[008] nothing more than a friend

                                   Suki was burdened by yet another nightmare. But this time, Courtney would be at the center of it.

                                   Suki ended up following the same deer she had seen the night before, going deeper and deeper into the woods. Suki could feel eyes on her but whenever she looked around at the trees and the darkness they were shrouded in, she couldn't see a thing. Suki keeps walking until she reaches a clearing, seeing Courtney at the center of the clearing. She was hunched over, almost looking like an animal as she seemed to be doing something. But Suki couldn't tell due to the distance.

                                   "Courtney?" she calls out the blonde's name, quickening her steps in the hopes of catching her. "Courtney, what are you doing?"

                                   Courtney doesn't answer her. She just remains hunched over and something strange could be hear. It sounded like... eating. As Suki wandered closer and closer, she realized that that was exactly what Courtney was doing. She was eating something ravenously, appearing like an animal. Something red stained her hands as well as her clothes, appearing to be blood.

                                   Suki gasps, horrified by what she's just seen. She even backs away but Courtney pauses what she's doing. It feels like an eternity but in reality, it only took a couple of seconds for Courtney to lift her head and turn to look at Suki. Blood was running down her chin and her neck, a severed arm sitting on her lap. But what startled Suki most of all was Courtney's eyes. Her eyes were completely red, save for her blue pupils.

                                   She looked like the Devil.

                                   "Why did you do this?" Suki questioned as she falls to her knees from pure shock, glancing down at the severed arm Courtney had been eating from before back up at her.

                                   "It wants us to, Suki. It wants us to eat," Courtney answers calmly. And that was the most terrifying part of all.

                                   "No," Suki shakes her head.

                                   Courtney starts crawling towards Suki and all she could do was begin to crawl away herself. But Courtney quickly manages to overpower her, now crawling on top of Suki until she was hovering above her. Some of the blood still running down Courtney's chin landed right on Suki's cheek.

                                   "It's inside all of us. It's especially inside of you. It likes you, Suki.  It's been waiting a long time for you and the rest of us. But especially you. We're right at home. Here, we'll always be together forever. That's what you want, isn't it? For us to be together?" Courtney continued.

                                   This wasn't the Courtney she knew. It was a monster wearing her face. And it was using the one person she loved to get inside of her.

                                   "Stop!" Suki shouts, trying to fight Courtney. Trying to fight the wilderness.

                                   Suki remembers waking up in a panic after that, waking Courtney up in the process. Suki couldn't look at Courtney for a while after that. She was unsure as to what the dream meant. If it was just another freaky nightmare like the others or if it meant something. But right now, it didn't matter. What mattered was properly burying the bodies and holding a little funeral for them.

                                   Suki could still remember her mother's funeral. It had been the worst time of her life. She had cried so much that by the time the funeral came around, she couldn't even cry anymore. They had to do a closed casket, given how her body had been lost to the water. There weren't a lot of people in town who showed up, save for Courtney and her family. And even then, Courtney was the only one who cared. Everyone else was convinced that Suki's mom was a lunatic and it wouldn't be long before Suki joined her.

                                   She's silent, sticking close to an equally silent but emotionally numb Courtney as the service began. All of the girls were circled around the graves, staring down at them as Van started talking.

                                   "Before we took off, I heard Rachel say that she was going to see Oasis at the Meadowlands next month. She was really excited. And she's never gonna hear Wonderwall again," Van declared, saying the only things she and the others knew about her.

                                   "Come on," Laura Lee offered. "Let's join hands."

                                   Suki instantly holds onto Courtney's hand on one side and Natalie's with the other. Courtney glared at Natalie who pretended not to feel the girl's intense stare on her.

                                   "Rachel, you just moved up from JV, so we didn't really know you. But, in Trig, you never confused your secants and cosecants. You seemed really smart. Anyone else?" Laura Lee recalled.

                                   "I saw her carry a flute case once," Van added, sounding like she was about to burst into tears.

                                   The other girls started crying after that and  it takes every last bit of strength inside of Courtney not to roll her eyes. She was struggling to find the care and remorse needed for a situation like this.

