by Bella King
I followed him into the kitchen and went straight for the fridge, pulling it open to be greeted by the gentle glow of the interior light. It reflected off the red cola can like a beacon. I reached in and pulled it out, closing the fridge door and sitting at the table behind my father.
“Don’t spoil your appetite with that,” my father said as he listened to the snap and fizz of me opening the can.
“It’s just a drink. I’m starved,” I replied, gulping down half the can in one go. The fizz stung the back of my throat in the same familiar way it always did. Things were better when they had an edge of pain to them.
“Well, you need to stop drinking so many of those. I just bought a case and they’re already halfway gone,” my father scolded.
“I’ll try,” I said, knowing full well that I wasn’t going to. I had given up the cutting and the screaming into my pillow every night. I wasn’t going o give up soda as well. I needed something to cope with, and this was the least destructive of the three.
My father turned around with a pan full of steaming hot fried rice. I loved the stuff and he knew it. I ran to the cabinet and pulled out a bowl, throwing it down on the table so hard that it nearly exploded. He raised an eyebrow and paused as I slid back into my chair. “Ready,” I said with a grin.
“Remember to chew this time,” he said, tilting the pan over my bowl and pushing a heaping pile of fried rice into my bowl with the old wooden spoon he always used.
“Rice is so small that you don’t have to chew,” I joked.
He shook his head, smiling, and went back to the stove to turn it off. By the time he had sat down with his bowl, I was already done with mine and ready for seconds.
“Jesus, Virginia. Are they feeding you at that school?” He asked, looking at my empty bowl.
“Your cooking is good,” I said, which was true, but I used it to cover the fact that I had indeed gone without food at school today.
“Thank you,” he said politely as I dumped the rest of the pan of fried rice into my bowl. I doubted he was going to take anymore.
I joined him back at the table and ate with him, slower with my second helping of food. I told him about how easy the work was, how fat John was, and how cold it was in the room. Flooding my father with needless details worked well to draw his attention from the fact that I came home late. I didn’t want to say anything about Atlas.
Once we both finished, I went to my room to go to sleep. My belly was full, and I was exhausted by everything that had happened today. I wanted to fall asleep and stay like that for a long time, but I still had school tomorrow. Thankfully, it would be Friday, and I didn’t have to work that day either. I had a full day on Saturday, however.
Chapter 9
Hate is a strong word.
I didn’t know the exact reason why Atlas hated me. He hadn’t targeted me straight away, but one day he decided that I was worth his time, and he went full force ever since then. I never asked why he didn’t like me, but I figured it had something to do with being an outsider.
When I got to Granite Hills Academy on Friday, I spotted Atlas hanging out by my locker. He didn’t usually bother waiting up for me unless he had something to say. I was curious about what it was this time.
“What’s up?” I asked him as I walked up to my locker.
“You know what’s up,” Atlas said, glaring at me.
“No, actually I don’t,” I said, growing confused.
Atlas was leaning against the door of my locker, not allowing me to open it. He looked more pissed than usual, and I hadn’t even done anything to tick him off yet. I wasn’t sure what this was about, but I didn’t like his expression one bit.
“You fucked up my car last night, didn’t you?” Atlas asked, balling his fist up so tight that his fingers turned white.
“Ugh, Atlas, I wouldn’t do that. I went home after work and went to bed,” I said. “Maybe it was one of your jock friends,” I suggested.
“Nobody else is stupid enough to try some shit like that. Admit it, Virginia. You were angry that I dumped those letters yesterday at work,” he said, trying to get me to admit to something I clearly didn’t do.
I pushed my hair from my face and placed my hands on my hips. “I’m not an asshole like you. I wouldn’t do something like that,” I replied. “Now let me get my stuff. I have class.”
“Who did, then?” Atlas demanded.
“Fuck, I don’t know,” I said, my voice getting louder. I was tired of this nonsense from him. It was one thing for him to get pissed for something I had done, no matter how innocent, but it was another thing entirely for him to get pissed at me over something I had nothing to do with.
Suddenly, his eyes focused behind me, and then narrowed into slits so thin that it was a wonder he could even see through them. “Jared,” he said, gritting his teeth.
I turned around to see Jared walking toward his locker, his arm hanging in a sling. He had a black eye and he looked miserable. It served him right though, with the shit he had pulled in the locker room yesterday.
“You know what? It probably was him. Now leave me alone,” I said, waving for him to step away from my locker.
Atlas charged toward Jared while I unlocked my locker, his fists balled up and his shoulders hunched like he intended to attack him again. I opened my locker and glanced over to see if there would be a fight.
Jared plastered himself against the lockers, his eyes wide with fright as Atlas began questioning him. As nice as it would have been to see Atlas pound the crap out of Jared again, I had a class to get to and I hadn’t forgotten about the scholarship I was aiming for. I wasn’t going to endure working for Atlas’s father for nothing.
I closed my locker after gathering my books, and went to class, leaving the scene that had other students turning their heads and pulling out their phones to record in case a fight broke out. I knew Atlas well enough to know he wouldn’t beat Jared up in the hallway in front of a bunch of cameras. He was only there to get information, then he would take action later.
