When Marie was six her father left the house. The last thing he told her was that she needed to lay off the pizza. She hasn't heard from him since then, almost nine full years afterwards. It's as if the moment he left the house he simply ceased to exist anymore. No one even spoke of him. Her mother remarried a year later to a guy who was almost the same size she was. He constantly told her that she was his little gal, picked her up with his man hands, and forced her to call him "Dad". Not "Daddy", "Father", or even "Pops". Dad.
She wasn't allowed to do a lot of things: drink, smoke, party, be out past nine, use the Internet after eleven pm or before five am...but the fact that she couldn't call him anything over than Dad has always steamed her.
With an angry shiver, Marie forces the thought from her head. She doesn't like "Dad". She doesn't like anything to do with family, or anyone who happens to have a perfect one. Like every other person in my 'group' here, she thinks. I don't care if I sound rotten to them. They've got perfect lives. They don't need this like I do.
"Marie, ten minutes!" Sadie calls from the bed under hers. "I wish they gave us more time. I mean, a thirty minute break? Is this Middle school?"
"Yeah," Marie says. The mattress moves under her--Sadie's feet pushing up under her. Oh my god, what's wrong with her? She lets it stand for thirty seconds. Then, "Sadie!"
"Sorry!"
"Just don't do it again."
"Sorry. I won't! Sorry," she says. Her voice, normally high pitched and annoying, is even more so.
Before Marie can say anything else, the toilet flushes and Andy walks out, drying her hands on her pants. "Quit being sorry, chick."
"Sorry! It's impossible."
"Oh my gosh, will you--"
Marie huffs, "What's with you two? I thought you were fighting." She doesn't bother to look down, but she knows what they're doing. Sadie is sliding off the bed, hitting the floor with her just-before-comical smile. Andy shakes her head, then pulls her up, their hands clasped. They probably give each other that darn I-love-you smile that's caught between best friend and lover that no one understands. My gosh, they're worse than Avery and AJ. Can't they just decide if they're dating or not? Ugh.
Andy laughs, "Yeah. We're fighting."
"Yep! Hate her to death," Sadie replies. "But, that doesn't mean we can't talk to each other. Besides...our fight will hardly last over a day. Andy loves me too much."
"Oh, I'm sure," Marie mutters. She tosses her extra pillow up in the air, watching the yellow and gray spin. The wood ceiling, painted an awful shade of avocado green, cries at her to punch it. Cries is just the beginning, though, because within seconds the urge to completely destroy the ceiling is all-consuming.
Maybe just a little hole...
It's not just the ceiling. The walls are too plain, too innocent. They're painted like nothing bad can happen and that this camp is the best place in the world. Each bed is metal, with no ladders, and line the room at odd angles. The other girls are on their phones, texting away or playing games. Sadie and Andy sit on the floor under Marie's bed, giggling about something or another.
Maybe I should put the hole in them.
She leans over and peeks at them, wondering how anyone can be like that. All her friends are real, they're chill, they don't bother each other every second like that. They don't constantly talk to her, but she likes that. They never fight with her, she loves that. They keep to themselves when they can, and talk to her when they can't hold it in.
Yet almost every single girl in this room besides her never leaves their friends at all. There share everything--which is everything too much for her.
None of these girls understand how society works, do they?
For a moment she doesn't think. She just acts, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and jumping off. Marie misses Sadie by half a foot.
"I'm going outside," she announces loudly.
Sadie giggles, "Have fun!"
"Okay, so...nitrogen?" Andy asks, ignoring Marie outright. "Because I was pretty certain that oxygen out rules it by twelve."
"But oxygen is so lame, lovely!"
"Oxygen keeps you alive, babe."
Sadie rolls her eyes, sticking out her tongue. They continue their banter, calling each other every sweet name under the sun.
With a sigh, Marie closes the door to the cabin. Stretching her legs out, she rolls her shoulders, taking a few steps around. The air is cool, yet warm, and smells like summer. The grass is cut, the trees are trimmed in places, and there isn't too many big rocks lying around. All in all, it's not the worst place she's found herself in for two months. Other kids run past her, chatting and talking. A few call a cheery hello to her, but most don't even seem to know she's there.
Most, but definitely not all.
"Hey! Chicken arms," a certain rude boy says. Her head swirls around to the cabin next to the boy's. The team leader of cabin Eighteen, the guy who made them lose, is giving her a smug grin. "How ya doing? Working on lifting?"
"Derek, you're a sap." She turns away from him. Inside the cabin she hears the girls all giggling. Annoying as they are, that sounds much more desirable than dealing with him.
His footsteps are almost as annoying as he is. His cold hand on her shoulder is enough to make her snap, but she holds herself back. Don't start a fight here too, she can hear her mother warning her. Or do you want everyone to hate you?
"Come on, twig hands, don't you wanna make friends? I'm the smartest guy here so you'll want to be my bud. Hey, maybe I'll even let ya get second place," he offers. Derek grins, chuckling like he's the funniest guy in the world. Wow, he's more full of himself than AJ.
