HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER TWELVE !

AFTER THE FREAKY EXPERIENCE that was the attic séance, everyone had fallen silent. No words were spoken as they all stumbled down to the cabin's living room, changed into their pyjamas and got settled in for the night. Their nerves were all on end as every little crack and creak from the space above them sent a chill up their spines.

            The sound of shuffling of bodies in blankets and the crackling of the wood within the blazing fire was all that could be heard as they all lay in the living room. Many eyes were trained upon the ceiling, watching as small collections of dust floated down through the air. They watched, waiting for if or when something else would happen.

            Akilah chose to speak up, her voice softened greatly though heard by all as it broke through the long, dragged on silence. "Do we think it's still up there?"

            Taissa snarled in frustration while using her hands to push herself up from her pillow and glared at all of the freaked out girls. "You all need to stop! There's nothing up there. Lottie's been acting weird for weeks." She snapped, having had enough of everyone and their belief that something 'supernatural' had happened.

            The Turner girls response caused Stevie, who lay on the other side of the room from Taissa, to scoff. She glanced over at the girl, annoyance riddled within her gaze and uttered, "What about Nola? She warned us all not to go up there. You know, she said something bad was going to happen and it did. Something bad did happen."

            Stevie's words caused the room to go silent again. For a moment Taissa wracked her brain to drum up an answer while the eyes of many in the room shifted over to look at Nola, who had been laying with her eyes squeezed shut, feigning sleep.

            Taissa sighed while throwing her hands up in the air, the girl now completely fed up with the lot of them. "She guessed. She was on edge, I don't fucking know. Let's not forget that Nola had been having serious hearing problems since before we even crashed."

            "Thanks, Tai." Nola muttered in response, warning herself a roll of the eyes from Taissa and alerting the group that she was in fact still awake.

            As Taissa looked around at the still freaked out expressions on the girls, she quickly said, "Fine." While throwing off her blanket and clutching it tightly, grabbing her pillow and rising to her feet. "I'll prove it."

            Akilah watched her as she moved about. "You're gonna sleep up there?"

            "That's right. Who's with me?" Taissa inquired, hoping for a few takers of her offer as she hoisted her gym bag filled with her belongings over her shoulders. She looked out at the group expectantly, only to receive avoidant eyes.

            Laura Lee burrowed her head low and tightened her grip upon her rosary beads, softly muttered out a prayer. "Our father..."

            "Fine. More room for me, then." Taissa said with a tight-lipped smile, one that clearly conveyed how pissed off she truly was. She trudged over towards the pantry before climbing up the ladder that led to the attic. After a few seconds, she was officially out of sight.

            Shauna had been watching as she went, her eyes following her every move until she disappeared. A short moment passed as the Shipman girl twiddled her thumbs before propping herself up on her arm and staring down at Jackie. "We should go up there with her."

            "In the attic?" Jackie exclaimed in a low whisper. Her eyes blew open, her eyeballs looking as though they would pop out of her head as she shook her head and continued, "No freaking way."

            "Well, she shouldn't be up there by herself. I mean, if it weren't for us—"

            As she lay on her back, Jackie folded her arms and stared up at the Shipman girl, her eyebrows raised high on her forehead. "Shauna, whatever happened tonight was not because of our dumb seance." Jackie uttered matter of factly. "If you want to sleep up there, fine. Be my guest. I'm staying down here."

            As the blonde finished speaking, she squeezed her eyes shut to prove her point of not going near the attic.

            Shauna let out a sigh. Her gaze shifted from the adamant Taylor girl to the brunette that lay next to them, all cozied up in her blanket and her face practically burrowed into the pillow. "Nola?" She hopefully muttered, her doe eyes practically staring into Nola's soul.

            Immediately Jackie's head flew over to look at her friend. The words, 'Don't go up there.' left her lips as her tone remained serious.

            Nola tutted in annoyance as she peeled her eyes open. She actually couldn't believe this. If they had all just listened to her in the first place, no one would be terrified to even step foot in the attic's direction.

            With a heavy sigh, she glanced up at her girlfriend and shook her head. "I'm not going up there again, Shauna. I warned you all not to go up there and you went anyway." She whispered back, her voice dripping with a tone that said 'I told you so.'

