CHAPTER 8
"next, please"
nick walks in and ziggy and i pretend that we were just talking. "so, yeah." i quickly reply as i lean back a bit and nod watching her smile, biting back a laugh. "yeah."
nick furrows his eyebrows and sits down as we all begin talking, pretending as if nick didn't just walk in on us making out.
"okay, another question then. how come you don't hang out with anyone at camp?" nick asks while leaning back on his hands.
"i don't like people." ziggy answers. "then explain sarah.." nick starts as i blush thinking about what happened a few moments earlier. "yeah, well. cause- she-" ziggy stutters as she thinks of an answer.
"what does it matter to you?" i interrupt, trying to save ziggy from the question. "i'm just wondering, you guys seem really close and from what you said to me earlier-" nick begins.
"she's my girlfriend." ziggy blurts as my face brightens. i smile sheepishly and scratch the back of my head. nick just sits there staring at both of us. his eyes will lay on ziggy and then he'll turn to me.
he inhales, "wh- really? i didn't think- i- well," nick sputters as ziggy raises her eyebrows. "cat got your tongue?" i ask as i grin. "yes really." ziggy answers his first question.
he scrunches his eyebrows at ziggy and she rolls her eyes. she turns to me and pulls my face in, kissing me on the lips. i place my hand on her cheek, pulling her closer to me as our mouths move against each other's for a moment.
we pull apart and nick's jaw is open. "okay. next question." i command as nick looks at the both of us as if we grew two extra arms. my face blushes a deep red as if turning into a cherry as nick's gaze flutters over the two of us.
"alright, next question. uh... what about you and your sister? you guys ever get along?" he asks as ziggy stands up and walks over to a table.
"thought these were supposed to be easy questions." she grimaces as she looks at a glass tank containing a snake, she hates them. "says who? there are no...rules to this game." nick states.
"god, i hate snakes." she mutters as i smile and nod.
"why are you dodging my question?"
"why do you care?" ziggy rebukes and i glance back at nick. "i'm curious." he answers softly. ziggy thinks for a moment.
"i've hated her since i was a baby. next."
"come on." nick sighs. "oh, nick i have a question. why are you...so..full of shit?" i ask and grin sarcastically. he scoffs, "what?"
ziggy continues mocking him, "nick goode, heir apparent, daddy was the police chief, the king of sunnyvale, and now you're gonna be the same. except it's all make-believe. the truth is, you like stephen king, and spiders and-"
"a gay girl from shadyside." i state sourly as i think back to all his glances at ziggy. "yeah! the gay gir- wait what? what do you mean girl? only one?" ziggy asks as she stares at me.
i look at nick and raise my eyebrows, "no, it was fake. the argument-" he clears his throat, "it was fake."
"mhm." i hum as i look at my nails.
"all right, first of all, stephen king is, like, super popular. and, second, i don't like ziggy. i don't even know you guys. how will i get to know you if you keep dodging my questions?"
ziggy sits down and starts, "there was a time..when things were good between us..." she explains everything about her sister, her alcoholic mom, her dad that left. everything.
"...and now it's just gone. and everything's shit." ziggy says. "cause that's what happens when you live in shadyside. everything turns to shit eventually." i say as i look at my shoes.
"how bout you sarah?" nick asks and i look up. "what's your depressing back story?" i sigh and wipe my hands on my jean shorts.
(TW: DEATH, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY)
i take a second to debate on telling him. what made my life go to shit? lots of things actually. but let's begin from the very start.
"my dad died." i say bluntly. "he- was a milkman, leading to that accident," i swallow thickly as my mind flashed to all the newspaper clips my mom would stash under her mattress, "that's what really started it all." i say looking back at my dirty shoes, attempting to distract myself.
"what?" nick says softly.
i truly hated the tone he used. i hate showing weakness to people surrounding me and the fact that nick talked to me as if i were a fragile doll, made my stomach lurch.
"my mom and sister, they were awful. my- my mom got so upset, she would lock herself in her room. my sister- she started doing drugs and couldn't afford it anymore. so, she just- left my mom and i to live somewhere else. my anxiety got worse and i couldn't handle it." i say as my eyes begin to sting.
i sniffle and rub my eyes as ziggy walks over and sits down, rubbing my back and whispering sweet nothings in my ear. i lean my head on her shoulder and take deep breaths like my mother used to tell me. panic attacks grew to be the normal for me, and i thought i had grown them out, but i clearly haven't.
in through your nose, out through your mouth.
