Chapter 8: Aftermath

Sam woke up Saturday morning feeling incredibly refreshed. She was surprised by how much she’d enjoyed Boffer Club last night. But enough about that for now, time to get back to her studies-

A groan from across the room pulled her from her pleasant thoughts.

Mary was lying in bed, sounding like she had just gone ten rounds in the ring with a steamroller. That wasn’t good. Sam got out of bed and walked over to see what was wrong.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? I- OW!” Mary tried to sit up, and her pale face twisted up in pain. “Everything’s sore! My whole body hurts!”

Sam let out a sympathetic sigh. “Yeah, that’ll happen. You went too hard yesterday, and now your body is paying for it. I told you that you should have gotten in shape, but did you listen? Nooo…”

“But… But I was fine last night!” Mary wailed. “Even my shoulder didn’t hurt so bad! Then when I woke up in the morning, I just… ow!”

Sam pushed her back down into bed. “If you get worked up like that you’re just going to feel worse.”

“…Impossible,” she whimpered.

“What you’re feeling right now is called delayed-onset muscle soreness,” Sam informed her. “It’s due to microscopic muscle damage from putting your body through something strenuous that it isn’t used to.”

“Eh?! That sounds awful! Am I gonna die?!”

“What?! No you moron, you’re going to be fine! This is perfectly normal when starting out, I went through it myself back when- never mind.”

“When what?”

“Forget it.”

“But-“

“FORGET. IT.”

Mary sank down into her bed and began to shake. Her stomach started gurgling.

“I, um… I need to… oww!”

Sam groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. This idiot just wasn’t learning her lesson. Again she had to push Mary back into bed.

“Stay still,” she snapped. “Don’t make light of muscle pain. The soreness isn’t a problem, but you had a really bad fall last night, too. That could have messed you up really badly, and your current muscle pain is keeping you from feeling it. If you want to keep being able to use that arm, I suggest you don’t move it more than you have to.”

“I-I-I’m gonna lose my arm?!”

“No, stop overreacting! I just… look, forget it. Just take it easy for now, wait for your muscles to heal on their own. And if your arm still hurts, then we’ll go to the health center.”

“But I’m hungry! I was too nervous to eat dinner last night!”

Her scrawny body needed more than a dinner or two to get healthy but now wasn’t the time to fight that battle. Sam sighed. “You need to stay in bed. The only thing you should be worried about his healing. I’ll go pick us up some breakfast, what do you want?”

Mary’s jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out of her skull. “What?!”

“What now?” Sam groaned.

“Are you okay?! Did you get hit on the head at club last night or something!? Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?!”

“Geez I’m just trying to keep you from getting hurt, you don’t have to make it look weird. Anyone would do something like this.”

Mary shook her head. Absolutely not. Then shaking her head started to hurt and she flopped back on her pillow.

“…I dunno… yogurt I guess… thanks, Sam.”

“You just get better. And stop groaning, you’re going to mess up my studying.”

…

Fuck yogurt.

Was it healthy? Sure. But some yogurt wasn’t worth shit to someone as malnourished as Mary, not unless it was delivered through an IV drip.

A mountain of potatoes, an omelet with more ham and cheese than egg, and a smoothie big enough to technically be classified as a water feature. That’s what was going to be on the menu for the little lamb today, even if Sam had to cram it down her throat.

It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

She got in line at the omelet stand, wondering if it was too early to get her on some protein supplements when a familiar voice called her name.

“Sam! Over here!”

Without even thinking Sam turned to see who it was. Carly was walking up to her, along with…

Ugh.

Him.

“Hey there, Sammy! Getting breakfast I see?”

Her fingers curled on reflex, but she had to keep her temper in check. After last night, she’d hoped she’d never have to see that obnoxious prick again.

“How’s Mary doing?” Carly asked sympathetically, sensing the tension in the air. “Is she feeling better after that nasty fall?”

“…She’s breathing, that’s a start.”

“That bad?” Carly winced.

Sam shook her head. “Just some muscle pain. No big deal.”

“That’s good, it’s too bad something like that happened to her,” Cain said, sounding almost genuinely concerned. “She seems like a sweet girl. But Boffer can be really strenuous, so it makes sense she’d feel a little sore. Not everyone can be in as good of shape as you, right Sammy?”

“Cain, stop.” Carly shot him a warning look, but he wasn’t paying attention. His amused eyes were aimed right at Sam.

She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. She couldn’t cuss him out like last night in the middle of the cafeteria. She needed to calm down.

“…Please don’t call me that.”

“Okay, Sammy.”

