HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO !

THE MORNING SUN AND the chirping of crickets roused the group of girls from their deep slumber the next morning. The realisation that they had passed out where they last stood the night before hit them as their heavy eyelids peeled open, revealing the sight of the doomcoming. All of the torches had now burned out. Their tongues felt incredibly heavy, the inside of their mouths dry and talcum-like. A dull ache swarmed the back of their heads as they all stumbled to their feet. Any and all exposed skin was caked in dirt.

          Wordlessly, all of the girls began to plod through the woods, heading in the direction of the cabin. No one wanted to utter a word, lest they bring up what they had gotten up to the night prior. Feigning ignorance was their unspoken go to action. Leaves crunched beneath the weight of their feet as they slowly traversed through the trees. They had even passed by a pissed off Natalie as they walked, though the blonde hadn't been in a talking mood either.

          Tired expressions were worn by their friends, the ones who had actually managed to return to the cabin before they passed out. Plaintive glances were exchanged amongst the group of girls.

           Coach Scott, who seemed utterly oblivious though of course he would be due to the fact that he had spent the entire night away from them and had then managed to avoid witnessing just how crazed a group of high school girls could get while drunk, let out a sigh of relief at the sight of them. "Hey. I uh, boiled some drinking water, if you guys are as hungover as I am." He offered to them with a small chuckle.

           Shauna peered around the outside of the cabin and took quick notice of a certain someone's absence. Her voice was low and scratchy as she asked, "Has anyone seen Jackie?"

            As though she sensed their presence, the Taylor girl, clad in her varsity jacket, strutted up to the open doorway of the cabin with purpose. She looked positively full of rage. It seemed to consumed her entire being. From head to toe, the fact that Jackie seemed to hate their guts was not lost on any of them.

           The blonde proceeded to fold her arms across her chest. "I have nothing to say to you." She harshly uttered in Shauna's direction. Her body lulled angrily to the side, now leaning against the door's frame. Her glare was now aimed at them all. "To any of you. I mean, what the fuck?"

            "Just stop, Jackie." Nola breathed out. She just felt so completely burnt out in that moment. Listening to Jackie berate them once again wasn't going to change anything and frankly, Nola had gotten tired of hearing her. Jackie looked shocked to hear the brunette's words. Nola tiredly wiped at the already smudged make up that painted her face as she then said, "Don't you ever get tired of being on that pedestal? We get it, you're so much better than us. Congratulations."

          Right away, Mari found herself agreeing with the Rilke girl. Her eyes were now narrowed in Jackie's direction as she uttered, "Yeah, like you're so innocent."

          Jackie stepped toward them all, arms still folded. Frustration and anger now swam within her pupils. "Hey, I'm not the one that went completely fucking insane last night." She couldn't believe they were actually attempting to turn it all back on her.

          "Right. No, you were just too busy screwing Travis." Van's voice dripped with derision.

           Coach, who had been face down in his palm suddenly looked up in surprise. "Whoa, hey." The man sighed for a moment before continuing. As the adult, he saw it as his responsibility to calm the storm before they all got swept up in it. "Look, I'm sure that we all said and did some stuff that we regret last night on account of the shrooms."

          Confusion marred itself up the features of all of their faces at his words. Unaware of their bewilderment, the man kept going. "So I think that the best thing for us to do is just—"

           "Wait, wait. Shrooms?" Shauna uttered, verbalising all of their confusion at what he had just said.

            Van heavily sighed. "Okay, yeah. That makes sense." Her face was then buried into her hands as she remembered the mess that was last night.

            Taissa had a moment of realisation. "Oh, shit. The broth." She tiredly uttered, staring pointedly up at the girls who had all had their fair share of the broth during the doomcoming.

            "You drugged us?" Akilah accusingly questioned as she turned her attention to the fearful Misty Quigley. who was sitting off to the side. Everyone else followed her actions and shifted their gaze over to the curly haired blonde.

            Misty's bottom lip was jutted out. Her fingers were nervously wringing in her lap. "No, I didn't." She replied. She awkwardly looked around then rose to her feet, taking hesitant steps towards everyone else as she continued, "Okay, yeah. It was an accident. They were meant for Ben."

