They just stare at me.

Well, those of them that can open both eyes.

I shrug.

Looks like we are back to them staring/stunned/gawking and me having no clue why.

Must be a guy thing.

They continue to look at me like I am crazy.

I'm not crazy, you know.

I am just mentally hilarious. And WEIRD. Wonderful, Exciting, Interesting, Real, and Different.

"Welp, I am headed to the forest. Catch y'all later."

I glide out the door, my pain and the food working together to make me happy and energized.

I head to where my suitcase is located and pull out a deep green sweatshirt and green shirt that will blend with the forest better than my purple tank top would. I slip them on over my head and am about to head out, when they come into the room.

"Ms. Sorenson, the first round will be you finding us and the second will be us finding you. Whoever is hiding must stay hiding for an hour to win. If you are found before an hour is up, you lose. You will be given a generous thirty minutes to hide," Mr. Blackbourne says.

"Okitay! Sounds fair to me!" I sing out.

"Sang Baby, are you okay to go on? I saw you take a few hits," North Star asks concerned.

"Pshht. Please, that was nothing. Plus, I like pain. It is super fun."

With that, I turn on my heel and move to walk outside.

"Start the timer, old timers!" I call over my shoulder.

I wait until I am out of sight before taking off at a sprint in a random direction. I clear miles like they are nothing, with Star's assistance.

Rather than getting as far away as possible, I have Sarah memorize every little detail in the woods. Star helps me race through the forest. Now, it will be even easier to track their paths.

I use the last ten minutes to hide. I run to the stream and follow it for a ways so our tracks are lost. I don't think that they would have a tracking dog, so my decision to go through the stream is a decent idea.

I pull off my sweatshirt, not just because I am dying of heat, but this way I can try and trick them.

I use a sharp rock and shred my sweatshirt. I take bittersweet berries and mash them in between to rocks. Once I have a decent juice, I use my sweatshirt to absorb the juice. The result is a "bloodied" and torn sweatshirt.

Rest in peace, my sweatshirt. RIP.

I then make fake bear tracks around it and hide the rocks covered in berry juice before making drag marks in the ground.

I smile my evil smile.

I nod in satisfaction and climb up a tree.

I stand on a sturdy branch and carefully race to the end and leap over to a nearby tree. I make my way through the forest quickly via tree leaping.

When I decide I am far enough away, I climb to the top of a tree. The branches are thin and sway in the wind, but I am holding on to a cluster of branches so I am safe.

"Sarah? How much longer do I hide out for?"

"Thirty five more minutes. Hopefully, the "bear attack" will stall them for a while. They might panic a little, but that is fine. Panicked people are rarely smart people."

"Sang, we are cool right? We never meant to hurt your feelings," Star says.

"Cool? Cool doesn't begin to describe our relationship," I say with a wink before adding, "Besides, I can't be mad or ignore you two forever. Might as well forgive and forget sooner rather than later. It just bugs me that you two were able to keep me in the dark. Especially considering what you two are."

"That makes sense."

We spend the next forty minutes talking about nothing and everything. For example, that awkward moment we all have. You know, when a zombie is looking for brains and walks right past you.

I guess the boys gave up or something.

I decide to make my way back taking a different route.

I fly through the trees as the branches allow me to move crazy fast.

At the edge of the forest, I scamper down the tree and walk back.

All this exercise is annoying and boring. Very boring.

When I arrive at the mansion, I head in and call out their names.

"Meanie? Paprika? Pug? Peep? Filter? (That's you, Marc!) Numbers? Mr.B? North Star? Brandon? Raven? Always? Superman? Axel? Prince?"

My 'lanta, there is a lot of them.

"Come on! You guys aren't old enough to pretend to be deaf! Where are ya?!"

I huff.

Wait...

Time alone... In a giant mansion shared by fourteen gorgeous guys...

Are you thinking what I am thinking?

The perfect time to get ahead on my prank plan!

Mr. Blackbourne is next so he doesn't notice what we are doing until it is too late.

I race up the stairs and into his bedroom. Moving quickly, I shift everything in his room two inches over. He even keeps everything so clean that you can't notice where the furniture was moved.

The perfect prank for a perfectionist.

He will be off balance because of the difference, but the difference will be so small he won't notice it for a while. I wonder how long it will take him to notice his stuff has been moved.

I giggle to myself and dance down the staircase.

I wander into the kitchen and grab a glass of water.

To kill time, I sit at the counter and drink it slowly.

Where aaaaaarrrrrrreeeeee they?!

I flop upside down on the couch and start to sing.

I sing. And sing. And sing. And sing.

How long does it take to walk back?!

Finally, I here the door bang open and Gabriel shouting, "Trouble! Are you in here?!"

