Goody, Like Two Shoes

Just about to press the 'talk' button, a hand covered mine, and a voice said,

"Don't do it."

x~x~x

I stared in horror, dropping the walkie-talkie to the ground as Frank sprung up, laughing wildly and wiping fake tears from his face as he stared down at a smirking Mikey Way whose hand was covering mine.

And then it dawned on me.
It had been a prank, a stupid stunt, in which Millie and I were lured to believe that, due to lack of a break, Mikey Way had suffered a major asthma attack and "died".

I stood up, furious, and the penny only seemed to drop in Millie's mind, as she was also outraged, losing her nerve.

"How could you?!" she yelled, ignoring Frank's and Mikey's laughter, "That was childish and stupid and -- and you are fucking assholes, did you know that?!"

I watched in awe as my best friend seemed to turn from a shy, quiet girl into a replica of the Incredible Hulk. And, at that moment, if she had attempted to murder the two, now quietly giggling, boys, I wouldn't have stopped her, but would've sat back, sipped a vodka tonic, and - just for extra effect - let my dog do her business on their shallow graves.

Unfortunately, murder wasn't on the cards today; but Mikey and Frank both received slaps to the cheek that sent their heads reeling the opposite direction.

Millie, rubbing her sore palm, walked back to me and linked her arm in mine, and we both relished the looks of bewilderment on the boys' faces.

"Now, if you two nitwits wouldn't mind, my best friend and I are going to Deer Point - and we'd appreciate it if you left us well alone." We walked a few steps away from them before Millie stopped and turned to face them again, "I thought you'd both like to know that I loved dissecting dead animals in junior year. So, I'd advise you boys to have fun with your group masturbation while your penises are still intact. Goodbye."

It was only when we arrived at Deer Point, five minutes later and in silence, that it finally sunk in what had just happened in the last fifteen minutes.

Millie squealed, sitting on the wall overlooking the sheer drop to where the lake was.
"Did I really tell them to masturbate together, while they could?" Millie asked, withdrawing back into her shell.

I nodded, gazing through the binoculars at the opposite shore, into the clearing where the bears lived, and I sighed - there was no movement there at all, no sign of any bears.

"Those boys pushed me too far, this time." Millie lisped, digging into a salad sandwich.

"I know," I replied, "I have no idea what their problem is."

Millie laughed sarcastically, "Sasha, people like them have had it out for people like us since the start of time; it's an ever raging war that will probably go on for years after both of us die. We just have to put up with it - no matter how hard it gets - why should we change just to part of the majority?"

I was just about to answer, when I let out a squawk, "M-Millie, b-b-bears, over the-there!"

Millie stood next to me, looking through the other set of binoculars, "Wow. Wow."

I grabbed my notepad and pen, jotting down notes as the black bears wandered around their home.

"Religious experience?" Millie whispered, smiling at me.

I smiled back, chewing on the end of my biro, "Definitely."

Our time at Deer Point seemed to fly; two and a half hours wasn't long enough for me to study the bears as in depth as I wanted, but I guessed that we had to leave before it became too dark to even find our way to camp on a signposted pathway.

Just as we were leaving the Point, a stag ran out of some thickets, and I smiled, "Touché."

"Did that stag seem startled to you?" Millie asked, walking closer to me as a light breeze picked up.

Just the mere question got me nervous, and I linked my arm in Millie's, walking a little faster, "Uum, I don't know...?"

The light began to fade immensely and the wind grew colder, making us both shiver.

"Shit." Millie swore, "Is it just me, or would you feel a lot safer if those idiots were still with us?"

"I'd have to agree with you." I whispered, suddenly hearing rustles behind us, and I knew we weren't alone.

"Did you hear that?" Millie asked, huddling closer to me.

I shivered and pointed, "I did. It came from over there."

"Oh god. Oh god. I never got to say a proper goodbye to my snails." Millie began to murmur, "I'm scared, I'm scared."

"I'm scared, too." I whimpered as the rustling grew louder, and I swore I could hear grunts or heavy breathing, "Should we make a run for it?"

"Yes. Yes, we should."

We were ready to run, when a dim beam of light permeated the small area in which we were in - Millie and I screamed then -, and Mikey and Frank tumbled onto the pathway, both breathing hard.

"We've got to go!" Mikey said, grabbing Millie's and my forearms, "Now! Run!"

"What's going on?" I asked, wrenching my sleeve from his grasp, "Stop tugging!"

When he no longer held onto me, but was still holding onto Millie, he yelled "Run, goddamnit!", and the two of them ran in the direction of camp, leaving Frank and I together.

