Chapter 21

I waited anxiously until Saturday came.  I mean, how could I not when I didn't know what that day held for me, especially when Francis was involved.  He told me to come over on Saturday and I went through all the possibilities in my head.  Knowing Francis, it would be something I wouldn't like.  He was the type that would want to take me out on a date just to piss off Luke.  No I had a feeling it would be something everyone would enjoy expect me.  However, I couldn't be negative over it.  It was better than hanging around the house with Clare all day.  Both her and Luke had the day off.  Another free day with her, someone is going to get their neck slit.

The day before Saturday, Francis texted me to come around 3:30.  And when I told Luke, you could see the slight tint of reluctance in him and it made me a little less excited to go.  I knew he could get jealous of Francis and me doing things together.  But for all he knew, I was helping him clean house or something.  Even if we were doing something fun though, when it got down to it, Luke and I knew that was best without saying anything.  He didn't say a word against it, you could just see it in his eyes that he wanted this for me despite how he felt.  But we needed to get over it all - me to move away from always thinking about him and he needed to remember his 'morals' first anyway.  However, I wont lie, seeing that small amount of jealousy, I tried hard to not smile. 

When Luke dropped me off though, I could feel it working already. I let him fade from my mind as I neared the house, trying to figure out what this could be I was doing here.  Walking up the driveway and towards the porch of the house, I however did notice Mike's grey truck was in the driveway parked beside Francis's car.  Well... now, this was turning out to be a surprise that included Francis and Mike.  This would be one hell of an interesting day.

By the time I got up the porch and to the door, I was expecting something along the line of hard labor or something like that if Mike was involved.  Sighing though, I was here and willing so Francis better take advantage of that while he can.  Knocking on the front door, I was about to find out.

Waiting with my eyes on the somehow over-elaborate door, it opened after a couple seconds and I was soon greeted by Mike.  He was wearing a dark green sweater and jeans, I noticed, supporting his tall figure but that's not what caught my attention.  I always liked Mike for how fun he seemed and often teasing.  His eyes showed it today as well.  He raised an eyebrow over his calculating narrowing brown eyes on me.

"Miss Albany," he nodded but said no more, did nothing but look at me with straight lips and a blank face.  I liked that about his humor.  He didn't show his amusement often through his features though I could tell he was trying to fool with me. He just stood there before me, doing nothing, saying nothing, and staring at me blankly.  I could play along though.

"You're not going to let me in?" I asked, scowling up at him playfully.

"Password?"

"Um... I have AIDS so you better let me in or I'll give them to you...?" I shrugged.

He only continued to look at me and I saw he was thinking over what I said, determining whether that was an acceptable password or not.  A moment later though, he shrugged as I had a few seconds ago and moved aside and opened the front door wider. Gesturing with his hand for me to enter, I smirked. 

Entering the overwhelming house floored in black marble, those are usually the first things I noticed: the details of such a overwhelming house with the interior.  I mean, I've walked through that door enough to where I should be use to everything hitting me at once.  There was just so much stuff, over the top, and it was unnecessary.  But I suppose that's why it fit; it was just like Francis to express his money in this way. 

However though, this time when I walked into the house, the first thing I noticed wasn't how amazing and overly done his house was.  It was the little girl sitting on the couch this time.  And she didn't look happy.

Brooke;s face held scowling eyes and lips.  Her blue eyes were on the floor in anger and her lips were pursed tightly.  I understood why though.  She was wearing a stocking hat that only lets the  ends of her bright blonde hair to be seen on her shoulders and cascading down from there.  She was wearing a matching pink puffy jacket meant for the cold winter outside and not where she was sitting on the couch pouting.  With bright pink ski pants and little black snow boots over her small feet, gloves on her hands from where she was crossing her arms,  I couldn't help but smile at the cute sight.  It also narrowed down what we were doing quite a bit.

Upon me entering, her eyes lifted to mine and showed excitement.  She smiled up at me but remembered she was mad so she continued to pout, which made me try to stifle my laugh at the sight.  Poor kid though.  All dressed up and ready to go and stuck sweating inside still because nobody else apparently was ready to go quite yet.  And yeah, I figured we were going somewhere if she was dressed to the max to face the cold outside.

"Hello Brooke," I smiled, kicking off my boots but leaving on my coat, figuring we would be leaving soon, wherever it is we are going.

