TIES [EN]

Chapter 5 - SUZY

I open the door of my cabin and walk down the steps of the terrace, my flashlight in my hand.

-What are you going to do? Maya, one of the twins, shouts at me from the doorway. You've already called him dozens of times!

-But I didn't have my flashlight, I'm going to go a little further!

I can hear her sighing from where I am. Maya tells me to come back quickly, the curfew is in two minutes and the instructor will come by soon. But, Liz isn't here. I shout her name. She didn't even come to the campfire when she should have. I'm still screaming. I don't know where she is and what keeps her from being on time to put out the fires. I scan my beam through the trees and scream again. She's going to be punished. Again.

I light up the entrance to the small forest that separates the "girls' area" and the cornfield. But there is no one anywhere who shows up and answers my calls.
I'm looking at my watch. And damn it. 11:30. Lights out. I run back to the cabin I share with the girls, go up the stairs four to four times and go home. I lock the door behind me and lean against it, panting with my breath.
From now on, we have a few minutes before Sanaa arrives to check that everything is in order: the advantage of being the farthest cabin.

-Nothing.

-I'll tell you again, I think she's with Gabe and that's it.

-Yes, maybe, but that's not even the point. I don't care who she is with, I just care about...

Maya puts one hand on my arm.

-She's coming home, Suzy. I promise you that. Look, Leyla's always late because she's with Keith, probably having sex.

We simultaneously turn our gaze towards Leyla who descends the small ladder of her bunk bed. The latter in turn raises her head and looks at us with an interrogating look. Maya then nods her head and shows something behind her twin. I smile, it's a polaroid of Leyla and her boyfriend Keith hanging with heart-shaped stickers. Sometimes Leyla seems to have remained a thirteen-year-old girl, but actually, it's quite hilarious.

-Oh, fuck you both!

I laugh. But all of a sudden, I stop. Like Maya and Leyla who stopped what they were doing. I heard someone knocking on the door, we all heard it. We look at each other, eyes like flying saucers, hand on mouth. Maya looks at her watch.

-Two minutes early, she whispers.

-New world record! Sue her sister, very low.

She spreads her arms as a sign of a winner. Maya gives him a slap, frowning.

-Girls! It's Sanaa and it's bedtime. Open the door!

I dive into Liz's bed and bury myself under her covers up to my head. I have to cover for Liz and make Sanaa think I'm her.
The instructor banged on the door again.

-Hey, open up! Damn it, what are you doing?

-Uh... yeah, wait! We're all naked!

Even if the twins' voices sound the same, I can guess it was Leyla. I'm 100 percent sure of that. In fact, Maya has plenty of cushions on my head and only allows certain strands of my hair to protrude, which are of a similar shade to Liz. Under the ton of blankets, I hear Sanaa knocking over and over again until the door makes a little squeak.

Now I can't see anything. I mean only the daisies of all the colors of Liz's duvet. I can only be guided by their voices to know where Sanaa is headed. To know if she's going to find me and my total deception.

-Sorry, we were getting into our pajamas as you can see and... Oh don't make too much noise, Liz is already asleep, Leyla whispers.

-Really?

-Yes, she must be very tired. You see, playing in the water, tanning and, uh... it must be very tiring.

I hope Liz will thank me and she will repay me because I'm suffocating under the covers. And damn it, her sheets stink of sweat!

I only see a few shadows moving through the duvet, they follow Sanaa's steps that make the cabin floor squeak. I can see her looking at the bunk bed shared by the twins and then approaching mine before turning around to Liz's. The one where I am. I don't move an inch, I don't breathe. Even they, on the other side of the blankets, don't say a word. There is silence and only silence.
I wish Liz could come back now. Right now. But no one hears my prayers and Liz doesn't come back. Fortunately, Sanaa's attention is focused elsewhere, or rather on someone else, as she heads towards the small room at the back of the cabin, the one we use as a dressing room.

-Where's Suzy?

The girls don't answer and helpless, I see the instructor's shadow approaching the sliding door over and over again.

-She's changing! Leyla suddenly exclaimed.

I don't hear anything for the next few seconds, even the shadows barely move and then Sanaa finally says:

-Okay. Have a good night, girls. Sleep quickly.

The sound of his footsteps runs all over the room, passes in front of the bed where I am, and stops at the cabin door. A squeak ensues before the instructor concludes:

-And no nonsense, huh?

At that moment, I wonder if she knows. I really wonder about that. She said those last words in that indescribable tone. The one of someone who knows more.

The door finally slams, I sigh and then get out of all these blankets and cushions. I come to the surface, out of breath.

-I thought she was never going to leave.

The twin's nod. I'm not saying it, but deep down, I don't know if Liz is coming back. Maybe not tonight anyway.
We look at each other, the three of us. Without saying a word, we don't really need it: our eyes say everything. They are the bearers of a single question. Where's Liz? Because we know that's not normal, that there's something wrong. We just realized it and I think we're all a little worried now. Liz should be here. Liz is missing.