Rule #22: Don't Sweat
Rebels are supposed to be neat and scary, not gross and smelly.
- () -
Water rushes over my face. I suppress a scream. Darkness begins to cloud my vision. My mind screams for air, but only cold, cold, water greets me eagerly. Bubbles stream out of my mouth no matter how tightly I press my lips together. A chill resonates through my body like stone, dragging me deeper and deeper...
"Peyton."
...no longer hear anything, but my heartbeat...starts to fade...
"Peyton."
...as I fall into the hidden depths...
"Peyton!" A hand shakes my shoulder, jerking me awake.
I take a shuddering breath. My eyes flutter open.
Then, I squeeze them shut until my heart realizes that I'm not suffocating anymore. My whole body is covered in a thin layer of sweat. This is the third time I've gotten the damn nightmare this week. Once my pulse falls back to normal, I open my eyes.
A pair of deep grey eyes stares down at me.
What?
I try to put my head up, but the pain in my skull barely lets me lift it two inches. I run my hands my silky bed sheets, trying to ease the ache forming in my head. Now that my heartbeat's nice and stable and the images of the cruel sea aren't hunting my dreams, I kind of want to go back to sleep again.
Then, I realize that Archer's in my bedroom, kneeling next to my bed and looking at me. For a second, I stare at him in confusion. Nobody's been in my room for ages.
"What are you doing here?" I croak, pulling my covers closer.
"To make sure you wouldn't ditch me like yesterday." His voice is just as quiet as mine. "You look different."
Well, I wasn't expecting anyone. Or was I? I don't remember. I just want to snuggle back in my blankets and fall asleep - preferably without the drowning this time.
"Can't you just call me?"
"I don't have your phone number." He whispers. "Get up quickly. We're late."
"Late?"
"Only five minutes left."
"Before what?"
"School." His eyes are glittering like dark diamonds hidden in shadows. They're very pretty.
"Oh." I yawn. "What day is it?"
"Friday."
"Really?" I say, pleased. "That's fine. I'm going back to sleep."
"Peyton-"
I ignore him and roll over on my side so that my back faces him. The warmth of my bed shifts with me. Then, I close my eyes and snuggle into my wonderful, soft pillow and let the soothing darkness claim me again.
Somebody yanks off my blankets.
I groan loudly and shove my pillow on my face.
"Peyton, come on. We're re getting late."
"Just go without me, you moronic jackass. Leave me alone."
"Peyton."
He's not going to leave me alone, is he? Damn it. I knew I shouldn't have become his friend. Look where that damn truce got me now.
Grumbling, I take the pillow of my head and sit up. My hair falls in waves around me. It takes me a minute and a very dizzy vision to spot Archer, who's crossing his arms and looking at me with an amused expression.
There's something in the crook of his elbow, I notice, waking up. I narrow my eyes.
"Is that Charlotte?"
He's holding my precious teddy bear. The bastard. No wonder he looks so smug.
"You named it Charlotte?"
"Give me that," I snap, going on my knees. I try to yank her out of his arms, but he persistently holds on and raises an eyebrow. It's because I'm tired that I can't pry it out of his arms. I give up.
"I'll give it back once you get ready."
"Fine," I snap. Half-dizzy and half-annoyed, I head towards my closet. My legs get caught in my sheets and I trip, but manage to catch myself just in time.
"Are you alright?"
"No." I grumble, getting out the first shirt I see. "You're ruining my life."
"I'm sorry."
"Whatever."
"I guess I'll leave you alone now."
"Please do."
He gives me one last grin before going downstairs - with Charlotte under his arm.
I grab a black shirt and jacket from my closet and strip my clothes, cursing him under my breath. I tug my shirt over my head. First, the horse and now, this. I need to get rid of him quickly and efficiently - truce be damned.
Halfway between putting my pants on, I trip and hit the ground with a loud thud.
"Shit," I hiss. "Shit, shit, shit..."
I shove my pants on quickly. Then, I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth without looking in the mirror. I splash water on my face in order to refresh myself. It doesn't do anything but make my headache worse. I put a beanie over my hair because I'm too rushed to comb it. Since there's no time for eyeliner, I grab it and shove it in my pocket.
