“Uh hey you guys!” Jay greeted Mel and Steph as they walked out of the kitchen.
“Oh my god, whatever,” sneered Mel.
“Seriously,” agreed Steph.
They walked away and Jay nodded and turned around to go into the living room only to miss the door completely and slam into the wall. He recovered in an instant and looked around frantically, afraid someone had witnessed his idiocracy. Mel and Steph snickered as they walked away. But that was ok, they were already laughing at him. At least Karine hadn’t seen. There might still be hope. Jay rubbed his bruised chin and walked into the living room. There was no one there he could talk to. Where the hell was Cerise?
Suddenly she appeared, walking in with Terry Trebishitsky. What the hell?
“So how come I never see you around school? Who do you hang out with?”
Cerise wracked her brain, knowing she couldn’t tell the truth.
“Um, like Sarah Wong…”
“Oh yeah, she’s cool,” nodded Terry. “A bit too into shit but whatever.”
“Yeah really,” agreed Cerise. “She’s such a joiner. She belongs to like, every club and if a club doesn’t exist, she forms it.”
They walked into the living room and approached a couch occupied by a couple of kids. Seeing Terry Trebichavsky approach, they vacated their seats and took off. It was kind of cool being with Terry. Everyone knew who he was. They sat down on opposite ends of the sofa, with room for a third person between them. Terry spread his legs and draped his arm over the back of the couch. Cerise folded one leg and tucked it under the other while holding her hands tightly in her lap.
“That’s a cool symbol on your shirt,” Terry remarked, looking at her chest.
“Thanks,” said Cerise, relieved he didn’t recognize the symbol but simultaneously embarrassed to know he was staring at her nonexistent brea
“What does it mean?”
Shit. What should she say? Clearly she couldn’t be honest. “Um… well if you don’t recognize it then I’m not gonna tell you what it means,” she grinned, trying to be coy.
“Oh yeah? Why not?”
Cerise decided to be somewhat honest. “It’s how I judge people. It tells me a lot about a person if they do or don’t know what it means.”
“So what does it say that I don’t?”
“That you’re normal. Ordinary. Bland. A loser!” Cerise smiled and tried to sound like she was joking, even though she was partially serious.
Terry laughed. “I guess I’m just not worthy of your attention, eh?”
“Yeah, sorry but you’re just not cool enough for me.”
“Ouch!” Terry laughed and clutched his chest as though wounded.
Cerise smirked as she carried on the joke. “No, I’m just kidding. The truth is I think we have a really deep connection. I feel really close to you right now.”
“Shit. I just can’t with you can I?” he grinned.
“No. But I can win. And in the end, isn’t that what really matters?”
Terry laughed appreciatively. He looked at Cerise and smiled broadly, his eyes practically sparkling.
They drove for a while and Shauna lost track of where they were. Eventually they came across a construction site and pulled into it, parking near a pile of bricks.
They got out and Wendy retook her reclined position on the hood of her car. She opened the bottle of Absolut and chugged it, then passed it along to Mike. He took a swig and passed it to Ben who drank and then gave the bottle to Shauna. She took it gingerly, still unsure if the Glue Sniffers were sincere with their generosity. She took a large swig and then another before passing it back to Wendy.
It didn’t take long for them to finish the bottle, but Ben produced another one from the back seat and they carried on. Shauna got greedy and was taking more than her fair share but they didn’t try to stop her. Ben started kicking stones around and eventually he was throwing them. Mike picked up a rock and chose a nearby porta-potty as his target. Ben and Mike picked up bricks and hurled those at the porta-potty. Wendy grabbed the empty vodka bottle and threw it, shattering it against the portable toilet. They all laughed wildly.
“Come on, Sheila! Your turn!”
“Yeah Sheila, come on!”
Shauna bent down and picked up a rock, then threw it at the porta-potty. She missed by a lot. The others laughed.
“You suck!”
This chick was awesome. Terry was used to girls being giddy and nervous around him, or fawning and annoying like Chrissy. He’d come to believe that Karine was the only girl in the world who could talk to him like a normal human being but here was a chick who could not only banter and flirt with him, she actually called him out on his bullshit. Incredible.
“Aw’right, so you win,” he grinned.
“What’s my prize?” she grinned back.
“Anything you want.” He even meant it.
“What have you got to offer?”
Terry smiled with meaning. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”
He inched towards her, his hand moving to rest on her shoulder. She didn’t move but looked up at him expectantly, a sly smile on her pretty lips.
