SHORT STORIES

Bloodstained Shorts.

The universe had always been kind to Eleanor, but apparently the universe had slept in on the day of her first kiss. 

Her early afternoon was spent suppressing sporadic sobs under a golden sun. It was not unusual for a girl her age to long for reciprocated feelings. The only books she read involved skinny love, heartthrob, and suicide. She only wanted a chance at love. She had just turned thirteen. 

 The starry-eyed eighth grader chipped her nail polish from nervous chewing and picking tree bark. The sycamore didn't mind; it spent the majority of summer enduring drilled nails and hammered parts. An unfurnished hideaway was built over school break, where Eleanor would lay to daydream about the what-ifs or read for an escape to a world where she was beautiful. 

Peculiar trinkets sprinkled the mahogany bookshelves against the back wall. Most were family heirlooms: a victorian brooch, a fountain pen, an 1894 army revolver, several crinkled love letters, a lace wedding veil, a scouts medal, and three pearl necklaces. Other curiosities covered the safe haven, all found from past adventures. A couple pinecones with frosted tips, an abundance of old newspapers, a handkerchief with the embroidered initials "N.C" were just a few to name.

Unknown to Eleanor, she would later leave the beloved treehouse with a kiss on her lips. Simultaneously, she would later leave the beloved treehouse with bloodstained shorts.

Her wunderkammer had been a home for thoughts and an opportunity for imagination. For her boyish mutuals, it was scope for destruction.

"We won't ruin anything if you agree to play a game! Just one round of Truth Or Dare and we'll leave," Nathan goaded. "I played it last week with Brandon's family and they let me stay for dinner after."

And with that, Eleanor had no other option but to reluctantly say, "Okay."

Nathan shuffled to sit between Elio and Chris. His unrequited crush sat in the back of the room. Her cheeks reddened at the sight of all three boys observing her. Eleanor wasn't a fan of attention, she kept in the base of her towering tree to tuck away from her unwavering admirers.

Chris motioned her over. She didn't budge.

"Truth or Dare?" Nathan intimidatingly asked Chris.

"Dare," said the raven-haired boy. He hoped to impress Eleanor just as much as Elio, though neither of them quite liked Eleanor as much as Nathan Cross.

"Uh. . ." Elio began. "I dare you to lick your toes."

Disgusted, Chris slid his worn tennis shoes and damp socks off. He glanced at Eleanor, also clearly squeamish, and touched his tongue to his pinky-toe, only to spit at the floor seconds after. Nathan and Elio erupted with laughter. 

The wild-haired and soft-eyed girl covered a dewy smile with a bottle of cherry cola. She scooted toward the sound of young laughter.

Chris turned to his friend's flushed freckled face and inquired, "Okay, Eleanor. Truth or Dare?"

She stared with wide eyes at the group. She sighed, "Truth."

"Okay. Okay, wait I got one!" Nathan exclaimed. "If you could let any of us be your boyfriend who would you choose?"

"Elio's pinky-toe."

"No," Nathan laughed. "For real. Like, even for just a day."

Eleanor's glassy eyes spilled over Chris, then Elio, and landed on Nathan. The two held their breaths. For half of a moment, Nathan's smooth eyes had comforted her. Nathan had lived across Eleanor for the majority of her life, though she didn't know much about him. Only that he had chocolates for eyes.

She wouldn't let him know that, though. She breathed, "Chris."

The boy pumped a fist in the air. "I knew it," he whispered to himself.

With that, Chris grabbed Eleanor's hand and face. He planted a kiss on his supposed girlfriend, who immediately winced. She pulled away to let the tears rise. Two initial waves of emotion flooded the girl: hatred and disgust.

An insipid boy had stolen her from a story worth telling. Chris ripped her grand first kiss from her imagination and instead, replaced it with an overused trope from movies. Truth or Dare had not only ruined her love of romance, but her entire life.

Chaos erupted from the boys, with Nathan tackling Chris and Elio jumping on the both of them. Curses were throw across the treehouse, fists flew towards friends, screams escaped to the ears of parents, and blood splattered on a new pair of flowery shorts. A gunshot had rung. 

Eleanor stood with lifeless eyes and her father's fun pointed at her heart. Her eyes rolled back as her knees dropped to meet the cold wooden floor. She always had taste for dramatic flair.

The three boys froze. Only to then scream. They would lose the only girl they had loved. If only Eleanor had revealed her feelings for Nathan Cross, the boy next door, she wouldn't be laying on a stretcher covered in her own blood. 

The universe had always been kind to Eleanor, but the universe had slept in on the day of her first kiss.