The Dream Train

Things Suck

Ana's initial response to Derek's assault was to panic. He was so much bigger than she was and his intentions were not good. She only allowed herself to panic for a moment. Then she remembered who she was and straightened her spine.

She was Ana Hiller. She was smart and strong. She wasn't the type of person who took abuse without a fight. And, most importantly, she was a little sister. She and Sam may not rough house much anymore but they had gotten into full-on wrestling matches when they were younger. She knew how to fight against a boy who was a lot bigger than herself.

There were things she would never do to Sam to break his hold. She had no compunction against doing them to Derek. She bit Derek's arm as hard as she could. At the same time, she pushed as hard as she could against his chest and she brought her knee up as hard as she could. Her knee didn't hit him quite as squarely as she had hoped but he did stumble back half a step.

"Get away from me!" Ana yelled. Derek recovered quickly. He still had one of her arms in his grasp. He squeezed hard enough to make her cry out and yanked her toward him. His face was vicious.

Derek growled at her. "You are gonna regret that." And then he was gone. A fierce blur knocked Derek to the ground. Ana was vaguely aware of an ache in her arm where Derek's hand had been before he was on the ground.

Sam had Derek pinned and punched him in the face before looking over his shoulder and finding Ana's face. "You Ok?"

Tears burned behind Ana's eyes. She was scared and relieved and mad all at the same time. She didn't answer. She just turned and ran into the trees. She didn't think about anything but putting distance between herself and Sam and Sam's horrible friend.

Tears flowed freely down Ana's face and she tripped. It was dark in the woods and she stumbled and got splinters in her hand when she caught herself on a tree. She stopped trying to get away. She thought she ought to go back and make sure Sam was ok but then Sam was right beside her. He came up to her slowly and reached for her. "Ana?"

She looked at him. "Are you OK, Sam?"

He laughed a dry laugh. "Yeah. I'M fine. Are you ok?" He touched her shoulder. When she didn't respond her brother moved a step closer and touched her face. "Ana?"

Ana slapped his hand away and took a step back. "I'm fine, Sam. I just got shoved against a smelly outhouse by your friend. I'm super glad you decided to bring him on our family trip." Ana knew her voice sounded a little nuts but she couldn't seem to rein herself in. She'd gotten hurt and it wouldn't have happened if Sam hadn't been so. . .everything.

Sam recoiled a bit. He sounded defensive. "I didn't know he was going to come after you. I never would have invited him if I'd had any idea-"

Ana interrupted him. "But you aren't surprised are you? You know what kind of guy he is. You all know and you all just roll your eyes like 'Well that's just Derek being Derek," but you know. He is a creep. So don't tell me you didn't know."

Sam was angry. "You are blaming me? You were the one who wandered off by yourself in the dark. Even if it hadn't been Derek, who knows who might have been out here."

Ana felt like she'd been punched. Her mouth dropped open. She sat down, hard, on the ground and stared up at her older brother.

His face fell and he cursed. Then he sank to his knees in front of her. He grabbed her hands. "I'm so so sorry, Ana. I'm not blaming you. You shouldn't be unsafe walking to the bathroom. It sucks, and I suck. I do know that Derek is a creep." His eyes were pleading and his face was so sad. "I swear, it never occurred to me he would . . . It's not an excuse. I just. . . I thought he was my friend. That should have meant he would leave you alone and I've lied to myself for years about him. I pretended that all the stuff he did was harmless. I didn't think much about the girls he said stuff to. Or grabbed at." Sam dropped his head. "I should have. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ana."

"You're an idiot and a stupid jock," she said. There was no venom in her words. She gave him half of a weak smile.

His returning smile was cautious. "Yeah, I am." He stood up and helped her to her feet. "We should get back to the campsite. Gran is going to be freaking out. I need to figure out what to do with Derek. If I can get cell service I think I'd like to call his folks. Let them know what happened. Tell them that if they want him back they should come and get him. No way he's riding back with us."

Sam held Ana's hand as they walked back toward the campground. Ana was afraid they would run into Derek in the trees. Sam didn't seem worried, though. They walked for a long time. Ana knew she hadn't run far. Maybe an eighth of a mile. So where was the campground?

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". . .Now I'm lost in the woods. . ." They are lost and without Kristoff's 90s style power ballad.  What should they do, now?