But then Karine had to come along and ruin the moment.
“Hey Karine,” said Terry, moving his arm away from Cerise. “This is Cerise.”
“Yeah. We have Drama together. How’s it going, Cherry?”
“Fine,” Cerise responded tightly.
Terry looked from one girl to the other. They were both doing the bitchy girl glare. Weird.
“I’m thinking Steven.”
Christina looked at Erica in amazement. “What? As if!”
“I’m serious,” said Erica.
Erica was very serious. She’d given a lot of thought to the current situation and this seemed like a good way to go. Part of her was glad that Karine had broken up with Steve, because finally she could stop bragging about her retarded long term relationship as though it was such a big deal. But lately Erica had been noticing some flirtatious behaviour passing between Karine and Terry. This could not be allowed to go on. If they were to get together then Karine’s importance would skyrocket. Her scrawny little ass was already much too well regarded but a union with Terry would be utterly disastrous. Not that he’d keep her around for long and the eventual humiliation of being dumped by him would be sweet but Erica refused to let Karine get the goods before she did.
“You’re not serious! Karine would freak!”
“No she wouldn’t. They broke up, remember? She dumped his ass. So she doesn’t give a shit and he’s like, desperate.”
Christina’s little brain considered this but she wasn’t quite there yet. She insisted that she still wouldn’t dare. That Karine would still freak.
“I don’t think so,” pushed Erica. “You saw the way she was with him tonight. Like ice.”
“Ok but still. He’s still off limits.”
“Why?”
“’Cause he just is!”
Erica considered a new tactic. “Well it’s not like it’d be for real anyway. You could just pretend for the sake of it. You know, just flirt with him to make Terry jealous. Karine would understand.”
“You think?”
“Of course. Besides, it’s not like Karine wouldn’t do the same thing.”
Erica needed to let a little bit of truth show through, just to get her point across. “I mean have you noticed how close she and Terry have been lately?”
“Well…what?” Christina looked perturbed.
Erica should have hit her where it hurt in the first place.
“Ok, let’s think back shall we? Remember um, at lunch that time in Pointe-Claire village? How like, they both took that spaz?”
“Well…” Chrissy’s wheels started turning.
“Well they were pretty friendly ok? I mean, when we left they stayed behind together.”
“Yeah but wasn’t…”
“And how they’re being like, totally buddy-buddy these days?”
“Well they’re friends. They’ve been friends a long time.”
“We’ve all been friends a long time but yeah, sure, I’m sure you’re right. They’re friends and that’s all. I mean, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that Karine broke up with Steven like, um a day after Terry broke up with you.”
Looked like Chrissy was finally on board.
Karine kept looking down at Terry and Cherry. He was completely ignoring Karine and asking the stupid little fruity bitch why she’d switched schools in her last year.
“Who cares?” sniped Karine.
Cherry looked appropriately appalled but Terry glared up at Karine. “I care,” he said forcefully and then turned to Cherry, prompting her with a smile.
“Umm… well lots of reasons. One of them actually was to get away from that girl.”
“What girl? The girl you bitched out?”
“Yeah. She thinks we’re friends. She’s totally psycho! She won’t leave me alone. I mean I moved right, so I switch schools but she like, follows me!”
“That is crazy fucked up!” Terry exclaimed.
“I know!”
“I can relate,” said Terry. “I know a chick who’s a bit too into me. It’s like, move on, loser.”
“It’s so annoying.”
“Oh gimme a break!” Karine interrupted.
Terry looked up at her with aggravation. “Are you still here?”
Where the hell did Terry get off? He was the one who’d wanted to go out with her and now he was acting like he didn’t even want her around?
“Excuse me?” she said angrily.
“You’re excused,” Cherry said with a sideways smile.
Terry laughed like it was hilarious.
Take that, Karine! Cerise couldn’t believe how cool Terry was being, taking her side when Karine got all bitchy.
Oh god, now Jay was coming over. Would he ruin everything?
“Hey Karine,” he said sheepishly.
“Yeah, hi.” She didn’t even look at him.
“It’s a good party.”
“Yeah, you already told me that.” She was still glaring at Cerise.
“Yeah.”
Poor Jay. He looked so awkward.
Karine turned to him, narrowing her eyes. “Jay, how did you even know where I lived?”
Jay looked panicked. Cerise had to help him out. “Well everyone basically knows where you live, Karine. ‘Cause you have parties all the time right? So, it’s like known,” she stated with confidence.
Jay nodded in agreement.
