!!

so yes, we had a snow week and i had nothing else better to do so bam, three chapters for you!

but yeah i'm only going to do one a/n bcs of it haha!

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because of this the qotc will be only on this chap.

qotc: would anyone take part in a cover contest for this book?

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i can't rmbr who the cover is from bcs they never sent an @ but it's lovely! if you'd like to send one in, send them to [email protected]

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that is all my chiccas!

stay tuned for chapters 13 and 14 at some point today!

xox,
jessie.