Forget the walls or the girls, this guy needs the hole in him. Right between the eyes, she thinks, blowing air out of her mouth like it's acid.
"Maybe I'll even give you some of my winnings. I'm always out to help the needy, ya know?"
Marie grits her teeth--a habit she can't break no matter how hard she tries. "Let go of me."
"Aw, come on now! Don't act like that," he says. Derek caresses her shoulder, his meaty fingers cold and damp as he rubs the bare skin there. Stop touching me. "See, here's what I think. I know that you're smart. I know that your team is filled with idiots. I also know that you need to win this--how else will you get everything you need to get into college."
"I can get into college by myself!"
He chuckles again. With much distaste, Marie notices that he's got dimples. Cute, but you don't fool anyone with those eyes. "Really? Well, Twiggy, here's the catch...your family isn't spending a dime on you going to college. They think that you should earn the money yourself. You don't apply for financial aid because of them, and you don't do enough to get over two thousand in scholarship money."
"Who told you-"
"Ah, ah, ah! I'm still talking, aren't I?" That smug smile fits his devious-yet-charming face exactly, Marie can't help from noticing. "Now, I think we'd make a great team. I saw your records, quite the smarts you have."
Flicking his hand off easily, Marie rolls her eyes at him. "Quite the smarts?"
"Hush! I said--"
"Marie! Why're you talking to Mr. Hottie?" Vincent asks, jogging up beside the two of them. His face is slightly red, as if he's been moving something heavy or running.
She breathes out, silently thanking him for probably the first time in years. Though he's acting normal, by the way he turns his feet toward Derek, and how he gives him a wide smile says everything she needs to hear. Vincent will definitely make this boy leave her alone--if not by his attraction to him, then by his awkward way of talking.
"Vincent," Derek addresses him cooly. "We're having a discussion."
"I didn't know you knew each other."
Marie gives Derek a cold look, scoffing. Brown eyes glinting gold as the sun catches them. That aura of confidence mixed with rudeness, stubbornness pools off her. Even though she's a little shorter than both boys, she holds herself like she's bigger than the two of them combined. I am bigger than them.
"We don't."
Derek grins, throwing his arm over her shoulders this time. Unlike most people, Marie doesn't try to push him off right away. She doesn't want to have to touch him more than possible, even if it means having him touch her. He pulls her close, kissing the side of her head. It's not even a gentle kiss, no, he keeps his lips pressed up against her head, all wet and gross, for four seconds. Four complete seconds.
He gives her an evil grin as he answers, "Course we know each other! You've known me for years, Marie."
"Excuse-"
"I'm her half-brother."
No prelude, not pauses, and no chance of it happening. Her father couldn't have another child, and her mother most certainly never did. It's impossible. Absolutely impossible...
Yet he looks almost exactly like her father does in all the old pictures of him with her mom. The resemblance is enough to make her doubt all that she's known.
Vincent chokes on air. For a moment he starts to laugh, then cough, then he flat out backs up a foot or two. "Half brother? Aren't your parents married?"
"See, the thing here-"
A loud buzzing noise fills the air around them.
Marie jumps, smiling worriedly. Her voice trembles as she tries to command him like she's always done, "Time to go! Vincent, get over here! It's time to go." She ushers him to follow her before running back to her cabin and opening the door for them. "Let's go!"
"All right!" Sadie and Andy walk out, laughing through their words. Telling which one of them actually said it is way harder than it should be. Can't they be different people for once?
Vincent, frowning, follows Marie without complaint for once. His silence says everything that she cannot understand. He's going to tell the others. He thinks I'm going to join up with Derek. He thinks I'd do that.
"Where'd you boys hide the eggs?" Sadie asks Vincent, just loud enough for Marie to hear from a few feet off.
He shrugs, running a hand over his head. The thick curls, cut so short, bounce the slightest bit. "Dunno. AJ was the one who hide them. Probably a good idea."
"Why?"
Marie, taking no shortcuts even when he knows something he could use against her, gives Vincent a smirk. "Because," she answers Sadie, "Vincent doesn't like keeping his mouth shut. He tells everything he hears."
"Really?" With a shrug, Sadie pats his shoulder and giggles a bit. "Neither can I. Don't worry!"
"Wasn't going to," he says. Though he's talking to Sadie, his eyes never leave Marie's. They're dark, much darker than hers, and scream for her to say something else. Anything else.
She caves.
"Hurry up! I'm sick and tired of walking this slow. Just make sure you guys make it there." At that, Marie hurries off.
"What was that about?"
Vincent pauses, watching her leave. His mouth hangs open for half a second, then he closes it and shrugs.
"No clue."
*
Hey, my amazing readers! Another short chapter, I'm sorry to say! Thanks for reading! What do you think about this? Is Vincent just waiting to tell? Will Marie help out her step brother? Is oxygen really better than nitrogen?