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Six
“Who’s Rachel?” I ask Ember as we speed walk beside Michelle.
Ember rolls her eyes. “Some girl who has it in for Scar. Apparently they know each other back home, and Scarlett’s boyfriend was dumping her for Rachel.”
“Oh,” I mumble, as we head onto the trail. “I guess this isn’t the first time this happened?”
Ember shakes her head. “The first day here Rachel almost choked her to death.”
“Why don’t we hurry up?” Michelle snaps, her voice nervous as she breaks into a jog. “Where did you say they were, Ember?”
“In the clearing,” she repeats, as we try to keep up with Michelle.
I’ve never been to the clearing before, but when we get there, I can tell it’s exactly what I had imagined. It’s a small field of grass in the middle of the forest. The only thing I didn’t expect was the children’s playground. I mean, we’re all teenagers. What use does this really have?
“You stupid bitch!” A girl screams. I turn my attention to the small crowd that’s gathered around Scarlett and the girl I assume to be Rachel. Unlike the clearing, Rachel is the exact opposite of what I imagined her. For one, her hair is a dark blue, which I’ve never seen before. Her right arm is covered with some kind of tribal tattoo, and as we get closer, I can see that the middle of her nose is pierced.
“Just get over it already,” snaps Scarlett, folding her arms across her chest. No one has seen us approaching yet, not even the surrounding kids. “Maybe if you didn’t go after other girl’s boyfriends, I wouldn’t have pushed him.”
Rachel lets out a loud scream before lunging towards Scarlett, knocking her on her back. She starts to try and push Rachel off her, but it’s no use. Rachel sits on her stomach, pinning her down as she raises her fist to strike.
“Stop this right now!” Shouts Michelle, but no one even turns to look at her as Rachel punches Scarlett in the face. “Stop!” She continues to protest but with no one listening, she starts to look worried. “I’m going to go get the counselors,” Michelle tells us, before running off.
“Is no one going to do anything?” I ask Ember, watching in shock as Rachel throws another punch, hitting Scar right in the face.
“I already tried,” Ember mutters, rubbing her shoulder.
“So much for being a good friend,” I mutter, jogging forward. I start to push my way through the thick crowd, shoving kids out of my way until I’m in the middle. “Get the fuck off her!” I screech, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. No one pays attention to me but instead, stares down at Rachel, who has her fingers wrapped around Scarlett’s throat. “Screw this,” I mutter, marching towards them.
“What are you doing?” A guy yells.
Ignoring him, I sprint the few small feet forward and barrel into Rachel’s side, knocking her off Scarlett and onto the ground. I hear a few cheers as I pin her onto the grass and pull my fist back. However, before I can hit her, I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my stomach. Upon instinct, my other hand goes to the pain but I quickly move it as Rachel repeatedly punches me.
“Bitch!” I scream, slapping her as hard as I can in the face. Apparently, it doesn’t faze her but instead, gives her the chance to throw me off of her. Separated, we both jump to our feet, preparing ourselves.
“Come on,” she pants, standing on the other end of the circle. “Prove to me you’re not just some anorexic little bitch!”
Clenching my teeth and my fists, I charge forward, ready to attack her. But before I can get close, I feel strong arms around my own, pulling me back. I struggle, trying to get out of them but it’s no use. Whoever’s holding me is much, much stronger.
“Michelle’s coming,” Rhyson whispers, pulling me into the crowd. “I didn’t want you to get hurt and get in shit.”
I hear Michelle as Rhyson lets me go. He gives me a smile before disappearing into the group of kids, leaving me by myself until I feel a nudge in my side.
“Ow,” I mutter, gently caressing my war wound.
“That was awesome!” Ember grins, patting me on the back. “I still feel bad for Scarlett though. She got hit pretty badly.” I move my gaze to Scarlett, who I now can see clearly since everyone is starting to leave. Blood is trickling out of the corner of her lips, along with her nose. And even though I can’t be sure, I think she has a black eye.
“Take Rachel to my office immediately,” Michelle snaps to Michael, who is one of the three counselors she retrieved. Once they’re gone, she goes over to Scar, looking at her wounds closely. “The campfire is cancelled tonight!” She yells to whoever is still nearby. “Spread the word!”
~~~
“Ow, ow, ow,” I mutter, slowly lifting up my tank top. In the girl’s bathroom mirror, I turn to the left, looking at the bruise. It’s mostly on the left side of my lower stomach, looking purple, blue and fist-shaped. It isn’t the first time that I’ve been hit, but in my opinion, you really don’t get used to it.
The rest of the day I hid out in my cabin, not caring if I got in trouble for missing my activities. Running around Camp Haven doing things that involve movement does not sit well with me right now.
“That looks painful.”
I whip around to see Rhyson leaning against the open door, staring at me. I suck a quick breathe in through my teeth as I drop the fabric, letting it snap back against my skin.
“You’re going to get in trouble,” I tell him quietly, turning back around the face the mirror. I listen to the sound of the crickets as I soak a wash cloth in the cold water I filled one of the sinks with.
