Surviving Sang

The Tickle Monster

A/N: I'm having a lot of trouble deciding when to begin my timeline. Around Thanksgiving? Skip to January? In the Spring? Since I'm still stumped and working on that, let's just start out at the park and worry about silly things like the plot later, yeah? Edit: Oh wow, since I chose the outdoors for this chapter, I have to worry about things like WEATHER. Whatever; it's Spring.

"I'm king of the world!" Luke yelled, beating both fists upon his chest as he stood atop the monkey bars.

"Luke, sit down!" I ordered, biting my lip to fight the anxiety building up inside of me. These Academy boys were daredevils, but I never considered them suicidal.

"I'm fine, Cupcake," Luke smirked as he had the audacity to wink at me. Then the annoying little weasel caused even further heart palpitations for me as he hopped from one bar to the next.

"Luke!" I cried, adjusting my tight grip on the bar I was perched on. "Stop it!"

"Sang, he's only ten feet off the ground," Victor laughed as he walked up beneath me. "Relax. We've been way higher at bootcamp and missions."

"Are you trying to freak me out more?" I asked through clenched teeth. Looking down at Victor, I saw his eyes dart away as red blossomed on his cheekbones.

"Victor, is everything okay?" I asked, wondering what could have possibly happened to make one of the boys blush. It didn't happen often, considering I blushed enough for all of us.

"Nothing, Princess," Victor answered somewhat hoarsely before clearing his throat and walking a few feet away. "It's just getting a little warm out."

"A little warm, eh?" A voice teased from behind me. I turned around to see Gabriel climbing towards me atop the monkey bars, a sly grin on his face. "You sure it didn't have anything to do with the view, Vic?"

My head tilted in confusion as I saw Victor glaring at Gabriel, but I took a look around the park just in case I missed something. The sun was shining brightly now, as it was early afternoon. Personally, I thought the view was beautiful. Gabriel, Luke, and Victor were by my side. Kota and Nathan were playing frisbee, while North and Silas had just switched from playing catch to grilling lunch for us all. Dr. Sean and Mr. Blackbourne were sitting in the shade and it looked like they were playing a board game. Yes, I thought with a nod my head, this view is gorgeous.

My eyes shot back to Luke as he dismounted off the monkey bars with a front flip. My heart flipped right along with him, as my grip tightened on the bar.

"Luke!" I groaned, shutting my eyes tightly. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Your turn, Sang!" Luke just grinned in response, his chocolate eyes twinkling up at me.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes and started to scoot across the steel bars towards the playground structure.

"Just drop down, Cupacke. I'll catch you," Luke assured me, holding his arms up towards me. He was so tall, my feet already met his shoulders. I slid to the edge of my bar and grasped the one in front of me. Slowly lowering my body as Luke grabbed my hips, I was brought back down to the ground. My body had slid down the length of his, and I had a feeling that was completely intentional on his part, which the mischievous glint in his eyes confirmed. Luke grinned down at me and gave my hips a squeeze before letting go.

"Where to next, Trouble?" Gabriel asked, tossing his arm around my shoulders. I looked around the park, thinking of what we could do next. We'd already explored the entire playground, and I didn't think frisbee was an option for me.

"Let's see how the grilling is going?" I asked, looking between the three boys.

"Of course, Princess," Victor smiled, placing himself on my other side as we began walking towards the rest of our group. Gabriel hummed under his breath as we journeyed through the grass, and Victor's hand brushed against mine every few steps. We shared a secret smile, and I wished we could be open enough to hold hands while Gabriel was holding me.