Oh shoot, I'm seriously late this time! haha. I'm really bad at keeping track of time. I'm shocked that you guys have gotten this book in the top thirty! Its currently sitting at number 34 but has gotten to 29 if I remember correctly. I never imagined having this many readers, I'm really happy you guys are enjoying the book so far!

Keegan's POV

As I headed over to the locker room I ran into non other than the man himself.

"Hey Keeg." He greeted, coming over to me.

"H-hi. That was a great match." I nervously complimented.

"Thank you, it was a lot of fun." He smiled and looked to the helmet in his hand, then back at me.

"Hey, I'm heading home, need a ride?" He asked.

"I have a few things to take care of. Alayne said she'd take me home." I informed. I definitely wanted to take him up on his offer, but if Alayne is right this'll be worth it in the long run.

"Ah... okay." His smile faltered. "Well see you later, I guess." He said, raising his helmet with a wave. I smiled back and returned the wave.

"Okay lets get this over with." I whispered to myself as I turned around.

I got to the locker room and found Theo's locker. Alayne gave me the combination. I'm still trying to figure out why she even has it, I guess all of his close friends know his combinations though.

I hesitantly rattled the lock after scanning the room for any other soul. I unlocked it then popped it open and saw his uniform laying there amongst many other things.

I picked up the sweaty clothing and hauled it to the laundry room. I sat on a bench waiting for the wash to finish.

After sometime the washing and drying had finally concluded. I was definitely going to be late for work at this point. I carried his uniform back to the boys locker room and folded it before placing it in his locker. I found Alayne standing near the exit of the school on her phone.

"All finished?" She asked, hearing my approaching footsteps.

"Yeah." I confirmed. "Hopefully he likes it."

"I'm sure he will. That guy is a sucker for little things." She smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright, lets get you to work." She said, now patting my back. I just groaned and tumbled out the door like a zombie.

We got in her car and buckled up. Alayne looked from side to side, searching for something.

"Everything okay?" I asked, watching her scramble around the car.

"Uh... I... I think I... left my bag in the school." She grunted between breaths.

"Mind getting it for me? I have to tell my mom I'll be home late. Its a brown bag with a white and pink paw print on it and should be in the coach's office." She informed.

"Sure, I'll be back in a jiff." I accepted. I unbuckled myself and reentered the school. Walking through the dim halls made it feel like an abandon school, the silence gave it an unusual eerie feel. Of course it isn't actually abandon though, during the day its filled with some of the most energetic human beings I've ever come across.

I reached the coach's office and begged for the door not to be locked, and sure enough it wasn't. I looked both ways before entering the room, making sure no one saw me entering. I spotted a small brown bag sitting off to the side on one of the old wooden benches in the corner of the room. I lifted it, revealing the paw print Alayne described. This is it. On my way out the school a question popped into my head, why was Alayne in the coach's office? I guess I'll have to ask her myself when I get back.

I left the school and jogged back to the car, noticing Alayne still on the phone.

"Sorry mom, I have to go but I really can't come home any sooner." She said, noticeably frustrated.

"Everything alright?" I asked as I was getting back in the car.

She sighed. "Yeah, my mom is trying to get me to come home cause she needs the car for shopping." She explained. I nodded in understanding while handing over her bag.

"Thank you so much." She exhaled, relieved. I figured this would be the perfect time to ask her why her bag was in the coach's office.

"What was your bag doing in the coaches office anyway?" I questioned. She sighed again, this time with a small smile appearing on her face.

"Don't tell anyone... but he wants me to become a cheerleader for the team." She said, eying her bag.

"That's cool." I chimed in excitement. "Did you accept?"

"No... I haven't decided yet, that's one of the reasons I don't want anyone to know... its kind of embarrassing." She mumbled, scratching her cheek.

"Anyway, let's get moving so you wont be fired from your new job." She said, starting the car.

I arrived at work after directing Alayne, and I was twenty minutes late... Sandra was surprisingly tolerant though, she let me off the hook easily.

I took care of the several customers that came in and soon enough it was time to head home. Today was a lot more busy than yesterday so my body got pretty sore from all of the movement. Who knew being a cashier could give you muscles?

"Alright, I'm heading home." I informed, setting my apron on the front counter.

"Okay, stay safe, ya hear?" Sandra yelled from the back.

"I will. Have a good night!" I said, heading for the door.

"You too!" She replied.

Tonight would be my first night walking home from work. My father would probably get suspicious if he saw me enter through the front door this late every night, so I still have to be extra careful not to be seen.

I crept up the stairs to the front door and slowly turned the handle of door. My heart sank when I saw my father so drunk he looked like one of the undead. When he heard me coming in he just watched me. I walked to the stairs leading up to my room, hoping on my life he wouldn't attack me... but I was wrong. Just before my foot reached the first step he charged at me. He was so drunk he couldn't even keep his balance, and ended up crashing into the wall. I took this moment to run to my room. He probably won't even remember this when he wakes up tomorrow.

