Dreamland

Upon my arrival home, Lola was already in the bathroom, and Clara was in the kitchen. I greeted her when passing in front of the door, and she seemed to have noticed my army uniform - I saw the glance she gave me - but she didn't comment on it. I couldn't help but wonder what she thought of it and how I came to possess it.

I was still meditating in my room, thinking about the strange night I'd lived through when Lola yelled to me from the front door that they were leaving.

I briefly considered going to bed to finish my interrupted sleep, but I mustered the willpower to attend school. Despite the rough night, I had spent in the cabin, I managed to change into my school uniform in just a couple of minutes and rush out the door to catch up with the girls. It was a feat of willpower that I was proud of!

Although I did consider first skipping some classes, I didn't want to give the school principal any more ammunition to shoot at me, so I trudged on. I have the feeling that the old hag is hating my guts for whatever reason.

As I entered the schoolyard, feeling sleepy and with bloodshot eyes, I realized that my accomplishment was somewhat diminished by the external pressure to attend school.

In the schoolyard, everyone was talking about the Blue Cauldron concert and the riots that followed. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I stayed quiet and let others do the talking, even though most of them hadn't even been there. Luckily, the bell rang, and we had to head to our first class.

During the first break, I went to a quiet corner to eat my sandwich.

Just as I was enjoying my breakfast, Matt came up to me, looking a bit nervous. As I saw him scratching at his scalp, I chuckled, realizing that he had something to say but didn't quite know how to say it. I was starting to know him.

Suddenly, I knew what it was about: me and the boys! What else could it be to make him behave like this?

"I... I wanted to tell you something, but it's a bit awkward," he said, his cheeks turning red.

I raised an eyebrow and asked him directly, "What have you heard?"

He seemed surprised by my directness and looked at me sideways. "That you were in bed with Tom and Mike... naked?" he said, his voice trailing off at the end.

I knew that this kind of gossip traveled fast, but this was lightning fast. Even though I was ready for any kind of scene, I decided to stay calm and just sighed. I appreciated that he came to talk to me about it.

"And if that were the case?" - I answered with a sigh - “I thought girls like to spread gossip! It turns out that boys are worse! Why did Hew have to babble about it? Or was it Tom or Mike? Did they call you first thing in the morning to tell you this? Actually, I don't mind….”

I shrugged. I guess I was the one making a scene.

His eyes went wide, and he shook his head.

I took an angry bite of my sandwich.

"Oh." - he moistened his lips and looked at me awkwardly - "I thought I should tell you what is being said about you. I'm sorry, I… I mean… I don't mind…” – he sighed and looked up – “Shit! It bothers me, but it's your business and….”

It was actually amusing to see how he was getting himself cornered. Watching his struggle had, in a strange way, a calming effect on me.

“So, you don't mind if I would sleep with the two?” - I chuckled and raised a brow.

There was a start of panic in his eyes.

"I told you I do mind!"

I thought about what I said and found that statement to be true. I decided to grill him a little bit more:

"Actually, I did it." - I shrugged my shoulders, confessing - “I slept with the two of them. Tom told me that I did snore, but I think that he's talking bad about me. You know how Tom is. By the way, we were all three completely naked under one blanket, and it was my idea.”

I saw his face change colors. He looked hurt at me. Was he going to cry? Maybe I was overdoing it.

I continued wearily: "So who else did Hew inform?"

He sighed and spoke softly:

“Hew did not tell me anything. I heard some girls talking about it and thought it was nonsense. I only wanted to let you know.”

That took me by surprise. Did Hew talk with some girls before talking with Matt? With whom and when?

“Girls talking about it? Who would Hew contact here? Or was it Tom or Mike?”

I thought the two idiots were incapacitated. Tom had an ankle problem, and Mike had a fever. OK, this would not stop them from making calls or just typing shit on social media. Depending on how high Mike's fever was.

Matt wondered:

“Why would they do that?”

I shrugged:

“I don't know. To brag?" - I sighed - "Actually, we were just wet and cold after being blasted by sleet for over an hour and trying not to die of hypothermia, but who would believe me?”

Just as I said that I saw Constance waving at me from behind him. OK, the gossip mills are running at full blast. I gave her a tired smile and nodded. She glanced at Matt as she approached us.

"So you've heard the rumors too?" - I jumped straight to the core.

