16: To Grope Or Nevermind, Best Not

A/N.: Sooooo sorry for how long it has taken me to post this chapter! I can't apologize to you guys enough, but if you're here right now reading this, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the support you've given me and for not giving up on me or this story! You guys are the sweetest people ever!!

Chapter 16: To Grope Or Nevermind, Best Not?

         

            Blood surged out of Brooklynn’s nose the moment I pulled my head back and it didn’t take long for the rivers of tears from her eyes to follow after. The sound that came out of her mouth was deafening, but instead of moving away from the sound like I was, everybody around me seemed to rush toward it like they were all canines and Brooklynn was the only female dog in heat within a five hundred mile radius.

            Tyler, of course, was the first one by her side, trying to comfort her and help her before a stream of teachers flew in and took over, ushering Brooklynn toward the office and separating the crowd of edgy students that had suddenly taken over the cafeteria in an uproar. I stood aside, still managing my spot at the bake sale, not feeling anything in particular.

            It doesn’t even matter what I feel – if I’m sad, if I’m angry, or if I feel like I’ve been wronged – so instead of such a useless attribute, I just stood aside and watched the crowd smother Brooklynn with affection as they stepped all over my cookies, the same ones that Brooklynn had flung on the ground only moments earlier, but have already been easily forgotten. It’s not one of Life’s greatest metaphors, but all the same, I thought it described human nature to a tee.

            “Camila!” Mr. Hudson, who I assumed had been overlooking the bake sale, threw me a glare when Brooklynn had finally settled down enough for him to take his attention off of her and let the other teachers sweep her down the hall. “We’ll call you down to the office when we get a hold of your father. Otherwise as soon as you finish with the bake sale, head down to the office you hear me? I don’t know what kind of influence you have to spare yourself punishment before, but not this time. I’ll make sure of it.”

            He didn’t stay long enough to hear my retort nor did I have the time to answer him as he rushed off after Brooklynn’s footsteps. Tyler took that opportunity to push me aside, his eyes lighting up with so much rage that the evergreen scenery turned into a forest set ablaze.

           “Are you sure you shouldn’t be following her?” I asked smartly.

          “What’s wrong with you?” He hissed. “I can’t believe you did that to her! Are you crazy? Do you honestly do that stuff on purpose?!”

            I shrugged since I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to take it. Maybe it was a compliment on his part – that I was cunning enough to plan something so detailed, from the bake sale and the burnt cookies to knowing that Brooklynn would come provoke me so that I could punch her on purpose, but either way, what he thought of me didn’t really matter. “Yeah,” I found myself saying after. “I did it on purpose.”

            Tyler released my arm and it was only after that, when I felt the change in pressure that I realized he was even holding onto me in the first place. He looked at me forlornly and I’m not sure what it signified, that he couldn’t hold onto me or that he was too afraid to. “That… that was wrong. My words didn’t come out right.”

            “It’s not the words,” I said. “It’s the actions, but you’ve never done either right have you?” I pushed myself out of his way and slowly made my way back to the bake sale area so I could clean up the cookies Brooklynn had made a mess of on the floor. Tyler followed me back, but stood on the side and watched me for a moment before he spoke.

            “Just leave it on the floor,” he mumbled. “The janitors will clean it up later.” I didn’t answer him, and when he realized I’d probably never give him a proper response, he heaved a sigh and crouched down beside me. “Here, let me help you.”

            I pushed his hands away when they extended toward me. “Just leave.”

            “Don’t be like that. I just want to help you.”

            “Did I ask for it?”

            “No, but– ”

            “Did I ask for it?”

            He hesitated. “No… but I just…”

            “You just what?!” I snapped. “I don’t need your help Tyler! My arms aren’t broken! It’s just picking up a couple of stupid crumbs off the ground, I can do that by myself!”

            “Why do you always have to be like that?!” He shouted. “It’s always by yourself Camila! I want to help you. If you’d only let me I’d– ”

            “Do what?” I interrupted, restraining what little strength I had left inside me not to scream. “Help me Tyler? You left me there to die. The only moment I ever really needed you in my life, you turned your back on me and left.”

            The pain of the memories stained his expression, but I knew that they could never rival all the things I had to go through by myself, and worse, what I had to learn from them.

           “I didn’t,” he said. “I didn’t leave you.”

          “You did,” I said. “I was on the ground. I saw you. I watched you.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and got up on my feet, chin up, head straight – none of that should get to me anymore and it didn’t. With my hand still clutching the half broken cookie, I crushed it into stardust before throwing it at his face. “And even at the hospital,” I said calmly, surprising myself how casual I could sound. “Even at the hospital… not once did you come see me.”

          I didn’t stay long. I couldn’t be bothered enough to look at the face he was making as I spoke my mind; there couldn’t have been anything in the world that moment worth less of my time. Maybe if it happened a few years ago it could have been different, but it was too late to even discuss the matter now.   

