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Amelie hurled a clothespin at him and picked up another. “Oh, but doesn’t it?”
He ducked. “What are you talking about?”
“Seriously.” She cocked her head and put her hands on her hips. “Seriously? You really don’t get it, do you? I liked you, Jack. Hell, I may have even been in love with you. But you don’t give two fucks about me. And what I realized later was that maybe you never did. Even before Kristy. It’s as if I’m invisible, Jack. It’s always about you. What does Jack want? What does Jack think? You never ask about me. Hell, you’ve never even asked how my father died. Everything has always been about YOU. And you know what? I’ve been ok with that. I let you be who you are because I care about you. I looked up to you. But you can’t just stroll in here with your ‘holier than thou’ attitude and expect me to change who I am just because you’re uncomfortable with it. You need to grow up, Jack. The world doesn’t revolve around you.”
Jack smiled and crossed his arms. “So you care about me, huh?”
Amelie shot him a go to hell look, threw up her arms, and turned her back to him.
He stood there for a moment watching her breathing return to normal. “I do know how your father died, Amelie. I just figured if you ever wanted to talk to me about it… that you’d bring it up. It wasn’t my place…”
She put both palms on the table and leaned against the weight of her arms, letting out a long sigh. “Can I ask you a question, Jack?”
“Shoot.”
She turned to face him, then perched herself up on the counter. “What is it like? The first time?”
Jack spat. He ran his fingers through hair then paced the length of the tiny room. “What the hell? We are not discussing this. And you are not having sex with Connor Fucking Levine. Do you understand me? Have you lost your goddamned mind, kid? SERIOUSLY! Have you?”
Amelie grinned, satisfied with herself. “Maybe, I have.”
Jack paced back and forth. He went for a five-mile run and then swam laps in the lake. Just a few more hours, he told himself, until he could get the hell out of this place and never look back. All he knew was that if he didn’t get out of here soon, he was going to kill that Levine kid. What was he thinking anyway, taking advantage of her like that?
Unfortunately for Jack, he knew exactly what he was thinking. And that was the problem. He considered his options: kick the kid’s ass and be thrown out of camp, or leave on his own accord and let it go. Neither one seemed very appealing. In the end, he decided that if Amelie were going to be stupid, then she should at least be safe. Because god knows, Levine could really care less. Jack had heard him say as much. Pussy was pussy, and the girls almost never asked that he wear protection. Surely, Amelie wouldn’t be that stupid. But she hadn’t exactly proved him wrong lately on that front, so he needed to come up with a solution and quick.
As luck would have it, on his way to the mess hall for dinner, he spotted Connor Levine on the pay phone just outside the dorms. Jack placed his finger on the click button and flicked it. “What the fuck man?” Connor said, eyeing him before looking around nervously as the realization that the two of them were alone sunk in. Jack knew he had the advantage. People like Connor never faired well once they were singled out.
Jack slowly removed the phone from Connor’s hand and placed it back on the receiver. “We need to talk,” he demanded. Connor backed up just slightly. Jack slapped him on the back a little hard… enough to force the air from his lungs. Connor shoved him off, but Jack grabbed his shoulder and squeezed hard before letting go. He held up his hands, and Connor put up his fists. “Hey… hey. No, worries. We’re just talking here. Man to man. Speaking of that, I need to ask you to leave Amelie alone.”
Connor frowned. “And why would I do that?”
Jack chuckled. “Because I’m telling you to.”
Connor stepped back further and put his hands up in defense. “Look, dude, I know she’s your friend, and all… but if you wanted to tap that, then you should have taken your shot last summer when you had the chance. She was into you then, you know. And despite what you may think, I actually like this one. She’s cool. Someone you can talk to, you know. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. She knows what she’s doing. Maybe you should give her a little more credit.”
Jack gritted his teeth. “I’m going to ask you one more time, Levine. Let this one go. Or I’ll beat your ass.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Jack lunged for him. Connor stepped backward and held his hands up higher. “Whoa. Whoa. I’m not looking for a fight, all right.”
“How much?”
Connor smiled. “How much what?”
“Don’t fuck with me, Levine. How much do you want? What’s it gonna take for you to leave her alone?”
Connor paused and stared up at the sky, scratching his chin. “Well… as you can imagine, there are a lot of bets on this one. So far… and it’s early in the game… I’ve got $550 on it.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Swear to me you won’t so much as look at her again, and I’ll give you $650.”
Connor let out a deep breath. “$750.”
“How about $650, I don’t beat your ass, and we call it even.”
“Fine. $650 it is.”
“I’ll have your money to you in the morning. Oh, and you can bet your ass I have eyes everywhere here. And if I so much as find out you come within fifty feet of her, I will personally see to it that you don’t walk for a year. You got that?”
