SAVE POINT 77
Loading...One Hell of A Sticky Situation...96%
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Dormouse
So, I'm not supposed to leave before nightfall because apparently the nasty-wasty lions and tigers and bears oh-my might get me in the dark. And I've gotta admit, it leaves wondering where the girls' heads are at. Where exactly do they think I'm going to sleep for the remainder of the nights while I'm out in the wilderness searching for EmeraldCity_88? The logic is beyond backwards, but, to be real, I can't argue with the second logic point: Mimi wants me to stay so we can spend another night together.
Screw that, it has nothing to do with logic at all, but it has me grinning ear-to-ear as the sun sinks below the horizon. If I only get one more day in this nerd camp, I want to spend it swapping stories and saliva with Mimi under the stars.
...What Mimi and Maude don't realize is that, with every passing second, I am losing my nerve.
I mean, earlier today when that little, green-haired pistol with an ego the size of Texas and the balls to back it up rode out of here basically intent to do as much harm as possible... I was pissed.
I was going after her. No question about it.
I was so fired up that, in my mind, was both the charging bull AND the matador.
...Now, I'm wondering if it's all just a stupid game. Am I riding into the ring of my own death with basically little hope to find the green-haired girl or survive? I mean, my last solo field mission I got poison ivy so bad that I had to radio for them to medivac me out. It was more than semi-embarrassing. Let's just say I'm kind of hoping this one goes better...
My quick steps part the high, meadow grass with soldier efficiency as I all but jog towards our yurt. For most of the trek, crowds have been my biggest deterrent—'swarms', I call them in my mind. And I wish I could label the swarms as merely 'nerds', but, to be honest, I'm noticing that they're not.
They're girls.
Hordes of girls buzzing around me like hornets. Rustling through the grass like snakes you can't see coming up on you till it's too late.
Some want to talk to me. Others want a signature. They don't know me, but they all know of me.
"Dormouse, pose with me for a picture!" they'll squeal.
"Dormouse, OMG I'm such a fan!" another will gush.
...And it doesn't make me feel like I thought it would in my daydreams; it makes me all fidgety and uncomfortable inside.
Like I want to run away and hide—anywhere—away from them. Somewhere I don't have to try so hard to be someone who they think they know...when, really, all they see is just a cardboard cutout of me—something incomplete and plastic. A skin I've already grown out of and shed.
Just thinking of the groups of girls, I'm breathing hard and frazzled. I duck under the fabric doorway of the yurt, swiping my hair to the side of what is probably my overly-sweaty forehead to find—
Not Mimi.
I freeze.
...Maude?
My eyes adjust to the dim lantern glow. Breaching all fire safety, the blonde has brought one of the lanterns from outside, inside. Its flickering light warms the outline of the girl's curves. She kneels, strangely, in the center of the tent, sitting so still...almost like she was waiting for someone.
I half-stand in the entrance feeling kind of stupid and intrusive, watching the blonde girl wind a strand of hair around her finger and noticing that she's wearing a very sheer, white tank top. She hadn't been wearing that before, had she?
I clear my throat and shake my head, trying to clear it too—and not stare certain places, "Err, have you seen Mimi?"
"Mimi, Mimi, Mimi," Maude coos, nearly singing as she rolls her eyes, "All he ever talks about is Mimi." And I'm suddenly aware of how alone we are—and how quiet everything is. Where the heck did Mimi go? My skin is itching with a million alarm bells.
The girl shifts, sliding closer. Her lips hover near my ear, "I could make you talk about something else, you know. Someone else..."
And she's faster than a cheetah and, maybe, more deadly than one. Like a viper going in for a strike or a vampire, she leans in, her lips latching onto my neck.
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Wet.
Warm.
She smells really fucking good this close.
Oh God. I'm right here. In the middle of one hell of a sticky situation. To shove off the girl I've had a crush on for nearly forever because I like Mimi? Or just go with it because... because Maude is like chili peppers dipped in flaming hot sauce?
This is one hell of a decision.
Everything is pounding as her lips linger on my skin there, tickling.
It's like the world pauses.
Like the question throbs in midair with every rushing inhale-exhale of my breath.
***What Should You Do?***
A) Throw caution to the wind & make out with Maude
B) Remember your senses; think of Mimi & turn down Maude
[A OR B?]
My finger shakes, hovering over the metaphorical answers. My body trembles. My breath shutters out of me.
B
I fucking choose B.
I push off every urge I have to do otherwise and put an arm out, nudging Maude back a step. Anything to get her blessed lips off my neck before I change my mind, "Hold on—you couldn't even remember my name before everyone thought I was famous here."
I watch her plucked eyebrows crease in annoyance even in the dark. Her winged eyeliner looks, suddenly, angry as her face constricts in a huff, "Oh, come on, Dormouse; think this through. You're being offered a diamod and you choose the fools gold? You want Mimi?" Her face hardens as she realizes I'm not budging. Her voice is hard and sarcastic, "The one who thinks minigolf is fun and actually studies for her job?" She looks disgusted.
And I have to jump in before the blonde says anything else completely offensive.
"For starters," I blurt, backing out of the tent, "minigolf IS fun and so is using your brain. I like Mimi, and Mimi likes me. Why don't you and—" my voice shakes as I try to assert some sort of backbone, "And every other girl in this place—leave me alone."
And I duck out into the dark night.
Trying to shake off the girl's advances and marvel in the way I've put my foot down at the same time—
Not watching where I'm walking, I almost run headlong into Mimi. The freckled girl smiles at me, looping an arm around my middle, "Hey, stranger." Her eyes have that glint I like in this moonlight.
"Mimi, thank God," I blurt, relief rushing through my veins like an antitoxin.
I lean in to kiss the girl.
To wrap my arms around her and finally snuggle into the feeling of home and full acceptance but...
But the girl's gone rigid under my fingers.
I pull back from her, confused, "Mimi?"
But her eyes have changed. They're black and ice cold. Her lips twist in a severe frown.
"You know, I probably wouldn't even notice if it was anyone else," she spits, glaring at me.
I blink blankly into her face, "What—?"
"Really?!" she goads, "You don't have the balls to own up to it? You didn't think I'd recognize my best friend's perfume?" Tears well in her eyes. She looks so hurt. It wrenches my heart.
No! She's got it all wrong! She's got this backwards! I just turned Maude down when she was basically throwing herself at me! I—I have to fix this, I—
"No!" I sputter, "You don't understand. I mean, that IS Maude's perfume, but it's not what you think—"
"And the smudge of lipstick on your shirt collar is also not what I think?!" Mimi fumes, her freckles standing out starkly against her bulging eyes as her short hair flutters in the night wind.
She's pissed.
Royally.
Fucking.
Irreparably pissed.
"I didn't even—" I start.
"You know what, Dormouse?" Mimi flips around, looking like she's going to storm off, "Go fuck yourself or my best friend. I really don't care anymore. Go play hero and barge out into the dark wilderness and get yourself killed going after some green-haired psycho, leaving the rest of us here to play house. I thought you were different but you're just like everyone else."
She swipes at a tear and races off into the night.
And I try to follow her, but she holds out an intolerant hand, "Just don't."
As my heart breaks in my chest.
My whole word that I didn't know was balanced on a pyramid comes crashing down.
Splintering.
Hitting me harder than I deserve.
...
...Anyway, that's how I ended up out here.
Walking on this dark trail.
By myself.
With lions and tigers and bears oh-my probably abounding in the night forest on either side.
Poor little, ole, dumb.
Me.
Alone again.
A nerd again.
Goddammit.