Top 10 Reasons I Should Have Gone to Science Camp

[Casey]

Teagan rabbitting wasn’t a surprise. It was how long it took her and the fact she was polite before running. Of course, she did run. After blinking for a second he ran after her. As he chased after her Art couldn’t help but think he needed to get back in shape. During the soccer season he would have caught her in a heartbeat. A summer of sitting a reading was not doing wonders for his fitness.

At the bottom of the stairs he saw Deacon’s confused face.

“What did you do? Try and kiss her?” His brother asked.

“She got a text from Casey, I tried talking to her but she ran,” he looked at the two older men, “What do we do?”

[Aiden]

Unfortunately, Deacon wouldn't give him a drink, Aiden knew this, so his request was lost from the start. If there was anything that Aiden would want at that moment, it was to be back in Portland, in his zone of comfort, where he knew where everything was, where he knew for the most part what was going on. There in Keystone, he was a foreigner, a tourist, so he was lost, and he wasn't only lost in the sense of his location, but also in his quest to find out about this Casey guy. For a fleeting moment he thought about sending a text to him to try and see if he could find something, anything he could use to his advantage, but somehow he knew that wouldn't happen. In the end, he decided to go back to reading news and other reports on his laptop--he was the only eighteen year old he knew that was so thorough with reading the news.

His reading, however, was quickly interrputed by a thundering down the stairs. Teagan arrived at the bottom, gave Deacon an odd turn of words, and then bolted out the door, and not seconds later, Art was in the room, explaining what happened. "You tried to tell her about the supernatural stuff, didn't you? You have to be a little delicate with these things, just so you know." Looking out into the rain, Aiden glanced down at the shirts he was wearing--one button up with rolled up sleeves at his elbows, and another black one underneath, and his jeans. "Look, I'll go get her. If Casey is texting her, she must have something going on, something that brought her here were Jefferson and I are. Not to mention, I don't think she has anywhere else to stay, right?" He moved away from the bar, took a breath, and then ran out into the pouring rain.

He was used to the rain in Portland, it rained a lot in Oregon, but there was something about this rain...it was chilling to the bone. Running along the street, he didn't care about the looks he recieved--a teenager running along the wet pavement in the pouring rain. His eyes scanned the gray mist ahead of him, and he could just make out another running figure, turning the corner. Groaning, he sped his pace up, making the corner in another few seconds, and trying to find her in the mist ahead. By now he was soaked, his clothes were dripping, his hair was plastered down onto his face, and he was sputtering water away from his lips. This girl had better be worth something in the end, because Aiden was not enjoying this little jog through town.

He followed her for what felt like forever, running along the streets, avoiding further water damage from passing cars, trying to keep her in sight. About a mile later, she slowed, and Aiden was able to catch up with her. He put on a burst of speed, using almost the last of his energy, and then approached her slowly--no need to spook her and have her run off again. "Teagan!" He called as he stepped forward, and then placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, what Art said," he started, wondering if he should tell her it was the truth or not, "what he said can be explained. He wasn't trying to scare you." He pulled her under a nearby awning, out of the rain and the roar of it. With his hand still on her shoulder, comforting, not scaring, he looked into her eyes. "Look, just come back with me; you have no where else to go, you're soaked, and you're going to get sick if you stay out here. Plus, Deacon and I want to talk to you." By that, Aiden meant that he tell her about the supernatural, while Deacon did damage control.

[Teagan]

Run girl, run.

The thought looped itself over and over as Teagan past each block in the near deserted streets of Keystone. The buildings reduced to blurs in the dark mist, and she couldn't care less. There was no destination, only the escape. Ignore the rain soaking through her shoes, ignore the puddles drenching her jeans, dismiss the fact that that last light was red, and just keep running. Her eyes focused on the ground, shielded by the hood of her sweatshirt. Step, step, step, step, step, step.