"shit, i am so sorry sarah. i should have never asked-" he begins but i wave him off saying it's fine. i force a laugh to bubble out my throat, instead an uncomfortable sound came out and i shake my head, "sorry, i don't know what the hell came over me."
in, out. in, out. in, out. in,
my thoughts are interrupted by a bone-chilling scream from outside of the cabin. ziggy jumps from my shoulder as nick immediately runs out of the room. ziggy grabs my hand and pulls me up to follow him.
i wipe my eyes and sniff as we push through a large group of young campers to see why they're all huddled around a cabin. kids are yelling, "he's dead!" or "jeremy's dead!"
kids are screaming and crying as counselors try to calm them all down. even though we can tell they're all frantic themselves. my heart drops as i see all these kids. they're all under 12 years old and they're terrified.
goosebumps rise on my arms as we stop and see a puddle of blood with jeremy's glasses on it. ziggy gasps and i squeeze her hand. to the left, i can see a lifeless body before nick pulls us away from the cabin.
"the mess hall, go to the mess hall! go!" nick yells as he starts running towards the large cabin. gary stays outside ringing the bell continuously as he yells for everyone to head to the mess haul and take shelter.
nick stands there counting children as they pile into the large room. the lights flicker, then go off and the kids begin screaming as they're left in darkness.
nick grabs a phone to check for missing kids as someone flicks on the emergency lights. "it's dead." nick sighs as he places the phone back on the receiver. "we have to go! we have to warn people!" i tell him as we hurriedly walk towards the door.
"i'm sure they heard the bell. hey!" nick says as he stops us, holding his arm out in front of us. "my sister, she's still out there!" ziggy yells as she tries breaking out of his grasp.
"oh yeah? the same sister you've hated since you were a baby?" he mocks.
i roll my eyes and pull my shoulder from his hold. i can't believe this asshole. he has a younger sibling too! does he only care for himself?
ziggy scoffs as his eyes widen, "look, i'm sorry. i didn't mean it. me and gary will go." gary turns his head with wide, terrified eyes, "what?"
"just please, stay here." he says to both of us as we stand there trying to leave. "i'm not gonna just sit here and-" ziggy starts but is cut off.
"i'm not letting you get hurt!" he says holding her shoulders and leaning closer to her face. everyone turns and whispers as they watch nick's protectiveness over us. mainly ziggy.
i glance at his hands on her shoulders trying to knock some sense into her. my stomach burns as i slightly glare at him, wanting him to just take his hands off my girlfriend.
"ok? please, let me do my job. i'm gonna find your sister. just stay here, ok?" he reassures her. "i'm going with you." i say as i start walking to the door, not caring about his dumb rules.
he immediately lets go of ziggy and holds onto me, "what? no you're not." i shrug his grip off of me and narrow my eyes at the boy.
"yes. i am."
he pushes me back to ziggy, "please. don't leave. okay?" he asks. "i- i'm not gonna let her sister die. i don't want the same thing happening- the same thing happening to her that happened to my dad." i say as my voice gets quieter as i open up to this shithead.
i pant as my emotions get the best of me and his arm slightly grazes mine as ziggy wraps her arm around my waist.
"sarah. i get it, i do. but, you need to stay here. i need to keep all campers safe. i'm a counselor." he states.
he gets it, i think, he doesn't get what it's like to lose a father.
i try to push down my worries of panic and force a smile to sit on my face, "this is your training officer. you better make us proud."
he smiles for a moment and rushes out the door as gary trails behind him. "what if the killer's still out there?" gary chimes in horrified.
"that's the point gary."
"hey, everybody! stay here! ok? ok." gary shouts before turning on his flash light and shutting the door behind them.
i pant and turn to ziggy as my thoughts race in my head. "this day can not get any worse." i mutter to her as she exhaled sharply while nodding.
sheila's goons run up behind us, scaring us from our position in front of the door. the girls pin us to the wall forcefully, causing my head to bang against the wooden wall, and curl their upper lips into a snarl.
"on second thought." i groan out, continuing my phrase from minutes before. ziggy breaths out a chuckle, turning to admire my side profile.
they begin bombarding us with questions all at once,
"hey! where is she, witches?"
"you kill her like you killed jeremy?"
"what are you talking about?" ziggy shouts as she pushes against the girl's arms as they push us against the wall harshly, our heads inches away from the glass window. "sheila!" they all shout.
i freeze and my eyes widen as i turn to ziggy preparing for round two.
"shit!"
-
author speaks
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stuff is happening..
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