Big Trouble in Bear Creek

HELEN

“Hello, ~bitch~,” Brittany said to me as I walked into art class, dragging my stupid painting.

This was really not how I wanted to start my day.

“Suck it, skank,” I hissed right back at her, then beelined for an easel on the opposite side of the room, trying to put as much distance as possible between us.

I’d already had a rude awakening earlier when I’d gone to the studio to retrieve my painting.

The paint had dried overnight, but honestly, the picture looked like shit.

The landscape was blue on top and green on the bottom, and all the honey boxes just looked like someone had scattered Chiclets in a field.

To inject a little more nature to the scene, I had quickly painted in a bumblebee, hovering right in the center.

My finishing touch was still drying as I walked into class.

But the bumblebee was so large, it basically looked cartoonish.

And bumblebees didn’t even make honey. I hoped no one would mention that in class.

Adding to my bad mood this morning was the fact that I hadn’t gotten laid in weeks.

~Unless I count what happened with Sam…~

~YUCK!~

Plus finding out that Chris and Brittany were ~together~.

~Is Chris secretly a jerk? Was he leading me on the whole night?~

Or maybe nothing really ~had~ changed.

Maybe Chris was still just a nice guy.

Maybe seeing that I was a bit down, he was just trying to be a good friend by asking me out to the movies.

~Forget it, Helen. Just get it outta your head and move on with what’s in front of you.~

Now there I was in class, horny and tired after a bad night’s sleep, trying to dodge the daggers Brittany’s eyes were shooting across the room.

I was just gonna have to grin and bear it for now.

Then I’d run straight home while Emma was in class for some one-on-one time with my Vibra-Tron.

These were all the thoughts going through my head as Professor Hammond went around the room giving critiques. I honestly hadn’t even heard a word he’d said to the other students.

I only came out of my daze after hearing my name a few times.

“Helen. Helen. Hello?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry Professor Hammond.”

“Please bring your painting to the front of the room,” he said.

I brought it to the easel standing at the front of the class dutifully, then faced the rest of the students.

As I stepped to the side, I heard giggles coming from around the room.

I mean, I knew this painting wasn’t very good. I wasn’t proud of it or anything. But I didn’t think it deserved to be laughed at.

“Now Helen, please tell us what you were going for with this?” Professor Hammond asked me.

“Umm, I was shooting for”—I searched my mind for random art terms we’d learned this semester—“um, abstract…surrealism.”

For a moment, I felt pretty proud of myself for pulling out such golden BS.

But Professor Hammond wasn’t buying it.

“Abstract surrealism?” he asked. Then, turning to the class, he asked, “What elements of abstract surrealism do we see here?”

“Uhh, how about ~none~?” I heard Brittany’s shrill voice call out. And the rest of the class laughed.

Mr. Hammond raised his hands, calming them all down. “Let’s try harder. We need to help Helen achieve her vision.”

“Well, I guess the bumblebee is surreal,” Sean said.

“Now why’s that?” Professor Hammond asked.

“Because I don’t think bumblebees are usually the size of eagles,” Sean answered. And this time, the laughter was even louder.

I just kept looking at the floor with tears pooling in my eyes. I was so embarrassed.

“Now what are these color spots over here, Helen?” Professor Hammond asked me.

“Those are bee boxes,” I stammered. “Like, where they make the honey.”

“I see,” he said. Then, turning back to the class, “I think what Helen was trying to capture was the surrealistic aspect of man trying to ~tame~ nature. Isn’t that right, Helen?”

“Yes, Professor Hammond,” I said, barely able to hold my emotions together.

“It’s okay, Helen. One lesson I want you to take away from this class is that it’s alright to fail in art.”

“You mean I failed in this project?” I asked.

“Yes, Helen,” he said. “But I’ll give you the chance to re-do it.”

“Maybe Helen should try painting some more naked dudes,” Brittany yelled out. “She’s like the Leonardo da Vinci of boner paintings.”

The class exploded into laughter and, head down, I skulked back to my seat.

“That’s totally uncalled-for, Brittany,” Professor Hammond yelled at her. And then to me, “Helen, please excuse the class.”

Professor Hammond moved onto the other students, and my mind drifted off to the past. I was feeling humiliated and defeated.

I just couldn’t understand why that herpes-ridden bitch had to do this. Ever since high school, she’s gone out of her way to make my life hell.