            Mari's face scrunched up in disbelief. "Oh my god. Do you have any idea how crazy you are?"

            Misty's eyes were wet with unshed tears. "They were my mushrooms. And you stole them to put them in your stupid soup. Besides, you know, none of this would've even happened if he wouldn't have tricked me into falling in love with him." She exclaimed while pointing accusingly in Coach Ben's direction.

            The man in question scoffed in annoyance. With his nose scrunched with irritation, he turned to glare at the blonde. "Oh, Misty, would you—"

            "Wait. Stop!" Nola suddenly cried out, cutting off the man and causing them all to stare at her with concern. Crunching from close by in the forest had caught her attention during the barrage of anger towards Misty. It was loud, heavy. Exactly like what she had heard to night prior only so much closer to them now. "Do you hear that?"

            The rustling grew louder and louder with each passing second. Every set of eyes was facing the wall of trees before them when the terrifying sight of a huge, hulking brown bear emerged from the forest and causing whimpers of fear to weakly fall from the group.

            "Oh, god! Oh my god!" The redheaded Palmer girl exclaimed as she and the others all began retreating to the cabin's porch.

            Attempting to appear brave despite the terror he felt, Coach Ben slowly inched his way back, as best as he could with only one leg and makeshift crutches. "Alright, everyone stay calm."

            "How the fuck are we supposed to do that?" Mari feebly cried out as her feet stumbled back to the porch.

            "Who-who has the gun? Where's the gun?"

            Akilah was the one to answer this question. "Natalie has it. We saw her." They had seen Natalie and she had been carrying the gun. Nola had been surprised that she hadn't raised it in their direction for what they had done.

            Unlike the rest, Lottie didn't seem as scared. Without glancing back and instead kept her gaze locked upon the approaching animal, she held out her hand behind her back. "Shauna, the knife." She faintly whispered. She was given the bladed weapon without much thought.

            As the brunette began to slowly advance towards the bear, looks of horror were sent her way. Mumbled out questions of what she was doing and pleas for her to not get any closer left the mouths of a few. They didn't want her to get hurt. That bear would surely maul her to death. This didn't happen though. As though it went against its very own nature, the bear lowered itself down until its belly lay flat against the dirt right in front of Lottie. This allowed the girl to grip tightly to the knife's handle before bringing it down like the speed of light and driving the blade deep into the bear's brain.

            Gasps of shock filled the air while the blade pierced past flesh and bone, muscle and fur. Blood spurted from the wound as the animal groaned out in absolute agony. It bled out fast and the noise of pain faded quickly, leaving behind the fresh corpse of a massive bear and a group of starving individuals looking upon their next meal.

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            THEY HAD ALL LONG since changed from their dresses. Their normal everyday clothing was now being worn. The dirt and purple stains from the berry wine had been cleaned from their skin and was replaced by the welcomed sight of blood from the bear. Crimson now covered their hands as everyone, minus a few such as Jackie who had chosen to hide away in the cabin, worked to filet the bear's flesh and prepare a hearty meal for the group.

            Misty, who had been messing about with the fire pit and lighting the logs in preparation for cooking the meat, smiled happily as she turned on her heel and headed over towards Mari. "Here. I can help you with that. I already got the fire started." She explained as she reached out for the plate of skewers bear meat.

            "Yeah right." Mari scoffed as she grabbed hold of the plate and stopped the blonde from taking it. She wore an almost amused grin as she uttered, "Like we're gonna trust you around the food."

            Though her feelings were hurt, Misty didn't allow it to show. She let out a slightly wavering exhale as she looked down at the girl. "Look, I'm just trying to help. Okay, so just—"

            Once again, the Quigley girl made a move for the plate which caused Mari to sigh in irritation as she batted away Misty's hands. "Oh my god, Misty, just get the fuck away!" Mari annoyingly huffed.

            Nola, who sat only inches from the situation, quietly sighed. She knew that Misty hadn't meant to do what she did. It had been an accident. A messed up and slightly criminal accident, but an accident none the less. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl.

            "Mari, calm down." Nola calmly said, taking charge of the situation. Mari did just that, reverting back to her quiet self and continuing on with her task. Nola glanced up at the saddened Misty and shot her what she hoped was a comforting smile. "Misty, why don't you just go take a walk or something. We'll take care of things here, alright?"

