Red stopped walking, staring at her in horror. "He's… scared of water?"
Vikki shrugged and started walking again. “I guess not anymore. I only knew about his fear because Cupid told me when we were little, and much better friends." She smirked at Red. "Hey, you don't think he likes you, do you?"
Red hurried to catch up with Vikki. Zane was afraid of water? He'd saved her? And she had just ignored him in front of the infirmary. Man, she'd really blown it this time.
"Well, he hasn't said he doesn't," she said uneasily. She felt Vikki staring at the side of her head and heard her scoff loudly.
"Hey, I didn't mean as a friend." She exaggerated her wink.
Red stared back, blankly. "What else would he like me as?"
For a moment, Vikki stared at her as though she waited for her to turn around and say that Red knew what she meant.
Shaking her head, Vikki rested a hand on the back of her neck and turned the corner to head towards the dorm. "You really are too dense."
They ventured up the stairs into the dorm. Luckily, it was empty because everyone else had just made their way over to the gym, where they were going to be doing weightlifting and gymnastics. She opened the door to Seth's room and made her way inside, Vikki following behind her.
Vikki spotted the mattress poking out of a wardrobe. "Wow, you really aren't dating." She threw herself onto his bed and looked around the room, waiting for Red to rustle through her bag of clothes. "Hey, did wearing those clothes work?"
Red looked over her shoulder, a grin spreading over her face. Of course. She'd forgotten to tell Vikki all about that. "Yeah! They worked great. Whenever I wore these, Zane always approached me."
Vikki frowned. "'Approached you?"
Red nodded and pulled out a top, fiddling with it as she frowned, thinking hard. "One time he gave me his hoodie to wear. We were jogging, I wore that tight, little strappy top. Then another time he made me come back here, looked through my clothes and then said I was clueless." She let out a laugh. "Like you just did."
Vikki stared at Red, a small smile slowly spreading over her face. "What about Super Cooper? How did he react?"
She frowned, thinking. Her lips tilted upwards. "When I wore the strap top, he kind of went back and forth. You know, coming near and then quickly walking away. I didn’t understand it. He was like that in the cafeteria too, now I think about it." She had gone back to rustling through the bag and pulled out a pair of Zane's shorts, smiling at them. She'd chosen her outfit for the day.
Just as she was about to head into the bathroom, Vikki called to her to wait. She was staring at the shorts.
“We didn't buy those." She stretched out an arm and pointed at them.
A happy grin spread over Red’s face. "They're Zane's. He gave them to me and said I’d be more comfortable wearing them, instead of my short-shorts." She looked at Vikki in confusion when an evil grin spread over her friends face.
"Looks to me like someone's trying to get your attention."
She shifted her weight back to her other leg. "My attention?"
Vikki lay back on the bed, putting her hands behind her head. "Zane doesn't want you to wear clothes that make you look cute. Seth does, but won't come near you when you do because he won't be able to hold back his feelings." Vikki popped back into a sitting position. "This is like a twisted love story…" She tilted her head at Red and grinned, her few piercings shining in the sun pouring in through the window.
"A twisted love story with one hell of a love triangle."
* * * * *
Zane couldn’t concentrate on the weight lifting. He'd managed to sneak out the back, and right now he was just resting his back against the wall. It was drizzling slightly.
For a camp called Sunnyside, it seemed to rain an awful lot.
This only dampened his mood. He gritted his teeth, trying to push it out of his mind. But no matter how hard he tried, she always made her way back in. She'd ignored him today. He'd saved her life and how did she repay him? She ignored him completely, not even acknowledging his presence. That hadn't happened before. That hadn't happened, even when he'd been cruel to her.
He frowned and bit the inside of his cheek, tightening his arms so hard across his chest, he almost couldn't breathe.
She was infuriating. She was impossible.
He wasn't going to stand for it anymore.
He pushed himself off of the wall and stormed through the drizzle towards the dorm. He would teach her a lesson.
* * * * *
She'd said goodbye to Vikki and now Red was in Seth's room, alone, with nothing else to do. She needed to do something. She had to do something. Because if she didn't, the images that had played out in her mind over the past week would pop right back into her head.
Part of her knew those images were memories. Long buried memories. They scared her. She didn't want to claim those memories as they scared her even more than falling in the water had.
She lay back on the bed, exhausted from the fight to keep them locked away. She couldn’t hold them back anymore. She closed her eyes, and remembered.
* * * * *
She was small, scared even then. The first person she saw was a woman. Mommy. But the woman was fighting. Black shadows…so many of them. One would fall when the mommy kicked, or hit, and another would take their place. The mommy woman was being beaten. The child within cried, so upset.
She was small, confused. A feeling of loneliness and grief swept through her as she stood in a crowd, looking around and feeling lost. Someone had promised her that she could see her mommy and daddy again. She just had to wait here.
She was small, hurt. So afraid. She couldn’t breath. Someone was dunking her head in a bucket of water. Over and over again. They hurt her, and then they’d laugh. In the water, choke. Out of the water, hurt. They’d lied. Mommy and daddy never came. Her adult mind knew she was being tortured. The child whimpered in fear of what was coming.
