CHAPTER ONE

It was hot. It was the middle of June in Oregon and it was uncharacteristically hot. It made little sense for Reagan Wallace to sit by the cliffside that day of all days but there she was, sitting with her feet dangling off the precariously made banister that stood between the highway road and a 30-meter drop.

She sat there with her short but unkempt hair tied into a tight knot atop her head and a battered copy of Sam Christer's The Stonehenge Legacy in her hands. That was her reading place, the poor excuse of a barricade that stood at least two kilometers from her house, in the middle of the highway to Calhoun. She went there with every intention of finishing the book before she fully loses interest which is why it's nearing 28 degrees celsius, just a few hours after noon, and she's sitting there with no shade or umbrella.

She had one excuse for needing to read there of all places; it was peaceful. It had the view of mountains, and a stream depending on the season, and it didn't have her dog's never ceasing presence that loomed over her house.

No one ever bothered her here. A few stray animals (other dogs, mostly) have approached her but it was a welcomed presence. It was a highway and even cars scarcely pass by the area. Cars often came from Calhoun city on the way to Redwood, a small village only known for a gravity hill and a waterfall tucked away in a group of mountains, but it was Oregon. There's a page-long list of waterfalls tucked away in a group of mountains so the tourist demand within the area was little, if none at all.

In short, hardly anyone ever passed by this highway during this hot, humid season and it was quiet enough for Reagan Wallace to love.

That's why it came as a surprise when that one hot day in the middle of June, Reagan's reading was interrupted by the most godawful sound she's ever heard an engine make.

And that was quite a statement considering her father was a self-taught engineer. She has heard many concerning and abhorrent sounds from engines within her lifetime.

She pulled her feet from the space between the two bars of the banister and walked closer to the side of the road. There she found the cause of the awful sound. A couple of meters from where she stood, a school bus was struggling to drive over a slightly uphill part of the road.

Struggling was an understatement. The entire bus looked like it had one last bolt keeping it together.

Reagan stands there, unsure of what to make out of the situation, and the most polite gesture she thought of offering was standing there until the bus was close enough to earshot so she could offer directions or the helpful suggestion to leave the goddamn vehicle before it exploded.

She thought it was quite possible.

So she stood there for what could not be less than five minutes and when the bus was at least a meter away, the front door opened.

"I am so relieved that there's an actual human being alive in the middle of nowhere," A man—blonde, definitely athletic, probably in his mid-twenties—said while getting out of the vehicle, presumably to his companions inside the bus without Reagan meaning to hear it, but she did hear it and she raised an eyebrow as he approached her. "Hello, oh god, you have no idea how happy I am to see you."

He was about five years her senior and definitely looked too muscular to not be an athlete. Probably a mountain climber. Which gave the situation a little more sense.

"Don't believe we've met," Reagan said, accompanied with a kind smile, as he neared her and he held out a hand.

"No," He laughed, "No we definitely have not but I'm just very glad that a normal, breathing, non-cannibalistic looking human is standing in front of me right now."

Reagan paused. Then she laughed, "Well I do hope that that's most of the humans you meet."

Reagan heard someone snicker inside the bus and she realized that it has reached where they were currently standing. She reached out her hand to shake the stranger's own and she pumped it twice just as the car's engine was finally shut down.

"I'm Logan Paul," he said, nodding his head towards the bus, "And we're in great need of help."

"Reagan Wallace and I could tell," She laughed, "If your bus can somehow manage to drive about a mile from here, my father's a mechanic."

"Really?" He said, his relief entirely apparent.

"No," She snorted, "But he's got power tools and a few manuals about cars. It's the best help you're gonna get. There aren't any mechanics around 'ere."

Logan's lips flattened into a line, looking like somewhere between disappointment and deep thought, but he shook his head and his expression turned to grateful.

"Thank you," He said, "And yes please. Are you heading there? You can hop on the bus, if you want."