            The blonde didn't have to be told twice. She quickly rushed away from the scene and headed for the space where the plane had once sat, leaving the others to finish up preparing the food while she attempted to keep her emotions under control. She didn't want to let the attitude of a few get to her. Mari would not make her cry.

            Blood coated Shauna's hand as she used the hunter's knife to slice up the meat. Intrigue on how it tasted suddenly washed over the girl, causing her to slowly raise her hand to her lips. Though before the liquid could grace her tastebuds, she was stopped by a worried Akilah. "Shauna, don't. It'll make you sick."

            Stevie, who had been sitting quite silently since this morning, chose to speak up. Her lips smacked sarcastically as she uttered, "I would say I'm surprised that Jackie isn't here helping but that would be a lie."

            Shauna glanced up and over at her, shaking her head at the McClane girl. "Stevie, don't."

            Nola couldn't help the completely unamused chuckle that left her lips. The meat she held in her hand was slowly lowered to the plate on her lap as she retorted, "She's not wrong. I mean, she stands there this morning, scolding us for something we did while high out of fucking minds and yet here we are, doing everything while she gets to just reap the benefits of our hard work again."

            Mari rose to her feet, plate of skewered meat in hand as she nodded her head in agreement with everything the Rilke girl had just said. "It's not fair."

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"SHOULD WE WAIT FOR Natalie and Travis?" Shauna asked of the group as they all settled in to begin eating. They all have started piling the mouthwatering bear meat onto plates and into bowls, each and every one of them desperate to begin eating and satiate the hunger that had been gnawing at their insides for quite some time.

As the man moved to sit down, setting his crutches aside, Coach Ben glanced around briefly at the questioning expressions the girls wore. "Uh, you know what? I'm pretty sure they've got some stuff to sort out, so..." his lips smacked as he accepted the bowl of cooked meat from Lottie. "They can eat when they get back."

A pensive look flashed across Van's face. She cupped the filled up bowl in her hands though instead of tucking in, she kept glancing back and forth between Lottie and Nola. "Guys, last night you two said something was coming and that we wouldn't be hungry much longer. How did you know?"

Nola simply shrugged her shoulders, because she honestly still didn't have an answer for why she had been able to hear the bear coming towards them. While Lottie somewhat daintily covered her mouth as she chewed while mumbling out, "I just did."

"Yeah, it's called getting lucky." Jackie chimed in. The sound of her voice caused some gazes to shift over in her direction. She shrugged while she toyed with a piece of meat. "The bear probably just smelled us and came looking for food, okay? Probably had something wrong with him."

The smallest smiles of the amused variety grew upon both Lottie and Nola's lips. The two girls who had no doubt been the most affected by whatever was going on, couldn't help but find Jackie's quick dismissal of something she couldn't understand humourous.

Misty slowly lifted her fork to her lips while saying, "It didn't look sick."

Mari sighed. While reaching for another chunk of bear meat, she tiredly stated, "Honestly, at this point, I don't even think I care. Can we just eat?"

Before everyone could do exactly what Mari had suggested, an almost panicked tone became interwoven within Van's words. "Wait. Should we, maybe...say something?" The redhead suggested with a curious tilt of the head. "Like thanks or grace or whatever."

A hesitant looking Taissa found herself glancing over at Nola, who sat on the floor beside her, through her peripheral vision. She too didn't look all that interested in the idea but clearly wasn't going to say anything. A tight-lipped smile pulled at the Turner girl's lips as she looked up at the scarred face of her girlfriend. "Yeah, let's just make it quick, okay?" She quietly said as she and the others set aside their plates and bowls.

"Lot?" Van wished for Lottie to be the one to lead the words of appreciation.

Lottie nodded though it was practically invisible to see as she swallowed hard. "Let's join hands." She instructed while rubbing her hands clean on the fabric of her dirt stained white trousers.

Hands were joined together right away. Whether people actually wanted to go along with this or simply wanted to get it over and done with, that wasn't clear but they all still joined hands. Everyone except for Jackie that is, who chose to scoff and recline back in her chair in amusement at what she was about to witness.

