It was a really rough first night; one moment I’m almost asleep, the next I’m being smothered by some strange warm things. Then those things vanished, and I could breathe again. But then there were the freaky sounds of shuffling and some gagging. And then something at least the same weight as me fell on me. If that was the end I’d have been okay, but the sudden smack of something hitting me in the face made things so much worse.
I heard the slapping of feet on the floor and then the sudden blinding light from someone turning on the overhead stung my eyes. I blinked away the white as the weight was pulled off of me and thudded to the floor. When I finally got my vision under control and put my glasses back on, I saw Kim tangled up with Tanya. I wasn’t certain who was winning this bout, but I could see they were about ready to kill each other. The other girls were behind Brittany, who was holding both girls by their feet.
I sat up, rubbed my temples with my hands, and asked the question everyone was waiting on an answer to. “What the crap is going on?”
Brittany looked up, “I was about to… I think someone needs to get you some tissue or TP. You’re kind of bleeding.”
I put my hand to my face and felt a warm spot under my nose. Pulling my fingers away, I saw that I was definitely bleeding. Thankfully, nothing felt broken, so I had to hope it wasn’t too bad. Dominiqu rushed off and came back with a couple of cotton balls, came over, and gently placed one up the offending orifice. It was weird, but I thanked her and looked back to the girls who were now separated.
“So,” I started, “who do we let give their side first?”
I looked at Brittany, letting her take over from here.
“Look, all I was doing was preventing My Little Molester Barbie here from violating Jace. I heard her sneak out of her bed and into his. I don’t care what she claims she was doing, I wasn’t going to let her hurt the guy. He’s taken enough of a beating today.” Tanya said, looking at the ground.
Kim wriggled in place, a frown crossing her features. “I wasn’t going to do anything, I just wanted to sleep in the same bed. I thought he might need some attention after everything that happened today. I wasn’t planning to cause any harm…”
I wasn’t certain what to make of the whole thing. I didn’t see any markers in either of their hands, so I doubted they were going to draw on my face while I slept. I couldn’t come up with any immediate ideas as to what they could have done to me in their condition, and those large warm things were definitely not shaped like a guy’s… oh, those were boobs then? Maybe.
“Fine, let’s assume we believe you both, why is Jace bleeding from the nose then?” Cathy asked from the door frame.
“Because he got excited that my boobs were in his face!” Kim cried out, excited and optimistic.
Tanya’s head sunk a little, “That was my bad. While restraining the bimbo my elbow must have hit him. Sorry.”
Kim leaned over toward Tanya, “So what you’re saying is, he was safe until you got involved. He got hurt because you interfered.”
Tanya got a little red in the face, and I could see the start of tears in her eyes. “You don’t understand. You can’t see the damage you’ve done already! You stupid cow!”
Everyone backed up a little at the sudden outburst. Brittany tensed, ready to jump between the two if needed. Cathy turned away, a shadow crossing her face like she knew what was coming next. The other girls looked at one another, then to me, and then back to Tanya.
“You don’t know what it’s like, being bullied for being different.” Tanya sobbed, her rage and sorrow spilling into every word. “He could have saved face during the first encounter with those jock assholes. But then you meddled! That one stupid action is why he got the crap kicked out of him back in the dining hall! Tomorrow it will only get worse. Don’t you get it?”
I felt a chill run down my spine as she laid everything out. Tomorrow we had at least one event where weapons would be involved, and nothing would be out of bounds with no adults around and a pack of muscle bound idiots bent on revenge. All it would take would be one good draw and release… an arrow to a vital point because someone “tripped” or “lost their grip” and I’d be out of commission permanently.
Kim shook her head, “They can’t do anything, that would be foul play!”
“No,” I said shakily, “remember the rules. It’s only foul play if it can be proved.”
Tanya nodded, “How can you prove that there wasn’t a misfire or that someone didn’t mean for something to happen? And even if we could prove it was foul play, and we had the requisite votes for starting a trial, how many people do you think will even care that Jace got injured? He didn’t want to be here, he’s not a popular kid at school, and outside of this cabin he’s a nobody. Do you think that’s going to get any support in a trial?”
Brittany put her hand on her shoulder. I could see her face going pale as the realization hit her that Tanya was right. The other girls shuffled, uncomfortable with the revelation. Kim opened and closed her mouth, trying to form words to fight the information dump that had been dropped on her.
“Well, it was nice knowing you girls while it lasted I guess.” I said bitterly, laying back on my bunk and rolling to put my back to them.
“There’s got to be something we can do. I’ll try calling Chelsea and-“ I heard Brittany start, her voice frantic.
“NO!” Kim shouted, her voice tinged with rage and disbelief. “I can keep him safe. We don’t need someone else getting involved.”
