The thing about choosing to write a sequel is that I have to go and re-read the first one because let's face it, I don't remember shit lol. (Although I did quickly go through SICR, I do want to apologize in advance incase I may get some things wrong...or if some things might not add up to the first book) Actually wtf no I don't apologize. If you're not happy with something, gtfo. (Picture me saying that as nicely as possible).
I'll be completely honest. I have somewhat of an idea of where I want this story to go, but of course being the impatient person I am, I just had to start this sequel without really planning anything out (Kinda like I do with all my stories actually). SO, with that being said...I'm honestly waiting to see what happens just as much as you guys LOL. I got the bowl of popcorn out and everything, I'm just letting my fingers type whatever they feel like typing. The beginning may be a bit slow, because although this is a SEQUEL I do want to refresh everything for those who may have not read Stuck In Camp Rivers (which you really should get on that btw...wyd). It has been 5 years since the camp, so I guess reading the first one isn't TOO big of a deal. It'll just be more easier for you to know what's going on and etc. SO YEAH. Don't you guys just love my long ass author notes??? I know I do!!
Anyways, you know I love you. And I trust you. SO if you guys have any suggestions, please don't be afraid to let me know! I know a lot of people wanted a sequel, so I decided to write one. But I want to hear what you guys think :)
I will also begin switching POVs as the story progresses
Vote/comment/fan <3
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Chapter 2.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN," I sang at the top of my lungs, lathering the foamy shampoo into my air as I let the warm water embrace my aching body. "SAID WE'RE RUNNING OUTTA TIME, WHAT DO YOU MEAN! OH OH OH WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?"
I closed my eyes, massaging my scalp as the concert (featuring just me) in the shower continued. I let the shampoo rinse out of my hair, the foamy substance running down my body and began swaying my hips to the music playing from my phone planted on the sink.
Suddenly the music shut off, and was replaced by my ringtone. I rolled my eyes and stopped dancing, the water continuously running. Who the hell's calling me? I decided to ignore it, and continue doing my business in here, thinking it'll eventually stop ringing.
Okay, it did. Nevermind it's ringing again. I groaned.
By the time I got to shaving my legs it stopped ringing, but it started ringing again; it honestly made me wonder who the hell had enough patience to sit there waiting for a phone to ring knowing the other person wasn't picking up any time soon.
I turned the water off, and recollected myself before slowly getting out of the shower, grabbing a towel to wrap around myself as I stood in the steamy bathroom. As I looked at my phone screen I saw that I didn't even know the number that was continuously calling me just now. I wrapped another towel over my head before grabbing my phone and leaving the bathroom.
"Molly?" I called throughout the house, hearing some pitter-patter in the kitchen.
"Yeah, in here!"
Molly was making Kraft Dinner when I found her. She was leaning against the counter as she waited for the water to boil, grinning at me.
"Do you know this number at all?" I asked curiously, walking up to her as I gave her my phone. Arching a brow, Molly looked at the number on the screen. By the look on her face I knew she didn't recognize it.
"No, I don't. Maybe it's a wrong number? Call them back."
"I hate doing that," I frowned. Molly shrugged, and was about to open her mouth and say something when the phone started ringing in my hands. We both stared at the device, as if it were some kind of creature.
"Molly, you answer," I said giving the phone to her. She started shaking her head.
"No way! It's your phone."
I pursed my lips, and took a deep breath before pressing 'Answer' and putting my phone to my ear. Molly was watching me.
"Hello?" I asked. The line was silent for a few moments.
"Blaire."
It was as if my stomach turned to ice when I heard that voice. My name. I could hear my own pulse beating in my ears, and the hairs prickling on the back of my neck. I couldn't speak, and it was as if suddenly I became this monument of eternity. Molly's face probably mirrored my own, and she clearly knew who it was on the other line.
