Lovely, Lovely Freaks

Chapter 8

Matt awoke alone on the bus. He rubbed his eyes and quickly stood up. "What the.. Where is everybody?" He whispered to his self. He looked out the window to find the whole camp was set up, along with the show tent. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?" He continued as he grabbed his things and made his way off of the bus.
Nobody was in sight, yet he smelled food. He began working his way down the paths to find his tent, until the sound of footsteps began falling in behind him. He walked faster, not wanting to look behind him in fear that one of the demons Jethrow had shown him, happened to be lurking. The footsteps were growing louder and louder when he felt something scratch the back of his leg.
Matt practically jumped out of his skin and quickly turned around to defend himself, but when he turned, it was Androcles, batting at him to get his attention. The crew had been following him with their hands behind their backs. "What's going on?" Matt asked suspiciously. A very well known voice, belonging to Liz, rang out from the back. "Alrighty everyone! One, Two, Three!" She yelled. Confetti exploded around him, noise makers blared, Liz parted the crew and came up to him with a cake, lined with eighteen lit candles.
"Happy birthday Matt-a-Roni!" She yelled, pushing the cake towards him. A smile spread across his face. "Thanks guys" he laughed, rubbing the neck of his neck. "Make a wish." Rapunzel giggled, holding her hands under her chin. Matt rolled his eyes and proceeded to blow out the candles. After that, everyone began to scatter, not many of them came up to him, or ate any cake for that matter.
"Where are you going?" Liz yelled frantically as everyone was leaving. They all shook their heads and continued on the paths. Matt didn't pay much attention to the mass exit. "Matt! Doesn't it bother you they are all leaving? They won't even eat the cake! You guys wait!" She yelled turning her head side to side while continuing to hold the cake.
"Liz, it's fine." He laughed. "I don't talk to them that much. The only ones I talk to are you, Cecilia, Scar and Jethrow. And then there's that stupid monkey who keeps bothering me." He added with a chuckle. Without any notice, Liz quickly passed the cake to Matt,placed her hands on her hips, and stomped her foot. "It's just not fair." She pouts. "It's your birthday!" She exclaimed before running off and leaving him behind.
Matt stood there for a bit in shock as he held the cake in his hands. He soon worked his way to the food tent, and left the cake on the counter.
"You're eighteen." A voice whispered behind him. Matt jumped. Rapunzel stood in the doorway, Simon on her shoulder. "Oh, um, Rapunzel?" He questioned. She smiled a little, and let Simon down and scampered away.
"Eighteen." She whispered again, shaking her head and wrapping her arms around her self. "I remember when I was eighteen, I wish I could have found this place before I was your age." She began trailing off. "What are you talking about? He asked Rapunzel, moving a little closer. With a sigh, she began to tell her story.
"I was a runaway at sixteen years of age. I was made fun of, I lost all of my friends, my family disapproved of me. I wanted out. And so I left. One day I was at a subway station in New York. It was about three in the morning, not very many people were there, just me and some old, dirty man. I approached one of the benches, there seemed to be something sitting next to it, but it looked like some sort of trash bag." She paused. Her eyes brimmed with tears at the memories. "I sat down, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw the... Thing, begin to move." Tears began to fall.
Matt fixed his eyes on her. He knew where the story was heading. She began to wipe at her face, but soon continued. "I felt a sharp pain in my leg. It bit me. I shrieked in pain, but it seemed like nobody heard me. I felt something begin coursing through me, which I later learned, was in fact poison. It jumped up on the side of the bench and I tried to get away, but my legs were no longer capable of movement. It continued to bite me. My shoulder, my neck, my foot. I passed out." The tears were becoming more and more prominent as her story continued. Matt reached for some paper towels, handing them over to Rapunzel. She nodded, grabbing them from his hands and wiping her face.
"I awoke in the hospital, and I noticed something sitting on top of the little monitor. I thought it was the thing that had attacked me, I began to scream, when it jumped on me. It covered my mouth and when my shock subsided, I saw it was a monkey. That monkey saved my life, in so many ways." She confided.
Matt chuckled a little. "That monkey has caused me so many problems, and I've hardly been here long enough to know his name." Rapunzel snapped. "Don't you dare say such a thing. So help me I will knock those charming, little eyes right out of your head." She said pointing her finger at him. He held his hands up, "Hey, just trying to lighten the mood, I meant no disrespect. Thank you for telling your story."
She stepped back, running the paper towel over her face. "Okay." She nodded. "Okay, just remember that story. You're life could have been so much worse. You've been spoon-feed, you're entire life. I've had nothing and neither have most of the people here. Don't play the 'poor pitiful me' card, cause that won't work here. Got it?" She said.
He nodded. Then he did something unexpected. He slowly approached Rapunzel, and hugged her. At first, she hesitated, but then she hugged him back. Her tears, flowing.