She gave an over dramatic sigh before answering me.  "Hi Albany...."

"What's wrong?" I asked as I sat next to her on the couch.  Mike stood across from us, smirking down at his granddaughter.

"I'm the only one that is ready!  Nobody else is ready so I'm just sitting here and sweating because I'm so hot!"

I looked up to Mike for explanation and he squinted his eyes down to her.  "Brooke, remember what I said, doll?"

"Yes..." she groaned, scowling again.  "It's only daddy's fault and nobody else's... he needs to hurry his butt up," she said in outrage, making Mike and I chuckle. I was about to question them over what this was.  After all, I still didn't know!  But a couple minutes later Francis walked in the room , finally ready I guess, and when his eyes reached mine through his thick frames, they lit up in more excitement at seeing I was here.  I noticed he was wearing something similar to Mike - just comfy and warm clothes. 

"Hey, Albany," he smiled.  "Ready to have some fun?" He crossed his arms as he stood in front of us on the couch, giving me a genuine smile that I could only admire. 

"Yeah.  And I'm guessing it has something to do with us freezing outside?"

"You bet!" he said, looking down to his angry daughter on the couch beside me.  Taking a few steps over to her, he knelt down on the floor in front of us and faced her pouting little face.  "Brooke...?"

"What?" she mumbled. 

"I don't know why you are so upset here... it's Albany that was holding us up because it took so long for her to get here," he said, not breaking that serious face as he spoke with her, completely serious. "So now we can go," he smiled.

Brooke looked hopeful where as I was tempted to smack the back of her fathers head.  "Really?"

"Yep," he said, standing up and heading towards the door with his dad to grab their coats.  I still had one question.

"Does anyone want to tell me what the hell we are doing?"

***

"I will kill you if I die," I threatened the overly excited father at my side.  Brooke beside him didn't seem to have an issue, surprisingly.  It wasn't like I was scared folks so get that dumb thought out of your head.  But it was my first time doing this and that fact alone was dangerous.  The fact that we were doing it over a pond and not at an actual ice arena didn't help my chances.

Mike chuckled on my other side, patting my back in mock comfort.  Looking up at him smirking, I was happy Francis invited him to come too.  I figured it would just be me and Francis and Brooke but it was nice to have him here too. I never really hung out with him much before.  "Don't worry.  If the ice breaks, we will know what to tell everybody," he said, making Brooke chuckle at his little joke.  Yes.  Ha-ha.  Laugh at the one person who has never skated in her life.

"I can't even walk on these things," I said.  Because yeah, it was ugly putting these skates on that he kept in the back of his car.  He had a ton of them so when I finally found some that fit, I could only groan.  I'm too stubborn for shit like this.

At finding out what we were doing, I was a little reluctant and had enough excuses.  One being this was a pond and we didn't know how much weight it would hold.  Of course, they reassured me that we would be safe.  Apparently, this pond freezes over thickly every year because they always come out here and skate so that excuse was kind of busted especially if Brooke wasn't worried over that.  My next excuse: we were out in the middle of nowhere so that wasn't safe either.  I think they figured out that that if I was whining over safety rules, they knew I was just 'chicken' because I'm not the type that would consider safety with something like this. When they call me chicken though, it's game over and I'm doing it no matter what.

It made me a little mad that Brooke had her skates on and was ready with no fear and not once did she trip walking down to the pond from the car with her skates on. Whatever.  It's not like I didn't trip a couple times but I had a reason, I just never skated before.  Of course, she held her fathers hand for help once they got on the ice and I was nearly hanging off of Mike in embarrassment.

"Do you remember this from last year?" Francis asked Brooke, guiding her very slowly with his hand and at seeing them on the ice, it was a very surreal moment for me.  I mean yeah, I wasn't the happiest camper because I didn't know what I was doing and they were having a ball with it.  But really, it was quite amazing.  The only time I've ever seen something like this was on TV and even then it looked magical.

Looking down at where I stood over the ice, where the blades came in contact... I mean, it's just crazy if you think about it.  I was standing over frozen water and I felt like the child I never was.  It was quite relaxing despite not knowing what I was doing for the fact that we were out in the middle of nature, over the strange works of such nature. 

