𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒; 𝘑𝘠𝘈𝘛𝘛

ch. 25

recap: "what's this?" she lifted up his arm and pulled down the sleeve to reveal cuts and scars.

his eyes widened as he quickly pulled his arm away. "it's nothing."

"what the fuck, jae? those are recent. i thought we agreed!" sophia felt her thoat tighten and dry.

jaeden rolled his eyes. "yeah, well, not all promises are kept unbroken."

"this is fucking unhealthy. i told you." her eyes began to water. "why? is it because of your dad and the fight with wyatt?"

"i don't want to talk about it."

"maybe that's what you need to do!" sophia stood up. "god, i don't want to act like your fucking mother 24/7! seriously, jaeden, this is getting out of control."

"then don't act like my fucking mother! you're my friend, not my mum!"

"sometimes i need to! because your mother is gone so you don't have one. you no longer have anyone to turn to about these things. my mother is an option but you won't even fucking talk to her, jaeden! jesus, i am trying to help you. clearly, you don't want my help."

"yeah." jaeden got on his feet. "i don't."

sophia stormed off to her cabin, leaving jaeden by himself. regret consumed him as he desperately wanted the night to end.

knowing sophia and sadie didn't want to be near him, he slept by the fire that night. it didn't take long for the flames to vanish and the warmth to disappear. soon enough, the only source of light was the moon.

— time skip —

he woke up before the sun began to rise. unable to fall back asleep as thoughts flooded his mind, jaeden grabbed his phone and turned the flashlight on. he took a glimpse at the two dark cabins, and turned away, heading deeper into the forest. the only sound was the rustling of the leaves, his heavy, slow footsteps, insects and birds, and that was all. no voices, other than the ones inside his head. although, he was relieved he wasn't hearing voices from other than his own mind, otherwise he'd think he was crazy. but it was a reminder that he was alone. no family. no friends. all his friendships were pretty much obliterated in his perspective. his relationship, well... he wasn't sure. sadie knew how he felt about wyatt, and from what he witnessed, he wasn't sure if their relationship was going to last. this upset him since he knew he did like sadie. but he just liked wyatt, too.

jaeden wasn't sure how long it'd been since he left the camp. the sun was nearly completely uncovered by the hills and it felt like he was stepping on nails.

he decided to go back, but lost sense of direction. he found his footsteps and started to follow them, but it wasn't long before the trail ended. he anxiously continued to walk forward, hoping he would make it back to the camp.

jaeden went to grab his phone to call sophia, sadie or sam, until he realised he left his phone in the cabin. he frantically patted his pockets just in case, but there was no luck. struggling to ignore the dreading fear, he strolled under the tree leaves.

— an hour later —

jaeden heard heavy, quick footsteps. he wasn't sure what direction it was coming from; he just knew it wasn't his feet making the noise. he heard panting and nearly jumped out of his own skin when he heard a girl scream, "jaeden!"

he recognised it easily. "sophia?" he called out.

"jaeden! where are you?"

"i'm over here!"

"okay, stay where you are!"

jaeden remained where he was. his eyes searched all the areas surrounding him, until they fell on the familiar short-haired girl. she was running towards him, sweat running down her forehead. fear was displayed all over her face. once she reached him, she rested her hands on her knees and bent down. "holy shit, jae. wh-where did you go? we were so worried."

before jaeden could answer, there was a sound of twigs snapping coming from behind her. her eyes widened and she grabbed his wrist, pulling him away. she hid behind a tree, making sure he did the same.

"what is it?" jaeden went to look but she quickly pulled him back. "i-i don't know. there was something chasing me just before i got here. just stay quiet." she whispered.

[omg it's big foot :o]

more twigs snapped, closer this time. sophia squeezed her eyes shut and prayed to herself. jaeden slowly peeked behind the tree, and his heart was in his throat.

if he wasn't hallucinating, there was a wolf. it looked back at him and he immediately hid again. he heard a low growl and he tightly closed his eyes.

his eyes fluttered open when he heard sophia scream. but no, he didn't see a wolf tearing her to shreads—he saw the blue sky. his heart racing, he sat up, and looked around. sophia was laughing while sam was chasing her with a stick.

"sam, seriously, i don't like cockroaches! i—" she screamed again when she tripped and face-planted. sam dropped to the floor, wheezing of laughter.

jaeden rubbed his eyes tiredly.

relief washed over him. it was just a dream.

[so basically he dreamt that he went into the woods, he got lost, sophia found him, and she got eaten by a wolf. yay.]

— a week later —

sadie had gone home earlier than the others, saying she needed to think. jaeden was tempted to do the same, but sophia didn't want him out of her sight. she suggested to come with him if he decided to go, but jaeden denied, not wanting to ruin her time with sam. so he stayed.

"who wants marshmallows?" sam called out, holding two packets of marshmallows in the air. sophia whipped her head quickly in her direction and a smile spread across her face. "fuck yeah!"

jaeden stared at the fire, daydreaming. sophia poked his shoulder and he turned his head to face her. she smiled softly at him and raised a marshmallow. "want one?"

he shrugged, a tug at his lips. "no, thanks for the offer though."

she sighed and sat next to him. "look, jae, you haven't been talking to me about a week now. i know you're pissed at me, but i'm sorry, okay? i was just worried and upset. i love you. you know that, right? you're my best friend. i don't want to lose you. that's just what i'm afraid of; i'm afraid you won't talk to me or anyone about how you truly feel and then you're going to keep it all bottled up inside and then you can't take it anymore. i care about you, so much. i know you probably don't think i do when we get into those fights but trust me when i say this. you're an amazing guy and i can't risk losing you."

without saying a single word, jaeden tackled her with a hug, tears in his eyes. "i love you too. i'm sorry i've been such a dick. do you forgive me?" he pulled away, quickly wiping his eyes.

"yeah, of course, dickhead." she smiled, messing up his hair. "forgive me?"

"yeah." he did the same to her hair, making it look like she'd just woken up.

"promise me something." sophia raised her index finger.

he looked at her unsurely. "what is it?"

"promise me that you won't starve, hurt, or isolate yourself."

"sophia, i can't—"

"jaeden, please." sophia held his hand. jaeden looked down, and reluctantly said, "i promise."

my writing is so shit rn. i have writers block and gpusjdkdjf.

also. um. my mum made me send my crush a party invite on fortnite (yes i play fortnite but that's only bc he plays it okay stfu😭😂) and um. he actually fucking joined. so i freaked out. i ran to the hallway, lied down on the floor, and squealed smh. he left the party bc i wasn't doing anything in the game. shehsh. i'm an idiot. but hEY life's not too bad righhhht? heh. fuck.

[i don't have a mic so he didn't hear my squeal so it's fine :)]