Chapter eighteen
"I want you two working together." the half sleepiness immediately left Anika's eyes as they widened at Gelsey's words. For safe measures, she rubbed her eyes, blinked and asked for her to repeat herself.
Gelsey sighed. "Here's the deal, this feud you two have has to stop. I can't have you wasting any more food or starting any more fights. You know there's a certain fighting limit this camp has before the authorities get involved."
"So you're putting us together?" Ryleigh asked slowly.
"That's what she said dumb ass." Anika rolled her eyes at him and turned to Gelsey again. "So you want the authorities to come? 'Cause if they do, they're coming for murder you know, right?"
"You two won't kill each other. You'll be planting flowers together." the two delinquents looked at the camp founder like she had two heads.
"Flowers?" Anika opened her mouth to comment on Ryleigh's parroting, but he beat her to it.
"Don't say a word." he growled and Anika had to pinch the inside of her thigh so she wouldn't argue back. For Gelsey's sake.
"Why put us together? What makes you think we won't kill each other?" Ryleigh asked.
"More like I'll kill you." Anika mumbled under her breath and received a glare from Ryleigh and a soft frown from Gelsey.
"I really wish you two didn't start off on the wrong foot. Both of you would actually do the other some good to have around. You don't understand the other, though."
"So you're having us plant flowers... to create a bonding time." Anika said slowly, making sure she understood correctly.
"Yes. Plus, this place has been looking a little dull lately it can use all the uplifting colors to reduce negativity."
"Therefore violence." Anika sighed, knowing she'd have to go through with this.
"So, if there's no further questions you two can get to work. Genevieve bought a whole truckload of plants the other day and they are unloaded by the lake. I don't care where you plant them just as long as it's not a place where they will get crushed and die within the next twenty four hours." Gelsey said and started to organize her cluttered desk.
"Well alrighty then." Anika grumbled to herself and stood from her chair. She walked out and listened to hear Ryleigh's soft footfalls a few steps behind her on the carpet.
"You're the guy, why don't you push the cart." Anika piled the gardening tools into the cart and started to walk along the path that would lead her to the lake.
"Could've fooled me. You hit like a guy." Ryleigh snorted but complied as he lifted the handles of the wheelbarrow and started to push it behind Anika.
"Just because I don't slap like some wimp, doesn't mean I'm manly." Anika glared over her shoulder and sped up her steps after he rammed the cart into the back of her heels. She held in the hiss that wanted to escape, as the skin was scrapped away leaving the back of her foot with an annoying sting.
The two fell into a silence as they retreated with Gelsey's words still ringing in their ears.
How could we ever understand each other? Anika thought with a dark scowl on her lips. And do each other good? More like do everyone else good if we killed each other that way they won't have to deal with us anymore.
"Stop scowling." Anika jumped as Ryleigh surprised her out of her thoughts by pinching one of her cheeks.
"It makes you look even more manly."
Realizing that he wasn't going to stop teasing her about being manly, Anika decided to go along with it and annoy him at the same time.
"Yeah well, I'm probably more manlier than you so..."
Ryleigh scoffed and dropped the handles of the carts so the wheelbarrow legs sunk into the sand. He held his tongue by biting it and settled for glaring at the sea of flowers covering half the beach.
"This is going to take forever." Anika groaned as she picked up two pots.
"Stop complaining and let's get this over with." Ryleigh snapped and he two started to fill the cart with plants.
An hour later, and Anika's knees and hands were covered with the moist planting soil. Ryleigh decided that Anika was quicker to dig the small trenches for the plants and plant them than he was, so he worked on transporting all the flowers in small clusters. He distributed them equally by the office, cafeteria and between the four cabin sections.
Ryleigh had been gone for a few minutes when Anika finished her latest area around the cafeteria. Anika peered through one of the windows to see the clock. She whimpered quietly when she saw there was still an hour left. With a frown, she started to walk off to find Ryleigh as she scraped the dirt out from under her nails.
"Anika, right?" Anika spun around in the middle of the bridge at the calling of her name. Victoria stood a few steps behind her with two unfamiliar girls. All wore glares on their thin faces. Her face was covered in bruises and she had a bandage across her nose and forehead.
"Yeah?" Anika propped a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side.
