"Roara! I want to take one over here!"

"Okay," I called back, following as I fiddled with the settings on the camera.

The sun was just beginning to dip below the western side of the valley as Reese huffed and grunted, struggling to hoist her little self onto the chest-high Petroleum Valley Academy sign in front of the administration building.

I grimaced when her knees came up over the brick ledge, scraping, and was glad I had been able to convince her to put on jeans before we left her house. Still, I'd grabbed a fistful of band-aids and stuffed them into my back pocket just to be safe.

"Turn a little more to the left so your face is out of the sun," I instructed, lifting the camera.

"Ready?" she said.

I gave her a thumbs up, snapping a photo when she eased into an anxious smile, copper eyes sweet, the toes of her sneakers balanced between the silver m and v.

"Did it turn out okay?" she asked as I rushed forward to help her down. We put our heads together to scrutinize the display screen and she voiced her approval.

"Where to next?" I started after Reese when she took off up the path leading deeper into campus, my wary eyes on the uneven sidewalk.

I was helping her take photos for a scrapbook she was putting together to send to Jack. Jack was her newly found half-brother who had turned up during the search the investigation service was conducting to locate her birth parents.

"Trevor's hockey practice should be letting out soon," she called back as she skipped. Her enthusiastic bounce was accented by the soft jingling of a bell that she had slipped onto a shoelace before tying her shoes earlier. "I wanted to get a picture with him." She hopped along, jingle, jingle.

I picked up my pace to keep up, my sandals pleasant slaps against my feet. Chilly, I ran a hand up and down my shoulder to rub at goosebumps induced by the cool Tuesday evening air. I probably should have worn something with sleeves, but I had thrown on a tank top after school anyway, relishing the fact that my shoulder was now injury free.

"Thanks for helping me," Reese said as I strode up beside her.

"It's not a problem. That's what friends with professional cameras are for."

I had been spending as much time with her as I could since last Thursday. She seemed to be faring well enough since our unfortunate evening at the movies. Although, she wasn't the one who had fallen down a flight of stairs. Ai the wind devvi made sure of it.

I suggested we go back and see the movie during a matinee, when the movie-going crowd would be much smaller. I even hinted at Micah possibly escorting us after he returned. Whenever that might be.

My gaze went to the sky, steadily growing dark with a few banks of harmless, fluffy clouds. Micah said he would be gone only a week. That had been eleven days ago.

Troubled by my guardian's prolonged absence, I puffed out my cheeks, sighing as I pushed through the heavy door to the hockey rink. The smell of stale ice and sweat hit me like a slap.

"Hey ya, Reese, Aurora," Dandoy called out.

The red-headed teenage boy was looking good in a fitted pair of jeans and polo shirt as he leaned against the rink railing just inside the entrance. His usually tousled hair was combed, and he, too, appeared to be waiting on Trevor. The two boys were rarely apart. They had been best friends since the first time they'd eaten crayons together in kindergarten, according to Reese.

I frowned at the ice beyond the railing. The last time they ate crayons together had been lunch, this afternoon. My crayons. I was adding color to my drawing of Spatula guy. I finally had a guess at the color of his hair despite the green tint of that terrible morning. I also seemed to have regained some memory of the outfit he had been wearing. It might have been a uniform.

"Ah, Reese...can I ask you something?" Dandoy smiled solely for her. He ran a hand through his combed hair, seeming a bit nervous.

Giving the two some space, I went over to where Trevor would be coming off the ice. Ever since his thoughtless actions at lunch had landed Reese in the ER with seven stitches, Dandoy was paying more attention to her. It had been idiot's remorse at first, as he wanted to make it up to her. But after a week's worth of following her around, his rueful attention appeared to be transforming into somewhat of a crush.

From what I could glean from the taste of her words when we had a conversation about it, she wasn't very far from returning the sentiment. I guessed it would take maybe another week or so of casual interaction, unless he made a direct move on her of course. Though if it turned into anything more than affection, I wouldn't be able to tell. Love was an elusive emotion to me and had been for years. Since Mom died.

I bit my lower lip, a long-established unhappiness shifting through me. I suppose if I began to read less emotion being exchanged between Reese and Dandoy, it could be a signal of their relationship heading in a serious direction? Maybe. I didn't know.

Leaning on the railing, I blew my bangs out of my face, trying to force away my sadness. Trevor was heading in, along with a troop of ten other guys, their skates loud on the ice. I pulled out my phone when it vibrated and turned to answer the call.

"Hello?" I said over the racket exiting the ice at my right and paused. I curled my toes in their sandals as my depression melted. "At the campus with Reese," I answered, glancing sideways at Trevor as he stood motionless beside me in his yellow and white High-Voltage Hockey uniform. "Mmm hmm, I can wait. Okay Micah."

