The ship name for Daniel and Skylar that I liked the most was:
--) Dylar

So thank you @TaylorHearted for being the first one to give it (according to what I saw in the comments)
I saw all of your ship names and thanks for thinking of them!

Chapter |22|

It took me a few moments to figure out what was happening.

The drag of the so called kidnapper was sloppy, his hold on me loose and he couldn't even handle his own stuff along with me.

I almost wanted to roll my eyes.

Once I'd heard a few screams here and there, I realised what was happening. It was what the activity was. It was really weird but it was definitely an event of the Ball.

It had to be.

But the question was, who was my kidnapper-if you call him that.

It couldn't have been Daniel since he was taller than me and this guy had his shoulders almost at level with mine. So the possibility of it being Andrew was also cancelled out.

I had to figure out a way to get out of his hold, somehow.

Going for the best option I could think of, I dug my heels in the ground, trying to resist him dragging me. The plan seemed to work a bit since my kidnapper cursed.

Feeling his hold loosen enough for me to shrug his hands off, I did it. I quickly shrugged his hand off me and twisted my arms, turning around, so that he no longer restrained them.

Turning around, I glanced at the guy. He was slightly taller than me and had chocolate brown hair. He had large spectacles and looked bored out of his mind.

He was cute, though. Even with his spectacles on, his face was actually quite handsome.

I raised an eyebrow at him when he didn't make any move to capture me once again. Instead, he removed his specs before pocketing them.

"Aren't you going to try to catch me?" I asked when he blankly stood there.

"I have no interest in doing that. Just go cross the finish line, and you'll win," he answered and walked ahead before sitting down on a boulder.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. By now, I had figured that the activity was something about acting as kidnappers or whatever and then, doing god knows what.

I curiously followed him where he sat. "I know that this is a part of the competition but what I don't get is why you're not so enthusiastic about it," I said once I joined him in the Boulder.

"I didn't want to participate in the first place," he spoke, fiddling with the glasses in his pocket.

I looked at him, surprised.

He caught my surprised gaze and answered my unasked question,"My family, or specifically my grandparents are of ancient beliefs. They believe in an early marriage," he said.

"So you mean that-"

"-they think that I can find a bride here," he finished for me.

I gaped at him. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen in two days," he replied.

"Woah!"

He sighed as he looked up at the sky. I honestly felt bad for him. Forced marriage was one of the things I didn't like at all.

"By the way, I'm Tyler," he said, extending his hand.

"Sk-Penny," I caught myself before I uttered my real name and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Skylar," he said and my head snapped my head towards him, jaw hanging.

"H-How-What?"

My blue eyes met his cool green ones that held amusement in them. "Don't worry. I'm the only one who knows. I saw you with Andrew when you went to change,"he said and my eyes widened.

"Please don't tell anyone," I nearly pleaded. How many more were going to know this secret now?

He chuckled. "It's okay. Though I can understand why you don't want to associate yourself with Alicia," he spoke and my jaw dropped once again.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

Seeing my expression, he laughed again. Raising his hands in surrender, he spoke,"I'm a very observant person."

"Oh yeah, what else have you observed?"

"Well, Alicia cannot bear anyone crawling over her in the food chain, Eddy has a habit of picking his nose, Lacey doesn't like her boyfriend but likes to show him off, Andrew genuinely likes you-not in the crush way, though, Dave thinks no one notices him when he tries to cheat and..."

"Woah woah stop. How do you know all of this? And what do you mean by Lacey not liking her boyfriend?" I asked, pretty much flabbergasted by his observations.

He shrugged. "If she genuinely loved him, she wouldn't be off relationship relations with other guys," he said and I gaped.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Haven't you seen her smooching with that orange haired guy, I think his name is Isaac or something," he said and I shook my head.

I was about to say something when a whistle blew. I furrowed my eyebrows and opened my mouth to say something when Tyler interrupted me.

"Okay. You need to run to the finish line. You'll win that way. If they ask you about the kidnapper, tell them that you broke free and ran away," he said, quickly getting up.

"You sure you don't want to earn points? I have a feeling that we could be great friends," I said, a bit hopeful that he'd stay.

He laughed. "I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon. My momma darling won't allow that," he said, making me laugh.

"Okay, then. We'll hang out sometime?" I offered.

"Of course. I liked talking to you today. And before I forget, don't tell my secret to anyone either," he said, winking.

I chuckled but nodded.

"Now, go," I want to relax a bit.

Laughing, I shook my head. "Bye, Tyler. See you soon."

