Korbin Ruth's Story

CALI BLAKE



Cali must have been laughing so hard at Korby that she stepped out of their little nook from laughing at, well... exactly the wrong time. One moment, Cali was looking at Ming and Korby with tears of joy in her eyes, and the next, she was on the ground, the smile replaced by a look of shock, and a bit of pain, seeing as her head gave a good bounce off the hard ground.

What the...

She blinked a few times to see none other than Echo, who she'd just been thinking about, almost lying on top of her, if it hadn't been for his hands holding himself up on both sides of her head. She realized with an increasing headache that he must have walked straight into her without noticing, and now, well...

"Er..." She started, locking eyes with him. She didn't know what to say, she'd never been in a situation like this before. However, she was interrupted by a laugh from his friend, Blue Hair.

"Hahaha. Good one, Echo."

Shit. He probably did this on purpose.

Cali's face flushed as she heard Blue Hair, realizing her position and abruptly trying to get up as awkwardly as she could. However, that didn't play out as well as she thought. It turned out that her head bounced off the ground quite hard, and she winced at the sudden movement. "Ah..." Her head pounded a slight bit as she looked at Echo.

"Sorry if I got in your way," She said it with a bit of sincerity, but also a bit of sarcasm. He probably knocked her over on purpose, just to get a laugh from Blue Hair. She looked over to Ming and Korby, her face flushed and her eyes full of embarrassment.

Kamil chuckled though on the inside she felt horrible and she patted Echo's back. "Well of course not mister clumsy. You never look where you're going. You'd never survive on one of their skateboards." She said then turned back to the skaters and smiled apologetically at Cali. "Sorry about that."

CALI BLAKE


Cali looked at Korbin and Ming, her face tired and hot, and a big bruise forming on the back of her head. Needless to say, she was still quite flustered at Blue Hair's earlier comment and still didn't entirely believe Echo when he said he didn't mean to knock her over, but she shook her head at Blue Hair dismissively, even though it hurt a bit.

"No, it's all on me," she said quietly, "I wasn't looking where I was going. Hell, I wasn't even opening my eyes half the time," She added quickly and gave a small chuckle, but died down very quickly. "I always thought he would be quite good on a board, but...." she also stopped herself too, realizing this was probably not what Blue Hair wanted to hear. Cali was in no position, mentally or physically, to give any lip at the moment, and she was realizing that she was only making things worse for herself. She swallowed and turned to Ming and Korbin.

"I'm a bit weary right now, that fall was quite a shock. So I'll be back at the cabin... Sleeping." She excused herself hastily and started walking before turning around to face them again. "Behave yourselves," she said tiredly, but with a hint of humor.
She turned around and started walking past Echo and Blue Hair, her eyes downcast. The truth was, yes, she had a headache, but that would go away by the campfire that night. She just didn't want to face Echo or Blue Hair anymore, she would probably just embarrass herself more. Not to mention, she still didn't entirely believe Echo hadn't meant to knock her over. She glanced up before pushing herself between the two, muttering things and trying to get back to the cabins as quickly as possible.

Kamil watched as Cali walked off feeling sad. But when Echo walked off after her she felt even worse, she felt bad for Cali yes but... She didn't want Echo to leave her behind. She felt abandoned, forgotten... betrayed? She shook her head and forced a fun smile onto her face and turned to the other two skaters. "Well, I guess I'll be finishing my walk on my own. Again, sorry for interrupting whatever it was you were doing." She turned and began walking deeper into the forest, I guess I'll just explore on my own then... She thought to herself, fishing her mp3 player out of her pocket and putting on some more Avril Lavign 'I'm With You.' Singing along softly as she walked. "I'm standing on the bridge... I'm waiting in the dark... I thought that you'd be here... by now... There's nothing but the rain... No footsteps on the ground... I'm listening but there's... no sound..."

At first the fall from Cali made Korbin smirk for the simple fact that she kept getting herself in trouble. But seeing the pain in her eyes he found himself loss of words. She fell and was hurt another man onto of her, with another person laughing at his close friend.
He just watched her walk away. It was like he was frozen to the ground with only anger growing, he saw himself beginning to fall into antagonism. Korbin felt that he allowed the pain to happen to Cali which made it even worse off.
Korbin took off running and without a second though his fist found Echo's cheeks. It wasn't the first time he found himself punching someone, but it hurt none the less. Korbin shook his hand and winced a bit before grabbing Cali's arm and asking if she was okay.
"You alright? Did he say something." These questions were suppose to come before the physical attack but rational thinking was gone for the moment with Korbin.
His eyes turned to Echo. "I hope that hurt you sick bastard."

CALI BLAKE

Cali watched as Echo walked off, squinting at him and feeling an immense amount of confusion.

...What... The hell just happened?