          Not particularly interested in going to the office while Brooklynn was still getting treatment – or just going into the office in general – I made my way out of the school building and soon found myself sitting on the bleachers overlooking the soccer field. I was okay with being there by myself. I was okay with loneliness. In fact, loneliness comforted me. I didn’t have to answer to anyone and nobody needed to fake like they cared. Thank God Todd had a chess club meeting today. I wouldn’t have cared for his company very much.

         “Whatcha doing?”

         I watched some poor kid get hit in the face with a soccer ball before heaving a sigh. “Not a good time right now Marshall,” I muttered, not bothering to look at him. “Besides, I haven’t forgotten the fact that you hung up on me last night.”

         “Don’t hold so many grudges,” he said, climbing up the steps before taking a seat beside me. It really annoyed me to see him there actually, but what surprised me was the tiny bit of relief I also felt in his presence. Just like what Marriah called him, a creature of light: someone that had the ability to brighten up even the darkest places whether you wanted him to or not. “I saw what happened in there. With you and Brooke.”

         “Hm.”

         “That’s it? Not gonna vent?”

         “I have nothing to say.”

         “Not what the frown on your face says. How about this?” He shoved his hands into his pocket and shuffled around before pulling it out, waving the green paper bill in my face. “Twenty bucks for a smile,” he said, turning to me with a smirk. “How about it?”

          Marshall started wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at me, making it look like two worms were crawling across his forehead. Impressive, but still disgusting. Deciding that it couldn’t possibly hurt, I flashed him my biggest smile for a quarter of a second before snapping the twenty-dollar bill out of his hands. The look of utter disbelief on his face didn’t surprise me. After all, he probably forgot that I was an actress and thought nothing could have moved me to smile. What did surprise me though was when he suddenly tackled me to get the money back.

           “Nooo,” he cried. “I didn’t mean it Camila! It was a miscalculation! Give me my money back!”

           We were in a very compromising position. Marshall had first flung his arms around me, but because of the suddenness of it, we had both fallen over and now he was lying on top of me in a really disturbing manner. “What are you doing?” I laughed, watching the silly expression that hung above my head. “I won it fair and square!”

           Marshall clenched his teeth, flinging his arms around trying to reach my hand that held the money. “Except I hadn’t expected it,” he cried, ever so dramatically. “You didn’t seem the type to do something just for a little bit of money!”

           “Well now,” I said, “I guess I learned it from you.”

           He groaned, stopping his tactics for a moment, which was more than enough time for me to pull my arm in and stuff the money down my shirt. His jaw fell when he realized what I had done and quickly got off of me, his eyes filled with horror that he might not get his money back. Finding myself thoroughly entertained by this fact, I decided to tease him a little bit more, promptly getting up on my knees before shoving my breasts close to his face.

            “It’s in my bra Marshall,” I said, smirking at him. “Go ahead. Take it. I dare you to.”

            He winced, staring at my chest with inner turmoil. One on hand he desperately wanted the money. On the other, he was decent enough not to violate a girl in public. Finally, he came to a decision despite his internal conflict.

           His nose flared. “Which side?” He said.

          “The left.”

          His hand shot up like a claw, ready to strike, but he couldn’t do it. He eyed my boob like a bomb, sweat drops forming on his forehead as he cautiously moved his hand forward. Closer. Closer. Slowly now. Slowly.

          I watched him with amusement and then said his name, making him shiver all over, when his hand was only inches away from groping me. “Marshall,” I said. “Let’s play a game. Let’s see if you can pull your hand out of my bra with all your fingers attached. If you get less than two fingers broken, then you win. If I break three or more of them, you lose.”

         Marshall cried. “Doesn’t it look like I’d lose either way?” 

         “Oh come on. Don’t be such a poor sport.”

          Finally realizing the cost for touching my breast and getting twenty dollars for it were much too high, he backed away from me wearing a sulky pout on his lips. “It’s not fair.”

          “When is life ever?” I said, and then stood up, stretching my arms above me, feeling more or less refreshed. “Here is your stupid money. I never had the intention to keep it anyways. Besides, for all the time you spent with me, I haven’t even paid you a cent yet.”

          He caught the crumpled piece of paper in his hands and stayed quiet. “Don’t worry,” he said, after a moment. “I haven’t forgotten our deal. I was planning to charge you properly next time anyways. Hey! Where’re you going off to now?!”

          I looked up at him from the bottom of the bleachers and shrugged. “Home,” I said. “If I can grab my things out of my locker before someone drags me into the office.”

          I started my way back inside, managing to make a good distance before I heard Marshall calling after me. One look and I saw him standing on the bleachers still, but now up on the highest bench. “Yo! Camila!”

         “What!”

         He smirked. “Even if it was just a little, did I make you feel a bit better today?”

        Maybe not love, I decided, but there was definitely something about him that was growing onto me – something that was irrevocably hard to explain and harder to deny. “Yeah,” I told him, smiling. “Your idiocy was contagious today.”

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