Wake Up Call For Devin Harris

Devin stormed down the winding, snow-covered trail through the densely thick spruce woods. The older teenager was huffing from a mixture of exertion and frustration, and just behind him, struggling to keep up, was the small tomboy girl. "Devin, will you just -- Ugh, dude! Come on!" Mindy pleaded as she stumbled forward, weakly lifting her legs as she tried to trudge on. She wasn't used to this level of intense exercise, "Just slow down so if I drop dead, you can at least drag my body back instead of letting the wolves get it,"

Devin stopped dead, spinning around and giving the girl a hard glare, "Look, Mindy," He snapped out, lifting a hand to halt the girl in her tracks as well, "I'm just gonna be real fucking honest here. I'm not having the best day. Hell, I'm willing to say I am officially having a pretty shitty fucking week! So no, I don't really want to slow down and chill and chat. I'm not good to be around right now, so for both of us, drop it. Do like the rest of 'em and pretend I'm dead!"

"Jesus, come on, what good is that? You're pissed, fine! Be pissed, dude. But don't be a jackass here and stomp off into the woods alone. Just stick near me. We don't have to talk," Mindy argued back, and Devin tightened his lips. Mindy began to walk, ignoring Devin's hard glare, "I know we don't hang out, but even I know you're not usually like this. So if you did want to talk about anything, now would be the time. I'm not involved with whatever shit is going on," The Asian girl added as she passed him by at a much more relaxed pace.

"Pfft, as if you don't fuck know," Devin scoffed; Mindy looked back and shrugged.

At once, Devin started walking, catching up with Mindy and keeping up with her speed, "I only know what I hear," The short girl clarified, "And so far, all any of us have heard is Nicole's side of the story. I'm willing to reserve all judgment until I hear yours,"

Devin rolled his eyes and turned his head, "No one wants to hear my side," His tone was utterly dejected,

"Isn't that exactly what I just said I wanted?" Mindy sarcastically retorted,

Devin fleered and didn't say another word; unexpectedly, neither did Mindy. He half expected her to keep pushing, jabbing at him for information, or even join in on the dog pile, but she didn't. Devin's brief confusion started to give way to his resentment, "You know what? Here's a better question for you," Devin mockingly suggested in a bitterly fake happy tone, "How does it feel to be best friends with a better manipulator than Brian White ever was?"

Mindy instantly looked over, her eyebrow arching, but a deep frown furrowed on her face, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me; everyone is so focused on me and how much of a shithead I am, but what about mister Kenny fucking Clark, huh? He gets the free pass to get into Nicole's head when she's all fucked up and do whatever he wants! Must have been waiting for this for a while, wasn't he? Probably trying to get inside her pants right as we fucking speak!"

"Oh Jesus, shut the fuck up, you bleeding heart," Mindy viscerally retorted, "You and I both know that's not what's happening right now; you're just fucking mad because you're not used to being the bad guy." Devin huffed out another sharp exhale, "Oh, I know that does sting, the truth will do that to you, but I'm not going to stand here and coddle you, Devin. Three facts for you. One, if you continue to play the role of the bad guy, it's only going to make it a reality. You want to treat everyone else like the enemy and expect them to send it back. Two, Kenny isn't doing anything but trying to support his friend, who is currently nursing a broken heart; that's it. And Three, even if those two were fucking, that's not your business now. If you were together, fine, that's all you, but right now, Nicole is no different than Julie or Anna."

"Oh, so what; it's just chance that the exact moment Nicole dumps me, Kenny, is suddenly the closest thing in her life? It's all coincidence that he's sharing a bed with her and disappearing on a secret hike with her?" Devin tossed a hand up and diverted his gaze from Mindy,

"Yes, the chance that they ended up on a trail alone is just that, a chance! Jesus, dude, you've known Kenny for more than enough time to know that he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. As his best friend, I can speak to that on good authority. He is only been trying to help Nicole feel better; he's not trying to get into her pants!" Devin continued to fight to keep his eyes off Mindy's, and his lips tightened, "And just throwing it out there, Devin, as a genuine tip. Maybe you should stop focusing so much on Nicole or Anna or Kenny and maybe start looking at yourself."

Devin abruptly stopped, and after a few more steps, Mindy slowed and looked back. She expected to find the teen amid another fit, but to her surprise, she found him oddly dejected. His arms were limply hanging down, and he let out low, slow exhales; all the fight had left him, "It was...an accident. I didn't -- I would never have done something like that on purpose, okay?" Devin looked up, and for the first time in the whole day, his brown eyes were utterly soft, "I screwed up, but it was -- I'm not making an excuse; I know I did wrong, but when Nikki and I started dating, it was like nothing changed. She...it was like -- She didn't know how to be my girlfriend; we were just Devin and Nikki, friends with benefits all over again. That stupid party, I just did what I always did and ended up making a stupid, stupid fucking mistake, but she won't let me explain that. She won't hear me that it wasn't on purpose. If I could take it all back, Mindy, I would. I swear to god, I would," His voice was filled with the utmost sincerity,

Mindy let out a sympathetic exhale and tucked her hands into her jacket pockets, "That really sucks Devin, and I'm sorry. No one is perfect; we all make mistakes, but..." The girl took a moment, trying to think of the right way to phrase it, but her mind came up short, "Look, it happened; that's the fact of the matter. You can hate that; you can wish it were different and want to fix it, but in the end, you can't just **** Nicole to forgive you. It just doesn't work that way, man. Sorry."

"Yeah, I know..." The rocker very softly agreed, his head hanging low. Shame radiated throughout his body, and after a few moments, he looked up, "Listen, about all that shit I was saying and how I was acting...I'm sorry. You're right, that's not me, I shouldn't have been taking it out on you when you're only trying to help."

Mindy gave him a half-smile, "As I said, I'm reserving judgment," Devin returned it, and the pair started to make their way down the trail once more, "But fair warning, you talk shit about my best friend again, I'll send your nuts up to your throat,"

Devin let out a breathy chuckle, "Message received," The pair continued to walk as clouds began to move overhead, blanketing the sky. The rocker looked back up the trail, "Hey, you think it's cool if we headed back to the lodge?"

Mindy slowed as well, "Already over the hike?"

"I don't think I really wanted to go on this in the first place. I -- I don't actually know what I really wanted until right now..."

"And that would be?"

Devin let out a small breathy laugh, "Honestly? To head back to the lodge, put a few logs on the fire, practice on my guitar, and just zone out if I'm honest. But like you said earlier, no one should be on the trail alone, so if you're staying, so am I."

Mindy let out a sigh of relief, "Oh fuck this hike, the last thing I want to do is hike on a normal day, but in the freezing cold too?! Please, lead the way, my laptop is just begging for me to come back." Devin softly laughed again and turned back, and as he led Mindy back up the trail he shut his eyes, a swirling of guilt replacing the burning anger he had only moments ago.