Redwood || AHS: 1984

CHAPTER FIVE: RED DAWN PART III

I can't believe the scene that just played out before me.  Xavier really left because I didn't tell him about my past.  What's worse is the fact that I don't wish to run after him.  Any other day I think I would, but with me realizing my new found feelings for him and the events with Harry that just occurred, it seems like a terrible idea to execute.  I just wish none of this happened.

Harry gently grabs my wrist, which causes me to turn back towards him.  His brown eyes express a knowing look, and he rubs his soft thumb on the back of my hand.  I know this is not his fault, but something inside me compels me to groan and pull my hand away from him.  My feet cause the leaves to crunch beneath them as I walk back towards the buoyant cabin.  Harry does not make an attempt to follow me.

As I open the door, I see the once lively girls cabin has become quite the opposite.  The boys are nowhere to be found, and the girls sit absentmindedly around the furniture.  Some song by The Cure is blasting through the radio, yet no one has moved to turn it down or off.  I take that as my incentive to saunter over towards the radio and flick it off with a switch.  Montana shoots up as if to protest, but she rolls her browns eyes instead to show her lack of caring.

"Xavier convinced the guys to go back to their cabin."  Sloane explains from where she's laying on top of her bed.  She's throwing some sort of ball into the air and catching it, but I don't question where or how she found it.  "Mentioned something about wanting to think, which is funny 'cause I didn't think he did a lot of that."

"Did he say what he wanted to think about?"  I probe as I walk closer to her bed.  My hands attach themselves to the wooden frame, and I furrow my eyebrows together.

Sloane halts her tossing game and props herself on to her forearms to look at me.  "No--"

"Oh, quit.  He was royally pissed about something.  Knowing Xavier, it was probably the simple fact he isn't able to be a big movie star anymore."  Montana cuts Sloane off as she strides towards us and putting emphasis on the words 'movie start' with a mocking tone.  "Or maybe it was your little rendezvous with Harrison that got to him."  

I scoff as I shake my head.  "Nothing happened between us."  I use my most convincing voice.  It is not a total lie, but I don't want to have to explain the real reason why Harry dragged me into the woods.  

"Don't have a cow, Mandy.  We know that.  Xavier, on the other hand, doesn't."  Montana places her hands on her hips as Sloane loses interest in the conversation and continues her little game of catch with herself.  "I wouldn't worry about it.  You know Xavier.  He's all about the dramatics.  I say by morning he's back to his regular self annoying the rest of us by flirting with you."

I offer the blonde a small smile.  "You're probably right."

Montana smirks back with confidence in her eyes.  Sloane mentions how we should all chill out, and I agree with her.  I think this whole situation has everyone on edge.  It does none of us any good if we're constantly worrying about each other.  We aren't able to leave and all of the killers are M. I. A..  

I take a seat on my own bed and let my back hit my pillow.  I stare up at the wooden ceiling and let a soft sigh escape my lips.  I have to admit, it feels refreshing to not worry about anything.  

__________

Montana was wrong about Xavier returning to his normal self.  We met Bertie in the morning at the mess hall for breakfast, and he kept his distance from me.  He made it so obvious, too.  I want to know how he could turn so cold over a simple withholding of the truth.

Breakfast was two hours ago, and I have not seen Xavier since.  I am sitting with Ray at the dock with our feet dangling in the water.  Silence encompasses us, but it is comfortable.  My gaze is down at the water and how the bright sun reflects on it creating a soft glare.  It is a serene moment being down here.  A soft breeze blowing through the waves of my hair.  Ray inhales sharlpy next to me.  I shift my head slightly to get a better view of the ebony man.  His face is up towards the sky, soaking in the summer sun with his eyes closed.  I elicit a small smile watching him enjoy the new calmness of Camp Redwood.