All by myself-nobody post here

[Jordan Anderson]

Only Jordan knew how much he came out to the cemetery, and he knew that he always wanted to find him when he was out here. A few times he had came close but he'd missed him by a matter or minutes. Of course he knew why Jordan wanted to find him out here but he knew that if they got to talking about Mike that he'd just start to break down. He missed him and this year he would be gone for two years. It was hard knowing that he wouldn't be there for any of the important times in his life anymore. Of course he had good times with him but he just wished that they were still with him. Sure Mike still still was with him in a way but he wished that he could actually talk to him and have him answer. He played with the class ring that was on a simple chain around his neck. It was hidden from the world most of the time but when he got nervous or was alone he tended to play with it. The class ring had been Mike's and then when he died Mike's younger brother, Anthony had given it to him. "I wish you could be here Mike, things would be a heck of a lot easier." He whispered, even though he knew that there wasn't anybody in the cemetery at the moment. He'd made sure of that since he didn't like people knowing that he came out here since they probably would feel sorry for him.

It was odd being out here by Mike's grave, but Jordan always said that you could tell when he had been out there. Since he pulled up all of the weeds and dandelions and made sure that the area around the grave was clear. But he also knew that Jordan was the one who kept the grave perfectly clean, it was a little odd how clean it was. But he knew that they both had their secrets when it came to coming out here. His eyes wandered over from where he was sitting to the willow tree that wasn't too far away. He had known Mike basically since he had been born and for awhile it had just been the two of them. Jordan had joined the group two years ago when he had moved here. He'd only known Mike for a short time but he knew that he missed him too. His minded wandered over to Anthony, again he'd been thinking about him a lot lately. He hadn't seen him in awhile and he knew that Anthony missed him. It was sad to see the look on his face when he said that he had to go. In his heart he knew that Anthony was afraid that he'd never see him again and that was sad. Plus he knew how much he missed Mike.

Anthony had followed Mike and him around for years and they really hadn't minded that much. When he was younger he used to follow Jake around but that had worn off pretty quickly. Anthony hadn't been annoying, most of the time and now he was really good company even though he was a little on the shy side when there was people he didn't know around. He'd always wondered why Anthony had showed up at his house at five o'clock in the morning and given him the class ring that had belonged to his older brother. Once he had answered the door Anthony had latched onto him and he had just stood there for a few minutes letting Anthony cry on him since as soon as he opened the door Anthony had started to cry. Then the two had went on a long drive and talked about things. That had been a few months after Mike's accident. It was hard to believe that Anthony would be turning sixteen soon and a few days ago he had surprised him. He heard somebody knock at the door and thought that it was Jordan but when he answered it Anthony literally jumped into his arms. Which was quite a feat since he was five ten and Anthony was five feet eight inches. He'd told him that his parents had finally said that he didn't have to be home schooled anymore. Of course he knew that it really had been his mother who hadn't wanted him to go back to a normal school and that his dad was the one who had wanted him to. He wondered what had happened to make his mother changer her mind but he was happy for Anthony.

His thoughts then shifted over to Starr, she was great to talk to. If there was somebody that was going to find him out here one of these days it would either be Jordan or her. Of course if she came out here then he'd know that somebody gave her the idea to come out here. And he knew who that somebody would be, Jordan. Yet he did have the feeling that if Mike's name were to come up in a conversation right now that there was a chance that he would lose the small control he had over his emotions at the moment. He didn't like to cry in front of people and the last time he'd probably done that was most likely at Mike's funeral.

((That end paragraph came from another site since I played around with this post a lot.))

[Starr Parker]

[[It's okay. I think we all do that at one point or another.]]

A black Silverado pulled into the cemetary parking lot at a slow, leisurely pace so as to keep the truck quiet. No need to be loud here. Starr sometimes really worried about the two best friends she had here. After Jordan had told her about Mike, and it had really sunk in just how much it affected the both of them, Starr wondered how they were handling. Then again, how had she done it? How did anyone deal with losing someone you love, someone you don't think you could live without? How do you find the will to go on? Starr had no clue, she just knew that somehow, you came to a point of acceptance in yourself. Sometimes, the pair seemed like they had, and then others...well, Starr hoped Brenden was at one of those moments when he was accepting it and just choosing to pay a respectful visit.

It was true, Jordan had told her that if Brenden could not be found anywhere else, he would be at the cemetary. She knew Jordan came up here looking for him too, hoping to find out whatever was going on in his head. She sat there for a minute in the car after she'd turned it off, wondering what the heck she was going to say to him. What was she even doing here? Brenden was more quiet about stuff like thisl; he probably wouldn't even want to bring it up. Still, she had to know that he was in fact here and not somewhere doing something stupid. Not that he would do anything that stupid anyway, but she knew she had done many stupid things. No one thought she would do them either, but she had. She learned to expect the unexpected.

She took a deep breath, then opened the car door and stepped out. Glancing around for a moment, just to see the cars and see if she recognized one of them, she spotted Brenden's easily. She fumbled with her keys for a moment before heading through the gate and past the tombstones. Cemetaries were not her favorite place, never had been, and never would be. In fact, she got chills even though it was summer and it was relatively hot outside. It was just the thought that all the bodies of people who once had lives, loved ones, and hopes were all six feet under the ground she was walking on. It didn't take her long to find Mike's grave; the fact that Brenden stood out amongst all the gray helped.