I paused to listen to his amber-honey voice hum in my ear and I blushed, wishing someone wasn't looming over my shoulder. "I miss you too," I mumbled into the phone. "Please hurry," I said and hung up.

"So..." Trevor moved to catch my attention, scuffing his ice skates on the cement floor. "You and the Valhalo kid hooking up?"

"No." My voice went innocent. Of course we weren't doing anything of the sort. I barely knew him.

I reached for my camera, eyeing Trevor's perspiration streaked face and damp curls hanging about his temples. Oh yeah, this was going to make for an excellent shot.

"By the way, you owe me a yellow crayon," I told him. My poor, broken crayons.

"Yeah." Trevor grinned down at me, removing his helmet. "I'll buy you an eight pack of Crayola next time I'm in the craft section."

"How utterly generous of you."

"Trevor," Reese exclaimed, running toward us with a set of rosy cheeks. "I wanna get a picture with you for my scrapbook!"

A nervous but happy scent hit my nose as she stopped before us. I glanced past her to Dandoy, who seemed to be equally happy, maybe even somewhat relieved. Wonder what the two of them had been talking about?

"This is for the package you're sending to your brother in Nevada?" Trevor stooped down next to her, offering his hockey stick for her to hold.

"Half-brother," she corrected. "Jack's mom, Amelia, was my birth mother, according to his birth certificate and my adoption papers."

"Slide together and turn to the left some," I instructed, eyeing the harsh lights above the rink. I snapped off two pictures and gave them a thumbs-up.

Reese straightened, gazing at Dandoy as he approached. "Here Trev, thanks!" She gave her cousin back his stick and grabbed my hand to lead me to one side. "I'm going to get ice cream with Aaron." She grinned at me, happy but apologetic. Aaron was Dandoy's first name.

"Go," I told her, giving her an encouraging wink. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to hang around here and wait for Micah."

"He's finally back?" Her eyes grew wide, and I shrugged. A twinge of happiness went through me that I could do so without pain. "Can you still come over to my house on Friday and help me put the scrapbook together? Roara, please?"

"Of course I can." I bent to give her a hug, slipping the camera into her hands. "Take all the photos you want. We'll get them printed after school some time, my treat."

"You're the best." She returned my hug.

I backed up, glancing toward the boys. Dandoy, er uh, Aaron, was trading words with Trevor while he waited for Reese to say her goodbyes.

Trevor gave his friend a pointed look and slugged him on the shoulder once before they parted. "You've got band-aids on you?" Trevor grinned. Aaron pulled out a fistful from his pocket—Ninja Turtle Band-Aids. "Good man." Her cousin rolled his eyes and pushed Aaron toward her as he turned to head off to the locker room. "Have fun you two. And Reese, don't eat ice cream too fast. You can't risk a brain freeze."

I smiled as she stuck out her tongue at him before she disappeared through the door Aaron held for her. I stifled a twinge of worry as the door closed and the jingling bell of her stride disappeared. He's got band-aids, I reminded myself.

"He's going to ask her to the autumn formal," Trevor informed me as I pushed on the door to leave. Yeah, I had figured as much.

Nightfall had set in while we were inside the hockey arena, the sky now dark with cold starlight flickering into sight. My eyes were heavy as I collapsed onto the bench outside of the administration building to wait for Micah.

I let my eyes drift closed, wishing I had something to drink. I'd finished off a glass of some new drink that Indy had thrust upon me before we left to take pictures. Unlike the usual mix that started off as red powder, this new stuff was blue. She didn't say what the change was all about, just that it was something different she picked up. It had been a small glass, thank goodness, and I was pretty sure I was going to refuse to drink anymore. The deciding factor had been when the last bit burned on the way down, enough to give me somewhat of a scare.

I ran my tongue around the back of my teeth, and the tip of it came away tingling. Definitely disconcerting

Yawning, I slumped on the seat. Micah said he shouldn't be long. Holy cheese, I was tired. I still wasn't sleeping through an entire night, as the apartment-collapse nightmares refused to stop plaguing me.

As my awareness wandered and the dew set in, a random thought drifted through my mind: things are changing. I let my head rest against my arm, relaxed enough that I dozed off.

-------------------------------------------

Micah's on his way back!

And Reese is getting an invite to the fall dance! VOTE if you think she should say "yes" to Dandoy :)

Happy New Year, everyone! I don't know about you, but I was more than ready for 2020 to be over. I may have cried a little as I watched the ball dropped in New York. Well, here's to things turning around for the better in 2021 (fingers crossed).

Chapter 22 posts Saturday!