Changed

Chapter Eleven

After about thirty more minutes of Jasper's steadily growing in volume songs Jaxon finally snapped, "Shush Jasper, you're giving me a headache." Jasper stuck out his bottom lip in false hurt before winking at Veda playfully and flopping onto his back with a satisfied sigh.

Veda's legs had begun to cramp from her prolonged sitting position and she was eventually forced to push herself to her feet and walk back into the woods so as not to be spotted by those in town. She felt a bit dizzy and her head throbbed slightly but she managed to make it behind a tree which is where Jax found her when he decided to join her.

"Jasper can be a bit annoying at times, I doubt we'd keep him around if he didn't know practically everyone in the country." Veda could tell he was joking despite her limited experience with people (especially boys), and offered a smile that she hoped showed she was interested despite the throbbing in her head.

Jaxon must have seen the pain in her eyes and leaned closer to inspect her bump. "I wish we had some ice or pain killer you could take for that. It shouldn't leave a mark but I'm sure it hurts." Veda nodded in agreement and he leaned away with a small smile as he ran a dirt-stained hand through his equally dirty hair.

Jax looked like he was about to say something else when he stopped, staring at something behind Veda. She turned around to look and saw Walter slipping through the trees. He was noticeably missing his backpack and clutching what looked to be a pamphlet as he ducked down beside Ryker and Jasper.

"How'd it go?" Jasper asked curiously as Veda and Jax walked back over to join them. Veda crouched back down despite her aching legs beside Ryker and looked to Walter expectantly.

Walter fidgeted a moment with all eyes on him before passing Jax the crumpled pamphlet. Jax quickly opened it and smoothed out on the ground to reveal a map of the town with one building marked and the route from where they were to the building drawn out in red pen. "T-The girl, Raya, said this might be easier than just trying to tell you. She's waiting there now. She pretended to be really tired from our journey here so it wouldn't look weird when I left alone." Walter explained and Jax nodded his approval as he stared at the map.

Veda stared too before asking curiously, "Wouldn't it be quicker to go straight through town? This line makes us stay in the woods for another mile." Veda traced her finger along the line for a moment and Jasper jumped to explain. "Well the reason we're going at night is so as not to be seen, so it only makes sense that we go along the edges of the town for as long as possible to we lower our risk of being caught and questioned before we actually tried to enter the town."

The other men nodded and Veda felt a sinking feeling at the knowledge that they'd done this before. "We're in the second floor, third window from the left at the back of the building. It's a rickety hotel but the best we could find with a fire escape you can climb up when you get there. We'll drop the ladder as it gets dark so you'll be able to come up." Walter told them quickly before standing and walking back into the town's street.

"Well, I'm glad we didn't have any questions." Jasper muttered as he walked away and Ryker let out a huff of breath that may have been his version of a laugh. Jaxon continued to stare at the map with his thumb near the edge of his mouth as he bit the edge of it in concentration.

"How long do we have to wait?" Veda asked softly and Ryker lifted his wrist to eye level to reveal an old, plastic watch. "It's seven thirty-eight. That gives us about three or four hours to go before everyone should be pretty much asleep, or at home at least." He murmured and the others nodded absentmindedly as Jasper leaned back to lay on his back while Jax flipped the pamphlet over onto his back and pulled a pen from his pocket.

Jax pulled the pamphlet onto his lap and began to write while Veda pushed herself over to leave against the stump Ryker was leaning against. Veda looked over to see Ryker fiddling with his hands in a motion that made him look like he was trying to play an air guitar.

"Do you play?" Veda asked softly as she nodded at his hands and he looked over at her before dropping his hands and nodding with a small sigh. "I had to leave it back at home, haven't played it in a few years now." His voice was wistful and Veda felt the familiar pang as she dreamed of the next time she'd get to play her piano, maybe never again. Ryker must have noticed the look on her face and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you play?" Veda shook her head and motioned her hands in the way you would play a piano. "I play the piano, I could never make my hands get in the right positions for a guitar." She explained with a small smile at the memories of her mom teaching her the piano. Of course those memories were quickly soiled by her betrayal, bringing a sick feeling to her stomach.

"What type of music do you play?" He asked, breaking her from her thoughts and she couldn't help but grin. "Raya hates it but I only play classical." She told him as she stared out in front of her where Jax was chewing on his lip in concentration as he scribbled on the pamphlet furiously.

"Classical is nice. I mess with a bit of all of it. I just like the sound a guitar makes, the words don't matter to me, just the music." Veda agreed with that and nodded as the both fell silent once more and watched Jasper as he goofily attempted to catch a fly that buzzed around his head.

Veda felt a sense of pride as she sat among them, none of them suspicious of her as they waited to join Walter and Raya. Veda never imagined she would be in this situation but she was, and despite the fear she had felt only a few hours before she had started to feel at ease. Raya had given her no reason for alarm and she trusted her friend and whatever she was planning.

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Them boys are easy to love that's for sure. Oh I can't stress how much I love this book. I don't care if no one else likes it as long as I love it and I do. Though I'd be happy to see what you guys think!!!! I love the comments they make me happy!!

I feel like I'm always in the writing mood late at night, not that it's super late right now only 9:16 pm but that's pretty late in my book :). Anyways I hope y'all liked it so please vote, comment, follow, message, or whatever you feel like doing.