Then, I go downstairs, where Archer and my mom are chatting casually. I eye them grumpily and get out two pieces of bread to put in the toaster.
"Peyton, you're already late," Mom says, watching me as I apply my eyeliner in the microwave reflection. It goes well with the dark circles under my eyes.
Wonderful.
"I don't care," I mutter bitterly.
My hand slips and a steak of black falls from my eyes to my nose. I sigh and try to wipe it away. After I'm done, I cap my eyeliner and slam it on the countertop. Screw both of them. I could be all warm and cozy right now, but no, they just have to make my life miserable.
"Peyton's not a morning person," Mom informs Archer, who nods in agreement.
I take out my hairbrush and run it through my hair. My black beanie lies on the kitchen table, so I give up on making my hair look pretty and put that on instead.
"You know what Archer and I were just talking about?" Mom says.
I actually didn't give a damn. But, instead, I just press my lips together and shake my head (half to respond and half to shake the tiredness out).
"He invited us to dinner this Sunday."
"What?" That wakes me up. I turn around midway between patting my black beanie down. "But, we just went to their house last week."
"Well, friends visit each other all the time. Mrs. Raine and I are friends, your dad and Melody don't mind and as far as I understand, you and Archer are friends as well."
I just shrug in return, too grumpy to properly argue.
"I'm teaching her how to ride a horse."
"You are?" Mom and I say at the same time. Both of them turn to me.
Okay, let's think about this.
Pros of Saying Yes to Archer's Not-So-Subtle Offer: 1) Mom and dad would finally get off my back on the whole making friends thing. 2) I always wanted to ride a horse. 3) It's another step to building an army of repressed animals. 4) I am supposed to be Archer's friend now.
Cons of Saying Yes to Archer Not-So-Subtle Offer: 1) Archer would be there.
"Yeah," I finally sigh. "He is."
Archer raises an eyebrow.
"Then, it's settled." Mom says, with a strange smile, clasping her bag shut. "Well, I'm off. Bye sweetheart, bye Peyton."
I roll my eyes.
"Bye Mrs. Monroe." Archer pushes himself on so he's sitting on top of the countertop. He watches me quietly as I storm around the kitchen, grabbing all the materials I need to make myself a glass of orange juice.
"You know, I thought you'd be a lot nicer now that I'm your friend," He muses. I ignore him and pour the orange juice into the glass. "Oh, I see. Is it because I'm your first friend and you don't know how to act?"
"I have friends." I say, drinking a sip, but I still don't look at him.
"Your imaginary cat doesn't count."
"I wasn't -"
"Neither does Charlotte."
I give him a scathing glance. To my surprise, he's grinning. "I have friends. In Illinois."
"Oh, those don't count."
"Why not?" I take another sip, longer this time.
"You need friends you can touch and hug." I can hear him jumping off the countertop. "But, then, again, you don't really like touching or hugging either. We can work on that too."
"We don't need to work on anything," I say, glancing over my shoulder. But I freeze once I see how close he is. I swallow nervously and take a step back. Archer puts one hand on the chair, not coming forward, thankfully.
We stare at each other for a second.
Ding.
Two slices of toast fly up from the toaster, making us both jump. I put my glass in the dishwasher and grab a new plate. Then, I put on the slices of toast on it and nod towards him.
"Let's go."
- () -
During gym, we run a mile.
This is good news, considering that I've been running every day for the past couple of weeks. I'm sure I'll be able to finish much earlier than everybody else. I tie my bubblegum pink hair into a bun and stand on the starting line. If only I wasn't so tired, I think, yawning.
"You might want to sit this one out, Monroe. Lord knows you have trouble with hand-eye coordination," Derek sneers, elbowing his way up to me.
"Yet, I'll still beat you." I say, shrugging.
He snorts.
The couch blows his whistle. With newfound energy, I take off, turning the first corner before Derek can open his mouth again. I smirk at the thought of his face when I cross the finish line.
The weather makes it the perfect autumn day - cloudy, not too cold or dark, and the scent of fresh rain faintly stings the air. It makes me pumped when I finish the first three laps. When I start to run the last lap, a harsh wind starts to blow, making it hard to see. It's a good thing I've been practicing, otherwise I'd be out of breath.
