When I walked out into the open forest, my eyes squinted hard as the sun was practically blinding me. It took a few moments for them to adjust to the new sunlight, but when they did, I was ready to go and find my bracelet. I walked a little to the left of the building as I began my search. My mind was racing, trying to retrace my last few steps all while trying not to replay the argument that Zach and I just had. There was no way that he could understand how much it meant to me, how much I needed to find it and get it back. The thunder was racing through the sky as the clouds grew darker and the rain started to fall. No, this couldn't be happening- I needed to find it. Suddenly, something grabbed me and pulled me behind a tree, placing a hand over my mouth. "Sh, don't move until I say so," Zach whispered, his eyes looking beyond me as the rumbling on the ground moved closer. "Now!" He said, grabbing my hand and running towards the old storage shed we had found only minutes earlier, as the dinosaur screamed into the air and started running towards our location.

It was cramped, dark, and there were probably spiders everywhere, but I couldn't stop staring out the small window on the door, looking at the dinosaur that was hunting for us only a few feet away. "Zach.." I whispered, my voice trembling.

Without saying a word he wrapped his arm around my waist, bringing me into him. We looked at one another, both of us wanting to speak, but unsure of what to say. And as his heartbeat began to match mine, I let out a sob and clutched onto him tightly, resting my head on his chest as we both looked out of the window, wondering if we were going to make it out of this alive. I don't know how long we stood there listening to one another breathe, it seemed like forever. Neither one of us wanted to risk moving in case the dinosaur was still out there and heard our small movements. The smell of Zach's cologne was comforting in a way. It had a scent of Sandalwood amongst other things...but the sandalwood stood out the most. "Hailey..." he whispered, lifting his chin off of the top of my head and leaning back slightly so he could look at me. "do you think the coast is clear?"

I looked out of the small window and waited for any sign that the dinosaur was still in our presence. "I think it's gone, should we-"

"Um, I don't want to take any chances..." he said, biting the inside of his cheek. "in case that dinosaur is out there...but if you think we should go out- outside I mean, then we can."

I looked at him and for a short moment, I considered telling him that I didn't want to go outside, that I wanted to stay right here in this position and moment. But I couldn't bring myself to. Granted, I know that there's something between us, but how am I to know that he knows that too? "Yeah, let's go outside."

We stepped away from one another and he opened the shed door slowly, peeping his head out before walking out himself. He nodded his head at me to come out of the shed and he extended his hand to me. I took it and walked out of the shed, letting the door close softly behind me. "I think we're good, the dinosaur is gone." He sighed.

We looked at one another, both of us obviously unsure about what to really say about what happened. Do I tell him that he was right? Could I have died? Or does he apologize for saying it in that way? "Zach...why did you come after me? What were you doing out here?"

He took a deep breath and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Gray told me-" suddenly his eyes went wide and he turned his head towards the building we had found. "Oh my God Gray!"

Zach grabbed my hand and started running towards the visitor center. I didn't realize that Gray had been left alone in the center as the dinosaur roamed outside of the building. Hopefully, he was okay and safe. Zach and I rushed through the visitor center and down the hallway, coming into the parking garage room. "Gray?" I called out as we looked around the building for him.

"Gray!" Zach called out, walking towards the jeeps and looking beneath them.

The sound of something falling off a workbench and hitting the floor caught our attention and I could see Gray coming out from beneath a workbench and running towards us. He ran towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist, hugging me tightly. I hugged him back and sighed with relief when I realized he was safe. He left my arms and went to Zach and Zach hugged him tightly, looking relieved. "I heard it," He said, pulling away from Zach. "and I thought you guys were dead..."

Zach looked at me and I looked at Gray. "I would be dead...if it wasn't for your brother."

Gray looked up at Zach. "Really?"

Zach just looked at Gray shocked at what I said, but I walked over to them and placed my hand on Gray's shoulder, smiling at Zach. "He really did." I walked by them and took off my flannel, tying it around my waist and looking at the Jeep. "So how are we gonna fix this thing?"

Zach joined me and rested his hands on his hips before pointing to the Jeeps battery. "It's obviously dead, so we're gonna need a new battery."

"Well, how are we supposed to get a new battery in the middle of a forest?" Gray asked, looking at the both of us.

I looked around the shed, the other jeep's battery was probably just as dead as this one. Then it dawned on me. There was a crashed golf cart outside of this building. Even though it looked totaled...maybe it's battery still worked. "I think I have an idea, but you guys might not like it."

