NOTE: PLEASE READ THE INTERACTIVE PART AT THE BOTTOM AND DO IT IF YOU CAN!

With the group deciding to ask the Principal whether or not they could do a tour for potential
Theatre club students, many members believed today to be their last day of freedom.

Not that it bothered them.
They felt lucky to be able to spend so much time with people they genuinely liked.

"Cam, how long?", questioned Nico.

"Just a minute!", she called out, before the thudding of her boots alerted Nico that she was ready.

"Well, remember not to stay out too late ok?
Esther and I will be back here for
7, yeah?"

Camryn nodded.
"Nico, we're going to town, not a club."

"Still.
Oh and after your date, bring Leonie round here.
We'll stay out of your way."

Camryn shook her head.
"She's babysitting her neighbour's kid from five so she wants to get back for four."

"That only gives you an hour."

"Plenty of time.
I want you on your best behaviour by the way!"

Nico's eyes widened, and a smirk appeared on his face.
"Oh, is that right?
Yes, Mum!"

There were so many questions Camryn wanted to ask Nico, but she decided against it.

Amethyst couldn't be right about the business partner situation— could she?

___________________________

The bowling pins fell down, with just one remaining.
Weronika squinted her eyes at the pin, as if she was hoping her glare would send the pin toppling before she threw her bowling ball.

"Do you think you'll be done by tonight?", teased a smirking Zak.

"Shut up!", she replied, before taking a deep breath.
She exhaled sharply, and threw the bowling ball.

The blue ball hurtled towards the pin. They collided, and the pin crashed to the floor.

Zak's jaw dropped.
"How the heck did that happen?"

Weronika grinned.
"Ha!
Better close that mouth or you'll catch flies."

Zak shook his head.
"How did you manage that?"

"I used to play this all the time when
I was younger.
There was a bowling alley five minutes away from my house, so I got in a lot of practise", she explained.

"Was this before you moved to Moorside?"

Weronika nodded.
"Yeah.
I was born in Germany, but moved to Moorside quite quickly, actually."

"But you didn't stay, did you?
I mean, I've lived in Moorside all my life, so I'm pretty sure I'd remember you."

"Well, I lived in Scotland since I was five.
I only moved back here when I was 13."

"Oh, that makes sense.
You don't have a Scottish accent, but I guess if you weren't born there, and none of your family were Scottish, that would be why."

Weronika nodded.
"Yeah.
But even if I did stay in Moorside, I doubt you'd remember me.
I'm pretty forgettable."

"Hey!
Don't say that.
What happened to the positive, confident girl that only ever insults me?"

Weronika chuckled at this.
"Sorry.
I've just been on my own for a while. With the club I had something to do, but now?
I mean, we're still friends, but what happens when we can't meet up all the time?
My house gets pretty lonely."

Zak's face softened, and he wrapped an arm around her.
"Call me whenever you want to hang out, ok?
I mean, I am your boyfriend."

Weronika smiled sweetly at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Ok.
Yeah.
I will."

Zak smiled.
"Now, get ready.
I'm definitely going to beat you this time."

Weronika laughed.
"Oh dear.
The fresh scent of naivety."

Zak rolled his eyes.
"I'm feeling positive."

"That's what Isaac said.
Then I beat him in every single round."

"Poor guy."

"No, he got me back in karaoke."

"But aren't you a singer?"

"If you're surprised, think about how surprised I was!"

Zak chuckled at this.
"So, are you two close?"

Weronika nodded.
"Yeah, I think so.
I'm really lucky to be his friend."

"He's lucky to be yours.
But seriously, that guy is one of the nicest guys I've ever met.
It's kind of hard to believe he's only 16."

"I guess it's because of all he's been through."

Zak nodded.
"Still.
He seems like the kind of person who doesn't take credit for his own achievements."

"Oh, he's definitely like that.
But I'm working on helping him."

"Well, if you ever need help with that, you know where to find me."

