Rule #34: Don't Be Materialistic
Personal possessions are weaknesses.
- () -
It's a good thing I left Archer room when I did. Mom's about to call security when I tap her on the shoulder. She turns around, angry at first, then bursts into tears the second she sees my face, pulling me into a tight hug. Over her shoulder, I catch a glimpse of Mrs. Raine and Bettie's sour faces.
Mrs. Raine sniffs. "Glad to see you're okay, Peyton. Now that everybody is here, let us go get Archer before he starts to worry."
I think of his face before leave, peacefully asleep, and repress a snort. Bettie, on the other hand, nods eagerly and follows Mrs. Raine to Archer's room. Her unapologetic attitude makes me grit my teeth.
I slam my shoulder against hers as we walk to Archer's room. "Snitch."
"Slut," She replies, looking forward.
"You're pretty cocky for somebody who just caught gossiping."
"You're pretty calm for somebody who just lost their only friend."
My stomach sinks, despite my attempts to not let her words affect me. "Archer's not as judgmental as you. He's not going to stop our friendship just because I've made one mistake in my past."
"One mistake? Who's the one who put him in the hospital in the first place?" Bettie questions and smiles at the guilt that crosses my expression. "Thought so."
She saunters into Archer's room, sitting on his bed as Mrs. Raine wakes him up. A nurse brings him crutches, which Archer refuses to use. Bettie and my mother both try to encourage him, saying that it's only for a while.
I watch the argument unfold, an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.
Never have I hated Bettie as much as today, especially when she's right. With the new information about my past and the fact that I put him in the hospital, he should hate me. I don't see why he hasn't shunned me yet.
Still, as I watch Archer fight with his mom, another warmer emotion rises up in me.
Even after Bettie told him about the nudes, he invited me to sleep with him. And then, he tickled me. My face warms at the memory of the contact, so intimate now that I'm looking back on it.
Archer's eyes catch mine.
I look away.
Eventually a nurse comes in and tells Archer that he's not allowed to leave unless he uses the crutches. So Archer takes them, grumbling about how his cousins will make fun of him.
"If even one of them even tries, I'll slam a fist in their face," I mutter, so low that only Archer can hear.
"My knight in shining armor?" Archer flashes a grin at me.
"It's the least I could do, since I'm the one who got into the crutches in the first place," I shrug, hating how my face grows hot again.
"I'm counting on you to keep me safe, Peyton," Archer jokes and pushes himself up.
Mrs. Raine sniffs again.
After checking out, the five of us - or in Archer's case, limp - to Mrs. Raine's car. Mrs. Raine and my mom sit in the front. Archer, Bettie and I sit in the back, Archer wedged between us. We're so close that I can feel every move that he makes.
Hopefully, he can't feel how fast my heart beats.
What's wrong with me? I think, glaring at my reflection. Two blotchy circles of red stain my cheeks. He tickles you once and suddenly you're a blushing Bettie.
I ignore Archer's presence to the best of my ability, not focusing on his warmth of his body or the seductive smell of his clothes or the muscular shape of his arms as they press against mine...
"Archer, are you pain? Do you need any painkillers?" Bettie asks, biting her lip.
For once, I'm glad to her voice. It's a distraction from my devious thoughts.
Archer shakes his head.
"So, did you finish the book I gave you?"
He shakes his head again. "I fell asleep in the first chapter."
"Oh, I forgot you were so tired. At least, you'll have time to rest now that your leg is injured. Still, you must so depressed now that you can't swim on the swim team anymore."
"Swim practice isn't on during the wintertime."
"Oh - that's good."
This is the least amount of words I've ever heard Archer speak in one conversation. Usually, he'd be bursting with complaints or jokes about his injury. Today, he doesn't speak up unless Bettie talks to him and even then, his answers are blunt.
Archer shifts closer to me, making me jump.
"You're suffocating me," I whisper.
"What's that?"
Archer leans his face closer to me so that if I were to move one inch forward, our noses brush against each other. My voice escapes me, leaving me with my narrowed eyes and his smug expression.
"We're here!" Mrs. Raine declares, breaking us apart.
I swing open the door, breathing hard, and step outside. The air today is electric with the upcoming thunderstorm. Lightening flashes in the distance. Behind me, Bettie helps Archer get to his feet, even as he protests.
"I am not going in front of everyone in these," Archer mutters as we walk to the backyard. "It's humiliating."
"It doesn't look that bad," Bettie comforts.