"For this from the wilderness, we give our thanks." The Matthews girl began. When she didn't hear a reply or anyone chiming in, her eyes peeled open and her deep brown eyes stared expectantly at them.

Van, who had been the only one to catch her look, somewhat awkwardly uttered, "Thank you."

Lottie nodded in appreciation before allowing her eyes to fall shut once again. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips just as she began to continue on. "To the spirit of the bear, who sacrificed so that we could survive, we give our thanks."

A group vocalisation now followed. Their murmurs of, "Thank you." filled the cabin.

"And to the ancient gods of the sky and the dirt, we give our thanks."

And for the last time, the faint expression of gratitude left their lips. "Thank you."

A collective exhale of relief was heard as the joined together hands fell apart. While everyone started to tuck back into their food, they were stopped by the accusation of "Jackie didn't say it." from Misty, who fixed her glasses while glaring over at the Taylor girl.

A few of them darted their gaze up to the girl, who just rolled her eyes. "No, I did not thank the dirt for bringing us a brain-dead bear." Jackie sneered at the group. Her body jutted forward in her chair as her grip on her bowl tightened. "What is even happening right now? What the fuck is wrong with you all?"

Taissa, who really didn't want to listen to another series of yelling, just shook her head and calmly started to say, "It's fine, you guys. She doesn't have to—"

Before she was rudely interrupted by a snark filled Jackie. "Oh, shut up, Tai." Jackie scoffed at the Turner girl's attempt to defend her from the others. A humourless laugh ripped from Jackie's throat. "Don't pretend like you were apart of it."

Some of the girls diverted their gaze, some of them feeling embarrassed by what they had done, while others refused to look away, not wanting to give Jackie who was scolding them once again the satisfaction. "What, we're—we're just not gonna talk about it? We just howl at the moon now and fucking orgies? And somehow I'm the one who did something wrong?"

"Woah, wait what?" Coach Ben exclaimed in shock. He had been completely in the dark about this.

Shauna kept her eyes glued on the floor. She couldn't muster up the strength or even the willpower to look up and over at the Taylor girl. "Jackie, calm down." Her voice was weak, feeble.

Jackie jumped to her feet. The booming sound of the soles of her shoes slamming against the wooden floorboards resounded through the cabin. "Don't tell me to calm down!" The blonde haired girl snapped. She confidently sauntered toward her friend, folding her arms across her chest while staring down at Shauna. "What were you gonna do to Travis last night, Shauna?"

She didn't need an answer. She already knew exactly what Shauna, what they all had been willing to partake in the night before. They had all gone batshit crazy, what with their tying up Travis, locking her in a room, holding a knife to Travis' throat. They would have killed him, slit his throat and maybe even bathed in the blood that poured from his neck, if she and Natalie hadn't been there to stop them.

When the Shipman girl didn't utter a single word, despite not needing an answer, Jackie swiftly and strongly demanded for one. "Answer me."

Shauna blinked up at the girl. Her throat had gone dry, her tongue heavy. She wracked her brain for an answer, any answer that would cause Jackie to let up. She didn't want to admit what she had done so finally she simply landed upon a stuttered out response of, "I-I don't know. I don't remember."

Jackie's nose turned up in disgust. She couldn't believe that Shauna wasn't owning up to her crazed actions. "Bullshit. You had a knife to his throat." The blonde stared down at Shauna, her gaze almost searing into the Shauna's skin. "If we hadn't come, you would have killed him."

"Just shut up!" Shauna suddenly cried out. The volume of her voice was enough to cause the others to jump. Never before had any of them heard her yell so angrily at Jackie. The rage fuelled brunette jumped to her feet, setting aside her plate as she began advancing toward Jackie, until there was only inches between them. "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for you, if you hadn't—"

She was cut off by Jackie, who feigned curiosity. "Hadn't what?" The Taylor girl questioned. Her voice dripped with innocence, almost as if she truly didn't know what Shauna had been about to say, though the glint of her dark, malevolent eyes said otherwise. "Stolen him?"

Nola knew right away what had been bugging Jackie this entire time. Those two simple words said so much to the only ones who knew the deeper meaning. She'd known for quite some time now that Shauna had betrayed her and slept with Jeff. One thing she didn't understand was why Jackie had kept to herself instead of confronting the Shipman girl at any point between the moment she had found out and now.

