August 25, 2023

I sat down on the bench with Camden, after a hard, and long, day of school.

Camden and I had been hanging out, and because we were both socially awkward, it wasn't too hard.

I had begun to trust him more, and ever since the day I saw him as Calm Knight, his charged form, he had hung out with me.

Now I could check off two people that I had seen charged up, although, I didn't know who Fire Lord was.

I still awaited the time for my jewel to charge up. I didn't even know which piece of jewelry it was in. But, just in case, I wore every piece of jewelry that had a place in my heart.

Camden had been able to use his charged form on his own terms now, and neither of us had been called out to a mission, so I watched him practice.

He would scale the mountain up and down in search of the missing people. But we never had any luck.

And there had been more people going missing too. From everywhere you could imagine.

We never did tell Mr. Furish that we had even gone up to the mountain. And after Calm Knight was there, he was able to climb well and could see the way to get down.

We didn't tell anyone either, it's not like they could know that Camden was Calm Knight. And I almost felt bad that I couldn't share who I would be with Camden.

"Hey, Lauren?" Camden chirped sweetly.

"Yeah?" I asked, genuinely happy.

"I have to practice basketball ball today, and was wondering if you wanted to come to watch?" Camden mumbled, fiddling with his thumbs.

"Of course. Wait, are you trying out for the basketball team?" I confessed excitedly.

"Well, maybe. Depends on if I'm good enough." Camden mumbled shyly.

Oh yeah! He totally should!

"Of course you are!" I aided, punching his arm playfully, "Sorry, that was weird, I don't know why I did that."

Great job, Lauren, you're totally not weird.

He laughed and thanked me, "Well, I'm glad that you think so."

"Of course, where are we headed?" I asked happily.

Camden gave me a sweet smile and declared, "Alright, I'll lead you there."

________________________________

"Woah, you learned to play basketball here?"  I marveled in surprise.

This place is so cool.

"Yeah. Nothing better or more nostalgic." Camden whispered with a smile.

We had to walk through the woods to get here, and when we got there, I was surprised.

There was no one else except for us there, and it made sense why. The rundown area was completely surrounded by brush, so it was almost impossible to. The ground of the court was cement and stone, that was cracked and broken. The basketball hoop was non-existent, and there was only a tiny iron rim, and the backboard was a large wooden board.

It was magical.

"Wow, Camden. This place is so-"

"Run-down?"

"Cool!" I announced, finishing my sentence.

Camden chuckled, "I'm glad you think so."

"I never learned how to play basketball really, my family wasn't too into it," I explained.

Yep, so now he's going to watch you trip and fall.

"Oh, my family was, they loved basketball. I played on this court every day with my brother." Camden asserted with a sad smile.

"Wait, I thought everyone in the FOF, except for Cam and Isla, was new." I asked.

"Oh, I already lived here, just like you. I just went to private school every year before that." Camden explained.

"Why did you switch?" I asked.

"We didn't have enough money to continue going there." Camden clarified, "Not after my eldest brother died, and we didn't have enough money to support us."

Wow, that's a loss.

"Oh, no." I mumbled, sadly.

"Why did you move here?" Camden asked.

NOT THIS QUESTION AGAIN!

"Oh, my mom needed a new job." I confessed.

"Did she quit her other one?" Camden asked concerned.

I sighed, I didn't know what to tell him.

But instead, I lied. I didn't feel like having him be concerned over my feelings, even though he had told me pretty much everything about him, so I just said, "Yeah."

Seriously Lauren? After he breaks the rules to tell you your biggest secret, you tell him nothing?

"And your father?" Camden asked.

"Never met him." I lied.

"Oh, that's sad." Camden said.

Luckily, he didn't seem too concerned, and I asked, "Okay, ready to play some basketball?"

________________________________

Camden and I had played basketball together for hours, and it was now nighttime.

"Okay, I think we should probably get going," I confessed, taking the ball from his hands.

"Awwww. I think you're right." Camden mumbled sadly.

"We don't have school tomorrow, so that's good," I said.

"Captain and the others are probably wondering where we are." Camden let out, "We've been gone for a while."

Oh dang it, we're probably going to get into big trouble, aren't we?

"Yeah, we should probably find our way back. Did you bring your phone?" I asked.

"No," Camden confessed, "Did you bring yours?"

"No." I said in fear, "Do you know your way back?"

"No." Camden confessed embarassedly, "At least not in the dark."

No no no no no no no no no. Not this please, anything but this again.

"Oh boy." I asserted, "Well, we've found our way out of this before, we can do it again."

Just then, a shadowy figure appeared above us and descended from the tree.

She had a shadow over her face, purple irises, and black hair, that had white tips. She wore the FOF uniform.

"Hey!" I shouted to her, "Can you help us find our way back?"

Convenient, Lauren, you got lucky this time.

"Sure," she declared, "That's why I came here in the first place."

She walked over to us and announced, "I'm Cold Stream."

"Okay, nice to meet you." I said.

Now I had met 3 charged figures: Fire Lord, Calm Knight, and Cold Stream.

"Hop on, both of you." Cold Stream said.

I hopped on her back, and Camden mumbled, "Are you sure? You don't need to-um- I might be a bit too-"

"Yes, I'm sure. It'll be a fine stumbly boy." Cold Stream asserted.

"Uh- okay." Camden uttered quietly.

He then slowly, came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me and Cold Stream. Despite the fact that I was holding onto someone named Cold Stream, my face felt very warm for some reason.

Cold Stream jumped and skidded off of trees and buildings until we made it all the way back to the house.

"Alright." Cold Stream declared, "I have to go, but I'll see you guys soon I'm guessing."

She waved and sprinted away from the house.

Well, this is weird. Why is he still holding me?

"Oh, well. We're going to be in big trouble." I mumbled, my face still warm.

"Yeah," Camden whispered.

"You can let go of me now, we're not on Cold Stream anymore," I said awkwardly.

Why is my face so red?

Camden quickly backed away from me, and then awkwardly mumbled, "Uh- Sorry..."

I smiled at him and said, "Let's just get inside."