                                   "Oh, Lord, please accept Rachel Goldman into your arms so that she may fill your kingdom with music. Please accept Coach Martinez into your glory, too, and flight attendant Janet, pilot Robert, pilot Fred. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...," Laura Lee continued.

                                   Suki could feel Natalie rubbing her thumb, although she was convinced that Natalie wasn't even aware of it. Still, it brings a warm feeling inside of Suki's chest.

                                   "The Lord is my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is my strength, whom shall I fear?" Laura Lee adds.

                                   "I'm going for a walk," Taissa suddenly declared, storming off before anyone could try and stop her.

                                   As Taissa walked away, Suki could see the same deer from her dream. It locked eyes with her for a moment before it walked away, disappearing into the trees. Courtney tries to follow Suki's gaze but she doesn't see anything there, leaving her more confused.

(🌲🔪🦌)

                                   "This is all we have?" Jackie asks disappointedly.

                                   "Oh, we're so fucked," Courtney scoffed.

                                   The girls (along with the guys) were all feeling pretty hungry but with the little bit of food they could salvage from the plane, they had to do the best they could. Suki could hardly eat, even with Courtney trying to force her. She was still haunted by her dream.

                                   "Yeah. We got to ration," Van says as she hands a small knife over to Shauna. "Okay. Cut them."

                                   "Yeah," Shauna agreed, soon getting started on the task.

                                   "Split this water," Van orders next before she hands a bottle of water over to Akilah.

                                   Shauna cut one of the Snackwell's devil food cakes in half, handing one to Jackie first. "Here. Close your eyes and pretend it's bacon."

                                   "You've got to eat something," Courtney replied as she held out a bar for Suki to take. She was more than prepared to split it in half for the two of them.

                                   "I'm not hungry," Suki shakes her head.

                                   "Well... if you don't eat, I'll just have to force you. I will if I have to," Courtney warned.

                                   Flashes of Courtney on top of her and her blood red eyes send a shiver down Suki's spine.

                                   "You take it. You're the one with the injury. You need it more than me," Suki pushes the bar towards Courtney who has no choice but to give up.

                                   Courtney frowns, although Suki isn't sure what she's upset about. Suki neglecting herself or Suki not listening to one of her orders.

                                   "Hey, Misty said don't scratch. It can get infected," Shauna warns Jackie, noticing the girl messing with her rash.

                                   "If poison ivy's what kills me out here, then I deserve to die," Jackie shot back.

                                   Travis suddenly approached the group, taking more snacks than he should've. It was more than the usual portion for two people and Courtney was pissed.

                                   "Dude! Hey!" Van exclaimed.

                                   "Travis, what are you doing?" Shauna asked.

                                   Travis only answers them with silence as he begins to walk away.

                                   "Maybe you didn't notice, but we're kind of in a situation here, Flex," Lottie remarked.

                                   "Don't," Natalie warned her.

                                   Travis glared at the rest of them before he kept walking away. Courtney scoffs in disbelief, staring at Travis with pure annoyance.

                                   "Who died and made him king of snacks?" Lottie rolled her eyes.

                                   "His dad, Lottie. Literally his fucking dad," Natalie reminded her.

                                   "Nat's right. We should cut him more slack," Jackie agreed.

                                   "My dad's gone. You don't see me stealing all the food because of my daddy issues," Courtney rolled her eyes.

                                   "No, you just act like a bitch and terrorize all of us at school," Natalie retorted.

                                   "At least I don't fuck anyone who blinks at me because of mine," Courtney retorts, the words successfully going right under Nat's skin.

                                   "That's enough," Suki interjects.

                                   "She shouldn't have started defending her little boyfriend," Courtney remarked. She was annoyed that Suki was contunuing to defend her. Did she like Nat more than her all of a sudden?

                                   "Courtney's right. I guess it's fine if we all starve to death, as long as Travis's feelings are okay," Mari added.

                                   "We're not gonna starve to death, okay? When the rescue team gets here -," Jackie begins.

                                   "If it gets here," Van cut her off.

                                   "Don't say that," Jackie responded, earning a glare from the redhead that makes Jackie falter.