She nodded with a grin, looking at Matt and then back at me before she answered:

“Who did not hear them? A certain Sandra Miller overheard her parents talking about her brother being found in bed with you and Tom. Apparently, her brother was missing from home yesterday night, and her parents went to look for him, and as a result, she was left by her aunt. She was very unhappy about that. And then they woke her up early in the morning and brought her straight to school, and she didn't have her homework with her, and she didn't sleep well. So she told the teacher that it was not her fault that she did not have her homework; it was all her brother's fault!”

I covered my face with my palms. So my problem comes from an angry little girl. Oh, well. At least I know it.

I could always rely on Constance, and she proved it once more. She knew the rumor and the source and served them on a silver tablet.

Matt sighed.

“Sandra is Mike's little sister. She is here in the school in the lower classes. Mike says that she's a real nerd, and this was probably the first time in her life when she had not done her homework...”

I sighed at my turn.

“Now I have to apologize to Hew...”

Constance raised a brow but did not ask. Maybe I should explain to them what happened? I turned to Matt:

“Look, after you and Hew left, we ate, and for dessert, Tom had the brilliant idea that we should go eat some raspberries and wild strawberries. So we all went to a clearing he knew of. We found some, but a rather disappointing crop, then Tom took us to another glade further away where there was plenty.

The rain came pouring down on us just as we started to eat. The visibility was suddenly almost nil, and later on, the rain turned partially to snow.

We hurried back but lost our way a few times, then Tom sprained his ankle, and Mike and I had to carry him. It took us more than one hour to get back to the cabin. We were completely soaked by then. Actually, we were soggy after the first couple of minutes, and we were freezing. To make things worse, inside the cabin was as cold as outside.”

“What happened with Hew? Because he left as soon as he dropped me!”

“His car did not make it up the hill, so he turned back and tried again later. He tried several times until his car got stuck in the mud. After that, he walked back through the rain towards the city and called his parents to pick him up. He was probably wet and cold and tired himself. It was already late in the night when they picked him up, then they called the Millers and the Trinkmans.

Well, whatever. In the cabin, we had only one bed and one blanket, and a couple of towels. No dry clothes. I ordered them to undress, line their clothes on the chairs and get under the blanket. Later on, I managed to light a fire. Oh well, that was it... Oh, almost forgot, we drank Hew's whiskey.”

“Uh, Oh, You had only a t-shirt and shorts on! I gave your clothes to Hew. Did you get them?”

Constance raised a brow at that but abstained from commenting. Well, not entirely:

“It's April, Dolores! How could you? T-shirt and shorts? You're crazy!”

I shrugged.

“It was warm when we got there, and it was not planned that we spent the night there.” - I turned to Matt and nodded - “No, not yet. We passed by Hew's car, but they did not stop. They woke us up very early in the morning in order to save us just when it finally started to get nice and warm inside.”

Constance laughed.

“Could you not make a fire from the beginning?” - Matt asked, wondering.

I sighed: “No. There was no dry wood in the cabin or around, and we could not find anything to light up a fire, but I managed to do it later...”

He threw me a glance, and I shrugged. Constance placed a hand on my shoulder:

“Look, Dolores, sorry, good that you are not ill, but there is nothing that we can do now about this story. What did you think you did? The damage is done. If you explain you only wanted to warm yourself, it becomes even more fun, you know?”

I nodded and shrugged. My reputation was not really good anyway, mainly because of Clara and her sharp tongue, but also because I didn't care. To think I was a freaking virgin, probably the last virgin in our class except maybe our history teacher, and I managed to have the worst reputation by far.

We were interrupted by the bell and had to go back inside for the next hour.

During the next break, I got a call from my mother. Love my ma; she knows when I have a break and calls only then if she calls in the morning. No, it was not about this particular night, but almost as bad. A certain Mrs. Cutler had called her to talk with her, from mother to mother. It seems I was bothering her son. She did not say it directly, but it could be understood from the way she talked and the questions she asked. So my mother wondered, is this boy worth the trouble? Do I like him? Is he OK? That's what I should care about!

“Love you, Dolores!”

“I love you, mom! Bye!”

To put salt in my wounds, I met Joe during the other break. He greeted me in passing, and from the look he gave me, I knew he knew about my 'threesome' experience.

The idiot was obviously in good shape, sporting not even a scratch, not a bruised eye, and he didn't bother to ask me how I got out of that concert alive! I might have died there, and he only greets me 'in passing'?

That stung my heart.