"Yeah..." she answered him, pulling me back into reality when I looked up at where they slowly started to glide over the ice from where me and Mike was standing on the ice.  It seemed nearly impossible really.  In mean, how can someone keep their balance over ice to begin with?  Then, put a couple knives at the bottom of your shoes and to still be able to stand seemed just short of a miracle.  Then, to actually glide, move over the ice like that... I mean, go ahead, call me pathetic.  But it's not like I even did anything like this.  In all honesty, when I was little, I didn't believe it when I would see it on TV because it wasn't like I ever had the chance to experience or see anything like it.

"Remember how great you did...?" he asked her, smirking behind him and at me in a tease.  I bet I could do great too....

Scoffing, I couldn't deny though this was fun after a little bit.  I tested my balance and tried to do what Mike was showing me a moment later.  "Just push off and glide... it's easy really if you just practice." 

I did that and found it to be quite interesting.  Not exactly productive but it was neat to see the few inches I could glide when putting my weight in one direction.  Mike was there to help me though.  And it strangely made me feel like I sometimes do around Jan - overwhelmed.  Like I was getting the type of love and attention that has always been absent from my life.  I welcomed it this time and enjoyed it, even if it did make me a little uncomfortable. 

"Alright," he said, giving up on words to teach me after so many attempts.  He didn't have the patience and I didn't blame him for changing his technique.  Groaning, he came up to my side and placed a strong arm around me to help me keep my balance.  "Just glide with me and you should get the hang of it," he said. I watched his feet and focused, actually wanting to get this down despite how distracted I could become over just the fact that I was here, gliding over ice.  Ha!  How silly did that sound and it felt great.  And at the same time, I was also distracted because I never experienced anything like someone teaching me out of affection of spending time with me.  I mean, of course, Luke showed me something special but it was different with Mike.  That day, I came to wish I had a dad like him. 

"When do you think I will be able to master a couple moves, some spins, maybe a flip...?" I asked, smirking up at him.  Straight face and all, he answered me when he looked down with deliberate seriousness in those warm brown eyes.

"I'm determined to prepare you for that in an hour.  First, you need to learn how to skate a bit better than a son of a bitch with no legs."

Chuckling, I looked down and watched how he skated, moving his body forward slowly to show me as he pushed off with his foot, gliding forward then doing the same with his other foot.  I tried myself and actually think I did it that second.  It was a nice experience, between the jokes and him really showing me how to do it.  By the time I was actually able to do it without him a little, the little bundle of pink across the pond called for attention.

"Grandpa!" we heard her yell from where we were.  Looking up to where Brooke and Francis were skating, I saw her one hand in her fathers and the other waving uncontrollably towards us.  "Hi Grandpa!  I want to skate with you now!" she yelled much louder than needed and I heard Francis's faint laughter.

Glancing up to a smirking Mike looking towards her, he looked down to me with an apologetic eye.  "I'm sorry, kiddo.  Ladies flock to me and I can only answer," he chuckled and with the pace we were going, which was incredibly slow across the ice, he kicked off and away from me at a speed that almost made me ashamed of my wimpy progress.  Moving to his granddaughter, I smiled as I watched from where I saw Brooke being pushed by Francis lightly to glide towards where Mike was waiting, for where he was called.  I watched as Mike took her little hand and helped her along the ice.

A second later, with Francis abandoned by his daughter for his dad, he skated over to me and at the speed Mike did.  It was actually quite incredibly, knowing you could actually skate that fast.  When he came closer, I could see the smile in his eyes.  Smiling myself, I tried not to flinch back when he came so close, too fast, before abruptly stopping before he could hit me.

"How's the new skater enjoying herself?" he asked in front of me and when he spoke, you could see the exhaust from speaking, the foggy cloud forming around where he spoke from the cold.  It was cold today, that was for sure but I found it to be fine.  Even in my coat and wearing gloves, I could feel a sweat coming on from all the work I was doing trying to learn.  And yes, I know how pathetic it sounds so shut up.  Not to mention it was quite relaxing... I felt free from everything.

"It's actually been really fun.  I think I have made a little progress."

He glided slowly towards me even more and headed closer towards my side.  Watching him, Francis turned around and faced where I was, his shoulder pressed against mine as I stood there on my skates.  Confused as I stared up at him at my side, I felt his arm slip around mine as if to assist me.

"Madam," he said in a very polite tone down to me.  His hazel eyes sparkled in mine with a tease and a smirk, his face lighting up from the afternoon sun despite it's chilly whether.  Eyebrows raised, a moment later, with his arm through mine, he kicked off and glided more, faster than Mike did.  I was instantly struggling to keep up but I was able to somehow.

