Weaved Lines [On Hold/Revising]

Seven

Hiding a secret is hard.

Hiding a secret is extremely hard.

Scratch that, hiding a secret is the hardest thing in the world. At least, to Vincent it happens to be. As he climbs a hill that it big enough to make him slightly faint he reminds himself that he doesn't have to keep it secret. I mean, they have a right to know, don't they? Even as he thinks that, he knows that he can't tell. Why is what he can't understand.

Marie has been nothing short of awful to him since she was seven. She's been rude, hateful, and has constantly tormented him. She was the one who told his secret to the entire school. Marie had ruined his life for an entire year before they finally cooled off about him being homosexual.

"What's on your mind, Vince?" Isabel asks, her voice quiet for once.

"Nothing," he lies easily, "why?"

"Oh, come on! You can't hide a secret well, can you?"

"Not really," he admits. The he sighs, picking up his pace so she'll stop asking him questions. At the top of the hill there's a flag, one that his team and four other teams are all joining up together to protect. From the hill, he could see the other groups of five all gathering together. All in all, there's eleven hills, but only ten that are being used. He chuckles a little to himself, watching as almost everyone struggles up the hill--including himself.

Then, like the constant urge to tell everyone what he knows, Vincent starts to run to the top. He gets three fourths of the way there, then stops to catch his breath before running to the very top. There, a few trees lie, as well as several bushes. At the very center, though, lies a small orange and gray flag attached to a large stick. Next to it is a kiddy pool filled with water and twenty super soakers ready to be filled.

Marie stands by it, alongside eight other boys and girls, talking to them about strategies. Everyone else is waiting around to be told what to do or still climbing up. Vincent walks over to the others, instantly joining the conversation.

No surprise to him, Marie is talking. "I think our best strategy to winning is to leave a few people up here, the strongest and the loudest, to protect the flag. The others will be divided up into groups that will attract attention, use their water guns to spray away others from us, and those few who will go retrieve the flag during the distraction."

"What if they try to take our flag?" a short, chubby boy asks. Vincent gives him a smile.

Another girl answers for Marie, "That's why she said loudest and strongest. We'll leave them two water guns to keep them away, and they'll shout if anyone comes near."

The same boy raises his hand and speaks again. "What will they call?"

This time, Vincent beats them to the answer, eager to prove himself. "'Huzzah! We got the flag!' That way, if they call that, it'll ward off other teams and allow us to find them easily."

Marie gives him a look, but doesn't say anything. She even almost looks like she agrees with him, though he doubts that she'd ever admit it.

The others agree, and Marie cups her hands over her mouth and shouts for everyone to gather around. In the distance, Vincent can hear other people yelling at one another as well. Before Marie can finish telling them the plan and dividing the groups, the buzzer sounds.

Capture the flag has officially begun. Now, they have exactly two hours to get as many flags as possible. Anyone who loses their own flag loses instantly. Soaking others with the water guns is allowed, but hitting, tripping, and being rude will cause the person and their school to lose scholarship points. Anyone who's helpful, shows good teamwork, and scores a flag gains points. With that in mind, Vincent helps finish diving the people as quickly as possible.