Gabe - Four

Gabe

            I had narrowly escaped the showers, but not before I wound up naked. It had been a tough spot. Bowing out completely definitely would have aroused suspicion, but the other option was no better.

How could I stand there with them? What if they thought I was looking at them the wrong way? What if one of them looked at me? Oh, God, what then? I couldn’t let that happen, and I was trying to convince myself that if I didn’t let myself worry about it, they wouldn’t think it either.

            I half-ran back to the dorm, scared that one of them would come after me. I kicked the snow and cursed at myself for caring so much. Why do I give a damn what they think? I wasn’t sure if I was muttering or just thinking it, but either way I was angrier with myself than anyone else. Anyway, I knew bloody well why, so it wasn’t a very helpful question to ask.

            I was glad to be back in the room; I was starting to feel like I was always being watched. I flopped down on my bunk, buried my head in the pillow, and groaned. The paranoia was impossible to ignore. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had lived in England for my whole life before going to Italy, and, though the way people saw me probably hadn’t changed, I knew I had not been so preoccupied with it before.

It was so hard not to think about what happened in Italy, and being alone only made it worse. The emptiness was everywhere, and, when I let myself dwell on it, I felt like I was being smothered.

Then the door opened and I sat up as fast as I could, quickly realizing that some of the suffocated feeling had come from the fact that my face was still submerged in the pillow. The other guys stalked in, shivering and looking powerfully pissed.

“God f*****g damn!” cursed Jim. “Goddamn it, man! What are we going to do about those guys?” He kicked the desk.

“Damned if I know,” grumbled Hersch, who leaned against the wall and let his head fall backwards against the brick.

“Wait, what’s going on?” I couldn’t tell if I was glad or disappointed that I had missed whatever they were talking about.

“We got ambushed,” Erich growled as he dropped angrily into the chair, slouching with his arms across his knees. He looked at the floor as he spoke, “or, they did, I guess,” he said, motioning to Jim and Hersch, “I missed it, but seems like we’ve all signed on for more than we bargained for here.” He looked up at me and went on before I could question him again. “Those arschlochs from the west block are after us.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, getting frustrated that I still didn’t understand.

“God, Amery, would you just spit it out?” Jim yelled, obviously irritated too. It surprised me that he was able to talk like that to the one guy we were all definitely afraid of. “Gabe, they want to test us by making us break into Knight’s stash.”

Great. Just when things couldn’t get any worse. I ran my hands through my hair nervously. “Bloody hell,” I muttered, “so… what will they do to us when we don’t do it.”

Erich’s head snapped up and a recoiled automatically. “When?” he roared, making me automatically regret saying anything. “‘When we don’t do it?’ Are you kidding me, Moretti? You think we’ve got a choice?”

I forced myself to look him in the eye, trying not to seem intimidated. “Erich, we can’t get on Knight’s bad side. In case you didn’t notice, he’s already not too keen on us and he’s the one who can get our asses kicked out of here.”

            “Hey, you weren’t there!” said Jim, spinning around and kicking whatever was in his way. “You should have seen how they looked at us, what they… s**t!” He stupidly kicked the boiler we watched him hop across the room holding his injured foot.

            “I’m sure it was bad, but I don’t see how we can pull it off. Besides, I don’t know about you guys but I don’t have another option if I get expelled.” They all shut up for a second and looked at the ground. That was the first time it occurred to me that maybe they didn’t have anywhere else to go either.

            Erich surprised me by taking my side. “Maybe he’s right. I mean, if Knight catches…”

            “Guys, don’t worry about Knight,” Hersch cut in unexpectedly. “I’ve got him covered. I… I know how to deal with him.”

            The three of us looked at him in silence for a second, confused as to what he meant by that.

“Well, goddamn!” exclaimed Erich, standing up and slapping his leg. “See, kamerad,” he said, pulling me to the feet and pounding me on the back. “We’ve got this in the bag.” It was the first time I had seen him smile, and when all the coldness in his eyes melted away I knew I couldn’t say no.

            I couldn’t help but grin back at them. “Let’s show those West Block Wankers what we’re made of!”

Reviews

[Dakota]

Here we go! What's Hersch got up his sleeve? It was interesting to see how quickly Erich began to trust Herschel, but I'm glad to see it! Gabe really does need to stop worrying so much about what everyone else thinks about him and it was nice to see a chapter where Jim wasn't comparing where he is to what he thought it was going to be.

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[Coyote Poetry]

Good to have a problem to bring four people together. The West Block Wankers may of create a big problem. No weakness in this chapter. The story is amazing. I believe I read another version a long time ago. You are a very good writer. I like the storyline and the characters. A outstanding chapter.
Coyote