She looked around, realizing Ming was also gone, but she could see why. She wasn't entirely fond of getting into fights, and seeing her best friend lunge himself at someone unexpectedly probably didn't make her feel to great. Cali hoped she would come back soon, though. She couldn't spend too long without that Asian bitch with her. She also realized that Korbin had just threw himself at Echo. She turned to him, his hand on her arm, and realized she was asking her a question. She shook her head out of her dizziness.

"Wha? Oh.. Yeah, Yeah I'm fine... My head just hurts a bit..." She trailed off, and spoke up again. "Where's Ming?" But she didn't let him answer. She just shook her head again and sighed. "You should go catch up to her, make sure she's okay and out of trouble. I'm just gonna go to the cabin and lie down for a bit." Before when she said this, she was telling a little white lie just to get away from the whole commotion, but now she really was feeling a bit tired. She nodded her head lazily and started walking back to the cabin.

She was almost there, about to collapse on the stairs, when she was tapped on the shoulder. She turned around to come face to face with none other than Frosty the Prepman. Before she could give any snarky greeting, though, she was cut off.

What she was cut off with was an Apology.

Cali looked around, as if to ask, 'me?' No way would Frosty ever apologize to her, would she? She was barely listening, half from shock and half from exhaustion.

When she was finished. Cali's mouth was dry.

"Er..." What was she supposed to say? She didn't have enough energy to make any snarky remarks, but she still didn't feel like saying sorry. Not right now, anyway. She bit the inside of her cheek.

"Uhm, thanks Fro... I mean, heh... Thanks, Serenity..." She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "Uhm, I really would give a deep meaningful reply to that, but my head got turned into a basketball a few minutes ago, so I kind of need to sleep... A lot." She yawned, as if on cue, and leaned lazily on the doorframe of the cabin.

"Thanks, though." She turned around, and called out behind her before falling on her bed, drowsy. "But I'm still calling you Frosty the Prepman." Once someone had a nickname, they had that nickname forever.

His hand ached as well as the rest of his body. He saw himself losing who he was within moments of time, slipping past him, and being engulfed with the whole layer of the world.
Korbin was just glad that Cali hadn't really wanted him to listen or answer because he didn't hear a single word she said, he was too much inside his head replaying what had just happened. Just to figure out if he was a hero or not.
Then as collapsing seemed like a perfect action adrenaline fired up his legs which took him to the large lake at the bottom of the hill.
Once there his clothes slipped off swiftly and water surrounded his body. Hair swayed in the water while he held his breath feeling at ease. It was becoming a habit losing control and fighting until he switched clothes and acted like the next group of people.
To Korbin it wasn't needing to be liked or fit in or was all about not being betrayed. Trust was breaking but for the first time, it seemed that he was the one that started it to break. Weight of guilt flushed inside his body, he swam faster down until sliding the palm of his hand against the sand, it burned, then itched.
Air was becoming a source he truly needed, so his legs quickly pounded bringing him to the top of the surface where he took in a gulf of fresh air.
What have I done? He thought, as he splashed around.
I won't apologize Korbin nodded to himself.
He was feeling the weight again, so be began swimming to the edge. He picked up his clothes and went to his way to the cabin, there was no way he was going to look for Ming, she was a grown up, that didn't need protecting.
Korbin got to the cabins and rolled into his bed, he didn't see Echo which was nice, there was no way he would be able to talk to him for awhile. Bastard. He thought with a frown on his face.
His eyes closed and his body ached less as time slipped away.

Kamil nodded softly as her head reeled with ideas. This was going to be fun. And maybe it would give Kamil a chance to apologize to everyone, especially Echo, for making everything worse earlier.

Ming grinned, before glancing up at the sky and seeing the slight red hue it had taken due to the setting sun. It wasn't to surprising seeing as they had arrived sometime around noon and it had been a few hours since then... Thinking about, she had never taken her bag out of the buses luggage compartment...

Her eyes widened slightly as this development, "Hay Kam, I just remember something I really need to do but I will see you at the bonfire, Kay? Save me a seat!" She yelled as she began to back track up the path they had come down or ender the forest. She was totally screwed if that damn bus had already left...

Making her way back towards they cabins, she screeched round the corner and run straight for her bed in hopes of grabbing her skateboard and making the journey back towards the bus that many times faster. Entering, she barely spared a glance towards Echo and a sleeping cal, except when she stopped at the door and peered back at the other half of her latest OTP. Giving him a sly look, "Creeper." Was all she said before she was throwing down her board and making her way back towards the drop of area.

Arriving there was only one though in her mind as she saw the absence of the big bus that had gotten them all here... "I am so screwed..." She muttered aloud, staring, shellshocked, at the stop where the bus had been and now where it had vanished, along with her precious bag of funky hats and manga. Oh, and cloths as well but they went as important as the fact that she no longer had any hats!