            Because she had told her so, she practically begged her to not go up there but did Shauna listen? No, instead she ignored her and her warning. The only person to listen to Nola, the only person to heed her warning and recognise the fear that swam through her eyes had been Stevie. The only person.

            "Whatever." Shauna replied with a roll of her eyes before following Taissa's lead, gathering her stuff and rising to her feet.

            Jackie and Nola both leaned up, placing all their weight upon their arms and looked on as Shauna too went up the ladder and vanished into the attic. Both girls internally sighed as they lay back down again, sharing a look before shutting their eyes.

             Try as she might, Nola Rilke just couldn't shut off her brain. Her mind ran rampant with questions, with guilt. The idea of the two girls up in that attic caused worry to flood her veins and anxiety to wash over her in the form of a cold sweat. She didn't like this one single bit.

            The Rilke girl quietly moved herself about as she collected her belongings, though not quietly enough to not rouse attention from Jackie. "You're not seriously going up there?" The blonde balked at her friend.

            She couldn't believe it. Both of her best friends were complete idiots because why on earth would they go up there again?

            Nola glanced at Jackie. "I don't like knowing they're up there alone." She confessed while slowly standing up straight. Her gaze bounced between the attic entrance and Jackie for a second before it returned to the blonde. "I'm gonna try to convince them to come back down."

            Jackie looked sceptical but nodded her head anyway. Nola was smart, Jackie knew this. She hopefully would find a way to drum some sense into Shauna and Taissa and convince them to come back down.

            A shuddered breath tumbled from Nola's lips as she began to ascend the ladder. The faintest sounds of chatter from the two girls within the attic caused her ears to perk up. Each step of the ladder squeaked under her weight as her head poked through the attics opening and her eyes landed upon a surprised Shauna and Taissa.

            A happy smile tugged at the corners of Shauna's mouth as her girlfriend continued to step into the attic, brandished her belongings. She was so happy that she didn't even consider that Nola had heard the revealing conversation between herself and Taissa. She knew her reaction downstairs, rolling her eyes at Nola, had been childish. Shauna supposed she could blame her pregnancy hormones, but that wouldn't have been right. She just...Nola meant more to her than anything else. Why she had slept with Jeff that night, Shauna had no fucking clue because she loved Nola, she genuinely loved her.

            She could only hope that love would be enough for Nola to forgive her when she inevitably discovered the presence of a baby within her womb.

            Nola grinned at the two girls as she approached them. "Got room for one more?" She questioned, though it was completely rhetorical as she had already thrown down her pillow between the girls and fallen to her knees to climb under her blanket.

            Taissa slightly chuckled as she watched the girl move about. "More the merrier. Thought the attic freaked you out, though?" The curly haired girl sarcastically asked while putting on a wobbly, scared voice to jest with the Rilke girl.

            Nola shot the girl an unamused look. "I'm incredibly on edge right now but I can't let you two be up here alone. Now, let's huddle together for warmth." She jokingly said as she nestled into her pillow.

            She continued with the joke as she held out her arms, her hands slightly hitting the Turner girls side. "Come on, Tai. Burrow into my arms. I'll keep you safe."

            A bark of laughter left Taissa's lips as she shuffled back from the girl and turned herself around to face the far wall, all the while saying, "Shut the fuck up." as laughter continued to flow from her mouth.

            A proud smile formed as Nola herself turned away from the Turner girl to instead face the doe eyed brunette other her other side. A gentle little smile graced Shauna's lips, one that allowed Nola to reminisce back to the day they won their regionals game, the day the Shipman girl had told her that it didn't matter where in the world they were, as long as they were together. That day Shauna wore a smile just like the one she had in that attic.

Nola couldn't help but smile back in return. As covertly as she could manage, the Rilke girl leaned her head over and ever so gently placed her lips upon Shauna's, only for a second before pulling back. Then as the tips of her fingers traced along the bare flesh of Shauna's upper arm, feeling tiny little goosebumps risen with each stroke of the finger, she mouthed the words I love you.

