Japanese Corn

"Yeah!" One of Boggart's other minions shouted. "You got her good!

"Let's name that one, Dick," I told Death. "And the chubby girl snickering in the back is Peggie."

"At least Peggie's a decent name," Death sighed, not amused by my antics.

"She didn't know what hit her!" Peggie squealed in vile delight. 

For a brief moment, all four finally turned silent. I had wondered why the noise stopped, but now I know it was because they saw me, and they pointed and stared at my bed like I was some wild spectacle. 

"Hey, you guys!" Dick cocked her head to where I was. "Look at that."

"What's up with her?" Peggie muttered judgmentally. "She looked tired ever since we got here."

Boggart clasped her hands together. It was clear from her face that she had hatched some evil plan.

"I have an idea," she whispered to her minions. "Something to get her energy up."

I crossed my arms in the In-Between, waiting to hear this big idea. I already lived through the antics they pulled, but I'm rather eager to know what their thought process was. 

Curiously, I couldn't hear anything. It's like the volume had been muted, or better yet, like my headphones had suddenly been unplugged. Death and I were still standing at the sidelines, and we could see them put their heads together and talk, but no sound came out of their mouths. 

Instead, it was as if my attention was being forced towards the younger me under the blankets.

I had been straining to hear what the girls were planning, and realizing it was impossible, I gave up and tried to go to sleep. Then I opened my eyes in panic because I remembered I hadn't yet brushed my teeth. 

"Hm?" Boggart placed an index finger on her lips. "Shut up for a moment."

In the In-Between, I facepalmed. I had said my thoughts out loud!

"Nice going, Evangeline." Death made a sound that was a combination of a laugh and a huff.

"What's up?" Bob curiously tilted her head to the side.

"Did you hear something?" Dick asked.

Boggart momentarily sat quietly, waiting in case I made another sound. After a while, Boggart shook her head. "Must be my imagination. Anyway…"

They continued with whatever meeting they were having.

Meanwhile, I was miserable under my covers. It felt uncomfortable to have unbrushed teeth, but I couldn't possibly let them know I was awake. Heavens knew what Boggart and her gang would have done to me if they realized I had been faking it the whole time.

'I'll just wait for them to sleep,' I thought and sighed.

I opened my phone and immediately turned the brightness down to its dimmest so I wouldn't attract their attention. I didn't even notice it, but we were already deep into the night and only ten minutes away from lights out. 

Unfortunately for me, my cabinmates didn't sleep right at curfew time. It had been 45 minutes since the teacher came by to enforce lights out, but they kept chatting the night away, giggling like middle school girls as they talked about their crushes. 

"That's exactly what they are, though." Death pointed out.

"Do you know how hard it was to keep my cool?" I frowned at him and huffed. "I was thinking, "When are they planning to sleep?" I didn't just need to brush my teeth. I needed to pee!" 

***

The next day, younger me bolted out of bed, muttering "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"You never got to brush your teeth," Death teased.

"Ugh, stop," I pleaded. "This morning started already. It's about to get a lot worse, so don't feel the need to add to it."

Death made a zipping gesture over his mouth and continued the memory reel. 

"7:23 AM?!" I gasped as I stared at the wall clock. "But I'm sure I set my phone alarm last night!"

I then looked around, belatedly realizing that everything was eerily quiet for that time in the morning. I was the only one left in the cabin. The others had left for breakfast without even bothering to wake me. 

Then again, I expected nothing. 

Breakfast started at 7:30, so I grabbed a change of clothes and toiletries and sprinted to the communal shower room. I and Death (hesitantly) followed. 

"Why are you acting all nervous?" I couldn't help but laugh at Death's awkward expression. "We're in the In-Between. No one else will see you enter the girl's shower room."

Death covered his blushing face with his right hand and turned away from me.

"Evangeline," he said slowly, as if I was an idiot who had trouble understanding basic English, "I'm going to see you naked."

My lips formed an 'o', and my eyes turned blank as his words finally struck me. Soon, I was blushing even madder than him.

"I can…" He cleared his throat. "...censor it if you'd like."

"What?"

"Our view of the memory," he said. "Your nakedness, specifically. I can blur it out."

"I was about to ask how that would work, but I realized that this is the afterlife, and logic has no place here." I sighed, shaking my head. "Please do."

Death snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. Or so I thought.

When the younger me started undressing, her body was covered with pixels. We had to watch me place my used clothes on the sink while the new clothes sat neatly folded beside it. I then put my towel on the towel hanger just outside the curtain. 

A perfectly good set-up, right? 

In the In-Between, my face twitched, and that feeling of impending doom returned to my stomach. 

"Ugh, it's like we're watching Japanese porn." I swatted Death on the arm, no longer caring who he was. "Aw, okay! I guess this is more like a child–"

"Don't you dare finish your sentence!" I could feel myself growing red like a tomato. "I will not allow it!"

We returned to the memory, making me remember how much of an idiot I was.

I didn't think anything wrong would happen with my clothes. I was alone in the communal shower room after all. I didn't think anyone would be immature enough to steal my clothes for no good reason, and I expected that everyone would be chatting, waiting for food, or both at the mess hall.

But looking back, I can see how it was the perfect set-up for a set-up. 

I heard footsteps while I was in the shower. Through the translucent curtains, I saw the silhouette of a person enter the room, but it was thick enough that I couldn't see who. More people entered the space, and I decided not to pay attention because I thought they would shower too. 

After a few minutes though, none of the other showers have turned on. 

My instincts turned haywire and I finally got suspicious. I turned off the shower and reached for my towel, but making contact with the metal rod, my blood turned cold. 

It was gone, and so were my clothes.