Rags and Riches

Ch. 10: Casual Screaming - Shayne

I fell asleep. I don't know how, and I don't know when, but I suddenly just conked out. Maybe I was just that tired because, despite smiling through it (and having your heart feel like it's going to fucking explode inside of you because you're that scared of death), trying to dodge your way through arrows until a bear luckily comes your way takes a lot out of you.

The last thing I remembered was chatting to Courtney. Trivially. No deep conversations, no confessions, but just getting to know each other. Courtney figured that if we were to be stuck together for however many nights and days, we might as well get to know each other beforehand so we have a sort of bond.

At least she's not the aggressive and spiteful girl I once thought she was. Even though she was sweet and nice at the market, her anger in the bar sent shivers down my spine. Getting yelled at by guards is one thing. Getting yelled at by the damn princess of the kingdom is another. The raw force behind her words and the authoritative vibe she gave off was commanding, her voice shrill.

But still, Courtney isn't all bad I've come to learn. She used to like playing harmless pranks with her siblings and they would often call each other names. She had a strange obsession with butts (which she apparently found hilarious) and burps a lot, despite her mother telling her it was "unladylike".

And I hope she doesn't think I'm all that bad either.

Trust me, I know that what I do for a living isn't quite... legal. But I just hoped she knew that I what I did wasn't because I wanted to. Not because I love the feel of adrenaline. In fact, I kind of hate it. Even if it gets me through some of the scariest things, that flash of invincible energy just reminds me that I'm a scoundrel that no one likes. That I'm doing this solely based on survival. It made me feel tired after the whole thing and drained from the ordeal. All I wanted to do was sleep.

...perhaps that's why I blacked out of nowhere.

And maybe, just maybe, if we talked out some things, I could find a decent friend that wasn't in a similar situation as me. Someone with a different perspective and a different story. Someone that could change things up from my exhausting life. I didn't want money. I didn't want any priceless jewels (since I'm already getting those from her anyway). Someone that would take me as a somebody rather than a something. Someone to go to just "'cause". She wasn't going to out me to the King and Queen. In fact, she's going to damn protect me because of what I'm doing. So what did I have to lose?

Whenever she asked a question, I tried answering it with a joke. Her laugh, if I was funny enough, would come out sort of like a scream as she threw her head up to the sky and looked of pure joy. That is, before she bites it back and slaps her hand over her mouth. She would still laugh under her fingers though, this time softer and more delicately. Just like in the market.

It was as if she was trying to put her true self under wraps.

She once tried asking me where I came from.

"Hsoms, obviously."

"Oh, come on, I know that already. But, where exactly? Hsoms isn't exactly a small place."

"Oh, you know... Around... Somewhere..."

"Well that's freaking vague."

I almost completely freaked out. My childhood wasn't a thing that I was used to discussing freely about. It brought back bad memories. If I was being honest, I have literally no idea where I came from. Just where I grew up and what I became so scared of. Noah and Keith always just stuck to their own things and we never really crept into each other's lives. We were friends really for the sake of friendship.