CYOA Page 139

[lumy12]

Page One Hundred Thirty-Nine

"Let's just find somewhere safe to spend the night," you decide. "Maybe I just imagined the guy, I dunno."

"We'll lay low, just in case," says Joel. "No campfire."

"Whatever. What about..." You nod toward the bitch.

"What about her?"

"Should we just..." You don't want to sound cold... maybe you should keep your mouth shut.

"Let's talk to her first. C'mon."

You follow Joel back over to where the woman is sitting, her knees pulled up, head buried in them. You can't tell if she's crying.

"All right, miss," Joel says -- in a tone usually reserved for you! Calm, gentle... "There's no one around that we can see. We're gonna go find a place to settle down before dark."

She lifts her head (no evidence of tears, thankfully) (...not thankfully because you give a shit, but because you don't think Joel would be immune to them) (--no, you don't like this bitch!). "You're... oh. Right. Sure. I should do that, too... I guess... thanks for your help."

...She's not begging to come with us? Maybe you don't hate her after all! "Bye," you say hastily, heading off to mount your horse.

But Joel hesitates. "Will you be all right?"

She shrugs.

"Are you just passin' through here, too? You don't live around here?"

"No... I got separated from my group. I'm still looking for them."

"I see." Joel glances at you, and you give him a nearly-imperceptible shake of your head.

The woman stands up slowly. "If I could trouble you for some water, I'd really appreciate it."

"Of course. Here." Joel offers her his canteen.

Great... so they're swapping spit now. Sort of. But it's not like you guys brought an extra canteen, or even a cup. She could lap the water out of a bowl, though... like a dog...

"Thanks... what's your name?" she asks. He answers her, and she replies with "I'm Lexie" -- even though Joel didn't ask (...but... okay, that's pretty standard after someone introduces themselves).

"That's Ellie over there." He glances at you again, and this time you give him a dirty look.

"Nice to meet you both." And she finally starts buttoning up her shirt -- or, trying to. Her hands are trembling.

You watch as Joel notices this and then pointedly looks away. Well, what is he supposed to do? You try not to be annoyed. "Joel, we should get going."

The bitch -- Lexie -- isn't about to let that happen after all. "First... do you mind...? My fingers don't seem to want to work right now."

"Uh..."

Oh HELL no! You should've seen that coming. You hop off your horse and stifle a sigh (or is it a scream?). "I'll help you."

"Thanks, kiddo."

"Yeah, thanks," Lexie says, giving you what appears to be a genuine smile. Maybe you are just being a bitch...

...Hey, why did Joel call me 'kiddo' just now? You like it still... sometimes... (you prefer 'baby girl', but he reserves that for more private moments)... does he want her to think we're NOT together, like a couple?

You do a really good job dressing her. Buttons all the way up to her throat (even though she tells you not to bother with the top two -- ha!), jeans zipped and buttoned. Nothing left for her to use to try to get Joel to touch her now. "There you go."

"Thanks," she says again.

"No problem. After... well, I'm sure you don't want a man touching you. Ever again." ...Too far?

"Oh, he didn't-- I mean... nothing happened."

"It's not nothing. The almost-happening is still pretty bad." Maybe you do feel a morsel of compassion for this woman...

"Maybe... but I know Joel's a good man."

...and maybe you don't! Something about her tone gets under your skin. You don't even like her saying his name. You force a chuckle. "You don't even know him. He's actually a bad man."

"Oh, you admit it now?" Joel says... with amusement, because apparently he knows that you're annoyed with this woman.

"I don't believe that for one second," says Lexie. She looks at Joel. "I can tell. You're a gentleman."

"I wouldn't go that far," Joel mutters.

"I would. And there's not that many of those left in the world."

Oh, GAG! Please tell me Joel's not falling for the doe eyes... the silky voice... You don't know if she's flirting or not, as you're not very familiar with what flirting entails other than sexual innuendo. You just know it's annoying as fuck.

"I don' know about that. Maybe I used to be one."

...He IS falling for it! He's being a little weird! "Yeah -- not anymore," you add. "Now he's just a dick. Can we get going? I'm starving."

Lexie seems surprised to hear you call Joel a dick, but she lets it slide. "Oh, I'm sorry -- don't let me keep you."

"You hungry?" Joel asks -- asks her!

You could kick yourself for bringing up food. You're not even that hungry, actually.

"Well..." She looks almost embarrassed.

"When was the last time you ate?" he presses.

"Um... yesterday, I think?"

..."I think"? How would you not KNOW when you last ate if you're so hungry that--

"Come eat with us, then," Joel offers (like a true gentleman!). "I insist. We have plenty."

She smiles, which (unfortunately) makes her even prettier. "Wow, that... would be amazing. That's really nice of you. Thank you!"

You should've seen this coming, too. Okay, if that's how this is gonna go... "You can ride with me!" you say cheerfully. "Come on!"

She accepts the offer, probably because she can't think of a plausible reason to ride with Joel, and you pat yourself on the back for being a step ahead in her little game now.

