Butterflies on my tongue

001 - B

Porcelain shattered against the wall, so close to hitting me a loud gasp escaped me as I ducked and used my hands to cover my face. I turned my head to see several smaller pieces of what had once been a teapot, gifted to me by Nana, spread out on the stained, carpeted caravan-floor. A high-pitched sound rang through my ears as I slowly focused my gaze on the person that made my heart beat a lot faster than its normal pace nowadays, for very different reasons then it used to. I stood amidst the destruction of one of the few things I had left from the woman who had taken me in after I was left without any living relatives.

His face was bright red with anger, his long hair pulled back in a bun. He was wearing a white tank top and dark blue checkered pyjama pants, part of a Christmas present from me two months ago. His eyes were wide with fury, his fists balled up at his sides. What had I said to get him worked up this time? Had it been the fact I hadn't washed my bowl from dinner yet? Maybe something happened at school or at home. Was Max involved?

"Don't look at me like that, Maeve." His voice was like a growl, haunting me without any chance of escaping the feeling of anguish it came with.

My eyes widened a fraction more than they already were. I felt trapped in my own skin. Like there were little bugs crawling underneath it, urging me to stand up, leave, run and never look back. Now I was even looking at him wrongly? I didn't even know what it was he didn't like about my expression. How was I supposed to do anything without upsetting him now?

"I'm not looking at you like anything, Billy. I just-"

"You what?" I thought it wouldn't be possible for his voice to drop even lower than it already was, growing louder too.

It was of extreme importance that I be very careful now. One wrong sentence, word or even tone would set him off like it did last time. It wasn't natural for me to analyze situations like I was doing right now. I normally just speak before I think about it, but not with Billy. With him, I learned to shove everything I want to say, hell even scream at him, deep down, trampling it, jumping on it and locking it away. If I explode, would he get angry and hit me again? Would he drive home and blow off some steam? What if he focused his anger on Max for real this time? God, what if he left me?

No, I needed a different approach. Play innocent. He likes that.

So I mustered every piece of strength I had left and painted a small smile on my face,"I was just surprised, is all."

His shoulders lost a bit of the tension they were so clearly holding, his eyebrows lightly creasing in confusion. He released his fists and opened his mouth to say something else, but I didn't register anything else than maneuvering my bare feet between the shards on the floor to reach our broom. Suddenly his body was hovering over me from behind. Every little muscle in my body tightened in order not to cringe away from the storm that was inevitably coming. However, his arms just wrapped around me as he placed his chin on my shoulder, his sigh tickling the shell of my ear. "You know I love you right? No one will ever love you the way I do, Maeve."

She was lightly shoved forward as someone pushed past her, calling loudly:"Excuse me, sorry."

The first thing she noticed was the cool wind from the AC lightly blowing the hairs that escaped her ponytail from her face. Somewhere in the shop a cashier was using a rather loud till and chatting happily to the customer they were helping out. She saw a light flickering in the corner of her left eye; it had been for weeks now.

Since the disaster that happened at Starcourt mall last summer, people in Hawkins had swarmed the local supermarket once again, causing a permanent rush and barely any time to do repairs.

Maeve was facing the canned-soup aisle, but as she looked to her right she saw the person that had brushed past her just now, in a worker's uniform, stoop and clean up what looked like a glass jar of chickpeas. She blinked a few times to remind herself of the fact she was back in real time and grabbed four cans of the soup that was right in front of her, not even registering which kind, and marching up to that same cashier she had heard earlier. Along with a packet of sunflower seeds and a bottle of coke, she carefully placed the cans on the belt.

After trying to leave the shop as fast as possible, she headed toward one of the few spots here in Hawkins that were actually enjoyable. Where no one would disturb her because barely anyone went there in the first place. Where she could enjoy some peace of mind and observe those who still went to high school from afar. At the back of Hawkins high, there was the sportsfield, a large grass patch that used to accommodate different sports like football and hockey. Since nowadays every piece of the school's budget was put into basketball, there was no use for it anymore. Sometimes the cheerleading squad would come out and practice, other times the basketball team itself would run lapses around it.

To the sides of it were old bleachers, half of it collapsed and the pieces that were still usable barely had any paint left. It was just far enough from the school, so no teachers or students would come check it out, but there was still enough going on around it that Maeve could sit there for hours on end, observing. And so she did the same today.

After sitting there for a while, her back was getting rather stiff. When she went to move around a bit the dull ache spread throughout her entire spine. Trying to find a better position in which she wouldn't feel it that much, she found herself looking straight at the woods neighboring the school grounds. Not much went around in them, no animals besides rabbits and squirrels resided there as far she knew. The most action that went on between the large trees was probably young adults making out at skulls' rock, smoking weed or basically doing any other wreckless stuff simple-minded people came up with.

Her strain of thoughts was interrupted by a disruption of the green and brown landscape in front of her. She focused on a shape of blue, black and white, squinting her eyes to take a closer look. As it moved closer, it took on the shape of a person. Perhaps one of the simple-minded ones. They had long, brown, wavy hair and wore dark blue jeans with what looked like a leather jacket under a sleeveless denim jacket. Either they couldn't decide which to wear, or they thought it was too cold for a sleeveless jacket.

Perhaps it had been both.

As soon as the individual stepped onto the used-to-be-football field she recognised him to be Eddie Munson, local weed dealer and third time senior student. Simple-minded who did wreckless stuff for certain. He carried this small container with a handle in his right-hand, the other one casually stuffed in his left, back pocket, the one where his white and black handkerchief dangled from. His bangs cut off right above chocolate brown eyes, probably with blown pupils from smoking in the woods just now, as no possible client would willingly go into the woods with these temperatures. Underneath the jacket combo was a band T-shirt Maeve recognised to be Metallica's. A chain dangled along the side of his pants, connected to his belt loops.

Maeve didn't know much about him, except that he smoked weed and sold the rest of his stash to teenagers around town. He drove this old van that looked like it would give out any moment and lived in one of the caravans at the local camper park with his uncle. Theirs was a bit further up north from the one she herself lived in.One thing she did notice was that everytime she had seen him, his fingers were always drowning in rings, big chunky ones and more subtle bands. She had once contemplated asking him where he bought them, as a few of them were pretty neat, but with Billy always around, she didn't. Now that he was out of the picture, she could decide to just walk up to him, but that would take too much of her already limited social battery.

She watched him cross the field as he made his way back to the main school building and went back to staring out into the sky when she could no longer spot him. 

WELP, it's out. One day too late but oh well. tbh I just crashed last night because I had to work all week, so I forgot to publish it :D Please read the warnings at the Butterflies on my tongue thingy before this chapter and don't hesitate to let me know if I have to add some more to the list. Also, feel free to leave constructive criticism, or send me a message with your thoughts! I love interacting with fellow fanfic readers/writers hehe

Well, hope you enjoyed and remember; don't be like papa