Graveyard Shift

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

When I woke up, I felt cold and I was a little bit sore. I felt someone's arm around me and smiled, thinking of Eleanor. Then I realized that the girls and guys all slept in separate tents. My eyes shot open and looked at the pale, freckled arm. I made a sort of shrieking noise as I sat up quickly, shoving Daren's arm off of me. He woke up immediately and looked disoriented and confused. "What happened?" He mumbled.
"The usual; bad back from the ground, shivering from the morning, you were spooning me. The normal camping stuff."
"I was what?" He asked with his mouth in a small "O" form.
"You know that thing couples do when they sleep in the same bed together?"
He narrowed his eyes and pushed me. "Well, it's not my fault! I was obviously freezing! I would've cuddled a grizzly!"
"I would've rather you had done that! I feel violated."
"How do you think I feel?!" He said. "Let's just go out with everyone else. I can hear them having a great time while we just sit here like loning weirdos spooning."
"You were the one doing it!" I defended.
"AND YOU COMPLIED!"
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE-" I stopped immediately and he had his eyebrows raised and I swallowed as e gave a hint of a smirk. "Let's just go," I muttered and crawled over to the exit do the tent, grabbing the zipper.
"Mornin', ladies," was what I heard first as I crawled out from the tent. Nick was standing by a skillet and cooking eggs. "Hungry?"
"Daren's always hungry," Kris said. He automatically turned his head toward me and then to her. She smirked and crinkled her nose before taking another bite of her food.
"Isn't it Haraam to eat eggs?" He shot back.
"I'm not even eating eggs, you idiot."
"Stop eating and fast." He retorted.
She rolled her eyes, "You're so stupid."
"Actually what's stupid is making flower rings for guys you don't know," he bit at a little harshly.
Her mouth opened in the slightest before she furrowed her brows and said, "What does that even have to do with anything?"
"It's a comeback, duh," he said.
"Dude, it's too early for this. Can you guys, like, not?" Anna said.
"Tell Kris to stop being sinful." Daren said, sitting next to her. She narrowed her eyes. I laughed.
"Where's Eleanor?" I asked and sat across the table from them, sitting next to Julia.
She swallowed her water and then said, "She said she was going for a walk. She headed that way."
"Thanks," I said and stood back up to find her.
"He's pining?" I heard someone ask.
"Not really any of your business, is it now?" Daren defended.
I was walking for about twenty United until I heard her. I knew it was her because, for one, we were in the middle of now where, and for two, I knew what Eleanor sounded like, so it was a dead giveaway. "E-Eleanor?" I asked after some sniffling. A small gasp came and then silence followed. "It's me, it's W-."
"Just go away," she snapped. I couldn't help and be completely shocked and hurt by the statement. "Will, please."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, William. Can you please, please leave me alone right now?"
"But Eleanor-"
"WILL!" She demanded. I stopped and swallowed.
"Okay," I said gently. Once I turned, I stopped momentarily to add, "I'm sorry." I walked, and decided that I didn't need to go back to eat. I wasn't very hungry anyways.
I don't know how long I was walking around until I finally found another piece of the water, where the flowers were already wilting and the grass swayed in the summer breeze. I picked a few flowers and began to tie the ends of their stems around one another. After a while, it had to be sometimes in the afternoon, I heard footsteps and deep down I hoped it would be Eleanor, of course. "Hey," Daren said.
I sighed out. "Hey."
"What happened?" He asked. "Eleanor came back about ten minutes ago. After a while, I started to wonder where the Hell my best friend went, though." I gave a small smile.
"You know, I really think I love Eleanor." I said. He nodded. "And I don't even know why because she's never going to love me and I just feel so stupid." We were both quiet. "I don't know what I was thinking this trip would do for us. We aren't going to magically fall in love and live together forever, happily ever after. Life just doesn't work like that."
Daren breathed out slowly. "Why not?"
"Why not what?" I asked.
"How come life doesn't work like that? How do you know she doesn't love y-"
"Because she doesn't, Daren." I snapped and looked at him. He licked his lips. "You spend your whole life pining after someone you never will actually get and then you look up from their face one day and realize that you've been staring at a picture the whole time." I shook my head. "It's not fair. It's no fair that I am just accepting this shit from Eleanor."
He kind of looked taken aback and then swallowed. "At least you're only in high school, Will. I mean, you can meet the love of your life any second."
"I love Eleanor!" I nearly shouted. He stopped. "You'll never get it, Daren. I love her and she won't ever love me back. I'm never going to get Eleanor."
He swallowed again and then stood up. "Why do you always say stuff like 'get?'" He asked.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You always stuff like you'll never get her and, dude, you don't even know what you're saying." I looked up at him now. "It's not about getting Eleanor or you loving her or any of that! You act like you're gonna die if she isn't in your life, man!" He looked a bit red. "Look, I get that you really care about her, Will, I do, but that doesn't give you a right to just act like you're whole life shatters when you don't get your way! People aren't something you just get, like some sort of toy, and you don't get that!"
I stood now, "What are you trying to say?" I was only inches from his face.
"I'm saying that you don't even live for her, so how could you love her fully?!"
I swallowed. "How could you use that against me?"
"Because you're not supposed to be complete if you actually love someone and don't have them, but you are!"
"That isn't true! Don't you think I wish I could be with her?! I want her to have the world, though, so if she's prepared to love someone other than me, I would be okay because she is happy! THAT IS WHAT LOVE IS, DAREN! LOVE IS NOT ABOUT BEING INCOMPLETE BECAUSE THAT PERSON IS MISSING. LOVE IS ABOUT LETTING THAT PERSON BE HAPPY EVEN IF YOU ARE INCOMPLETE YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE WITHOUT THEM!" I shouted and stood now. I felt my eyes beginning to burn and my throat was dry. "Don't stand there and tell me what love is when you've never loved anybody like I love Eleanor before." I sped off as he stood there with his lips tightly pressed together and his arms stuck to his side.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE REST OF US BECAUSE ELEANOR CONFIDES IN YOU, BUT SHE DOESN'T, WILL! SHE ONLY TELLS YOU WHAT SHE CAN, AND THE REST IS ALL TO HERSELF! WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK SHE SNAPS!?" I stopped and froze. My eyes were wide. Slowly, I began to turn on my heel. He stood there, chest heaving. Then it happened. I ran over and tackled him to the ground. We were both grunting and yelling and tried to punch and scratch and slap one another until someone had their hands on my arms.
"WILLIAM, STOP IT!" She demanded. I had tears running down my face as well as blood spilling from my nose. I looked at Eleanor's shocked face and then looked around at the rest of the group as well. I saw Daren being helped up by Kris and Anna. Kris was focusing on Daren while Anna stared at me in confusion.
I took one last look at Eleanor before pulling myself away from her grasp and stalking off. "Whatever," I muttered.