a/n - This chapter contains sensitive subject matter of a sexual nature, therefor is potentially triggering. Proceed with caution.

Chapter 9

No matter how much she struggled, the weight pressed hard against her shoulder. Alcohol stained breath wafted past her nose and made her stomach heave but her arms were too weak to push the crushing weight away. Her head swam, her dry tongue scratched against her equally dry mouth, and she couldn't tell if the pounding in her head was from the bass line of the music downstairs of something else.

"I'm…I'm gonna be sick," she mumbled, trying to turn her head to the side. A hand grabbed at her jaw and turned her head back. Lips rubbed against the side of her mouth in a sloppy attempt at a kiss and another wave of hot, alcohol soaked breath wrapped around her head and punched her in the gut.

"C'mon, just relax," he said, his words tinged with a laugh. "Relax."

"No...I…I can't breathe," she muttered. She struck at his shoulder but her arms were limp, like noodles. He pressed his forearm into her shoulder and removed his other hand from her face, dropping it down between their bodies. Every effort to use her knees and legs to push him off only spurned him on. "No…"

"Don't worry," he hummed, grabbing her chin in his hand, "you'll feel good soon."

Darkness crept into the cream colored ceiling until it dissolved and formed the canvas of the tent. Mickey blinked and the snores surrounding her came crashing down all at once. The sounds of her dream all faded away, like a needle being taken off a record player. Save for one.

Mickey's eyebrows twitched. The snoring she was used to but the random heavy breathing was weird. She swallowed…and then her blood ran cold. The contracting muscle in her neck brushed against something. And the heavy breathing in her ear that should have faded away with the dream only got louder by her ear. Her eyes popped open when she felt warm, moist air across her face and, despite the tight grip on it, she managed to turn her head.

She came face to face with a camper kneeling by her side, his eyes squeezed shut, his mouth slack, the hem of his shirt bunched, his boxers around his knees and…his hand…

"What the fuck!?"

She wasn't sure who yelled that louder, herself when she scrambled to get out of his grasp and to sit up or the other camper when she struck him right between the legs. He fell backwards on his rear end, his hands clutching at his now aching genitals.

Blankets ruffled and cots squeaked as the boys roused from their sleep. Mickey stumbled to get away from the boy, her legs tangling up in her sleeping bag, impeding her movement. She managed to shuffle backwards on her hands, her back resting against the wall of the tent when the lights came on at once, flooding the room in harsh lighting. She squeezed her eyes shut at the abrupt brightness and slowly opened them to see Zero standing by the light-switch. The other boys were either sitting up or on their feet, trying to figure out what was going on. The camper still lay in the middle of the tent, his hands between his legs.

"What's going on?" X-Ray asked, his words thick with sleep.

"He was…he just…" Mickey stuttered, pointing a finger at the camper in agony. She couldn't choke out the words, partly due to her shock and…well, she didn't want to end up a tattletale did she? That would brand her with a mark of shame before she could even blink.

"I wasn't doing anything, man," the camper grunted, grasping the edge of a cot to stumble to his feet. "She just freaked out and punched me in the nuts! She's fucking crazy, man!"

"What you doing in our tent, man?" Armpit asked, standing to his full height. "Do we waltz right into your tent?"

"Yeah, get the fuck out of here," Squid spoke up, his words like steel. Mickey hummed. Apparently he still wasn't someone who liked being woken up.

"She's the one who brought me in," the camper said, pointing an accusing finger at Mickey. Her eyes widened as the boys all turned to look at her and she gaped up at them from the floor. "She was looking for a good time but she couldn't hack it."

Murmurs ran around the tent as they stared at her. One glance in Squid's direction and she was sent back to that first day back at school after the party. He was looking at her the exact same way he did when she noticed the graffiti on her locker. He was looking at her like she was the most disgusting thing he ever set his sights on. Just like the other students at school, the ones who didn't know what happened. The ones who relied on muddled stories and hallway hearsay just to sink their teeth into a juicy story.