"Ben," I barely croaked out, not knowing what to do. How did he find my number? I changed it three times. I thought he was gone for good. I thought I've gotten rid of him. Why is this happening?
"Hey," he said. He was speaking as if everything was fine. As if he wasn't a complete psychopath. As if I never ended things with him five years ago. As if he never tried to stalk my entire life.
Or try to kill me.
Molly was mouthing something to me, and I couldn't comprehend anything going on around me right now. I just continued to listen to the horrible man on the other end.
"See how easy it was for me to find you?" He chuckled. "Babe, you can't keep running from me. I don't understand why you're doing this."
I can't breathe.
"I need you," he said, his voice low and almost like a sinister growl as he spoke. "I'm tired of you avoiding me. Don't you think it's time to stop? Can we get together and talk? Please."
Molly's face went white. I know she could hear everything.
"No," I finally let out. "Ben...you need to stop stalking me. You're becoming very creepy and it's not a good look on you, dude."
He let out a sharp laugh. "You've always been a funny little bitch. But I'm not kidding."
"I'm not kidding either!" I snapped, growing furious now. Molly's eyes went wide as she offered to take the phone from me but I just shot her a warning look.
"Ben, if you call me one more time I'm reporting you to the fucking police. AGAIN. Don't be a dumbass. It's been five fucking years! FIVE FUCKING YEARS. I'm not sixteen years old anymore, what's your deal?!"
All I could hear was his unsteady breathing. Pursing my lips, my eyes locked with Molly's.
"You can't get away from me, Blaire," he said, and I almost didn't even recognize his voice anymore. "If you even try going to the police, you'll regret it. Want to try? Go ahead. Please. Watch what happens. I easily found your number. I can easily...easily find the rest of you. And I will."
I scoffed. "Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Consider it both, love."
The line went dead. I couldn't move.
"Blaire," Molly snapped at me. "How the hell did Snake find your number?"
I shrugged, and honestly I didn't know what to say. Ben, who tends to go by Snake, seems to know how to do anything. He's always been super intelligent in his own ways. School-smart? Not so much. Stalking and hacking into other people's lives until he ends up getting what he wants and perhaps even killing them after? Yeah. Kind of.
"We have to go to the police. NOW," she tried grabbing my arm but I took it away, staring at her.
"No, Molly. Please," I said, sternly. "This is what he wants. This is exactly what he wants, okay? I know him. We can't go to the police. Not yet, anyways."
Molly's mouth dropped open, and she looked at me like I was crazy. Well, I mean, I probably am. But I also know Ben probably more than anyone else. He knows people. He knows a lot of people. Sure I could go to the cops. That would be the easiest, most common thing to do. Sure, Ben could get arrested again. But like I said, he knows people.
People that are capable of things much worse than he is.
"We have to wait, okay?" I said to Molly. "This was just a phone call. He found my number, fine. I'll block him, no big deal."
Molly let out a deep breath as I went ahead and blocked the number that Snake called me from. This most likely wasn't his number, and that also kind of freaked me out. Just a bit.
Relationship goals.
"See?" I said to Molly, smiling. "All done. Everything's good."
"I've seen this in movies," she went on, stirring the pasta. "That's what they all say before they end up chopped into a billion pieces, and thrown into a suitcase...dumped in a river-"
"Okay, I get it," I snapped, rolling my eyes. "Can you just...stir your pasta? I'm gonna go put clothes on."
"Stirring," Molly told me, and I headed to my room.
I rubbed my face, standing in front of my body-mirror. Isn't it fun having a stalker ex? It really is, let me tell you. I quickly got dressed, throwing on a pair of ripped mom jeans and a black crop top, leaving the towel on my head.
I was in love with Ben. I was so desperately and irrevocably in love with him. I mean, I basically grew up with him. I lost my virginity to him. There's a huge portion of my life that's been shared with him, and so much of myself that's been given to him. I didn't realize how toxic he was. I didn't realize how powerless I became, how corrupt I became. I just knew I loved him. That was all that mattered. I wanted to be with him. When I was at my complete worst, he was the only one there for me. He saved me.
