`A Purple Plastic Chalice

A Purple Plastic Chalice

    “Oh my god. I am like, so done.”

    “I know! I’m sweating so much that my mascara’s starting to run.”

    “I wonder if dinner tonight will have as many carbs as yesterday- I really need to cut down.”

Their voices drifted towards her on the stuffy, stifling breeze. “What did I do to deserve this?” Vanessa thought. She rolled her eyes, marveling at the fact that anyone could be so shallow. Vanessa sighed, gulping down the last of the lukewarm water from the garish purple bottle. As she shook the excess droplets off of her hands, she slowly zipped up her faded backpack and slung it on her back. Kicking up dust in her wake, she trudged farther up the rock-splattered path, crushing the fuzzy carpet of brittle brown pine needles beneath her worn-out leather hiking boots. “How does everyone walk so damn fast?” she muttered to herself as she pulled her thin, choppy hair back into a ponytail. She glanced ahead. The rest of the group was far up the trail, laughing and chattering amongst themselves. Her face darkened as she saw that other girl, giggling with some of her usual fake, faceless cronies, who was still managing to look effortlessly stylish while on this forced death march throughout the god-forsaken, mountainous wilderness that surrounded her.

    She jogged faster, trying to catch up. When she approached, the other girls stopped giggling and stared hostilely at her. She glared back, still sore over that fiasco in the showers two nights ago. That other girl, the tall, slender, and graceful one of the group quickly glanced away under her stare, face flushing a little. Bitch. Even though she hadn’t participated in their teasing, she did nothing to help. Nothing. So what? That didn’t change the fact that she was part of their group, an automatic disassociation in Vanessa’s mind. She lagged a bit behind again, and as the other group of campers milled around socializing, she gazed blankly about her. A glint of movement caught her eye. To her left, a tiny, furry head poked out of a hole obscured by dry leaves. Turning back, Vanessa gazed back at the little animal, a squirrel as far as she could tell. Transfixed, she stared in fascination as the animal ran its tiny paws across its face, brushing off the dust. She slowly inched forward up the path, supposing that she had better start back up towards the main group, still captivated by the adorable creature. Suddenly, the ground seemed to fall away and she felt a splitting pain on the back of her head. Ouch. That was going to leave a bruise the size of Texas. Her head spun as she tried to stand up. She figured she must have been dehydrated. She reached for her water bottle, in desperate need of a large gulp of water. Her sweaty fingers grasped the neck of the bottle, but after raising it up to her lips she realized it was empty. She seriously doubted her ability to get up without causing herself more harm. Head swirling, she called out, but no one was close enough except for that other girl’s group, just up the path. They had to help her, didn’t they? Wincing, she searched their faces. Like a cluster of deer stuck in a headlight, they stared blankly at her for a moment. Then they turned away and started snickering again, trekking away from her towards the main group up far ahead. Increasingly desperate, she attempted to struggle to her feet, calling after the receding wall of the group’s backs. Through a haze of dizziness, her eyes fell upon a figure moving towards her. Had one of the counselors seen her fall? Maybe he or she could help her. Squinting, trying to focus her eyes, she made out the face of that girl. She had lingered behind her clique, and stood maybe ten feet away, watching her, face expressionless as if carved out of marble, hand clasped around her own purple water bottle. For a moment, they stared at each other, each silently daring the other to do something. Then the other girl began to start back up the path to find her friends. As she did this, Vanessa thought she saw a tiny smile flash across the girl’s face as she turned and walked away.

Thud.

At that moment, the other girl’s gaudy plastic bottle now lying on the dusty ground in front of Vanessa seemed to her like the most beautiful chalice in the world.