AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Three. Two. One…
“Now, hold the fuck up!”
“Hey, don’t talk to her like that.”
“Don’t defend me. I can speak for myself!”
So much for peace.
What had been a relatively quiet night in camp quickly morphed into a battleground before my eyes.
Sighing wearily, I rested my chin on my hand and listened as everyone argued around me. Glancing around, I locked eyes on Shannon and smiled when she offered me a sympathetic wince.
We were in the same boat.
Shan didn’t want to be around this crazy drama, either.
Maybe we should make our own tribe and live in the woods.
“Why do you always look so fucking happy,” Lizzie accused then, turning her attention on Gerard. “It’s nauseating.”
“Not half as nauseating as having to look at your sour puss,” Gerard shot back, unwilling to back down or give her a pass. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist with me because you’re having a tiff with Lover Boy.”
“Hey,” Katie interjected, valiantly stepping in to try to squash their beef before it blew up like it had done a million times before. “Let’s be nice today, okay? Sticks and stones, guys.”
“Yeah, because stick and stones will break my bones and words will make me starve myself to death.” Lizzie narrowed her eyes. “Isn’t that how the saying goes?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?” I argued, brows creased in confusion. “It’s ‘words will never hurt me.’”
Without a word, Katie stood up and walked away from the circle, and then, with a devastated look on his face, Hugh stood up and hurried after her.
“Am I missing something?” I asked, turning to Gerard.
“No fucking clue, Claire-Bear,” he replied with a shrug before retraining his attention on Lizzie. “Jesus, you are mean as hell.”
“No, asshole,” Lizzie snapped back, rising to her feet. “I’m just honest.”
_______________
“She’s not a bad person, guys,” Shannon urged from the back seat of Gerard’s Ford Focus. The tents had been packed away, the litter had been collected, and a temporary friendship treaty had been signed before everyone left the beach this morning, all going their separate ways until we reunited next week at school. “Hurt people hurt people,” Shannon continued. “She’s a hurt person. A hurt but very redeemable person.”
“Nobody said she was a bad person,” I answered, fiddling with the car stereo. “But she definitely pushes boundaries.”
“I can agree with that,” Shannon offered diplomatically. “But pushing boundaries doesn’t make you bad.”
“I hear what you’re saying, Shan,” Johnny added. “But for me, I find it really hard to tolerate Lizzie’s behavior when I’ve seen how you carry yourself.” Shifting around in the back seat, he draped a protective arm around her shoulder. “You’ve been hurt more than anyone I’ve ever known, and still you spread kindness. You wouldn’t harm a fly—and certainly not intentionally.”
Shan blushed bright red and ducked her face. “That’s not always true.”
“Yeah, it is,” he countered, tipping her chin up so she looked at him. “Baby, I’ve watched you get stung by a bee and not retaliate.”
“Because we need to save the bees!” Shannon urged.
“There it is,” he replied, and then caught my gaze in the rearview mirror. “My point is real motion.”
“Can we please stop talking about the Viper?” Gerard begged from the driver’s seat. “Honestly, lads, I love the three of you, but if ye don’t shut the fuck up about that girl, I’m going to open the door of this car and throw myself out.”
“Then pull the car over first,” Johnny replied. “In fact, do you want to just pull over now and let me drive?”
