The next morning, I woke up before everyone else and put on my own clothes and the clothes I'd been given the day before over my pajamas, then I made my way out of the house. Once again, the weather was horrible; it was windy, wet, cold, and my feet and hands became numb shortly before I crawled through the loop entrance. It was a relatively warm day in the present, so I took off all the clothes except my own jeans and t-shirt and hid it behind a bush.

It was still very early; I checked my phone and saw that it was almost seven. The sky was pale and cloudy, but it was maybe sixty degrees. The forest looked the same as it did before I left. The path to the cabin extended up to my right.

Before walking to town, I decided to text Jacob and let him know I was spending an hour or two in the present just in case Phoebe didn't relay that information. I ignored all the texts my Grandma had sent me.

Jacob texted back: "okay, but we're not heading over there till nine, I think"

I put my phone in my pocket and began walking to town.

It's funny how a day in the past can make the present feel like such a different world. I wandered around the streets for a while, looking at all the modern things; the cars, the cameras, the neon lights, even everyone walking by with a cellphone in hand.

There was a sign in he window of a small coffee shop that said "free wifi all hours; free coffee and donuts from 7-9 am!" Because I was hungry and wanted to get on the Internet, I entered.

They weren't offering the free coffee and donuts yet, so I just sat down at a table and checked my Twitter; nothing of great importance to me had happened in the last 24 hours or so. When I put my phone back in my pocket, I saw Meghan sitting at a table on the other side of the cafe, a laptop was opened in front of her and she grinned as she looked at the screen, earbuds in her ears.

I took a deep breath and walked over to her. She didn't notice me.

"Hey, Meghan." I said, sitting in a chair next to her.

She looked up and pulled out her earbuds, clicking a button on her keyboard. "Oh... Hey, Ricky."

"What'cha doin'?"

"I'm just watching YouTube."

I leaned in and raised my eyebrows when I saw Hugh's face. "So he really is on YouTube." I thought out loud.

Meghan gave a half-smile. "Yeah. He's really great. Kinda cute too. But he's only like fifteen or so."

"Really? I thought he was in his eighties!"

She laughed, not knowing I was being serious. "You wanna watch with me?"

I felt extremely successful and beamed. "Sure."

She handed me an earbud and, once I'd put it in, she pressed play.

"Next question," Hugh said in the video, then he paused to look at his phone. A couple bees were crawling on his shirt. "Katzeet421 asks: what is the most injured you've ever been?" He looked back at the camera. "Well, actually, Katzeet421, I was pretty much dead for almost an hour when I was nine. I have no memory of this at all; my brother, Robert, just recently told me about this; we were playing a game, see, and I was controlling a horse, and I made it kicked Robert and he says, 'remember that time you were kicked by a horse?' and I'm like 'what?' and then he goes into the story. Before I tell you the story, I'd just like to say no, I am not rich, I grew up on a farm. Anyway, when I was nine, my father was selling one of the horses to some person, and my brothers and I were all standing there for some reason. Well, when my father actually brought the horse out of the stable, I had the misfortune of being right behind it; something must've freaked it out because it kicked me right in the chest and knocked me out cold; apparently I was completely unresponsive for just under an hour; had no pulse, wasn't breathing. Now this is when my Mum comes out and just holds me, weeping and my father and brothers are panicking, and the guy who'd come to buy the horse offers to drive me to the nearest hospital. My Mum goes with him, still holding me in her lap, and, long story short, I... Woke up... At some point... I have on recollection of this particular event, but there's an entire month-and-a-half of my life when I was nine that I just don't recall; before now, I'd always thought it was just because it was so many years ago. So yeah... Thank you for that question Katzeet421. Next question is from 69Olivia69: if you were in the Hunger Games, what weapon would you choose and why? Well, first I'd like to say, I could never kill someone for anyone's amusement; especially when the reward is so vain. But to answer your question, Olivia, I'd probably find a way to make those gold hornet things- what are they called? Tracker-jackers?- I'd probably find a way to use them- I'd at least try- but if I couldn't I honestly don't know; I may just try to outlast everyone else. Thank you, Olivia. Now the last question is from PurplePugHugs2010: how come you never do concerts or appearances? The answer to that is, simply, I don't really want to; I'm perfectly content with the videos. Well that's all for this video guys, don't forget to drop a like and subscribe; remember, I do one of these Q&As every 1,000 followers. See you later!" The video went to a sky blue screen with a bumblebee flying around; then it wrote "HughTheBeeBoy" in little dash marks.