I felt a stone forming in the pit of my stomach. I knew she was just setting me up to get hurt, but I didn’t realize she hated me this much. I tried staying out of her way, I tried keeping to myself so she wouldn’t have a reason to dislike me… but I guess I was wrong. I guess, even after all of my efforts, I was just destined to be the bane of everyone’s existence until someone put me down like a dog. So tomorrow would be the end of it…
“Chelsea can talk to Tommy, he can-“ Brittany began again.
I spun around, “No. Tommy only does what Chelsea asks because he wants in her pants. I’m just the unfortunate tag along that Chelsea pities, and he has to tolerate my existence for her. Me vanishing in some freak accident is the best thing that could happen for him. She gets depressed briefly, he acts like her rock in the sea of grief, and then one thing leads to another and they do the horizontal monster mash in the back of his car.”
I hurt from saying it, acknowledging my situation, and I couldn’t fight back the burning, stinging tears. All my earlier rage vanished, all of my pain intensified, and I just wanted to be alone again. If it hadn’t been for that jerk of a coach and the people who run this stupid game, I could have had a summer where I lived… a summer where I could have spent just a little more time with Chelsea.
I closed my eyes and let the tears fall, knowing there was nothing I could do about the coming storm. I clenched my fists and sat there, crying like a coward, not even willing to try and fight back. “It’s not fair.”
“Jace...” one of the girls said, her voice carrying sympathy.
“It’s not fair! I didn’t ask to be here! I didn’t want to be here! I just wanted to avoid taking a class where I would get ridiculed again, and instead I end up in this crappy situation! What did I do to deserve this? I… I just… I just want to go home…” I let everything out, my shouts falling to a whimper by the end. I placed my head in my hands, letting everything flow out.
The next thing I felt was a warm sensation wrapping itself around me. I felt a hand stroke my hair, a body pushing itself against my face, and before I knew what I was doing I threw my arms around whoever it was that was holding me. I stayed like that for some amount of time, immeasurable in the land of my self pity.
A cough from one of the other girls brought me back from the pits of despair and made me release whoever was holding me. When the body moved, it was Kim who I saw had been comforting me.
“Can we talk about how to keep Jace safe? As a team?” Cathy asked to the room.
I saw Jasmine pull herself away from a wall and walk out of the room. Dominiqu walked over to Tanya and hauled her up. Brittany took a deep breath and turned to Jenny and Taylor, she made eye contact and then waved them into the next room. They walked out quickly, avoiding making eye contact. Tanya and Dominiqu followed shortly after.
I started to stand, but a body falling across my lap made that almost impossible.
“Let the others handle it. You should rest. We need our glorious leader in top shape when the morning comes. We have to get to the mess hall first thing in the morning, before everyone else, so we need to be at our full strength.” Kim said, laying her hand on my face as she looked up at me from my lap.
“But… they said as a team… I should be there.” I mumbled, trying to make up a reason to convince myself more than her.
Kim moved her hand behind my head and pulled me in as close as she could, and then she made a quick motion. I felt her lips touch my own, and then she pulled back, her face flushed red.
“I promise I won’t try getting into your bed again tonight if you promise to let us handle this.”
She slowly got up and pushed me into my bunk, and then walked over to turn the lights off. Nothing about this made any sense to me, but I knew I wasn’t hallucinating… the sensation of her lips still hung on my own. I can only assume this was like that “kiss of death” you hear about in the mafia… but with a high school girl sealing your fate instead of a moll.
I readjusted, turned over, and tried to forget that my imminent demise was on the horizon. I tossed and turned all night, sleep barely gracing me for more than a few minutes at a time. But eventually I forced myself to stay awake, walking out of the cabin, and I watched the sun rise over the trees and mountains in the distance. It was a beautiful site, and if it would be my last… I wouldn’t complain too much.
“I knew I’d find you out here.” Came a small voice from behind me. I turned to look and saw Brittany coming out holding a mug in each hand.
She passed me one and we both took a seat on the stairs, turning back to gaze out over the lake. The clear water reflected the colors in such an amazing way, filling me with a sense of tranquillity. I took a sip from the mug I had been handed, hot cocoa with a hint of hazelnut and vanilla, and sighed.
I turned to look at Brittany, “So what did the girls come up with?”
Brittany had set her cup down and had fallen asleep on the steps, her head swaying until it landed on my shoulder. I scooted in close and held her there, trying to make sure she didn’t get cold. I saw a small smile cross her lips, her breathing was steady and shallow. I heard her whisper something that sounded like “I love you” and a light snore escaped her frame. I don’t know who she was dreaming about, but I’m glad she had someone she was interested in. She was always around Chelsea and I, so I didn’t think she got much time to find someone… so I really hoped it wasn’t Tommy, because he was the only other person she was around a lot. Unless it was Chelsea, and neither of us knew Brittany was a closet lesbian.
We stayed like that for a few more minutes, then I gently woke her so we could go in and get ready for the last foreseeable day of my life.
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