Chapter Seven
The voice came back to haunt us. “So, Kaylie you have survived Bethany’s memory! Congratulations! Oh, and you’ve even managed to bring back a souvenir with you, how lovely.” I rolled my eyes and tried not to pay too much attention to the voice. If I dwelled on the voice, it would only make him feel that much more powerful, which is something that I certainly did not want, or hope for to happen.
“Do you feel accomplished? Well, you should! Welcome to this enchanted forest. If you venture off a little bit, you will find a tent and resources to help you to survive the night. This is a safe zone; no lions, or tigers, or bears, oh my! Sleep the night with our little game on pause, and I’ll wake you up in the morning for the next round! Night!” the voice rang off.
I looked to Bethany and the little boy with a sigh. This meant that there would be another day of this, and that it wasn’t over. Not yet. “What’s your name, by the way?” I asked the little boy.
He smiled. “Benny. Hey, you know that you sound a lot like the girl who came to help me earlier, Kaylie?”
“That was me.” I nodded, fully admitting to the treacherous fact that I had lied to him. “I didn’t want to lie to you, Benny, but I couldn’t let you just die. You’re too young and have a whole life to live. I hope that you will be able to forgive me.”
Benny nodded. “I forgive you and thank you for saving me, Kaylie, but I just wish that it were true. That my papa really was looking down at me right now.”
I shook my head and put his hands into mine. “I’m not saying that, Benny. I’m only saying that I didn’t hear that come from his lips. It’s so possible that he is looking down on you, and I honestly bet that he is. I’m certain of it.” He gave me a tiny smile, which triggered another question. “You kept saying something about a plan, Benny. Would you care to explain that plan to me? Tell me what it entails?”
Benny sighed. “Well, I wish that I could, Kaylie. You see, I knew all about the plan, and that’s why my father was killed. This voice, the one that just spoke to us, told me to go in there and fight the lion myself, which is why I did. It was all a part of the plan, Kaylie. I’m not allowed to tell you, otherwise I will die, and you will be threatened to die, as well.”
“I love mysteries; reading them and watching them, but not being a part of one,” Bethany sighed.
“Agreed,” I muttered. We began walking further into the forest, feeling a bit more relaxed, knowing that we wouldn’t have to deal with any sort of lions or creatures for the rest of the night. However, even knowing that, my adrenaline still hadn’t slowed down since I went to rescue Benny. Bethany ran ahead in search of some supplies, while I stayed back with Benny, as we tried to catch our breath.
“Thank you for saving me,” Benny smiled.
“And thank you for saving us,” I laughed. “It was the least we could do to repay you.”
“It was nothing.”
“Yeah, only our lives, no biggie.” I laughed at how ridiculous this all was. A young boy had just saved Bethany and my life, and then I had gone through Bethany’s memory, saving Benny through her memory. A weird and complicated process, yet somehow I was forced to face the fact that this was my new reality.
“Found it!” Bethany yelled. I took Benny’s hand and we followed her voice through the trees. We found her standing next to two tents; one smaller and one bigger, assuming that the small one was meant for Benny and the larger one was for Bethany and I to share. In front of the tents, there was a fireplace set up with logs aside it. There was a cabinet, which was full of marshmallows, skewers, lanterns, water bottles, snacks, and other basic necessities needed for survival.
"Can we roast marshmallows?" Benny looked up at us, his eyes longing for one of those tasty treats.
I walked over to the cabinet, opened it, and found graham crackers and chocolate. "How do s'mores sound?"
"Even better!" he laughed.
"Grab me a skewer, Kay," Bethany called, putting some logs onto the fire, trying to ignite it.
"Yep," I replied, grabbing the food supplies and three skewers. "What do you guys want to do? Play some campfire games? Sing some campfire songs? Sleep?"
Benny shrugged. "I'll have one or two s'mores, but then I'm going to sleep. I've had a pretty rough day." I nodded slowly, but didn't respond, wondering just how hard this might be on him. How was it possible that he was even taking this so well? Benny should be balling his eyes out, scared and insecure, but instead he is acting just cool and collected. I handed him the supplies and he made a s'more, chowing it down like there was no tomorrow. Perhaps he ate his feelings away. Or maybe he felt subjected by society, scared to show his emotions and cry in front of people. Personally, I really hated when men felt like they couldn't their emotions. Society can be so unfair at times, like when they told us to die when we were all in the pit fighting off that lion. Society is a scary place.
