Yellowjackets: The Broken Victors

Chapter 30: Bystander (Part 2)

[1994]

"You're saying you could take these things for free?" Agami asked Rhett, her eyes beaming as she hugged a box full of chocolates.

"They throw them away after a certain time to stock new ones. Figure I should just give them to you instead," the boy replied.

"Glad you did!" Agami responded instantly.

Rhett got a job assigned to the inventory of a grocery store. Agami received a call from the boy saying he's about to stop by their house, claiming that he has something to give her as payment for saving his ass every Wednesday on their club activities.

But today, Agami did not care about their club. She was pedaling her bike in the fastest way she could all the way to the trailer park.

Kevyn arrived at their school after lunch, trembling in both fear and shock. Agami found him walking aimlessly in their school hallway, and when she asked the boy what was going on, he broke the terrible news to her.

It turns out he and Natalie didn't attend their classes and went to the girl's home to hang out when Natalie's father caught them sneaking. Natalie did her best to protect Kevyn from her abusive dad and let him out of their house in time before he could even hit him, but an accident happened shortly after.

Kevyn was hiding behind another trailer to watch out for Natalie's safety when he saw how the man tripped over something, which resulted in him shooting himself with a shotgun. The boy was too scared about it and didn't know what to do, so he left the trailer park immediately and went to school after.

Agami found Natalie a few meters away from the crowd, sitting on the table alone and shaking while the police surrounded their home.

"Scat!" she called for Natalie, getting off her bike quickly and running towards the girl.

"I heard from Tan about what happened," Agami says, catching her breath. "Are you hurt?"

She didn't receive a response from the girl. Natalie simply stared at her quietly with a blank face, until a tear finally escaped her eyes.

Agami couldn't do anything for the girl and just pulled her closer, wrapping her right arm around Natalie's body, as she watched from behind how the policemen picked up the man's corpse and brought him into the ambulance.

For a week straight, Natalie didn't go to school. And for a week straight, Agami visits the girl in the trailer park after class, doing nothing but sitting together in silence.

"Hey, Dick," Natalie called her as she blew out some smoke.

"Yeah?" Agami responded.

"Can you help me dye my hair?"

Sophomore year is almost over, but before it ended, Agami had developed a new hobby-visit the Yellowjackets in their practice for at least a few minutes before going to her own club. All she had to do was hide from everyone she knew there, especially Natalie.

She was there for Charlotte Matthews. Why? Maybe because she was hoping Charlotte would make eye contact with her and the girl would recognize her. She had so many questions about their rooftop incident and she needs answers.

The problem was that she didn't want to approach the girl like a normal person would because the question she had was not really appropriate for a normal conversation.

Another day has passed, and just like she always does, Agami leaves the school with a failed attempt to talk to the girl.

The Movie Gallery was her favorite place after Vintage Vinyl. She was standing in the corner, where only a few people who had the balls to even visit went.