Splinters: Part One

Part One | 2

"Oh my god!" she shrieked.

I nearly fell off my stool. "What!?"

"You totally beat my score!"

"Oh, sor-"

"Now I have to work extra hard to beat it."

Ursanne was kind of having a meltdown at the moment when Edaline entered.

"Ursa! Are we going or not?!"

Ursanne shook her head and turned to Edaline. "Yeah. C'mon," she mumbled.

I lowered my gaze, feeling like a jerk. I shouldn't have asked, or maybe just sucked for her benefit.

Mental Note: Don't play on Ursanne's phone.

...

"Can you do this, Brayden?" Odera questioned, hanging upside down from the monkey bars.

I shrugged. "I can try."

She flipped off without difficulty. "Try."

I attempted getting onto the monkey bars as if I were a pro, but I struggled with my fear of heights, even though I was probably just ten feet above the ground. After about five minutes, I proved to Odera that I was capable.

She then challenged me to something else.

Edaline and Isabeau wanted me to play soccer with them, so I did that for a while too. Annetta and Ursanne were busy dancing in the sprinklers. They were drenched when they returned to us.

"Brayden, c'mon!" Net shouted towards me.

I shook my head. "I-I don't think so."

"Yeah, he's playing with me!" Odera shouted back.

Net stuck her tongue out at her older sister. Odera did the same.

"C'mon!" Ursanne pleaded. "They're going to shut off soon and the sky's gonna go to sleep."

Odera heaved a sigh. "Okay, fine!"

She grasped my arm and hauled me towards the sprinklers.

"What song?"

"Call Me Maybe!" Isabeau exclaimed.

"No, we did that one last time." Odera said.

"Chandelier, then." Ursanne suggested.

"Yeah! Chandelier!" Net jumped up and down.

"What?" I asked, completely confused.

"Do you know Chandelier?"

"No..."

"The song?"

I stood frozen, not sure what they were asking.

"I, um..."

Ursanne grasped my hand. "Just go along with it."

She pulled me under a sprinkler, barely wetting my shirt.

"Okay. Girls! Ready?"

"Yep!"

"Okay!"

They all stood in a line and Ursanne directed herself towards me.

"Okay, Brayden. First, we do the shiver. Shrug off all your insecurities."

They all wiggled their bodies in a weird way. I did the same, feeling a little awkward.

"Then," Ursanne continued after they finished. "We wipe off all our stress."

She wiped pretend-dust off her shoulders. The other girls repeated.