"You think it can handle another passenger with the state it's in?" She breathed out laugh and he shrugged.

"I've got faith," He countered and turned around to lead her in.

Reagan was sure that it wasn't a good idea. But the fear for her safety was only partly because of her lack of trust for the strangers. Mostly, it was because the bus was disaster on wheels. Nonetheless, she walked up the two steps and was greeted by the sight of the driver who smiled at her warmly.

"Greg Paul," the driver, seemingly within his early 50's, said cheerfully despite their situation, and he added, "We're from Ohio."

"Reagan," She greeted back, "Apparently I'm from the middle of nowhere."

She looked at Logan, who already sat on the front seat just behind the driver's, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. But that wasn't what caught her attention.

Behind Logan sat a group of boys, all roughly around her age, in which at least two laughed at her offhanded remark. Reagan put on a friendly smile as one of them, the tallest one with brown hair, took the responsibility of introducing everyone in his 5-person group.

He pointed at each one of them, starting with himself, as he recited, "I'm Jonah, this is Corbyn, Zach, Daniel," and then he reached the last one in the line, the boy with a Nirvana shirt and a haircut Reagan didn't quite get, "and that's Jack."

They all either offered her waves or smiles but Jack, who was previously looking outside the window he sat beside, obviously uninterested, gave her an even look the moment he was introduced.

"Hello Reagan from the middle of nowhere," He smiled an obviously forced smile. That was all the attention he gave her before he addressed Logan, saying, "I don't get why you had to invite someone on the bus."

"Jack," Corbyn, from what Reagan remembered, hissed.

"What?" He shrugged defensively, "We all know that this hell damned vehicle we're all sitting on is in shambles so inviting added weight makes zero sense to me."

"We need directions, J," Logan said sharply despite the endearing nickname.

Reagan does take slight offense to the apparent rudeness in Jack's tone but Logan's response caught her off guard.

"How would you get lost? There's one road that leads to no other destination. I don't see any circumstances that could get you lost."

"Oh you'd be surprised," Jack said before Logan had the chance to respond. "Road directions were simple, the plan was already agreed on, and it's quite the feat that we somehow found ourselves getting lost."

Jack fixed a hard, steely glare at the one who sat directly beside him—Daniel—and this somehow eased Reagan a little. At least she then knew that his hostility wasn't personal and solely directed at her. He was an asshole generally, not exclusively to her, and that made her somewhat thankful.

Daniel, on the other hand, looked nothing like grateful. He stared pointedly at the ground, looking nothing less than guilty, before he broke and squawked, "I'm sorry, okay? I just really wanted to see a gravity hill!"

Reagan lit up, "You mean the one in Marowick? I know where that is!"

All the ruefulness instantly drained from Daniel's face and he looked at Reagan as if she has just magically fixed their bus, "Are you serious? It's a real thing?"

"Oh, boy," She let out a laugh, entertained and gratified by his excitement, "Wait until you see it. Seeing it on videos doesn't even come close to seeing it in real life."

"Oh for fucks sake," Jack interrupted, looking at her with narrowed eyes. "No, don't encourage him!" He looked at Logan afterwards, seemingly asking for support, "This is the reason we got lost in the first place!"

Greg Paul piped up from the front of the bus, saying, "Well, we're already lost and there's nothing much we can do about it. So we might as well make the most out of it, right? So Reagan," He addressed her and gave her a kind smile through the rearview mirror, "If it won't be much trouble, would you help us get to the gravity hill?"

Reagan gave him a smile in return then sent Jack a sickly sweet and obviously fake smile, "It'd be my pleasure, Greg."

Jack looked far from pleased. The entire ride to Reagan's place, Jack only alternated between glaring at her or scoffing at her general presence.

HELLO HI I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS NEW STORY :D I would definitely appreciate the feedback. Also, I'm new to the fandom and I know little about their personalities but I hope I'll be able to portray the boys' characters realistically. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy the following chapters!

- j