After a long and painful conversation about why nobody is going to see my stuff, and why I would rather people not talk about their genitalia around me, Cathy and Tanya left the room. Kim stayed behind and sat down on my bunk next to me. I could tell she was having some internal conflict, but I didn’t know how to approach it.

“So… since you and Brittany… you know, did the thing, does that mean you’re committing to her? Or do I still have a chance?” Kim asked quietly, the sound of self doubt in her voice.

I thought about it for a moment, “I… don’t know. Like I told you earlier, I didn’t think either of you really liked me. And now that everything has come to light, I’m even more confused than I was before. I mean, Brittany told me that the only reason Chelsea showed up to help me when we were little was because she went and got her. It kind of ruins the image of Chelsea being a knight riding in to save me, which makes all the feelings I have for her suspect.”

I looked up and took a breath before continuing, “I thought I liked Chelsea because she stood for the weak, like the heroes in the stories I read. But if what Brittany said is true, then everything I thought I felt was built on a foundation of bad assumptions. And if that’s the case, I need to sort out my feelings about everyone else. Brittany has been there since we were kids, but you’ve been stepping in and fighting for me without e ever asking you to. And I haven’t been really nice to you about anything, especially when you were trying to get to know me on the bus.”

“No,” Kim said, “you really weren’t. But after seeing you taking all the abuse in the last few days, I can’t really blame you. You see a gorgeous woman trying to get to know you, stepping in to fend off your bullies, and let’s not forget the rallying of the girls to act like you’re a sex wizard. I can see how that might make someone really mean.”

I hung my head, “I guess I deserve the sarcasm there, but in the beginning I just assumed you were trying to find a way to hurt me. It’s par for the course with attractive women in my life. Either I’m the friend who you go to for homework help, or I’m the guy that gets strung along because it’s funny to watch them get hurt.”

“I know, I saw how the others looked at you.” Kim said, sliding her arm across my shoulders. “But I’m not them. And I don’t ever want to see you hurt again.”

She leaned over and kissed my cheek.

She pulled back again, her smile breaking over the cloudy emotions on her face until then, “I happen to think you’re cute. Maybe not the most attractive, but who needs that when you find someone sweet? Plus, from the sounds of it, you’re pretty smart too. Cute, smart, and that devotion you hold for the girl you like… If I were Chelsea, I’d have jumped on that in a heartbeat.”

I didn’t shake her arm off, I didn’t try to deny what she said, I sat there and allowed myself to feel the warmth in her words inside me. And I felt a twinge in my heart that I didn’t recognize. Was this what it was like to let someone in? Or was this what it was like to feel loved? I didn’t know, but I understood one thing; I liked the feeling.

“You know, you didn’t shrug or blush or cry this time. I’m beginning to think you might be into me putting the moves on you. What say you and I get in the shower together and I’ll let you explore.” Kim whispered in my ear.

I immediately shook my head, my face going bright red, and my mind wandering off to imagine the scenery she was offering up.

She pulled away a little and laughed, “There we go. That’s the nervous guy I saw on the bus. Glad to see you’re out of that funk.”

“Why do you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?” Kim responded.

“Why do you act like you want me to… do things to you… all the time? I don’t understand.” I told her in a quiet tone.

She kissed my cheek again, “Because sometimes physical intimacy is the only way to get someone to notice your sincerity. Plus, I imagine you look better with no clothes on than you do in them.”

“You’d be wrong.” I said, matter-of-factly. “I look disgusting without clothes on.”

“Well, you know,” Kim said, snuggling in close and leaning her head next to mine, “I could help you with that. If you’re so concerned that you’re not attractive… why not let me help you get to a place where you’re comfortable in your own skin? We could exercise together, like a couple. Then when you’re finally at a happy place, you could be the one to initiate the hot and heavy stuff.”

I looked at her, taking in her features before speaking. “I wouldn’t say no to that…”

“I thought not.” She said, her smile radiant and fierce. “Plus then I get to say I was with you at your worst and we came out of it better together.”

I was stunned into silence. Nobody, not even Chelsea had said words that kind to me. Brittany told me that she wanted me for years, but Kim implied she wants me for however long it takes… Both of these girls are so attractive, I couldn’t have ever imagined that either of them were interested in me before last night. How do I even begin to-

“Unless you tell me that you’re seeing Brittany, or you tell me you don’t want me, I’m going to keep trying to get into your pants.”

The abruptness of the statement whispered in my ear made me jump.

She squeezed a bit with her arm, pulling me in as close as she could, “For now though, can we just stay like this until the others come back?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “we can.”

She took my hand and placed it on her thigh, resting hers on top of it. The arm around my shoulders not loosening up at all, and the warmth of her emotion washing over me in a way I had never experienced before.

We sat there for a while, just basking in one another’s presence. It was nice, in a way I couldn’t really articulate, and I loved the feeling. I dreaded the moment when someone else would come into the room and ruin it, but I also knew it would happen eventually.

So when Jenny came in and told us that the rest of the girls were headed up to the mess hall to meet up with the ones who had been competing, I knew it was time to go and try sorting things out. Kim jumped up and offered me her hand, pulling me to my feet, and then took my hand and began walking.

