"ev, come on." grizz pulls me towards the bus and out of my trance. i get on and sit next to grizz behind allie pressman.
ALLIE PRESSMAN was probably the closest thing i had to a 'best friend'. we were placed as lab partners in physics in the beginning of the year, and she single-handedly carried my grade, since science was never my strong suit and it's hard to keep up with education when i've just been trying to survive in new homes.
her and her sister cassandra sit alongside a boy i know as will. i smile to allie and sit next to cassandra.
"you ready ev?" allie radiantly asks me as she turns and holds her hand behind her for me to grasp.
"sure." i say before my eyes wander to the boy entering the bus. he walks down the aisle and takes a seat next to a blonde girl.
ELLE TOMPKINS was probably the most beautiful girl i've ever seen. everything seems so effortless for her, like she could have anyone at her fingertips easily. so when my ex boyfriend asks to take a seat beside her, it infuriates me a little bit.
but i try to brush it off, and drift off to sleep.
cassandra moves my shoulder, calling 'ev, wake up' while i open my eyes to the darkness exiting. the lights turn on, and we walk out onto the town lawn. it's dark out as my converse touch the grass, and cassandra says: "guess nobody was expecting us." as we each text our parents.
except, none of our messages send. after this suspicion arises, cassandra communicates for the group to just "go home!"
she's always been a leader—so all of us follow. grizz and i make it home and i are welcomed by a void.
"do you know what's going on?" i ask him since lindsay and jason are nowhere to be found.
"no idea." he says to me as he drops his bags at the bottom of the stairs and calls up to them, no response back.
i decide to call allie, to ask her if there's any mutual feeling about our families.
"hey, are you're parents by any chance like...home?" i ask her once she picks up.
"nope, cass and i couldn't reach either of them." she answers.
"they wouldn't just like—leave us." grizz comes back from upstairs with no parents behind him.
"right?" he questions.
of course grizz being confused to his parents leaving makes sense, he's never had to wonder where they went or if they'd ever come back. i could only dream of such ignorance—not that i blame him. if i could forget all that's happened to me in an instant, i would.
"yeah, i wouldn't think so." i say still on the phone with allie.
"i'm with will and cassandra, they're texting with everyone and literally no one can reach anyone." she says back as i get added to a group chat with an abundance of other people.
"hey, we gotta go ev." grizz suddenly pushes past me and hops into the car. i blindly follow along, as i don't have much choice.
"where are we going?" i ask while we pull up to the front lawn of town. he silently continues towards the town center, and jumps out while i trail behind him.
"so who decided that we needed a flash mob?" i hear him say as i catch up to him. cassandra confirming, "i did." while grizz questions her with: "what the fuck, cassandra. i completely have no idea whats going on.
"better than 200 people sending texts." she states her case, which i agree with.
"has anyone been able to reach anyone?" she asks the crowd, in which we all mutually agree it's a 'no.' cassandra stumbles on her words while she tries to form an explanation. i stand between grizz and allie as i ponder the same thing.
"they, uh—they were evacuated. after we left, and there was a miscommunication, and we were brought back here by mistake." she tries to conclude, but kelly questions: "someone would still answer a phone."
KELLY ALDRICH seemed to know everything. i would think she would be voted 'most likely to succeed' if we ever get our yearbooks. although cassandra is a bright activist, kelly barely treads behind. her and harry are definitely going to get married as some wealthy lawyer-doctor-or-whatever-couple, probably ruling whatever district they find a 2 million dollar home in. i was never very close with her, but we stood somewhat adjacent in social groups.
"maybe they're asleep," cassandra once again efforts to say. "maybe there's some place with no reception? in a shelter with, uh, no reception." this is almost painful to hear.
"in the morning someone will answer a phone." she says, but my fear bites me as i say aloud; "maybe it's not safe for us to be here, if they all left."
i've always tried to hide my fear, but that sentence impulsively stepped out as i turn to see the groups same feeling.
"couple hours isn't gonna make a difference." cassandra answers. "we'll figure this all out in the morning. right now, we should just, uh go home. and anyone who doesn't want to uh, be alone can just come back to our house. yeah?" her voice rises at the end of her conclusion. a temporary conclusion i might add.
i turn to look at allie before looking back at grizz. i feel safe with him, but i don't know how i'm truly feeling about being abandoned by our families, even if it is 'temporary.'
a brave voice bites back at cassandra as she finally settles down, asking: "is that your advice, cassandra?"
HARRY BINGHAM was an easy face to recognize. although he didn't play football, he hung around with the same crowd, and was a common host to their parties. i've interacted with him several times, but nothing very personal. at least not as personal as homecoming night last year.
WEST HAM HOMECOMING DANCE, 2018.
i get out of campbell's black car after an eventful first time. i told him i should get going, and he calmly respected that. when we arrived back at the school, the dance is ending so i try to search for grizz. i walk out confident and it isn't until a voice questions me that i stop in my tracks.
"did you just get out of campbell eliot's car?" i turn around and match the sound to a tall brunette guy standing in front of a shiny black car—just a bit smaller than campbell's.
"i'm sorry?" i ask to confirm he was speaking to me, even though he so obviously was. "do i know you?" i ask him while he starts to walk towards me. and i'm lying, i totally know harry. i've actually been to his house once after one of grizz's games, but still—i say i don't.
"you're uh, grizz's sister, or something—the cheerleader—evan." he solves my identity like a half finished puzzle in front of me.
"sure, okay. so why is it your concern if i was in campbell's car?" i try not to be rude, just am simply confused why it would be an issue.
"well uh, he's not exactly one you'd want to be seen with—just saying." he faces his eyes away.
"well uh," i mimick him. "no offense but i don't exactly have any motive to listen to you." i state my case as he did.
"'kay, i just...know the guy a bit. just wanted you to be cautious." he says before i slip a shy "thanks," look him up and down, and continue walking inside to search for grizz.
"is that your advice, cassandra?"
"yeah, yeah harry just go to sleep." cassandra turns away the crowd as we all return back to our starting points.
as i begin to turn, grizz touches my shoulder and whispers; "stay here, we're all just gonna hang if no authority's around." and i don't often turn down parties, so we wait for the fun to begin. as i dawdle around in the moonlight, i hear a distant sound call: "THE FUCKING CHURCH IS OPEN!" with a crowd roaring as the response, grizz and i gravitating with the group. they all run fast and engulf themself in vodka and bad dancing. i stay involved, but don't hold a drink in my hand.
and so the party begins...