"Hey." She said quietly, as though speaking at a normal tone would wake the dead. She stopped to stand next to him, her arms crossed in that way that seemed to throw out how the cemetary was affecting her. It was but a second before she spoke again, her tone still the exact same way. "Jordan said that I could probably find you out here." She explained, just in case he was wondering. He probably wasn't. It was assumed Jordan would have been the one to tell her, seeing as Brenden never said anything about Mike around her, nevertheless his grave.

[Brenden Erickson]

He jumped a little at the sound of somebody's voice he basically had been off in his thoughts and when he'd heard another voice it had scared him. So Jordan was the one who had told her that he came out here a lot. Well, he knew that he could trust Starr with things like this. So it wasn't like she would go around telling people how often he came out here. He didn't really have a regular pattern for these visits he just usually came out here when his emotions because too much to handle. He was silent for a few more seconds before he realized that he needed to say something. "Yeah, he told me that he told you about Mike." He said quietly and then sighed, he could already feel the tears in his eyes. And he knew that she could probably tell how hard he was fighting to keep from crying. There really wasn't anybody else out here but he still didn't like people seeing him cry, even if it was Starr.

"I'm not mad at him for telling you, honestly." He said before he began to play with the class ring again yet he only noticed that he was doing so a few seconds later. "You do know that you're the first person that has found me out here." He said as his voice shook, he was going down and he knew it now. Yet how long could he hold the crying off, that was unknown. He didn't want to make her start crying too, of course if she did start to cry there was nothing he really could do about it. Maybe he could try talking to her yet he knew that probably wouldn't work it was very hard to get a crying person to stop. It was then that a tear ran down his face and he quickly wiped it away yet he knew that she probably had seen it.

"Jordan's tried to find me up here but he never has." He said and then took a deep breath, yet it didn't help much he still felt like he was going to cry any second now. "He's been out here recently, he always cleans the grave off and makes it perfectly clean. It's kind of odd that he does it if you really think about it. Of course, you never saw how messy he used to let his room get." He said and laughed quietly he knew that he was going in circles but he just couldn't help it at the moment. He was just so scared to mention Mike again and the fact that odd memories kept running through his head wasn't helping things. Not to mention, he'd been reading the newspaper and somehow Mike's name had came up and he just had to stop reading it. He really didn't even know why his name had came up, he'd been too shocked to really understand the words.

Mike's name had only came up in one things after the accident. And that was in some lecture on Winter driving that the school had to sit through for some reason. As soon as his name had came up he became very pale, according to Jordan who'd been sitting next to him. Then, as they went on he'd just wanted to yell at the person. Did he not know that the accident wasn't Mike's fault at all? Since the guy had basically made it seem like he was the one who'd caused it. How could somebody intentionally swerve just to hit black ice? For the rest of the day after that people had been giving him funny looks and he actually had left school an hour early since he hadn't been able to handle it anymore.

[Starr Parker]

For a moment he seemed to forget that he had a voice, or at least that he had to say something back or else leave Starr in a position of struggling to find a way to have a one-sided conversation. Last she had heard, Jordan had yet to tell Brenden about their conversation in the park. Then again, it hadn't been very long so Jordan had probably just been waiting for the right moment. Whatever the reason was, he had definitely gotten around to it. At the sigh, a heavy hearted one at that, she looked up at him and could just see it etched on his face. Guys like Brenden might think that they can hide anything behind their handsome faces, but Starr saw what was there. Well, she had to give him an A for effort.

Hearing him say he wasn't mad, she gave him a small smile. Starr hadn't thought he would be mad, but then again she didn't know him to the extent Jordan did. Still, Brenden didn't seem like he would have been mad even without this reassurance. Though, if he had been, Starr knew it would not have been completely without merit. The fact that she was the first person to find him up here struck her by surprise. How did Jordan know he came up here then? Just that best friend intuition? "Really? I thought for sure Jordan would have found you by now." She commented, knowing this whole thing to be a vain attempt to keep himself in check. She did see the tear, though didn't say anything. Starr didn't want him to cry almost as much as Brenden didn't want to. It was the last thing she wanted, but she knew it was probably inevitable.

And then began the measures of avoidance. Starr had done the same thing, and was still doing it. Her mother tried to bring up her dad all the time, only for the conversation to be shot down just as fast as it took flight. She smiled in spite of how solemn the conversation was. Ah, Jordan with the messiness. Didn't all guys have a knack for being unbelievably messy? Every guy Starr had met was messier than she thought was possible. Who really knew anyway, maybe it was just a stereotype that Starr hadn't fully explored. "I think I can imagine." She stated with a slight shudder. Oh geez, not a pretty sight at all.

Starr could not decided whether to bring up this whole thing or what to even do at this point. She didn't want to put Brenden in an uncomfortable position, but it was a little late for that. Maybe she should have called Jordan the second she saw his car. Brenden would no doubt feel more comfortable with a guy who shared the experience with him. Still, it was a little late to be thinking of that right now, and what had to be done needed to come to her quick. Still, she could only think of what she had wanted to hear all those years ago. "Look, this might be a little hard to believe, but I know how you feel. Maybe not exactly, but...I'm probably really close. And I know that it's hard to deal with things like this, especially when it didn't happen that long ago and everyone knows exactly what happened. They look at you like there's something wrong with you, like you're prone to break down every second of every day and...I think you get the point."

