HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER TEN !

YET AGAIN JACKIE HAD found something completely useless to pass the time. Instead of helping the rest of the group with cleaning and foraging, the Taylor girl had busied herself with attempting to fix Van's Walkman. This was a total waste of time seeing as how no one really cared at that moment. It also wasn't as if that couldn't be done later in the day, when the sun had set and they had all headed inside the cabin for the night.

            Nola couldn't bring herself to say anything. Even the thought of looking at Jackie in that moment had the Rilke girl's stomach churning. Nola knew that if she tried to open her mouth, malicious, spiteful words would slip free, effectively straining her already weakened relationship with Jackie.

            No, if someone wished to speak to Jackie, she certainly wouldn't get in the way and she certainly wouldn't attempt to defend her but no, she was planning on keeping her head down. She had her own problems to contend with after all. The footsteps in the attic from the night prior still had her freaked.

            "Thanks for jinxing me." At the sweet sound of her girlfriends voice, Nola peered up from her basin of soaked clothes to see the Shipman girl holding up a blood stained wad of previously white fabric.

"Welcome to club Flo." Jackie sarcastically quipped with a grin. She glanced back down to the Walkman in her hand before looking up at Shauna again who sat down not that far away from her. "Call me when your ready to shake Misty down for Motrin."

            There was a moment of silence before Jackie aggressively cried out, "Ugh, these batteries! Fucking cocksucker!" The dirtiest of looks were sent from nearly everyone that was working outside the cabin. She remained oblivious to the way in which people's opinions on her were changing.

Shauna however was not oblivious. She had caught the nasty looks, felt fear rush through her veins. She needed to get Jackie out of there before everyone decided that enough was enough. With a sigh, the Shipman girl dusted her hands off her pants as she stood before crossing the distance to stand beside Jackie. "Come on, you're coming with me." She uttered, holding out her hand.

Confusion struck Jackie. She didn't understand why Shauna suddenly wanted to bring her away. She was busy after all. She had a Walkman to fix, how else would she contribute? She glanced over at Nola, a laugh of disbelief leaving her lips though it quickly died down when she witnessed on to the fact the Rilke girl turn her eyes away to avoid eye contact.

"Let's go come on." Shauna urged more forcefully now. She grabbed hold of Jackie's hand, pulled her to her feet and began to tug her away from the group.

A feeling of relief fell over the girls. With Jackie gone, they could focus on their tasks in peace. None of them wanted to snap at the Taylor girl but the more she remained useless, the harder it would become.

"She's really starting to get on my nerves." Stevie McClane grumbled in annoyance as she stared off after the blonde being dragged away by Shauna. As if she realised that Nola was next to her, she sheepishly grinned in awkwardness. "Sorry, I know she's one of your best friends."

Nola just shook her head. "Don't be. If she wasn't one of my best friends, I'd have probably tried to drown her in the lake by now."

She wouldn't have actually drowned Jackie, that was just a joke. But she definitely would have lashed out at the girl. Nola could be a bitch. It was a fact. Taissa could vouch for that. Jackie was in some ways lucky that Nola was her friend. If not, she might have actually bared the true viciousness that the Rilke girl was capable of.

"It's not just me, right?" Stevie questioned. She momentarily set down the brush she was using to scrub at the pair of socks in her hand. "She's literally not doing anything."

"Jackie's never really had to get her hands dirty. She kinda gets things handed to her. I love her but life's kinda easy for her." Nola admitted with a sigh. Venting about her friend no matter how bitchy it was, was such a weight off her shoulders.

She paused briefly. Her tongue darted out to moisten her chapped lips before she continued. "I mean, the last thing I remember her worrying about before we crashed was whether or not she and Jeff should have sex before college and what colour she's painting her dorm."

The McClane girl scoffed. She couldn't believe the difference between herself and Jackie Taylor. "And here I was worried that I'd flunk my classes this year and not even make it to college."

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NOLA HAD TAKEN TO scavenging the nearby areas of the cabin to take her mind off everything that was going on. While she busied herself scanning the surrounding bushes for berries, she was able to lock away the worry she felt growing each and every day. For those few minutes that she spent searching, that feeling was stored away in the back of her mind.

As she kneeled to the ground, knee pressed into the dirt, and grabbed at a few berries she'd remembered Akilah had said was safe to eat, the most earth shattering scream from nearby pierced her ears. A shocked gasp fell from her lips as she rushed to her feet and began running towards the scream, the berries completely forgotten about.

She made her way back to the cabin in under a minute, just in time to see Mari scrambling out of the cabin, her hands aggressively wiping at her body and shaking her clothing. "Get it off! Get it off me!"

Both Shauna and Akilah ran at the girl, their eyes wide in concern as they looked her over. "Mari, what's wrong?" Shauna asked as she scanned the dark haired girl for anything that could possibly be stuck to her.

Mari continued to freak out, her voice high in pitch as she explained, "I-I was standing under the trapdoor and something crawled down my shirt." Her hands had begun to reach towards her back in an attempt to rid herself of the thing she still felt upon her skin.

Shauna's doe eyes scanned over the girl once last time before she attempted to alleviate all worry. "I don't see anything. There's nothing there."

An amused smile tugged at Taissa's lips as she folded her arms across her chest. Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she quipped, "Must have been the ghost."