“Seriously Karine,” said Terry. “You’ve only been having parties here since like, Sec 3.”
“Yeah ok,” she conceded. “Well anyway, whatever I guess.”
She walked away and Jay watched her as she went. Then he turned to Cerise and peered at her quizzically.
“Um, Jay, this is Terry. Terry, Jay.”
“Hi,” responded Jay, his voice a high squeak.
“Hey,” said Terry casually, his voice deep and smooth.
“We had gym together last year,” offered Jay.
“Ok,” shrugged Terry.
“You throw balls really hard.”
Terry laughed while Jay looked awkward. Cerise was embarrassed, especially since the next thing Jay did was rush off without another word.
“That was weird,” Terry turned to Cerise in wonderment. “Do you like, hang out with that guy?”
“Umm… yeah. You know. Somewhat. I guess.”
Terry arched an inquisitive eyebrow. Was he deciding he didn’t like her anymore?
“Is he your boyfriend?”
Cerise laughed in surprise. “God no!”
The grin crept back onto Terry’s lips.
Erica and Christina went off in search of Steven and they found him in the den, leaning against the wall watching some dudes play video games. Erica nudged Chrissy forward. She walked up to Steve and smiled up at him.
“Um, where have you been all night?”
“Outside mostly,” he said lazily.
“Isn’t it cold?”
“Yeah but we can’t smoke in here. Which is such bullshit. I know for a fact that Karine smokes in her room all the time. But she won’t let us smoke in the rest of the house ‘cause of her nazi mom, who’s like never home anyway so what difference does it make?”
“Yeah,” Chrissy nodded. “Um, I could use a cigarette.”
“Ok,” Steven shrugged.
They walked through the den with Erica trailing behind them. She didn’t want to go with them, she just wanted to make sure Chrissy got things going. They grabbed their jackets in the front hall and stepped outside. Erica remained indoors and smiled sweetly as Karine joined her.
“Where are they going?” she asked, peering out the window in the front door.
“Looks like Chrissy has found someone to play with.”
“What? Steven? Yeah right.”
“I told her she was nuts,” Erica shrugged sympathetically.
“Yeah, I’m sure you did.” Karine huffed and stomped into the kitchen to grab another beer.
It was only an instant later that Chrissy and Steve came back inside. Erica retreated to the kitchen doorway to give them space, but made sure she could still hear what they were saying.
“Screw that! It’s freezing!” Chrissy giggled.
“Well yeah!” Steven laughed.
“God, I hate winter.”
“It’s only October.”
“Still though. I’m so cold.” Christina took Steven’s hands and placed them on her cheeks. “Oh my god, you’re so warm!”
Steven grinned and pushed his hands into Christina’s hair. Well done, Chrissy. You had to give her props. She was cute and knew how to flirt.
Karine peered over Erica’s shoulder and whispered angrily. “The hell?!”
Erica pushed her back into the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? What the fuck do you think? I can’t believe she would do that.”
“Looks like our little girl is all grown up.” Erica couldn’t help savouring the moment.
Karine frowned. “Well I guess she’s just faking. I mean this is her plan to make Terry jealous, right?”
“I don’t know. She seems pretty into it.”
“She would never.”
“That’s not what she said.”
“What do you mean?” Karine’s eyes got wide and wild.
“Oh nothing,” Erica looked shifty but was careful not to overplay it.
“Erica!”
“She just said that Steve’s really cute and she’s glad he broke up with you.”
“Ok first of all, I broke up with him.”
“I know.”
“But I mean, that’s not even the point. It’s not like I don’t still have feelings for him. I mean, we went out for like, two years!”
“I know! That’s what I told her. But she was all like, well, if I have to move on, so does Karine.”
Karine looked at Erica suspiciously. “Are you serious?”
“Yes I’m serious,” Erica said, genuinely offended that Karine didn’t trust her. What kind of friend was she anyway? “As if I would make something like this up.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes seriously! God!”
“I cannot believe this!”
She believed it.
Terry asked Cerise why she hung out with those nerds and she defended them, saying they were fun, though a little immature and admitted it was dorky to run around the school every day at lunch. He wondered if they were playing tag but she explained that it was a sort of nonsensical ritual with no real purpose.
“Ok, that’s weird.”
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” she shrugged. “But it’s fun. It’s like a way to wake up. ‘Cause I’m sorry but we’re supposed to be all alert at 8 in the morning? I don’t think so!”
“Yeah, no shit.”