Starr realized that maybe she should pull herself emotionally out of this, because she would just start crying for seemingly no reason and then...well, it'd be a mess. She took a deep breath and then continued. "I might not know exactly how you feel or exactly what you're going through, but I have somehow, some way, managed to move on past the point that you're at-you know, the point where you feel the whole world is just caving in- and you've got to find a way too." Then she fell silent, just when it seemed like she was going to keep going on and on forever and ever about all this. Maybe it wasn't what Brenden had wanted to hear, but she had said it and he was listening. Or, at least she hoped he was.

[[OMG 753 words. That's one of the longest posts I've ever done.]]

[Brenden Erickson]

Jordan had came very close to finding him out here on many occasions. A few times he'd only missed him being out here by a matter of minutes. Most of the time he didn't tell him that he was even coming out here either. He really did have a good sense of where he was of course perhaps he'd picked up on the slight pattern of his visits here. If a lot of people were speaking of Mike, he'd be out here. When people brought his name up for no reason at all, he'd come out here and try and figure things out. "He's came close to finding me out here several times. I think he might have realized that when things become too much that I come out here." He said and then looked at her almost timidly, she probably knew something was up now. She probably had never seen him this shy, or quiet for that matter before. "Like now, I know that certain people are keeping something from me. Not just Jordan, it's my parents, heck even my own brother is." He said and hoped that she didn't think he'd lost it but he could just tell by the way they acted around him that something was up.

"None of them has done this in a long time. Not since-well Jordan probably told you the whole story, or most of it anyway. Like the part of how I walked into the living room and was basically told to go to bed. Then a few hours later my brother comes in and tells me what happened even though he was told that they didn't want me to know until the morning I guess." He said and then looked around again, he couldn't bring himself to look at Starr then. Maybe it was because he was afraid of looking at her and then starting to cry then. Yet he could tell that there was no way he would be able to hold it off for much longer. He just hoped that she didn't think this kind of thing happened every week. He wasn't the type to just go someplace to cry, actually he hardly every cried out here.

She did manage to bring a small smile to his face when she said that she could only imagine how messy Jordan's room was. "Well, at the moment it's not that bad. He usually keeps it pretty clean now. But you should have seen it a few weeks after he first moved here. It looked like a war zone of course we'd basically give him two minutes to get ready in the morning." He said and laughed quietly, he knew that she probably knew who was included in the "we". She probably knew ninety five percent of the people that he'd ever been around now. There probably were a few people that Jordan or him had neglected to mention. Like the girl in the eighth grade who had a crush on him. Now that, just seemed weird to him, and not to mention a little scary.

He heard what she said next and knew what she was saying was true. It wasn't like he could continue to do the same thing over and over again. He had to get over it completely sometime. "I know, it's just so hard to find a way. But believe me you're the second person that's said that so, nicely. Other people have just thrown it in my face by screaming at me and expecting me to listen." He said and then looked over at her, he might as well share the theory that his older brother had came up with. He hated to admit it but it just might be true. "This is probably going to sound really weird, and maybe a little bit stupid. But, my older brother came up with the theory that the only reason why I don't date, well seriously anyway is because of Mike. Now it's nothing he said or anything but he thinks that I'm afraid of losing somebody I'm really close to again." He said and then took a deep breath, maybe there was a slight chance that he wouldn't cry after all.

"Maybe that way would come to me if Anthony's mother wouldn't tell him that she wishes he would have died instead. He came over to my house crying at eight at night and it took me a long time to get him calmed down. I swear I'm really close to kidnapping him and letting him live in my room." He said before his voice literally stopped, it simply had cracked way too much. He felt another tear slide down his face but he knew that he had to tell her one more thing before he let the tears take over. "Trust me, if you had this conversation with him and he tried to act like it was nothing. He'd be lieing, if I had half the strength as he did this wouldn't be happening." He said, and with that he began crying.

((I think we give each other muse. But I'm very close to crying now. This is going to be a sad thread.))

[Starr Parker]

[[Yeah, definitely. I almost started crying to and five posts into the thread.]]

Oh yeah, it was good at least she had found him up here. From the looks of it, he never talked to anyone about his trips up here. She didn't blame him either- visiting the grave frequently only made people think you were even less okay. Starr could understand things becoming too much to handle, and she really felt bad about this entire thing. Mike had only died two years ago, and people probably still talked about it. It was hard to deal with something so painful when everyone kept bringing it up in some way or another. She knew that she had been forced into it. Moving out of state really had helped a ton, just because no one in Wisconsin would say 'hey, are you okay?' or 'I'm so sorry about your dad'.

Her brow furrowed when he mentioned people keeping things from him. Well, that definitely was not helping him any, that was obvious. Was Jordan keeping things from Brenden? She didn't know anything. She hadn't even met Brenden's family so she wouldn't know on that. Then, when he mentioned that one incident, Starr did remember Jordan telling her that. "Well, what could they possibly want to keep from you? It's not like you're a child or anything." Then she realized that that was sort of a stupid question. How would he have any idea what they were keeping from him? Sometimes she asked stupid questions like that, and normally it was okay, but now it was not.

