by C. E. Wilson
“How did this even start? Why are you guys hitting each other? You’re friends! You were just helping each other out only a few hours ago! What’s wrong with you two?”
Micah looked away, feeling ashamed as Mason rubbed his jaw and groaned.
Orion looked at Archer. “Can you please try and explain to me what happened?”
“I honestly don’t know everything that happened.”
“Tell me what you do know.”
“It was just a little fun. We were all drinking and having a good time and then something happened. I think Micah had a little too much to drink and he left us for a minute, then suddenly he was chasing someone and then he and Mason were fighting. I didn’t know what to do.”
“Micah?” Orion tried, walking up to his friend. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said, his wild, bloodshot eyes looking towards the house. “Shit, I see my father’s light is on. He’ll be out here any minute.”
“Shit,” Orion muttered. “Mason, what happened? You’re usually so calm, that’s why I always want you helping me with school projects. What would make you start fighting with Micah?”
“Orion, I don’t know. He was chasing this guy and I tried to calm him down and then suddenly tackled me and started punching me in the face! Do you see my lip? Dammit, I don’t know what started it. Maybe Archer saw something that I missed. My jaw’s killing me and I’m probably going to have to get stitches. He attacked me, Orion, that’s all I can say. I don’t know why, but he suddenly attacked me.”
“Now I’m really starting to get pissed off,” Orion said, looking at everyone. “If someone doesn’t explain how this all really started, I’ll march right up the Headmaster’s room and tell him what I’ve seen.”
“He’d punish you too!” Mason said. “Please, I can drive myself, just don’t tell the Headmaster.”
“No, you’ve been drinking. I’ll take you to the hospital but I need a few minutes. Now everybody listen – we can’t have this,” Orion said. “We have to host the college tournament tomorrow and you guys are getting drunk and fighting! Do you have any idea how bad it’s going to look with a volunteer in stitches and a vice-president with a black eye? Archer, please, I trust you more than anyone else here, what the hell happened?”
“Don’t ask him, he’s friends with Micah. You can’t trust him.”
“Can’t trust me?” Archer asked, looking upset. “Mason, you know me better than that. I hate saying terrible things about my friends, but the truth is the most important thing here. Here’s what I saw. Mason and I were talking around the fire when someone ran up to the fire pit, screaming for Micah to leave him alone. Micah appeared, threatening to kill him. Mason tried to calm things down but Micah kept shouting and making a scene. He was so loud that the guy he was chasing ran away and I didn’t see where he went. Next thing I know, Micah had Mason pinned down and was punching him the face and Mason was trying to defend himself. They were rolling around, fighting, when you showed up. That’s all I know.”
“A fight for no other reason than losing your senses,” Orion said gruffly, covering his face with his hand for a moment.
“No one’s perfect, Orion, you know that,” Archer said. “We all drink and we all like to have a good time. I really don’t think Micah meant to hurt Mason but he did. I’m sure whoever stirred Micah up like this is at fault, but he’s gone now and I hardly remember his face.”
“Don’t defend Micah,” Orion said, turning away from Archer. “Micah, I know this sucks, but I can’t have you showing your face at the tournament this weekend. Not with that black eye. We can’t condone fighting at our school.”
“What’s going on?” Devony’s voice asked sleepily.
“It’s nothing,” Orion said. “Now look what you’ve all done! The Headmaster’s awake and Devony is too! Now I’m pissed.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, don’t worry about it, Dev. Tad, take her home before the Headmaster decides to do a thorough check of the property. Take the others with you too, I don’t want them driving. You are sober, aren’t you, Tad?”
“I stopped drinking a while ago,” Tad said, motioning for the others to follow him. “Micah, come on, you can follow us back to the house.”
“No. Micah can clean up this mess,” Orion said. “Mason, let’s get you to the hospital,” he said, helping Mason back to his feet. “Archer?”
“I’ll stay with him,” Archer said, taking a seat in front of the fire. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Do whatever you want,” Orion said over his shoulder as he helped Mason walk across the yard.
“How are you?” Archer asked.
“I…I’m still trying to remember what the hell happened.”
“Well it’s over, Micah. Nothing can be done now.”
“I was supposed to help out with the tournament! What am I going to do when my dad finds out? What’s he going to do when he sees this shiner? He’ll probably say that I can’t be vice-president.”
Archer tried not to roll his eyes. “As if that would happen. Don’t make it as dramatic as all that,” he said. “The tournament’s tomorrow and it’s stressing Orion out – just give him some time to calm down. He’s going to need all the help he can get to make sure this whole thing goes well. I’m sure you’ll be back helping him Saturday if not Friday. He likes you, Micah, you know that. He wouldn’t have made you vice-president if he didn’t. This is just so the school doesn’t look bad, not because he doesn’t like you.”
“What the hell’s wrong with me?” Micah said as he held his head in his hands. “Getting drunk? Starting a fight? I can’t believe I punched Mason. I’m never drinking again.”
“Let’s not say things we don’t mean. Who were you chasing, anyway?”
