I started typing this up after I uploaded the previous chapter. I do hate typing so this will probably take me a while... was the plan but then my life was like ha! Lose all those journals you filled with the story and then find them but be too busy to do anything about it. And then lose it again.
Just a quick warning: If you're squeamish… I'm sorry.
Pumpkin.
It'd been nearly a week since the group had first washed ashore. Mr. Simmons had had everyone scavenge for supplies from the boat to maintain themselves while awaiting rescue. They'd built makeshift shelters of fern leaves and driftwood at the seam of the beach and the forest. A large SOS had been constructed in the sand with stones, brightly colored ferns, and logs.
The sole adult stared sadly at his little survivors as he placed the last water bottle in front of them all. "This is our last bottle from the wreckage," he spoke softly while rubbing his sunburned, bald scalp, "now I know this seems bad, but we can make this work. I believe in us because you are all very special people." Even with the use of his keyphrase no child had the heart to groan in annoyance. "Today we're going a little ways into the jungle to look for some fresh water. We're going to break up into groups of three and search: that way if one person is injured one can go for hekp and the other can stay behind to watch over the injured. Please group yourselves now."
Friends scrambled to find one another. Those with too many friends struggled to choose whilst those who were alone struggled to find anyone at all. Lila, barely a hand's width from Helga's side, immediately grabbed her blonde companion's arm. A few feet away Phoebe's grip tightened upon Gerald's hand. Neither the bully nor the athlete had said a word since they first landed. The redhead's eyes sought Phoebe, believing she could rely upon the Asian girl to complete their trio and support the broken poet. When their eyes met, the two girls realized neither could help the other for Phoebe would not leave heave her boyfriend and Lila would not part from Helga's side. Both looked away from one another in shame as they sought out their third.
The Southern Belle jumped when she felt a large hand placed on her shoulder. Behind her was the large seventh grade, Wolfgang. "Hey," he managed awkwardly, tousling his shaggy blonde hair, "so all my friends have already tripled up. Mind if I tag along with you two?"
Lila chewed her lip worriedly while glancing back at her vegetative friend. "Fine. Sure. I mean, that'd be ever so helpful. Thank you." He moved in to stand closer with them to signify they were a group. The redhead tightened her grip on Helga's arm as she sent the boy a wary glance. When she turned back around the blonde seventh grader sent his friends a thumbs up.
"Look at your shadows, when your chest is where you head is now," Mr. SImmons said calmly, "everyone return to base for roll call."
"Excuse me," Sheena chimed out from somewhere in the crowd, "how do you know all this?"
The teacher chuckled. "I, uh, watched a lot of TV."
"So, uh," Wolfgang broke the silence as he and his group moved through the thick flora, "your name is… Lola, right?"
"Lila," the redhead muttered while shoving a branch out of her face. Helga drifted along lazily behind the pair, effortlessly maneuvering through the jagged path.
"Yeah, that's it," the male nodded, "all the guys say you're one of the hottet girls in the sixth grade. Can't say I disagree." His eyes drifted down to her bruised calves, exposed by her shorts.
Lila rolled her eyes and pulled back a branch to whip back and smack him in the face.
She'd had a week to get over the shock. Helga supposed she had. Her core was still numb but she could think again. The blonde recognized everything that her once rival had done for her in the past week and she wished she could be thankful but the girl found she simply couldn't feel. It was probably a good thing; with functioning emotions Helga would cease to exist under the weight of Arnold's death. This was probably some kind of subconscious defense mechanism.
All that mattered now was surviving. It didn't matter that the love of her life was dead or that the only reason she was alive was her once utmost rival or that her best friend had abandoned her or that her unexpected savior and former tormentor were now flirting. Helga had lost the capacity to care. All she wanted was to find water.