See, Britt and I had lost our dads at the same time.

After that, she’d turned on me, and I still don’t really know why. I mean, we’d suffered the same loss, hadn’t we?

I’d told Sam how the guy who’d run my dad off the road had never been found.

Brittney’s dad had disappeared around the same time. Had just up and vanished. His car had never left the driveway. He hadn’t taken any of his clothes. Just his wallet, a passport, and his briefcase.

I only found this out from my mom years later.

Anyway, right after we’d both lost our dads, Brittany had started being really mean to me, starting rumors in school about what a slut I was.

I mean, I knew Britt’s dad had ditched the family.

And I knew all about how Mrs. Childress had turned into a lush. She was kind of famous in our neighborhood for showing up shitfaced at the ShopRite during the middle of the day and accidentally knocking down display stands with her cart.

But what I didn’t understand was why Brittany seemed to blame me. What did I have to do with her dad leaving?

Either way, Brittany never got over it.

We had been best friends at the time, and then, overnight, her overwhelming purpose in life became to make me miserable.

Maybe it was because she didn’t have anyone left, really, and I was just the closest punching bag she had available.

My Mom told me not to be so hard on her. And to consider myself lucky.

~Lucky?! How?~

Then Mom laid it all out for me.

“Brittany has it much worse than you.”

“She lost both her parents and you still have your mom.”

Which was true.

As far as I knew it, Brittany ~still~ had no one to share her troubles with. Which is maybe why she was so eager to spread her legs for an evening’s worth of comfort.

***

Walking back to my dorm, I was not psyched to see Chris walking toward me.

~Oh God, why now?~

After last night’s disappointment and this latest Brittany embarrassment, I just didn’t have the strength to look all cute in front of Chris.

“Hey, Helen. I was just heading to the library,” he said, then seeing my face, asked, “Have you been crying?

“Yeah, Brittany embarrassed me in front of the class,” I told him. “I just couldn’t take it.”

“I really don’t understand why she has it out for you,” Chris said.

~Maybe it’s cuz she thinks I’m trying to fuck her boyfriend?~

“Neither do I,” I said. “I’ve actually known Britt for such a long time that I’m used to it, and I don’t know why she got under my skin today.”

“Maybe you’ve been under a lot of stress or something?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, Bear Creek was ~kinda~ stressful.”

“Oh yeah?” Chris asked, his ears perking up. “Why?”

Catching myself, I said, “Oh, just wedding stuff, I guess. You know how families are.”

“It’s kinda strange your mom wanted to have the wedding up there.”

“Strange? Why?”

“Cuz it’s in the middle of nowhere. Wasn’t it a pain in the ass for your guests to get there?”

“There weren’t really any guests,” I told him.

“Oh, but did you have trouble finding the way?”

“A little bit, but my mom met me at the interstate turnoff,” I told him.

“Oh yeah? Which turnoff?” Chris asked.

I was about to answer when I looked up to see a guy in an XXL flannel shirt barreling toward us…fast.

~Sam!~

~What the fuck is he doing here?~

While I was shocked to see him, I wasn’t afraid. Not one bit.

In fact, he kind of felt like the exact person I needed to see.

Sam stopped right in front of me and Chris.

“Helen, I gotta talk to you. We’ve got a problem.”

“What are you doing down here?”

“I knew where you went to school. I didn’t imagine it’d be this big,” he said. “I’ve been walking around campus all day looking for you.”

“Who’s this?” Chris asked coolly.

As he spoke, a strange expression came over Sam.

Like he smelled danger.

~Does Sam think Chris is my boyfriend?~

“Sam, this is my ~friend~ Chris,” I said, trying to ease the tension. “Chris, this is my stepbrother Sam.”

“Nice to meet you,” Chris said, but didn’t hold out his hand.

Sam nodded curtly. Then, taking me by the shoulder, he started to lead me away.

“Hold on a minute,” I protested. “You can’t just drag me around whenever you want.”

But my protests faded, because Sam’s hand on my shoulder sent an unexpected shock through my body—as if it was communicating a danger he couldn’t speak out loud.

“Helen, we have to go. Our parents are in big trouble. We have to go back to Bear Creek.”

~~Big trouble at Bear Creek?~~

~~Did our parents fall off a cliff or something?~~

~~What could happen to make Sam look so scared?~~