Bystander
Melissa didn’t have any of the common fears kids her age did growing up. She wasn’t afraid of heights, since she’d regularly climb any trees that had somewhat sturdy branches, or of the fall that followed a misstep. Her parents worried enough about her that she didn’t have to. So she was a pretty fearless person when she’d gotten on that plane, and spent most of the time staring out the window watching Wiskayok shrink away.
She was one of the first to wake up after they crashed, since Gen and her were seated near the back where there was minimal damage. Melissa was out of it almost the entire day, vaguely remembering the bodies she had to step over to get out.
After the first few… weeks? Months? It was hard to keep track, she had fallen into a routine much like everyone else. Natalie and Travis became their designated hunters, and Shauna learned how to carve up meat. Everyone else tried to pitch in how they could, except Jackie, who people were getting increasingly frustrated at.
Despite all that, the thing that Melissa was somehow the most confused about was Shauna being pregnant. She wasn’t confused about how it happened, just that it did. Melissa could’ve sworn that Shauna looked at Jackie with a little too much affection. Then again, they live in the middle of nowhere New Jersey, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
Jackie suggested that they throw a ‘Doomcoming’, which made sense given that the seniors had to miss prom for nationals. All of them brought dresses for the dinner they were meant to go to in Seattle, and it’s not like they had anything else to do.
“Do I look sexy or what?” Mari said, twirling in her dark blue dress. She had thrown a piece of fur onto her shoulder, which surprisingly looked good. She rolled her eyes when Gen replied with “Definitely what.”
Some of the girls made masks and crowns, and Akilah was nice enough to show them how to make one out of twigs. Melissa’s was a little shabbier than she’d like to admit, and she felt weirdly vulnerable wearing something that wasn’t one of her hats. The first half of Doomcoming, the half that she remembers, was pretty fun. Watching Van and Taissa proudly show each other off made Melissa feel something she couldn’t quite put a finger on.
“You guys wanna see me…be a deer?” Robin muttered, eyes glazed over, staring through the other girl.
“Oh my god, yes, you be a deer- and I can be a bird!” Gen replied. Melissa doesn’t remember if Robin’s impression of a deer was accurate, or if she did one at all, and whether or not the memory she had of trying to climb a tree and miserably failing was real. She woke up in the middle of the woods, no cabin in sight with Robin and Gen passed out on either side of her.
Mari later explained that in the time it took the three of them to make their way back to the cabin, they had found out Misty brought the shrooms in the soup to drug Coach Ben and that Lottie had managed to kill a bear with Shauna’s little carving knife.
Their miracle bear dinner was going great, until Misty pointed out that Jackie didn’t participate in their 'prayer'. She wasn’t quite sure what had happened while they were all tripping, but everyone seemed mad at Jackie, and she was mad at them back. Melissa was starving, so she tuned them out while chewing on a stubborn piece of bear meat. Shauna standing up brought her attention back to the fight.
“Shauna was fucking Jeff being my back, did you know that?” Everyone looked stunned at that. No one dared to interrupt or even move during the rest of their fight, with the exception of Mari. Jackie left the cabin, and eventually everyone went back to their food. Later, when Gen and her would quietly discuss what happened, they agreed that Shauna was definitely in the wrong.
They were all woken up early the next morning by Shauna storming down and throwing the door open. The gust of cold wind that blew in woke everyone up.
“Oh my god it snowed?” Someone said, followed by an excited flurry of voices. It was only when Shauna ran out that they remembered Jackie had been outside all night.