A gentle trickling could be heard underneath the taller blonde's incessant yammering. Wasting no time the emotionally dead girl shoved both of her companions out of the way as she charged ahead. The former bully could hear her redheaded hip-attachment frantically scramble after her and the bewildered shouts of their tag-along but she ignored that. Instead the blonde focused on the gentle sound of water lying beneath all the noise of the forest. Vaulting over a log, the determined girl tumbled down a steep ledge into a pool of water. As her clothes became soaked through Helga raised two fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly.
Lila made it to the pond just as Helga signaled that she'd found water. Watching the drenched blonde as light reflected off the water droplets clinging to her powerful form, the Southern Belle entirely didn't notice the seventh grader arrive behind her. His eyes lingered briefly on the redhead before getting caught on the sight of the girl below.
Helga rose out of the water slowly letting her wet hair cling to her body. Small pearls of water rested atop her dark lashes as she kept her gaze to the ground. She roughly swung her head, causing her straightened and heavy hair to spin around her form before slapping onto her back with a wet smack. Her sopping clothes clung tightly to her lanky form, revealing developing curves that her baggy clothing had hid.
Voices could be heard approaching from all directions. The trio stood in silence as they were joined by their fellow survivors.
Children lugged portions of the water back in whatever they could. If it was watertight then they used it. Phoebe was only burdened with a discarded ozarka water bottle as she trudged along behind her peers with her empty handed boyfriend. Her eyes examined the water carefully. It appeared quite clear but that didn't mean they still didn't have to be careful. She'd need to remind them that there are precautions that must be taken- she remembered them from a medical journal she'd read about the conditions of third world countries. It'd be disastrous if someone were to get sick. Gerald's pace was slowing so the petite Asian lagged behind with him. Even as their classmates, friends, acquaintances, and strangers moved around them, the girl reached out to grasp his hand with her delicate one. His fingers tightened around her palm as his dark eyes flickered momentarily to glance at her. She gave a weak smile and strengthened her grip on him as well. Phoebe's eyes were briefly drawn to the wet blonde at the head of the crowd.
"I'm telling you guys," Wolfgang spoke in a hushed tone to his classmates, "sure the redhead is nice and all but the blonde is actually kinda hot."
"Caterpillar brow?" Ludwig's tone was unimpressed.
"Yeah sure," the blonde rolled his eyes, "she's like that now, but give her a little time and the right motivation and she'll be a ten while freckles is still only sitting at an eight."
"You know what I think," Booger, a pudgier seventh grader with thin, short hair, called, "I think you're too chicken to win the bet."
"Yeah," Nix, a skinny, lanky boy with thick brown curls that his his eyes, drawled, "because nothing says 'I'm chicken' like picking a more difficult target."
Steven, a short Hispanic seventh grader with thick eyebrows and an accent to match, crossed his arms, "I don't care if the girl is harder to catch. The bet was for Little Miss Perfect who, I will remind you all, is still the hotter one right now."
"If the blonde even actually does get hot…" Knuckles, a burly seventh grader of few words, mumbled.
Wolfgang scowled as his eyes followed the blonde at the front of pack, the Southern Belle closely behind her. It was pretty obvious to him that the blonde would come out on top but his friends couldn't see it so he might as well not know it at all. "Fine, you want to keep the bet on freckles going? I'll do it. But," he glared at each and every one of them, "when blondie ends up a total bombshell you all owe me fifty. Bucks. Each."
With a wry smile, Steven stuck out his hand. "Another bet? I'm in. If your blonde ends up hot by, let's say, freshman year of high school, since I'm feeling generous, each of us will owe you fifty dollars. However if she's still a 'diamond in the rough' come that time you will owe each of us fifty dollars." He slid his hand farther out to his friend, raising an eyebrow in devious curiosity. The bully roughly grabbed his hand and shook.
"You're on, i/ amigo."
The Hispanic boy glared. He hated when people spoke to him in Spanish.
Phoebe and Gerald were starting to severely lag behind the group. She could no longer make out Helga. It would be worrisome if they got separated so the Asian girl spoke softly, "Gerald? Perhaps we should hasten our pace as our class is getting-"
"I know the way back."
