Chapter 7: The Truth, Hanging By A Thread
"She refused to let it break her. She faced tragedy, she felt pain and it only made her stronger."
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I wake up to my phone blaring in my ear.
I pick it up and see the caller ID.
Maggie.
She gave me her number the other day when she dropped me off at the boxing arena.
I bring the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Camilla?"
"Yeah. What's up Maggie?"
"What's up? What's up? Camilla, you said you were talking to a teacher then ditched our last 2 classes."
"I know it's just-it's stuff that I can't talk about yet."
"Okay. How about you let me pick you up?"
"No. It's okay, my dad doesn't like people coming over. I will just meet you at the boxing arena. What time is it?"
"5:50."
How long have I been passed out for?
"I live 20 minutes away from the boxing arena." I groan, "let me call Devin and have him cover till I get there."
I hear her wince on the other end. "About that... Devin is already here."
"That's just lovely." I whisper under my breath. "I will be there ASAP. If you want you can wait inside the locker room."
"Do I need to go yell at Devin?"
"No, Maggie. He just did stuff the other night but I will talk to him when I get there to clear it all up."
"Okay... See you in 20."
Call ended.
I take off and head towards the boxing arena.
I wonder what senior year would have looked like so far if Camryn was alive and if I was still at Newport High School.
I wonder if Cory and Erin would still have continued tormenting me.
I wonder how much longer Camryn would have protected me.
But none of that matters because it's not the case. My dad had me transfer schools so it didn't draw attention to him. I wish I had more courage and strength to go to the police, but I don't.
Approaching the front door of the boxing arena, I walk in.
I see Devin instantly. I march over to him.
I grab him by the wrist and drag him to the hallway of the locker room.
"What the hell was wrong with you a couple nights ago?" I demand.
"Nothing."
"Why did you drop me when I had a knife lodged into my abdomen then never come back to help?"
"Fuck you Cami."
"Get out. You aren't supposed to work this shift anyways."
"Yeah? We'll have fun covering the hardest shift of the week by yourself."
I shrug. "I'm a big girl, I can figure it out."
"You keep saying that but you know what?"
"What?" I mock.
"I know about Camryn and just wait till I expose what happened to her."
I freeze.
How the hell does he know about that?
"How do you know about that?"
"Your father brought her to my parents clinic. How would that make you look? Plus it's clear with your injuries now what's really going on behind closed doors of your house."
"Get out."
"Gladly. Remember the next time you see me, Camryn will be exposed to everyone you know."
He walks out of the arena with a loud slam to the door.
"No." I whisper.
"Camryn, I'm so sorry." I whisper sliding down the wall.
Pull yourself together Camilla.
"Remember how worthless you are. Pull yourself together, you don't have an option to let your feelings out. Suck it up and get to work." I say to myself.
I stand up wiping the tears with my shirt and head into the locker room.
I look around and don't see Maggie.
I open the dial on my locker and grab my uniform and quickly change into it. I clip my ID badge onto the front of my shirt.
I keep my hair down, having it cover my face since I never cleaned up after my dad hit me with a bat.
I head into the direction of the infirmary, unlocking the door.
"Hey Camilla!"
I turn around but keep my vision downwards. "Hey Maggie."
"The first fight is in 10 minutes."
"Okay. Let's go restock and clean up the beds."
I push the door open, flickering on the lights.
Pointing towards the door on the other side. "That's the supply closet if you want to start restocking while I change the sheets."
"Ah, ah, captain." Maggie salutes.
I grab all the sheets and go to throw them away in the hamper.
I walk into the storage and grab new ones and put them on each bed.
By the time I am done with changing the bed sheets Maggie is done restocking.
"The fight is about to start, you ready?" I dance my eyebrows at her.
Maggie chuckles, "yeah. Let's do this!"
I flicker off the lights and lock the door behind us.
"I'm going to watch the fight from here tonight, but you are welcome to watch it any place you want to." I say.
"Okay. I'm going to go watch it from the back. When the fight is over I will head back over."
I nod as she walks to the back of the stands.
The announcer walks on stage.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome our two best fighters here! Keaton Woods and Cory Ray!"
Crap! I forgot Cory was fighting tonight.
The bell rings for the fighter to start. I turn around and look away to collect myself from seeing Cory again since Junior year.
The thing is with Cory being around is that his girlfriend, Erica will be around too.
I just hope I don't look too much into it.
The bell rings, indicating the round is over. I turn around.
The ref holds up Keatons glove. "Keaton Woods, winner and champion of Newports boxing arena!"
I release a breath of relief.
I've seen Keaton fight and he's good. But Cory would beat me like I was his punching bag. Like I was his practice before he took a step in the ring to do the same to someone else.
Cory is a great fighter which makes him one of the best here. But Keaton? He is 100 times better than Cory ever was.
The night I met Keaton and Adrian (4 days ago), that was the first time Keaton had more than just bloody knuckles.
I walk back over to the infirmary meeting Maggie there.
"Here are the keys, get a bed ready for Cory. I have to get ice packs out of the back room." I point towards the back as I hand her the keys.
"Okay. Do you want me to help Cory?"
"If you can. I will be right back and since Cory is a constant fighter here, he will know where to go. Can you keep the fort down for a couple minutes while I get ice packs?"
"Yes ma'am!"
I stifle a laugh. "Maggie, we are friends. Even though we are working you don't have to be that professional."
She smiles, "got it Camilla."
I wave goodbye as I walk around to the back of the infirmary. It's relatively empty back here, kind of like a back alleyway.
"Camilla Carter. The girl who ran away."
Author's Note:
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Who was talking to Camilla? How much longer can she hide the injuries from everyone?
Find out next time on Shards of Glass!