Gray and I started to walk a separate way from Zach, going to check out the building too. There was a set of stairs ahead of us that looked as if they could lead up to some rooms on the second level. Gray looked at me with a little bit of suspicion as we walked towards them, but I didn't blame him- they did look a bit sketchy...this entire place probably hasn't been touched since the original park closed down. I took the first few steps onto the old metal stairs as Gray stayed behind. There was a bit of creaking, but otherwise, they seemed pretty sturdy. I waved him up and he walked onto the steps slowly, coming up next to me...still looking nervous. "So, tell me about your parents," I said, looking at him. "what do you guys do together? What are your Christmas's like? Anything, just tell me."

I knew that it could be a sensitive subject for Gray, especially since he realized that they were going to get a divorce, but I didn't want him to be focused on the fact a dinosaur could come through this building and kill us at any moment. "Well we always go out sledding whenever it snows, usually it's Zach and I racing against my mom and dad, but as we got older it really turned into Zach and I racing against each other. We have this huge hill in our backyard that goes into a forest type area and it's so cool!" He was smiling for the first time since before this entire ordeal and I was happy that he was distracted. "When we were younger, my mom would let Zach and I decorate the cookies any way we wanted to and one time we made star wars cookies! We also used to have this ginger bread house competition, me and our mom versus Zach and our dad. I remember one time, Zach bit into all of our gingerbread pieces so our house looked like it had a bunch of holes in it."

"He did that?" I laughed, looking down at the first level to see Zach still wandering around and looking at everything.

"Yeah, our parents were mad, but I said it was okay and that it looked really cool." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"It sounds like you two are really close," I said, looking at him as we reached the top of the stairs.

"We were..." He said, biting the inside of his cheek. "but once he got into high school we just started to drift. Especially once he turned 16 last year. Part of me was really hoping that maybe this vacation with our Aunt would bring us a little closer like we used to be, but that's been proved otherwise."

"Why would you say that?"

"He's just been mean I guess, or a moody teenager. Ever since we've gotten onto this island, all he's done is stare at girls, pretend that he doesn't know me if they're looking back at him and ignore me."

I looked back down at Zach and frowned, I understand if being friends with an 11-year-old may seem like it could dampen your style, but the fact that it's his own sibling kind of upsets me. "I can't speak for Zach and why he acts like that towards you because I don't have any siblings so I don't understand what's going through his mind..." I nudged him and he looked up at me. "but I wish I had a cool sibling like you."

"Thanks, Hailey," he smiled looking back at Zach. "I think he's getting better. He hasn't been as mean to me since you left to go find your Uncle. So what are your parents like? What was your mom like?"

I could tell that he was cautious about asking me by the way he was looking at me. "My parents are awesome, I love them both...they're practically my best friends. My dad is my sports watching buddy and my mom...well she was really cool. She taught me how to draw, she was just a really outgoing person..." I looked down at him and smiled. "she especially thought dinosaurs were cool, my Uncle is her younger brother."

"She sounded really cool..."

I took a deep breath and smiled. "She really was." There was nothing on the second floor, well there was- but nothing that could help us. There were two doors, one wouldn't open and the other one just looked too sketchy to walk through. "how about we go back downstairs to see what your brother found?"

"Sounds good to me." He said, shrugging his shoulders and walking back to the stairs. "So where are you from? Do you live by the airport?"

"I actually live in Middleton, only about thirty minutes away from the airport," I said, as we started to head down the stairs.

"Me too!!" His eyes grew wide and he was filled with a newfound energy. "We live in the Highland Hills subdivision!"

I raised my eyebrows at him in shock, that subdivision was only a seven-minute drive down the road from me. "What? No way, I live in fox meadows. So you must go to what, Cherokee Heights Jr. High?"

"Yeah, sixth grade...exciting right?" He laughed. "What high school do you go to?"

"I go to Middleton East, home of the Griffins." I laughed, shaking my head as we continued down the stairs.

"Oooh, that's Zach's school's rival. He goes to Middleton West. I hear him and his friends talk about Middleton East all of the time. Does your school really feed you fake chicken nuggets that are really dead rats caught in the basement?"

I couldn't help but snort at his question. Oh my God, what in the hell did Zach tell this kid? "I'm sorry, but that's got to be the funniest thing I've ever heard. But no, they don't feed us dead rats disguised as chicken nuggets. We get the same food as Zach's school."