She was small, crying. Sobbing as she watched a man and the mommy woman. They were kneeling on the ground in front of her, covered in dirt, bruises, and cuts. A bad man, the one who laughed when her head was dunked in the water, pointed a metal rod at their heads. She was crying. Crying so hard her eyes and her head hurt. Warm tears streamed down her face. Mommy. The two people meant so much to her.
She was small, and so very afraid. The sound of a huge explosion made her jolt and suddenly, the tears stopped. Just two trickled down her puffy cheeks. She could feel them. The two people were lying on the ground, their heads surrounded by big, spreading pools of red. She sobbed. Screamed. Let the black, still darkness take away the pain.
* * * * *
She heard a voice calling her in the distance. Saying her name over and over again. Slowly, the visions began to fade and she found herself curled into a ball on Seth's bed. Her eyes were wide with shock and she raised a hand to touch her face. She'd been crying.
She sat up and dabbed at her cheeks with her fingers. She was sad. She was angry. She felt so… so… depressed. Like she wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball, like she just had been, and cry until she had no tears left.
Her head began to tilt sideways and she struggled to stay sitting up. It was so tempting to lie down again.
Just as she gave in, thinking to wrap herself in her memories and misery, a shoulder got in the way. Her head rested on it, guided by a warm hand which stayed there, brushing her hair out of her eyes. A few more tears fell.
"Just let it out."
She knew who it was. She didn't have to look at him. She didn't have to smell him. She didn't need to recognize his voice. The comfort, the increase in her heartbeat, the amazing feeling she got when he was around was enough for her to know who held her. She raised her other hand to grasp his shirt tightly and curled her head into his neck.
Then, she cried.
* * * * *
How could he yell at her? How could he be aloof and cold in a situation like this?
The thing that horrified him the most was that if he hadn't gone to see her at that exact moment, she would have cried alone. He had a vague idea about why she was crying. It was the memories. The doctor said that she had some type of amnesia and the trauma of the near-drowning might bring those memories closer to the surface.
When he came in the room she hadn’t even seen him. She had looked straight through him, her eyes glazed, and seeing things that weren’t there.
What ever those memories were, they must have been horrifying. With every deep sob she took, his chest tightened and his frown deepened. He continued to stroke down her hair, letting her cry for as long as she needed. Unable to think of anything, except that he was glad she wasn’t alone.
Zane Noble was comforting a girl. And while this one girl seemed to be the most undignified, annoying, clueless, stupid girl he'd ever met, he felt himself seeking her company. He found himself looking for her. Hoping she would stay around. And while he pushed these thoughts to the back of his head during the day, at times like this, they were strong. At times like this, or when she was sick, or when she was down, he'd miss her smile. He'd miss her annoying, perky attitude.
He'd accepted her, without even realizing it. More, he liked her. It had taken something as heart-wrenching as her loud sobs for him to finally realize. Red Hart was one of them.
Chapter 21: Pink
Seth and Casper slowly made their way up the stairs. After noticing that Zane had gotten out of the weight-lifting activity and then mysteriously disappeared, they had gone out to search for him. The last place they had thought to check was in Seth's room.
It was only when Seth went into his room to change his clothes, opening the door slowly because Red might be resting, that he noticed. He immediately pulled back and stood in the hallway, looking through the crack in the door.
Casper looked at him oddly and then leaned forward to peek through the gap. He slapped a hand to his mouth to cover the gasp. He looked at Seth, and then back to the two figures in the room.
Although Seth looked unconcerned by the scene in front of him, his stomach was churning. He felt his chest tighten and his heart ached. His reaction was similar to how a child might feel, if he were told Christmas had been cancelled. He had no idea why Red was crying, but the important point was that Zane was giving her comfort. And Red was allowing it. He knew very well that she wouldn't allow anyone else to do it.
Seeing the scene in front of him, he felt as if his good deed in letting Red stay in his room—might not have been the best thing to do. He’d started to realize he had real feelings for her, but would Red Hart's affection be harder to capture than he thought?
He turned back to watch the two in his room.
"Zane."
"What?"
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. I only helped you because…you're like me."
"You're nothing like me, though."
"… I don't have parent's either, Red. I live with my uncle. My father was assassinated and my mother killed herself shortly afterwards."
"My God…Zane…that's awful—"
"Hey! Don't you dare start crying again. It's alright. I wasn't that close to them anyway."
"Still…"
“I said stop crying! If you don’t, my efforts will have been wasted."
"Zane, you know you're just like a magician. You saved my life and now you've made me feel better."
"Stop being ridiculous and just sit still."
"Ow. Why do I need this?"
"Because girls aren't supposed to have red and puffy faces. It's making me gag just looking at the horrible sight. Now stop moving."
“I can't help it. The soap got in my eye."
"Then stop moving and it won't."
"But I started moving when the soap got in my eye—"
"Be quiet."