He gave me a nod before lying down on the big Boulder, with his eyes closed. Smiling a bit, I started my way to the finish line. I examined the map before catching on to my trail and jogged until I saw a red flag at the end.

I slowed down my jog and tightened my belts before walking my way to the finish line.

My eyes widened when I saw that almost all the girls had their hands cuffed. Some had their eyes blindfolded as their kidnappers stood beside them.

I spotted Alicia with her hands bound, who stood there with a dirty scowl beside a grinning Andrew.

"Looks like we have a winner from the girls side too," Lisa announced through the mic and all the eyes turned to me.

I saw some disbelieving glances being thrown my way as the whispers erupted.

I hid my smile as I walked towards Andrew, ducking my head so that my hair concealed my laugh that was waiting to burst.

I pressed my lips in a thin line before standing beside Drew who stood there with a proud expression as he watched me.

"Okay, let's begin with the ceremony, now that everyone has come," Lisa spoke and everyone began shuffling.

My eyes lifted towards Tyler who was walking in a relaxed pace, towards the podium.

What happened to his relaxing time?

He caught my gaze and discreetly winked as I laughed.

Andrew cleared his throat from beside me. "Do I need to beat someone?" He whispered and I elbowed him.

"Please no. I think he's one good friend I made during this Ball thing," I whispered back.

He feigned being hurt. "I thought you thought of me as a good friend."

"Nope. You're the best one, yet. Plus, you don't fit in the role of a 'good friend' when you're such an amazing brother," I said cheekily to which he replied by ruffling my hair.

"Ew. Your hair is so oily," he said with a distaste as he eyed his hand which had turned a bit greasy.

I simply stuck my tongue out in return.
****

"No way. Not possible," Andrew replied after I narrated my food fight with Daniel.

"What? You think I'm lying?" I asked, exasperated.

"You can't be talking about Daniel Richards, my best friend since kindergarten," he said shaking his head.

"Fine. Don't believe me," I huffed, crossing my arms.

We were in the nearby park, sitting and having ham and cheese sandwiches when I told Drew about our mid-morning food fight but he refused to accept that something like that happened.

He examined my expression for some time before giving me an incredulous expression. "That really did happen, right?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you for the past ten minutes," I said, throwing my hands up in frustration.

He whistled lowly. "I never expected things to change so rapidly."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Daniel from two years back would indulge in food fights, Daniel from now stayed away from anything of this sort. But not anymore, I guess," he said and tilted his head up to the sky.

"What happened two years back?"

"Nothing. But Lacey happened a year back and since she didn't like anything like water fights and food fights, Daniel stopped having them. He turned into a robot that went according to that bitch," he said, venom lacing each word that came out of his mouth.

Wow. He really had strong feelings for her, didn't he?

Somehow thinking this brought a bitter taste in my mouth. How could he let her control him like this?

I was about to reply when my phone started ringing. I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking to Miss Skylar Carter?" An unknown voice spoke into the phone, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"Yes, may I ask who is on the line?" I replied politely.

Andrew threw me a questioning glance but I motioned for him to wait and got up and walked towards a somewhat secluded area.

"My name is Robert Henderson. I am your mother's lawyer,"he said and I froze. Mom's lawyer? Why was he contacting me now?

"I'm sorry but my mother passed away a few years back. I don't see why you would contact me now," I spoke into the phone, a chill running down my spine.

"There are some things your mother had asked from me. I believe you've turned eighteen, so I'd like to meet with you to discuss a few of those things," he explained and questions clouded my mind like a storm.

"I don't understand. Why are you  contacting me instead of my father? If you want I can get his number for you," I offered, afraid that if I went near anything that reminded me of my mom, I'd not be able to handle it.

"There are a few things I'd like to discuss with you first. In any case if you feel that you'd like your father to handle it further, you can say so," he reasoned while I tried to figure out what he could want from me.

From this conversation, it was clear that father knew nothing about this. But the question remained; why?

"But-" I tried but stopped when I heard the next few words.

"This was your mother's last wish."

"Text me the place and time. I'll be there," I answered before abruptly hanging up.

I clutched my phone tightly in my hands before calming myself. I loved my mom too much. In fact, if given a chance, I'd gladly replace her in the grave because she was my life.

And what's a world to a lifeless person?
****
My feet anxiously tapped the wooden floor as I tried to concentrate on the movie playing in front of me.

Chloe was fast asleep next to me while Daniel was lounging lazily beside her sleeping form.

After dinner, Emma had suggested having a movie night so that's what we were doing bit my head was still spinning from the conversation I had with Mr. Henderson.