"Huh." I took out my earbud. "He seems cool."

"Yeah." Meghan took out her earbud, closed the laptop, and met my eyes. "Hey where were you yesterday?"

"Oh... Um..." I scratched the back of my head, trying to come up with something. "I-I was visiting some friends. They live a town of two over."

"Oh, I see." Meghan nodded.

"Yeah. It was really fun."

She slipped her laptop into her computer bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Hey, you wanna see something?"

"S-sure!" I stood up, eager to spend time with her.

She stood up. "I need to stop by my house first, though."

"Okay."

We walked to the house in the woods. I gaped at it when I first walked up to it. It looked exactly the same as it did in the loop. It looked funny without snow, though.

"You coming?" Meghan held the door open.

"Uh, huh? Oh, yeah." I stepped inside with her.

The hall was exactly the same as well- even the same pictures still hung on the walls. I half expected Miss Cardinal of one of her peculiars to come out and welcome me back.

I followed Meghan upstairs and into the very room I'd slept in last night; though it was nothing like it had been; the walls were painted pink and covered in pictures of horses, movie posters, and framed photos of Meghan when she was little. She tucked her bag into a drawer in her desk by the window then turned to leave, beckoning me to follow her.

"What's up with the pictures?" I asked when we got into the front hall, touching the glass protecting one of a little boy with long dark hair that wrapped thickly around his feet.

Meghan smiled. "They were there when my parents moved in; they thought they were interesting so they kept them here. C'mon, let's go!"

"Where are we going?" I asked as we trekked through the woods.

"Just a place I like to go to; just to be alone, ya know?" She replied.

My cheeks grew red.

She led me to a part of the cliff face that was hidden by the woods. A narrow path was weathered out of the stone. I followed her up it, gripping the rocks hard.

My hands were shaking when we got to the top of the cliff, which was a hundred or so feet above the road below. She pulled me along a rough forest path that went up a steepish incline.

I followed her, panting and sweating. I did not like hiking. "Are we almost there?" I gasped.

"Just past these." She strayed from the path and pushed through a wall of thick bushes and vines. I was right behind her.

We came out onto a small, bush-enclosed cliff overlooking another valley- not Cunningham Valley. "Wow." I sighed, gaping at how beautiful everything was; autumn trees colored most of the valley red, orange, yellow, and brown, and a tall waterfall spilled over a cliff on the other side. Giant slabs of purple rock jutted out of the foliage. There were no houses I could see. It seemed completely wild.

Meghan bent down and pulled a sketchbook out from under a bush and sat criss-cross. "I think it just might be the most amazing thing you could find up here in good Cunningham Valley." She said. "It's definitely the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"It is amazing." I replied. "I think coming here is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Tell me about Florida." She chewed the eraser of her pencil. "Is it nice?"

I shrugged. "Well, it's not as nice as it is here... Pretty boring."

"Did you have a special place you liked to go?"

I shook my head. "No. I just sorta wandered the streets, looking for kicks."

She nodded.

She silently drew in her sketchbook while I leaned back on the bush. I heard some muffled voices. I leaned back further and turned around. I was in the middle of the bush and completely hidden from view. I saw 2 men talking on the trail; both wore and sunglasses. The taller man, who had red hair said in the loudest whisper I'd ever heard. "You doof!" He slapped the smaller man. "You said the loop entrance was up here!"

"I-I thought it was!" The smaller man stuttered.

"Well, obviously, you were wrong! You don't see any peculiars around here, do you?"

My neck hairs prickled and my stomach lurched.

"There's a loop somewhere around this cliff; I just know it!" The smaller man said, looking around.

"You're impossible!" The redhead shook his head. "Thick-headed little bastard..." He muttered.

"Well then you find the loop." The smaller man crossed his arms.

They both walked up the trail away from Cunningham Valley.

My heart was racing with panic as I stumbled back to Meghan. "Hey, sorry, I gotta go." I disappeared into the bushes before she even looked up. Occasionally checking to make sure the men weren't following me, I dashed down the trail and slowly climbed down the cliff. When my feet were on the ground once more, I broke into a run towards the loop entrance.

____________________

Love ya!

CC