"I'm off," he said, as he took his last few bites. He walked into his tent, and I returned my gaze to Bethany.
"How does he do it? His father just died, but he's acting all happy."
"Let him be happy," she responded.
"Bethany, he's trying to hide his emotions. He should be able to express who he is without feeling subjected to society," I sighed.
"Sometimes that's how people feel and just because you don't want it to be that way, well, it's not going to change anything, Kaylie," Bethany sighed. "Sorry, I suppose that was somewhat harsh, wasn't it? Well, anyways, what happened when you... when you went into my memory?"
"Crazy things," I laughed. "It was just really weird, you know, being inside your memory. It felt way too personal. Like I was invading your privacy.” I told her the story of what happened. “And that voice says that there’s some secret, like I said, which we need to uncover. The voice said that it would change our lives after we found out. Then I walk through the door and find you yelling at the voice, who was saying they would ruin you.”
“Yeah, this voice doesn’t sound like a very nice person,” she sighed.
“Not quite,” I joined in her grief. “You know, I used to think that I knew what fear was. I used to say, ‘Oh, fear is only in the mind,’ but how wrong I was. Fear is real, and I’m afraid that it will consume me, and take me whole.”
“No, we won’t let that happen. You and I are strong, Kaylie, and we won’t fall through,” Bethany smiled.
I sighed as I sat next to her on the log and put my head on her shoulder. "What's your biggest fear, Bethany?"
After a few moments of hesitation, Bethany took a deep breath with a shrug. "People finding out who I really am." I gave her a curious look, but didn’t say a word, thinking that she probably just needed the privacy. I went on to putting a marshmallow on a stick, roasting it over the fire until it was completely black, just the way I like it.
She turned to give me a curious look. “Are you going to eat it like that?”
“Of course,” I smiled, throwing the marshmallow into my mouth. It tasted absolutely perfect.
Bethany laughed. “Okay, well, if you tell me why you eat such dark marshmallows, then I’ll tell you who I really am.”
“Hey, I can’t deny that I am curious as to who you really are, but I barely know you. If you don’t want to tell me, then you don’t have to. I’m totally okay with you keeping a few secrets from me. We’re basically just strangers,” I said, slowly, not wanting to peer-pressure her into telling me.
“Strangers for now, but who knows how long we’re going to be stuck together in these… realms. I have a feeling you and I will become close, like sisters almost. I don’t mind telling you,” she laughed.
Allowing for this information to process, I nodded. “Okay, so how about this; we tell each other our whole background stories and get to know more about each other? I’ll let you know about my life and my love for black marshmallows.” I held another dark marshmallow and ate it without cringing. Bethany did the cringing for me.
“Deal. You want to go first?” she asked.
I nodded, and placed another marshmallow on the stick. Once I took it out of the fire, I noticed that the marshmallow had caught on fire. I blew it off and smiled at how dark it was. Instead of eating it, I stood up and held the stick as if it were a microphone, speaking into the marshmallow. “Well, hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to another extremely boring episode of The Extremely Boring Life of Mikayla Brookes. First off today, we’ll discuss the birth. Mikayla was born on October 16th to her parents who don’t care about her!”
“Of course your parents care about you,” Bethany said.
“They care about my little sister, but I feel like I’m just empty space taking up room in the house,” I admitted. “But, hey, it’s whatever. Seriously, I’ve learned to just roll with that fact and move on with my life. I’ll be okay. So, okay, I told you about how I found my love for art, and that’s what has been dominating my life for the past few years. No one really wants to be my friend, I’m just the loser who sits in the back of the classroom, waiting for someone to come find me and make me their friend.
“Well, recently, I befriended the dork of the classroom, who no one ever talks to, and I’m surprised that I did myself. His name is Langer and he’s… really sweet. He helped me when I was failing Algebra, and there was a bump in our friendship, but we just made up earlier today, before I went through the portal. I have a lot to thank him for when I get back. I’m starting to realize just how important friendship is.
