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Chapter 2 by Gray Gremlin Gray Gremlin

Which thread to read?

A Winter Holiday at the Cabin

A flashy, red sports car sped around the winding roads near Silver Lake Park. In the backseat, eighteen-year-old Zachary Bishop watched the road nervously with his icy-blue eyes. There was a light dusting of snow covering parts of the road, and Zack wished the driver wouldn't act like they were in a race to reach their destination. Although, he wouldn't mind finally getting out of the cramped backseat as soon as possible. Zack had one suitcase next to him in the middle of the seat; a bag dropped over his lap and minimal legroom.

Besides the physical discomfort, Zack was also nervous about this trip to Silver Lake Park, a large recreational area just outside of his hometown of Azure Rocks. It was the day after Christmas and the start of a week-long stay at the Ravers' family cabin. He had been there just once before, five years prior as part of a gathering of his parents' old high school friends. This current trip would be another reunion of his parents' friends and their children. The problem for Zack was the other teens were the popular kids at school, and Zack was definitely not part of their clique. With his older sister, Taylor, not arriving for a couple of days, he had visions of sitting around bored and ignored. Faced with this potential reality, he had practically begged his mother to let him bring a guest, and she had relented after checking in with her friends.

Sighing while running his hand through his dark brown hair, Zack turned away from the window and looked over to his right and towards his fellow backseat companion, Gavin Westher. Gavin was his best male friend, but Zack, for probably the hundredth time this week, was having second thoughts about inviting him along. Eighteen-years-old with short brown hair and brown eyes, Gavin was highly intelligent, obsessed with new technologies, particularly video games, and was thus a tremendous geek. If talking about his latest interest, he could be a chatterbox, but he usually was quite an introvert.

When it came to talking to girls, Gavin often embarrassed himself. If it was a fellow geek, like Grace Smith, and it was about schoolwork, then he was fine. The prettier and popular a girl was could lead him to stutter or freeze-up. Then there were the more reactions. Fellow students at Azure Rocks High School still snickered about an incident when Gavin was a sophomore, and he came face to face with Priscilla Pint. Priscilla was a triple threat to him as she was a senior, the cheerleader captain and arguably the hottest girl at Azure Rocks High. Priscilla was also friends with Taylor Bishop. So the day she stopped to say hello and ask her friend's little brother how he liked high school, Gavin had been overwhelmed. In a panic, he had squeaked, dropped his bookbag and ran off. And, Zack thought worriedly, there was going to be a cabin filled with hot girls this week.

If Gavin's history with girls wasn't a concern enough for Zack, there was his latest video game obsession. Zack had no idea what the name of the game was, but he did know that Gavin was clearly into it with a passion. His friend hadn't spoken or looked up from his tablet the whole trip so far. Bringing a friend more interested in having his face in front of a screen all trip would be worse than coming alone.

Once again, Zack wished that Chloe McRose, his next-door neighbor and very best friend, has been able to come with instead of Gavin. Chole could still be shy at times but her time on the soccer team had given her more confidence of late. Having Chloe along might have helped Zack break the ice with the other girls who would be at the cabin. In particular, he needed a way to finally get to know Victoria Walker, his long-time crush. Unfortunately, with today being Boxing Day, Chloe had her annual Christmas party with her mother's extended family, so she was unable to come along as his guest.

"So how long you two been together?"

Zack swung his head over to look at the speaker, Brandon Cole, as the conversation in the front finally stopped being about football. Brandon, who sat in the passenger seat, was in many ways everything Zack wasn't. The eighteen-year-old with his short, messy black hair and dark brown eyes seemed straight out of central casting for the role of high school quarterback. Confident on and off the field, Brandon had captured the hearts of countless students and townspeople with his outstanding play. Losing in the semifinals of the state playoffs back in November, even as the number one seed, hadn't seemed to diminish his star power. Numerous girls at Azure Rocks looked at his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Woodsen, with envy or jealousy. Hell, Zack had even witnessed mothers of his fellow students eye Brandon Cole up and down like a piece of meat they wanted to devour.

At times it felt like the whole town of Azure Rocks admired Brandon. Zack was not one of them. What others saw as confidence, he saw as cockiness or arrogance. Zack had known Brandon since the fifth grade, so he felt he knew him well. He remembered as a ten-year-old boy, Brandon seemed to crave attention and a need to be seen as the leader of other boys. The problem was Brandon often did this by belittling the boys he felt were weakest, so it would make him look strong. It wasn't outright bullying but a more subtle behavior, the sort that others might mistake as just teasing amongst friends. The only good quality that Zack would acknowledge about Brandon was that he was loyal to his girlfriend, Ashley. Despite so many girls offering to have even a quiet hookup with him, Brandon by all accounts stayed true.