It was kind of weird, holding hands… but it wasn’t unpleasant. Seeing the other girls smiling when they saw us felt weird too, but Kim just smiled brighter at the attention. We arrived just as the announcement of the games ending and the lunch period beginning sounded. Kim sat me down at a smaller round table near the edge of the room and skipped over to the counter. She grabbed two tickets, traded them for two plates, and made her way over to me. Setting down two trays with sloppy joes and fries, she then ran over to another counter I hadn’t noticed before that had a drink machine. She came back with two tall glasses of what appeared to be apple juice.

“They don’t have soda hooked up here, so I just grabbed these. I hope you’re okay with apple and white grape.” Kim said, gently setting the cups on the table.

I nodded, pulling a tray toward me. Kim plopped herself into the chair next to me, slid her own tray towards herself, and picked up a fry. Then she lifted the top bun from her sloppy joe and piled fries on top. Then I noticed the little salt packets on the plate, she picked it up and tore it open above the fries on the sandwich. She set the top back on the sandwich and looked at me.

“I figured there was no good way to eat these without getting it everywhere, so nobody gets embarrassed.”

“What about forks?” I asked.

She looked at me like I had grown another head.

“Right, okay, that was dumb of me. I’ll just eat the sandwich.” I said, taking her meaning.

I pulled a few napkins from the dispenser on the table and made myself a bib. I saw Brittany going in for a massive bite until she caught me preparing for the mess.

“Okay, fine, that’s a smart thing to do. Especially with no wash machines here.” She conceded.

She set her sandwich down and followed my lead. As we started in on the messy meal, I noticed the other girls were giving us some space. And the other campers filed in a few minutes, going about their day like nothing happened. Lastly, I saw the crowd from the events rushing in.

Dominiqu was in the lead, acting like she was the baddest chick in town. Following her Otto, Brittany, and Taylor were chatting and smiling. Otto peeled off and zoomed over toward Kim and I.

“Jace, it is a pleasure to see you. I was concerned that the damage to your head was terrible. The campers put up an admirable show today in your absence. Dominiqu took first place, and Taylor scored second in her event. Brittany has been directing things most capably while you recovered.” Otto chattered, updating me on how things were going.

I nodded, thanked Otto, and took another bite of food. Kim giggled, pointing out how much Otto seemed to respect me, and how I treated him like the rest of the campers. I didn’t say anything, figuring it would be easier to just shrug off the comments. Then Brittany sat down with us, a tray of fish and chips with a glass of water occupying her hands.

She took a deep breath, “I think we need to talk about this morning. I shouldn’t have done what I did. You were injured, and I used guilt to get what I wanted, and… that was absolutely wrong of me. A concussion puts you in the same category of impairment as if you were mildly drunk, and I took advantage of you. I feel really guilty about that, and I understand if you-“

“Oh get over yourself.” Kim interrupted. “He’s injured, you used that to get what you wanted, big deal. You know he’s already low on self confidence, telling him he’s a victim of you molesting him isn’t going to help him feel better. Just admit that you wanted it and move on.”

I didn’t know how to respond to this at all. On the one hand, Brittany seemed to think she had violated my trust by violating me with her body. On the other hand though, Kim was right, if Brittany just openly admitted how she felt about doing the deed… I could mark that off as a small boost to my self confidence. But I did understand how Brittany felt; we see all these stories about men doing these things to women, but how often does it happen to guys and nobody cares?

I cleared my throat, “Thank you for being honest about things. I can see why you’re feeling guilty about it, but I don’t plan to hold it against you. That said, going forward, I’m going to need you to be honest about things. Kim has already made clear her intentions for me, and I can’t say that I’m not interested… but I want to hear what you have to say on your side too.”

“So it’s a competition now? I can do that.” Kim said, looking between Brittany and me.

Brittany nodded, “Okay. Honesty from here on. I just need some time to sort out my feelings, and then I’ll tell you to your face.”

Kim huffed, “I already told him that I want to be the mother of his children, so there.”

I blinked a few times, cocking my head to one side in my confusion. “When was that said?”

“Don’t you remember, the moment we shared in the cabin… in your bed, together, alone.” Kim said, slipping insinuation into her words.

I shook my head, “I don’t remember anything about children.”

“That’s okay, I can certainly try for them later. If you’re not too busy.” She said, sliding as close to me as she could.

Brittany looked livid, “Knock it off. He’s not going to make a pass at you like that. And it sickens me to see you act so desperate.”

Kim turned to look at her, “Says the girl that had to wait for him to be hurt to get him to look at her.”

“Stop it.” I said, finishing my food and standing up. “I’m going back to the cabin, you two figure out how to get along before coming back.”

“OTTO will accompany Jace. OTTO wants to ask Jace about ways to increase his versatility.” Otto spoke up, whirring to life above me.

Otto and I left the mess hall and started down the hill toward the cabin.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the little piggy who couldn’t.” came a shout from off to the side.

I turned just in time to take a fist across the face. I felt blood drip from my eyebrow, covering one eye and painting the ground a deep brown. I turned to look as Otto shouted in distress.

Michael was there, over his shoulder hovered a drone with a silver stripe across the front and a small barrel sticking out from the bottom. His fist had red on it, and the barrel on the drone smoked. The bullies had found one another, and now the bullied were going to take a beating.

“Otto, how are you holding up right now?” I asked, starting to right myself.

Otto’s voice was pinched, “Integrity at seventy-five percent. Hull damage minimal, propulsion systems hindered. Repairs required.”

“Can you fight?” I asked, raising my own fists.

I heard the gears on one of Otto’s fans catch and then restart.

“Affirmative!”