She knew if she said too much he wouldn’t want to talk to her anymore. She couldn’t mention the game and she couldn’t mention Star Trek or Stargate. But she couldn’t lie either. She did hang out with nerds and he’d have to accept that if he wanted… what did he want?
“So yeah, it’s just pointless,” she went on. “But sometimes it’s like, what’s the point? What should I do? Just sit around like a zombie? That place could suck the life out of you if you let it. It’s more fun to just like, screw it. Just be an idiot and have fun.”
“Totally,” he nodded.
He really was gorgeous. Close up he was even more divine than she’d previously thought. His hair was dark blonde, messily spiked up but it didn’t seem greasy and she wondered if he used gel or if he was blessed with that Colonel Sheppard look naturally. His eyes were hazel and framed with lashes that would make a mascara spokeswoman jealous. He had a cleft in his chin and his lips were the perfect shape. Even when he wasn’t smiling, they turned up slightly at the sides so he seemed perpetually amused. There was the faintest hint of stubble along his jaw line, proving that he was mature enough to shave! His shirt hugged him perfectly, emphasizing his broad shoulders and the muscles in his long arms. No wonder the boys hated him so much, he was perfect. Impossible that he could be talking to her. How long would it take him to figure out she wasn’t worth talking to?
Chrissy had her hands all over Steve! And he was loving it! What the hell? Karine pushed past Erica and walked up to them.
“What’s up?” she asked coldly.
“Uh, nothing,” Christina backed away from Steven.
“Yeah, that’s what I figured.”
Christina shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and slowly skulked off.
“Having a good time?” Karine asked Steven.
“Pretty much,” he answered defiantly.
“Yeah, sure looked like it.”
“What do you care?”
“Steve, you know I care.”
The hope in Steven’s face was palpable. “Really?”
Karine sighed and took a step forward. “Come on, what do you think?”
“How do I know what to think?”
“How do I know what to think?”
“Steven…”
“Why aren’t we together anymore?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged sadly, looking to the side. “It’s just, you know. I wanted to… whatever, be alone for a while I guess.”
“Has it been long enough?”
Karine shrugged and looked down. Steven placed his hand under her chin and raised her head. He smiled goofily and she laughed.
“I miss you,” he whispered.
“I miss you too.”
They kissed.
This had been pretty much the worst night in Jay’s entire life. He’d done nothing but humiliate himself in front of Karine and now here she was being macked over the head by her stupid ex-boyfriend who obviously wasn’t an ex anymore. Hand in hand, Karine and Sack-o-suck walked upstairs. It couldn’t have been any more disgusting if he’d dragged her by the hair.
Jay walked through the living room and up to Cerise and Terry Trebiassfacey.
“Hey uh, I’m leaving,” he declared.
Cerise pushed up the sleeve of her hoodie and looked at her watch. “It’s still early.”
“Yeah well I’m bored and I just, you know.”
Come on, Cerise! He was giving her an out. Surely she didn’t want to be stuck on the couch with Terry the turd and his massive ego.
“What’s wrong?” Cerise asked, looking up at Jay with concern.
Terry Trebislimy was practically beaming a laser of hate into his face. What a fucking jerk.
“Nothing,” Jay shrugged, avoiding Terry’s glare. “I’m just going, ok? You coming?”
Cerise looked at Terry Trebishitheady apologetically. Like she had anything to apologize for! “He’s my ride so…”
“I could give you a ride,” Terry Trebifuckfacey smirked.
“Yeah?” she smiled.
“Sure.”
Cerise smiled up at Jay. “Ok well I’m gonna stay so you go ahead.”
“Fine,” said Jay through gritted teeth.
Unbelievable! How could Cerise want to stay with Terry Trebiassbreathy? Didn’t she know what a jerk he was? He was probably going to try to date rape her and then she’d be sorry. Jay felt badly as he rummaged through the pile of jackets in the front hall. What if Terry Trebidaterapey really did try to hurt Cerise? Jay had to stay and protect her from his assholitude. Not that Terry Trebismarmy would have to force himself on anyone, Jay realized as he climbed into his car. Chicks were always throwing themselves at him and Cerise was just like all the rest. She wasn’t cool or interesting or different. The only reason she watched Stargate: Atlantis was to watch Ronon beat people up while wearing sleeveless shirts. She was just a stupid girl and Jay hated her. He hated everyone.
