Epiphany *The wilds*

Day Forty-Two

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"How much longer do I have to do this?" I question faber, who just sighs loudly.
"Well, that kind of depends on you."
"But I've been down there with him for hours and I can't tell if I'm getting, like, warm, cold, mild, or just, like, nowhere." I groan, shaking my head at the older man.
"I've told you everything I can. Something happened 15 days in, and none of the boys will talk about it. What's this sudden hesitation about?" He question, walking closer to me.
"What, are you worried that we won't hold up our end of the bargain?"
"Yeah, there's that. It's also the whole "putting on an act" thing. It's fucking weird and we're not all as good at it as you are." I spit, rolling my eyes at him.
"You know what I think you might need? A little good faith gesture on our part..." Faber trails off, walking over the projector to turn it on.
"Is that Noah?" I gasp, looking at the screen in horror, watching my ex boyfriend get beat up by several boys.
"How the fuck is this a 'good faith gesture?'" I yell, ripping my eyes away from the projector.
"I just thought you'd like to know before we sent you back in there." He smirks wickedly, slowly walking towards me.
"You come through for us on this, and we can and will let you see the girls. I promise that."
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Not much has happened the past few days. Honestly, most of us have been off doing our own thing.
I've noticed that everyone seems to be doing a little better. Rachel and Leah have been going off together more, when Leah isn't with fatin. Shelby and Toni seem to always be hand and hand. Marty has even been practicing her hunting skills, and she's getting really good at it.
"Forty, forty-one, forty-two..." I count out loud while looking in Nora's notebook.
"Forty-Two days on this dumb fuck rock." I sigh loudly, looking over to fatin and dot.
"You've really commandeered that journal, hmm?" Dot hums, picking up different branches for the fire.
"Yeah, for some weird masochist reason, Sometimes I like to think about what I'd be doing if weren't here, you know? Like, if none of this had happened." I explain, watching the girl tense up at my words.
"And what would you be doing right now?" She questions, stopping her actions to look over at me.
"Honestly, probably listening to Leah bitch and moan about her man." I roll my eyes, making Fatin snicker at my words.
"I'd be at the spa, getting my pubes lasered off." She chimes in while looking at the calendar I made, dot and I both laughing at her comment.
"It was my pre-Majorca ritual. My family always goes this week." She defends herself, shaking her head at the memories.
"What week even is it?" Dot asks, finally walking over to us to sit down.
"You know, time here is like a flat circle. I have no idea." She continues, looking up in the sky.
"Today is July 18th." I affirm, causing dot to stop in her tracks and look over at me.
"Holy shit." She breaths while standing up again.
"What's wrong?" I question her anxiously, worried that it might have something to do with her dad.
"Oh, it's my birthday today, you know?" She rolls her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek.
"Big 1-8." She fake laughs, gathering the wood from earlier to walk away.
I gasp loudly at the news and grab fatins hand, whose just as excited as I am.
Dot turns around at the sound to see our excited expression's and her fake smile flattens.
"No." She demands, pointing at the two of us.
"No, please. Don't tell the others, okay? Please." She pleads, but Fatin has other plans.
"Okay, okay, okay, hear me out. I can, and I will." Fatin squeals, hugging me at the same time.
"Fatin, I don't do birthdays. They're stupid, and self centered, and... 'congrats to me, I slid out of a vag. Time to throw myself a friend parade.' You put this to bed. Now." Dot demands once again, looking over to me to make sure I get it.
I nod while locking my lips, watching my girlfriend walk way before running over to fatin.
"Come on, bitch. It's show time." She squeals, grabbing my hand to pull me back to camp.
"Guess what, bitches?" I yell to the group, while walking in front of them with fatin next to me.
She smirks and sticks her middle fingers up high.
"Ice the booze.... And get horny." She giggles, winking at Leah.
"It's Dorothy's Motherfucking birthday." We yell out in sync.