"You alright?" A deep voice pulled me out of my reverie and I turned to look at Daniel.

Startled by the question, I simply muttered,"Y-Yeah."

He seemed to take in my response before getting up. He adjusted Chloe's sleeping form so that she wasn't falling of the seat and walked towards me.

Standing right in front of me, he extended his hand. "Come with me."

Surprised, I looked up. "What?"

"We're friends, right? So trust me and come," he said, his hand not moving. Though he looked just a little hesitant.

Slowly, I nodded and placed my hand in his. He pulled me up with ease and started dragging me out of the movie hall.

"But Chloe?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry about her. She sleeps like a Koala. She won't be getting up anytime soon," he said, chuckling.

I couldn't help but let out a tiny smile. "So where are you taking me?" I asked as we exited the house through the backyard.

He seemed to hesitate once again but eventually replied. "Uh-it's kind of a secret place. Whenever I want to think or call my nerves, I come here."

My eyes widened. He was showing me his secret place?

My heart grew warm as I realised that he was slowly letting his walls fall. Thought very slowly, but something is better than nothing, right?

He led me outside the neighbourhood,  through a thin, almost invisible trail.

I almost tripped thrive, thus getting three big scratched from the thorn bushes on my calves. I flinched as they sting a bit.

"For a racer, you're pretty clumsy," Daniel remarked, making me glare at him.

"Shut up."

For the rest of the way, we walked in silence, with him leading the way. My anxiousness was almost forgotten as my curiosity overcame it.

I followed him as he made his way outside an abandoned building. It was a dome shaped building, built in off white colour. It stood in a cleared up area, right under the shimmering night sky.

"What's this place?" I asked, before getting my foot stuck in a ledge and falling again. I groaned as I examined the brand new gash.

Daniel shook his head, chuckling but replied.

"It is an abandoned observatory. Research scientists had built it to study the night sky and the mystery of the stars and what lies beyond. But soon they shifted to another place once the weather conditions changed," he explained and I watched in awe as we went inside.

There was a huge telescope on on side that pointed towards the open roof, directly absorbing the image of the stars and planets.

I watched in utter amazement as the clear night sky came into my view.

"Here, let's clean your cuts before I show you more," Daniel said, making me sit down as he took out a first aid kit from a drawer on the side.

I raised my eyebrow at him to which he shrugged, with a small smile on his face.

He handed me the kit before wandering off into darkness for a minute.

I opened the kit and then realised I really didn't know exactly how to clean wounds. I knew the basics but... This box contained a few complicated instruments and things that I seemed to be seeing for the first time.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to clean cuts," Daniel stole my thoughts and I glared at him.

"FYI, I do know how to clean cuts," I lied and started digging through the first aid box. First we applied some liquid to disinfect. But which one out of the three was the disinfectant?

I looked blankly at the three bottles of liquid and gel medicine before grabbing any random one.

Daniel started chuckling, making me go red with embarrassment. He took the bottle I'd picked up from my hand before replacing it with another one.

Shaking his head he started cleaning my cuts and I concentrated on the beautiful night sky above me to stop myself from cringing on both pain and embarrassment.

I didn't even realise that Daniel had finished since my sole attention was on the glittering stars and the way they seemed to be splattered on a blue background

"You want to see the best part?"

"This isn't the best?" I asked, my jaw hanging as I took in the beauty of the night sky. Nature was so beautiful and it was sad how we rarely appreciated it.

Daniel went to the side and switched something on and that's when o couldn't believe my eyes.

What I saw above was being reflected inside the dome, engulfing me in the beauty and its velvety touch.

"For tourist attraction, these reflectors were built so that they could enjoy the view of the stars they saw up in the sky. So, like it?"

"Are you kidding? I love it! Thank you for sharing this with me," I replied, honestly.

He smiled at me. "It's alright. You did look pretty shaken up back there," he said before coming to stand beside me.

"How many people know about this place?" I asked as I tried to absorb the beauty around me. My brain was still not believing what I was seeing.

It was like I'd been transported into a completely different world, away from reality.

"Everyone knows about this observatory but no one except me knows that it still works," he said before adding,"and now, you too."

My head snapped to his in surprise. "No one else?"

"No one else."

And that somehow increased the happiness I was feeling. And for once in three years, I was truly happy.

**********
Hey people!

How was it?

Who likes Tyler? What do you think about Daniel?

I hope you liked it! Anyways, VOTE and COMMENT cause that's what keeps me writing!

See you all next time!❤️❤️