You and Joel ride down the side road you were initially eyeing for this purpose, and you ride through a trailer park (or, a place that's full of mobile homes that don't appear to be very mobile?). You could keep riding in search of a farmhouse or something, but Joel decides he likes the anonymity of one home in a cluster versus one lone house. Just in case that guy is still skulking about. You point out that the horses will still be hard to hide, and he's okay with that. Says he'll park them right outside his window -- and you'll need to have the windows open anyway because it's bound to be musty inside.

You endure a cold supper in which you have to make polite conversation with Lexie. It's either that or sit in awkward silence, and you tend to find that more unbearable than talking (quite the opposite of Joel there, really). Besides, you've noticed that if there's a gap in conversation, the bitch focuses on Joel. So you ask her about herself. Her family, where she's from, how she came to be separated from her people, all that shit. And you feed her the Joel-approved (made-up) story of how you and Joel met, et cetera.

You're not sure how Joel would feel about you discussing the ways in which your relationship has evolved... this is the first time you've been outside of Jackson together as a couple. Or sort-of couple... whatever you are. You're guessing he wouldn't like it.

...But ohhhhh how I want to tell this bitch HANDS OFF!

Joel is mostly quiet -- in keeping with his nature -- but you can tell he's on edge. His eyes keep darting around... at one point, he gets up and walks around, mumbling something to make the two of you think he's just going somewhere to pee (quickly rejecting your offer to 'keep him company'), but you get the feeling that he's just not completely satisfied there's no one around. You can't blame him -- you're the one who actually saw the man in the woods. Glimpsed... whatever. You're not totally at ease yourself... but that might just be because you're absorbing some of Joel's tenseness? (you swear to God, it really does feel like you're the same person sometimes!) He doesn't say anything when he returns, and shuts you down when you start to ask him about it. You feel like if you were alone, he would tell you what he's thinking, but he doesn't want to scare the fucking damsel, so...

Lexie doesn't seem to be afraid at all, actually. Of course, she doesn't know Joel, so she doesn't know that the way he's acting means he's... concerned, at least a little. And, well... you've felt that way before -- perfectly safe, even though you're Outside, simply due to Joel's presence. You felt like that when you were too naïve to realize that Joel is not actually a superhero. You were so young, though, whereas this bitch... she's probably ten years older than you. At least. Shouldn't she have more of a clue?

She's pleasant enough about helping out with the 'nighttime chores'... more helpful than you would have expected, really. You wonder if she's doing what you did on your Boston trip with Joel: hoping that making herself useful will somehow equate to Joel caring about her. You're annoyed at yourself for thinking that, because it sort of implies that she's going to be with you for the rest of your trip. Ugh! NO-- you must make sure that doesn't happen.

With all of the little trailer homes around here, there's no need for her to stay in 'yours'... but of course that's what she wants to do. She says she'd feel so much safer with the two of you than on her own, even if she's right next door.

...At least Joel doesn't immediately say yes?

"If the number of bedrooms is a problem... there's two beds in there, right?" she asks either of you.

"Right," says Joel.

"It's okay -- I could sleep on the floor. I don't care. I'd still sleep better than I would by myself."

Joel hesitates, then tells her, "You wouldn't have to..."

"I'd hate for you to sleep on the floor on my account."

"You could have a bed," he insists. "That ain't a problem."

"So... does that mean I can stay with you?" she asks with a hopeful smile.

"As long as Ellie don' mind."

Oh, you mind. But if you say so, you come off sounding like a heartless dick. You're glad Joel is giving you a say (sometimes you think he just forgets that he should). "Sure. Whatever."

"Thank you! Both of you!" she exclaims.

To your surprise, she hugs you. You hug her back stiffly. Then she turns to Joel... Ohhhh, of course! She really just wanted to get close to HIM. ...yep, she's hugging him longer than necessary... which forces Joel to pull back before it gets awkward. Or... more awkward?

"Joel, you don't have to sleep on the floor," she says... slyly? Coyly? Something-annoying-ly...

"Well..." ...That's all he says.

Hmm. So he DOESN'T want to tell her...

"Actually," she continues, "I'd feel even safer if you were... right next to me..."

Bitch, please! You can't see the expression on her face, but you see the one on Joel's; he feels uncomfortable enough that he takes another step back from her. Well, sorry, Joel, but-- "Oh, he won't be sleeping on the floor anyway," you tell her coolly.

"He... what -- you? You would be?"

"Me sleep on the floor?" Ha! Like Joel would let you. "...Yeah. Yeah, that's generally how we do it. Joel gets the bed, I get the floor. Cuz I'm younger and all."

Joel gives you a what-the-hell-are-you-doing look, and you smirk at him. You're just having a little fun before dropping the bomb!

Either she believes you, or she's really into wishful thinking, because she takes that seriously. "Oh but really, you don't have to! You could both sleep in a bed, and I... well... I was thinking..." And then she fucking sidles up to Joel and whispers in his fucking EAR.

What the FUCK.



Continue to page 221.

Comments

Carlos

[(Anonymous)]

Ahhhh... another jealousy part I like it... LOL

Re: Carlos

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Lolol poor Ellie, she's so fun to torment!