Zach looked at me and crossed his arms. "What?" I raised my eyebrows at him and I could see the wheels in his brain turning as he looked at me. His eyes widened and I swear you could see the lightbulb going off in his head. "The golf cart."

"The golf cart?! You guys want to go back out there?!" Gray yelled, looking at the two of us as if we were criminally insane.

"You can stay in here if you want," Zach said, walking towards the back of the room.

"Oh no," Gray said, following behind him. "I'm coming with you. It's creepy in here."

"Help me see if this pulls up, will you? I think this is a garage door or something." Zach said, squatting down and grabbing onto a small handlebar that was in the middle of the metal door.

Gray held onto the remaining free space of the bar and they both tugged it, opening the door and lifting it all the way up. It made a screeching noise, the same noise something that's rusted over would make and I know all three of us cringed. "Well, let's get going yeah?" I asked, walking up to them and out of the door.

Our first few steps out of the garage area were slow and calculated. We were all thinking about which way we'd need to run for the quickest cover in case this dinosaur was still in the area and we needed to take cover. You could feel the nervousness and tension in the air, and between the three of us, we were riddled with anxiety. As weird as it sounds, I know I didn't really have to worry about this dinosaur sneaking up on us. We were all watching every direction as best as it could...ready for any attack. At some point, Gray began to lead the way...he was quickening up his pace leaving Zach and I a little bit behind him. I think he was trying to get the battery and go back to our shelter as quick as possible. "He seems really freaked out," I whispered to Zach, not taking my eyes off of Gray.

"I know, I don't blame him either," He looked away from Gray at gave me a side glance. "Are you? Freaked out?"

"I am. I mean it's hard not to be, especially when I've had a dinosaur snap its jaws at me. But..." I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders, giving him a small smile and nodding my head at Gray. "I'm with you guys, so I feel a little safer."

Zach just smiles at me and we kept following behind Gray as we headed towards where the golf cart was. When we got to it, Gray stood still and looked around us constantly as if he was on the lookout. I lifted up the hood for Zach and he stared at what was beneath, trying to locate the battery. "Gray, if you keep moving your neck like that you're probably going to turn into an owl." I laughed softly, causing him to look at me. "Or give yourself whiplash."

He went to say something when a snap of a branch caused us all to go silent. I looked at the two boys and then in the direction that the sound came from. Gray's eyes went wide and Zach just looked around, seemingly panicked. "You think it's out there?" He looked at me and then looked at Gray, who looked as if he was a ghost. "I mean, I know for a fact it is definitely not out there, all right? We're totally safe."

"Yeah Gray, that dinosaur is long gone," I said, patting his shoulder and giving him a small smile. I have to say, Zach and I definitely deserve some type of Oscar for the performance we're doing right now. We both have no idea if that thing is out there, but we know Gray doesn't need to panic...so we had to hide our fear. Luckily for me, I've gotten pretty good at hiding how I'm feeling.

Zach looked down at the battery in his hand and handed it to Gray. "Here, go take this. You're stronger than me."

Gray took the battery from him as Zach closed the hood. "Come on, we need to get back." He said, starting to walk ahead of Zach and me.

"You handled that pretty well you know," I said, gaining his attention and nodding my head at Gray. "calming him down and everything."

"Thanks, I know he's scared," he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and shrugged his shoulders as we kept walking. "I just don't want him to feel as if I won't protect him. I really care about him, you know?"

"Wow," I raised my eyebrows at him playfully, and smiling at him. "you've come a long way from being that boy I met on the airplane."

He just smirked. "Yeah, well you didn't know me."

I bump into his shoulder and smile at him. "Yeah, but I think I'd like to." I walked away from him and jogged the short distance to Gray, biting my lip the entire time and trying to contain my blush. "Hey, look at you being all strong and carrying that battery," I said, ruffling his hair.

"Thanks, it is a little heavy though." He said, huffing.

"I think you've got it," I replied, looking behind us to see Zach looking at us both and smiling. When he sees that I'm looking at him, he didn't look or shy away like he used to. Instead, he held my gaze and rubbed the back of his head. I threw my arm around Gray's shoulder and smiled as we neared the garage. I'm really glad that I ran into these two boys.

