Kay came towards them, holding a gun in one hand and a girl by the elbow with the other. The girl appeared reluctant to follow, so Kay was more likely dragging her along. A rucksack had also appeared on Kay's back and Sam deduced it belonged to the girl.

"Sam, I found her sneaking around. She says she's backup, but I find her a bit reluctant to join us." Kay gave the girl a little shake to steady her on her feet.

She stared at Sam with wide eyes, her mouth forming a perfect, comical O. From her reaction, Sam guessed she knew Tom. He groaned, thinking he'd have to make a diagram to see how everyone connected on his team.

The girl shook her blonde and pink highlights, trying to snap out of the shock. "Jimmy, Sam looks just like Tom."

Jimmy took half a step back. "Do I know you?"

The girl pushed her chest forward and raised her sharp nose in the air. "You should."

Jimmy shrugged, obviously having no idea who she was. Sam's stomach rumbled again and he started getting annoyed. He wished some normal people would join the team. He was fed up with the intricate wires of his brothers' lives. Why couldn't they get a gun-wielding, Spanish knowing history expert?

"Sam, you were supposed to come back to training. You left me with Billy and that didn't last long." Kyle stopped in his tracks once he caught sight of the new girl.

Oh, so that's where Billy was.

The girl's hazel eyes widened as she looked at Kyle and a shrewd smile played on her lips.

"Who's this? And why is she looking at me as if she wants to eat me?" Kyle asked.

"She claims she's backup." Kay's voice was filled with dislike. She let go of the girl's elbow, moved over to Kyle and wrapped her arm around his waist, as tough marking her territory.

"Really? Let's see the supplies, then!" Kyle said, excitedly.

Jimmy snapped out of his confused state as well and the two of them took the rucksack from Kay and rummaged through it.

"What are you two doing, going through her stuff?" Kay said outraged, but both of them stuck their tongues out at her and continued what they were doing.

Sam stared at the new girl, expecting her to introduce herself, but she was busy contemplating Jimmy as though he'd mortally offended her.

"Sam, are we going to move camp tomorrow, because if we're not, I just thought of a—" The rest of Angie's sentence failed to produce itself once she caught sight of the newcomer. Her excited expression also gave way to one of supreme dislike. "This is getting better and better."

"What do you know?" The girl laughed a hiccupping sort of laugh that made Sam want to run away. "This is turning out a nice school reunion."

"Just freakin' great!" Angie mumbled.

Sam realized that he had kept in his last breath, and exhaled. He was fed up with this. He didn't even have time to get to know everyone, to realize what they could do and how to use them in his plans when more turned up. He was aware that more backup was good, seeing as Snitch Gravel's men outnumbered them, but he was tired of the drama.

"She doesn't have any rope!" Jimmy said as if he had found a dead body in her rucksack.

"She doesn't have a name," Sam mumbled.

"Gina?"

Tom came towards them, a look of disbelief on his face. The girl wheeled on the spot and let out a shriek so high that Sam thought it might have roused all the bats on a two mile radius. She lunged at Tom, almost bringing him down.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to pry the girl off him, but she was holding on tightly.

"I had no idea you were here. Oh, I've missed you! Why did you run off without calling first? I'm backup, here to help. I have valuable information. But who cares about all that when we're together again?"

Tom couldn't get a word in, though he tried. He stopped trying to push her away and looked at Sam, shrugging apologetically.

Angie twitched next to Sam as if she could hardly stop herself from slapping the new girl. He could relate to her mood perfectly. "Will someone tell me who the heck this girl is?"

"I'm sorry, with all the excitement, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Gina. Tom's girlfriend." She squeezed Tom so hard, he gagged and tried to push her away.

"Tom's girlfriend?" Kyle redirected his attention from Gina's luggage to the actual person. She smiled back at him as though she was sorry he missed the train. Kyle looked to Jimmy, but he only shrugged as if he had no idea what Gina was talking about.

Sam's mind decided it was the perfect time to go on vacation. He could almost see a blue error screen in front of his eyes. God, more drama.

Angie clenched her fists and the scowl on her face receded, leaving only a small crease between her eyes. Her lower lip quivered and Sam was shocked to see her eyes glazed with tears she was trying desperately to hold back. She stared at Tom for a few more seconds then wheeled around, moving out of sight.

Sam wondered what had gotten Angie upset enough to lose control like that. A sudden wave of fear and regret came and went with the speed of light, leaving him with a monster headache. He shook his head, pushing it all away and concentrated on Gina. Out of all her rambling, only one thing had caught his attention.

"You said you have valuable information."

Gina let go of Tom and straightened up as if ready for a presentation. "Yes, I've been sent here urgently. Snitch Gravel sent a traitor into your midst. I've come to warn you. And, of course, join the team." She once again turned to Tom with puppy-dog eyes, hinting that the briefing was over.