"…Hey, Zane?"
"What is it now?"
"Are we friends?"
His sigh was exaggerated. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"It makes me happy when you say it."
"Fine. Yes, we're friends."
Mission accomplished, she thought happily.
* * * * *
She told him everything that night. Well, nearly everything. She obviously left out the bit about her being an agent, because then it would defeat the whole purpose of her being around to protect him. It seemed only fair. Finding out that he also had no parents made her so close to him, it was as if they were in the same boat.
She told him about her parents. She told him about the flashbacks. She told him about Tiffany. She told him that she’d gotten the cuts and bruises on her face from a fight. She just failed to mention which fight.
Then she told him that she and Seth weren't really girlfriend and boyfriend.
He smirked when she said that, acting as if he’d already know.
She also told him that Vikki had said if she wore the clothes they’d purchased on their shopping trip—that Zane would be a lot more interested in her, and she’d be able to get closer to him.
He hadn’t like that very much, mumbled something about getting back at the girl.
She told him he had a nickname.
He liked that even less.
Apart from that, he listened to her every word. Of course, he had a bored expression on his face the whole way through. But that didn't matter. They were sitting outside on the steps. It was late at night, so the moonlight illuminated the emotions in his eyes. His lips always moved when she told him a particularly emotional part. His arms tightened when she told him how she was hurt.
He was her friend. That made her ecstatic.
* * * * *
As soon as she’d gone up to Seth's room late that night, she went to bed and slept through to the next morning. When she woke, she called Dexter. It'd been a long time since they’d talked to each other. She decided it might be a good idea to update the agent. She told him everything about the lake accident, and that she had completed step one of the mission.
Dexter seemed more concerned about the lake accident, than happy that she’d finished the mission. He asked her about her flashbacks and then told her not to tell him about them. He thoroughly confused her. He finished the call on a very serious tone, which wasn’t what she’d expected.
She shrugged it off.
She was going shopping with Zane later for some more clothing.
He'd managed to get out of the Sports Activity for that day. It was boating and he really didn’t want to go near the water. He said he had nothing better to do and that he was sick of seeing her in such disgusting clothes.
She grinned. He could be a grump about the whole thing if he wanted to. She wasn't complaining.
Later that day she bounded along by his side. She was happy to follow him from shop to shop. They picked out plain t-shirts, shorts, jeans, cropped pants, strappy tops and even the occasional girly top. It was an experience she’d never thought she’d get and she was enjoying it so much. She was sad when the day ended.
It was getting dark as they left. The nights were arriving earlier.
She carried most of the bags, after Zane refused to be seen carrying things for a girl. She didn't care. She had imposed enough, just by allowing him to take her shopping. He’d even spent money on her.
He didn't know that she got a present for him while he was busy. She'd bought him a small pocket-sized stuffed toy. It was a gray rabbit that had a mop of black hair between its dangling ears. It was kind of a combination Zane and Red rabbit, it reminded her of both of them. She figured it would be fitting.
They made their way back to the camp, moving quickly. She hurried upstairs into Seth's room to change. Zane stayed in the main part of the room while she hurried into the bathroom.
When she came out, he turned around and a surprised little smile twitched around his lips,
He studied her from head to toe. "That's more like you." His smile widened and he brought his gaze up to hers.
She had
frozen. Her heart seemed to thump harder. Heat flooded her face. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him.
He was smiling. Zane Noble was smiling.
She'd never seen his lips twitch upwards before, unless it had been for something sarcastic.
The smile faded away when he discovered her staring at him.
"What?" he barked rudely.
She shook her head and cleared her throat, throwing him an uneasy grin. "Nothing, I’m just so glad you went shopping with me today, I had the best time." Her grin grew, "you're the nicest person I know."
He looked away, folding his arms over his chest. The aloof expression was on his face again. "Yes, well, no one else would be able to put up with your irritating personality."
His comment didn't hurt her. They never did. She continued to smile at him.
Accepting the mission to protect Zane Noble had been one of the best things that had ever happened to her.
* * * * *
Zane's head was in the clouds – which was unusual for him – and he winced when he bumped into a figure with bright red hair. He looked down, snorting.
"It's Icky Vikki."
She smirked up at him. "Nice one, Vain Zane. Don't you think that nickname's wearing off a little now? It's been ten years."
He folded his arms. "It'll never wear off."
She looked past him, and then sent a questioning glance up at him. "Is Red not with you?"
He narrowed his eyes. "What, you think because we're friends, she has to stick by my side and never leave?"
She stared at him like he was stupid. He shook his head slowly, and then raised his nose into the air. "No."
She raised one eyebrow and mimicked his posture. "Well, if she isn't by your side, don't you wonder whose side she is by?"
He looked down his nose at her. "It doesn't matter to me." He pushed past her to make his way down the hallway.
Vikki's sadistic smirk spread over her face as she watched his departing back. “I bet she’s with Seth," she called out.
Sunnyside Up with Red Ketchup Page 18