First love is hard to terminate. Ben was my first love. And even after all these years, sometimes I miss him. Yeah, as crazy as that sounds. Sometimes I wish I had the old Ben back. The Ben that I originally fell in love with. The Ben that always stayed with me overnight at the hospital every time I ended up there. The Ben that comforted me in the middle of the night when I had nobody else. The Ben that always wiped my tears and knew how to make me happy. That Ben.
And it sucks because even after all these years, after all of this horrible shit that's been happening with him; after what he's become...it's like, somewhere deep down...I can't help but feel like he's still That Ben trapped inside. And it hurts. A lot.
Our relationship began crumbling around the time I was sent to delinquent camp. He started doing heroin, he started hanging with these really horrible people. He started to get involve with all of this really bad shit. And he continuously tried to drag me down with him. And of course I was more than willing. I felt my eyes well up with tears as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
If I looked hard enough, I was able to see that same girl who was more than willing. She will always be there, and everything else will always be there. No matter how much I tried to escape it.
Throwing my hair in a ponytail, I wiped my tears away and took a deep breath before quickly doing my makeup.
"You okay?" Molly asked as she watched me help myself to Kraft Dinner. I smiled at her, filling my bowl to the top because I was completely starving.
"Yeah, yeah," I said. "I basically forgot about it already."
Molly frowned at me as her and I sat down at the Island. She sat across from me, and I could feel her concerned eyes on me as I began to casually stuff my face.
"Look," she said to me. "Try not to let it worry you too much. If Ben really wanted to do anything he would have tried a long time ago."
I swallowed my mouthful of KD, and looked at my bestfriend. "Molly?"
"Yeah?"
"Please, can we not talk about this? Let's talk about the weather. Nice day outside, to be honest. I think I should start going on jogs." I gasped. "Maybe we can go on jogs together! What do you think?"
Molly bit her lip for a second, but then chuckled and smiled. "Sure! That'd be cool."
"We should become vegan."
Molly and I both looked at our KD, and then at each other. Molly started shaking her head as if I asked her to sky dive out of a plane or something.
"Yeah, you're right," I said, and shoved another spoonful into my mouth.
"Oh, that reminds me," Molly said, an invisible lightbulb appearing above her head. "Laundry."
"Want me to take it down this time?"
"I mean, sure, that'd be cool. You know, since I always do it."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Okay, chill. I'll take it down. I'm almost done eating anyways." Molly laughed when she noticed my already half-eaten bowl.
I pressed my desired button on the elevator, and patiently stood there with the large bags of dirty laundry. When the door finally opened, I stepped inside and noticed Mr. Ellis, this really old man that lives on my floor.
"Hello, Blaire," he smiled at me. When he spoke, it almost sounded like he was whispering, like he simply didn't have the strength to speak loudly. I grinned at him. He was such a tiny and fragile man, and honestly I think he was reaching 80, if not already there.
"Hey Mr. Ellis," I said. "How's your day going?"
"Very good, thank you," he told me. "I just came back from the store."
I nodded. "That's nice. I'm just doing laundry," I gestured to the two large bags. Mr. Ellis smiled at me, his eyes nearly twinkling. He reminded me of a miniature Santa Claus, and every time I saw him around the building it warmed my heart.
When the elevator stopped at my destination, I said goodbye to Mr. Ellis and dragged the laundry down the carpeted hall towards the laundry room.
I don't usually admit this to anyone, but I enjoy doing laundry. Molly always does it because she just gets to it before I even realize it's laundry day. But for some reason, I like to sit there and watched the clothes swirl around inside the machine. It's almost relaxing to me.
I'm losing my marbles. That's fine.