It was anybody’s guess as to why Cerise hung out with that fucking nerd and his giant, retarded afro. She could do so much better. She was hella cute and funny and cool. She obviously wasn’t afraid of anyone and didn’t care what people thought of her. Terry had never encountered a girl his age with so much self-confidence. Even Karine cared too much about other people’s opinions. But this girl was completely at ease in her own skin. She didn’t even wear makeup. She was naturally pretty, with big blue eyes and silky hair and flawless skin. Adorable little freckles were scattered over her rosy cheeks and sweet button nose that crinkled when she laughed. The mysterious bird-like symbol on her shirt curved over her breasts alluringly and Terry wished she’d take off her hoodie so he could get a better look. Fuck she was cute!
Terry knew exactly how to make girls melt. He smiled, his lips parted slightly. His eyelids drooped lazily as he looked her up and down. “You’re really pretty you know.”
“Well, good genes I guess.” She seemed unfazed.
“I like your smile. It’s really cute.”
“Yeah, I’m all about the cute,” she agreed.
Christ! She was totally unaffected. What did it take? Most girls would have been shoving their tongues down his throat by now but this chick didn’t even budge. She leaned against the back of the sofa and watched him with a challenging smile, as though waiting for his next lame move.
“Well… can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m alright.”
Shit. He needed to know more about her. What kind of person was she? What kind of shit was she into?
“So… what else do you do for fun?”
“Oh, I dunno. I like to read and watch TV and… well, analyze the shows. I’m a bit of a nitpicker. I like to pick things apart. Figure out what’s wrong with them. And then rationalize the wrong, put things back together in my head so they make sense. Like, kind of… mold concepts so they conform to my perception of reality… or fantasy.”
Whoa. That sounded pretty intense. This girl was so fucking cool.
“Really?”
“It passes the time,” Cerise shrugged.
God, she was such a dork. Terry must have been thinking that she was the lamest nerd ever.
“That’s really cool,” he said. He even seemed to mean it.
He asked her what shows she watched. Oh great, how could she get out of this one?
“I like shows that aren’t about normal, everyday crap. ‘Cause real life is boring. I like settings that are more out there.”
“Cool,” he nodded. “You mean you like shows with weird situations? Like Supernatural?”
“I love Supernatural!”
“Yeah, I like it too.”
“Really?”
Amazing. Maybe he wasn’t just a stupid jock with a dazzling smile. Maybe there was more to him. He was actually listening to every word she was saying and he seemed to be paying attention. It didn’t matter how idiotic she sounded, he seemed interested by all of it. And he’d said she was pretty! And the way he said it, she even believed it was true.
“Yeah. It’s cool. Shooting ghosts with guns, it’s funny.”
Cerise giggled in agreement.
“So what else do you watch?”
“Well,” she said carefully. “I watch pretty much everything. I mean just as long as it’s not cops or lawyers or doctors. My favourite… I mean… I like science fiction.”
She had to be honest. She had to know if he was going to accept her for what she was.
“Cool. Like Fringe?”
“Yeah…” she hesitated. “Fringe is ok. I mean it’s more paranormal than sci-fi. I mean the science in that show is just stupid. Although to be fair, multiple dimensions are a staple of sci-fi so I guess it does have some interesting elements, although again, I mean, multiverses are practically a trope at this point. There is no originality in anything anymore. Like seriously, watch anything and you realize it’s been done before and usually better, unless you’re going way far back like to the ‘80s or before…”
Her hands moved through the hair as she rambled and Terry gently took her right hand in his left.
“Holy shit! You have tiny hands!”
He extended his fingers and she did the same. They pressed their palms together and the tips of her fingers only reached the middle joint in his. Cerise’s heart started beating faster and she felt her cheeks heat up. She could only hope she wasn’t turning red.
“I know,” she giggled nervously. “My sisters say I have baby hands.”
“You do!” He stroked her fingers. The sensation was amazing. She was seriously going to die.
Cerise pulled her hand away and shot her foot up, hoping to distract him so he wouldn’t see her blushing. “I have small feet too.”
She was about to put her foot back down but he grabbed it and turned it in his hand. “You do have small feet! Shit!”
Cerise laughed as he slipped her shoe off and dropped it to the floor, keeping her socked foot in his massive hand. He began rubbing his fingers over the arch in her foot, massaging it firmly but gently. Cerise realized she’d been holding her breath and she let it out in a long sigh. Terry’s eyes darted up and he smiled, watching her as she slouched into the couch cushions.
