Mind Games (FIRST DRAFT)

At the game the next day, the girls were paired together and the boys were paired with each other.

“Ok!” Mother said, clapping her hands together, “Now when I shoot this gun,” she showed a gun, and Mei hoped that it was a fake, “You and your partner will race over with either your right or left leg tied to your teammates other, and whoever gets to Trevor first wins! Ok?”

Everyone muttered a response, and Mother handed out 2 ropes, one to Mike and one to Mei. Mei sat down next to Florence and began to tie her right leg to Florence’s left. She stood at the same time as Florence, each grasping the others hand. Florence face flushed dark, turning away as Mei looked.

“Line up!” Mother shouted. She gracefully walked to a podium and placed Trevor upon it. His googly eyed face seemed to taunt her, to make her believe her fate was set in stone.

“3,” Mother began, “2,” Mei and Florence bent their knees, “1!” Mother shouted, shooting her gun. Mei and Florence ran, instantly falling into each others running speeds. Mike and Mason, however, tripped over each other in the first second. Mei felt as though she were flying. “C’mon, c’mon,” Florence muttered under her breath. Her hair jumped with every breath she took, and her breaths fell into place with Mei’s. In, out, in, out.

They were almost there, with Mason and Micheal far behind the two girls. Mei wouldn’t get burned today, she refused. Her hand reached out. She stretched, stretched, stretched-

And she touched Trevor. She won. She looked up to Florence, and the look on her face said it all. Her smile was bright, and as beads of sweat fell down her forehead, Mei had never seen a more beautiful thing.

...

...

...

As Mason and Mike were getting punished, Florence and Mei played cards. Go Fish was their main game, and it wasn’t very fun, seeing as Mei always won.

“Do you wanna do something else?” Florence asked, inferencing that she too wanted to do something else.

“Sure,” Mei responded, “Look at this.” Mei pulled out the book she had found the other day, in the hall. Mei watched Florence read, and took in her reactions.

“What do you think it means?” Florence asked once she was done reading. Mei shrugged her shoulders, and the girl in black sighed. “Do you think we should tell the boys about this?”

“No, they’ll probably be too tired to hear it.” Mei offered. In reality, Mei wanted to keep this a secret; just for her and Flo. Needless to say, Mei had a crush on Flo, and it was making her crazy. ′I thought I was straight. What is this?!′ She would often question. ’Why am I inclined to think of Flo, her gorgeous eyes, deep like caramel chocolate, and 75% cacao? Or her thick lips, which lip gloss was frequently applied to? Or her hands, soft and smooth, with black chipped paint on the nails (which she chewed on when nervous)? Stop thinking about her!′ Mei urged her brain, but to no avail.

“You good, babe?” Flo asked, which made Mei lose her mind. Flo had mentioned that she called her close female friends ‘babe’ but Mei associated the pet name ‘babe’ to romantic relationships, which Mei so longed to have with Flo. How come I’m thinking like this now?! I like guys, never girls- I’m no Ellen. But in reality, Mei had only dated guys to fit in. One guy she had really liked, but he moved away. Sure, she noticed girls and thought they were really pretty, but that’s normal.

Right?

...

The next morning, Mei awoke to realize Mason gone. She got nervous, maybe he was killed? Now she would be stuck with the gays (as Flo constantly mentioned her ex-girlfriends). But no, Mason was there, just in the kitchen. Phew.

“What are you thinking of, my dear?” Mei almost jumped out of her skin. She hadn’t been even thinking of Mother until she scared the crap out of her.

“Nothing Mother.” Mei replied nonchalantly, as if she was not just like a cat when a cucumber is placed behind him.

“Now dear, something is obviously wrong,” Mother seemed so full of pity, it almost tricked Mei into thinking that Mother was a good guy.

“Now Mother, really, I’m alright.” She responded, then pushed away to join Mason. He nodded at her then whispered,

“Tryna trick you too? Did that to me too on my first week.” Jeez, had it already been a week? It seemed much shorter, days and nights melted into each other like ice cream in the summer. Maybe that was another part of Mother’s magic.

Mason smiled, but the bags under his eyes were deep and dark, and he wasn’t as homely as before. He was getting deathly pale, and Mei worried for him. Now this is what a crush should be. Not in this situation, obviously, she thought.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “Eating well?”

“Hell no-” Mason responded. “I don’t eat the crap Mother puts on a plate and calls ‘food’. You know what’s been for dinner lately?” He paused. Mei stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

“Lily.”

End of Chapter Seven.

Word Count: 892

Character Count: 6