The conversation about Jordan's previously messy room was still as out of place as ever amidst the more solemn one. Still, it was sort of a needed one. Without it, this whole thing would probably be way to sad for the both of them, Brenden especially. "Well that would explain it then." She said, knowing that Jordan probably had time to clean it now. There was no school, no homework, no...well, nothing to do with school. Starr made her excuse for the school year, but over the summer there was no excuse at all other than laziness. Hearing him speak reassured her that he at least would not blow up in her face for her telling him that. She knew she had yelled at the first person who had told her that.

"Oh, it's definitely not a picnic. I was forced into it when my mom moved us down to Madison, but in your case, you can come here whenever you want. It's harder." She said, then listened to his brother's theory. Oh, the theories thing started to come. Everyone had a theory about everyone who had gone through a life changing experience like that. Brenden's was actually probably very likely though. People back in Montana had thought that Starr was afraid of getting close to people when she began spending more time with the horses than with anyone else. She'd even spent the night out in the barn on more than one occasion. "Yeah, people always have theories, don't they? I don't blame you though, if that is why. At least you didn't spend a year talking more to an animal than to a person."

Everything was going fine and Starr thought they might get out of that conversation without any major breakdowns. Well, at least until his voice cracked when talking about Anthony and his issue with his mother. Now that was truly horrible, to tell your son that you wished he was dead instead of your other son. It sounded to her like Brenden cared more for the younger guy than his own mother did. First keeping him out of school, then this. "Well, if you ever do and you need help, you know where to find me." She stated seriously, still in disbelief that a mother could say that to her own child. She'd never even met the woman and already didn't want to, though she was sure it was only because Mike's mother was upset. Losing a son probably wasn't easy.

When Brenden finally broke down, Starr reached an arm up to place on his shoulder gently to comfort him. What else was she supposed to do? She was the one who had made him start talking about all this stuff. Saying that she was sorry about Mike and all wouldn't help. So all she could do was let him know she was there. Starr didn't think any less of Brenden either, but instead thought more highly of him for taking everything in stride and looking out for Anthony the way he did.

[[Well that took awhile...]]

[Brenden Erickson]

He felt her place an arm around his shoulders just as they started to shake. He couldn't remember the last time somebody's actually done that although he had a good feeling of when that was. It was also during the last time he'd cried in front of somebody else. He wasn't one for crying but at times like this, he just couldn't help it. A small sob escaped from him and then he closed his eyes. He just couldn't look at the grave anymore right now. Not when tons of memories kept coming back and they kept making think of how much he missed Mike. He didn't even know why he was crying now, maybe it was because of many different things. Such as the huge amount of stress that he'd been under lately and the fact that he kept remembering the look in Anthony's eyes as he told him what his mother had said. "He didn't deserve to be told that, he's never done anything so wrong that what she said needed to be told to him." He said, chocking out the last few words before the sadness took over him again.

Yet, after what seemed like ages the tears began to slow before they finally disappeared. "I'm sorry that you had to witness that." He said and then looked down at the ground as he tried to remember all that she had said before he had broken down on her. "Well, if you think about the last time they kept something from me the answer is obvious. But the question is why, and what is it? Although if they're keeping it so that I don't well, break down again they can keep it." He said rather quietly as he tried to remember what else she had spoken about. It all seemed to be one huge blur now. "Yes, it would but if you looked at my room now you'd probably pass out from how messy it is. There's a path leading to the bed and the closet but the rest is untraveled territory. Don't worry I'll get around to cleaning it soon." He said and then smiled as he remembered how Brownie had went under his bed and then came back out with a crumpled up ball that turned out to be a paper that he'd been working on months ago.

"I do come out here a lot but most of the time it's because of a problem. But I just get to thinking about other things sometimes and I completely forget about it and all is well. Trust me, I normally don't get so worked up like I just did." He said and then listened to what she said about if he ever needed help he knew where she could be found. "Trust me, I wouldn't need help kidnapping him he'd willingly come with me. I'd just need help covering up where he was." He said and then laughed at the thought of how frantic Anthony's mother could be if she found him missing. Hm, maybe it would help her realize that she actually did like him.

"He loves his dad though, he's home every single night and he takes days off of work just so the two can do things. Not to mention, the night that Anthony ran to my house his dad called to ask if he was there. When I told him that he was he said that he'd cover up that he was actually there. Since his mom was tearing apart the neighborhood trying to find out where he ran off too." He said and then remembered that when she'd knocked on his door how he'd literally tossed Anthony into a closet. He had apologized for that but Anthony did really seem to mind being thrown into a closet. Apparently his mother had guessed that he was over here. Yet, he'd told her that he hadn't seen him all day and she simply left. But not before she looked into the living room.

"Oh, if anybody asks you if I ever did his math homework because he was way too stressed out to do it, say no." He said and then looked at her before smiling slightly, if she ever wanted him to do any math homework he'd do the same thing for her. Math wasn't that hard for him to do, memorizing different things in science was more of a challenge. He then realized that they probably should get out of here, he'd been here long enough. And not to mention, Jordan was probably having kittens wondering where the heck he was. Of course, he probably knew but he was probably babysitting and couldn't leave. His younger cousins were up and he knew that he'd been stuck watching them last night.

