I'm (not) falling in love
Previously: I feel quite respected!
And so the next few days went: wake up at ungodly hour, annoy boys, change while boys turned around, annoy boys, turn around while boys change, annoy boys, scoff down breakfast (no matter how shit it tastes), annoy boys, get shovel, annoy boys, start digging, annoy boys, eat lunch (no matter how shit it tastes), annoy boys, dig, annoy boys, go back to tent, annoy boys if in there, get showering stuff, shower, change, go to wreck room and annoy boys, and so on.
Thinking about it, most of my time is spent annoying boys. Hee hee. No wonder they all hate me so much.
Oh, and here come two boys I love annoying: Antsy and Axe. Hee hee hee.
"Hey Isis." Says Antsy warily.
"Devil girl." Says Axe with a nod of acknowledgement.
"Hi guys!" am I seriously the only one with enthusiasm in this hell hole? Wait… it's a hell hole. Of course no one's enthusiastic here.
"What right do you have to be happy, Devil girl? Hmm?" that's Axe, of course. He doesn't really like me at the moment. I'm sure I don't know why, though.
"That was rather mean of you, Axe. I'm heart broken to think that you want me to be miserable. Well, not really. I honestly don't care whether you wish for my happiness or not. The point is, it's sunny and hot and I'm happy to be alive!" Antsy frowns at me.
"But it's always so sunny you have to squint, and it's always so hot that you feel you're on fire here. How can you be happy to live here?" Spoilsport. He just had to say that, didn't he? I was trying to imagine I was on a beach somewhere like… Spain.
"Well, it's a lot better here than the other place I was living."
"Where were you living before?"
"None of your business. And even if it were your business, Antsy, I would never talk about it in front of Axe." And then I walked away from them—hopefully they were annoyed.
By Circle Time (as I had dubbed the weekly meetings), I was extremely B-o-r-e-d (the capital B was a must have, of course. I'm cool like that). Ace asked me, once again, how I was.
"How are you, Isis?" I could have said ecstatic; overwhelmingly joyous; or even spontaneously happy and if I'd felt like it; sporadically insane.
"Terribly bored." But I had to say the—completely honest and—entirely serious answer. It dredged up a few smiles, a weak grin and even one not-entirely-there laugh.
"Alright. What we have to do is think up a name for Isis. I trust everyone's thought of one, haven't they?" he shot a look—it wasn't entirely clean, but it wasn't stained either—at Axe. I'm sure I don't know any reason why he would give Axe an evil look. Much. Of course, the all knowing councillor extraordinaire that is Jeffrey Reedman (aka Ace), would know Axe was the one leading the 'We Hate Isis Fane' fan club. He even designed the jackets.
"So we're going to go around the group and Isis, you don't get a say in your nickname, nor can you suggest anything." Well, that's nice, isn't it? These guys are just so darn considerate…
"Okay, Axis is starting us off." Axis gave an unenthusiastic cheer—he had obviously had some trouble thinking of just one word beginning with 'A' to describe me.
"My idea is Applesauce." Axis then pointed at Arrow and said "What's yours?"
"My idea is Anger." Arrow pointed at Axe with a smirk "What's yours?"
"My idea is Annoyance." scowled Axe. I know he hated me, but really… "What's yours?"
"My idea is Acacia." Said Antsy with a peaceful smile. Then he pointed at Arsenic. "What's yours?"
"My idea is Angel." Arsenic didn't really look like he believed in that name, somehow. "What's yours?"
"My idea is Autumn." Ace was the final one. So. What was my name gonna be? Please not Applesauce, please not Applesauce… what kind of a name is Applesauce, anyway?
"Alright, here's how it's going to work. I'm going to hand out some slips of paper and some pencils, and you vote for which one you like best. No voting for your own idea!"
I thought I'd die of anticipation while they voted. It was really strange how I'd got sucked into this world so quickly. I found myself feeling nervous—this nickname would be proof that I belonged, actually belonged in this place.
And I would be devastated if I was called Applesauce. I don't even like Applesauce!
Ace collected the paper and pencils in. and then he started making piles.
One, two, three piles. There could be a tie, and I could choose between three!
Or not.
"The names 'Applesauce', 'Anger' and 'Angel' got no votes. The name 'Annoyance' got only one vote. 'Autumn' received two. So Isis, your new name is Acacia."
YAY! My name's not Applesauce, my name's not Applesauce!
"Woo hoo! Yay! Yeah, my name's not Applesauce, my name's not Applesauce…" que dance moves (naturally, only the bad ones) and happy music!
7 'you're soo crazy!' looks, 6 seconds of pure rave dancing, 5 shaking heads, 4 repeated words (my name's not Applesauce), 3 seconds of stunned silence after my, er, outburst, 2 glares off of Arrow and Axe, and (a partridge in a pair tree!) 1 offended Axis (I guess he thought Applesauce suited me…) later, we were leaving the room.