After a good twenty minutes of sprinting on a slippery surface, Teagan allowed herself to slow down and catch her breath. To her surprise, she had gone alot farther than she'd expected. It had to be all the exercise at the math camp. The director was bent on the idea that if you were sent to math camp, it was because you were a nerd. And nerds didn't exercise. So he saw it as his job to help them. Teagan excelled in that part of the camp, which earned her some brownie points, seeing as she hated math.

"Teagan!"

A call jerked her out of her memories. What the- someone had followed her? But she had just ran for over a mile in the cold rain! Who in their sane mind...? A hand gripped her shoulder and she spun around, fear flashing in her eyes until she realized it was the kid from the bar. He had followed her? His dark hair was matted against his face, and unlike herself, he had not the shelter of a sweatshirt to keep him dry. Although her instincts were telling her to bolt again (and make sure this time that no one caught up), the fact he had followed this far spoke leagues to Teagan. She wearily allowed him to guide her under the awning and gave him a chance to speak his piece.

Back to the Wesson? The place she had just ran away from at a hundred miles an hour? And just to talk, at that. She studied his eyes carefully. They seemed sincere enough, but Teagan knew things weren't always what they seemed to be.

"Look, kid," Teagan removed her hood from over her head and wiped away the loose drop on her face. "First off, I don't even know you. I don't know any of you, for that matter." She looked back up at him. Man, she hated height differences. "And who's to say I don't have a place to stay? Assuming makes an ass out of you and me, haven't you heard?"

[Aiden]

Around the corner he went, seconds after her, and glancing ahead...she was gone. He looked to his right, seeing her bolting down a nearby street. She had made the light, or run through it before any of the cars got her, before he could make it. Several times he was stuck behind traffic, was slowed behind people strolling with umbrellas above their heads, or splashed with water by passing cars. In his own mind, he too was repeating one phrase, for him that was Where is she, where is she? He could see an alleyway that would empty out closer to her, since there was a large group of people standing in the way at one shop, so he skidded into the alley, trudging through the mud and the water, until he finally caught up with her.

The part of the job that Aiden always hated was trying to explain that things were real. Without people actually seeing it with their own eyes, they wouldn't believe you. They just couldn't. Society told them that none of it existed when it really did, and it was killing their neighbors, or their family. Aiden might not have been exactly pleasant with Deacon, but Art didn't know how exactly one should break it to a person. If Casey had plans for Teagan, it was probably in their best interest not to scare her off like that. Still, she let him approach, that was a good sign, or maybe she was just too tired to run anywhere else.

Her argument was rather weak, but Aiden didn't have time to play verbal games with her. "Aiden, nice to meet you," he began, wiping water out his face, and moving his hair aside with his hand. "And I know you don't, because why else would Art set up a room for you? Why else would you have brought your stuff in with you? I'm not trying to scare you, or hurt you....Casey, he told me to come here too. I'm here for Casey too," he said, hoping that having something in common would calm her. "I don't know any of them either, I don't know Casey either, but I trust them, and they've been good to me so far...just, come on, let's get out of the rain, into the warm bar, and we can talk--at your own pace."

[Teagan]

Teagan felt relieved when the teen brushed off her comment. She really didn't feel like arguing, despite letting the previous statement hang between them. Aiden. Well, now she had a name, at least. And then he went to point out every instant within the past hour that supported her lack of a place to stay. Ouch, she winced. He had her nailed. But that didn't change the fact that they were still practically strangers. She had no reason to trust the guy; he didn't understand the situation...

...or maybe he does, Teagan thought as Aiden confessed Casey had contacted him as well. Art must have mentioned it to him after she ran out. She sighed as he continued, feeling the barrier she had thrown up reluctantly give way. She did need a place to stay. And she had no friends. Nowhere to go.

Not to mention a change of clothes was currently in her backpack back at the Wesson.

With no further arguement, Teagan slowly nodded. "Fine." She took a step forward, and then turned back toward him with a tired grin. "You need a towel anyways."