all down hill (chapter five)

Dinner is anything but quiet in the Day (dash Cartman) household. Either the TV would be blaring some Terrance and Phillip rerun, or Cartman conveniently 'forgot' to turn off the radio in his room, and we’d all enjoy a pot roast to the sounds of death metal.

Today, it’s both.

I haven’t gotten a single bite of my meal when the loud pulsing base shakes the house, knocking the mashed potatoes off my fork.

“Dixie Belle?” My dad’s voice sounds far and distant, like he was two rooms over when he's only across from me. “Don’t ya want the TV off or somethin’?” he asks, leaning forward.
Cartman scraps his fork across his plate, and it’s sickening to hear that sound over everything else. Obviously a warning.

“Mmm.” I start, mixing the mashed potatoes with the grease of the pork chops. “Nah, it’s alright.” I lie, giving my best smile. All at once the death metal cuts off mid-roar and only the sounds of the TV are left. Compared to the noise before, it sounds much more bearable. Cartman lowers his hand, setting the radio remote on the table.

It takes everything in me not to stab the steak knife by the pork chops into it.

“Luckeh.” He says softly, and I almost want to hurl. “You’re not looking too well. Why don’t yah gimme your food and go rest?”

Dad and Liane share a look, before Liane reaches over the table and presses her hand to my head. Even Vergil stops eating in mid-bite, going as far as to pulling back one of his headphones from his ear.

Again, this asshole is taking my dinner, again.

"Oh, honey. This is getting worrisome.  Should we take you to a doctor?" Liane asks, moving her hand from my head to my cheek. I know I'm feeling warm, but it's the farthest thing from a fever. It's more along the lines of anger and humiliation, but she didn't need to know that.

See, it’s not just the fact that Cartman has something over me, or will spill anything to Clyde. It’s the fact how he’ll twist every single word to his convince and most likely someone will end up in the hospital, or worse. That’s why, for the past week he’s been taking any and every sort of advantage, and getting his exact way. From homework, to chores, to taking every single one of my meals from home, even taking his nasty pranks without a chance to help myself.

“No. I’m fine.” I answer, pushing my plate over, my smile turning stiff. “Enjoy, Eric.” I say, keeping my words short. Vergil's eyes nearly narrow into slits and his head turns towards Cartman.
I don't even bother looking towards Dad or Liane as I leave.

"Get pleanty of rest!" Cartman calls after me.

I barely reach the top of the stairs when the music picks back up again.

*

"Swampy." Vergil's voice grumbles, it's muffled behind my door, that's been stuffed with towels at the bottom. "Open up."

It's a very rare thing that Vergil ever comes to my door, willingly that is. Usually it's just to tell me dinner is done, or we're leaving for school or whatever 'family fun' we could have and usually that's just a few hard slams to my door.
When I manage to kick away the towels and open the door slowly, a packet of lunchables is shoved to my face.

"S'first thing I grabbed." He mumbles, shaking it slightly. "Aw...aw, don't ya cry. Don't- ugh."
He shoves the lunchables into my chest, and ignores my sniffling. I hold the small package close to myself, feeling the small drops of tears slipping down my face. "Thanks, Verg. I know this breaks every single code of yours about treatin' your only sister like garbage."

Vergil shoots me a look. "He broke it first." he retorts, nudging his head towards Cartman's room. "Only I get to do that shit. So don't let him do that to ya. Set a spell on him, making him a fat toad."

"I ain't really a witch from the swamps, ya know that right? It was a Halloween costume from like ten years ago."

"It's was your natural form." Vergil argues. "But really, don't let that fatass do this to ya." and shakes his head. "Cause, it's my damn job." he adds quickly.

I give him a small smile and smack the beanie off of his head. "Get out of here, scarecrow."

Vergil swears with a few words I never even heard before, no doubt something he's picked up from Bugs and heads to his room. Maybe it's just me being hungry, but I think I saw something like a grin on his face too.

*

I didn't know a single soul who could keep up in group texts till Bebe Stevenson was added in. I also didn't know someone who could text in a blink of an eye. If this was the old west, we'd all be dead and Bebe would be the last one standing.

With her, everything was set for tomorrow. From dinner at Shakey's, to a round of putt putt golf, and even a late night movie to catch. Yeah, we'd all be dead.

My phone buzzes for the tenth time, tickling against my side. I slap against my pocket a few times as Isaac gives me a look from over the microscope.

"Sorry. Um." I clear my throat, rolling a pencil between my fingers. "What's there again?" I ask, quieting my voice with each word.

"Rachel." Isaac sighs.

Cherry glances up from her own work, her head tilting slightly, a few springing curls slipping down from her shoulders. They're smooth and almost look like silk. Sometimes I wish I could run my fingers through them, and sometimes I wish my own curls weren't so wild and would set as easily as Cherry's seem to.

"Glomeromycota." Cherry answers, with a glance to her notes. Isaac turns from her and looks back to me, as if he just presented the answer to the universe.

"Glomeromycota." He repeats. "Same as last year."

"I didn't take biology last year."

Isaac ignores me and begins to poke through the sample glasses. "All of this is the exact same as last year's." He says, mainly towards Cherry. Cherry carefully picks up one sample and nods.

"I see. But perhaps it's the school's, well, lack of funding towards the science department."
My phone buzzes again. A six pulse beat. Lucy's personal one.

Isaac peers at me through the glass samples. "Are we interrupting on something, Lucky?"

