MY SOUL TO KEEP - YELLOWJACKETS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN — DOOMCOMING

Once everyone finished getting ready and Mari finished preparing dinner—a stew made from edible plants and mushrooms Misty had been saving—the doomcoming party officially began.

     While Javi hit the piece of metal from the plane with a fallen branch as if it were a gong, Jackie and Shauna walked into the part of the clearing where the party was being held. Mari and Akilah walked in next, then Misty with poor Coach Scott. Isabelle felt bad for him, knowing how creepy Misty was sometimes.

     Isabelle and Melissa walked in holding hands, not caring about what anybody else thought, but no one seemed to notice them when Van and Taissa walked in. They were also holding hands, and they were both wearing intricate face masks. Van's mask covered her still-healing scars, which made her seem just slightly more confident as everyone watched her and Taissa.

     Once they got to the middle of the clearing, where everyone stood around in a circle, Taissa grabbed Van's face and pulled her in for a kiss. Isabelle, Melissa, and Misty were the three to clap before everyone else and soon joined in on their cheering.

     "Yay! I'm so happy for you!" Crystal practically shouted, pulling them in for a tight hug that both girls should have expected, yet didn't, as everyone around them laughed at her excitement.

     After she stopped hugging them, the others started getting their serving of stew and alcohol. Even Isabelle, who hadn't eaten in days. She, of course, ate quickly so she could start drinking, seeing as they weren't in New Jersey anymore, and her father couldn't yell at her for it.

     "In my official capacity as your coach, I most certainly cannot condone underage drinking," Coach Scott said to Taissa and Van, holding up his drink as they chuckled. "But, uh, that's said; cheers. I really admire what you two did tonight."

     "Yeah. Us, too," Melissa said, glancing at Isabelle, who nodded. "Cheers!"

     As they—and Misty—clinked their mason jars and coffee cups together, Lottie walked closer to the group. "Stop," she said.

     "What's wrong?" Van asked, her voice laced with confusion as she watched Lottie.

     The Matthews girl hesitated, anxiously tapping her nails against her cup. "We should have a moment of silence for Laura Lee."

     "Yeah," Coach Scott agreed as the rest of the group went quiet. Isabelle looked at the ground, feeling, just for a second, that they were back in New Jersey and Laura Lee was praying before soccer practice like she always did.

     "To Laura Lee," Taissa said, raising her mason jar in the air and effectively snapping Isabelle back into reality.

     "Hear, hear," Coach said as he and the others raised their cups and mason jars.

     After taking a sip of Mari's fermented berries, Lottie sat down on a tree stump and stared at the ground. "So, what now?" Natalie asked with a grin and a shrug.

     "Oh, now we need a DJ to pump up the volume," Jackie said jokingly, raising one hand as Isabelle chuckled and took another, longer sip of her drink.

     "What we need is a slow dance," Misty said, looking shamelessly at Coach Scott, who had never looked so uncomfortable.

     Suddenly, Lottie began quietly singing the beginning of Kiss from a Rose by Seal. Natalie laughed as Crystal uncaringly and loudly sang, "There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea!"