We barely take one step on the sand before Melody bombards us. She has a video camera in one hand and a fake microphone in the other, which she shoves towards me.
"So, Peyton, anything to say to your beloved grandmother?"
"Get the camera out of my face."
She lowers it, disappointed. "No painkillers?"
"Not today."
"Damn."
Mom frowns at Melody. "Melody, why don't you go back to your friend, Raquel? I'm sure she wouldn't like you leaving her alone all the time."
"Oh yeah, I was supposed to get her ice cream," Melody chirps. "Later, Peyton!"
We watch her skip away.
I try to sneak into the backyard too, but my mother blocks me midway. "Peyton, your grandmother is waiting for you in our kitchen. When you meet her, I want you to apologize for the Thanksgiving dinner."
"Is she going to apologize?"
"She's your grandmother -"
"So that's a no."
" - and if you still want us to pay for college, then you'll do what's best for you."
My hands clench into fists. Hiding meat into my dinner again was the last straw. I do not want to stay sorry. But I do want to go to college with student loans hanging over my head.
"Fine," I grit out. "I'll apologize. Now, leave me alone."
I storm into the backyard, hating my entire family.
The Raines and the Monroes have taken residence in the backyard again. The aunts gossip around a burning campfire, while most of the men play volleyball with each other. A bunch of kids run past me, laughing.
Bettie and Archer sit on the porch. A part of me longs to escape into my own house and hide under my bed, but my grandmother is probably waiting for me inside so I walk over to them and sit on the steps.
I barely sit down before a group of children, who have accidentally tossed their basketball into the ocean, drag her to play with them. Some of them give my hair curious glances as they run away.
One of the little girls, Archer's cousin Stephanie, stays behind.
"Hi little Stephanie," Archer says. "What's that you have behind your back?"
"It's a surprise," She says solemnly, shuffling so we won't see. "What's wrong with your foot?"
"A dog bit me."
Her eyes go wide. "Really? Which one? Was it Buster?"
"No, don't worry. It wasn't one of our dogs. It was a dog from someplace far away."
"That's a mean dog."
"I thought so too."
There's an awkward silence for a minute, until Stephanie throws something pink and fluffy at me with a "Surprise! I got a special gift for you."
I blink.
"Oh - gee thanks," Truthfully, I hate cotton candy, but her eyes are so big and hopeful that I can't give it back. "This is exactly what I wanted today! How did you know?"
Stephanie shrugs, blushing.
"Is that cotton candy?" Archer questions, amused. "Why did you give Peyton that?"
"To make her hair pink." She states. "She needs a lot of it to sustain the color."
Archer looks at me.
I tear off a part of the cotton candy with my teeth - gross, gross, gross - and swallow. Stephanie beams at me.
"I ate blue cotton candy today. Do you think my hair will turn blue later?"
"Maybe."
She lets out a cheer and runs back with her friends, who are now playing catch with something that Bettie gave them. Archer turns to me, about to tease I'm sure, but then spots somebody over my shoulder.
"Whoa, what are you doing here?" He calls to Sebastian, who steps outside from the back door with his hands in his pockets.
"Your mom told me you were injured and that I needed to come immediately."
Archer scowls. "She's going to run around telling everybody how I'm injured now, isn't she? As if my cousins don't make fun of me enough."
Sebastian shrugs. "Probably. Hi Peyton."
"Hi Sebastian."
He sits next to Archer. The wood creaks under his weight. "How'd you hurt your leg?"
"A dog bit me." Archer says.
"Peyton, you bit him?"
Archer laughs.
I roll my eyes and lean back on the pillar. "I'm officially denouncing our friendship, Sebastian."
"Fine by me."
"Not by me," Archer says, offended. "I worked so hard to make sure you friends and then you end just like that?"
"Hey, Archer! Is this your friend?" Bettie appears.
Before any of them can reply, I interrupt, scrunching my nose. "Leave us alone."
"Why should I?"
"Don't you have an army of children to take care of?"
"Oh, please. They keep dragging me away when they're bored. I just gave them something from your room to keep them distracted."
"My room? What'd you give them?"
"Just some ratty, old teddy bear."
"Teddy bear?" Archer gasps, just as alarmed I am.
I sit up, looking for the group of children. They run around the beach, tossing a worn-out teddy bear with gentle brown eyes back and forth.
"IS THAT CHARLOTTE?" I screech, startling everybody in the nearby vicinity.
"Who?" Bettie says, baffled.