I finish just when the timer hits eight minutes. It's not as good as I usually do, but I'm still one of the first ones to finish, next to Archer, Sebastian, a girl named Arizona and two other people.
"Nice job, Monroe," Couch Watson nods at me. "Take a seat."
You don't have to tell me twice, I think, collapsing on the grass. The exhaustion from not getting a proper night's sleep is really hitting me by now. Damn Archer. I lie down and close my eyes, focusing on steadying my breathing from the exercise videos I watched during the summer.
Soon, I doze off to the steady beat of running and chatter.
The sound of footsteps next to my ear lets me know that somebody's lying down next to me. I open one eye to see Archer lying down on the grass, his hands behind his head as he gazes at the sky. Sebastian sits next to him, gulping down a bottle of water.
"That's a nice mile time," Archer says casually. His eyes are exactly the color of the sky, I notice.
I actually have a sarcastic response to this, but then I remember the truce we had the other day and swallow it. "Thanks." I force out instead.
"So," Archer says, turning back and closing his eyes. "Are you doing anything fall break?"
"No." I close my eyes too.
"Not even Halloween?"
I hesitate.
When I was thirteen, I went to a party with Gwen and the rest of my 'friends'. Only it ended up being a disaster, since the police busted it and I escaped with a broken wrist. The last two Halloweens ended up with my friends and I sitting around a campfire, telling ghost stories and scaring innocent bystanders. We stopped the tradition once of them pepper-sprayed Andrew.
"...no."
"Great. You should come with us."
"No thanks."
"We're going to a haunted house. Thirteen Floors."
It actually did sound interesting, but there's no way I'm spending time with Archer until I need to. So, I just say "I'm good."
"Scared?"
"No. I just have a lot of studying and work to catch up on."
"Is that why you're so tired?"
"What?" I open my eyes to look at him, but he's already starting at my face.
"There's dark circles under your eyes."
"Oh." That must have been because of the recurring nightmares, but I'm totally fine to have an excuse. "Yeah, I've been staying up late to study."
"You should try to relax over break," He says.
"I'll try." I smile bitterly and close my eyes again. It feels like I haven't relaxed since two years now. Even though Xavier and Gwen are dozens of miles away, it still feels like there's a dangerous raincloud hovering over me, ready to pour at anytime.
I wonder if I'll ever be able to relax properly again, knowing those pictures will forever be on the internet.
Still, I manage to fall into some kind of half-asleep state of mind. It isn't until the couch blows his whistle that I jerk up to a sitting position. Nobody, but Derek (who gives me a suggestive leer), looks my way. Instead, the group heads towards the schools.
I'm the only one who wears their actual clothes every day in gym, so I have no choice but to stay sweaty and gross while everybody else changes into nice clothes. Instead, I put my headphones on and listen to music. Couch Watson salutes me as he exits the gym. I nod back hesitantly.
Sebastian's the first one out of the locker room.
Instead of sitting at the opposite wall like he usually does, he comes over to me and sits down. I take my headphones off. "Do you need something?"
"Archer can't come to pick you up." He says in the same, low, monotone voice as usual. "There's a swim meet and he can't miss it, since he's the Capitan."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know," I respond and am about to put my headphones back on until he starts to speak again.
"He told me to give you this," Sebastian dangles a pair of car keys in front of my face.
"It's fine." I neglect to mention the fact that I have detention later on. Or the fact that I can't drive. But, unlike most people, Sebastian doesn't press me. Instead, he just shrugs and stands up again.
The bell rings.
- () -
"You still have grass in your hair." Archer tells me, seemingly coming out of nowhere. I try not to jump from his sudden disappearance. He looks like he wants to pick it out.
"Leave it," I say and open my locker.
Sebastian walks over to his and gets out the t-shirt I recognize has the school logo. Archer, on the other hand, leans on the locker on the right of me, making my heart (stupid thing) skip a beat. It takes me a second to realize that he's holding something.
"Take it," He says, looking at my expression. "I mean it."
"I'm fine."
"Friends don't let friends walk home alone."
Sebastian and I make noise akin to scoffing at the same time. Archer's lips twitches. Then, I realize, like all other things, that he's probably not going to let it go.