“I don’t remember. I don’t know.”
“How can’t you remember? It happened five minutes ago.”
“I just remember him making fun of me, and I remember running after him, but I don’t remember exactly what he said that set me off. That’s horrible, right? It’s horrible that I fought with someone and I don’t even know who and I don’t even know why! Orion was right not to let me participate in the tournament. So much for putting that on my applications next year.”
“Oh you’re fine,” Archer said, patting him heavily on the back. “You don’t even seem that drunk anymore.”
“I sobered up when I realized I was punching Mason.” Micah buried his face deep in his hands and let out a drunken sob. “What the hell’s wrong with me?”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, Micah.”
“I’m not.”
“Instead of blubbering, why don’t you do something about it?”
“What the hell can I do? Ask him if I can help with the tournament again? Make sure that he doesn’t tell my father? Orion doesn’t seem like he even trusts me anymore! He looked at me like I was a dog with rabies or something.”
“Takes one to know one,” Archer mumbled before putting on a smile. “So you got a little out of control, it happens to the best of us! It’s fine, so you’ll lay off the beer for awhile. No harm done.”
“It wasn’t just the beer! I think someone was sneaking me drinks.”
“How could someone sneak you drinks? You were making most of them.”
“That’s why it’s so weird,” Micah grumbled.
“Whatever happened, it’s over now. Do you want to help out this weekend?”
“You know I do.”
“So here’s what you should do. Call Devony.”
“Devony? Tonight? But it’s already so late.”
“Just call her,” Archer pressed on. “Tell her your side of the story and ask her if she can talk to Orion about making sure that you help out with the tournament this weekend. Say you’re worried about losing your position as vice-president and still want to help the school in any way you can. Like you said earlier, Devony’s a nice girl. She’ll do whatever it takes to help anyone.
Ask her to plead your case to Orion. I’d bet your father’s money that by tomorrow all will be forgotten and you’ll be helping out with the tournament.”
“Actually that’s not a bad idea,” Micah said with a sniff.
“Of course it’s not. It’s my idea. And I’m helping because I can see how upset you are.”
“I know you are. I’ll go inside and call Devony. Her father will let her speak to me. He’s always liked me.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I’ll clean up here.”
“Are you sure, Archer? I couldn’t ask you—”
“I insist. Go now and call her. She’ll help you.”
“Thanks, Archer. I appreciate it,” Micah said, standing up. “I underestimated you. You really are a good friend.”
“Go now.”
Chapter Four
“Am I good, or am I amazing?” Archer asked when he heard rustling from the woods several minutes after Micah had left.
“You’re damn good,” Roderick said as he walked towards the now-extinguished firepit. “Though Micah did get a pretty good hit on me.”
“A small price to pay. Trust me, this is the best way to win Devony. She’s so innocent and naive that she won’t even realize she’s crossing a line by standing up for another man so much. Can you believe Micah actually took my advice?”
“I told you that you were good. Your words were so believable.”
“And just think, Roderick! Micah will be pestering Devony constantly and Devony will be bothering Capetown! There’s no way he’ll believe she’s just trying to help – he’ll think she has other intentions about wanting to keep Micah around.”
“What are you going to do?” Roderick asked.
“Me? I’m going to talk to Capetown and make sure he suspects Devony is up to no good. I’ll be sure to mention Devony’s flirting with him and hint that it’s why she’s working so hard to have him help out with the tournament. The harder Devony works to help Micah, the worse it’s going to look to Orion. And that, Roderick, is exactly what I plan on doing tomorrow.”
“I don’t know,” Roderick said, rubbing the back his neck. “This seems like a lot of work. My nose hurts like a bitch. I was thinking about giving this whole thing up.”
“Are you kidding? Don’t be so impatient! So you got nicked on the nose, it happens. Consider it a battle wound. What more could you want, Roderick? Orion no longer trusts Micah and that’s a good thing, so don’t you dare wuss out on me. We’re seeing this through to the end. Do you understand?”
“Sure,” Roderick said. “Is there anything else?”
“This is where my girlfriend is going to help us out,” Archer explained. “I’ll have her talk to Devony and make sure she knows Micah was wronged and has put in a lot of work for this tournament and shouldn’t be turned away because of some little fight. Plus, I’m going to have to spend a bunch of time talking to Capetown tomorrow. I have to make sure he sees Micah and Devony talking.”
“So that’s how it’s going to work?”
“That’s all, my friend. Not a bad plan, right? Time is the key. With the tournament tomorrow, Orion won’t have a lot of time to think because he’ll be so stressed. He’ll listen to anything I have to say because he trusts me now. We’ll have to move quickly, we can’t allow him time to think. I’ll talk to Capetown first thing tomorrow.”
“And me?”
“Sit back and don’t mess things up. Let me do what I need to.”
Act III
Chapter One
The following morning Micah woke up feeling more confident than he had the night before, having spoken to Devony about the situation. He knew she would beg Orion to let him help with the tournament. His father had asked him about his eye and he had casually responded that he had been goofing around a bit too much with his friends. His father was in such a rush that he didn’t bother pressing him further.
