Fracture

CHAPTER NINE

❊ -♡︎Scarlett♡︎-❊

"You're doing it wrong!" Lizzie hissed, pushing my brother when he tried to help us set up our tent, "you're so clueless!"

"Do you see mine and Feelys pitched tent over there?" Gerard narrowed his eyes, "it looks a lot better than yours. I know what I'm doing so get off my back!"

Claire and I stood on the other side of the tent both with worried looks on our faces.

Gerard and Lizzie were like a ticking time bomb, and it was only a matter of time before things blew up.

"The instructions say you're supposed to do it this way," Lizzie kept arguing, now waving the instructions in his face, "Would you just put that damn pole down and look at this! Come on, don't be thick!"

"Lizzie," I warned.

That girl was on thin ice. She was always calling Gerard stupid and mocking his dyslexia, and I would not stand for that.

"Oh yeah, sure. No problem," Gerard grabbed the instructions out of her hand and threw them in the river, "That's what I think of your instructions."

"Why the fuck did you do that?!" Lizzie shouted, pushing on his chest, "I was trying to show you!"

"Because I can't fucking read them," He yelled back, "And I don't need you to show me anything."

"Guys stop," Claire forced herself in between them, "Can we be nice."

"Yeah! Let's be nice," I agreed trying to stop this fight from ensuing.

"It was a picture," Lizzie screamed, stepping around Claire to get in Gerard's face again, "I wasn't mocking your learning difficulties."

"No of course you weren't," He sneered, "You were just calling me thick and clueless for the fun of it." He angrily shook his head and continued to thread the pole through the tent fabric, "It's all just shits and giggles for you, isn't it, Liz? You can say whatever the hell you want to anyone and we're all supposed to just take it because you have issues."

"Gerard," I tried to chime in.

Even though I agreed with him, I wanted more than anything to deescalate the situation.

"Don't you dare, Gibs," Lizzie hissed, shoving Gerard backwards, "Don't you fucking dare."

"Guys come away from there," Claire worried, "You'll fall in the river."

"Why not?" Gerard kept going, choosing to ignore Claire, "You clearly have a huge one with me, so why don't you just get it off your chest? Once and for all."

I felt myself become worried when Gerard got closer to the edge of the river bank. He couldn't swim and was terrified of water. I took a step forward in response.

"Just stay back," Katie came to place a hand on my shoulder, "Those two are a volcano waiting to erupt."

"Whoa," Patrick called out, sprinting out of his and Gerard's tent, "Let's just take it back a notch everyone."

Feeling grateful to have Patrick step in, I tried to calm myself.

"You know what he did to her," Lizzie continued to shout, "You know what he cost me!"