“Who’s going to know? It’s one in the morning,” he smirks, watching my reflection. His hair falls over his eyes but he doesn’t seem to notice as I try and avoid his stares.
In all honesty, I forgot I was supposed to meet him tonight. I guess with recent events, I’ve been busying myself, trying to ignore the stinging pain.
“Point taken.” I pull the cloth out of the sink and lift up the left side of my shirt. Clenching my teeth, I press the freezing cold fabric onto my skin and try not to start yelling.
“You’re going to get your clothes wet,” Rhyson notes, walking towards me. He’s right; I can feel the frigid drops running down to my sweatpants.
“Well, what else am I going to do?” I snap through clenched teeth. I look up at the ceiling, trying to ignore how cold and painful this is.
“Here,” he grabs the cloth away from me and gestures towards the counter. “Climb up and lie on your back.” I raise my eyebrows but he gives me a look that tells me he knows what he’s doing. With a sigh, I climb onto the fairly clean granite and lie down with my feet over the sink.
“How does this help?” I ask, looking at myself in the mirror.
“Do you mind?” He gestures towards my side, ignoring my question. I shrug and watch as he slowly lowers his fingertips to my tank top and gingerly pushes it up to reveal the bruise. He dips the cloth in the cold water again and quickly presses it to my side.
“This sucks,” I wince. But Rhyson was right, this was a better idea. Now all the water is dripping onto the floor rather onto my clothes that only get washed once a week. For a few awkward moments, neither of us speak. Wanting to fill the silence, I clear my throat. “So, uh, I guess I should thank you. For earlier.”
Rhyson shrugs. “What you did, sticking up for Scarlett, that was really nice. Not a lot of people will do that. At least, not for her.”
This time I shrug as I stare at the ceiling. “Even though I don’t know her very well, I consider her one of my friends here.”
“Speaking of friends,” he grunts, removing the cloth and dipping it in the water again. “What’s with you and Ember?”
“What are you talking about?” I gently run my fingertips along my bruise before Rhyson reapplies the damp cloth.
“It’s just…” He trails off, avoiding my eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head, his dark hair falling in front of his eyes so I can’t see them. “Never mind.”
“No,” I insist, sitting up. “Tell me.”
Rhyson drops the cloth in the sink and leans back against the counter, shielding his face from me. Leaning back in my hands, I stare at him intently, waiting for him to speak. He shakes his head again, then stares up at the ceiling, thinking.
“She’s just not the kind of person you want to get involved with, Gemma.”
His words send a chill up my spine, like I already know what he’s saying. Slowly, he turns towards me, his cold eyes meeting mine.
“There’s a lot about Ember that you don’t know.”
“Like what?” I ask quietly. Curious, I cautiously swing my legs over the counter until I’m sitting straight, my feet hanging a foot above the floor.
“Just trust me, Gemma.” He continues to meet my gaze, but there’s something in his eyes that I know I have to trust. Normally, I’m not one to drop things. However the way he’s looking at me makes me keep my mouth shut.
For several minutes, I sit beside Rhyson in silence. Neither of us say anything, too caught up in our own thoughts. As much as I like Ember, there has always been something a bit off about her. I haven’t been able to place it, but I always pushed the thought aside, knowing having her as a friend is better than the opposite.
“Want one?”
I blink a few times, coming back to reality as I turn to Rhyson. He’s staring up at me, holding out a pack of cigarettes with one of them outstretched farther than the others. Giving him a small smile, I take one and place it between my lips.
“Thanks,” I murmur, after he lights my cancer stick. He lights his own and shoves the lite back in his pocket. “New lighter?”
Rhyson nods, staring up as he blows smoke rings out of his mouth. “I managed to convince Danny to give me one,” he smirks, and I nod knowingly. “So, tell me about the life of Gemma.”
I turn to him, flashing a grin. “Nope. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow night. Or, I guess, technically tonight.”
He frowns, flicking his cigarette ashes into one of the sinks. “And why is that?”
“Michelle’s making me share at the campfire in exchange to get out of swimming,” I smirk, leaning my head back against the mirror. “So it’s your turn to go tonight.”
“Okay,” he smiles, walking away from the counter. When he reaches the other side of the bathroom, he turns around to face me and leans back against the wall. “What do you want to know?”
I think for a minute, letting my many questions float to the surface. When I decide which one I want to know the most, I put out my cigarette in the sink and drop my hands into my lap.
“Why did you get sent here?”
Rhyson runs his fingers through his hair, smiling. “You would ask that first, wouldn’t you?” I grin as I wait for him to continue. “Well, there are a lot of reasons. But if I have to pinpoint the one thing that got me sent here, it would be the fact that I stole a police car.”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “You stole a cop car?”
Rhyson laughs lightly. “And crashed through the window of the police station.”
“On purpose?” I ask, my curiosity peaking.
He shakes his head, staring at the floor. “Let’s just say I was making my big getaway, and between handcuffs and the fact that I had to turn off all the lights to be stealth, I didn’t put the car in reverse.”
“Well aren’t you a dumbass.”
Rhyson and I jerk our heads at the sound of someone else’s voice. There, standing in the doorway to the bathroom, is Ember.