Jack's Last Summer

Part 8

“Good night Seth, Garland, Mattie.” Skylar and Jack turned and left. The atmosphere was tense for a few minutes as the sound of their passing faded away. The darkness cast shadow over the beach, the teenagers’ footprints in the sand now full with an inconsistent, murky black substance.

Matilda groaned.

“Did I say something wrong?” Kyle asked, genuinely confused.

“Yes.” She replied simply.

“What? I’m just worried about her weight!”

“She’s got an eating disorder, Kyle. We’re all worried about her; but you don’t say that sort of stuff to somebody with a mental issue like that.” Garland sighed and ran her hands through her damp hair in distress.

“I’m sure she’ll get over it though. Right?”

Matilda looked at Kyle grimly.

“Fuck that.” He swore and threw a hunk of crusty volcanic rock to the ground. It cratered the sand with a dull thud.

Kyle stood and disappeared into the night as Skylar and Jack had done just minutes before him.

Once again the only sound on the beach was the waves and the pleasant crackle of the fire that danced flickering shadows over the ring of driftwood.

Matilda sighed and crouched in the sand. The fine grains had retained the warmth of the sun even now, in the near pitch black of night.

“C’mon Ghost. C’moooooon little girl.” She cooed and waggled her fingers over the sand in front of her enticingly. The puppy looked up drowsily and sneezed, a flurry of sand erupting from her nostrils. After a moment or two of regarding Matilda, Ghost seemed to come to the conclusion that the girl wasn’t worth leaving his warm place in the sand and curled up even more tightly.

“Rejected!” Garland chuckled and stroked Ghost’s fur. He reacted immediately, wriggling and pressing his face into her fingertips joyfully with a little squeak of pleasure.

Matilda tucked her knees under her chin and wrapped her arms around her knobbly legs awkwardly. A lock of hair fell over her eyes and hung there in a little curl. The sea breeze tickled her face and played with the fabric of her tee.

“What do you guys think about Skylar and Kyle?” She asked Seth and Garland quietly.

Garland sighed and leaned into Seth’s shoulder wearily. He tightly wrapped an arm around her waist in response.

“Kyle’s my mate, but he’s an emotionally retarded asshole.” Seth sighed and rubbed his face.

“I don’t think they were ever really together. From the way she acted, I’d say he just used her for sex and she wasn’t self-confident enough to resist.” Garland said suddenly.

“What?” Seth’s head whipped around.

“That’s one way of looking at it I suppose. You do have a point.” Matilda said a little uncomfortably.

Ghost sneezed again.

“Sorry. That was harsh.” Garland sighed and put her head in her hands.

“I’ll talk to him about it.” Matilda offered and stood.

“You don’t have to.” Seth said and began to rise to his feet.

“But I will.” Matilda smiled at the couple and left them.

--

Matilda found Kyle on the third floor. He sat in the hallway and stared at his hands bitterly, sand encrusted legs spread before him on the cream carpet. She sat down on the opposite wall cautiously.

“What is it?” She asked him quietly, careful not to disturb Jack in the room only a metre or so down the breezy walkway.

“Do you hear that?” Kyle answered her with a question.

Mattie furrowed her brow and concentrated on the sounds around her. Downstairs there was the clunking around of David Summer as he packed supplies into cupboards. There was the slow pitter-patter of rain starting up on the roof and the hissing waves on the beach down below. Something else was audible though; two voices echoing from Jack’s open door.

“There’s no way in hell that I’m sharing a bed with him. I’ll go on the couch.”

“You can crash here.”

Matilda winced and continued listening, both curious as to what was happening and ashamed to be listening to somebody else’s own private conversation. The soft voices continued with Skylar thanking Jack and taking him up on his offer. Abruptly they silenced and were replaced by the quiet but unmistakable noise of a kiss.

“Skinny cheating bitch!” Kyle hissed and stood. His hands were clenched into fists; for a tense moment Mattie worried he was going to storm in there and do something terrible, but to her huge relief he spun on his heel and stormed down the stairwell. Matilda scurried after him as quietly as possible on her bare toes, inwardly praying Skylar hadn’t heard what Kyle had said.

On the second floor she grabbed his arm, pulling him to his self- assigned room and flicking on the light. The walls were painted a pleasant light blue colour that was actually somewhat relaxing. Already the floor was covered in a splotchy layer of male clothing items. The only evidence of a female ever setting foot in here was a neat row of cosmetics on the basin of the connecting bathroom. Like some kind of hurricane Kyle swept into the small tiled area and snatched up the products, throwing them into Skylar’s small denim bag by the door with an urgency that was surely going to break something.

“Kyle! Calm the fuck down!” Matilda said as quietly yet intensely as possible.

“She was mine and then she goes and kisses him! Jack! Of all people!” He growled as he zipped up her bag roughly.

“Skylar was never yours. You only met a few weeks ago. Did ever you do anything for her?”

“What do favours have to do with whether she’s my girlfriend or not?”

Matilda threw her hands up into the air in frustration.

“I don’t mean favours. Kyle, did you and Skylar do anything but fuck?”

Kyle froze, his hands hovering over the flimsy bag straps.

“What do you mean?” He asked tersely.

“What I mean is, you can’t expect a girl to stay loyal to you if all you’ve done is had sex. Especially after you say something like that to her. It’s not acceptable to say it to one of us more or less sound people, but she has a disorder, Kyle. That’s even less okay. She can’t exactly help it that easily.” Matilda sighed.

“She still shouldn’t have betrayed me like that.” He insisted doggedly.

“Okay Kyle. Whatever you say. Just don’t make this any more miserable for Jack. Or for Skylar. Maybe a month or two of sun will do her good.” She gave him one last look and exited the room.

Matilda climbed the stairs and didn’t stop walking until she reached her room. On her way past she swung Jack’s door shut with a soft click.

Without showering Matilda climbed into her soft bed and slipped out of all her clothes, feeling the ocean’s residue seep from her hair and into the crisp white pillowslip.