"Dear God WHYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" She screamed the last word, not really caring that it echoed all over the camp and was probably audible to everyone. Her hats were gone! It was official, God hated her.

Kamil nodded to Ming as she left and sighed softly. She didn't much want to leave the forest yet, for once in her life she didn't want to face Echo when she got back to camp, she wasn't sure what he'd say, or if he'd be angry or not. She looked down as she walked until she found herself at a large tree, she must have made it pretty far into the forest for the tree's to have gotten so big. She decided she'd rest her legs here then head back once she was ready. She sat down on the bumpy ground at the base of the tree and rested her back against it, closing her eyes she listened to the calming chirp of the birds, the smell of pine and oak, the soft summer breeze... needless to say she fell asleep.

CALI BLAKE

Cali groaned as someone tapped her out of her sleep, bringing her hands up to her eyes and shielding them from the light. Her head was still hurting, and she was hoping to wake up at night, with no pain, but obviously someone had other ideas, because it seemed as the light of the sun was being poked irritably in her eye. That, of course, didn't help with any sort of head problem she was having. She turned onto her side and curled up, still groaning.

'Who the hell is awakening me at this ungodly time?' She muttered, annoyed. Before anyone could even answer, she turned back onto her back, her hands still shielding her eyes, and sighed.

'If it's Ming,' Cali thought she'd heard Ming's voice, saying something like 'Creeper,' 'asking where the hell her bags are, I might have gotten them...' She narrowed her eyes, trying to remember, 'Maybe... I'll check later.' She waved her hand dismissively, although her eyes were still closed.

'If it's Korbin, don't bother apologizing you dork,' she sighed again. 'I'm not mad, you idiot.'

When she was finished and didn't hear any snarky responses or quiet remarks, she raised an eyebrow.

'So who is it, then?'

Kamil continued sleep as she sat back against the tree as the day turned into dusk. The day had been exhausting for her. But now her sleep wasn't restful, she was plagued with nightmares of being left, her grandmother dies, then Echo decides he doesn't want to be around her anymore because he likes Cali, then Ming says she's no more fun, she's all alone... five again, caught in the crossfire of her parents arguments, she covered her ears and screamed in the dream. In the real world Kamil's sleeping face was contorted in pain and sorrow and she let out a soft whimper of fear.

Mikha'el smiled some when she accepted the offer. Once out of the cabin, Lilliana asked what his Bible verse was. "Well, I would have to say 1 Corinthians 13: 13. It sums up how a Christian should act." He also remembered another question. "Oh, and the reason I keep both Bibles around is so I can use them as references. Most people will be familiar with the KJV, so I will often cite it while having the CJB for personal reading, since it goes more in depth about the Jewish origins."

At the baseball diamond, some of the people already there noticed him and blocked passage to him. “Is there something wrong, gentlemen? I am merely going to play ball with a lady, here.”

One of the jocks told him in response, “This is jock territory. Besides, a nerd can’t play ball.”

This made Mikha’el smirk. “Do not even the pagans behave like you are behaving? Besides, I am not your stereotypical ‘nerd’, now, am I? I bet I can pitch just as well as any ball player.”

“Prove it!”

“With pleasure.” Mikha'el was given the ball and the pitcher's mitt so he could throw one pitch to the guy currently at the plate. He took a moment to figure out which pitch he wanted to do, then decided he would surprise everybody with his fastball. There was the wind up, the pitch, and the ball went up to 97 miles an hour to the catcher. It was an easy Strike! The crowd's jaws dropped.

After that, they let Mikha'el pitch to Lilliana. Sometimes, he would do a curveball to the corner, while some of his throws were fastballs or knuckleballs. Whether the girl hit any of them or not, the history geek would not make it easy.


The two were so preoccupied with baseball, Mikha'el did not notice it the time until it was close to time for the campfire. "I think we should get going, Lilliana." He walked with her to the fire where everyone was supposed to be and told the circle, "Sorry we're late."

Audry froze in place when Echo stated that he was the prankster. She tried to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. For a second she even forgot about the itches. Now what? She doesn't know Echo very well, but she had often witnessed his moments of anger. How would he react if she ruined the prank by telling everyone about it? She wondered which flaw posessed her more - cowardness or selfishness. Would she really abort the warnings just because she was afraid?

Maybe she should think about it later, as it was time for the campfire. Her mood lightened up a little when she saw Lily and Mikha'el. The girl sat next to them.

"Hey, how are you doing?" She asked them with a light smile on her face. Also, the itches became more endurable, even though she was still scratching. For a moment she wondered where was Matthew and if Micah was already here.

She was still scratching... She might raise suspicions with this, which would cause al least some people to wonder what happened. However she might tell Mikha'el and Lily about this and they would give her advice. Maybe Mikha'el saw the text message sent by Audry. For now she decided to stay at the campfire and tell them later while trying not to scratch herself every ten seconds.