We reached the bottom of the steps and he turned to me, looking at Zach who was waiting for us by an open passageway. "Do you like Zach?" I snapped my head in Gray's direction to see him looking up at me with curious eyes. "I mean, I'm just wondering."

I just laughed a little, hoping I could play off how embarrassed I was that he asked and I ruffled his hair. "Come on, let's go catch up with your brother."

I walked ahead of him, trying my best to just try and put a little distance in between us. I was honestly so caught off guard that they live so close to me. Our city isn't really all too big. There's about six high schools, six middle schools, and almost twelve elementary schools. But regardless, I feel like my town is one where you've seen at least every person once or you have friends who know a friend who knows them. I'm surprised I've never seen Zach at any of our rival sporting games against his school. They're always some of the biggest, especially football and basketball. Then again, I never would have known who he was if I saw him. I walked up to Zach, practically sneaking up behind him since he was peeking his head into the passageway, not wanting to venture in without Gray and I. "So, how is it over there at Middleton West? Is it true that you guys have detention in a dungeon?" I asked, resting my elbow on his shoulder.

He jumped slightly, but then looked at me with his eyebrows knitted in confusion. "How do you know-"

"Gray told me," I took a sigh and looked at him. "turns out we don't live too far from one another. I go to Middleton East."

He laughed and looked at me before looking away, rolling his eyes jokingly. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. "Like what?"

"Why you're so stubborn. Have you seen the kids that you go to school with? I swear all of them drive mommy and daddy's cars."

"Oh, I'm the stubborn one huh?"

He just laughed and shook his head. "I'm kidding, you're just really strong-willed. So it makes sense. I feel like you have to be to go to school with kids like that."

I took my arm off of his shoulder and looked at him. "Yeah, I get that from my mom. And the kids may be pretty pretentious, but that doesn't erase the fact that we've beaten your football team every year in regionals."

He threw his head back and laughed. "Okay, we're talking sports now," he turned to me and raised his eyebrows. "funny how you guys haven't won a district title in football, men's soccer or men's basketball in what? Five years?"

"We have in women's soccer, lacrosse and women's basketball though. Besides, we've won states in five of our sports, how many have you won?" He held back a smile as he ran his tongue across his teeth and smiled. "Oh wait, that's right...you've only won two...I'm sorry, I forgot."

He just laughed and shook his head. "Okay, so you're good at sports...well, some sports. But tell me, is Middleton East's pretentious student population already obsessing over prom season?"

"Hey now, just because I used the word pretentious to describe my fellow classmates, doesn't mean you can. FInd yourself another word."

"Okay um, pompous, extravagant, ornate, grandiloquent, sophomoric, ostentatious, show-"

I covered his mouth with my hand and groaned. "I get your point, okay. Just, no more synonyms," I dropped my hand from his mouth as he nodded. "How do you know so many words?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I got a 1236 on my PSAT. I'm actually pretty smart you know."

"Besides that, yes. Everyone in my schools is obsessing over it, which I don't understand why because it's not until May."

"Yeah, it's becoming a big deal at our school too. My ex-girlfriend started talking about what color her dress would me and what corsage I needed to get her in June. However, I was already thinking about breaking up with her around the middle of may, about a week after school got out but she was already planning prom so I felt bad for wanting to break up with her. But eventually, I ended up breaking up with her at the end of the summer. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy," he bit the inside of his cheek and looked at me. "any boyfriends over there at Middleton East?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, no boyfriends...boyfriend. I've actually never had a serious boyfriend before. I mean, I've been on dates before, but either my dad manages to scare them away or they were really just after one thing. It's mainly been the second one...but my dad manages to scare off any boy who looks at me."

"Ah, so he's protective of you. That's good, I think it's pretty cool dads are protective of their daughters. What does he do that scares them off."

"He's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps...so basically anything and everything." I laughed, crossing my arms over my chest.

His eyes grew wide as he looked at me. "Oh shit. Does that mean you're upset about not having a prom date?"

I just shrugged my shoulders and sighed. "I'm not too upset about it, I'm kind of indifferent. I don't even know if I want to go to prom anyway."

"Why? Normally girls are really excited about this kind of thing. You know, the dresses, the party aspect, the post-prom parties, the hair and make-up...all those details."