Jackie scoffed once again. "Wow, the irony." She then slowly said. Everyone that wasn't Nola stared up at the two with eager to learn faces. "Shauna fucked Jeff behind my back, you know that? Right before we left. Yeah, that's who's really responsible for her little bundle of joy."

As some of them exchanged stares of shock, their jaws becoming slightly slacked, Jackie then decided to just expose everyone who had done her wrong. Her accusatory stare drifted from the stunned Shauna down to the curled up Nola who sat on the ground beside Taissa with her arms wrapped around her knees that were pulled up to her chest. "And her and Nola? They've been in a relationship since god knows when. Again, behind my back."

The once slightly ajar jaws had completely fallen to the floor. Everyone felt so unbelievably surprised at what they were hearing. Shauna and Nola? Since when? While many of them had suspected about Taissa and Van, not once had they even considered the possibility. They were all flummoxed at the reveal.

"We didn't owe you to tell you anything. It had nothing to do with you." Nola replied back with a glare of her own. Her insides were festering with an uncontrollable rage. Who the fuck did Jackie think she was to reveal this to them all? What gave her the right?

Shauna's eyes pricked with unshed tears. "It was you. You read my journal."

"How could you?" Jackie inquired emotionally. She sounded on the verge of tears, as though any more now the floodgates would open and pour down her cheeks. "You were best friend. You-you don't even like him. And I bet you don't even like Nola."

Once her feelings for Nola were called into question, Shauna took a step towards the blonde. "And how would you know?" Her once doe eyed gaze turned angry in a single blink. "You're so obsessed with yourself, I'm surprised you're aware other people even exist."

Her fury and insecurities that had been quelled for far too long had reached their boiling point. Even if she wanted to stop her verbal attack, she wouldn't have been able to. "You know, you never even asked me if I wanted to go to Rutgers? You just assumed I'd go wherever you wanted. You tell me what to wear, what to do, who to hook up with."

"I don't even like soccer!" Shauna then cried out. Her face had gone red. The whites of her eyes very visibly as she stared completely wide-eyed at the Taylor girl.

A deep breath was taken by the brunette as her shoulders slumped in exhaustion. The tension from holding all of her thoughts back for all those years had vanished. "But you just get everything you want, all the time like it's nothing. And the rest of us, we're just extras in the movie of your fucking life!"

As she said this, she gestured towards the rest of the group. No one could argue with what she was saying. They'd never realised before just how much Shauna had lived in Jackie's shadow, how much she had cowered in the darkness that was the burden of being Jackie's best friend.

"Oh my god. You're such a cliche." Jackie chuckled in response. Her eyes rolled at Shauna's pitiful act before she pretended to feel sorry for her friend. "Oh, is the sad little sidekick mad? Did I force you to live in my shadow, Shauna?" She narrowed her gaze at the brunette as she drawled out the last sentence.

"It must be hard being this jealous all the time." Her words caused Shauna to haughtily laugh. This reaction only managed to get Jackie's back up more. "What? You're so fucking jealous of me, you can barely breathe."

Shauna's hands fell to her hips as she quirked a brow and asked, "Are quoting beaches at me right now?"

            The blonde looked taken aback. Embarrassment washed over her as the tips of her ears tinged red. "What? No." Clearly, she had been, she just hadn't expected Shauna to pick up on that fact.

            The Shipman girl's head shook from side to side. There was no fun to be found in this situation. Maybe before but certainly not now. Not when Jackie had been toying with her for weeks and not dared to question the relationship she and Nola had. "I'm not jealous of you, Jackie. I feel sorry for you, because you're weak. And I think that deep down, you know it."

            "I'm sure everyone back home is so fucking sad to be losing their perfect little princess, but they'll never know how tragic and boring and insecure you really are."

            Jackie was now trying really hard not to cry. She was trying her damndest to keep her emotions in check but with each passing second and with every hate filled word spewed at her from one of her best friends, she felt her mask of composure slipping away.

            Shauna was not yet finished. She continued on with her barrage of insults. "Or how high school was the best your life was ever gonna get."