"So what do you think about getting out of here? I think we've both been here long enough." He asked and then looked down at the grave again for one last time before looking at Starr.

[Starr Parker]

Starr had a noticably distressed look on her face, though was not crying surprisingly. In fact, it even surprised herself that she was managing to keep it in, and as Brenden spoke between the sobs she had to bite down on her lower lip. "No one deserves that. I don't care who it is and what they've done, no one deserves to be told that." She said quietly, hoping to keep her voice from sounding too upset, because once that was gone the battle was over and she would not have won. It seemed like ages while she fought to keep herself from breaking down just at the sight of Brenden, her friend, like this. When he stopped, she surpressed a sigh of relief that she'd managed and smiled weakly at his apology.

"You don't need to apologize, Brenden. Not for that." She reassured him, gving him a weak smile. Starr had learned to switch her moods that quickly, even if she still felt bad for making this whole thing happen. Then he brought up this whole secretive streak the people around him seemed to be on, and she listened intently. She wished her mom would know what she wouldn't want to know if they were in fact doing it to help him. Though, from previous experience, she'd probably hide all the wrong stuff. "Well, let's hope that's what it is. I'd hate to find out that it was something else."

She then glanced around at the other graves, wondering who those people had left behind and how they had died. Starr knew who Mike had left behind, what they were going through, and how he had died, but so many other people had their own stories. It was scary to know that all these people had families somewhere out there who had been in so much pain because of their deaths. It made her wonder why people had to die, especially the younger they had been. Mike for instance- he was so young, his whole life ahead of him, and that had been stolen away by a patch of black ice. Why him and not a man 95 years old and living alone? Why someone who, from the sound of it, had so much promise?

In spite of it all, she laughed quietly and gave him a look that could only be explained by its accompanying words. "Well, I would hope so. There's probably something growing under your bed from the sound of it." She joked, remembering how her cousin's room had been the last time she'd seen it. She shuddered at the thought, not imagining how one room could possibly look so messy that it should be quarantined. Then he mentioned that he normally wasn't this way, though Starr didn't need to be told. Brenden didn't seem like the type to wallow around all the time. "I believe you, don't worry about it. And I promise, I won't tell Jordan I found you here. We'll let him think he's the first to find you whenever he does."

She smiled again, this one bigger and more genuine than the rest. From what she had heard, Anthony probably would willingly be kidnapped, but was that truly kidnapping if the person gave consent? Ah, she wouldn't get into it, her brain would only overanalyze it. "And that's the part where I would help. You'd be surprised at how good I am at covering up tracks and sneaking around. It's my hidden talent that nobody knows about." It took her a moment to realize that now Brenden knew, but whatever. She then laughed at herself. "Until now." Hearing that Anthony's dad was at least there was a comfort though, and it reminded her of her dad a bit. He used to always let her help out, take her on trail rides, the whole shebang. The smile that formed on her lips then was a more solemn one, but there nonetheless.

"Psh, don't worry about it. I'll play dumb and act like I don't know a thing. They'll believe me." She stated, then heard him ask about getting out of here. She nodded eagerly, maybe a little too so, which might have given away her discomfort with graveyards. "Uh, yeah, please. Cemetaries kind of freak me out, and I was hoping to hide it but yeah...let's get out of here before the remake of some zombie movie happens."

[Jordan Anderson]

He had felt like he needed to apologize though, after all she really hadn't needed to see him break down. Yet, if she hadn't been there then he might have went on crying for a lot longer. But among what she had said he realized that she hadn't even met Anthony yet and already she knew things about him that people who knew him didn't know. Of course, those people were just distant friends who probably hadn't talked to him in ages. "You know what, I just realized that you probably never even met Anthony before. But you know a lot about him now. You'll probably meet him soon, during the summer he literally lives at either my house or Jordan's. Of course that's because when his mom's home he doesn't really like to be around for obvious reasons." He said and knew that to some people the answer wouldn't be so obvious but after what he'd told her she probably had figured out that Anthony didn't want to be around her after hearing that. Actually, he thought that he was a little scared to.

"Actually, by the way they're acting I think that it might actually be something good. Something on the sad time, but good because they look a little sad, but they're smiling." He said and then wondered how something could possibly be sad but happy at the same time? He had a slight hunch about what their secret was all about and he really didn't know just how he felt about it. But he wouldn't know if he was right or not until somebody finally told him. Perhaps Jordan, or perhaps his sister would decide to tell what everything was about and why it was a secret. He didn't like it when people kept things from him especially when those people were good at keep secrets. That usually was a good thing, but not now when he really wanted to know what was going on.

"Honestly, there's nothing growing under my bed. Unless you can grow dog toys. Since Brownie decided that he was going to hide them under my bed. All of a sudden he'll go under there and come out with a ball that I haven't seen in weeks." He said and then thought about a few years ago when he'd been cleaning his room and well, it really had not been very pretty. After that he'd kept his room a lot cleaner even when he really didn't have the time to. It really was a good thing that Jordan hadn't been around to see how bad his room had been otherwise he might have wanted to run away and never come back. Although, he knew for a fact that at one time Jordan's room had been close, if not worse than that. He knew that because of when he'd been talking to his sister one day.