Shauna's eyes pricked with unshed tears as she sniffed while nodding her head, not being able to bring herself to return the words. Not because she didn't love Nola but because she knew she didn't deserve her. Instead Shauna just grabbed at Nola's hand, halting it in its movement along her arm before grasping to it tightly, pulling it in against her chest and tugging the Rilke girl closer and closer until their bodies were almost one.

Their eyes seemed to simultaneously close, both out of comfort and of fear. Shauna sought comfort from the fear of losing Nola that threatened to consume her, and Nola sought to quell the fear that bloomed within her chest as she lay in that cold, dark attic.

The gentle snores of both Shauna and Taissa should have been enough to lull Nola into a slumber, however this wasn't the case. As the girl lay there, holding tightly to her girlfriend who had burrowed closer in her sleep, a great sense of discomfort washed over her. Her skin felt weird, hair was standing on the back of her neck and the looming heat of someone's gaze bore into her skull.

She could feel it. Those dead eyes upon her. That glaring gaze. All from the far corner of the room, right where the Dead Cabin Guy had been found in his chair. She didn't dare look lest her fears come true. Instead she just squeezed her eyes shut, so tightly that random shapes began to form along the backs of her eyes and willed herself asleep.

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YET ANOTHER DAY OF scavenging had fallen upon them. No rescue was in sight, not a single helicopter or airplane spotted high in the clouds. Many of the girls had taken to heading off into the woods, heading right back to the spot where the greatest amount of berry bushes has been. Though when they arrived barely any berries hung from its small branches.

The rumble of their stomaches was beginning to weigh on them all once again. The deer that had been captured by Natalie and Travis was on its last legs. There was barely enough meat for one person much less the entire group. A harsh gnawing had developed in many of their stomaches as frowns became an almost permanent fixture upon their faces.

As Mari complained at the lack of berries, Lottie, whose forehead gash had begun to slowly heal and scab over, decided to pipe up from where she was crouched down on one knee. "You know, some animals live off of eating their own vomit."

Her words caught the attention of the small group, all of them turning to look over at her, their noses turned up in disgust at the fact she had uttered.

Van grimaced. "Okay. Thanks for that image, Lot."

A smirk formed upon Mari's lips. As her gaze remained fixed on the Matthews girl, she sarcastically quipped, "Did Dead Cabin Guy tell you that or do you guys just chat about blood and stuff?"

"No, we mostly talk about how Danny Mears dumped you for his own cousin." Lottie snarked with a small smirk of her own. She rose to her feet and began to walk away as she left Mari to stew in the dig about her love life that Lottie had sent her way.

Nola had to bite back a chuckle at Mari's expense, the girl keeping her head low to hide the amusement that was undoubtedly written all over her face.

Mari's eyes darted around in a panic as she stuttered out, "Hey, they're second cousins and that's totally legal, you know." She was desperate to lessen the embarrassment that she felt though her words just made her past situation with her ex-boyfriend that much more pitiful.

"Whatever helps you sleep better." The Rilke girl muttered under her breath, though it was obviously not quiet enough as her words caught Mari's attention instantly as her head spun around to look down at Nola who was crouched near a small gathering of berry-less bushes.

Her gaze immediately narrowed. "What about you? You weren't exactly popular in the dating scene." Mari quipped at Nola's expense. "I actually don't think you've dated anyone, have you?"

"If I answer your question will you leave me alone?" The Rilke girl inquired with a deep, heavy sigh. As she stood up straight and dusted off the dirt that clung to her skin, she then continued, "No, I've been single since birth. I've never dated a guy before or even romantically held hands. Happy?"

Of course she had been dating Shauna for over a year at this point but...it wasn't as if she could exactly shout it from the rooftops. It was the nineties, after all. Their relationship needed to be kept under wraps to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention and incurring violence by the hands of those who viewed their relationship as 'wrong' or 'sinful'.

It was certainly bothersome to Nola that she couldn't speak openly about the love she felt for Shauna, the love that seemed to grow stronger and more consuming each and every day.

Instead of allowing Mari to hound her more, like Lottie who had left the area only minutes prior, Nola quickly began to walk away from the group.

            "Nola, hey." The girl slowly came to a stop and turned her head to glance over at the person who approached her. Stevie, who had begun following her almost right away after she took off stepped up alongside her.