I don't know how long it's been since we started to fix up the jeep. Honestly, it wasn't just the battery that needed to be changed, which we knew would be a solid possibility since the car was pretty old. I won't lie, when we realized that there was more things that needed to be fixed in this car, we were pretty nervous that whatever we needed to make it work- wouldn't be available. But luckily for us, not much needed to be fixed and with some detailed scavenging by Gray, we were able to find the parts we needed to be buried in the workbench drawers. Zach and I worked on fixing whatever we could before we put work into putting in the new battery. We ended up fixing a leaky radiator, checked up on the spark plugs, and replaced the oxygen sensor. I knew we needed to get a head start on working on the battery, so I told Zach I'd finish up replacing the oxygen sensor with the new one I sent Gray on a search for, and they could start working on the battery.

When I finished replacing the oxygen sensor, I wiped my hands on my jeans- not really caring if I get too dirty at this point. I looked at Gray and Zach, seeing them bonding and talking to one another while working on the battery, so I decided that maybe I would just let the two of them work on it by themselves. I grabbed my backpack off of the work shelf and walked by them, heading over towards a cleared off work shelf near the now opened garage door. I cleared off what was little of a mess on top of the shelf and sat on top of it, resting my backpack on top of the stool below me. I opened it and grabbed my pencils and my sketchbook. I had an inkling to clear my mind...and this was the best way to do it. I opened my sketchbook to the first page, wanting to just flip through my past drawings. I liked to do this sometimes, just to see how far my skills have come...and other times just to reminisce about the drawing itself. My mom always told me that sketchbooks are sort of like photo albums and scrapbooks. They not only hold your art within its pages...they also hold some of your dearest memories.

While flipping through my old drawings sometimes make me cringe, I actually do enjoy it. I like being able to see the progress that I've made as an artist- even when sometimes it feels like I haven't made any progress. I came to a stop on a drawing of Uncle Owen I did when he was with us during my mom's last couple of days. I know he was mad at me and I did something stupid, but I hope he's okay. I wish my phone didn't get damaged in that jump into the water so I could just call him and see where's he's at...or at least let him know I'm okay. I know I shouldn't have run off...but I was acting on all of the emotions that have built up these last few months. But if there's one thing I know, it's that he's a fighter...he always has been. I continued to flip through my drawings, seeing one of my mom and dad I had drawn one night when we were all in the kitchen. It was earlier in the year, so mom hadn't really been too sick yet. A song was playing on our radio in the kitchen and my dad just swept her away from the oven and started to slow dance with her. I guess they thought I hadn't been watching...but I had.

The moment was sweet and something that could truly summarize my parent's marriage in two simple words: true love. I will admit, I've always been a sucker for love. I believe in true love at first sight, I believe in soul mates, and I believe in that gut feeling you get when you meet the one for you. It sounds ridiculous I know, but I think it's because of growing up around my parent's relationship. What they had was nothing but pure, sweet, true love. And God, I wanted that more than anything. But ever since my mom died, the idea of loving somebody and giving them all of you, your heart and your soul...scared me. Because I've been watching my dad in the months after her death and while on the outside he doesn't look it...I can tell he seems lost without her. I don't want to end up like that.

I flipped through my latest few drawings and came to a stop of the one I hadn't yet completed before I started the one of Blue at the raptor paddock. It was a drawing of Gray peering out of the train window on our transport to the park. I started drawing it after he kept leaning over me to look and I graciously offered him my seat. He was honestly just so full of wonder and innocence, it inspired me. While it was sort of a rough sketch, I knew it needed to have some color added to it before it would truly come alive. "You're really talented," Zach said, finally speaking.

I knew he was there for the last minute or so, and I know the last time he peeked over into my sketchbook was on the plane and me kind of snapped at him. But I don't really mind him looking, in fact- I'm enjoying his presence. "Thanks," I replied, giving him a smile.

He adjusted his stance, coming over to the workbench and resting his elbow on it, leaning against my thigh. "Who taught you how to draw?"

I looked at him and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my hear. "My mom, she was amazing...." I flipped towards the very front of the book, turning the book towards him and pointing at the picture that was taped to the back of the cover and the very first drawing. "This is us when I was younger, and this is a drawing of us."

He smiled at the picture and when his eyes moved to the drawing, they went wide. "Whoa, did you draw this?"

"Nope, she did," I said, pointing to the cursive note that decorated the inside cover along with the picture. "She gave me this for Christmas last year"

He looked back at the picture and then at me. "You look a lot like her."

"Thank you. I actually get that a lot, especially now that I'm older," I took a deep breath and sighed, slumping my shoulders and looking away from him and straight ahead. "But I think it hurts my dad that I looked so much like her...he really misses her."