A tiny part of me wants to grab Bettie's shoulders and shake her until her head flops off. But then the kids drop Charlotte so that the sand covers her face. Her eyes plead for help as one of the boys picks her up again. I can't just leave her like this.
So, I march towards the kids, yelling. "HEY! That's my teddy bear! Give it back!"
The kids take one look at me, then run off, giggling to themselves. With a groan, I speed up my pace until we're chasing each other around the neighborhood. Sometimes, I pick up one of the boys or girls who has the teddy bear, only to have them toss it to one of their friends. Then, the game starts all over again.
It seems like they think that I'm playing a game with them. They've even started dividing themselves into teams - it's Pink-Haired Warriors versus the Gold Unicorns.
"Don't worry, Peyton!" Stephanie yells, skipping around me. "I'll help you!
One of the members of Pink-Haired Warriors grabs the teddy bear and hurtles it in my direction and I grab it in midair. Unfortunately, so does one of a Gold Unicorn. We play tug-of-war for a while until -
Charlotte falls into my hand.
One of her arms tears off and falls onto the other boy's hand.
Everybody screams, my scream the loudest out of all. If it wasn't for the fact that there was a six-year old holding Charlotte's arm, I would have cussed him. Instead, I hold out one hand until he gives it to me.
"Sorry."
"It's fine," I manage to get out.
And, since I'm not in the mood to see grandmother, I walk into Archer's house and collapse on one of the sofas, burying my face into the pillows.
Mom got Charlotte for me when I was two years old.
During middle school, I decided I was too old for stuffed animals and shoved her in the back of my close. But after the whole scandal with the swim team, she was the only one who would listen to my story without calling me derogatory names. She's been a silent comfort to me ever since.
James swings open the door. "Peyton?"
"Leave me alone."
"Are you crying over Charlotte?"
"Maybe."
"See, this is another reason why you should go to therapy," James says, his voice coming vaguely closer. He pats my head. "You're obsessed with a teddy bear."
"Charlotte loves me more than you love me."
"Charlotte's dead."
"You will be too if you don't shut up."
My brother rolls his eyes, in a similar fashion I would imagine myself doing. "That's it. I'm calling for backup."
He leaves the room. I press my face into the pillow. The sound of crutches on the wooden floor lets me know exactly what James's idea of backup is. Bettie and Sebastian follow him so I move my legs to make space for the others. Sebastian sits down besides me while Bettie and Archer sit on the opposite side.
"Let me see the corpse."
I show him the mangled body of Charlotte.
"Hmm," He says. "Nothing a few stitches can fix."
"You know how to sew?"
He nods. "It's relaxing."
"Nice," I say and hand Charlotte, with her broken arm, forwards. "Be extra careful."
James enters the room again, this time followed by a couple of children. One of them is Stephanie. One of them is the boy who ripped Charlotte. They rub the soles of their shoes on the ground.
"Well?" James asks. "What do you say?"
"Sorry for breaking the bear, Ms. Peyton." The children chorus.
Usually, I'd tell them to shove their apology up their ass, but today's different. "That's okay. You were guys were just playing."
"Yeah," Their faces light up. "That was really fun! Will you play with us again Ms. Peyton?"
"Right now?"
They nod eagerly.
I think about my options.
What Should Peyton do?:
1) Wait for Charlotte to get Fixed - Too awkward. I can't look Archer properly in the eye now that Bettie splurged my whole life's story on him.
2)Â Find Mom and Apologize to Grandmother - Pft. Yeah right.
3) Hide in the Treehouse - Tempting, but I have no idea how I would get away with that.
4) Play with the Kids - This can be a great excuse to shove their faces into the ground without looking a psychopath.
"Sounds like fun," I say. "Let's go."
- () -
Hmm, looks Peyton's might be getting a little crush on a certain somebody. >:)
"...."
(0.0)
/)....)
""
THERE ARE SO MANY OF YOU GUYS THIS TIME. I LOVE IT. I WANT TO DEDICATE THIS CHAPTER (and my heart) TO 8aprilxx, aphiweuthando, MPearl7, kirambers, pinky111991, abstrlukex, presleyshade, jessiiiica_02, aquabluefish, ashley2404, daisyjane2001, AngelaTrinh6, janaeme, tori_c02 and  ThatTinyKid!
Seriously, don't underestimate the importance you guys have to me.
Thanks for reading!
QotC:Â I'm curious. What made you decide to read this book?