"Where's your boyfriend?"
Anika lifted a brow in question. "Excuse me?"
"Ryleigh." the girl on the left sneered.
"You think he's my boyfriend?" Anika let out a short laugh.
"Well, is he here?" Victoria snapped impatiently.
"He went to get me more flowers." Anika chuckled at her joke.
Victoria sneered but an evil smirk climbed soon climbed on her lip gloss smeared lips.
"Good."
"Wha-" Anika didn't have enough time to finish her question as the other three girls jump at her. Victoria's hands pushed against her shoulders and the other two girls slammed into her stomach. With a strangled cry, Anika winced as she felt the bridge railing slam against her lower back.
Anika growled lowly and shoved Victoria back. She went to take a step forward as a flash of brown entered her line of vision. A sickening crunch filled the air as a branch one of the other girls picked up and swung collided with Anika's nose. Her head flew back and she felt her legs lift with the help of the other girl. Anika caught Victoria's satisfied smile before all she could see was the sky through the treetops. She didn't have time to scream as her body was engulfed in the shallow stream. Jagged rocks and sticks stabbed Anika in the back and she gasped only to inhale water. Panic flooded her veins as her body froze at the pain. The stream was just deep enough so that there were a few inches of water still above her and her face was fully submerged. As if snapping out of a spell, her limbs flailed wildly and she struggled to sit up in the stream bed. Her stomach churned dangerously as she choke up a lungful of water.
"Anika!" Ryleigh's voice filtered through her ears as the fogginess cleared in her head. She wiped the hair out of her face as she slowly crawled out of the water.
Ryleigh swore and jumped over the railing, landing a few feet away with a small splash.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay?" Anika intended to sound angry but the wind was knocked out of her from the fall so she more or less croaked the words out.
He swore again and supportively placed an arm around Anika's waist and helped her to stand and step out of the steam.
"You should go to the infirmary."
"Why do you care? You want me dead, remember." Anika hissed and gingerly bent her arm behind her so she could feel her lower back.
"If you're going to die, it'll be by my hand." he shrugged and Anika stared at him slack jawed.
"Now, come on." he lifted her more onto him so he could carry more of her weight.
"I'm fine." Anika protested but Ryleigh wasn't blind enough to see the pain in her grey eyes as she slowly limped up back to the path.
"Hey!" her complain fell on deaf ears as Ryleigh swiftly, but carefully swopped her legs out from under her. "Put me down!"
"Not a chance. You can barely walk." Ryleigh climbed up the embankment and started the mildly distant walk to the office where the infirmary was as well.
Anika was silently grateful for not having to walk. Every step she had taken sent a new shock of pain shooting up her spine. She didn't want to seem ungrateful, but every step Ryleigh took jostled her slightly so her back spasmed.
"Uh, can you stop for a second?" Anika forced out the softly spoken words. She was in too much pain to raise her voice.
Ryleigh looked down with a frown at the vulnerable look that clouded Anika's face as she flinched in his arms.
"This hurts." she motioned to their current position in his arms. Ryleigh's face lit with understanding and he cautiously placed her back on her feet. Anika bit her cheek to keep from whimpering in pain as her legs threatened to give out.
"Here." Anika stared in confusion at Ryleigh as he turned around in front of her and looked over his shoulder. He rolled his blue eyes when she didn't move.
"Hop on."
"You're giving me a piggy back ride?" Anika choked on the words as they came out. Again he rolled his eyes.
"I said I wasn't letting you walk. Besides, you couldn't even take three steps. Now let's go. Unless you want everyone seeing me carry you, I'd suggest we get a move on." he added when she eyed his back hesitantly.
With an inaudible hiss, Anika wrapped her arms around his neck a little bit too tight but Ryleigh didn't comment as he shifted her legs around his waist to get more comfortable for the both of them. Ryleigh suppressed a shiver as Anika's breath mingled in his ear and down his neck when she sighed in relief as some of the pain diminished. A small smile lifted Ryleigh's lips as he walked along the path.
Self-conscious thoughts filtered through Anika's head as she became more aware of their position. She knew she wasn't heavy, maybe a little under weight even but held her tongue as she fought to voice her worries.
