𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 | ᴹᴰᴳᶜ

TRACK EIGHTEEN: Bad Medicine

I didn't have the courage to get up this morning. Not just because I was hungover again, but the thought of what happened to Shawn haunted me all night. I had a dream about the conversation we had in the kitchen one day about my eating habits. Only this time, I listened to him. I wasn't annoyed, I felt seen. I went to give him a hug, but then I woke up.

My teeth were clenched and I guess I was crying in my dream since I felt deep sorrow in my chest. I turned and buried my face into my pillow, wanting to scream, but I lifted my head and crawled backwards to the ladder.

I grabbed my clothes and went to get dressed in the bathroom. I put on a pair of black sweatpants, a t-shirt, my jacket, and my sneakers. I didn't bother to change the jewelry I had slept in. I stopped by the room drop off my dirty clothes.

I looked in the mirror and messed with my hair before deciding to leave it down and just put my hood up. I couldn't bother to put on a fake smile as I left the room and ran into Jace.

"Hey, Spider-Man." He said. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just didn't sleep well." I answered. "I feel you. I don't like being here either." I nodded as we walked to breakfast together. "You wanna sit with me?" He asked, turning his head down to look at me under my hood. "Sure." "Are you sure you're okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "You know, I've learned that when a girl says she's fine, she's not actually fine." "I just don't wanna talk about it, alright?" I snapped.

"Okay, okay, sorry." He murmured. "But when you are- I'm here." We sat down away from the team and he pulled my hood down and looked at me. "Why'd you do that?" I asked, looking back at him. "I just wanted to see your face." He answered.

I looked away and down at my tray, attempting to him my small smile. "There he is." Jace said as Cole walked in. "Bet he's gonna pick me tomorrow, and then it's just gonna be another summer of hell." "Maybe not. You sorta suck right now, so you got that going for you." Jace laughed. "Yeah, true."

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Cole yelled from a table with a bingo roller cage filled with ping-pong balls in it. "So, tomorrow night," He clapped his hands. "Is our annual draft." Everyone clapped, but Jace and I.

"Yeah, so that's when the coaches pick their teams for tournament play. Now, the player rankings are gonna lock at eight AM tomorrow morning, so push as hard as you can. Leave it all out there on the ice. Oh, it's a classy event, so dress it up, alright? Those clothes at your mommy packed ya, put those on, alright?" Everyone laughed. "Marni, what do you got?"

"Okay, every coaches name is written on one of these ping-pong balls that I will now draw to set the draft order, and let's get started." "Let's do it, Vanna!" "And pick number one is," Marni spun the cage. A ball rolled down the row, and she picked it up. "Coach Cole!" "Hey, hey, hey, it's not my fault the balls know who's boss."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my lap. Jace grabbed my chin and pulled it up to face Cole. I looked over at him with a curious look and all he did was smile and look back at his dad.

I must have zoned out for a while because Alex got the last pick. Jace and I finished breakfast and parted ways.

I ran into Sofi and Maya as I put away my tray.

"So, I saw you sitting with Jace." Maya said, giving me a look. "It's not like that." I replied.

"So you're moving on?" Sofi asked. "It's not like that, guys!" I said, getting a bit defensive. I walked away, putting my hood back up and going to the dorm to grab my headphones and walk around for a while.

🏒

I wandered to the trail where we did our deadly run at the start of camp. I didn't realize I was walking faster and faster until I began running.