Page 95 of Distortion
‘Heard you killed a kid,’ the one at the front blurts out.
Bet he was the one who pushed me after I got up the first time. My chest hurts from it.
‘That’s what they say,’ I murmur noncommittally.
I hear chatter from over my shoulder. Someone’s coming. I incrementally let out the breath I was holding so they don’t know I was scared.
‘Well,’ I say with false brightness, ‘see you around!’
I turn on my heel and walk toward the noises of other people. My knees sting and I try not to give them the satisfaction of seeing me limping, keeping my gait smooth despite the pain and the fact that my legs feel like Jell-o.
When I get into Grinder, Lu greets me with a smile that quickly leaves her face.
‘What happened?’ she demands.
‘Just fell,’ I say, not wanting her to worry.
She makes a sympathetic noise. ‘Come to the back, let’s get you cleaned up. You can’t be noticeably injured before the first battle of the year even starts!’
I chuckle in spite of how I’m feeling, the anxiety twisting through me. What would those guys have done to me if no one had walked by?
My shift is normal, and I’m thankful there’s no more drama. Lu even puts on some classical music, which she knows puts me at ease, and by the time we’re ready to close up, I’m feeling much more like myself.
I thought I was looking forward to the battle, but she is absolutelybuzzingwith excitement as we get ready. She makes sure my outfit follows all the Dagorhir rules, dressing me in the clothes she brought: a pair of brown leggings with my black boots and a long, medieval-style tunic with hood that I refuse to let her put up. Then, she thrusts a foam sword in my hands and surveys me like a piece of art.
‘Fuck yeah,’ she mutters, putting on her helmet, making sure her tall boots are tied tightly, and grabbing her axe. ‘Ready for some fun?’
Shade
I’m walkingthrough campus when I hear it, the sounds of yelling coming from the playing fields by the woods. I already know it’s that group of students who dress up and carry around foam swords and shit. I can never remember the name, but I’ve seen them around campus battling with each other.
I stop for a minute with the rest of the student body who are watching the scene, just because I have a little time to kill. There are about fifteen people fighting in the grass, and threeor four ‘bodies’ lying on the ground. I’m about to leave when my eyes catch on a girl with brown hair who looks familiar. She swings a sword, slicing someone’s stomach, and they go down with a dramatic death cry, falling flat on the ground. Another girl swings an axe at her, hitting her arm.
She stops the sword and puts her hand behind her back, laughing loudly as she takes the axe in the stomach and clutches herself. She falls into the grass, and I realize I’m smiling.
When there’s only one member standing, the battle ends and I’m just about to leave when the girl I was watching stands up and turns toward me, a huge smile on her face and I freeze.
Daisy?
Another girl gives her a hug and I watch as she tenses for a second and then returns it. My mouth falls open.
I’ve never seen her like this, I realize. She’s so ... carefree.Happy. She giggles when her friend says something, and I just stand there as they trudge past me, trying to match this Daisy up with the one I know.
Daisy’s too busy talking animatedly to her friend to notice me, but I see the girl she’s with do a double take when she sees me, and her eyes narrow.
‘Oh, shit! I lost my keys,’ she exclaims.
‘Do you want me to help you find them?’ Daisy asks.
‘No, you go with the others to the coffee shop. I think I know where I dropped them. I’ll just go grab them, and I’ll be there in a minute.’
Daisy keeps walking and I tilt my head at the friend, who stays where she is until Daisy’s out of sight before she turns to me.
‘Shade, right?’
‘Yeah,’ I say, putting my hands in my pockets and stonily staring down at her in her weird costume.
But she doesn’t seem intimidated by me at all. She points at me with her double-sided foam axe, which looks remarkably realistic now that I can see it close-up.
