Day: 16

"Can I talk to you?"

I turn around, leaving Johnny standing on the beach, as I push my wheelbarrow up into the forest.

"No." I tell him.

He doesn't seem to care that I said he no. He runs up along beside me, keeping pace with me as I stalk back to the forest. I wish the walk wasn't twenty minutes long, and I wish I didn't have the wheelbarrow so I could run away from him.

"Look, you can't still be mad at me." He says.

"I believe I can." I say. "There's no laws against it. There aren't any laws her at all."

"Don't be a smartass." He mutters.

I don't reply. The silence is more comforting then his voice could ever be.

"Why are you so angry?" He demands.

"You hit me." I state.

"You then proceeded to beat me up." He says. "I have another black eye because of you. I think it's pretty fair."

"I didn't hit your face." I say stopping to look at him.

The black around the eye Alex hit is finally beginning to fade away. A soft shade of purple remains, and it'll probably be gone with the day. It feels like we only got here yesterday, when it has already been a full two weeks. Two weeks is long enough for it to heal, but not completely.

If a bruise can't even heal after two weeks, why should he expect me to forgive him after a few days? Especially when skin and bones is simple science, and I am a person. People have feelings, memories, and emotions. The only think skin carries as a burden is scar tissue.

"Let's not play semantics here," he sighs. "I came to apologise."

"You slapped me," I say. "Doesn't matter that you're sorry."

"And you beat me up," he says. "Way more violent than I was."

"I was defending myself."

He laughs. "From me? Honestly Charlie do you think I would hurt you like that? I was just trying to help you be reasonable."

"You hit me." I say. "I can barely call that reasoning."

"You don't learn!" He argues.

I nearly wince, remembering Alex's words. You seem to use physical strength before your brain. Maybe Johnny is right. Maybe I did overreact.

But then again, maybe I didn't.

It's more than him hitting me. It's him not trusting me, calling me selfish, plotting and keeping secrets. It's about who he has become since he came here. Who have I become?

"Alright look I'm sorry," I tell him. I'll tell him whatever he needs to here, no matter how much I stand by my decision. Especially if it means getting him off my case. "Look maybe I did get carried away."

"We both did." He agrees. "That doesn't mean we should stop talking because of it. We are in this together, you and me."

I nod. "Yeah we are." Are we?

"Here, I'll push this back for you." He offers, grabbing a hold of the wheelbarrow. "You should go find Harry, keep training."

"How do you know about that?" I ask, beginning to head back towards camp with him.

"Nothing stays secret on this island for long." He says. "Besides, I hear that something big is coming in a week. A game of some sort."

"Don't you guys play games all the time?" I ask.

"Well yeah. You and Devin don't see much of it I guess, but every day we spend training and messing around. Lots of hunting, lots of fighting, lots of challenges, it's pretty great actually." He admits. "But that's not the point. The boys keep talking about something serious coming. Some sort of major game. Like one where people could actually die."

"Actually?" I ask.

"Well, the place's is beginning to get overpopulated. There are just over thirty people here, and morale has been low since Nick's funeral." He pauses, looking at me. "You weren't at his funeral."

I shrug. "I never even met him."

"Didn't you and Robert find his body?" He asks.

I nod. That's as close to anything that I have to say about that to him. I don't want him to know about me carrying a dead body around, and how it felt in my hands. The whole experience was numbing, and Johnny has lost the privilege to learn about it.

We finish the walk back to our camp in silence.

I step into the clearing and see Harry and Alex sitting at the table together chatting. I decide to sit down, screw Alex telling me to stay away from him and Harry. Who does he think he is, Pan? I don't take well to orders, especially not those founded on anger, jealousy, hatred, and any other principle Alex stands behind.

"Hey where've you been?" Harry asks as I sit down next to him.

"You know the drill with clothing duty." I laugh, peeking at Alex out of the corner of my eye. He's frowning, which is not unusual. Perfect. "What have you been up to?"

"I would say you know the drill, but you probably don't," he chuckles. "Just the usual, which is essentially just waiting around like a plunter until something exciting happens."

"Oh, so you never sit down then?" I chuckle, staring straight into Alex's eyes.

He cocks an eyebrow at me, pretending to be completely unaffected. Keyword: pretending.

"Charlie?" Harry pokes my shoulder.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?" I don't break my eye contact with Alex.