“Do you need a ride?” he asked his son.
“No,” Micah said as he smoothed some longer pieces of his dark hair in front of his swollen eye.
“I can call the car around.”
“I’m fine. Archer’s picking me up.”
“Oh? I thought you didn’t care for him.”
“He’s alright. I’m getting a ride with him and Devony.”
“Why aren’t you taking your own car? You do realize that the tournament starts tonight, don’t you?”
“Yeah, Pops. I know all about the tournament. In case you’ve forgotten, I helped to plan it.”
“It’s a great opportunity for the school.”
“It’s a basketball tournament,” Micah said, rolling his eyes. “Go sports, go.”
Micah’s father looked at his son more closely, his glance falling over his black eye. “And you said that you were just goofing around with the guys last night?”
“Yes.”
“Should I call the doctor? I’m don’t mind stopping over there with you—”
“Just let it go, dad!” Micah said, brushing past him. “My ride’s here.”
“Behave yourself. It’s a big day for me...and the school.”
“I’ll try,” he said, shutting the door before his father could sneak in another word. Jogging towards Archer’s car, he heard the door unlock and he slid into the passenger seat. “Morning.”
“Good morning,” Archer grunted, backing out of the driveway as soon as the door shut. “How’d you sleep?”
“Terribly. I was so worried about what my dad was going to say about this shiner that I could barely keep my eyes closed.”
“Heh, from here it looks like one of them is nearly closed right now.”
“Shut up, Archer. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You brought it up,” Archer said with a shrug before his eyes shifted over to look at Micah. “Did you call Devony last night like I told you?”
“Yeah I did, and I have to say she was pretty understanding about the whole thing. I’m going to talk to her again today.”
“Ellie’s already at school,” Archer said. “Talk to her first.”
“Is Devony with her?”
“Probably, I don’t know. She picked up Devony for me this morning. I just needed a break from her.”
“It would have been convenient if you picked her up this morning. I could have talked to her in the car.”
“Just talk to Ellie when you see her,” Archer said, falling silent for the rest of the short trip to school. Turning the radio as high as his ears could stand, he hoped that Micah’s mind was busy at work. The guy looked terrible even if you didn’t consider the bluish mark hovering around his left eye. Archer wanted to smirk but he didn’t dare. He needed this plan to go smoothly.
Pulling into the lot, Archer smiled when he saw Ellie right at the side of the parking lot, smoking an electric cigarette. “I swear that girl has no shame,” he said. “I’ll drop you off here and you can walk her to the building and have your chat, alright? I have some things to take care of this morning.”
“I understand. Thanks again, Archer. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. I know you and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but you’ve always been there for me.”
Archer unlocked the door, jutting his chin outward. “Go, so you’re not late.”
Micah climbed out from the car and Archer pulled away to find a parking space. Ellie continued to puff delicately, blowing the water vapor into the cool air.
“Morning,” Ellie said, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
“Good morning. I guess you know what happened last night?”
“I know as much as Archer decides to tell me,” Ellie said. “Come on, let’s walk.” Once the two had fallen into step walking towards the building, Ellie took another long drag off her cigarette. “I’m sorry to hear about the fight. If I had been there then I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened. Archer said that you called Dev last night?”
“I did.”
“Dev talked to me about it this morning and she�
��s planning to talk to Orion. You really shouldn’t have hit that guy, Micah. You know your father’s going to find out about it eventually, don’t you? Orion did what he did to show that he’s loyal to the school’s reputation before anything else.”
“I understand that, but—”
“Let me finish. While he can’t possibly let you help out with the tournament, I don’t think he has any plans to remove you from being his vice-president.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“I can’t say I’m totally sure, but I’d like to think even Orion wouldn’t go so far.”
“I still have to talk to Devony.”
“Again? Micah, are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, you called her last night.”
“I need to talk to her face-to-face. She needs to see how desperate I am. I can’t get that across over the phone. You have to set it up so I can talk to her again.”
Ellie rolled her eyes before taking a final long drag off her e-cigarette and tucking it into her bag. “I don’t like it. If you spend too much time talking to her, Orion may get the wrong idea.”
“But he won’t talk to me!” Micah said, reaching out and grabbing her shoulders. “Ellie, you have to give me a chance to talk to her alone. I have to clear this up. Before tonight if possible.”
“You’re asking a lot.”
“I know I am and that’s why I trust you to help me.”
She shook her head in disagreement but she couldn’t deny that he looked frantic. “Alright,” she relented, shrugging out of his grasp. “I’m sure I can find a place for you two to talk.”
“Thank you! Thanks so much, Ellie!” Micah said, ignoring her discomfort and pulling her into a hug. “I can’t thank you enough!”
“Just don’t make me regret it.”
Chapter Two
Orion looked up from his desk and set down the papers. “What do you mean, he called her?” he asked Archer as he ran a hand over his short dark hair. His light brown eyes looked alert and focused considering how early it was.