"It's about time!" I yell. "I have been waiting for the last eighty years! Now I am an old spinster and I don't even have a cat! Just a skunk!"

They all rush into the living room.

"Sang Baby!"

"Cupcake!"

"Mechanic!"

"Princess!"

"Aggele mou!"

"Coffee Bean!"

"Trouble!"

"Peanut!"

"Ten!"

"Arrow!"

"Pumpkin!"

"Ms.Sorenson."

"Kitten!"

"Skunk?!"

I look at Axel, "I'm Arrow?"

"Yes. Very much."

I shrug to the best of my ability while upside down before turning to Corey, "Does that make me Skunk as well?"

Corey blushes.

"If that's okay with you."

Is the honor of being called a skunk okay with me?

"Absolutely! And what on earth took you guys so long?! How long does it take to walk back? It took me just a couple minutes!"

North Star looks livid.

"What took us so long?! We spent that time looking for you! We found your bloody sweatshirt and bear tracks dragging you off!"

"How did you survive, Arrow?" Axel asks curious.

"Well, Bow, I set it up with berries, rocks, and some branches. I needed something to suck up time so I wasn't bored and you guys would be occupied. Worked like a charm, ay?"

"I'll ****ing say! You can't ****ing do that ****, Trouble! We were worried sick! We thought you were dead!"

"Oh, yeah? Then why did you ask if I was in here?" I challenge before gasping. "You thought I was a ghost?! Am I a ghost?!"

I throw myself at him hugging him and trying not to cry.

"I don't wanna be a ghost!" I wail.

"Ten! You are not a ghost! We are chewing you out for making us waste time searching for you!"

Excuse me?!

I stop and turn to him completely blank faced.

"Making you?" I say with an icy tone. "Did I ask you guys to take forever and abandon me? I came back here so you didn't have to keep looking because you never would have found me. You guys staying out was your decision. Not mine. Do not blame me for your poor communication skills. You should have been more clear in the instructions."

"Our apologies, Ms.Sorenson. You are right. However, you should not have worried us like that."

"Okay, we are all at fault so we will all forgive each other. Now, I believe it is my turn to find you guys?" I say.

I like it better when we get along, and I hate holding grudges.

They brighten up and run out.

"Sarah, start the timer."

I wait for them to hide in the thirty minutes given.

The second their time is up, I am off.

I race to the woods and follow their scents to where they split up. I decide to follow Gabriel's scent because his is the strongest. I follow his orange and cinnamon scent through the trees and keep an eye out for clues as I go. A foot print here, a broken branch there prove that I am on the right track. Finally, his smell is stronger and I can hear quiet breathing from a pile of leaves.

"Found you Meanie. Now get out of the leaves and help me find the others or head back. Now, I am off to find North Star."

I turn and lift my nose to the air and sniff before nodding. I was right, North Star's musk shows that he was over here at one point. I follow my nose to the rocks where I see a black shoe sticking out behind a boulder.

"Seriously, North Star? I can see your shoe! What are the qualifications for the mafia again?"

A grumpy North Star lumbers to his feet and walks over.

"Was I the first?"

"Second, don't worry. You gonna help?"

North Star nods.

We head out and all I can hear is his loud footsteps.

"North Star! Quit walking so loud! How am I supposed to hear them with your thundering steps?!" I shout exasperated with his noise.

"Sorry, not sorry. I am walking next to silent. What the **** are you talking about?" North Star asks.

I roll my eyes.

"Hold still for a minute or go back."

He freezes and I close my eyes and tip my head back.

I take a deep breath. I can't hear anything out of the ordinary, but I can s ell something faint. There is the faintest smell of coffee.

Marc.

I open my eyes and grin widely.

I have his scent.

Why do I feel like a dog?!

I motion for North Star to follow me and he does reluctantly. I take him into the trees where I find Marc's trail.

"Look at those footprints. See how clearly they are pressed into the dirt? Obvious trap. No one walks like that," I point out to North Star.

North Star looks surprised.

"You know that? How?"

"I read a lot and snuck out to the woods behind my house where I got used to tracking animals."

What are you talking about? I don't track them to eat them! I

Oh, wait.

I sometimes do.

I step carefully and silently up to a tree.

Quickly, I climb up it and my sharp eyes can still see the footprints. I leap through the trees. I am focused on the footprints and my leaping and I am ignoring North Star's protests.

"Shut up! Do you want Marc to hear us?" I guess at him.

"How are you so sure that it is Marc?"

"I can smell him, nincompoop. Now, silence!"

There!

A rope is inconspicuous and hidden where someone focused on the footprints would walk. The role would jerk them up the tree where they would hang by their foot.

Marc was literally planning on leaving me hanging.

I follow his real footsteps out of there and follow them to some bushes.

"Hello, Marc. Long time, no see. Did you really think that trap would work?" I tut and shake my head.