"I said you'd be surprised at how often we sit down." He chuckles. "Things aren't as exciting without you around."

At this Alex stands up from where he sits. "Harry, come on."

"Come on?" Harry asks.

"Harry, let's go." Alex continues.

"Where are we going?" I smirk.

Alex doesn't break eye contact with me, instead reaches across the table towards Harry's arm. "Harry I'm serious. I'll explain later."

"Al, what are you going off about?" Harry stands up.

"Yeah Al," I mock concern. "What's wrong?"

"Just come." Alex finally turns away from me.

"No Alex. Just tell me." He crosses his arms. Harry isn't budging.

Success.

"Harry please." Alex begs.

Immediately Harry jumps over the table. That was unexpected. I follow.

"Come on Harry," Alex grabs hold of his arm, essentially dragging the boy off.

I continue on behind them, until Harry stops me.

"Charlie, can we be alone for a few minutes?" Harry asks. "I'll come talk to you later."

This is not a part of the plan. Not a part of the plan at all.

"Seriously Harry?" I ask. "This is stupid."

"Trust me," he says. "Just let me take care of this."

I nod. I refuse to make eye contact with Alex but I can guarantee he is smirking. If there is one thing about Alex I can be certain, it's his reaction to a victory. Specifically a victory against me. I'm beginning to hate the kid more than Felix.

The two walk off together, leaving me standing alone.

"Arrogant," I say as I shoot an arrow into the air. It hits a leaf high up in the tree.

"Selfish," I shout, shooting another. This one is closer to the trunk, a branch.

My aim is getting better with each passing day here. My temper is a completely different story.

"Robotic," I spit, sending another arrow flying into the tree.

It hits the same branch.

"Ridiculous," I mutter. This arrow goes sailing just to the left of the trunk. A near miss.

"Crazy," I gripe. This arrow hits the trunk.

"Self-obssesed," it hits the trunk again, but lower.

"Bastard," I reach for another arrow but find no more in the quiver.

I detach the quiver from my waist throwing it to the ground, along with the bow. Quickly, I move to the tree and beginning to pull out the arrows. The only one that is too high is the first arrow I shot. I leap into the air, trying to reach it. Only to fall down. I try again and again and suddenly there is a hand on my shoulder.

I turn around and grip the fingers tightly, but let go once I recognise Harry's face.

He winces, rubbing his fingers. "You're not as weak as you used to be a few days ago, you know?"

"What do you want?" I demand.

"You're not mad at me." He tells me, in his normal kidding voice. "I didn't do anything."

"You ran off with Alex," I tell him. I can play innocent.

"You got a problem with that?" He laughs. "I have friends outside of you?"

"Yeah, many," I mutter.

"What's gotten into you?" He asks. "Are you really that upset that I asked to talk to Alex in private?"

"He hates me." I tell him.

"So?" Harry argues. "I still have a right to privacy."

"Not with the enemy." I spit.

He rolls his eyes. "Really is that how this is going to go? What did I do to deserve this crap from you both? You're both mad."

"I am not crazy!" I shout. "He is rude and an asshole."

"The pot calling the kettle black." He chuckles in a sing-song voice.

"Why did you even come here?" I groan, sitting down.

He throws down a knife on to the ground. No, not a knife, a dagger.

"I promised you I'd start training you." He smiles.

I roll my eyes, but smile all the same. "Yeah, a week ago. It's been a while."

He picks up the dagger and waves it around in his hands. "Sure, but I figured you needed to make up with Johnny first. I'm not about to train someone who is bitter."

"Yet you spend all your time with Alex." I grin, taking the dagger out of my pocket.

His smile grows as he charges me, blade in hand sticking out towards me. I dodge him to the left but he quickly pivots on his feet, swiping me out at the legs, until I'm on the ground and he's kneeling over top of me, blade at my neck.

"I could've use some warning." I tell him.

He laughs. "Will your future opponent give you any?"

~~~~~~
Short and sweet, but if you combine this chapter with the last it's about full length. And since I published them only a few hours apart, I think it's fair.

Charlie is so rude, and I hate to love it and love to hate it. There's no right or wrong here, everyone is equally bad. Except for Harry. He's a cinnamon bun.

Who do you think is the closest to evil, and who do you think is the closest to good? Let me know who you think and why, I love when you take time out of your day to enjoy my work. What fun is writing without anyone to share it?

I'll see you Monday, and until then, be happy.