I looked away from him as his question settled in my mind. I mean he wasn't wrong, most girls are actually really excited about prom season. I'm not saying that I'm not, not excited about it. The idea of prom just doesn't seem as appealing as it used to anymore is all. But that's not the real reason, and I knew Zach would be able to tell that. The idea of telling him about my mom's death was nerve-wracking for some reason. I had been able to tell Gray with no issue, but I think it's because he's so young and kids that age are more open with what they think...they have no filter. Older kids though, like Zach and I, we're able to hold what we really feel. We can mentally judge someone but seem empathetic to their face. That's what was making me nervous about Zach. I didn't want him to pity me for my loss. I wanted him to treat me like he has been like Gray had been- like I wasn't a sad puppy. The thought of telling him about her death though and possibly being pitied by him...it made me feel emotional. I could feel the lump in my throat grow with every anticipating moment that I wasn't speaking. So I took a deep breath and exhaled, looking at him. "My mom...really wanted me to go, we talked about it for a while actually."

"Is she one of those moms who gets really into prom season? Kind of like a momzilla?" He laughed.

I faintly smiled and shook my head. "No, she was really relaxed. She just wanted me to have a good high school experience...she was amazing."

I could see the realization of my tense usage settling on his face. His brain was connecting that I had said that she was really relaxed and she was amazing, instead of she is. He looked at me as if he was about to say something and my stomach turned at the thought of what he could possibly say. "Are we going down this passage or not?" Zach and I turned to see Gray standing next to us, with his eyebrows raised. "I mean, I roamed around this place and you two didn't even notice...so I thought I'd take the initiative."

Zach and I looked at one another and he cleared his throat. "Um, yeah let's just...go down this hall. It looks like it could lead to something."

I followed directly behind Zach as we entered the passage, which turned out to be just this sort of dim lit hallway with a bunch of doors every few feet. None of which seemed to budge open, no matter how hard Gray or I tried to open them. It was creepy, even if we had a fire to light the way. I think it was just the idea of being in an old abandoned building that nature was slowly overtaking that made it seem slightly uncomfortable. But I don't care if this place had no dinosaurs in it, I was not straying far behind Zach at all. A couple of times as we walked, Zach and I's hands would bump or brush against one another. Each time they did, I could feel a spark...but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. I just pretended that I didn't feel anything. We got to the end of the short hallway and Zach rounded towards the last door...which well- didn't really have a door anymore. He slowly walked in and the windows on the wall allowed some natural light in...lighting up the room a lot more than our flame could provide. The moment Gray and I followed in behind him, my eyes locked on the two jeeps. This had to have been a garage or something. There were tools everywhere. Gray wandered off towards the work shelves, picking up some helmet thing and Zach looked around as if he was trying to see if there was any danger around us. Me, however, well I was ogling the jeeps. They were beaten up old 1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara's and man was I in love. Jeeps are my favorite brand, but a jeep wrangler was my absolute dream car. "Amazing, simply amazing," I said, still in awe of how good of a condition it was in...well kind of. But for being untouched for 23 years, it was pretty good looking.

"Gray and I worked on our Grandpa's old Malibu last summer, we fixed it up," Zach said, coming up next to me and looking at the jeep.

"1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, sand beige," Gray said, joining us.

Zach looked down at him and then back at the car. "You remember when we fixed up Grandpa's old Malibu right?"

"Yeah." Gray nodded.

"Well, I definitely think we can get this thing to work and get us back to the park."

"Great, I'll help you guys," I said, clearing off some of the vines from the hood. Zach just kind of looked at me as if he was confused by my offer to help. He probably thinks I have no idea what to do. I just laughed and rolled my eyes. "My dad and Uncle taught me. They'd work on their cars all the time whenever we were at my grandparent's house and I would sit and watch them for hours, and eventually, I picked up a few things and then they taught me." I cleared another branch off of the jeep and turned back to the two boys. "We just fixed up my Grandpa's 1969 Chevrolet Camaro during summer."

"Great!" Gray said, practically jumping out of his shoes with excitement. He looked at the both of us and then seemed to calm down. "I mean, she can take my place."

"Gray are you sure? I mean you loved working on-"

"Absolutely positive!" Gray smiled, nodding his head. "I'll just...look around for some survivor tools. Though these are seriously outdated."