"Oh trust me, Jordan probably would want to know that you found me out here. But, it might be better if he thought that he was the first to find me out here. He'll find me out here soon enough, he's getting closer to each time you know." He said and then wondered just how often Jordan came out here. He never really did have a good guess about that. Yet that probably was because they didn't really talk about coming out here. Why would you want to anyway and besides talking about something like that would be way too depressing. He did want to find Jordan out here, but he wasn't worried about him. The only time that he got really worried about him was when he got unnaturally quiet and depressed.

So she was good at covering tracks and sneaking around. Perhaps that was how she'd managed to sneak up on him. Well, that and the fact that he'd been off in his own little world. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anybody that. And if you act dumb his mom probably would believe you. Well, that is if you're a good actor. It's like she can see through if you don't know how to act like you really don't know anything." He said and then began to dig his keys out of his pocket as soon as she said that she wanted to get away from the cemetery. "So, would you like to take your truck are mine? Or would it be best if we both drove out of here. I wouldn't want some zombie scratching my truck you know." He said and then laughed, he wasn't all that scared of zombies or ghosts. It was horror movies that involved murders and things like that which really scared him.

((I hope that's good I've been working on it since I woke up. My muse was stop and go throughout it.))

[Starr Parker]

[[Sorry it took so long.]]

Of course, Brenden was right, Starr had never personally met Anthony, but already she felt as though she knew his life story. Was that incredibly wierd? Jordan and Starr had talked about her meeting him a bit, but she'd never gotten around to it. She wanted to, he sounded like a great kid, she just hadn't yet. "Yeah, I've never met him. It's funny though, I've heard so much about it that I feel I know him already." Starr said, understanding what he meant when he said 'obvious reasons'. She wouldn't want to be in the same house as that woman either, and that was saying something. Starr normally didn't judge by talk, but she knew the mother had said that to her very son and that was just wrong. She could only imagine what else the woman had done to vex her relationship with her remaining son.

Starr had to stop and think a moment, as Brenden's words had confused her. Call her easily confused, but how could someone being sad but smiling be good? There was just something...not clicking in that sentence. "Well, I suppose that's...good then. Right?" She supposed her confusion was clear in the way that came out, but she did not question as to the meaning of that statement. Her brow furrowed a moment, trying to contemplate what was so bad that everyone had to keep it from him. "And you think even Jordan's in on it?"

Starr laughed, this time not just a short, sad one, but a true laugh at that comment. Now, her room got pretty messy from time to time, but the oldest thing she'd ever found in her room was several days old, with the exception of old homework and tests. "Well, at least I don't have to call the CDC and have them quarantine your room." She joked, grinning up at the taller Brenden. She had hoped it had never gotten to that point, and never would. Her cousin's room on the other hand...well, his room needed to just be burnt down as to get rid of any contaminents hidden there. His room was positively disgusting, but he worked from dawn till dusk literally, and that didn't even include his homework or meals, so she supposed he had an excuse.

"Ah, we'll let him in on it after he finally finds you. Let him have his glory for a least a minute." Starr was referencing to the non-existant male ego that Jordan should have. Sometimes she wondered if he had ever had a huge ego, or if he just guarded it that well. She knew that, way deep down, he had to have some sort of manifestation of it. Maybe he was just that good of a guy, but she couldn't start thinking of him as the perfect guy or she'd get way ahead of herself.

She smiled and gave a half shrug. "I'm sure she'd never suspect little ol' me. I'm as innocent as a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar." She laughed again, then looked at Brenden with a look of mock hurt at his mention of zombies. Was it just her or was he mocking her? She put her hand over her heart and questioned him, "Are you making fun of me?" She gave a short, coughed out laugh and shook her head. "Nice, Brenden, very nice. Good to know that my fear of zombies and other horror movie creatures is so amusing." She shook her head again, knowing that she had been being silly and that he was only kidding, but she still had to say it. "Well, since you're so concerned about your truck being left with all the zombies, we can take your's. Though, before I so willingly leave my baby behind, where are we going and how long will we be? Because, my baby is just as afraid of zombies as I am and I would really hate to put her in any discomfort for too long."

She thought about it for a moment, whether or[/size][/blockquote]

[Jordan Anderson]

((I'm so sorry this took so long but my muse just died for days.))

Yes, he had told her an awful lot about Anthony and she probably had his basic personality down. But he knew that she probably should meet him soon after all, she'd probably be seeing a lot of him after this. Since he was bound to stick by him during school for the first couple of days. Not to mention, he'd already started his whole staying at people's homes to get away from his mother thing. "You know what, you probably should meet him and I know for a fact that he's not busy today." He said and then grinned before digging his cell phone out. It was too bad that Jordan was probably busy otherwise she could have seen how much he acted like a little kid when he was around Anthony. Although, half the time he wondered which one put the other up to doing things. Anthony did have his serious moments though and there were times when the two, or three of them depending on if Jordan was there got into some serious discussions.

He then dialed Anthony's cell phone number knowing that he probably was outside, trying to get away from his mother. It only rang for about a second before it was answered. "Hey, I've got somebody here who you've got to meet...I'm, somewhere and the whereabouts are unkown...Anthony Wallace it's Starr alright, it's not some crazy girl..how would you know all about her..Jordan well I guess you probably do then..listen be outside my house in about ten minutes alright..good, bye." He then hung the phone up and looked at Starr. It appeared as if Jordan had been speaking with Anthony about who she was and he actually wanted to meet her too. Of course, he probably did want to meet the girl that got Jordan to sing with a little encouragement.