The next morning I grabbed a few of my books, my phone and my only pair of earphones, which had a short in the left ear. Its a pain trying to get it working... but its better than nothing. I made it to the park without being spotted by my father. It was pretty empty this time of day, so that was a plus. I pulled out my books and began reading one. I'd started it earlier but never got the time to finish the last two chapters. I've actually been too busy to read, and that made me happy, as it was a nice change from my usual life.

Hours went by as I continued reading. I lost track of the time. I looked up from my book and saw that the park was quite populated. There were several other people occupying the park, ranging from teens, to old couples . Today is saturday so everyone inducing myself had the day off from school, I didn't have work today either, hence the reason I'm out in the park reading during the middle of the day.

"Hey, you!" I heard a female voice calling. I didn't pay any mind to it until I heard it again.

"Hey, you!" She called even louder. I looked up from my book and scanned area for the source of the voice. I saw two girls and a boy sitting under a tree, one of the girls, a red head was waving my way. I scanned the area once more, this time looking to see if there was anyone else around me. I was the only one. I pointed to myself and the girl nodded. I shut my book and walked over to their location.

"Sorry for calling you out of nowhere, but I wanted to know what book you were reading?" She asked, looking back to where I left my belongings.

"You see, me and my friends are sort of in a book club and we're always looking for some good reading material." She explained. I looked over to her friends, one was a skinny blond boy probably the same age as myself and the other was a girl with black hair and blue highlights, she wasn't goth or emo but her style resembled it slightly. I gave her the title of the book, but I figured I'd just let her read through some of it since I was already here. I had nothing better to do with my time, plus I had a couple other books to read meanwhile.

After handing the book to the red head she got lost in the text. It seemed she really took a liking to it. Her friends would occasionally try to peak but the way the girl was holding it would make even the strongest soul motion sick.

"Name's Terra by the way." She said as I took a seat at their tree.

"This is Chloe, and Erik with a K." She introduced.

"Yeah, my parents have a thing for 'unique' naming. They were going to name my brother Austyn with a Y." He rolled his eyes, making me giggle. Erik seems pretty normal, Austyn is definitely a little strange though.

"What's yours?" Terra asked, finally turning her attention away from the book.

"Oh... right, Keegan. Nice to meet you all." I replied.

"Likewise." Chloe chimed in.

"Hey man, why haven't I seen you at school before?" Erik asked, leaning forward from the tree.

"Maybe he doesn't go to our school?" Terra replied, raising her brows as if it were a stupid question.

"Yeah, I think we're from different schools." I confirmed, realizing I haven't seen any of them around school ground.

We continued chatting and reading books for hours, the sun had even began to go down.

"So, what brings you guys all the way out here." I asked while reading one of my books.

"Parent troubles." Chloe responded.

"Yeah, my parents are really annoying, my mom more specifically, I just had to get out of the house." Terra sighed.

"I'm just hanging around these girls cause I haven't got anything better to do." Erik giggled.

"So what, are you saying we're you're last resort? are you calling us boring?" Terra dropped her book, well technically my book, and got up in Erik's face.

"No no, that's not what I meant." He continued giggling.

"Good, cause if that's what you were insinuating-" She began tickling him, setting him off in a fit of laughter. "I would've... tickled... you SENSELESS." She said, with pauses between each word.

"You're already tickling me!" He yelled through his laughter. This reminded me of the time Theo tackled and tickled me back at the cabin. I miss those days, waking up beside him, goofing around like kids, and his cooking. 

Chloe and I just watched them and their antics with smiles on our faces. Chloe shook her head and went back to reading.

"What about you, why are you here?" Terra asked me as she finished tickling Erik. He was panting heavily draped over the side of the tree. I didn't respond for awhile trying to think of an answer. I'm here for pretty much the same reason as them. But while being the same I'm sure I'm in a very different situation.

"I asked you why you're here." Terra repeated, lowering my book with her hands. I tried to avoid her gaze of fire but failed miserably.

"Its... the same as you two." I said, looking over to Chloe.

"I guess we're all trying to escape the beings that created us." Terra sighed. "Except for golden top over there, he has it easy." She rolled her eyes.

"Hey, for your information I do not have it easy! My parents can be a pain too!" He pouted with his response.

"Yeah yeah." Terra rolled her eyes again.

"We should probably be heading back soon." She said looking around the sky, realizing the time.

"I'm hungry. I'm not heading home until we eat." Chloe complained dryly. Terra released a long sigh while searching the area for a place to eat.

"Well, I don't see any places in sight, so we can just eat when we get home." Terra said.

"Nope." Chloe responded. Her behavior was like that of an eight year old. Terra sighed louder this time, dropping her hands to her sides in defeat. I found it all very entertaining.

"I know a place, it pretty close, and the food is good." I chimed in.

"Well... I guess we have no choice." Terra said before gathering her things from the ground.

"Exactly." Chloe said while smiling, and I noticed it isn't common for her.

We all collected our things and headed off to the diner since It was within walking distance. They bickered between each other while following behind me. Their conversations were very comical and humorous.