            Stevie sent her a small smile as she began to speak. "Just ignore Mari. She's been a little on edge these last few weeks and is clearly not capable of dealing with it like the rest of us."

            Nola nodded her head. "Yeah, I know."

           Stevie's head shot back to glance in the direction they had just come from before settling her eyes back upon Nola. Her gaze had turned sincere, her eyes practically screaming the sympathy she felt for the Rilke girl. "And also, about, you know that stuff back there, don't worry about it. None of us judge you. You just have to find found the right person, right?"

            Nola couldn't help but chuckle at the stare Stevie sent her way. She wasn't entirely sure if Stevie was attempting to proposition her or not, though her use of the word 'person' appeared deliberate. Her head lulled into a slight nod as she smiled and said, "Right. Thanks, Stevie."

             As a small, little laugh trickled from Stevie's lips and her head ducked down for a moment, most likely in slight embarrassment, both of their attentions was grabbed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Both girls turned their heads in time to see Shauna walking up.

            Shauna kept her gaze locked upon Nola's face, not even bothering to spare a glance in the McClane girl's direction. "Nola, can I talk to you for a sec?" Shauna asked, her voice quite sweet as she spoke, gesturing with her hand towards a random direction in the woods.

Nola nodded. "Yeah of course, I'll be right there." She replied before shifting her gaze back to the McClane girl who had been glancing quite frantically between both girls. "Thanks again, Stevie. I appreciate it."

Before Stevie could utter a word in response, Nola sent her an appreciative smile and began to walk off towards Shauna. The pair headed out deeper into the woods, far away from the rest of the group. About halfway through their journey, Shauna reached out and grabbed at the Rilke girls hand, entangling their fingers. When Nola shot her a puzzled look Shauna simply grinned back and tugged Nola the rest of the way.

Once they reached their destination, which was just a small clearing deep in the forest, before Nola could question why they were there, the Shipman girl pushed forward and captured Nola's lips with her own. A small squeak of surprise emitted from the Rilke girl though she quickly melted into the kiss as she was backed up into the trunk of the tree behind her. Her back pressed against it, the deep ridges of the bark digging through the fabric of her top.

Shauna detangled their fingers in order to place her hands upon Nola's hips, her tight grip allowing the fabric to ride up. Her fingertips dug deep into the flesh as if she was afraid that if she let go, Nola would vanish from her hold.

A small laugh from Nola, that was muffled into the kiss, caused the two to break apart briefly. "Woah, what's brought this on?" Nola inquired curiously, though she certainly wasn't opposed to the intimacy.

Shauna's tongue darted out to run along her bottom lip as she shrugged her shoulders. "Just missed you, that's all." Was all she said in response before dipping her head back to recapture Nola's lips.

            Her kisses slowly began to descend until she was attached to the supple flesh of Nola's neck. With each suck and bite that was spurred on by the moans of pleasure from the Rilke girl, Shauna's tongue would lightly run over the wound, saliva spreading over the teeth marks on Nola's unbroken skin to help sooth the nipping ache.

            Suddenly, a thought popped into Nola's mind. "Wait, do you hear that?"

            "What?" Shauna distractedly inquired as she began to slowly tug at the fabric of Nola's shirt. She wasn't sure exactly what had come over her but she just wanted Nola, wanted her close.

            It had been ages since the pair had been intimate with one another and Shauna found herself feeling restless. She needed to feel Nola, needed to touch her and pull her close. An almost insatiable carnal urge came over her.

            Nola grinned at her girlfriend. "No Jackie." And with that she replaced Shauna's hands on her shirt and peeled the fabric up and over her head until she was left in only her bra. Shauna couldn't help but return the grin and mirror her girlfriend until she too was shirtless.

            After only a few minutes, more and more clothing was removed from both girls until they were left almost completely bare, their flesh exposed to the vast greenery that surrounded them. The weighty yearning that had settled in the pit of their stomaches was soon eased considerably as shudders of pleasure rushed through their bodies. For those brief minutes of isolation they had managed to obtain, they could forget about their circumstances and just seek comfort in one another's arms.

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author's thoughts.
chapter twelve. not proofread.
another chapter is up! i don't even know what i was doing with this chapter but I'm pretty proud of it lol so I hope you enjoyed :)