Sunflower Girl [1]

The Flea and The Acrobat

"I'm probably gonna break something by accident.",I mumbled to myself while swinging a baseball bat.

Since we decided to go and kill whatever this faceless creature is, Nancy and I thought it would be good to practice our bat swings in case we would really face that thing.

If I'm being honest, I didn't really know what I was doing but I couldn't let them go monster hunting without me...so screw it.

The boys had Eleven who was clearly capable of keeping them safe with her powers.
At least that's what I hoped.

I looked at Nancy who was swinging her bat a little too aggressively and raised my brows. "Who are you angry at?"

"Your brother.",the brunette mumbled. "He's such an asshole sometimes."

"Tell me about it.",I laughed.

"He just cared about the fact that your parents don't find out about his stupid party but not about the fact that Barbara's gone missing and that she might be dead or something."

I hummed.

Steve could show a bit more empathy but I understood his point of view.
Steve's and my dad's relationship has always been a bit...difficult.
Our father would probably lose his shit if he found out about that party.

I was taking a swing when a sudden voice appeared.
"Whoa, whoa, hey."

I stopped right on time and looked heavily breathing at Steve who was standing in front of me.

"What are you doing here?",I asked out of breath. "I could've hit you, you idiot."

"What are you guys doing?",he asked the counter question and looked confused at us.

"Nothing.",Nancy and I replied in union.

Steve pointed at my bat. "I hope that's not meant for me."

I wanted to answer but Nancy was faster. "No. We just...We were thinking about joining softball, you know..."

I nodded quickly. "Yeah, such a cool sport."

Steve looked a bit weird at me. "Didn't you always hate softball? I remember that you yelled at Dad when he wanted you to practice that sport."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I had this dream of me being a softball star. I think I'm gonna give it a try."

Steve snorted. "Anyway. Listen Nance, I'm really sorry. I mean, even before my sister threatened me with that baseball bat. I just- I wanted to apologize to you."

Nancy didn't look really convinced. "Okay."

"I panicked and...",Steve sighed. "I mean, I was a total dick."

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, you were."

It was silent for a few seconds.

"Did you get in trouble with your parents because of the party?",Nancy asked.

Steve nodded. "Totally but...you know, who cares? Screw 'em."

My eyes widened. "They found out? When was that?"

"Mom and Dad came home when you were at the funeral.",he told me.

"Why didn't you call or something? I should've been there.",I asked my brother.

Dad probably went crazy.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter."

Yeah right Steve. Play the tough guy.
I made a mental note to ask him later what happened.

"So, any news about Barbara?",my older brother asked.

We shook our head.

"Parents heard from her? Or...",Steve continued.

"No.",Nancy's voice was almost unbearable.

I decided to leave the two alone. This conversation was obviously private and they really needed to clarify this between them without Steve having his little sister standing next to him.

I got inside the house and sat down in Mr. Wheelers La-Z-Boy.
Man I really understood why he was sitting in that thing the whole day.
This shit was damn comfortable.

I almost fell asleep when a voice next to me appeared. "You ready to kill some monsters?"

"You're actually supposed to hit the cans, Jonathan. That's the trick behind all that.",I commented on my best friend's miserable shooting skills as we approached him.

"No, actually, you see the spaces in between the cans?",he asked. "I'm aiming for those."

His gaze turned to Nancy and his eyes automatically softened. "You ever shot a gun before?"

The girl scoffed. "Have you met my parents?"

I chuckled at her reply.

"Yeah, I haven't shot one since I was ten.",Jonathan said.

"Oh I remember that day. It was your birthday.",I exclaimed. "Lonnie took both of us hunting and almost made you kill a rabbit."

"A rabbit?",Nancy asked in disbelief.

"Yeah.",Jonathan replied. "I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something."

"Your dad was so pissed. You cried for a week even though you didn't even hit the rabbit. It was just a grazing shot.",I added.

"Jesus.",Nancy exclaimed in disbelief.

Nancy and Jonathan started their own conversation so I took his gun.
I closed my eye, carefully targeting the can. With a loud Peng the bullet hit the can and shot it from the tree trunk.

"Wow, Emma. Since when can you shoot like that?",Nancy asked impressed.

I sighed. "Who do you think had to kill that poor rabbit?"

Have a nice week!