"Ok, it's settled you can take your truck so that it's safe and you know it. Trust me, I'm probably as bad as you are if something happened to my truck I'd go on a hunt for whoever did something to it. And by the way I'm not making fun of you if Jordan told you some of my fears you'd be the one laughing." He said knowing that eventually his fear of beavers would come out and it wouldn't be a good thing for him. He then dug his keys out of his pocket and tossed them up in the air again before catching them. "By the way, if my room was quarantined then I'd have to sleep somewhere else and it would get as bad as that. But on a more serious note I know Jordan is in on it. I just have this feeling that he is." He said and then began to make his way toward his truck before stopping and turning to face Starr again.

"I bet that he finds me out here within the next two months or so. Trust me, he's a lot sneakier than I am and it's really hard to find him when he doesn't want to be found. By the way, you can just follow me if you want but I'm sure you know where my house is and that's where I'm picking Anthony up. You see, my brother's home and you don't want to meet Jake when he's in a cranky mood." He said and then rolled his eyes. His older brother was always crabby after he got off of work and even if he was passed out on the couch he'd wake up and once he found out there was another person there, especially a girl he'd get cranky really fast and probably play fifty questions. It was best if she didn't meet him just yet since he knew that eventually the two would run into each other sometimes weather he liked it or not.

"Oh and another thing, Jordan did invite you along on a certain camping trip our families are taking right? Because if he didn't then you're officially invited now. And if he didn't you can play actress around him and pretend you never heard about it and then he'll have to invite you." He said and then winked at Starr before turning away from her and making his way toward his truck again. In about a week or so they'd be going on a camping trip up in the mountains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. And the odds were that his sister would tell her embarrassing things about him yet he knew that it would be fun to have her along. After all, he had a slight feeling that Jordan had a thing for her. Yet he hadn't asked him yet since number one he didn't want to get his head ripped off, and number two he wasn't sure about it yet. The odds were that if Jordan did like Starr as more than just a friend, he'd tell him soon.

((Yes! My must is back.))

[Starr Parker]

Hearing Brenden say he wasn't busy made Starr smile. So she would finally, hopefully, meet this person who she felt like she'd known for years. She had Brenden and Jordan to thank for that, most definitely. She'd probably treat the boy like they had been friends for years. Hopefully that wouldn't freak him out. Eh, but with past experience, it probably would, which is why normally people didn't talk constantly about someone around her. Oh well, Jordan and Brenden didn't know any better. "That would probably be a very, very good idea. At this rate, next month I'll be treating him like I've known him since I was in diapers." She joked, grinning as he dialed the number.

The part of the conversation she heard made one eyebrow raise. So she wasn't the only person who had heard all about the other. And Jordan had told him? Well, okay, that was...odd. Well, not really, Jordan did know quite a lot about Starr and they did quite a lot together so she could imagine she would have come up at least once. She laughed silently though when Brenden said she was not some crazy girl. Well, she didn't know about that, sometimes she really did wonder about her sanity. I mean, she was afraid of any form of doctor, for Christ's sake. She stuck through the flu and any other illness on just advil, all because she didn't want to see one. Yep, crazy might just be the word for it.

"Yeah, if anybody touched my truck, I would go redneck on them with a shotgun." She laughed at herself, though was entirely serious. The comment about his fears got her wondering though. Now what was Brenden afraid of that was so funny? Jordan with birds was funny, but she knew plenty of people afraid of birds. Not out of the ordinary. "Really? Hm. Now that's got me curious." She really was, just like anyone would be. Sometimes Starr got very curious and had to know things or else she wouldn't be able to sleep. This wasn't one of them, but it'd definitely be on her mind now.

"I'll see if I can't find out something from him. Well, without raising suspiscion at least." She said calmly, wondering if that was at all possible. She very well couldn't say, 'oh hey, Jordan, what are you keeping from Brenden?' but how else would she find out. Putting on that thoughtful face in which she looks more confused than thoughtful, she slowly pulled her keys from her pocket and then was brought back to reality by Brenden speaking. Well, whenever Jordan found him, it would be the second time for someone to find Brenden up here. Maybe it'd be easier for Brenden with Jordan. She laughed at the comment about his brother. "Alright, well, avoid brother. Got it."

Ahhh, the camping trip. Oh yes, Starr had already been invited. Her mother had shrugged when she asked if she could go, but her step-father was not very happy. Alexa still wouldn't shut up about it. Starr blinked at the wink, wondering what that was supposed to mean. Did Brenden...no, no, she was being paranoid. "He already did, don't worry." She said and began to follow, heading towards her truck right behind Brenden.

[[New thread or continue here?]]

[Brenden Erickson]

((We can stay here.))

Well, if she treated him like that then he knew that Anthony would probably be a lot more comfortable around her. He knew that he didn't really like strangers that much and if she acted like she knew him forever then he probably wouldn't get a little on the nervous side. Sometimes Anthony still hid behind him when a stranger approached them but that hadn't happened in a few months so hopefully he was over it. "Well, I'm sure that he isn't going to mind if you do that. In fact, I'd bet that you'll be the first stranger that he's really comfortable around in a long time. Oh, and if I were you I wouldn't talk about Mike around him of course that was probably a given." He said and knew that she probably had known not to do that. After all, Anthony talked about Mike rarely, even rarer then he did.

