Choking on Diamonds

Twenty

"Holy fucking shit it's fucking freezing!"

Goosebumps covered my skin as I let out my yelling anger and discomfort. It felt as if icicles were being stabbed through my calves as the cool Long Island wind nipped at my bare skin. The sunset reflected off the water as the dimming night only made the water feel colder. My muscles tensed involuntarily in a futile attempt to warm myself as Cameron yelled back at me, "You're the one who lost the bet!"

My head whipped around as I narrowed my blue eyes at my friend, all of my discomfort searing into her small body. "The Canadiens were going to win you absolute asshole!" I yelled back through cupped hands while the light waves lapped against my calves. Suddenly, a muscular arm wrapped around my hips as the force of a full two hundred pound man slammed into me, engulfing my body in frigid water. 

The icy brackish water reached the tip of my scalp as the water pushed at my thin eyelids. As soon as my butt made contact with the smooth sand below me, my legs scrambles to get under me and shoot my body up. I gasped and whipped dark brunette my hair back before whipping the water from me eyes. "What the fuck it's cold as balls!" The freezing water was now at my waist as a slightly warmer body sprung up beside me.

"Some people do this to relieve muscle tension and stress," my gay friend said cheerfully with an undertone of sarcasm.

"I hate you."

"Misery loves company, Klein."

I snarled at him while rolling my eyes, not wasting a second in wading out to the shore of the beach where Hunter and Nate stood to the right of Camryn, each smirking with amusement. With my black T-shirt sipping wet and clinging to my skin like a tight dress, I glared at them. "It was a dumb bet and you three are even dumber for making us go through with it."

"You're the one that agreed to it," Nate responded to my grumble with a cheeky smile. "It's a shame Syd's at that music expose in the city, she would have joined you just to say she did it."

"God bless her soul she'd jump off a cliff just to say she did it," I replied while snatching my dry clothing from Nate's large right hand. Shamelessly, I slipped my underwear over my damp legs and under my shirt, turning around before togging off the heavy cotton material. Sloppily, I clasped my bra back on and tugged the deep crimson straps over my soaked skin, the fabric sticking in every possible way.

"You and Luke make up?" Will asked almost teasingly from behind me as he too redressed behind me. His decision to wear skinny jeans without boxers since they were soaked is still not something I understand, but he could do him I suppose.

"No," I snorted in response to mask the hurt in my tone. I hadn't spoken to Luke in a week. I refused to go back to him first but every day it hurt more and more. Did my own boyfriend not even love me in the slightest? "Why?"

"Because there's a fucking fist sized bruise on your ass and I didn't take you for the rebound type."

"Considering Luke And I aren't on speaking terms and I was raped three week ago, I'm just going to assume I fell on my ass at wrestling," I retorted almost bitterly. I woke up with bruises I didn't understand on a regular basis, and it was easier to think it had nothing to do with past events. "Nice to know my ass distracts you, though."

"I'm gay."

"Makes it even better," I smirked back, pulling up my light wash jeans.

"So does this mean you and Luke are broken up?" Nate asked curiously when I turned around, my brown hair falling over my shoulders as I raked the wet stands back.

"I honestly don't fucking know anymore. I love him and I thought he loved me. The one thing I'm sure of is that I'm not apologizing to him." But deep down I knew I wouldn't need an apology to go back to him. Luke was my everything and be had a right to be mad. He was right on at least one sense; I should have trusted him enough to tell him like I did Syd.

"Good. He doesn't deserve one. His friend is the one that created this whole fucking tragedy," Cam growled with crossed arms. It was impossible not to notice the guilty look Will and Hunter shared but I tried my best to ignore it. Duke might have exposed me, but Max and Cliff has committed the act. Your friends never cared about you. People only cared about themselves. Charity? Fake. It was an institution created to make people feel good about themselves even if they don't know it. Kindness? Fake. It was a loop of sympathy. Self sacrifice? Imaginary. It was a way to preserve our own sanity. Humans serve their own desires and clearly rape was outside of Max and Cliff's set of societal boundaries.

"I haven't seen Duke since the video came out. He's been in zero classes," I shrugged. "I hope he never shows up again."

"Wishful thinking," Hunter mused. "It's not even March yet."

"We'll then it will be a long four and a half months then."

I just hoped Luke and I could fix things before I lost the best man to come into my life. I didn't deserve him.