It was the first time Phoebe had heard her boyfriend speak in seven days. She tried to stifle her gasp as she turned to look at him. His dark molten eyes were on her, pouring into her something warm and paralytic. Indeed the small girl found she could not move a muscle as he slowly drew closer to her. Surely he wasn't going to- they were far too young.
It had been part of their initial agreement, proposed by the ever-logical Phoebe and reluctantly agreed to by the young athlete, that, as they were only sixth graders, it was too soon for them to engage in intimacy. She had never imagined that he might transgress; he seemed so patient and kind. Her rational mind should've allowed her to gently hold Gerald's shoulders and push him back slightly so she could defuse the situation appropriately. Yet there the Asian stood with her new boyfriend's mouth melded against her own.
His hands danced on her skin and Phoebe felt her throat contract in disgust even as her stomach swirled with butterflies. It was wrong yet it felt so good. It annoyed her how cliche her own thoughts were on the matter. Her entire being felt like a cliche as her superego seemed to fade away and her id moved her body to meet Gerald's.
'She was too young', the thought echoed in her head.
She was too young
She was too young
She was too young
She was too young
She was too young
She was just too young.
The thought grew louder and more deafening as Phoebe slipped away. Her dirt-covered blue sweater was lying on the ground, staring at her accusingly as she lost control of something she had been so sure of. The girl had no idea when her sweater was removed but there it was now, disappointed, disgusted. How easily she could see it too- blue eyes staring at her and through her, betrayed, angry, and lonely. Those eyes were plain as day because the small Asian child knew them.
Snapping out of her trance, the once perfect student's hands flew to her head. /i Helga's eyes. Her best friend's eyes filled her mind as she felt her body reawaken. What was she doing?! With all the strength in her scrawny arms Phoebe shoved Gerald off her. As he rolled into the underbrush she scampered to collect her clothes and pull them onto herself. Every inch of her skin felt dirty and protested against the fabric sealing the slimy sensation in. The sweat and the smell and the layer of her skin- Oh gods, the girl wanted to peel it all off.
Gerald remained on the ground, not having moved a muscle as his world closed in on him. He was just so lonely. His best friend was dead. And he was sorry for what he'd done to Phoebe, but he knew he'd never be able to tell her that. Not yet. No, not yet. The boy could feel her eyes on him, the pity, all that infuriating pity, rained down on him in droves. For whatever reason she'd forgiven him, that much was obvious from the fact that she remained by his side without physically maiming him.
She was too good for him.
"We need to get back," her soft voice echoed loudly in Gerald's head as he stared up into the canopy of the forest. His throat ached as he managed a gruff and raspy response to match the tears leaking from his eyes.
"Okay."
Helga stared blankly at her cup of water as everyone around her quenched their thirst. Few weren't drinking. Lila had yet to take a sip as her eyes trailed on the blonde. Wolfgang seemed to be pouting as he sat alone, away from the seventh grade pack. The couple, Phoebe and Gerald, were nowhere to be seen. Rhonda was still examining her water, loudly remarking on how it looked cloudy. The blonde turned the Hello Kitty mug in her hand; why Sheena had bothered to pack this the bully had no idea but she was grateful to have any kind of cup at all.
No. Setting down the glorified cat paraphernalia, the detatched girl turned to her savior."Don't drink that." Time to return the favor.
The southern belle was surprised she was acknowledged. Looking down at her half of a plastic water bottle, the redhead set her liquid down on the sand. Just as she opened her mouth to ask why, Little Miss Perfect heard a gurgle from behind her.
Sid was clenching his hands over his stomach and mouth. He looked positively horrified as his eyes bulged in distress. A wet retching sound erupted from his palm followed by a mess of soupy vomit. The discolored liquid spurted from between his fingers as the child wasn't quick enough to move his hand. Lila covered her open mouth in horror while Helga didn't bother to so much as flinch. Once Sid had lost control it didn't take long for the others to follow. Everyone who had been drinking water upturned their guts and let it spill to the ground.