It was like Jessica’s words from the other day had come true, with Jared and Atlas feuding the way they were. I wouldn’t have been terribly shocked if it turned out that Jared had taken a bat to Atlas’s car, but I still doubted it. He wouldn’t risk serious injury again after the last beatdown he got.
It also wouldn’t surprise me if Atlas had enemies. His friends were undeniably stupid, and I hadn’t been joking when I suggested that one of his jock friends may have been behind it. They were lame enough to think property damage was a funny prank. Plus, they were all rich. It would be an issue to buy a new car.
Whatever the case, it was none of my business. My focus was on class, and Jessica had expressed interest in hanging out with me after school, so I didn’t have to worry about being confronted by Jared or Atlas again. Neither of them wanted to mess with Jessica. They liked to have me alone.
I breezed through the day with little in the way of conflict. I did see Jared in class, but he appeared to be in the same condition he was this morning. He didn’t talk to me or attempt to pass me notes. Good.
I didn’t have swim practice because it was Friday, but I was glad for that. I didn’t want Jared sneaking in to get revenge for having him beat to a pulp by Atlas. None of it was my fault, both of those boys seemed to orbit me like I was their only source of attention. For Jared, that may have been true, but Atlas had plenty of women drooling over him. He was a football star and as handsome as they came. If I didn’t have a brain, I would be drooling over him too.
I was too smart for that, though. My mother had told me not to ever date someone who used force when he could be gentle, and those words stuck with me. Brute for were for those who were not compassionate enough to function differently. Any man that would beat someone down for you, may very well lay his hands on you when his anger got directed to you.
That was the lesson I learned with Jared. I liked him at first because he was passionately aggressive, and I enjoyed be
ing in the spotlight. I felt like he would defend me, but it turned out that he defended me the way a dragon guards it’s gold – with pure greed. He saw me as an object, not a feeling and thinking person.
I didn’t know if Atlas was the same around women. He had dated a few, but never stayed in relationships for that long. I wondered if he just used when for sex, but he almost seemed disinterested in that as well. He was a cold man, but I wondered if someone had seen another side of him. He must have been different around the women he was close to, right? Or maybe that was the reason why they never lasted. Perhaps underneath that icy exterior was just another layer of ice. Maybe there was no warmth left in him at all.
That got me curious, because the only reason I was so cold on the outside was because of the pain that was still lurking on the inside. I wasn’t a hateful person. I was far from that. I tried not to judge people at all, and I gave people a chance sometimes even when they didn’t deserve it, but I was still guarded.
The pain that was inside was my vulnerability, and I didn’t want people to take advantage of that. If Atlas had similar pain, he must have had a whole hell of a lot of it inside because on the outside, he was cold and cruel.
I would never find out. My plan was to finish up this year, win a scholarship, and leave Atlas behind. Granite Hills University was much larger than the high school was, so even if Atlas did attend it, I doubted I would see much of him. I would be lost in the crowd, and better off for it. I didn’t want him to bother me anymore.
After classes I met up with Jessica outside of the school. She had a big grin on her face and looked excited to tell me something.
Chapter 10
The enemy of my enemy is my friend… right?
“Hey, Virginia,” Jessica said excitedly, waving at me as I walked up to her. She was nearly bouncing out of her white sneakers as I approached her.
“You look excited about something,” I noted.
“Oh yes I am. Do you want to guess what about?” She asked, her eyes widening as she spoke.
“Why don’t you just tell me?” I suggested, beginning to walk alongside her away from school. We were planning on spending the afternoon by the dock because the weather was warm enough. There would probably be other people there too, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted to stick my feet in the water for a bit.
“Okay, but promise me not to tell anyone. You’re going to like this,” Jennifer said, her voice dripping with excitement.
“Sure,” I said. “Whatever you want.” I really just wanted her to get on with it. She was building this up to be a big thing, and that worried me.
“Alright, so, you know how you hate Atlas so much,” she began.
“Yes,” I said slowly.
“Well, I did something naughty,” she said, looking at me with a hint of crazy in her brown eyes.
I gasped. “No! Did you wreck his car?” I said, leaping back.
“What?” Jennifer said, looking confused.
“His car. Atlas gave me the shakedown because he thought I fucked up his car last night,” I explained.
I could see that she didn’t know what I was talking about, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, tell me what you did.”
“I didn’t fuck his car up. I’m not that crazy. I just found his locker and glue it shut. Believe me, it took a lot of superglue to get that thing sealed tight. He’s probably still at it, trying to get the thing open.”
I laughed, partially out of relief and partially from how silly a thing that was to do. I suppose that was a very Jennifer thing to do, though. She liked petty justice. “You’re a good friend, Jessica,” I said, putting an arm around her.
“I know,” she said, flashing me a silly smile. “Let’s go get naked at the dock,” she said quickly after that. “It’s so warm today.”
“Naked?” I asked doubtfully.
“Nobody is going to be there. Everyone goes to the hilltop to drink on Fridays. The place is going to be empty,” Jennifer replied, her eyes pleading me to agree.
