Heart Strings

Cruel Summer

With my right hand held out, palm open, and my left resting on my hip, I fight the urge to laugh. Pretending to be angry wasn't a normal problem, but standing in front of my best friend I can't even pretend to be mad.

"What't that?" she asks, looking down at my hand.

"I need your time. I figured this was the best way to ask. Go ahead, hand over some time so we can actually hang out." I finally relax my face out of my pretend scowl and she rolls her eyes.

"I have to work!" shes says annoyed. She looks out of the store and into the middle of the mall, realizing no one else was coming in at the moment. "But scooping ice cream can wait. Where have you been?"

"Away," I laugh awkwardly. I feel very aware of the extra set of eyes listening in. "Do you go on break soon? I have so much to tell you."

"Can you handle this Harrington?" Robin asks, looking behind her at the boy. I was glad she could make eye contact with him because I sure couldn't. Or else I might try hitting him.

"The second it gets busy again I'm bringing you out here," he tells her. She waves me back behind the counter and I follow her into the break room. This could have been my job. If only my mom hadn't sent me to my dad's for a month. I could have gotten a summer job. Luckily I convinced them both to let me come back for the rest of the break.

"I thought you were on lockdown? What the hell happened?" Robin asks as she hugs me.

"Yeah, sorry about no phone calls. My parents finally found something to agree on. Apparently me kissing a boy is the worst thing in the world for both of them."

"Your mom found out?" she asks, way too loudly. "When I called your house all she told me was that you went to your dad's so he could try and parent some sense into you. I should have known this was about John."

"Ew, don't say his name. I'm happy I got sent away just so I didn't have to see him anymore. He was getting kind of annoying."

"You are insane," Robin laughs. "You are into someone for a month and then never want to see them again. I wish I had a bit of that."

"Well, that's because boys are gross and around a month they expect more than kissing in their car." I lower my voice and lean in closer to her. "Girls actually want a relationship, and they don't smell gross."

"Shut up!"

"You're the lucky one, Robin," I say sitting back up. "Boys are terrible. Especially that one you're stuck working with."

She looks at the wall that separates us from the front of the store and she smiles. "Steve? He's actually just a giant goofball."

"Who is too cool to interact with those who are not on his level. Don't tell me you forgot about how much he annoyed you in Click's class."

"He's not bad," she shrugs. "I could have a worse person to work with. So how did you get to come back before the end of the summer? I was sure your mom would make you do your senior year in Ohio with the anger I heard in her voice."

"Did you call her right after I left?" I ask and she nods. I roll my eyes, letting out a tired laugh. "She uh, caught me climbing through my window at three in the morning the day after school got out. John was still parked on the road and she knew who he was right away. Pretty sure the neighbors heard her screaming at him about how I'm still a child."

"But you turn 18 in a few months?"

"And she got pregnant at 17," I remind her. "She was mostly upset that he's so much older. Just like my dad was." I trail off and look at a poster on the wall.

It sucked how my mom reacted, and the things she said still float into my head now. But it would be a lie to say I didn't understand her concerns for her only child. I just wish she had handled it differently.

"So I didn't even get to sleep that night. She told me to go pack my bags, called my dad, and he was there before five."

"He made a two hour drive, at three in the morning?"

"My mom was pretty convincing in the argument that I needed to get out of Hawkins as soon as possible. Even told him he might need to get me a pregnancy test on our way out of town."

"Jesus, Thea! How angry was she? Does she just think you're leaving every night and hooking up with everyone?"

"Something like that. She must think I'm more like her than I truly am."

"How did your dad act when he got you?" she asks, lowering her voice. Robin hadn't seen my dad since we were 11, and the man she knew was not a good one.

"He calmly asked me for the truth- something my mom thought I couldn't give. But I told him, even though I was embarrassed, that I had snuck out 4 times to go kiss John. He wasn't happy but he believed me when I told him pregnancy tests were absolutely not necessary."

"And your mom, how is she now?"

"She kept saying she missed me after the first week I was gone. Hasn't mentioned anything to me since she sent me away." I fake a laugh and look away again. Even though Robin had seen the ugliest of my family and I knew her parents were a little unhinged too, admitting the truth of my mom's actions was always hard. I told parts of the story honestly, but other pieces were best left hidden. After all, my mom was still my mom and I wanted to keep Robin from hating her.

"So now you are back? And no more kissing men 8 years older than you?" This gets a real laugh out of me, and I couldn't be happier to be home.