Sam stared into empty space, trying to process what she had said. He felt like screaming. Add this to the huge pile of reasons to worry. Thunder rolled from the skies and large drops of water fell on the canopy of leafs above.

"Help her settle in. We'll talk about all of this later," Sam said numbly and walked towards his tent.

*

Tom's insides squirmed like snakes as he walked towards what he was sure was his doom. The annoying drizzle called tropical rain pelted on him making it very hard to see, but, for the first time, it didn't bother him.

He stopped in front of Angie's tent, clenching his fists, trying to get his feet to move in the other direction. He still had time to run, pretend he hadn't seen her tears, convince himself they meant nothing.

Maybe Kay's in there, too. Then he could pretend he was there to see her. Why would he want to see Kay? Before he could make up his mind about the lie, Angie walked out and bumped straight into him.

She stepped back, her mouth open to apologize, but once she realized who she had bumped into, she scowled, a muscle twitching in her jaw. Her hatred was boring into him, and for the first time, it hurt.

She whipped around and reentered her tent. Not sure why, Tom followed.

"What do you want?" Her words were coming out like darts.

"I'm looking for Kay."

Angie waved her arms around the tent. "She's obviously not here."

Tom stood in the doorway, unsure what else to do or say. This is as far as he'd thought things through.

Angie let out a humorless laugh. "You're not looking for Kay. Let me guess. You came here to laugh in my face. But you know what? You're right. I was stupid for getting into this whole thing with you. I should have known better—"

"Get into what with me?" Tom's heart jumped before returning to a much faster beat. She was furious, but she was also being honest.

"That whole stupid bet thing! You've forgotten all about it now that your girlfriend is here, haven't you? It was just fun and games to you—"

"I haven't forgotten about the bet and..." He frowned as his mind turned over her words. "Was it supposed to be more than fun and games? Was I actually winning?"

He realized he had made a mistake as soon as the last words were out. Angie swelled with indignation, her hands on her hips. He took one step back. She looked ready to literally explode.

"You have some nerve! Why am I even talking to you? Get out of my tent and go fondle your girlfriend!" Tears were once again glistening in her eyes.

"Gina's not my girlfriend."

Angie deflated as confusion replaced anger. "She just..."

Tom shook his head. "She's my ex." He wanted to add that they'd broken up a million years ago, but he stopped himself. He had no idea why he was trying to get on Angie's good side. He didn't care about the bet anymore. The tears in her eyes made everything else unimportant.

Angie's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure she knows she's your ex?"

"Yes, I'm sure she knows. I broke up with her even before I met you. She's just fooling around as if we're still an item. Not that we were a very strong item even when we were together. If we would have been, we wouldn't still be friends. Just like we're not friends any—" Tom felt like kicking himself. What did he have to say that last phrase for?

"Are you actually saying that we were a strong item before we broke up?" Angie asked, raising one eyebrow.

"We didn't get to. You showed your ultra-bitch colors pretty fast."

Angie's eyes widened, but this time, no tears came. Instead, she turned with his back to him, her whole body shaking. Tom reached his hand out, wanting to stop her sobbing. His mouth was sometimes way out of control. He'd hurt her out of sheer reflex, just because he didn't want to be the weak one. Now he mulled over what to say to her to make thing right again.

"Look Angie, I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I didn't want to hurt you."

As soon as he touched her shoulder, she jumped back as if he had poured scalding water on her. There was no trace of hurt or sadness on her face. Fury burned on every feature.

"You didn't mean to hurt me? That's all you've been doing. You think I'm that stupid? That I can't tell what you're playing at?"

This was going to hell way too fast. "Angie, look, let's just talk—"

"Don't push me, Tom!" she warned, pointing a finger at him. "I know where I stand with you. Forget the bet, forget you ever knew me and stay out of my way. I'll be staying out of yours. I don't ever want to see you again."

"That's going to be a bit hard, seeing as we're stuck together—"

"Stuck together? Stuck together?" Her voice got higher with every word. "You wish we were stuck together. There's no we, there's no together, there's--" She turned away fuming. "Get the hell out of my tent!"

Tom stared at her. What the hell was wrong with him? He hated her ass, wanted her out of his life forever, the conniving... He couldn't do it, couldn't hate her, couldn't insult her and couldn't lie anymore. Because all the time he'd spent with her trying to win that bet had him wondering if he hadn't made a mistake. She was the Angie he thought he knew, the one he'd been so close to falling in love with. The Angie who was now throwing him out of her tent, out of her life.

An avalanche of pain rolled over him. "Fine," he spat out. "I hope this makes you happy." It was all he could come up with. Pathetic.

He wheeled around and marched out, stinging from the rejection that should've made him happy.

🔷🔷🔷

So...who's winning? Tom or Angie? And what's the deal with Gina? Is there really a traitor? Who could it be?

Stay tuned and find out. Drama time!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!