"Sorry, Coffee Bean," Marc says sheepishly as he crawls out of the bushes. "North? She found you first?"

"Naw," I answer for North Star. "Gabriel first. He is back at the house. Now, no more questions. Be silent or head back."

Marc falls silent.

I tip my head back and smell again.

I grin evilly.

Did they really stay in a group of four?

I follow the smell of leather and cyprus, sweet spice, oil and pine, and marshmallows and steel.

I race through the forest silently. I don't want them to hear me and scatter.

I turn to Filter and North wars who are doubled over panting and red faced.

"Stay here. They are close and I don't want your noise to scare 'em off."

I crouch and dart through the trees following my nose.

Soon, I can hear their breathing and hearts beating behind trees, rocks, and bushes.

"Come out," I command, but they don't listen.

I huff impatiently.

"Peep! Paprika! Numbers! Brandon! I can hear and smell y'all so get your booties out here! I have already found Meanie, North Star, and Marc."

They reluctantly come out of hiding.

Truly, they must not be very bright to hide together.

"Be silent or head back. I still have half of you to find and I am halfway out of time."

Moving quickly, I turn on my heel and stride back to Marc and North Star. Together with Marc, North Star, Paprika, Corey, and Brandon, I go back to where they split up.

I follow Luke's trail to where he moved to the trees.

"Luke is in the trees. Stay here, I'll be back soon. Don't give away my position."

"I got digs," Brandon announces.

I nod, pleased that someone is following instructions.

I take off, flinging myself through the trees. I follow his vanilla and sugar scent quickly gaining speed.

I hear the faintest of heart beats me tiny breathes.

Impressive. Normally, Always would have been impossible to find.

Silently, I leap over to his tree and follow the branch to right behind Luke.

I am right behind him.

I know the second I open my mouth, my breath will hit his neck so I am careful not to breathe until I speak.

"Hello, Luke," I say in a polite conversational tone.

Luke jumps and squeaks.

He looks at me blushing and wide eyed.

I laugh quietly.

"Let's go. You are number eight."

I motion for him to be quiet and we sneak up on the others who are quietly talking.

I jump out of the tree and keep my body straight as I flip forward several times and land perfectly. I throw my hands up and strike a pose like a gymnast.

"Ta da!"

I stand normally.

"Now, we are going to Axel and Victor since they isn't too far from here."

I follow the smell of wood smoke and the smell of moss and berries to a ditch where Axel and Victor are crouched down in.

"Hop out, Prince and Bow. Now we need to find Mr. Blackbourne, Silas, Raven, and Pug. We have about twenty minutes left."

I tip my nose back and inhale deeply.

Silas and Pug are together. Their smells of the ocean and of ginger and citrus are close together.

They jog with me as I follow their scents with my eyes closed.

Eventually, we come to the stream.

I smirk.

Did they really think that the water would wash their scents off?

Walking through water will never lose someone tracking you by smell because they are really tracking your dead skin cells. When you step out of the water, your dead skin cells drop off with the water into a smelly pile. All I have to do is follow my nose to that pile of dead skin cells.

Quickly, I follow my nose to the pile of skin cells and make my way to where they are hiding. They walked over rocks, but I am still able to smell them hiding in a cave.

I walk to the entrance.

"Found you two! Now let's go Superman and Pug."

They come out smiling and see the others.

"Now to find Raven and Mr.Blackbourne. Head back to the house. I will be there shortly. I have been catching their scents while tracking you all down."

I race to where I know Raven is hiding and breathe in his unique smell of cayenne and cherries.

"Raven, come on! I am almost out of time. Get out of that Bush and head back, I gotta go get Mr. Blackbourne."

Sprinting, I make it to where I know Mr.Blackbourne is hiding somewhere in the rocks.

His heart beats and I walk up and spot him.

"Hey, Mr.Blackbourne!" I chirp. "You are the last one. I got all of you in under an hour. Kinda shaming that I could get fourteen of you in less than an hour, but the fourteen of you couldn't find the one of me in hours. Plural."

Mr.Blackbourne steps out and straightens his maroon tie. Somehow, his suit is still perfectly clean and pressed.

"Indeed, Ms.Sorenson. But where are the others?"

"Oh, back at the mansion. Race you there!"

I turn and run much faster than possible for the average human.

I don't think he was racing with me.

Oh well.

I throw open the door.

"Honey! I'm home!" I call out.

"Does that make me Honey?" Paprika says smirking.

"Sure! That can be your nickname, Paprika!"

He chuckles and the others join in.

"When Mr.Blackbourne gets back, y'all can go over the next round!"

"Well, we'll probably discuss your methods of tracking first," North Star announces.

Oh.

I see.

They need lessons but are too shy to admit it.