The fear that had been swimming through Mari's eyes was replaced with annoyance as she glared over at the Turner girl. "Don't say that." She snapped back. She didn't appreciate the way that Taissa was so flippant about the noises that had been heard in the attic.

A sigh fell from Nola's lips, the girl fighting the urge to rub at her temples to ease the headache she felt forming. She glanced over at Taissa and muttered, "Lay off, will you?"

She too didn't appreciate the way Taissa had responded. Something had been up in that attic. Whether Taissa wanted to admit it or not, they all had heard it. They all had heard those footsteps.

"You guys! Okay, you guys I just had a brainstorm." Jackie suddenly piped up. She skipped over to stand beside the group while a excited grin formed. "We should have a seance."

A chuckle from Taissa had the group turning their gaze over at her. Her eyes flitted over at Jackie as she snorted in amusement. "That's a terrible idea. Also we're not in middle school."

Jackie didn't allow Taissa response to deter her. Instead she continued to smile as she spoke. "But remember fun that shit used to be? Beside, maybe if we can laugh about this, then it would help."

A deep frown appeared upon Laura Lee's lips at the Taylor girls words. With her brows furrowed and a voice that exuded zero humour, the blonde uttered, "The occult is no laughing matter."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "It's not the occult, Laura Lee. It's a game." She then turned her gaze to one of her best friends. With a nod of the head, Jackie asked for Shauna's help in convincing the group. "Come on, Shauna, tell them. It'll be fun."

Hesitation consumed the Shipman girl. Her brown doe eyes peered nervously around the group, taking in the expectant expressions upon their faces as they waited for her to say something. Finally she just stuttered out, "Well, I mean it's not like we have anything better to do. And maybe this dead guy can give us some life advice." She chuckled with a shrug of the shoulders.

A series of laughs tumbled within the chests of the group, each of them, minus one, finding her attempt at humour funny. Nola was that one single person who didn't laugh. No, she didn't find this situation funny at all.

Jackie grinned as Shauna's words won over the group. "So, it's settled. Tonight, the attic." She then lowered her voice in an attempt to appear spooky. "We make contact."

            And with that, the group all began to disperse, making their way back to whatever task they had been assigned.

            With a fearful gaze, Nola watched them all amble away. Before her girlfriend could disappear back inside the cabin, the Rilke girl rushed forward and grabbed onto the plaid shirt Shauna was wearing. "Shauna. Come here." Nola muttered, dragging Shauna away until they stood out of earshot.

            Shauna was on edge. Her eyes bounced around wildly as she struggled to keep them locked upon the panicked expression her girlfriend wore. As she stare off in the distance, she questioned, "What's up?"

            A sharp crunch was heard as Nola bit down on the nail of her thumb. She hadn't noticed Shauna's odd behaviour, the girl having been too distracted by the worry she'd begun to feel. "Maybe this isn't a good idea." She responded in a low voice.

            "What do you mean?"

            The Rilke girl heavily sighed. "I mean, that attic really freaks me out. We all heard something up there and now we're gonna go up because Jackie suggested it?"

Nola's words caused Shauna to finally looked at her. She looked almost annoyed as she responded, "Nola, it could have been anything. Literally anything."

For the life of her, Nola didn't want to be honest. She didn't want to speak her issues aloud, if she did it would almost be like admitting that it was actually happening to her. That the things she heard, the footsteps, the whirring, the voice, they were actually happening.

That she actually was going crazy.

           Unfortunately for her, Shauna didn't seem to pick up just how worried Nola was about them all going up to that attic. Though the shake in her voice and the tremble of her bottom lip had conveyed fear, Shauna just seemed far too preoccupied to notice.

           A deep breath shakily left Nola's lips. For a moment she just breathed before swallowing past the lump that had formed in her throat. "I've been hearing things. That whirring sound in my ears, it's still here and it's getting worse."

          "What do you mean?" Shauna questioned. She didn't understand. If Nola had been hearing things, why hadn't she told her? She was Nola's girlfriend, after all.

           Her hypocrisy was lost on her in that moment.

           "It's not just a whirring sound anymore. It's almost like—you're not gonna believe me but I think I'm hearing voices. Well, a voice in particular." She knew she sounded insane. Who wouldn't sound absolutely demented when they rattled on about hearing voices?

           Shauna scoffed in disbelief. "Are you fucking with me?"

           The fear in Nola's eyes vanished for a moment as her once soft gaze turned into a glare. "Am I fucki— no Shauna, I'm not fucking with you. I don't find any of this shit funny." She snapped in frustration.

           She needed Shauna to believe her. Why wasn't she believing her?

           Before either girl could speak another word, just like all the other times she had interrupted them, Jackie appeared in the doorway of the cabin with a grin. "Shauna, come help me up in the attic." She said while motioning for the brunette to follow her.

           "Shauna please!" Nola harshly whispered, grabbing hold of her girlfriend before she could walk away. Shauna's eyes widened at the sight of Nola's freaked expression.

            Tears stung at Nola's chestnut coloured eyes, threatening to break free and fall. "I'm begging you, don't go up there. Something isn't right with this place."

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter ten. not proofread.
literally can't believe I even wrote this lol it's been so long so it's probably not that good but it's starting to show how the cabin and everything is affecting Nola. also Shauna has just realised that's she pregnant so that's why she's been so avoidant. I hope you enjoyed :)