This was definitely flirting. All their talking and laughing could have been construed as a friendly conversation but this was definitely flirting. Cerise had seen Pulp Fiction enough times to know that a foot massage was a deeply meaningful act and the sensation of deep relaxation coupled with tingling arousal that tickled her most intimate areas was enough to convince her of Terry’s intentions. He liked her. There really could be no doubt. Holy fucking shit!
It took every ounce of Christina’s strength not to puke all over the living room floor. He had her foot in his lap and he was giving her a massage! Why didn’t he just turn her over and fuck her doggy style while he was at it?! He’d never given Christina a foot massage! How dare he hook up with Cherry the god damned fucking Raspberry right in front of everybody?
Christina’s entire life was ruined. Terry hated her and now Karine hated her too. She’d been so stupid to take Erica’s advice. Karine and Steven were back together and now neither of them would want to be friends with her anymore.
She stumbled back to the kitchen and yanked open the fridge, grabbing another beer and struggling to open it. Erica took it out of her hands and twisted off the cap. She handed it back to her and Christina guzzled.
“Karine hates me now!”
“She does not,” Erica assured her.
“Terry hates me!”
“Yeah, probably.”
“He loves Cherry!”
“The food or the chick?”
“Prolly both!”
Erica patted Christina’s back. “Relax.”
“My life sucks!”
“A little bit, yeah.”
“I never should have gone for Steve! I should have just gone for Andrew like I wanted.”
“Hmmm… I don’t think that would have turned out any better.”
Fucking bitch! “Yeah well, I guess we’ll see.”
Christina stumbled away, spilling beer as she went.
When the second vodka bottle was emptied, Ben swung it around like a bat. He ran up to Shauna and raised it over her head. She flinched but he stepped away at the last moment. The Glue Sniffers laughed and laughed. Ben slammed the bottle against the porta-potty but it didn’t break. He tried it again and finally threw it to the ground to shatter it. Then he picked up the remains and ran up to Shauna, raising his arm threateningly. Once again she flinched and once again he retracted at the last second.
“Psych!” he cackled. “You’re pretty…”
Shauna stared at him, confused.
“Ugly!”
They laughed.
“You’re fat too,” said Mike.
“Fat whore!” yelled Ben, body slamming Shauna.
Mike barked like a dog and called Shauna an ugly bitch before shoving her to the ground. She curled up and raised her arms to protect her face as the two boys kicked her back and legs. Shauna wasn’t surprised by what was happening. It explained why they’d been so nice to her before. She said nothing and tried not to move, waiting it out.
“Hey guys.” Wendy’s voice was calm.
“Aww yeah. Good idea!”
Shauna lifted her head slightly, trying to determine what the good idea was.
When they dragged her to her knees she instinctively cried out. “No!” They pulled her through the dirt. “Stop it! Leave me alone!”
Wendy pulled open the door of the porta-potty and Shauna started to fight. She kicked up her legs and tried to yank her arms free. The two boys were strong and her struggling was useless. They shoved her into the porta-potty and slammed the door closed. The lone light bulb flickered. The smell of shit and formaldehyde was overwhelming. She pushed at the door but they held it closed. She could hear their laughter and the pounding on the walls.
Maybe if she just waited long enough they’d let her out. She tried not to cry, they’d only laugh when they saw her. When the porta-potty started to shake she let the tears flow freely. She yelled out, begging them to stop. Their muffled laughter and taunts continued. The box shook again, more violently now. The toilet tank sloshed and some liquid spilled out. Shauna screamed. They laughed. She jerked forward, slamming into the door, which stayed closed as she fell into it. The toilet tank spilled over her in a cold, burning splash as the porta-potty overturned. She fell on her hands and the pain resonated up her arms as she tried desperately to keep her head above the waste that flowed beneath her. The smell was too much and she gagged. She screamed. The laughter was gone. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, she was screaming too loudly. She scooted to her feet, crouched with her head touching the wall above her. Her clothes and her hair were soaked with human waste, dyed blue. The light flickered. She threw up. Her throat burned, as did her skin. Her sobs were violent and the tears cleaned her chin of the vomit that dribbled from her mouth.
She searched her pockets desperately, trying to remember where she’d put her cell phone. She found it and wondered who to call. Her parents? 911? Before she could decide, the porta-potty rocked from side to side and Shauna fell, dropping the phone. Her hands touching down into the sewage. She didn’t understand why it burned so much. She tried to stop crying, to listen to their voices. They were saying it was heavy and to fuck it. She heard the car start and her sobs returned as they drove away. She frantically searched for her phone, her hands sloshing through the burning waste. The light finally went out.
No comments:
Post a Comment