The Garden of Eden || Canis Canem Edit / Bully [ #WATTYS2018 ]

Chapter Fifty-Three: Ignited

Crackle. Slam, crackle, slam. The punching bag jingled around ferociously, jerking back and forth from the onslaught. Eden was panting hard, chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. In the haze of the lulling afternoon sun, her loose shirt clung to her back, a dark stripe of perspiration dying her bright blue shirt an indigo hue. Salty droplets dribbled down her temples, a slight sting prickling at her eyes. She blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted, eyelashes heavy with beads of sweat.

Using the punching bag was a reward to Eden, especially when a string of punches flowed so perfectly that the sound of crackling came before her fists grazed the synthetic leather. The sound was satisfying, the euphoria sending the right endorphins straight to her brain, sparking little fireworks. It was therapeutic. Anger, hurt, sadness, stress, anxiety - all pouring out with every smash of her knuckles.

The cheerleaders were right behind her, hollering chants in a singsong tune. Mr Burton was nearby, his lips flapping like wild as he spat out orders. All of this drowned out to a dreary manta, ebbing away into a garbled blur of voices. All Eden could hear was her own heavy panting, flushed cheeks blowing out with every puff of air.

As Eden rained punch after punch onto the bag, she imagined the burgundy leather morphing into a plume of ginger hair. For all this time, she had been silently marinating in her resentment for Bif Taylor, but now she finally had an outlet for her pent up rage. Every time Bif's name was mentioned, her fingers twitched. They ached to pummel him, get back at him for everything he had done for her. They ached to be dyed for splatters of merlot-red blood to dye her fingertips.

The bruises, the tears, the blood, the flashbacks that plagued her endlessly - Eden needed vengeance like a fish needed water. It fuelled her very being. Someone was calling out to her, yelling her name over and over again. She tuned it out, paying the person no mind. They were irrelevant. The cleansing anger that pumped through Eden's bloodstream sent her hurtling into a drunken daze.

"Eden!" 

Hissing out a sigh, the said girl spun around on her heel. Mandy Wiles stood there with a toothy grin and her hands on her hips. As much as her friend wanted to mirror her expression of glee, she couldn't. Eden's legs were empty, waves of nausea rising from her stomach. 

"Couldn't you hear me?" The head cheerleader continued. "Geez, I'm pretty sure even the Headmaster heard me."

She rolled her shoulders, kneading the sore muscle as she murmured. "Sorry, I zoned out..." 

"Okay, you lazy maggots!" Mr Burton hollered across the gym floor, all heads snapping to face him. "Class is over, go bother somebody else!"

The words had barely left his mouth before students began to pluck themselves up off the ground, racing around like a barrel of monkeys around the gymnasium. They were jumping over each other, desperate to get down to the shower rooms and peel off their sweaty sports gear. Eden watched kids storm by her, eyes flickering among the sea of faces. 'Jimmy isn't here? I'm pretty sure he hasn't finished his classes yet... he must be jigging class, like usual.'

Mandy's eyes flickered over to her taller friend, frowning at the solemn expression that crossed her face. Wordlessly, the cheerleader linked their arms and tugged her towards the bleachers, dragging Eden along like a ragdoll. Clean gym towels and icy water bottles awaited them, condensation slipping down the plastic and pooling beneath.

"You were going like so hard out on that punching bag, huh?" She commented, throwing a towel at her.

Trembling hands caught it. "It's a pretty good way of letting off some steam."

"Why are you stressing?" Mandy asked while she plopped herself onto the bleachers.

"I, well..." Eden watched with amusement as she chugged down her water. "I guess I'm stressing over the whole, 'everyone wants to kill Jimmy' thing."