Now she had put a rather funny image into his head and he knew that it would stay there for the next few days or so before popping up again months later. "I'd like to see that but then again I'd be a witness." He said and then heard her next comment. Oh great, now she was curious well he knew that sooner or later she'd end up finding out about his little fear. It would probably be sooner rather than later though. After all it seemed like those animals were everywhere. "Well, if you can sweet talk Jordan into telling you then you'll know. But until then it'll just have to be kept a secret. Wait a minute, that's another reason for you not to talk to my brother, he's really good at telling everybody personal things like that about me." He said before making a face, sometimes he really hated his brother.

"Well, if you can get anything out of him tell me. But when he doesn't want to tell a person something he can get like a toddler and just sit there with his mouth glued shut." He said and then wondered if Jordan had told her about the time when his brother had taped him to a chair. If he hadn't told her then Ashley probably had oh yes, he knew what she told Starr but he wasn't going to say anything to Jordan. If he did then he knew that he'd wake up with his nails done and that was an experience that he didn't want to get repeated. "He's probably passed out on the couch but I really wouldn't want to risk it." He said before looking up at the sky for no apparent reason. He did have a tendency of doing it and sometimes he'd get a little spacey and have to be brought out from daydreaming. Usually Jordan was the one to do that which meant he'd ended up being poked a lot.

So Jordan had already invited her, well that was good to know. It meant that it wouldn't raise questions. He didn't have a crush on Starr in fact, he hadn't really liked somebody like that for awhile now. And now that he thought about it he was rather creeped out by it so he decided to just stop thinking about that. Besides, he brother reminded him all the time about how easy it would be for him to get a girl. "That's good to know and I guess it means that he wanted you to go along. But I guess that we'd better get going." He said before waling the rest of the way to where his truck was. He then got in and a few moments later he was driving down the road and away from the cemetery. A soft sigh escaped him again as he wondered how things could happen so fast.

In what seemed like no time at all he was pulling up next to his house and noticed that Anthony was already there. He was pacing around and appeared to be wearing a track where he'd been walking. Apparently he hadn't been noticed yet since he was still walking from one tree to the next in the front yard. He studied Anthony's appearance for a moment and for the hundredth time he was amazed by how similar Mike and Anthony looked. Of course they had been siblings but still, Jake and him didn't look that much alike. He then got out of his truck and a split second after he shut his door Anthony was running over to meet him. For a moment, he thought that he was going to get ran into but Anthony stopped just in time. "If you ever go three days without talking to me again I swear I'll drag you away from wherever you are." Anthony said before hugging him, which was rather shocking. Perhaps he'd just been missed by Anthony that much.

"I've been busy, that's all and besides I hear that you were with Jordan. Which means that you two were acting like ten year olds without me." He said and then felt Anthony let go of him and step back. "Starr should be here any minute now." He said and wondered where she was.

[Starr Parker]

[[*gasp* is it a post?? *gasp* i believe it is. haha. yes, I'm finally posting. How horrible am I?]]

Well, it was good that he wouldn't mind, because Starr would probably wind up treating him like some long lost relative as it was. And Brenden's advice was sort of a given and she'd assumed to keep her mouth shut about that. In fact, better to act like she knew nothing at all about it. She thought it was hard getting Brenden or Jordan to talk about it, and she could only imagine what Anthony must be like. Then again, he was probably like she was about her dad- couldn't get a peep out of her on that subject even if you threatened her life with it. People had tried, failed, tried again, but to no prevail. On that subject, her lips couldn't have been tighter if you'd stapled them shut.

"I don't even have to sweet talk him. I'll just mention buying him a parakeet for his birthday, then he'll spill." She was, of course, joking around here. She wouldn't do that to Jordan, at least not unless he didn't something really, really horrible- which there was really little he could do as far as that went. Then again, keeping a huge secret involving Brenden away from Brenden was pretty bad. Maybe that would be her tactic to get that out of him. He would know she wasn't serious, but hopefully he would still tell her. Starr felt bad that Brenden had been put in such a situation that everyone knew something and he didn't.

Hearing that his brother was probably passed out on the couch was somewhat of a relief, but Starr knew how easy it was to wake up when sleeping on a couch. They, after all, were not as comfy as beds and you just couldn't get the same sleep in on one. Starr knew, she had slept on the couch a lot. Usually not on purpose, she just fell asleep on it. Hearing that they'd better be going, she nodded. No reason to stay in a cemetary longer than she needed to be, and Starr would be the first person out. She followed behind him, and when she reached her truck was happy to find it unharmed. Not that she had expected it to be trashed or anything, but after all, as she said before- zombies.

She followed behind his truck, though not because she didn't know the way. She, however, eventually got cut off by a light that turned red. When she finally pulled up, she saw Brenden standing next to who she assumed to be Anthony. Once she stepped out of it, she had the biggest urge to give Anthony a hug. How odd is that? Well, she did feel like he was some long lost relative. She walked up to the pair. "Sorry about the wait. I got stuck at a light."