"Okay," Zach said, turning to me. "So I guess we should just put our stuff down and get started?"

"Sounds like a plan." I smiled, walking over to a nearby workbench and pushing away some of the items on it, making a clear space for my backpack as Zach put out the already dimmed flame.

"And we're sure that it won't work?" Zach asked, lifting up the hood of the jeep.

"Only one way to find out," I said, walking over to the driver's side of the jeep, opening the door and turning the key that was still in the ignition...nothing but silence. "Absolutely positive."

"Okay then, guess we're in for some work now." Zach sighed, resting each hand on the side of the jeep hood and staring at it.

I got out of the car, leaving the door open and joining him by the hood. I went to reach in to check the fuel filter when I noticed that my flannel sleeves were about to get in the way. They must have fallen down during my sprint away from my motorcycle crash. I quickly rolled them up my sleeves, only to notice that the gold bracelet that had decorated my wrist for five weeks...was gone. I stood up straight and walked towards my backpack as my slightly panic began to set in. I opened my backpack, first the main pocket and then the smaller pocket in the front. I stuck my hands into them and frantically began to feel around for the small metal bracelet...but I came up with nothing. I pushed the backpack further back onto the workbench and headed towards the walkway we came in, looking at the ground as best as I could. "Hailey, what's wrong?" Gray asked softly, looking at me.

"I lost my mom's bracelet," I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. "I need to find it Gray, I can't lose it- I need it."

"Okay, what's it look like? I'll look over here for you."

"It's um, it's a gold cuff bracelet. It says 'Remember I love you, Mom.' on it. It was my mom's and she gave it to me right before she died," I looked at our feet and looked up at the door. It must have fallen off somewhere in this building, I swear I felt it on my wrist before coming into here. "It has to be outside.." I turned to Gray and nodded at him, "I need to go outside."

He looked at me with a panicked look on his face. "But what about the-" Suddenly his eyes softened and he frowned a bit, but ultimately nodded his head. "Okay, just be safe."

I gave him a small smile and headed towards the door, turning back to see Zach still staring under the jeep's hood. I left the room and started to walk down the hallway, practically gluing my eyes to the ground so I wouldn't miss the bracelet in case it was in this hallway. I cleared the hallway with no sign of the bracelet and I walked back out into the open space. I looked around and took a deep breath, first I need to check near the tree I hid behind. That's got to be where it fell off. I walked towards it, but then I felt someone grab my elbow and pull me back. I turned around to see it was Zach, and he looked pretty pissed. "Are you fucking insane? There's a dinosaur out there!"

"I lost something and its either in here or it's outside of this building. Regardless of where it is, I'm going to find it." I said, trying to sound as put together as I could.

"What could you have lost that is worth risking your life for?" He scoffed.

"A bracelet."

Zach just stared at me in disbelief. "So you're just going to go outside of this building, which is most likely the only thing keeping us safe right now...to find a bracelet. You're going to risk dying so you could find a stupid bracelet?"

I could feel my blood boiling and the tears build in my eyes as I got more emotional. I took a deep breath and snatched my elbow out of his grasp. "I don't care, it's worth the risk. You just don't understand how important this bracelet is to me. And maybe it's because you treat your family like such shit, I don't know. But I love my family. I love my dad, I love my Uncle and I love my mom," I turned my back towards him and then looked back at him, "so yes, I'm willing to risk my life to find a stupid bracelet."

He stood there in silence, his jaw clenching as he stared at me. I expected him to say something. I wanted him to say something along the lines of 'don't go', 'I'll come with you', or even 'stay safe,' but he didn't. He wasn't going to say a single thing. I turned my back to him again and started to walk towards the entrance. "Fine, go!" He said, actually raising his voice. "Go ahead and get yourself killed!"

I stood still, keeping my back to him as I closed my eyes and my bottom lip began to tremble as my emotions took over. God, why was he such an ass? I couldn't let him see me like this. I couldn't let anyone see me like this. I sniffled quietly and raised my head up high, walking towards the entrance. I waited for him to come after me, to take back his words and to show that maybe he cared for me in the slightest bit. But I guess that was too much to expect because there were no footsteps coming after me and when I looked behind me, I saw that he was gone. I stood in front of the entrance and took a deep breath, here goes nothing.