Was It Just A Dream

Chapter 11

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Lincoln shook his head, throwing a stick he found ahead of us, through the trees. "We have to get out of this forest. You would think we would have found something by now. Maybe an animal? A mystical creature? A mere piece of fruit? Nope. Nada. Nein."

No one replied. We had already complained about this fact so much that at this point, it was getting trivial. It had been a day since we'd seen Deavk the Lost, and at this point, I was beginning to think he really was lost. Or he forgot about us, and he didn't really want to help us get home.

He could of at least given us a piece of toast, you know?

We were hungry. This hunger was mostly just making me tired, but it was making everyone else moody.

"Watch it, Banana Boy. Can't you walk any faster?" Cali grumbled, who was in the back of the group as we hiked.

"Shut up, Creeps. You're getting on my nerves." Jimmy's usually joking tone was gone, replaced with a voice filled with resentment. The hunger was getting to him the worst, and it was slightly shocking.

"Stop calling me that. You know nothing about me. You have no right to call me that." Cali's teeth were clenched, and Lincoln and I stopped walking, to turn around and look at the two. I was surprised. Cali was usually the passive angry type, but now she was going right for Jimmy.

"Yeah, Ms. Creeps? Queen Dropout? I know a lot about you. You don't talk in school at all. You basically wear rags to school. Everyone knows you're going to drop out before the year is over, and you'll probably end up begging under a bridge somewhere." Jimmy spat. I gaped at him, not believing the words that came out of his mouth. Jimmy was the lighthearted boy, the one everyone liked because he was funny and cool to be around. What did he have against Cali to say such a horrible thing to her?

Cali looked down at the ground for a second, shaking with rage. When she looked up, her eyes were red, and tears rolled down her pale cheeks. When she began to talk, her voice was soft, almost a whisper. "You know nothing. Nothing about me. When I was eleven before I moved to your stupid school? My mom died. She was the moneymaker in our family, and before I knew it, my dad had blown through all of our money and we had to move in with my grandma. We have next to no money, maybe that's why my clothes aren't the best looking in the grade. And my grades? I have all A's. I gave up on making friends or trying to talk to people. I just focus on getting perfect grades so maybe when I'm older, I'll be able to support my grief-stricken dad. Maybe I'll even make it to college if I work hard enough. But you chose to judge me, to assume things. You're evil."

Cali's words filled the air, and the silent forest felt deafening. Tears continued to roll down her cheeks, and she pushed past us, running deeper into the forest.

I looked to Jimmy, who seemed to be frozen in time. A shocked look was on his face, and he just stood there, staring at where Cali had been. And then he put his head in his hands, slowly walking away from us, in the opposite direction that Cali had gone in. I almost thought I heard him crying, but I couldn't be sure.

Lincoln slowly sat down on the dirt floor of the forest, and I sat next to him. We both didn't know what to say.

"It must be really terrible." His voice was gruff, and he was staring into the forest.

"What's she's gone through? Yeah."

"Well yes, that. But also keeping it inside like she did. She hasn't told anyone at school. The news would have spread like wildfire. But she didn't want anyone to feel bad for her, that's the thing."

I sighed, laying down against the cold, hard ground. "She didn't want anyone's pity. She wanted to be the hero of her own story."

I jumped up when I saw Jimmy walking towards us. He had obviously been crying, and neither of us said a thing to him. We just moved out of his way, as he walked in Cali's direction.

Lincoln and I sat there, waiting. And yes, we were also guilty of listening. Our ears were perked, listening for any yelling just in case we had to intervene. But when we did hear Jimmy's voice, it was surprisingly soft. I didn't want to listen, but I also couldn't stop myself.

"-feel terrible. I know this is really stupid, and I don't expect you to forgive me or anything. I shouldn't feel bad about what I said to you just because you told me what you're going through. I should have never said any of that to you in the first place. I've been cruel to you." His voice was shaky, and I knew he meant what he said.

"Then why did you say it? Why do you hate me so much?" Cali's voice was barely a whisper, so quiet that I had to strain my ears to hear it. Which I felt guilty for, but my curiosity far outweighed my guiltiness.

"I-I'm not totally sure. Maybe because I had always been the odd kid, the skinny boy who never shut up in class. And then you moved here, and you were easy to pick on. That's probably why everyone always picked on you... And now, even though were older, I guess I never really fully understood that what I was doing was bad. But I swear, I'll try and do better. I'll-I'll never call you those names again." Jimmy's voice was determined as if he wanted Cali to believe with her whole heart what he was saying.

Then there was a moment of silence, and I looked at Lincoln, who was obviously listening too.

"We don't have to be friends. We don't even have to talk. But I promise from now on that we're teammates. We'll work together to get home. I promise, on my heart, that I will get you back to your father." Silence, again.

Then I could hear footsteps, and Jimmy was standing above Lincoln and I. "Well, I guess I don't have to explain what happened, cause it seems I got two sneaky kids right here. Mira, I expected this of you, but wow, Lincoln, I thought you were better than this." I cracked a weak smile. It seemed Jimmy was going for the approach of "pretending it never happened".

But then Cali walked into view, her eyes still a bit red. Jimmy looked back at her, nodding his head. And she did the strangest thing.

Cali gave him the tiniest, softest little smile.