"I have detention." I finally tell him.
"Really?" He looks amused. "I didn't even know the school gave out detentions. What for?"
"I knocked over the vending machine."
"On purpose?"
I open my mouth to respond, but another, grumpier and uglier, voice interrupts me. I can recognize that piece of shit from miles away.
"Hey, Monroe, how's your legs? Are they still tired from all the fantastic exercise you did today?"
"How's your nose, Derek? Is it still broken from poking into where it doesn't belong?"
He gives me the finger before disappearing. I turn to my locker again, only to find Sebastion and Archer looking at me. I ignore both of them and get out my biology book.
"Does he always talk to you like that?" Archer says. "Besides gym."
I shrug, slamming my locker. "I've dealt with worse. I've been getting catcalled since I was eleven years old."
"And you still would have walked home alone?" He asks, sharing a look with Sebastian. "If you didn't have detention, I mean."
"What else would I do? Stay and watch you two swim for a hour?"
"It's not like it'd be unpleasant."
"I doubt that." For some crazy reason, I have an urge to smile back. But I quickly push it away and start to walk away to the detention center.
"See you in an hour!" Archer yells.
I make a hand gesture to indicate I heard him and turn the corner before he can say anything else.
Detention isn't pleasant. I'm too tired to finish my homework, too energized to fall asleep and my stomach is grumbling because I forgot to bring lunch today. So, I just stare at the blank walls for an hours, fantasizing about making myself a sandwich. There's only one other kid here, an Asian boy who keeps throwing me nervous looks.
My phone pings in the middle of the classroom. I glance at the head of detention Mr. Greenfield, who's too busy scrolling on his laptop to notice. Then, I slide my phone open to see a message from Irene.
Irene: i am SO excited
Peyton: For what?
Mr. Greenfield grunts and shifts in his chair. I look up, putting my phone on silent. When he keeps scanning his laptop, I open my phone again.
Irene: youll see
Peyton: See what?
Irene: its a surprise
Peyton: What kind of surprise?
Peyton: Irene?
I suppress the urge to throw my phone across the room. Every time Irene is intentionally vague about something, it means she's either going to do something really dangerous, really stupid or both. I put my head on the desk, checking my phone. She's not texting back.
When the teacher finally lets us go, I dial her number immediately and then, walk towards the swimming pool across the school.
"...yeah, sorry, I know I shouldn't have," She's saying to somebody on the other line. "Okay, fine - I will, Jesus - okay, hey Peyton!"
"What did you mean by 'it's a surprise'?"
"Well, I can't tell you. That would ruin the whole point."
"Then, why'd you text me in the first place? I'm getting sick of all these answers.
"I - hey!" There's a shuffling noise on the other line, like somebody's trying to take the phone from her. After a bunch of yelling, there's a final smack and everything becomes quiet. Then, a new voice greets me from the phone.
"Hey, babe," Andrew says. "I'd really appreciate it if you stopped trying to contact us. We're working on a project -"
" - what are you -"
" - that we can't tell you about. I mean, Irene's right. It's a surprise, for you since you've been complaining so much about how horrible Florida is to you-"
" - you'd complain too, if you were stuck -"
" - and so, we're going to treat you to something special. Don't worry, this isn't like last year on your birthday. You're going to love it -"
" - I don't -"
" - but we can't do anything if you keep on calling us, so shut up for now and we'll talk to you later. Bye, sweetheart!"
"Andrew."
He hangs up.
- () -
Yay, we finally reached the tenth (and probably the longest) chapter! Peyton and Archer are finally getting somewhere and there's a big surprise coming up next chapter.
Lucky was originally going to make an appearance and this chapter was going to be much longer, but I had to cut it out because it was so long already. But I kind of like having these longer chapters, what about you? I think I might start doing them more.
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Thank you so much for everybody who helped me through these first ten chapters. I am grateful for all of you. This week's dedication goes to iiiSavvy and Ashley_Dance1234 for their sweet comments last chapter.
Thanks for reading!
Special QotC #10 - 1) What was your favorite chapter? Why? 2) I've been changing my cover a lot in the past few weeks - do you have a favorite? 3) Who was your favorite character? Why?