                                   "I mean, it has been three days," Shauna replied.

                                   "I don't think they're getting here soon," Suki says. She just had a feeling. Maybe it was her own pessimism but she just knew that they were going to be stuck there for a while.

                                   "They're coming. They're coming," Jackie repeats to comfort the others. But really, she was just trying to comfort herself.

                                   "Yeah, they have to be. We're a bunch of high schoolers with families looking for us. There's no way they'd just leave us here. I mean, I'm the Prom Queen for God's sakes. People are definitely gonna notice me gone," Courtney replied, earning several eye rolls from the other girls.

                                   Suki snorts. "Yeah, last year."

                                   "And if we make it back in time, this year too," Courtney replied. "It's not like I have a lot of competition. I'm a shoo-in."

                                   "Do you think David's missing you right now?" Suki asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

                                   Courtney snorts. "I highly doubt it. I pretty much crushed his ego during our last conversation. He's probably getting it on with Veronica Greene right now to feel better about himself."

                                   The two girls laugh at the thought, temporarily distracting themselves from the bleak situation they had found themselves in.

                                   A short while later, Taissa came back from... wherever the hell she had been from. Neither Courtney or Suki had even noticed that she was even gone. But now she looked a lot happier than before.

                                   "Guys, there's a lake! There's a lake! I saw it from that hill. It looks about four or five miles away," Taissa announced excitedly.

                                   It wasn't the news any of them were hoping for but a lake still was a good sign. Suki just wanted to get far away from this area as possible but Courtney was apprehensive. She didn't want to leave and risk missing the rescue team. Courtney fucking hated it out here and she couldn't take another night.

                                   "Do you think we could hike it?" Shauna asked.

                                   "It's pretty rocky, but yeah," Taissa responded.

                                   "Uh, we, uh, we can't... We can't just leave," Jackie rushed up to her feet, motioning towards the plane wreckage.

                                   "She's right," Courtney agreed, much to Jackie's surprise. "We should stay here a little longer and wait for the rescue team. I'm not missing them for anything"

                                   "We've got two days of water, tops. And then what? Just sit around and die?" Taissa responded, scoffing.

                                   "What if the rescue team comes?" Jackie asked.

                                   "Do you think they're taking their time on purpose?" Taissa scoffed in response. "If they knew where we were, they would be here already."

                                   "You don't know that," Jackie argues.

                                   "What do you think about all of this, Coach?" Taissa asks, turning her attention to Coach Scott.

                                   "I don't, I don't know. Uh, I mean, you'd have to leave me behind, I guess, but whatever," Coach Scott answered, seemingly not caring.

                                   "See? And we can't leave Coach. We have to stay here!" Courtney insisted, looking to Suki for help.

                                   But Suki stayed silent. She actually wanted to go to the lake. If it was real, they should go.

                                   "We could make you a stretcher," Taissa immediately offered.

                                   "Oh, okay," Jackie laughed in disbelief.

                                   "Seriously. If we take turns carrying it -," Taissa began.

                                   "N-no! This-this is bullshit! I say no, okay? No way," Jackie cut her off, looking to the others for backup.

                                   "It's a bad idea," Courtney shakes her head.

                                   "Let's put it to a vote," Taissa suggested. "All in favor of waiting here?"

                                   Jackie, Courtney, Lottie, Laura Lee, and Mari raised their hands. Courtney looked at Suki, waiting for her to join. But Suki doesn't. She actually wanted to go to the lake.

                                   "All in favor of the lake?" Taissa asked next.

                                   Suki raised her hand with the others and it was obvious who was winning.

                                   "Then it's settled. Grab your shit," Taissa declared.

                                   Courtney glared at Suki but before she could explain herself, she just storms off from Suki and bumps into her shoulder harshly. Suki's never felt more alone than in that moment.

                                   Everyone grabbed their things and then prepared for the hike led entirely by Taissa. Shauna even made sure to write a message on the side of the plane before they left, just in case the rescue team actually did find them. And using their little makeshift stretcher, they helped to carry Coach Scott along with them.