"Are you comfortable?" Ryleigh asked sensing the sudden discomfort that made Anika freeze briefly on his back.
"Um... yeah. Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Ryleigh answered and at that moment he wished he could see her face but he wouldn't risk brushing his nose against her cheek if he were to turn his face.
"Why are you doing this?" Anika asked quietly after half the walk passed in silence.
"Helping a cripple?" Anika rolled her eyes, not that he could see so instead she pinched his shoulder. Her stomach fluttered as his muscular back vibrated with his deep chuckle against her front. Wait, what? Anika shook the thoughts she was having away.
"Alright, sorry." he composed himself again. "I don't know. It's natural instinct to help a damsel in distress." he teased.
"I'm not a damn damsel in distress." Anika pouted. "But I will get revenge."
Ryleigh barked out a laugh. "I'm sure you will. Though, I thought the golden blond and little red were in this war with that chick."
"Yeah well, I was the one alone." Anika growled out of habit when she thought of Victoria.
"And here I thought you were pretty crazy." Ryleigh shook his head with a hidden smile.
"Apparently, I entered this war the first night I slept in the same cabin as Mel and Keira." Anika chuckled softly and felt Ryleigh shiver.
"I will admit, the egg thing last night was ingenious. Classic, but still good." Anika blinked at the smile in his tone. Maybe she was dreaming...
"Still awake back there?"
"Yeah..." Anika pinched herself. Nope, not dreaming. "So what do you have in mind?"
"What do you mean?"
Anika scoffed. "In our little war. Mind giving an innocent girl a heads up on your next move?"
Ryleigh snorted. "You're not innocent." she froze at the double meaning in his words. Even though he didn't mean it, the sudden images flashing behind Anika's eyes had her freezing a second. She shuddered as she remembered the night her mother died and the dark alley way and hoped Ryleigh didn't notice.
"... I don't know what to do."
"Huh?" Anika caught onto the end of his sentence.
"Maybe we should scan your head or something." he mumbled under his breath. "I said, Gelsey's right. We're going to have to stop this sometime. Plus, there's no way I can pull something off now with you just being pushed off a freaking bridge."
"Don't do this." Anika said without thinking over her words. Ryleigh slowed his steps as he turned his head slightly to see her frown out of his peripheral vision.
"Do what?"
Anika hesitated as she wondered if she could tell him. She wasn't used to this genuinely caring boy compared to the scowling demon he had proved he was ever since he was conscious around her.
"Treat me like I'm broken." she voiced her second greatest fear. The same reason that she never told Greg or the others about what happened on that dreadful night. About the dark alley and the men that appeared out of now where. Or maybe they had been following her the whole time she just couldn't hear them over her own beating heart.
"Sorry." the frown in Ryleigh's voice was apparent. "Seriously though, can we call a truce?"
"Why?" Anika asked suspiciously.
"Between me and you, I'm not that creative. Plus it's making me look like some jerk picking on a girl. I know you wont believe me, but I haven't really been myself since coming to this camp."
"How did you even get into drug dealing?" Anika asked without thinking. The boy carrying her on his back was like a new person from the kid she's been pranking and fighting the past few days.
"Maybe I'll tell you some day." he shrugged a bit stiffly and Anika recognized his discomfort. She decided to drop the subject but not before she voiced a thought that's been running through her head all morning.
"Gelsey said we have more in common than we think."
"She did?" Ryleigh said in slight disbelief and added what sounded like "I hope not", but didn't know if she heard right.
"Yeah." Anika confirmed as the office came into view. "Who knows, maybe we do."
"Sure." he agreed absentmindedly. "But right now, we need to convince Gelsey that I'm not the one who pushed you 'cause somehow I don't think she'll believe me if I told her."
"You know, if I didn't believe you were truthfully calling our war off, I would so use this against you and say that you did it."
"But you won't, right?" was Ryleigh slightly nervous?
"Nah, I don't stoop that low to screw over someone that's actually helping me." Anika was glad he couldn't turn around and see her blush.
"You're welcome, I think?" Ryleigh laughed making Anika smile. She decided when he wasn't being a snappy, world-hating devil he was actually fun to chat with. And although it would be a disappointment to most of the other delinquents, she silently agreed to not hold Ryleigh's past actions against him.