There was a slight silence between us as Zach looked down at the book in my lap. "Can I look through your drawings? It's okay if you don't want me too, I'd understand."

I looked back at him and nodded. "Yeah, of course." I handed the sketchbook over to him and looked back at the wall across from me. Normally when people asked if they could look through my sketchbook, they don't really look at my drawings. They just kind of flip through them, spending no more than a second or two on each page and then they give it back to me and say that my drawings are nice as if they actually looked at them. I didn't need to watch Zach do that because I think it'd actually hurt a little bit to think that maybe he's just another person who doesn't really care about my drawings. He's just trying to start a conversation and being polite. But when I looked back at him, I saw that he wasn't just flipping through the pages...he was actually taking his time and looking at my drawings. I watched him as his eyes skimmed across the page before he would carefully turn it. He came to a stop when he saw the most recent one at the end of my book...a drawing of him on the plane. I felt my face begin to burn when I realized how creepy it must have looked that I drew him. "I'm sorry.."

"No, no, it's okay," He laughed, looking at me with a smile. "I think it's pretty cool. I might even ask you for a copy when you finish it."

I laughed as he handed my sketchbook back to me. "I think I can arrange that."

He looked ahead of us, leaning his back against the workbench and sighing. "I'm sorry, about your mom. I know that's probably something you've been hearing for a while and you don't really want to hear anymore because it's getting annoying...but I really am sorry." He turned to me and gave me a small smile. "And by what you've told me so far, she sounds like she was an amazing person."

"Yeah," I said, smiling down at the picture in my sketchbook. "I just hope I turn out to be like her...or at least just make her proud of me, you know?"

"I think she'd be really proud of you right now, your dad too. I mean, look what you've overcome so far! So don't sell yourself short, okay?" He nudged me with his elbow and smiled at me. "Because I think you're just as amazing."

I looked at him, holding onto his gaze before smiling. "Thanks, Zach, that really means a lot." I took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess you're pretty amazing too...now that I've gotten to know you a little better."

"Hey guys, I think I got it!" Gray called out, catching our attention.

"Why don't we go see if this thing is ready to go? Quicker we get out of this shed, the quicker we can get back to the park and back home." He said, packing up my backpack for me and placing it on the counter space behind him and then helping me off of the counter.

"Alright Gray, what do you got?" I asked as we walked over.

He handed Zach the wrench he was holding and pointed beneath the hood. "I got it as tight as I could get it to go, but I think it could get a little tighter...and then I think we can leave."

I looked at Zach who nodded at me to get into the driver's seat as he headed to the hood. Gray stood by the driver's door next to me as I hopped into the seat. I could hear Zach tightening something as he ducked beneath the hood. I nudged Gray with my leg and gave him a smile. "You're doing great, you know that?"

"Thanks," he said, looking at Zach before looking back at me. "I just hope we can get out of here."

"Me too buddy." I sighed, mentally praying that all of our hard work would pay off.

"All right, turn it over!" Zach called out.

I looked at Gray, who crossed his fingers as I reached for the keys to turn the ignition. The sound of the engine rumbling smoothly was like music to my ears. "Yes! We did it!" I yelled, throwing my fists up in victory. "Gray, you take the passenger seat, I'll stay in the back."

"Woo!" Zach smiled, as he closed the hood and waited for Gray to get into his seat before settling down into the driver's seat.

"I thought you failed your driver's test?" Gray asked, looking at Zach.

"You failed your test?" I asked, looking at him too. "Please tell me you won't kill us before we get back to the park."

"Ha Ha, no I won't, I actually did really good on my test," Zach said, putting on his seatbelt and checking his rearview mirrors. "I only failed the driving part."

"Dear God help us all. If you crash us, you won't be able to attend that prom you're oh so excited to go to." I said, causing Gray to laugh.

Zach looked at me in the rearview mirror and smirked. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we'll make it there."

"Okay cute and all, but um can we get to the park, please?! Big dinosaur on the loose that wants to eat us!" Gray said, looking at Zach and me.

"You hear the boy, drive!" I said, shaking my head at Gray and plopping down into the middle seat of the back row as Zach put the car into drive and drove away from the shed. I could see him looking back at me in the rearview mirror the moment we left. I don't know why, but I was still stuck on his response to my prom comment. When he said he'd make sure we'd make it there...did he mean all of us to the park...or him and I to the prom. I shook my head and kept lookout as we drove. I need to stop daydreaming.