"Well, I'll see you guys later. I'm gonna take a shower…"
"Sure thing, Acacia." I waved to the guys, got my showering stuff and a token and went to take the four minute long cold and wet thing they called a shower.
It was nirvana.
Bloody cold, but nirvana.
Perhaps nirvana is cold. Freezing cold. And lasting only 4 minutes. It is here. Shower done, I redressed in the truly heinous orange jumpsuit they had issued me upon my arrival. Now, I'm not a very girly girl, but even I have to admit that the orange jumpsuits are, not only extremely unflattering, but that they also are just hideous. Extremely hideous. Like, if I had a choice between wearing a bin bag and this orange jumpsuit for the rest of my life and any afterlife there is, then I would choose the bin bag. Bin bags are a lot more pleasing to the eye than the jumpsuits. I had a tank top on under the jumpsuit, so I decided to not put my arms into the jumpsuit, leaving my torso open to the heat, the sun and the boy's eyes.
I had to find a new way to annoy them at some point—they won't be able to bear my feminine flesh revealed to them!
My theory was proven when I walked into the wreck room to assorted wolf whistles and cheers. One hopeful from a different tent—I didn't know which—tried pinching my bottom. Flipping him off, I made my way over to the pool table. I rock at pool. But they don't need to know that, do they?
"Hey guys!" I greeted them with an innocent smile. This should have elicited suspicion, but none of them saw it. Their eyes were on my (already mentioned) feminine flesh.
"Can I play pool with one of you guys?"
"Are you any good at it?" asked Arsenic immediately.
"Um. It's been a while since I played it. It's, uh, the one with the yellow and red ones, right?" Arsenic grinned.
"Alright. I'll play ya." Hee hee. I didn't technically lie—it has been a while since I played it. And, okay, maybe I exaggerated it a bit with the whole 'it's the game with the yellow and red ones, right' thing, but still! Would they have agreed if they knew I was okay at the game?
Axe set the balls up, and I focused on pretending not to know how to hold the cue. Arsenic, the cocky bastard, looked at me with a confident smirk. It was time to school these little boys in the art of pool.
"Can I go first?" I asked in my best girly-girl voice. My request was approved instantly.
I broke, and before they knew what was happening, I'd potted two reds. Arsenic frowned.
"My go again?" Arsenic nodded, confused by how I'd managed to pot two balls on my first go, if I hadn't even known properly what colour balls were in it. I potted another red, and kept on potting them until there was just the black left. Arsenic hadn't even had his first turn yet. Every single person in the wreck room was gathered around the battered pool table, watching me batter Arsenic at a game I'd professed to not knowing very well. I chose to put him out of his misery, and the room went crazy.
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Antsy. "You're like, an evil genius at that game!"
I laughed and said, "Pool must be like riding a bike—you never really forget how to play it!"
I shook hands with Arsenic who still looked extremely confused, then stretched—needless to say, all of them stared—and made to exit the room, but countless hands tugged me back over to the pool table.
"You can't leave now!" growled Axe. "You aren't leaving until someone beats you. And we definitely aren't letting you break again!" oh well. There goes my plan of an early night…
"Wait, wait, wait! I don't want to play pool anymore; I want to write to my friend!" Axe gave me a 'do we look like we care' look, so I decided to bribe them.
"I'll give you a hug instead of a game of pool!" they can't resist a hug!
Axe crossed his arms before shaking his head and saying, "You can do better than a hug, Acacia." I scowled at him. A hug was as far as I went, and he would just have to live with disappointment.
"No. A hug is as far as I go."
"A kiss on the cheek, at the very least. As well as a hug."
"Which would you prefer? A kick to the nuts, or a nice, friendly hug? You choose."
"Fine, a hug. Each."
"Fine. But no groping."
I hugged all of A-tent first, and there was no groping—all was looking up. Then it was people from D-tent (I knew this because Arrow called them up to hug me) and not one of them tried to grope me either, though one guy, X-Ray he said his name was, tried to hug me for a lot longer than everyone else. Then it was the E-tenters, after they were checked for sharp objects, and so on. The only time I had to deal with a groper was when we got to the last person from the last tent, B-tent, who tried to get me to wrap my legs around him by picking me up by my ass.
I kneed him in the nuts, and then, finally, got to leave.
I went back to A-tent, leaving them to play pool and stuff, and I took out my pad of paper and my pencil and sat down to write a letter. I had told the guys I wanted to write home to a friend. That was true. There was just a 'boy' in front of the word 'friend'. But it was—it is—complicated.
The fact that I hate him just makes it even more impossible, even more complicated, than it should have been. Now that I think of it properly, everything with Nicky is impossible and complicated… that says something, doesn't it?
It says I shouldn't be with him. And I wouldn't, but…well, it's complicated, isn't it?
