After lots of knife throwing (only after learning the proper form from Kate first), endurance training, muscle building, and plenty of other strenuous activities, we sprint back to the mansion. I, of course, feel like a limp lasagna noodle so I more-so jog than sprint, but Kate and Toby encourage me to sprint through the pain.

We make it back to the house and I just know my face is flushed and red from all the exercise that I'm not used to. I wipe the sweat off of my forehead as we walk inside, only to find that another group of people are playing Mario Kart in the living room again. We walk past them, but when we stop under the chandelier, Toby turns and stares at the cut on my cheek. The lighting is best here, so I know he's trying to see if it's infected or not. He puts his thumb to my cheek to pull the skin a little and see if there's any dirt inside the cut, and I let him.

As he does this, I glance over at the group of people in the living room and see Ben staring at me with the new girl Serena on his right. She turns and looks at him, then follows his stare to meet my face. Now that I'm closer I can take in all her features. She truly is the flawless definition of beauty. I can't help but feel jealous. She turns and places her hand on his arm, turning his attention back to her. She says something to him with a soft smile and he copies her smile, then makes a joke that makes them both laugh.

Even more jealousy swarms in my chest. It quickly turns into anger though.

I don't even notice that Toby pulled away a long time ago, and that he's looking at me curiously.

"Oh, sorry. Let's go," I say.

We make our way upstairs and meet Kate who is waiting for us at the top of the stairs. They drop me off at Ben's room so I can go inside and find a change of clothes, and while I'm there I write a note to Ben saying that I'll be staying in Kate's room tonight. On our way back to the mansion we had agreed to have a slumber party with all three of us.

Not like he would miss me. Maybe Serena will get him breakfast in the morning since they seem so close.

I take a change of clothes to the bathroom and shower, washing the dirt off of my body and my cut. It feels so nice to get all the sweat and grime off. After my shower, I change clothes and head to Kate's room.

When I arrive, her and Toby are already showered and in matching pajamas, both of their heads sopping wet because they didn't bother to dry their hair. To be fair, I didn't either, but it looks silly on them.

"(Y/n) can take the bed and Toby and I'll take the floor. Is that okay with you Tobs?" Kate asks, turning to face him.

"Heck yeah, floor buddies," he says, giving her a high five. She looks back at me and I give her a smug, knowing look, then offer a wink. She returns the knowing look with a playful glare, then we set up our beds and turn on the TV.

"Okay, so I'm thinkin' that we should, we should get up early and train early in the morning," Toby says. Kate and I groan but agree, as we both hate mornings.

We watch a marathon of Spongebob before the two of them fall asleep, but I lay awake staring at the screen. Now that their laughter and jokes aren't filling my ears, my mind can't help but wander to Ben. Why was he with that girl? Why are they so close? She just got here today, right? So how are they already friends?

I look down at Kate and Toby and find them asleep. They both are laid in awkward positions that fit together so naturally. They'd make a great couple. They fit together so well. Ben and Serena... I know nothing about her, but I know she's beautiful, and beautiful people go together really well. By that logic, her and Ben should fit together like puzzle pieces.

The thought makes me sad, but then it makes me angry. I remember all he did, all he said, and get angry that someone would like him, especially someone as pretty as her. What does she see in him? She definitely was flirting with him. She was all over him! Well not really, but still.

At this rate, I won't be able to sleep. My feelings are too strong, and I need to blow off some steam. I sit up, careful to be quiet as I get out of Kate's bed and step around her and Toby. I grab my knives and bat, then make my way out the door, down the stairs, and to the woods.

I notice once I step outside that I forgot my shoes, but I don't bother turning around to grab them. It'll be good to toughen out the soles of my feet, just like when I was running away from Ben that first night.

I make my way to the riverbed where Kate, Toby, and I shared fish over a bonfire that one time. This will be a good spot to practice throwing knives: it's very open.

I pick a tree to make my target and start throwing, but most of my knives miss. If they do hit the tree, they just bounce off and land on the ground. I continue to throw, quickly getting bored of having to pick up the knives after I throw them all, and also quickly getting sick of missing.

I can imagine Ben making fun of me for missing so much, but when I try to imagine him laughing at me, all I hear is him laughing with me, him making jokes to make me feel more comfortable, him telling me everything will be okay.

I hate it. It hurts knowing it was all fake. I feel tears pool in my eyes, which just makes me angrier. I hate that I'm letting it get to me, that he's making me so emotional. I growl at myself, but then the growl turns into a frustrated scream. I throw the knives onto the ground and punch my own leg in frustration.

I hate this. I'm just being over dramatic. It's not like I had any sort of bond with him. No, it was all fake. I was tricking myself into thinking there was something there. I've only known him for what, two days?

He's nothing. We're nothing.

I pick up my bat and angrily swing it at a tree, but the recoil hurts myself more than it probably hurt the tree. I stumble away, then drop the bat and return to throwing the knives.

I try to imagine Ben's face over the tree trunk to see if that would help me at all, but it just makes me think of his pretty face and it distracts me.

I hear a rustle in the leaves behind me, and I quickly turn around and hold my hands close to myself to protect myself. Wow, Kate was right. My reflexes are awful. I should be more like her and throw the knife, not cower away.

"...and I even saw Masky and Hoodie come here together one time. They don't get the chance to go on dates a lot so I left them alone though," I hear Ben's voice say. I shove my knives in my pocket and pick up my bat as he and Serena come into view. "This is the place..." he says, trailing off when he sees me.

He said Masky and Hoodie, whoever they are, come here together on dates, and he's taking her here now. Does that mean that this is a date? Were my suspicions correct?

They both stare at me, Ben wearing an expression of worry and Serena wearing an unreadable expression. She looks me down, and not in a flattering way.

"H-hi, I'm (y/n)," I say, walking closer to her. At least I'll try to be polite.

"Yeah, I know. I'm Serena. I've heard a lot about you," she says. I can't tell if she means it in a nice or mean way, but I can't help but assume the worst. Because of that, I struggle finding something else to say.

We sit in an awkward silence for a few seconds before she thinks of something to say.

"We, uh, didn't mean to interrupt your... uh... we didn't mean to interrupt you. We can find somewhere else to stargaze," she offers. Stargaze?! That's definitely romantic. Even more proof that whatever was going on with Ben and me was fake. It was all a lie. He lied to me.

"No, it's okay. I was just about to leave anyways. Don't let me ruin your guys' date," I say with a forced smile.

"A-a date?" She says, obviously faking being shocked. Or maybe that's just my mind playing tricks on me to make her out to be the bad guy. She grabs Ben's sleeve and shuffles closer to him. "If this was a date you should have said so!" She jokes. It makes my blood boil.

Without another word, I pick up my stuff and speed walk back to the mansion.

When I get there, the urge to scream has only gotten stronger, so I decide to jog laps around the house to let off some steam. The faster I can get stronger, the faster I can go on my first mission. The faster I can go on my first mission, the faster I can prove to Slenderman that I am useful. The faster I prove to Slenderman that I am useful, the faster I can cut ties with Ben. Right now, that is motivation enough for me to run.

I run until I've calmed down, then I make my way back upstairs and to Kate's room. I realize that I got sweaty and gross again, so maybe it's best to not sleep under her covers unless I shower again, but I'm too exhausted for that. Instead I just sleep on top of her covers. Luckily for me, this time I almost instantly fall asleep.

(Word count: 1754)