"Oh, no. No. Go head. Old samples." I nod. He holds out one to me and I pinch the corner of it between my pointer and thumb. "Um..."

He slides the microscope over to me. "Have a look, since this is your first time. When you take biology again next year, you'll see these same ones no doubt."

My mouth is starting to hurt with all these fake smiles I've been doing lately. I set the sample under the scope and slowly hover my eye over the eyepiece.

Every single hair on me stands on end and my skin prickles.

"Microsporidia" Isaac begins to explain but I barely hear him. Again, my phone begins to buzz. Vivi's three beat pulse.

I couldn't look away from the swarm of...microsporidia, they way they floated and moved about. My stomach churned and I could feel a wave of dizziness coming over me.

Once more, my phone buzzed. Jamie's for beat pulse. This is ridiculous. Isaac is still going on, and Cherry's brows furrow as she watches the way my body begins to sway. Taking out my phone I glance over each text.

BTW, Clyde ttl askd Millie out

"...spore forming unicellular parasites." Isaac voice slams in. Cherry stands up, and her hand barely makes it to my back.

"Lucky?"

"...stars." I squeak. That's the last thing I can really remember before my body toppled over to the side.

*

For someone's friend who passed out in the middle of class yesterday, Lucy sure had a wide shit eating grin today.

"I knew it." She repeated. "I totally, totally knew it. Vi-Monster, why didn't you tell me? Oh wait, cause I KNEW IT."

Vivi sighs, adjusting the hat on my head to hide the bandages that were wrapped around the side.
"Lucy, pay attention to the road, oui?"

"Oh shit." Lucy swerves slightly, avoiding a mailbox. "But I knew it. Jams, did you know Lucky has the hots for Clyde?"

Jamie passes a few more bobby-pins to Vivi, humming. "Oh I had like a hunch. I mean not be to, like, blunt Lucky. But you're a bit obvious."

"I should've gotten a ride with Heidi." I groan, running my hand down my face. Vivi finally finishes fixing up the hat, a newsboy cap, successfully hiding the bandages away.

" 'ush, they are only teasing." She smiles, patting my leg. "But are you sure you still wanna go? I mean...they'll be there."

I nod, leaning back in the seat, sighing. "I'm sure, why skip out on tonight just cause of them?"

*

I should have skipped out on tonight.

My head still ached and the bandages itched, the hat really didn't help that much. It was snug with all the bobby-pins, and I could feel sweat slipping down the back of my neck. On a night like this in the middle of November, it made it that terrible stinging cold sweat.

It was just the little things though tonight, like the food at Shakey's being cold and the golf course running out of equipment by the time it got to the last few of us and having to go through the holes using children clubs. Or Millie pretending she could swing to save her soul, again. Clyde has his arms around her, helping to guide her. He couldn't swing to save his soul either.

"Gag me." I grumble, just a bit too loud.

"Uh, sorry?"

My eyes widen, looking over to see Kevin Stoley behind me. "Nothing." I reply, shaking my head. "Just. Nothing."

He smiles, and I find myself staring at him a bit longer, especially at his lips. "You got stuck with a kid's club too, huh?" He asks, pointing to the small piece of plastic metal in my hand with his own.

"Yeah." I sigh, holding it up. "Not a single hole in one with this thing." I smile back finally.
Kevin shrugs. "Maybe it's all in your grip."

"I'll keep that in mind." I say, looking over when Millie cheers loudly and begins to bounce. Her ball rolling into the hole. She practically floats off to go to the next hole and I step up.

Clyde hasn't moved from his spot, watching Millie before he turns to look at me. All of me just wants to freeze up and spill out the truth, everything to him.

"Sorry." He says, his voice clip. "Am I in your way?"

All of me just wants to break my golf club over his head. "What a keen observation!" I applaud.
He snorts, his hands shoving into his pocket. "Bet you couldn't make that hole even if it was inches from you and you had all the space in the world."

"Are ya challenging me?" I snap, nearly slamming the bright golf ball down. "Cause I sure as hell don't need someone- anyone! - to help me get a damn hole in one! Unlike-" I swing my club back, and that was it.

Kevin groans, his body dropping to the ground. The golf club bouncing limply next to him.

Oh...

*

“I couldn’t get an ice pack.” I explain quickly, cringing at the way the bump on Kevin’s head began to swell. “So…I got a flavorless icee. Um.” The words kinda jumble up in my throat when he looks up and gives me that small smile like before.

There I go, staring again.

“It'a better than nothing, right?” He asks, taking the cone from my hand. I almost jump but nod.I sit down by him on the bench, watching as he hovered the icee over the bump on his head.

"Listen, Kevin...I'm sorry. I was, kinda distracted, I didn't mean to do that." I sigh.
Kevin shakes his head slightly. "You've got a mean swing, like I said you gotta work on that grip." He says in a hiss, finally bringing the icee to his head. I reach over and gently take the cone from him, holding it there.

"Lemme get that for ya." I offer. He glances to me from the corner of his eyes before turning his head more to face me better.

The bench we sat on was just outside the course, away from the noise and bright lights. Away from everyone. I didn't even notice how my fingers began to shake from the cold of the icee till Kevin's hand wraps around mine and gently lowers both of our hands.

"Lucky, thank you." He says and his voice seems soft, but sounds so much closer.

"Mmhm, y-yeah." I whisper, and my own voice seems to stay between us both. I start to feel a bit warmer, and warmer. By the time our lips touch, I don't feel the cold at all.

...okay.