I went ahead and put the clothes in the washers, and turned them on as I sat down on one of the chairs and listened to the humming from the machine. There were some other randoms from my building in here doing laundry as well, and there were a few 'hellos' exchanged as I didn't really know them but see them around all the time.
"...Well, fuck man what do you want me to do about it?" This blonde guy was saying on his phone a few meters from me. He had his back to me, but he was pretty tall. I couldn't help but watch him.
"Yeah, we can't stay here long. We can figure out our shit here for now...did X get back to you? Yeah? Okay, well, I'm doing laundry. Shut up."
I raised an eyebrow as the guy hung up his phone. He looked around before his eyes landed on me. I blinked.
Why does this guy look so familiar?
I narrowed my eyes in confusion, because I know I've seen him before. He was so familiar. And by the way he was looking at me, too, I know he felt the same way.
He was blonde, and there weren't many blonde males that I knew in my life. Which is why this was so odd. So I had to come out and say it.
"Do I know you?"
The guy looked away for a second, as if he were trying to think about it. But he just shrugged his shoulders. "To be completely honest, I'm wondering the same thing."
His voice was deep. But it still sounded so familiar. And it was bothering me how I couldn't recall anything. Who is he? Where do I know him from?
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Blaire."
It was as if my name suddenly sparked in his mind, and his mouth dropped so low it looked like it hurt. He stared at me, his eyes twinkling in recognition as he stepped towards me.
"Blaire Landers," he suddenly grinned, shaking his head in disbelief. "Holy shit! Do you know who I am? This is so fucking sick."
I stood up. "I'm so sorry, like you look familiar but I-"
"It's me! Kyle."
I just stood there and stared at him. Kyle Haven. No fucking way. A grin began to pull at my lips as it all suddenly came back to me. Kyle Haven. In my building. Doing laundry right next to me. What are the fucking odds?
"Kyle?" I gasped, and without even thinking about it I ran into his arms and hugged him. "Jeez! It's been years, holy crap!"
"Right?" I pulled away and looked at him. The thing is, he hasn't changed much at all. But for some reason I couldn't even recognize him. I mean, I guess five years is kind of a long time.
"How have you been?" He asked. "I didn't know you lived here! We just moved in like a couple days ago! I mean, well, we're not staying for long but still. Holy fuck. This is so great. Last time I saw you was at camp, man."
I couldn't even contain the joy I was feeling right now. I was such a relief, such a great feeling seeing Kyle. Seeing a friend I made at Bradford was so incredibly awesome. I had so many questions. It was so overwhelming.
"Yeah, Molly and I live here," I told him. "Fuck, you need to come visit sometime okay? We're room 115. Oh my god, Molly's gonna be so excited when she hears about this."
"Yeah! Shit, do I even have your number?" He already had his phone out, scrolling through his contacts. "I mean, I got your number at camp but I'm sure this number is ancient history."
"Yeah, it is. I changed it a few times," I chuckled as we switched phones to put our numbers in. "Remember my ex boyfriend from years back?"
"Yeah, Snake?"
I nodded. "Well, he's kind of a huge stalker. Capital S. Let's just put it that way." We gave each other our phones back, and Kyle's eyes widened in shock.
"What the fuck?" He asked. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. No big deal. I just had to change my number and shit, like...more than I wanted to."
Kyle blinked. "Damn. But wow...okay, let us like settle in and shit and then I'll text you okay? This is great."
I grinned at him. Kyle's back.
I love the smell of fresh laundry. I was practically humming to myself as I made my way to the elevator. This usually happens every few months. A shit load of people move out of the building, and a whole new bunch move in. And the fact that Kyle was one of them. Talk about fate.
The elevator was taking a while to come, and I shut my eyes impatiently. I just really wanted to go and tell Molly what just happened. But I really didn't feel like taking the stairs. I never feel like taking the stairs.
Suddenly, I heard the elevator come to a stop and I was ready to run in as the elevator door opened. But someone was there.
And honestly, I must be fucking dreaming.
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