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 began 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 went 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 said sweetly.

"Yeah?" I said, genuinely happy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah. Nothing better or more nostalgic." Camden said 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 said, 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 said.

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

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

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

"Why did you switch?" I asked.

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

"Oh, no." I said, sadly.

"Why did you move here?" Camden asked.

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

"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 thought he had told me pretty much everything about him, so I just said, "Yeah."

"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 said, "Okay, ready to play some basketball?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"No." Camden said, "At least not in the dark."

"Oh boy." I said, "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 said to her, "Can you help us find our way back?"

"Sure." she said.

She walked over to us and said, "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 said, "Are you sure? You don't need to-um- I might be a bit too-"

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

"Uh- okay." Camden said quietly.

He then slowly, came up behind me, and wrapped his arms around me and Cold Stream. Despite me 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 said, "I have to go, but I'll see you guys soon I'm guessing."

She waved, and sprinted away from the house.

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

"Yeah." Camden said.

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

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

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