“Maybe,” I said, trying to buy myself some time. I liked to do wild things every once in a while, but it was way to light out to be dancing around the dock naked, even if we did get in the water. There was too good a chance that someone would see us.
“Oh, and I brought some beer,” Jennifer added, jostling her bookbag to rattle the cans around.
“Fuck, I need one,” I said.
“I know. I got you covered girl,” she replied.
Friday was just getting better and better. I could always count on Jennifer to turn things around for me. I almost felt guilty about how much better things were when she was around. I felt like I was always the one in need of cheering up, but then again, Jennifer seemed like the type of person who only felt useful if she was helping someone else out. I couldn’t feel too guilty for feeding off her positive energy. God knew I needed it.
When we got to the dock, nobody was there, as Jennifer had predicted. She set the heavy bookbag full of beer at the end of the dock and unzipped it, immediately handing me a surprisingly cold beer.
“Where did you get these?” I asked, cracking it open.
“I have a hookup. You know that Rachel fucks college students, right?”
“She fucks everyone,” I corrected.
“Yeah, but she has connections because of it. She got these for me, freshly dropped off after school,” Jennifer said, standing up straight with a beer in hand.
“That’s one way to do it, I guess,” I said, shrugging and taking a sip of my beer.
“Hey, I’m not complaining. She gets the dudes. We get the booze.”
I laughed at her attempt at a rhyme. “Yeah, lucky for us someone around here is a slut. Else we would have to drink water on the dock.”
“Plenty of that around here,” Jennifer replied, gesturing to the lake.
“True.” I slipped off my sneakers with my feet, kicking then down the dock toward the land. They landed on the edge of the water, just far enough away not to get wet.
“Nice shot,” Jennifer said, taking her shoes off while trying to drink beer at the same time. “Let me try.” She picked up her shoes and threw them as hard as she could, but she was a swimmer, not a pitcher. The shoes flew down the dock, but off to the side, and splashed into the water a few feet away from shore.
“Fuck,” she exclaimed.
“Wow, shit luck,” I said, shaking my head as he shoes sunk into the black depths of the lake. The shore dropped off to quickly to go fish them out. They were at least ten feet deep, lost forever like everything else that had fallen into this lake. I had lost a few things myself, mostly cheap jewelry.
“Oh well, I didn’t like those anyway,” Jennifer said with a shrug. She threw back the can of beer and chugged the rest of it, tossing the empty can into the lake.
I didn’t protest, even though I wouldn’t be doing the same. Everyone tossing their empty bottles and cans into this lake. There were probably several feet of junk at the bottom, but the lake was deep, and nobody had ever touched it. I wasn’t even sure how deep it went.
While I drank another gulp of my beer, Jennifer began removing her clothes. I didn’t think it was warm enough to be running around in the nude, but Jennifer didn’t care. She was eager to get naked and float around in the water without anything in the way. She must have secretly been a mermaid or something. I loved swimming just as much as the next girl on the swim team, but Jennifer took thinks to the next level. I think if she could live in the water instead of on land, she would.
I watched her step out of her bra and underwear, completely unashamed by her naked body. Her butt was a round peach, and she looked back at me over her shoulder with another crazy smile. “Come on, live a little,” she urged before turning around and diving into the water.
I was reluctant to join her. I watched her as she rose to the surface and broke through with a gasp of air. She pushed the wet strands of blonde hair from her face and smiled. “The water’s warm.”
&
nbsp; “You’re a damn liar,” I said, walking up to the end of the dock and sitting on the edge. I extended my legs out and placed my feet into the dark water. It was far from warm. I gave her a look of annoyance.
“What? It is,” she insisted, bobbing up and down just below the surface.
“You’re nuts,” I said. “It’s frigid.”
“Your loss. I’m going to see if I can touch the bottom,” she said.
“You’re going to either freeze or drown down there,” I said, furrowing my brow. I highly doubted that she would be able to reach the bottom. I don’t think anyone had.
“Just watch,” she said, holding up a finger then diving down into the cold depths.
I watched as she disappeared from view and the water returned to its calm sheen, like a mirror against the orange sky. It was a beautiful evening, with a light breeze to compliment the warm weather. It was the first real taste of summer, and I was all for it. Summer was a great season. I didn’t see how anyone could think differently.
Seconds oozed by with Jennifer not returning to the surface. Swimmers could hold their breath for a long time, but I was beginning to get concerned. What if she just disappeared down there forever. What if she had found the bottom, only to get caught on something and drown?
These were my paranoid thoughts again, creeping in and making it difficult to enjoy myself. I just couldn’t stand to lose another person close to me in my life. It was bad enough to have to deal with the loss of my mother. A close friend would make it impossible for me to see the good in life.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Jennifer popped back through the surface, taking a deep lungful of air upon returning to the world. “This lake had no bottom,” she declared confidently.
I laughed. “Is it infinite?”
“It could go all the way through the earth, then it wouldn’t be a bottom, just another surface in China or something,” she proposed.
“That would be an awful lot of water,” I said, amused by the idea.
“Would our cans float all the way to the other side, or would they for a mass in the center, like a globe,” Jennifer asked.