________________________________

Still reeling from Darius' trip to the makeshift homeless shelter, his Dad called a meeting with his Mum.

"We're really appalled by your behaviour, Darius", said his Dad.
"You lied to us.
We know you're 18, but that doesn't mean you can't send us a quick message telling us where you are!"

"You're Dad's right.
We know the past few months have been hard for you.
But we made it clear that we don't want you going anywhere without our knowledge!"

"So I'm supposed to feel trapped?
You're punishing me?"

"Oh, Darius!
We're not punishing you, sweetheart", frowned his Mum.

His Dad shook his head.
"He's ungrateful.
That's what he is.
We give him everything and he still insists on misbehaving.
How are you going to lead our business when-"

"-MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO!"

His parents stared at him, in shock.

"Maybe I want to make my own decisions?
Every day I'm here, I feel like I'm suffocating.
Always having to sort out your fights-"

"-We don't make you do that anymore!", interjected his Dad.

"And why is that?
It's like, when I'm not here, you become better parents to Amarai and Frankie?
Is that because you need me to validate your opinion?
You need me to be the referee because you know you're in the wrong?"

"Darius!", yelled his Mum.

Darius frowned.
"Since I came back, you only fought when I was there.
And I don't think that will change."

His Dad sighed.
"Darius... you're right.
We know we're asking a lot of them, but we thought, if you told them they'd understand it.
They'd want to follow in your footsteps."

Darius couldn't believe what he was hearing.

He didn't even want to follow in his footsteps!

"I don't want to be here anymore."

His Mum stood up, her face white as snow.
"What?
N-No, you can't go back there!"

"Places like that are for dr*ggies and criminals!"

Darius' eyes widened, and he clenched his fists.
"How can you say that?
They didn't ask to be homeless!
To have their world crumble and to be left with no other option but to leave!"

His Mum's face softened.
"We didn't mean-"

She was cut off by her husband sighing. He put his head in his hands.

"You're not understanding me!
I felt really scared out there, you know. But I actually felt... happy that I didn't have to deal with the fighting all the time."

His Mum covered her mouth to suppress a sob.

His Dad stood up, and walked towards his son.
"Losing you was one of the hardest things we've ever had to go through. Losing your baby sister was hard, but... we got to watch you grow."

His Mum nodded.
"It felt cruel for that to be taken away from us too.
We only want to keep tabs on you because... when you went missing, every minute felt like torture.
I thought we were never going to get you back."

Darius face softened.
He hadn't thought about what his actions would've done to his parents. He didn't regret it— he needed to get away.
But he wished he could've spared his parents that pain.

"We're sorry for being so strict.
But we wouldn't be able to carry on with our lives if something had happened to you.
So when you went
to that place again... I panicked.
I just wanted to erase that whole time from your life."

"But you can't", said Darius.
"It happened.
And it sucked.
But I learned from it.
I-I just need you to as well."

"How?", asked his Mum.

Darius exhaled shakily— finally letting go of a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Just hear me out on this, ok?"

__________________________

After getting a slice of pizza from a food vendor, Camryn and Leonie sat down on a park bench.

The hot tomato sauce burned Camryn's gums when she bit into the pizza, but she was used to it.

She looked over at Leonie, who was absent-mindedly picking at the mushrooms on her slice.

"I'm sorry, this date's probably really boring", frowned Camryn.

Leonie shook her head.
"No, it isn't!
I'm sorry if I made you think that.
I've just got a lot on my mind these days."

"Me too", frowned Camryn.

Leonie folded one side of the packet over her pizza slice, and put it on her lap, before turning to face Camryn.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Camryn shrugged.
"I-I don't want to make this all about me."

"You're not.
Besides, I'm asking."

"Well, I... I feel bad about not spending much time with Nico.
We'd always hang out after school, but, since joining the club... I don't know."

"Camryn, it's normal to hang out with your friends."

"Do you hang out with your Mum less?"