"Jesus Francis," I muttered, watching my struggling feet and when I started to trip, he managed to just pull me along through his laughter.

He chuckled under his breath and he suddenly came to a stop, sliding his arm down and moving in front of me.  Standing in front of me,  after his abrupt movement that made me almost fall, he just stood before me and stared down into my wide eyes at how quickly we stopped.  His arm that was in mine slid down until he grasped my hand and even through our gloves, I could feel the warmth from him.  Smiling up at him, his smirk never faltered and neither did his eyes as his other hand found mine.  Then the next thing I knew, Francis was skating backwards slowly. 

With his hands in mine, I looked down and saw that as he slowly skated back, he pulled me with him and the only work I needed to do was keep my balance as he pulled me back.  Looking down at his skates, they shifted back and forth as he moved back slower, slightly bent forward, my hands raised and stretched before me to his as my blades glided over the rugged ice.

Chuckling, I looked up at Francis and saw his eyes didn't leave mine as he continued to smile at me.  "See?  Not so bad," he said.  "Just like every American, leave the work to me," he joked. 

I raised my eyebrows at him and laughed.  "Hey, it's not my fault I can't skate."

"That's okay.  It give's me an excuse to hold your hands," he said, raising and lowering his eyebrows in suggestion and I rolled my eyes at him.  The issue I was having was determining whether he was serious or now. 

"I'm surprised at you," I said, almost out of nowhere those words came.  Those eyes through those frames looked calculating as his eyebrows lowered at what I said in confusion. 

"Why?"

"You just seem... I mean, even after months, I'm still proud of you for how much you have improved with your life.  I mean, with Brooke..." I sighed, glancing over to where her and her grandfather were skating slowly on the other side of the pond.  "You exceeded to where I know I can never be - a perfect parent," I smiled. 

It was true.  I mean, before, I was shocked at his progress he was making ever since I've been home and learned he was Luke's brother.  Before, we were both in that 'gang' and we weren't exactly that great.  I remember Francis was cruel, just like I was.  Now... look at him.  Glasses, cleaned up, happier, and with a daughter like that... it was great for him.  Even now, just seeing him with his daughter, was still so mesmerizing for me.  I've known him for years and today was really to first time seeing him with his daughter for this long being with them and actually playing together to such an extent.  

Looking at Brooke himself, he smiled when his eyes reached her before glancing back to me.  "What can I say?  I love her.  But don't you dare think I'm no longer a badass because of it...." he said in a teasing warning. 

I snorted.  Glancing to the ice we glided over before back up to him.  Eyes looking in mine, waiting for a response, it was automatic.  "Since when were you ever a badass?"

"Since always," he shot back with attitude, making me hold back my chuckle at him.

"Prove it."

"I don't need to.  That's how badass I am.  You know it."

"Whatever," I scoffed, shaking my head.

His eyes twinkled in mine and I could see the wheels turning in his head.  Saying nothing but staring at me, he pursed his lips and held his head higher as he looked down at me from where he was skating with me back.  "Say I'm a badass, Albany.  Admit it."

"Hell no," I said, lowering my eyebrows in mock outrage at him.  "I'm not a liar and wont admit to something that isn't true.  Maybe a stick-up-everybody's-ass but not a bad-ass," I laughed.

He scowled at me and his lips tilted up wickedly.  "Now you asked for it," he said in a light voice and after he said that, I noticed instantly a change in our speed.  He gave me what I 'asked for' and quickened his pace backwards to the point where I nearly fell over at the abrupt change in pace.

"Francis," I hissed.  "Don't," I tried not to laugh at what he was doing.  Not to mention he was going to make me fall. 

He sped up going faster, pulling me with him as he tightened his hands in mine.  Watching him, his body shifted from side to side quicker, his hips and feet guiding the speed of his skates over the ice.  Eyes moving up to his, he smirked more until he showed me those prefect teeth, shinning white in perfect contrast to our surroundings.  "Say it.... Say I'm a badass and I'll stop."

"No!"

He only sped up and with the wind whipping in my face, I felt close to falling over but he always kept me steady with my hands in his.  Pulling me faster, he yelled out to me, "Say it!" he yelled and moving my eyes behind him, I saw we were nearing the bank and it would be a much sharper turn than the others. 