                                   Although the hike was difficult, being away from Courtney felt even worse. Courtney had stuck by Mari, leaving Suki all alone. She knew that Courtney was only hanging out with Mari to get back at Suki for her "betrayal".

                                   "This shit is way longer than four miles. What if we missed it?" Natalie asks, huffing afterward.

                                   "We didn't. From the angle of the sun, it looked just left of due north," Taissa explained, cutting her off.

                                   "Oh, great. Left. That's a precise way of doing it," Jackie complained.

                                   "I'm not a fucking cartographer," Taissa shot back, glaring at Jackie from over her shoulder.

                                   "Or maybe you saw a mirage," Jackie retorted.

                                   But before an argument could fully break out, Van walked further and saw something wonderful.

                                   "Oh, shit. Oh, hell yeah, bitches!" Van exclaimed.

                                   Courtney couldn't believe her eyes. Right before them was a lake. Even though she still thought they should've stayed behind, maybe it wouldn't hurt to swim around and clean off for a bit in the water. Tossing their bags to the side, the girls stripped of their clothing and only decided to remain in their underwear.

                                   Well, most of them did. Suki sat down by the water while the other girls rushed in. She briefly watched Courtney getting undressed, looking away when Courtney finally meets her gaze. It's then that Suki realizes that she had been staring at her best friend for far too long. She takes a deep breath before lying down, choosing to stare up at the sky and distract herself from all of the thoughts rushing through her head.

                                   Courtney ended up going into the water for a while, feeling absolutely disgusted when Mari and some of the other girls started ogling Travis. But at least she was able to feel a little more refreshed. After she was done though, Courtney felt as though something was missing.

                                   Courtney glanced over at Suki while Mari was talking to her, seeing that she was once again staring off into space. She continued to sneak glances over at Suki before she decided to go and talk to her. Courtney was eager to get to the bottom of Suki's weird behavior now that she had cooled off a little.

                                   Suki had closed her eyes for just a moment, only to find that there was a shadow above her. She was afraid that it could have been the deer or something worse. But when Suki opens her eyes, she sees that it's just Courtney.

                                   "Does this mean you forgive me now?" Suki questioned. "Or are you still upset?"

                                   Courtney sighed. "Depends. Are you gonna let me sit next to you?"

                                   Suki only nods in response, sitting up from her previous position.

                                   "I'm sorry for giving you the cold shoulder back there but... what the hell, Suki?" Courtney asks, sitting next to Suki and hugging her knees to her chest. "First, you keep standing up for Nat. And now you go against me?"

                                   "I'm sorry but... but I have a feeling. I have a feeling we should go to the lake," Suki explained.

                                   "You have a feeling?" Courtney scoffed.

                                   "Yeah," Suki nodded.

                                   "Does that feeling include Natalie? Do you want to be her friend more than mine?" Courtney accused. She still couldn't get over how Suki had defended her. It may have been something small but the fact that Suki had done it all made her feel worried.

                                   Could Courtney potentially lose Suki to Natalie?

                                   "What? No," Suki quickly answers.

                                   "You're the only friend I have, Suki. And it makes me feel like you're abandoning me when you don't take my side," Courtney remarked, feeling relieved that Nat didn't stand a chance. As much as she tried to get in between them, there was no way she'd be able to succeed

                                   "I'm sorry, Court," Suki apologized.

                                   Courtney hugs Suki close and Suki hugs her back, resting her head on Courtney's shoulder for a while. She never wanted to leave and Courtney didn't want to let her go.

                                   "Guys! Look!" Lottie exclaimed, causing everyone to look her way.

                                   Lottie was standing straight up and pointing ahead of her. Both Courtney and Suki rise up to their feet, trying to see what it was.

                                   "Guys, there's something on the hill!" Van exclaimed as she rushed out of the water. Suki could see it too and she instantly feels a shiver go down her spine, even despite how warm and humid it was that day.

                                   Everyone quickly got out of the water and got dressed. They were preparing to head straight towards the spot Lottie had pointed out. Whatever it was, Courtney hoped it'd be something good. So did Suki. But she had a terrible feeling about it for whatever reason.

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word count: 3111
notes: here's chapter eight! let me know what you thought and i plan on updating this soon!