The girls begin to cheer loudly, Shelby the loudest of them all.
Shelby runs over to the box of decorations, throwing different things out that we could use.
"She is 18 today, people. Which means she can legally vote, she can buy porn, and she is officially no longer a sexual interest to Jeffrey Galantis." I cheer, winking in Leah's direction at the end.
"Oh, my god. Why?" Leah groans, hiding her face with her hands.
"It makes me a little sad, actually, cause I'm sure dot would rather spend her birthday at, like, a laser tag place or hibachi restaurant or literally anywhere else." Martha frowns, looking around at our sad looking camp.
"But instead, she's hanging out with our sorry asses, and this bottle of brut from.... Idaho." Fatin cheers, reading the back of the champagne bottle.
"Jesus, Barbra, have some self respect." She mutters, handing the bottle over to Leah.
"We have to go big." Shelby whispers suddenly, staring off in deep thought.
I raise my eyebrows and look over to fatin, who's already staring over at me. She smirks before mouthing 'uh oh', shaking her head at the blonde girl.
"We have to go big." Shelby says louder, getting more of the girls attention.
"All right. I'm talking about a party here, y'all, and not some sad little round of applause, okay? I'm talking a deluxe full scale absolute birthday blow out. Honestly, the way I want it to play out, we won't even need the champagne" She rambles, standing up in the process.
"Yes, we will." Fatin chimes in, laughing at the excited girl.
"Because we're gonna get so freaking trashed on fun.."
"And champagne!" I yell out, fatin and Leah laughing loudly.
"...that it's gonna feel just like home, okay? Not just for the birthday girl, but for all of us. All right. Time to mobilize." Shelby finishes, running back to the box of decorations, accidentally knocking into Leah.
"Oops, sorry." She mutters, not bothering to look up from the box.
"Oh, oh. I was sort of standing there, but." Leah says sarcastically, before rolling her eyes.
"Oh, my god. This is exciting!" Shelby squeals while grabbing my arm to pull me down to her.
"Are you excited?" She cheers with a big smile on her face.
"Oh, my god, Yeah.... But, you're giving major divorced dad vibes, like you're taking us to six flags because you feel guilty on missing out the five last years of our lives." I laugh at the blonde girl who just frowns at my words.
"I didn't miss anything." She says, suddenly serious.
I furrow my eyebrows and look over to fatin, who has the same expression as me.
"Okay. So, I'm thinking we do a surprise beach party." Shelby declares, clapping her hands.
"Does dot even like surprises?" Martha questions me, making me shake my head.
"She hates surprises. End quote." I smile sheepishly at the girl.
"Okay. Let's stick with a surprise, all right? Todays about Dottie, okay? We should give her exactly what she'll learn to love." Shelby claps her hands again, standing up.
"All right. See, all right, all right, all right. It is all coming together in my head now. Moonlight, Bonfire, maybe even a little luau vibe." She gasps, dancing a little at the end.
"Cultural appropriation. I'm not even mad at it." Toni bites her lip, looking the blonde girl up and down.
"Lydia, what's the date?" Shelby questions me, turning around quickly.
"July 18th." I reply, setting Nora's journal on the ground.
"Sweet baby, Jesus. Eighteen on the 18th! We have a golden birthday!" She screams, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay. First things first, we gotta keep her busy till go time.... Lydia. You're on dot distraction duty." Shelby says sternly, pointing in my direction.
"How do I do that?" I question her, knowing the girl will be confused on why she can't come back here.
"Oh, please. You know Exactly how." Fatin rolls her eyes before putting her fingers up and sticking her tongue out sexually.
I turn a deep shade of red before throwing a bag at her.
"Fatin!" I shriek, hiding my face in my hands.
"Okay, Leah, fatin, Rachel, Martha, babe. On your feet. Let's prep it here, and then we'll set it up on the beach." Shelby cheers, grabbing the box of decorations once again.
