Young Writers Society

The irony was just too good to pass up, that Evaline couldn't stop the manic, mirthless laugh that escaped her throat. It rung through the air like a knife for a few seconds until it suddenly subsided as quick as it came.

"Then don't save me anymore," she said, voice cool and threatening. "I never asked for your help. I never asked you to save me. So don't do it."

"Oh, you fucking ho," Jerica said under her breath. She wasn't sure if she'd said it loud enough for Eve to hear, but she couldn't care less either way. She buried her face in her hands, sighing in frustration.

"What?" Evaline said in deep annoyance. "You can't even just say yes to that simple request? It's not that hard."

"No, I can't say yes to something so fucking stupid," Jerica snarled, jerking her hands away from her face as she all but shouted at Eve. "I'll save you, and I'll keep fucking saving your ungrateful ass, because your bitchiness says more about you than it does me. My help isn't contingent upon you deserving it."

Evaline gritted her teeth, feeling her voice rising in volume as well as the annoyance turned to rage.

"Why?" she yelled. "Why do you assume to be a valiant hero? It's not your right to assume I want or need your help. Not everyone needs saving, so just leave me the fuck alone!"

She was a toddler. A giant motherfucking toddler. And made no sense whatsoever.

"YOU WERE GOING TO DIE YOU DUMB BITCH!" Jerica shouted back, unable to keep any semblance of control over her anger. "I don't know about you, but I won't just sit back and watch someone die when they don't deserve it. You're near the top of my very, very long shitlist but you haven't done anything worth dying for, so just swallow your fucking ego and accept that you needed -- and probably will need again -- my help. Maybe think about a 'thank you' while you're at it."

They were yelling at each other, clearly both frustrated and annoyed. All over the fact that they both were saving each other when neither of them asked for it. The difference was, Jerica didn't know that Evaline had saved her too.

"Shut up," she said softly at first, feeling her ears ring from the anxiety and pulse beating hard against her head.

She curled up a little, burying her head in her hands, grimacing.

"Just shut up," she said louder this time. "You don't know what you're talking about. Stop it. Just stop talking."

"Fucking make me." And just like that, she was back in primary school. "You don't get a vote in what I do or don't say, and unless you set the record straight, I'm just gonna assume that I'm right and you're dumb."

"Oh, fuck you," Evaline said, voice thick with venom.

It wasn't like her to curse so much. In fact, she hardly did at all. But Jerica was infuriating and had a potty mouth, so of course she brought this side out of her.

"You must think you're so high and mighty taking the high road and assuming that everyone needs saving," Evaline continued to yell angrily, now past the point of filtering her words. "Well, news flash, Jerica. Some people are not worth saving, especially when both parties remember it. You're so damn stubborn, and it's people like you who hold the world back, and who hold me back. So just stop it. Stop it. Stop playing the hero. No one asked you to!"

Eve was quickly making less and less sense. Which was impressive, considering how little sense she'd made from the start.

"Heros don't exist. And if they did, I wouldn't be one of them," Jerica spat back. Eve was doing an incredible amount of assuming the worst of Jerica, while at the same time refusing to say anything at all about herself. It seemed exhausting. It was exhausting. "I don't know what the fuck you want from me, but I'm not playing whatever game this is supposed to be. And your suicidal ass isn't going to be on my conscience. I'll keep doing what's right, and you can suck it."

If they weren't on a damn tree right now, Evaline would have walked away. She would have walked away and ditched Jerica, not caring if she didn't know where she was going, or if they were supposed to stay together. She was already in hell, so why bother making it an even worse hell by staying with her.

"You act as if I want to die," Evaline said with her voice laced in venom. "But that's far from the truth. I don't want to die. I just don't need saving. I don't need your help or your pity. I'm not a helpless person. I can take care of myself. So just -- stop it, okay? Stop it. I don't need you!"

"I don't pity you," Jerica snapped. "You're a raging psychobitch that's pissing me the fuck off. You probably do deserve to be here just as much as I do, but apparently, you won't own up to what you've done."

Maybe this was why she wasn't good at making friends.

But the wolves were starting to look like a better and better option, instead of being trapped up in a tree with someone who was quickly reaching Lyiaza levels of annoying.

"But, for whatever reason, the gods have brought us together," Jerica said, forcing a bit of the edge out of her voice. She was going to try being nice one more time. One. "So we may as well try to make the best of it and work together. Whether you like it or not, neither of us were going to make it up that cliff by ourselves."

She decided to leave off the part that she could have made it up the hill instead of the cliff if she hadn't hung back to help Eve. Because apparently, Eve was pissy about not dying.

"I'm trying to be nice to you," Jerica continued. "You could at least meet me halfway and make it easier to do that. Instead of, you know, repeatedly telling me I deserve to be in hell, as if I didn't already know that."

Evaline felt her face go hot. From what, she didn't know. Anger? Embarrassment? Shame? Guilt? It was hard to tell. It was hard to tell what she emotions she felt anymore. It was all one big bubbly mess that she hated. She really was helpless, wasn't she?

"...Fine," she gritted through her teeth, fighting back the urge to yell and fight.

Because she knew, deep down, that Jerica was right. She was only trying to be nice, and she kept shooting her down. For what? For what? She didn't even know. She just knew she wanted to do it.

"We'll meet halfway," she said after taking a deep breath. "We don't have to be friends. We can barely tolerate each other. But fine. If you want to save me, fine. It's only fair since I also..."

She trailed off and sighed.

"I'm going to try to sleep," she finished softly.

That went better than she'd expected.

Jerica took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to let a bit of the tension slip away from her shoulders. They definitely weren't going to be friends. Jerica had precious few of those, and Eve certainly wasn't going to be one of them. But she'd settle for civil. "Alright."

Jerica leaned further back and crossed her ankles, balancing perfectly on top of the narrow branch. Slightly more comfortable. While simultaneously slightly more precarious, so she wouldn't doze off herself. Eve clearly hadn't had much practice sleeping in treetops. It was probably best to stay awake in case she started getting restless in her sleep. They were both fucked if she fell.

Using Jerica's advice, Evaline got comfortable on the branch, finding a secure and safe spot on the branch so she wouldn't fall off. She didn't want to sleep, but knew she had to. She was both physically and emotionally exhausted. Even if she fell again, she could always undo it if either of them get hurt. Just like every other danger in her life.

She closed her eyes, welcoming in the sleep so that she could forget about the stress of the day and melt away her anxiety.