The next morning Beth was awakened by the sound of a bush rustling a few feet away. "Who's there?" Bethany asked. She heard footsteps but no answer to her question.Whoever was there, they were breathing very heavy. "Look, just come out of the bushes. I could care less about killing you or not." Beth said rolling her eyes.

     A young man stepped out of the bushes. He was around Beth's age which was very refreshing because he was the second person she had ever seen her age. She didn't like to count that random boy in the village flirting with her.

The boy had dirty blonde hair that he was running through with his fingers. "Hey! I'm Dean!" the boy said blushing. When she had no answer he said, "Please don't kill me! I have a family and I'm not supposed to be here and..." he blobbed on.

     "Relax! You're fine! I won't hurt you." Bethany laughed. The boy smiled with deep dimples relieved she wasn't going to kill him. Why would she? He was so freakin' charming!

"What are you doing out here? The dangerous forests aren't a place for a beautiful young lady!" Dean said with a little sparkle in his eye.

"You're not from here, are you? I'm looking for someone. Have you seen him? He's got dark brown hair and blue eyes." Bethany described. Dean and Ashton were two complete opposites. Ash had been through hell and back and Dean was just having fun and living life.

"No, I haven't. I'll help you look though." Dean offered almost excited. Beth questioned his idea to help.

"Why would you help me?" Beth asked a little suspicious.

"Why not?" Dean shrugged. "You're looking for someone to help and I'm looking for an adventure." He said this very cheesey. Bethany wanted to tell him it wasn't some silly storybook. This was real life. She rolled her eyes.

"That is one of the most cheesiest things I've ever heard in my life!" Bethany told him. Dean smile with that same charm. At this point, Bethany wasn't sure if it was just obnoxious or completely just straight up charming. Dean looked at her sincerely. "You really want to go, don't you?" Bethany said looking in his eyes.

"I told you, I love adventure. And I don't get much of that back home." Dean said.

"Back home as in this mysterious town you haven't mentioned?" Bethany challenged. Dean smiled again. He definitely wasn't from that snobby Manaville, that was for sure.

"Worthville. Part of Commerce Circle. My parents are traders and so am I. That's why I am here, if you were wondering." Dean sassed running his fingers through his hair once more.

"So, why are you HERE? Can't no one from Commerce Circle come to the island?" Beth said.

"As I mentioned, I trade stuff. I came here because my family needed some extra money. And all you misfits, no offense, love stuff from Commerence." Dean explained.

"How brave! You must really love your family!" Bethany smiled trying to imagine his journey from home all the way from Worthville.

"I know I'm brave and stuff. The ladies love that!" Dean teased Bethany.

"Don't flatter yourself, prettyboy!" Beth teased back. Dean laughed and Beth laughed along with him.

"Let me just pack up camp and we'll get on our way." Bethany said. Dean started to pack up the things. Beth sprinkled some dust on the camp and it disappeared.

"Woah! You're a witch!" Dean exclaimed. Beth laughed.

"Kinda." Beth responded without a care in the world. Dean was very interested in the dust. His eyes were popping out of his head. "You've never seen magic before, haven't you?" Beth stopped. She looked up at Dean's still shocked face.

"I never realized how beautiful it was!" Dean said focusing at the shimmery glitter-like dust before him. He held his hands out trying to catch the dust as it fell ever so gracefully. It dissolved in his hands.

"It is very beautiful... most of the time..." Bethany said. Dean perked up. Beth started to pack various dusts into her backpack.

"What do you mean? Most of the time?" Dean questioned. Beth stopped trying to phrase it in the right way.

"Magic itself isn't bad. It can save lives with its power. But, it can also danger lives with its power. It depends how you use it. If you think about it I guess it is the people they don't trust, you know?" Bethany told Dean. Dean finally realized that it wasn't the magic that the people feared. It was themselves with magic that they were afraid of.

"My parents want me to go to Manaville because of that." Bethany told Dean.

"Me too. They want me to find a wife and move like my siblings." Dean explained.

"My parents say there is a better life there. They say it's wonderful. How many siblings do you have?" Bethany asked. Dean thought for a second.

"Three older brothers, two older sisters, three younger brothers, and four younger sisters. I have twelve brothers and sisters if you don't wanna do the math." Dean said like he had said it a million times before. Bethany stopped for a second waiting for him to laugh like it was a joke. He didn't.

"That's absolutely insane! How do you remember each other's names?" Bethany laughed.

"Haha! It's not that hard!" Dean laughed with those deep dimples again.

    Dean and Beth talked and talked for hours on end. It was so easy even though they were too totally different people. Dean loved hearing the sound of Beth's laugh as he joked about absolutely anything that came to mind. It was something they couldn't describe. A friendship. A friendship that gave them hope and certainty everything was going to be okay.

Thank you for reading Chapter 3 of Misfit Island! Don't forget to hit that pretty little star! ✨ And leave a comment telling me what you think. Have a great day!!! Bye!!!

Xoxo