Sam had reached the front of the line. The lady was looking expectantly at her, but she ignored her. All of her mental faculties were being spent on not punching the smug little smirk right off of his face.

Finally, she turned and gave her order, along with Mary’s. She walked away and began filling up a bowl of fruit to go with it, earning her some peace and quiet for the moment.

But only a moment.

“So as I was saying before, Sammy, you really did well last night!” Cain clearly had no intention of leaving her alone. What the fuck was this guy’s problem?!

“Cain…” Carly was getting angry now.

“What? I’m just paying her a compliment,” Cain protested. “She did great for her first night out! Her attacks were a little clumsy and aggressive, maybe, but-“

“Yeah because you wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone!” Sam snapped. She quickly covered her mouth. Fuck. She had tried so hard not to make a scene, but she’d just blurted it out.

Sensing blood in the water, Cain pounced.

“You were so energetic, running after me and swinging that sword, you kept falling for it every time! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten that many kills in one night before, it was a blast! Weren’t you enjoying yourself?”

“NO!”

“…Oh. Well, that’s a pity. Hopefully you’ll have more fun next week!”

“Yeah, well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m not interested!” Sam sniffed. “That was a one-time thing, I have no intention of joining your stupid club.”

Carly sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. It was really fun playing with you last night.”

“Yeah, that really is a bummer,” Cain nodded in agreement. “But I get it. Getting killed all the time is frustrating, especially when you’re not skilled enough to get any kills yourself. But you tried your best, Sammy, and that’s what matters.”

THAT did it.

“You think I can’t beat you?! Is that it?!” Sam demanded, getting right up in the taller boy’s face.

Cain shrugged. “I mean, you tried all last night and I just kept throwing knives in your stomach, at some point you have to admit defeat, right? Nothing wrong with that, Sammy.”

“No, no, go fuck yourself! I’ll show you, next Friday, you’re going to eat foam you prick!”

“Order for Sam?” The lady at the counter called. Sam went to go grab her food, not even waiting to hear Cain’s response.

Carly slapped him in the chest.

“What’s the matter with you?! Stop making fun of the first years!”

He smirked. “It worked, didn’t it? She’s coming back next week.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the words to argue.

…

Sam stormed across the quad, squeezing her to-go boxes so hard it was putting their structural integrity in danger. But she didn’t care. Her thoughts were focused on that prick of a senior.

Like hell I’m going to let him mock me like that, she seethed. I’ll show him! I’m going to make that jackass wish I’d NEVER come to his stupid club!

Like a prey animal wary of predators Mary could sense the danger emanating from Sam the moment she entered the room.

“S-Sam? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?!” Sam stormed across the room and practically slapped the to-go box into Mary’s face. “Whatever. Here’s your food.”

She gasped. “I-I can’t eat this much! Are you kidding?! I’ll get-“

“I swear if you say ‘fat’ I’m going to…”

“…Indigestion…” Mary said, her face going pale. “I’ll, um… get indigestion…”

“You’ll live. Eat. Unless you’d like me to force down your-“

Mary couldn’t grab the fork fast enough.

Sam sat down at her desk and began digging into her own omelet with one hand while scanning the internet for instructional videos on how to swing a sword properly.

“Wow!” Mary gushed, shoveling mouthful after mouthful into her mouth. “This is amazing! It’s sooooo good!”

“Well at least you’re not allergic to food, that’s a start,” she scoffed.

“A… a start? What do you mean?”

Sam turned to face her. “If you’re going to stick with the Boffer Club, then you need to start getting in shape. Otherwise you’ll hurt yourself again. And I have enough stuff to deal with on my own, I can’t put up with you bitching and moaning every Saturday. …Unless you want to quit, in which case-“

“N-NO!” Mary exclaimed, shaking her head frantically. “Last night was amazing! I had so much fun! …I mean, then I got run over, but… before that it was really fun!”

Sam raised her eyebrow. Well. Maybe this girl wasn’t such a lost cause after all.

“…Well, good then.”

“…So wait, when you’re saying you’re going to help me get in shape, like… you mean lifting weights and stuff? And running? I don’t know if that’s…”

“Yeah. And Boffer, of course, you’ll be doing that, too, right? It should get easier as your muscles get used to it.”

“Wait, then… does that mean you’re coming back next week?” Mary asked, her eyes shining with hope.

A dark look spread across Sam’s face and it made Mary shiver.

“…Yeah. Looks that way.”

“…S-So… you had fun then?” Her voice was barely a squeak.

Sam punched her palm, a menacing glare burning in her eyes. “Yeah. Something like that. And the fun’s just getting started…”

Mary gulped and turned back to breakfast, trying to ignore the malevolent aura filling the room.