Mr. Simmons collapsed into a puddle of his own bile, the disturbing stench overwhelming his senses. A cacophony of retching and liquid splattering on the ground surrounded the group as Lila gripped Helga's sleeve in fear. As the orchestra of expulsion reached its finale, all who weren't caught in the throes of barfing increased their distance. It was horrific. The southern belle began to cry from the sight of the sheer agony on all the victims' faces.
Once the esophagi of the group had calmed down and children began to pick themselves off the ground, everyone was alerted by a scream. A vomit drenched Sheena was standing over the unconscious Mr. Simmons. Even beneath the thin layer of gastric acid, it was evident that the teacher's skin was overly red, beyond that of his sunburn. His breaths were coming out as heavy pants as his face scrunched up in pain.
"I noticed the other day," Sheena's horrified voice filled the silence as all eyes fell upon her, "he hasn't been eating so that we could have more. I think this made him worse." Another overwhelming quiet overtook the children as the epiphany hit each of them. A gentle rustling of the flora caught everyone's attention as a disheveled looking Phoebe and Gerald emerged from the jungle. One look told the Japanese girl that everything she'd feared had happened. She scanned for her best friend and found her relatively unscathed, but the moment they made eye contact, the one perfect student felt her stomach drop.
The look she'd seen in her mind's eye: all the loneliness, disgust, anger, disappointment, and betrayal. It wasn't there. Instead Helga's once fearsome blue eyes were dead; a constant blank stare. She didn't care. Phoebe wanted to cry but there was work to be done.
"Vomiting makes the body severely dehydrated," her puny voice managed to reach all the ears of the children, "that isn't good in our current circumstance. Did you decontaminate the water before drinking it?" People exchanged wary glances before shaking their heads. "There was probably something in the water a- a bacteria or bug that triggered your need to, uh, well…" her eyes observed the pools of bile surrounding the group, "we need to quickly distill the water and rehydrate. We're actually quite lucky, If anyone had been in poor nutrition they could've suffered considerable issues, such as fever, paralysis, coma, and much, much…" her voice grew quieter as she observed the terrified faces of her peers, "...worse."
Slowly all gazes shifted back to Mr. Simmons, poor Mr. Simmons, who lay unconscious in his own vomit.
The children had only managed to clean Mr. Simmons off and get him situated safely inside a makeshift shelter before falling apart completely. Chaos reigned supreme as children curled into balls and cried, shouted at one another, pulled on their hair, tore through the few belongings left, and succumbed to fear. Lila watched it all sadly, her hand desperately gripping Helga's wrist. This wasn't helping. Phoebe hadn't the strength or presence to maintain the order, despite knowing at least some useful information.
The seventh graders had taken almost half of all supplies and ran into the jungle, abandoning the rest of the group. No one had tried to stop them in the slightest.
Times like these were where Helga was needed. Her brute force and loud voice helped her excel at snapping people out of their own melodrama and inspiring them to get crud done. However the blonde made no move to stop the rampant crowd as she simply didn't care. The southern belle needed her friend to stand up and collectively slap the group in the face but it was clear that that wasn't going to happen. It hit her with all the force of a train that the once bully wouldn't bother taking a stand. If they were going to survive together then someone else would have to step up to the plate today.
Climbing atop a nearby stump, Lila cleared her throat. The redhead mustered up every ounce of courage she had in her voice and shouted. "HEY!" Everyone froze to look at their idol. "Ah, Hello," she said sweetly while gently brushing a barely put together braid behind her shoulder. "I know things are scary but it'd be ever so helpful if we could all calm down. Now I know this seems very scary but I believe that we all can make it if we stand together and work together. Until Mr. Simmons is better I will do my best to keep us together." She smiled sweetly as her freckles danced on her cheeks.
The children quieted down and began to gather around her. Lila checked on Helga with her eyes before calling for Phoebe. "Phoebe, it would be ever so delightful if you could teach us how to fix the water."