"No..." I shook my head and was waiting for us to hit it but at the last second, he shifted his weight swiftly and swung me around, making me squeal in excitement and at the feeling that I was going to fall at how quickly he turned us in the other direction. 

"If you don't say it next time," he smiled brightly,  "Then I will let your hands go..." he threatened and I gaped at him.

"You would not!"

"Yes I would!" he laughed and I felt him tease my hands, loosening them on purpose and that's when I gave, knowing it would not be good if he let go at the speed I was going.  I was almost certain he was teasing me on that but I wasn't going to take a chance.  After all, if I let go, I would most likely crash right into him. Or through the damn ice! 

"Fine," I growled at him.  "You are a badass!"

"I didn't hear you..." he said, as if straining to hear as he continued to move backwards. 

I groaned.  "You are a badass!" I yelled through my chuckles. 

"Louder!"

"You are a BADASS!" I shouted to the heavens and finally, he let the movement die down and waited for us to slow down now that he stopped skating and just let us glide.  Scowling, I was actually a little ashamed of myself.  Who the hell was I to give him what he wanted like that?  Was it worth a fall?  Sure.  Was it worth the risk of all my weight hitting the ice and possibly breaking it despite their reassurance... maybe because I was stubborn.  But not this time. 

I watched his eyes dance in mine, those lips high up and refusing to came down.  I narrowed my eyes at him.  "Wipe that stupid look off your face," I said.

"Nah," he shook his head.  "I like when you get worked up.  It's amusing to a badass like me."

"Daddy!  Daddy!" we heard Brooke yell over to us in excitement.  Clearly Mike and her both saw the embarrassing words I was forced to say.  Mike was smirking and Brooke's eyes were lit up in excitement.  "Daddy, can it be my turn?" she said as we neared them while slowing down.  Seeing Brookes face this close, her cheeks pink and smile bright, I smiled myself at her and let his hands go once we stopped. 

"Go ahead Brooke.  Your dad can handle it," I said, smirking at Francis who actually was out of breath for pulling my ass around the pond at such a speed, and backwards. 

Looking down at me, he widened his eyes and hide his exhaust when he snorted at me.  "You bet I can!" he said, showing I wasn't getting to him but it was clear he would rather have a break before doing what he did with me to Brooke.  Of course though, Brooke weighed probably next to nothing and he wasn't mean enough to do what he did to me and go as fast as he did.  Looking down at her with a smile, he pushed off and deleted the few feet of space between him and his daughter. "Ready?" he asked, bending over and taking both her hands in his as he did.  He slowly started to glide back as he had with me.  "You're not scared now are you, princess?" he asked Brooke.

"Heck no," she said and when his eyes reached back up in mine, as if gloating, he craned his neck to the side and looking at me more directly and away from Brooke when he passed right next to me. 

"At least someone has some balls," he whispered quickly in my ear so his daughter wouldn't hear his complement towards her as he skated backwards pass me with Brooke.  Scowling, once he was behind me and towing her with him slowly, I turned, eyes following them.

Since Brooke's back was to me and he was facing me as they glided together over the ice, when his eyes glanced up to me, I flipped him off with a smirk of my own. I heard Mike crack up a few feet beside me at seeing the exchange.  With them a few yards away, I could still manage to see his smirk before he gave all his attention to his daughter and I turned back to Mike, happy to be back with him and not 'Mr. Badass' dragging me around the whole fucking pond.

"Yeah, I like you better," I joked, making him laugh and a few seconds later, we were off again, with him trying to resume where we were before.  He showed me a few things that made it easier, cracked a couple jokes, and I actually started to get the hang of it.

We were all out there skating for a few hours at least.  To sum it up... well it was just so fun.  And though my feet have been killing me this whole time, it was easy for me to ignore it.  It was a time I wouldn't forget, my first time skating.  And by the time we left the little pond, I was proud.   I actually managed to learn how to skate, at least decently enough, and thanks to Mike teaching me for the remainder of the time.

After leaving, we headed out to eat and what made it really special was that we looked like shit after being out in the cold for so long.  And it didn't matter.  That was something I loved about this family.  They didn't care what other people thought like me and I guess I got lucky because of that.  That's why the were so comfortable around me, because they didn't judge.  Mike, Brooke, Jan... they didn't know the truth.  They still thought I had that 'condition' yet they treated me with respect and it was something I would always be grateful for.