"Seriously!?" She exploded, making them all jump. She fought to get out of her sleeping bag beneath their stares. Her cheeks burned and bile tumbled in her stomach but she managed to keep everything down, save for the words at the back of her throat fighting to get out. "I was here…sleeping!" she growled, kicking her legs and finally getting up to her feet. Her back throbbed in pain from lying on the hard ground but she barely noticed it. "I don't even know who the hell you are! You're the one who came in here and…and held me down and…"

The bile shot up her throat, burning as the acid tried to shoot out. Tears collected in her eyes but she brushed them away. She didn't want them thinking she was crying over this. She cried all her tears weeks ago, Brett couldn't get them out of her anymore. She swallowed thickly, feeling the chunky contents of her stomach sliding back down. The sensation almost made her gag all over again but she held firm, taking a deep breath.

"Yo, calm down Ma," Magnet spoke up. "Don't get all emotional now."

"Girls. What do you expect from them?" The camper muttered.

Mickey's nostrils flared and she gritted her teeth. "Shut up!" she barked. "You hold me down and jerk off in my face while I'm sleeping and you have the gall to call me emotional? How would you like it if I shovel a shovel up your ass while you were asleep?"

The camper stared at her as if she had completely lost her man. "Man, I aint gay."

Maybe it was him who had lost his mind. Was that really all he got out of it? That he wasn't gay? He assaulted her—or harassed her, she still wasn't sure of the proper terminology—and yet there he stood like he didn't have a care in the world. Like she was in the wrong for not appreciating him waking her up with his dick in her face.

"What's going on here?" Pendanski inquired as he walked into the tent, rubbing his eyes. His hair was tousled and his eyes were rimmed red. His eyes moved around the room before resting on the spare camper. "Matthew, what are you doing in here?"

"She wanted me in here," 'Matthew' replied, tilting his head in Mickey's direction. "Chick was a little desperate, you know what I mean? Figured I could help the lady adjust"

"You lying little—" Mickey started to rush at the boy but Zigzag and Magnet grabbed her before she could get too far.

"She freaked and punched me in the balls," 'Matthew' continued. "Girls, right?"

"Pendanski, that's not what happened!" Mickey uttered. "He came in here and—"

"Look," Pendanski interrupted her, holding up her palm. She closed her mouth and waited. "I understand that you're in a new place, in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. You might need some…comforts." Mickey's lip twitched and she gaped at him. He couldn't possibly be saying what she thought he was saying. "I get it. We're all people around here. Just, maybe next time, think about what you're doing rather than resorting to having to cry wolf and—"

"Are you kidding me?" Mickey spat. Her ears rang and her heart hammered against her chest as she struggled to get her breath back to normal.

"See? Pendanski, she's completely crazy. Must be PMSing or something," 'Matthew' said.

"Alright, alright, get back to your tent," Pendanski said, waving 'Matthew' out. On his way out of the tent, 'Matthew' paused by the door, held his fingers up into a V shape and wiggled his tongue in between it. With a smirk shot her way he left, disappearing into the darkness that lay outside the tent.

"Pendanski," Mickey started, wrenching her arms from Zigzag's and Magnet's grasp.

"Let's all get some sleep. You'll need your strength for digging in a couple hours," Pendanski said, his words jump-starting the others to get back to bed. None of the boys looked at her as they climbed back into their beds. Mickey took the opportunity to close the space between them.

"Pendanski, he sneaked in here and—" Mickey started, her voice low.

"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked. She stared at him. He wasn't much taller than her, three inches max, but his words cut straight into her and made her feel as if he was towering over her. "Watch you while you sleep? Or will the sky fall for you then too?" She didn't have the words to reply. "Get back to sleep." He turned and left the tent, smacking his hand against the wall to turn the lights off on his way out, plunging her into darkness.

Her body shook as she walked back to her abandoned sleeping bag and stared hard up at the ceiling. The anger that bubbled inside her kept her awake for the next few hours and when the bugle recording sounded to wake them all up to dig that day, she was dressed and out of the tent before the boys fully roused. Before they could accuse her for taking a peek at their junk.