            As her bottom lip trembled against her wishes, Jackie quietly and weakly muttered, "Fuck you." Not a moment later, she sniffed loudly and blinked back tears. "That's it. You know what? That's it. Get-Get out."

            When Shauna refused to move, Jackie shoved her shoulder and feebly tried to push her towards the closed cabin door. "Go on, get out!"

            "No."

            The Taylor girls eyes darted wildly around the room. "I can't be around you, I-I can't even fucking look at you right now." She stated, her voice beginning to break.

            "Well, that sounds like your problem. So maybe you should leave." Shauna suggested quite coldly. There was no love present in her gaze, not anymore. Instead, she appeared distant and uncaring for Jackie's feelings.

            Her harsh words caused Jackie to scoff in disbelief. She glanced down at the others, imagining that they would have her back in this situation but all she received was looks of indifference.

           Mari chose to chime in, shrugging her shoulders and sneering, "Maybe you'd be better off, since we're all so crazy." She repeated back Jackie's words to her, letting the blonde know exactly why no one was supporting her.

            She'd burned her bridges with them the very second she chose to insult them.

            After deciding that he had heard enough, Coach Ben finally jumped into the conversation. Right away, he strongly instructed, "Everybody just stop. Nobody is going outside."

            Once again, exactly like when he had tried to stop Laura Lee from hopping in that plane, his tone of finality that he believed would settle the situation did nothing. His word wasn't the be all and end all, not anymore.

            Lottie turned to look at him while making her own demand. "Stay out of it, Coach."

            As the reality of her situation settled around her, Jackie just let out a deep sigh of frustration. "You know what? Fine." She quickly began to grab her sleeping supplies, bundling them all under her arm as she stormed for the front door, purposefully bumping her shoulder against Shauna's as she did.

            Taissa rolled her eyes at the dramatics she was witnessing. "Jackie, come on. Don't go outside." She was the only one of the teenage girls to speak up in an attempt to stop Jackie from leaving.

            She almost immediately wished she hadn't bothered when Jackie's attitude was aimed at her. The blonde ripped open the door before spinning on her heel and glaring down at Taissa. "Don't pretend like this isn't what you wanted the entire fucking time."

            She fiddled with the doorknob, grabbing hold of it as she prepared to head outside. She glanced back sadly at the Shipman girl. "I don't even know who you are anymore."

            There was the briefest of moments when Jackie truly hoped that Shauna would apologise. Even a single, 'I'm sorry' would have changed Jackie's mind. She would have stayed indoors and learned to deal with what Shauna had done. They would have gotten through it together. I'm sorry, that's all she needed.

           "Or maybe you never did." But that wasn't what she got.

            Shauna mumbled her words out. She looked devastated by what had happened but too much had happened. She couldn't just apologise, not when what she had done was a momentary lapse of judgment. What Jackie had done to not only her but Nola too, it had been just plain spiteful.

            The misery that swam within Jackie's eyes was replaced by anger. She quickly gripped the doorknob tightly, stepped outside before pulling the door shut behind her, slamming it hard and causing the cabin to shake.

           No one spoke. No one knew what to say. They all remained still for a few moments, just taking in what had happened. When Shauna finally began to move, they all took it as a sign to begin eating once more. The Shipman girl headed back towards her seat, grabbed her bowl before lowering herself to the floor beside Nola.

            The two shared a dejected glance before the Rilke girl reached out and grabbed a hold of Shauna's free hand that lay upon her lap. "You did the right thing. You stood up for yourself, quite literally for the first time ever." Nola quietly whispered as she sent her ex what she hoped was a comforting smile. "She'll be back. She just needs some time."

            Shauna gave an indistinct nod before letting out an exhaustive sigh. Her head lulled to the side until it was resting upon Nola's shoulder. With one last comforting squeeze of the hand, Nola released her grip and returned to feasting on the bear meat, while Shauna did the same.

           Nola was right, after all. Jackie would be back. She was stubborn as fuck but hell would have to freeze over before Jackie would spend more than one night outside.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter twenty two. not proofread.
so yeah. jackie has gone outside and we all know what happens from here. sorry everyone but i wont be diverting from the canon and keeping her alive. like alot of people theorise, i believe jackie has to die to rid the group of any potential outside leadership. anyway i hoped you enjoyed :)