The Mating Games

chapter 8- You take a guess.

Everybody seemed to be more melancholy since the fights; it was like a dark cloud was looming over our heads. The tension was thick and hung horribly in the air; after the fights were finished, I cried myself to sleep. I hadn't done that since I was a girl; crying was a weakness and I'm not weak, or at least I thought I wasn't. But as I woke the next morning, hair matted together and eyes so puffy I could barely see, I realised something very important; it's okay to cry.

My dad used to always say one thing when I was a kid, always trying to fight with my brothers; he'd say 'you better stop, because someone's going to cry', and that someone was always me. And I hated it, I hated the feeling of being less; feeling like I wasn't as good as my brothers because they were stronger, taller, better. It didn't help that my father always liked to bond by having 'pretend' fights with them, leaving me out. It was like I was an outsider, looking in; my mum would try to help but it's hard when you have so many kids and a pack to run. It would be safe to assume that I always felt a little left out; the black sheep of my family.

So as I walked down to breakfast the next day and people stared and whispered to their friends and guys stared hungrily; I ignored them. I put my headphones in and blasted my music and tried to forget that I was now the center of attention. It was like I could feel the burn of their eyes on my back, like the whispers were being sent directly to my brain; it was becoming annoying but I moved on. Can't change the past, so I should focus on the future.

A few people stopped to talk but I really wasn't in the mood to converse, so quickly defusing the conversation, I gathered some food and hid in back of the field to be alone. There's nothing like a bit of wallowing when you feel down; maybe throw in some self-loathing and you have a jolly good time. I wasn't really interested what was going on around me; it was pretty much the same routine as always, people came and went with plates of food and then disappeared to go do their own thing. Today was our day off; a chance to relax and heal after the ordeal and I was thankful, because the last thing I want to do, is be around people. My plan was hide in my room and pig out on junk, maybe watch some kid's movies.

I dumped my food, no longer hungry and slowly meandered back to my room; along the way I must have been accosted by at least ten different guys. I was really starting to regret yesterday; my body still ached, healed but not ready to let go.

"Summer, hey," it was Colin, looking all bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"Hey, Colin," I was less than enthusiastic.

"So how's it going?" Ah, I'm really not in the mood. I kept walking, only to be matched.

"I'm fine, Colin. Isn't there somewhere you should be... or something," I hinted but Colin seemed as thick as two planks.

"Nope," he popped his p, "I've got nothing better to do. Hey, do you want to see something cool?" he asked. I gave him a weary look,

"It's not your dick is it?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No, NO, no. I would never do that," he quickly defended, "besides, I'm sure you could beat me in a fight, so I wouldn't even try."

"But you would if I couldn't?" Now I was confused.

"Just stop talking and follow me," he grabbed my arm before I could respond and started lugging me behind him.

When we stopped, I was puffing and completely out of breath; he had hauled me up one of the hills on the outskirt of the property. It was breath taking; there we were, at the pinnacle of beauty. Green stretched as far as the eye could see, rolling out like waves; everything seemed so insignificant standing here, like the whole world was in front of me.