"Not really?
She's my Mum though.
Nico's got to balance work, a girlfriend and his own friendships too."

Camryn sighed.
She felt a pang of guilt for not checking in on him more.
Of course, Camryn had gone through a lot since joining the club, but Nico had gone through so much as well.

Sensing she needed a distraction, Leonie clapped her hands together.
"So, why did you suggest this for a date?"

"It sounds stupid but I wanted to do this thing I did a lot as a kid.
Ok, full disclosure, I do it a lot now as well."

This piqued the older girl's curiosity. "What is it?"

"People watching", started Camryn.
As soon as the words left her mouth, shs knew she'd have to explain herself.

Leonie gasped.
"No way!
I do that too!"

Camryn's eyes widened.
"Y-You do?"

Leonie nodded.
"Yeah!
Do you make up little stories about their lives?"

Camryn nodded, a big smile on her face.
"Yeah!
Sometimes I'll try to do serious one's, and other times I'll just make up the most random thing I can."

Leonie looked around, eager to make a start.
She discreetly gestured to a woman with bright red hair and
a pushchair— containing triplets.

Camryn smiled.
"Mhm.
I think she's a Nanny.
The middle baby is hers, but the other two are the babies she looks after.
Their parents are wealthy fashion models who are never home, so she's taken their babies."

"Ooh, that's really creative!
I think... hmm.
She's the Queen of a Kingdom very far away from here.
All three babies are hers.
They were taken from her by a couple of tourists who visited the Kingdom."

Camryn laughed.
"Ok, ok, that's pretty good.
She doesn't look like she's in a rush though."

"Maybe she wants to settle down in Moorside?"

Camryn chuckled.
"Wow.
I was going to say, who'd want to live in Moorside?
But... I can't see myself moving."

"Really?
You think you'd like to settle down here?"

Camryn nodded.
"There's no reason to move, right?"

Leonie shrugged.
"I'm actually pretty scared to go to Uni in Marleyport."

"You could always change your mind?"

Leonie sighed.
"I don't know.
I'm trying not to think about it, to be honest."

Just then, a bus drove past.
On the side of the bus, there was a sign that read
'MARLEYPORT UNIVERSITY.
BOOK YOUR OPEN DAY NOW.'

Leonie laughed.
"That's irony for you."

Camryn laughed as well, but she couldn't help but wonder whether they'd be able to work out as a couple.

_______________________________

"No!
You got me!", exclaimed Eli's Dad.

Eli's Mum aimed the water gùn at Eli, squirting him with ice cold water.
"I'll avenge you, honey!"

Eli used to play games like these all the time with his parents.
His Dad was in therapy, and things slowly returned to normal.
Well, there was still a long way to go, but things were looking up for him.

A knock on the door startled Eli, and he dropped his water gún.
Taking advantage of this, his parents squirted him with water.

"Ah!
Wait, no, that's not fair!
I surrender!
Wait, let me... let me open the door!"

Eli sprinted to the door, desperate to get away from his parents and their water gùns.

Eli opened the door, and his eyes widened when he saw who it was.

"Hey, Eli.
Is... is that offer still on?", asked Darius.

______________________

Hi.

I just finished writing this and wanted to publish it! If I get more done before the weekend, I'll wait until Friday or the weekend to publish them.

A LOT happened in this chapter. What did you think of the last part? It was really important to me that Darius' issues weren't magically fixed. His family are still struggling, but he's made steps towards getting himself out of that environment.

Do you have a favourite date from this chapter? Or is there a particular couple you're more invested in?

Camryn and Leonie have got a lot to think about, not only as individuals, but also as a couple. Will they stay together in the end?

What are your thoughts on Weronika and Zak?

What are your thoughts on the Camnie date?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

yeonskosmos

-cherrysvalanxe

CaptainHermioneSwan

The_Slytherclaw

gillioddities

DoodleYeet

starryeyedturtle