The Freak & The Cheerleader

Late Night at the Park

While swinging on the swing I hear leaves crushing behind me getting closer, and closer, and closer. I am not alone. I quickly spin around to see Munson walking towards the park. He looks up and scoffs.

"The fuck are you doing here? this is my spot." He kicks the woodchips with frustration.

"you can't claim a spot dumbass." I close my eyes and continue to swing.

"everybody knows to clear out of the park at night because its mine." he sits at a bench.

"well I'm not everybody. you should just get over yourself." I say.

He stares at me in disbelief that I didn't care what he had to say to me at all. who does this guy think he is? some god? fuck no. he can scare everyone else but he doesn't scare me.

"you think your better than everybody else huh?" he stares at me.

"and you think you own everything and can tell people what to do?" I throw right back at him.

"whatever, I'm not gonna bicker with someone who acts like their 6." he shakes his head.

we ignore each other from there, we just do our own things. I stop swinging and zone out without realizing it as I get stuck in my own thoughts. everything goes silent. I can't hear anything anymore, nothing. it feels like its been hours when I feel a cold hand touch my shoulder. I jump off the swing and turn around to see Eddie.

"don't fucking touch me." I walk to a bench and sit down.

He stares at me and then shrugs, he goes and sits on a swing. Silence once again. no crickets, no frogs, no wind, nothing. it was about 2am now when I check my watch. The streets have been empty for hours. I look towards the other bench and notice Eddie is no longer there. I look around and spot him laying on the floor with his eyes closed. the hell is he doing laying on the grass. all of a sudden he sits up with eyes widened and a small scream escapes his mouth.

"what the fuck?" I look at him.

"nightmare." he sits up and puts his head into his hands.

"you have nightmares, what are you 10 still?" I chuckle.

"shut the fuck up Y/N." he shouts.

We both sit in silence for what feels like ages. I twiddle with my thumbs and decide to get up and go down the slide. Eddie goes back to the bench and lays down on it closing his eyes once more. I decide to go back to the swing after I have reached the bottom of the slide. I scuff woodchips with my feet as I sit in the swing. Eddie starts mumbling in his sleep.

"please- no" he mumbles half asleep.

"Munson! shut the fuck up or go back home!" I slightly raise my voice.

he jolts awake and gets up off the bench. he stares at me in silence with what looked like a death glare as he walked towards the road and down the sidewalk. I guess he finally decided to go home, thank god. I just want alone time without people, especially him. why would I wanna hang out with him. I look down at my watch. Shit. its really late, its 2:20am. I should start heading home myself.

I get up and start walking back to my house which is 10 minutes away, the wind picks up and rain starts to fall ever so lightly. So peaceful. by the time I reach my house I notice Nancy outside worried sick looking around.

"Nance?" I whisper.

"Y/N! where have you been!" she rushes over to me.

"I was at the park down the street. just was having alone time." I shrug.

"you can't be leaving in the middle of the night without saying anything!" her voice is shaky.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." I look down at my feet.

"its ok. Just please tell someone next time ok." she hugs me.

We both head back into the house and have a snack before we head back to our bedrooms for the rest of the night. I get upstairs and climb into bed, I cuddle my teddy bear I received years ago. it's still my favorite stuffed animal to this day. its all white, even the ears, nose, and pads on the feet of it. its very soft, I will never get rid of it. I stare at the ceiling thinking about stuff. I wonder if Chrissy would like to go to the pool later on today. That would be fun. Yea I'll ask her in a few hours when the sun comes out, we can just ditch school. its not like we have any important quizzes or anything and we don't have any games or practices until next week so were good.

I turn over to get comfortable and close my eyes. it takes quite a while to fall asleep but it happens after a while. I awaken to the sound of birds and the smell of fresh rain since it rained for a while. I hop out of bed and get dressed into some everyday clothes. I grab my bathing suit and shove it in a small bag and then head downstairs to borrow the house phone to call Chrissy.

"Hello, who is this?" a lady asks on the other line.

"Hello this is Y/N, can I speak to Chrissy please?" I ask.

"Of course, one second" she replies.

she must be getting Chrissy. I hope this isn't to early to be calling. I mean it is 7:30am so she should be up by now.

"Hey Y/N, what's up?" Chrissy questions.

"Hey! I was wondering if you wanted to go to the pool?" I ask.

"After school?" she questions back.

"no no. during school hours." I whisper.

"oh I don't know Y/N." she hesitates.

"oh come on! it will be so much fun!" I try to convince her.

"okay fine. I will pack a bag and we can meet at the park and walk there!" She says with excitement.

We both hang up. I eat my breakfast with my family and let them know I am getting a ride to school even though I'm not. I walk to the park and sit on a bench as I wait for Chrissy to show up. She doesn't take long to appear. We exchange how excited we are and say good morning as we walk to the community pool. when we get there it isn't that crowded. perfect!