"Since around Thanksgiving. We met the day after at a party our parents were both at and just hit it off. Spent the next day and a half together until I had to go back to school. We've talked and texted nonstop since. Heather even came out to see me a couple of weeks ago for the weekend," answered Owen Nevin, the driver of the red sports car.

Owen Nevin was Heather Ravers' latest college boyfriend. Heather, captain of the cheerleading squad at school, was the dream girl for most of the male students at Azure Rocks High but she exclusively dated college students. She also went through relationships fast, so it wasn't a surprise to hear they had only been together a month. Zack didn't know much about Owen. Sure he knew the name. Owen at twenty-two years-old with his blonde hair and blue eyes had been a popular figure at Azure Rocks High when he was a student there. Just like Brandon, Owen had been the starting quarterback. Zack's sister, Taylor, had been a grade below Owen and she had often brought her little brother with when she went to games to cheer on the team and her friends on the cheerleading squad. Zack remembered he had been a solid player but nowhere near Brandon's level. So far on the trip, he had seemed like an okay guy to Zack. Owen had tried to make small talk when they first started the drive before the conversation had turned to football and mutual acquaintances he shared with Brandon.

"Yeah, that sounds like Heather. She's the girl that guys fall in love with fast. Can't say I blame you. That girl is something special," Brandon responded, thinking of Heather's curves.

"She sure is. After almost four years I've just had it with the girls I see all around me at college. The self-centered, bossy types. The wild ones that get a little liquor in them and they turn all slutty. The worst are the ones that play their little teasing games, thinking they are smarter than you. But Heather's not like that at all, you know."

"Um, she's not?" asked a confused Brandon, with a glance into the backseat at Zack.

"Absolutely. She's such a sweet, caring girl. Real down-to-earth. The only real issue I can see is our ages. I'm graduating from college right when she's starting it," replied Owen.

Zack noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned in time to see Gavin look up slowly from his tablet for the first time. Gavin stared at Owen for several seconds with a bewildered look, before he shook his head slowly a few times. He next turned to Zack, raised his eyebrows slightly and then went back down to play his game.

"I bet being beautiful doesn't hurt either?" asked Brandon, grasping for any sort of a conversation about Heather that made sense to him.

"Of course, that how I noticed her at first. But what's great is that she doesn't flaunt it," Owen answered. He mentality shook his head at how high schoolers could be so wrapped up on just a girl's appearance and miss the great qualities inside the person. If they had noticed, then Heather wouldn't have been available when he met her.

Oh my god! How did I end up in a car with these two? Zack asked himself. He then recalled his father was to blame. Up until yesterday, Zack and Gavin were going to drive up with his parents this morning. That changed when Sarah Woodsen had called on Christmas Day to wish everyone a happy holiday. During her chat with his mother, she had said there was going to be room in Heather's boyfriend's car in case the teens wanted to drive up with them. When Zack's dad had overheard this part of the conversation, he had become very insistent that Zack should drive up with his friends. His mother, knowing Zack and Brandon weren't friends, had tried to ignore her husband's idea. Not taking no for an answer, his father had argued that it was his final year of high school and he should spend time with his friends before it was too late. His mother, with a sympathetic look towards him, had reluctantly told Mrs. Woodsen that the teens would be happy to drive up with Owen and Brandon.

"What the hell?" muttered Brandon.

"What's wrong?" Owen asked.

"GPS on my phone is all messed up. Shows no road where we're driving," the high school quarterback frowned. "Man, I hope we're not lost. We already screwed up on that one wrong turn."

"Maybe we should have followed the Woodsens like we were supposed to, but no Mr. The Fast and the Fur--" mumbled Zack under his breath until he was cut off.

"Hey, Bishop! You've been here before, right?" questioned Brandon, in almost an accusing tone.

"Yeah."

"So we going the right way or what?"

"That was once, five years ago. I don't know."

"Would you at least remember what the cabin looks like, or are you just worthless back there?" snapped Brandon.

"I remember perfectly what the old cabin looked like. The one that has since burned down, ya know," Zack countered sarcastically.

"Wait, what? It burned down?" questioned Owen.

"Oh, damn! That's right. It was a few years ago. Almost forgot about it," laughed Brandon, before looking over to Owen. "Rumor has it the place burned down during some orgy Heather's father was having."

"What! An orgy? Why would Heather's da--"

"Guys! I think we're there," interrupted a voice that hadn't been heard from all trip. "Stop and back up to that driveway we just passed."

Was Gavin right? Or are they lost?

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