sparks | henry creel

008

TW | M E N T I O N
O F A B U S E

"Okay so everything is still the same from whenever we left yesterday," Dustin says once we're both in his treehouse that he believes someone is living inside of. His old, raggedy treehouse. "Maybe he moved on, decided to stop camping out in a kids treehouse." I shrug, sitting down, leaning against the wall. "One, I'm not s kid. Two, what makes you so sure it's a he?" He sits down across from me, his posture horrible but it's whatever.

I roll my eyes at the kid remark. "A girl wouldn't stay in a nasty, falling apart treehouse. No offense, Dustin's treehouse." I examine, patting the treehouse, in which it creaks in response.

"Well, Heather, maybe she would do anything for survival, including sleeping in this 'nasty, falling apart' treehouse." He throws quotation marks in the air. "Plus, if it's a girl maybe I'll finally have a girlfriend."

My eyes widen. "Woah, what happened with Suzie?" I sit up, shocked to hear of the sudden breakup. "Uh, she didn't want to do long distance anymore." He shrugged, obviously not liking the conversation. "Dustin c'mon, you guys were hardly long distance. You met once."

"Yeah, we met once, and hung out for a month nonstop."

"Well, if there's a guy living here, maybe I'll finally have a boyfriend."

"No no. Finders keepers."
"Oh wow Henderson, I didn't know you were gay." I smirk, kidding around. "I'm not. And even if I was you wouldn't be homophobic." He does a fake smile. "Yeah, you're right." My eyes drift off from the conversation, looking back into my room from the distance.

"Plus, everyone knows you're trying to get with Henry." He murmurs, as if wanting to say something about it but not wanting to get me angry.
"Uhm, no. Everyone does not know that because it is not true." I look at him, annoyed. "Oh come on, Heather. You invited him to the house last night. I have a feeling if there wasn't, like, ten other people there, you would've totally made a move-"

"Oh shut up, Dustin!" I smack him in the elbow and instantly regret it. "Ow, Heather!" He groans.

"I invited him to the sleepover because I felt bad. He's new and there's rumors going around about him. Plus he has bad clothing taste." I add on at the end, causing him to laugh. "What, and you think yours is any better? You wear sweatpants and a hoodie to school everyday.

To hide the extra fat on my skin.

To hide the bruises and cuts my mom used to give me.

The shuffling of leaves break my... Break, from reality, and I look back to Dustin to make sure I wasn't going crazy. He heard it too and I bring a finger to my mouth telling him to be quiet. I slowly stand up, praying to God Dustin's treehouse won't fail me, and i climb down the short ladder and see Henry Creel. "Henry!" I gasp. "You scared the shit out of me! What are you doing here!" I sigh, catching my breath. "I... What are you doing here?" He asks, but I can tell from the way his words are coming out of his mouth he knows exactly why I'm here. "Wait a second.." I say. Is he the one who's been staying in the treehouse?

"You, you have been staying here! You're the homeless man we thought was staying here!"
"Or woman," Dustin chimes in, causing me to scoff. "You... Did you follow me home and see that there was a treehouse in between my house and the next house over? That would explain why I heard rustling following me." I sigh, looking down. "I thought I was being stalked."

"Heather, let me speak. I was only going to stay here a few days before I started staying at the homeless shelte-"

"No."
"What?" Both Dustin and Henry say at the same time.
"If you stay at the homeless shelter you'll come out bruised and on heroin. If you stay here, you'll freeze to death. You'll stay with me."

"What?!" Both Henry and Dustin say at the same exact time. "Heather, you know your grandma. She'll freak out if she finds out he's hiding in your house. Especially since it's a boy." Dustin says, which isn't far from the truth.

"Which is why she won't find out." I say. "Alright come on, Henry, I'm freezing as we speak."

He doesn't even retort or argue back, he just climbs into the treehouse and grabs a few of his things.

"So my grandma is home most of the day but on the Weeknd she's at bingo for most of the time and yes, I mean most of the time. She leaves Friday six p m sharp and comes back Sunday at four pm sharp. Don't as questions I have no idea what she does. The bathroom is right over there," I point to the door next to my bed. "I don't know how long you want to stay here and if you'll eventually get tired of the hard floor, which you probably will because this house is ancient, but like I said during the Weeknd granny isn't home so you can sleep on the couch or in her bed just don't do anything freaky." I lower my voice, realizing Grandma is still home. "Heather," Henry says in a low tone stepping close to me, "Thank you, so much. Dustin's treehouse was starting to get boring." He smiles sweetly, almost bringing a smile to my own face. "How'd you even find it, anyways?" I ask. "Remember Wednesday? I was following you home, as creepy as it sounds. I didn't have a reason to, besides... Well... It's stupid."

"No, tell me."

"I... I felt like I was being pushed towards you. I felt like if I didn't follow you I was going to be punished. Its-"

"Energy." I say, and he looks up to me. "You felt it too?"

"Yeah. Remember when we bumped into eachother that day? I felt this... Thing, pushing me towards you. It honestly feels unreal, like something you'd read in a book or hear in a song." I sigh, sitting on my bed. "I guess I don't have to wait outside of your house now at six." He mentions, while laying a blanket on the floor. "Uhm, your grandma isn't going to... You know... Come in here unannounced, is she?"

"She thinks I make good choices and that she doesn't need to budge in on my life. So no, unless I give her a reason to believe I'm making poor decisions, we have privacy." I put my arms behind me as I mean against the hard mattress. "Do we now?" He raises an eyebrow. "Yes, we do. Now come on," I suddenly bolt up. "We have to go to film night."
"Film night?" He raises his other eyebrow. "Oh, shit, yeah. You're a newbie. Everynight everyone meets at the family video in town to watch a film either Steve or Robin chooses." I grab my purse on the dresser. "So, everyone?"

"Yes, like I just said, everyone. Now come on!"

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little longer chapter folks :')
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