“Anyways, my favorite color is every color. As an artist, I have mutual respect for all colors. And that, my friends, sums up today’s episode of The Extremely Boring Life of Me, or whatever I said,” I laughed. I looked at Bethany, but she just looked sad.
“We’re friends, remember that. I don’t care what happens after we return home. I’ll always be there for you, okay?” Bethany gave me a tiny smile.
I hugged her. “Same. I think going on weird journeys like this makes you friends for life, right?”
“Definitely,” she hugged back. After a moment of silence, she broke the hug and gave me a disapproving look. “You forgot the marshmallow story.”
I laughed. “Sorry, I was kind of focusing on telling you my life story, and the fact that I could be dead tomorrow. Anyways, when I went to camp- it was like a one week camp during the summer, overnight, and I only went once. I guess you could say that I didn’t really care for it so much. Anyways, we were eating marshmallows and I hated the way it was so plain and not gooey enough. I don’t even know how to describe it, it just tastes weird. And that is why I burn my ‘mallows. They taste way better that way.”
I roasted another burnt and handed it to her. “Bon appetite!” I smiled.
She stuck her tongue out at the marshmallow, but eventually threw it in her mouth. She chewed it slowly, then her face gave a look, as if it were sour. “That’s so gross,” she shook her head.
I sighed. “Some people don’t appreciate the taste of burnt things. What a shame.” We turned to each other and laughed. I think this was what people called bonding. “Hey, so it’s your turn to talk now.”
She sighed. “I receive a lot of racist comments, and they are so hurtful. Kaylie, you can try to understand, but you can’t because you are white. You are treated so much than I am, and it’s unfair. So unfair. I don’t mean to single you or skin tone out, but that’s just the way it is, so people are less accepting of me as a person in general.”
“When I was in your memory, I saw how that guy at the arena treated you,” I said, feeling my anger rise back again. “That must be horrible. I am so sorry.”
“And I deal with it all the time,” she continued. “A lot of people look at me, thinking that I’m going to rob them or steal something just because I am black. So many people expect me to behave in such a manner.”
“Yet, you’re literally one of the sweetest people around,” I gave her a tiny smile.
“Thanks. I feel like I’m more white than black,” she laughed.
I shrugged. “What even defines a skin tone?”
"And people also treat me differently because I... well, let's say that I'm more attracted to girls than I am guys," Bethany said, slowly, not looking at me. “I don’t know open-minded you are about things like that, but I’m really hoping that you’ll accept me as much as you accept those burnt marshmallows.”
I nodded. “Bethany, honestly, you have nothing to worry about around me. I am a bit too-opened minded and accepting, which is why I trust that mysterious voice.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, Beth, and I won’t look at you any differently now that I know that about you. I’m just really glad and happy for you that you were able to figure out who you are, and give yourself a label. So many people out there are still trying to figure out who you are. Knowing your way and place, it’s a nice feeling, Bethany.” I shrugged, “I still don’t know my place in the world. I know that I like guys, but besides from that, I don’t know my place in a social setting.”
“You’ll find it, I promise you. Just listen to your heart, Kay,” Bethany smiled.
“You sound like some cliché movie,” I tittered.
"I am a cliché movie,” Bethany agreed. “You just haven’t gotten to know me well enough where you can judge me like so.”
“We all really are, deep down, if you think about it,” I shrugged, holding out a moment of silence.
“What are we going to do about this voice?” Bethany asked looking down at the forest’s floor.
I laughed a nervous laugh. “What can we do, Bethany? That voice is taking control of us, and we can’t escape. Every single move we take and every single thing we say… he or she is watching us.”
“Or it,” Bethany sighed. “I have no idea who this person is, Kay, what about you?”
I shrugged my shoulders just thinking about. “I don’t even know if I want to know.”
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Author's Note:
About 8,000 words away from my goal...
Okay friends, so I would love it if you told me your thoughts on the story? Cliche? Interesting? Boring? Does it need more detail? Less dialogue? Let me know please! I am pouring my heart into this novel and want it to be nothing less than amazing. Well, as far as amazing goes by my standards, at least.
How is everyone doing with their NaNoWriMo novels? If you're posting them on Wattpad, send the link below and I'll check them out!
Ali xoxox