Once we went out for dinner and were done, we headed back to Francis's house to regroup.  Not to mention, Mike needed to head home soon anyway because Jan was expecting him to help with something at home.  And after Mike left in his own truck, Francis was actually nice enough to give me a ride home instead of having me call Luke to pick me up. 

"I had a great time," I said, looking between Francis and Brooke in the back seat.  "Thanks for inviting me guys!"

"I had fun Albany!  I can't wait until you come over to babysit and we can have fun like today!"

"Looking forward to it," I said to her smiling face in the back before looking to Francis who was watching me, giving me a genuine smile.  "See you guys later," I smiled before glancing away and taking my belt off, opening up the passenger door and getting out. Waving goodbye after slamming the car door closed, I headed up the porch and towards the house. 

Home sweet hell.  Joy to be home and I could feel the tension of everything I came to be use to pile back on my shoulders.  I wouldn't let it bother me tonight though. It was a great day and the stress of seeing my oh so perfect mother wouldn't bring my mood down.

Entering the house, I was greeted instantly by a barking and excited Jack.  He was at my feet the second I walked through the door, jumping up and against me, wagging his tail.  "Hi Jack!" I said in a light voice, bending down and petting him behind the ears like I knew he liked.  Looking around though, it didn't take long to find the another resident of this house.

Luke was sitting on the couch, reading a book, and upon meeting his green eyes, I felt my heart jump in my chest at seeing how intently he was watching me.  His shoulders were tense, his body seemingly tight from what I could see standing at the door.  You would never know though if you were just concentrating on his face.  He gave me a sweet smile at seeing I was home.

"Hey," I smiled, standing back up straight and taking my boots off as well as my coat.   Glancing back at him, I watched as he folded the page he was on and shut his book, setting it down on the coffee table and looking back up at me.  "How was it?"

"It was so fun!" I smiled, shaking my head at the impossible day I had. 

"Oh that's great," he smiled and nodded. "What did you guys do...?"

"We went ice skating," I said, looking at him and I could see his eyebrows raise at that.  Smile still there and aimed at me, it only grew at hearing that.

"Really?  Sounds like..." he struggled for a moment as he thought and I could see there was something he was having a hard time with.  Cleaning his throat slightly, he said. "Sounds like fun.  Did Brooke go?"

"Yeah and so did your dad. We had a ton of fun," I chuckled at the newly made memories of today.

His body seemed to relax a bit and his smile turned more genuine.  He was truly happy I had a fun time today and I was glad.  I felt bad he kind of had to be stuck around the house with Queen Bitch all day though.  I kind of wished he could have come, just to get him out of this suffocating environment, even if part of the point of going today was to get away from Luke for a bit.

"Good, I'm happy you went.  So... did you like ice skating?"

I felt a small amount of awkwardness grow between us but it wasn't something that bothered me too much.  "Yeah, your dad taught me to the point where I got the hang of it," I nodded, standing there and between us, tension was growing and I could feel my eyes go anywhere but to his a moment after breaking eye contact.  Smiling still at the great day, I said, "I'm going up to take a shower.  Ice skating can really exhaust you and make you sweaty," I chuckled. 

Meeting his eyes finally, I saw him smile to me with pursed lips and sigh deeply under his breath before looking away from me.  "Great.  Okay then," he said in a very light voice and it made my eyebrows lower slightly towards him in confusion because I saw he refused to look back up at me after that.  I shook it off and headed upstairs though, not letting anything ruin my day.  Even that tight air around Luke.  It was the first step of getting over that.  And I could only hope I would have other opportunities to get out more. 

It wasn't like my feelings for him would fade after one day.  It would take a very long time and at seeing him, even after a day gone, I had missed him.  And that was not a healthy sign when trying to get over him.  I only had to work harder at it.  Damn.  Nothing could ever be simple, could it?

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A fun day for Albany!  What do you think?  I'm sorry to tell you guys but my summer is ending and school for me starts soon.  I wont be able to continue on that streak I've been on for much longer with uploading as I have every few days.  It will probably go back to posting every week.  Not to mention, the end of this month is busy for me.  I have school shopping, I'm going on a small trip, taking a tour of a college, and I already have a lot of homework for a class that offers me college credit so bare with me guys.  Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!