"Sasha, we've got to go now. Really, this isn't a joke." Frank said hurriedly, "There's a bear on this side of the lake - a brown bear - Mikey and I saw it, and it started chasing us."

"What? You're lying, there's no brown bears in this national park. And, anyway, they're so vicious that the rangers wouldn't even have them over on this side, where people are. This is just another sick joke of yours!"

"It's not!" he was beginning to lose his patience, "It's not! I swear on my mom's life, on my li--"
Frank stopped when he noticed my terrified look, "Sa--"

My eyes were glued to the large, brown shape moving between the trees, sniffing the air.

Frank's eyes widened and he whispered quietly, "Bear?"

I nodded, frozen with fear, and a loud growl pierced the air.

"Believe me now?" he asked, holding his hand out for me to take.

"I believe you." I clasped my hand around his and we ran as fast as we could.

The crunching of the gravel notified the bear to our presence, and it was hot on our trail, growling angrily.

The minutes passed, my legs were growing sore, the bear was still close by, and Frank was a few steps in front of me, his hand sweaty and clammy.

We rounded a corner with such speed that my grip on his hand slipped and I was sent skidding along the gravel, my left knee making a loud crack as my leg was jolted.

I lay on my stomach, and could barely call out, "Frank!"

When I heard the crunching of gravel, I thought he'd come back for me, so I rolled onto my back, but looked up into the face of the bear - and it had to be more than six feet tall.

I was done for.

I'd probably get eaten by my favourite animal.

"Oi, fucker!" came a yell, and I knew for a fact that Frank hadn't left me.

The small flashlight he carried was hurled at the bear, and, while in its daze, Frank dashed forward, attempting to get me to my feet.

"My leg." I groaned.

Before I knew it, I was swept up into his arms and before long I was set down beneath a tree, sheltered by bushes, and the bear was long gone.

"Are you okay?" Frank asked quietly, rooting through my bag for a bottle of water to clean up my numerous cuts, "Sasha?"

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" he asked again, spilling some water onto a tissue and wiping my bloody cheek.

I let him continue to play nurse, and then he sat next to me once he was finished, resting his back against the tree trunk, "That was too fucking close."

I ignored the statement and looked at him, "What were you and Mikey doing out here? I'd assumed you'd gone back to camp when Millie and I left you."

He shook his head, scratching his neck, "We followed you. Mrs. Jacobs would have murdered us if we'd gone back without you; and, anyway, Mikey and I didn't know what might've happened to you out here, on your own. Anything could've gone wrong."

I watched as he stood up, stretching his legs, "I'm going to get help; your leg looks really messed up."

Only then did I glance down at my leg, and the pain instantly came back. It was bent at an awkward angle and I could barely move it.

"Frank, no. Don't leave me. Please." I grabbed the front of his shirt and I thought I could see the faint trace of a weak smile on his lips.

"Okay, I'll carry you."

He was just about to lift me up when I realised that I still had the walkie-talkie.

The first person to answer the call was, luckily, Mr. Way, and he promised us he come get us.

Less than twenty minutes later, Mr. Way, Jeremy, and a group of rangers arrived, and I was in tears.

Frank told the rangers about the brown bear, and they set off to capture it.

"There you go, dear." Jeremy smiled weakly, handing me a bottle of water, and then he turned to Mr. Way who was giving Frank a hug, "Let's get her up."

Within ten minutes, we were at the camp, and students, who had been sent to their cabins, were peering out of their windows to see what the kerfuffle was about.

I was taken into the teacher's cabin, where a doctor was waiting, and Mrs. Jacobs fussed over me.

With my jeans now torn and on the floor, after having been cut off my legs so that there was no more damage done to my knee, Mrs. Jacobs turned to Frank who was sitting with Mr. Way on a bed, the opposite side of the room.

"Well, young man, I think it's about time you got to bed."

Frank nodded, making no fuss, and headed towards the door, "Goodnight."

I reached out to him, but he'd already turned his back.

I didn't even had the chance to tell him that I was grateful for him helping me.

"Alright," the doctor said, "I have no anaesthesia with me right now, so I'm afraid this is going to be very painful."

I looked from the doctor to Mr. Way, who had just taken a seat beside me, "What is going to be painful?"

"We're going to have to push your knee back into place, and then bandage it up; your knee cap has come out of place, basically. I'd really advise you to hold someone's hand right now."

Mr. Way gave me his hand and rubbed his free hand along my back, "Break every bone in my hand if you need to..."

And, well, I'm sure I did.