"What have you done?" Rachel sighs from beside me.
"I think we've unleashed some sort of party coke fiend." I reply, amused at how excited Shelby is.
"Okay! Go, go, go! We have work to do." Shelby shoos me away, not giving me a chance to grab anything.
I roll my eyes before walking where dot was earlier, in hopes she wasn't anywhere near done with her tasks.
"Hey, hey, hey! There she is." I cheer, seeing dot carry a very large piece of wood.
"Excited much?" She smirks, turning around when I get closer.
"Where you going?"
"I'm dragging this log back to camp. I thought we could use it as a crossbeam or, like, seating." She explains, furrowing her eyebrows when I shake my head quickly.
"Can't let you do that, pal." I giggle, grabbing the log from her and setting it down.
"Pal? What are you talking about?" She steps closer, a mischievous look on her face.
"Camp is a no-go zone... the others are doing, uh, tai chi. Yeah, one of those martial arts. It's very gentle... and sacred. And, we're not invited." I lie to her on the spot, picking at my fingernails at the same time.
She looks at me with her eyebrows raised before crossing her arms, not convinced.
"Anyway, I was thinking we could snare some birds.. Martha's not feeling up for it." I change the subject, pulling out the handmade weapon.
"What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" She widens her eyes, ready to go take care of the girl.
I smile at my loving girlfriend, walking up to hug her tightly.
"You're too sweet, Dottie. She's okay, just a stomach ache." I whisper in her ear, feeling her body ease up at my words.
"Okay." She nods, pulling back to grab the slingshot from my hands.
"Let's go."
We walk for a while, only stopping when she she hears something. Sadly, we don't have much luck, as Martha is usually the one doing this.
I know she's feeling frustrated, but hopefully when we go back to camp, everything will be at ease.
"Hey, it's alright.. you don't need to work yourself up." I lightly touch the back of dots arm, causing her to freeze up.
"I know..." she trails off, dropping the weapon to the floor before turning around.
"What's on your mind, dottie?" I question, pushing some hair out of her face.
She shrugs before replying,
"It's my first birthday without my dad, and..... it just feels weird."
I frown at the girl, immediately pulling her into a hug.
"Hey, it's okay. He'd be so goddamn proud of you, Dot. I'm serious. You're a fucking angel, and he loves you so much. He's always here with you." I whisper back, rubbing her back softly.
She sniffles into my neck, pulling back to wipe her tears.
"I love you."
She smiles at my words, kissing my cheek softly.
"I love you, Lydia... But, can we go back, now?" She groans out the last part, making me laugh loudly.
I grab her hand and lead her to the beach, crossing my fingers that they're done.
When I can see the glowing fire through the trees, I stop dot and put my hand over her eyes.
"The hell are you doing?" She chuckles, trying to remove my hand with hers.
"SURPRISE!" Everyone screams as I move my hand from her eyes.
Dot widens her eyes before nudging me with her shoulder.
"I hate you. All of you." She smiles, laughing when I hug her side.
"We love you too." I giggle, kissing her cheek.
"Well, not that I didn't see it coming, because you have a shit ass poker face." She pulls back, looking me in my eyes.
The group laughs loudly, nodding their heads in agreement.
"Hey! So I'm not a smooth person. Moving on..." I smile, pushing dot over to Martha and Toni.
"You are a hard ass working Queen!" They cheer, placing a handmade flower crown on her head.
Dot bites her lip to try and hide her smile, fixing the crown on top of her head.
"And..." Shelby sings, walking over to her with a sash.
"Retired!" Rachel cheers, putting the sash on the birthday girl.
"Oh, my god. You... Lydia and fatin might have been the leak, but I know you were behind this." Dot smiles warmly at Shelby before pulling her into a friendly hug.
I watch as neither let go, both Texan girls feeling overwhelmed with emotions.
"All right. Enough of that. Let's get this part started!" Rachel yells, grabbing the champagne bottle.
We all cheer at her words, cracking the bottle open before beginning a night we will never forget.
We dance around the fire for hours, laughing, singing, joking, playing limbo that Shelby made... everyone really was trashed on fun... well, champagne too.
We eventually let dot hit the piñata before all sitting around the sand cake Rachel made her.
She must of taken hours on it, it was so beautiful and detailed.
We sing happy birthday to the blushing girl, who smiles wide before blowing out the sparklers on her 'cake.'
After hours of fun, we finally settle down around the fire, dot holding me in her arms.
"Listen, um.." dot laughs suddenly, causing the group to look over to us.
"With what I'm about to say, just know that the bar is really low, but... this is the best birthday I've ever had." She says seriously, making everyone smile at the girl.
I kiss her arm before intertwining our fingers, just happy that she's happy.
"My best birthday was two years ago, and Toni snuck us into a casino." Martha laughs loudly, looking over at Toni.
"Oh, yeah! Marty over here wanted to go see those nerdy magicians." Toni snickers, shaking her head at her best friend.
"It was Penn and teller, and they're illusionists!" Martha defends, laughing at everyone's reaction.
"Okay, I was the illusionist, sliding us past that asshole bouncer." Toni smirks, recalling the funny memory.
"Well, as memorable as that sounds, my sweet 16 had you beat. It was Great Gatsby theme. And we actually rented like an old car. The best part was when my dad surprised me with a birthday video from none other than... Joel Scott Osteen." Shelby gushes, shaking her head at the memory in disbelief.
Once she notices our weird looks she frowns.
"What? That was.. it was good. I loved it." She defends, laughter rippling through the group.
"This just, like, kind of reminds me..." Rachel begins suddenly, not bothering to look at the group.
"That I only have one birthday to celebrate from now on... Not two." She finishes, sighing deeply before sitting up.
"So fuck all your birthdays." She sneers, standing up to limp over to a nearby rock.
I feel dot sigh and try to stand up to follow her, but I grab her wrist.
"I got this." Dot says, trying to escape my grip.
"Dot, no.." I whisper, wanting her to enjoy herself for once.
"What?" Dot questions, confused on why she's not allowed to go after the girl.
"Yeah, maybe just act your age for once." Shelby says from beside us.
"Well, I'm actually an adult now, so..." she trails off, still trying to go after the sad girl.
"Okay, then don't act your age." I whisper to her, again, feeling her look down at me.
"That's our real gift to you." Shelby smiles, leaning closer to fix dots sash.
"You're retired, honey. Just like Barbra. Let me take this one, all right?" Shelby smiles again before walking after the Reid girl.
I smile while getting up to let her sit down, before wrapping my arms around her.
"Happy birthday, beautiful." I whisper in her ear, leaving a small kiss to her jaw.
She blushes and let's herself sink into me, finally feeling comfortable enough to do so.
The rest of the night was filled with laughter, everyone enjoying each other's presence around the warm fire.
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"I wasn't there, you know? I was with the others, so, you know, this is what I heard after..." Raf begins, biting his lip while pausing.
"Keep going." I urge him, while keeping eye contact.
"I'm not supposed to tell anyone... but, I don't know. Sometimes I just.... I want to say it out loud. I have to hear it out loud...... he went to him. And he, uh...." Raf begins, but I cut him off with a hug.
"They're listening." I whisper into his ear, feeling his body immediately tense up.
"We'll find another way....I'll find another way." I finish, letting go of him when he tried to stand up.
"I'm actually too tired. Sorry." Raf says flatly, getting off the bed to walk away from me.
I bite my lip while looking into the camera before walking out, knowing that shits about to go down.
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Notes /// hi y'all so I want to add the boys in this, but like, not a lot, yk? I may go back and add a chapter from the first day of the boys perspective considering they have Noah as well... but I don't wanna focus on them a lot tbh, we Stan the girls.