sparks | henry creel

034

It hurt watching her rely on her two friends for advice, when around two months before today I was the person she would go to.  And now, I was having to hide.

💡

I enter the house hand-and-hand with Lucas. It felt kind of weird, holding hands with Max, but Max called me on the phone before I left my house and told me if he did that, she asked him too. The trust in that relationship is astonishing. I dig it.

"Is it okay if we hang out with the baseball team?" He looks over to me, as we watch Mike go and hang out with some of his nerdy -friends who also seem to have some 'popularity' points.

I felt kind of reluctant at first, but he gave my hand a squeeze. "I promise you the baseball team is nothing like the basketball team. The baseball team gives sixty percent of it's earnings to the local woman's shelter, and they also are just really kind in general, especially to the special kids." He gave me a small smile, and suprisingly, that took away all of my doubts. "Come on, let's go find them."

We eventually found a bunch of medium-sized boys in the kitchen all wearing varsity jackets. They're not the same as the basketball teams jackets. Is this where all our money we make from plays and danced are going too? Stupid jackets?
"Hey, Sinclair!" What I assume is the... Captain? Comes up to Lucas and I. He fist bumps Lucas before turning his attention to me. "Heather, isn't it?" He towers over me, and I nod. "Yeah." I look down at my feet. "I'm sorry to hear what happened to you." His smile disappears and a stern look is on his face. "I want you to know my dad works on the school board, and he'll do everything in his, and I, power to make sure those ass-rats are never to enter the school building." He looks back to Lucas. "How are you and Max doing?" He asks. "She's fine. Can you show Heather where the drinks are?" He asks, and I shake my head. "Oh no, I don't drink."
"We have more then beer, don't sorry. Would you care for a coke?" He asks. "No thanks, I don't wanna be roofied."

Why did I say that?

"Sorry, that was uncalled for." I sigh. They all probably think you're weird now.

"No, you have a point. Well, let me know if you want something to drink, or a hiding place for your drink, I know a few places everyone here is already too drunk to think of," he turns around to his four buddies behind him. So, either our baseball team isn't the most populated, or half the team is somewhere else.

Eventually the group dissipates, and I'm sitting on the couch watching everyone drink. Sometimes, I wonder why my parents had to choose alcoholism as their screwups as parents. I sometimes lay in bed at night, thinking to myself, if they hadn't been that way, if I would be a normal teenager. I'd drink, get high, drink again. A girl way taller then me, and prettier, comes up to me, holding a red solo cup. Immediate no. Just because we have the same private party doesn't mean you won't drug me.
Chill out, it's probably hers anyway.

"Hi, care for a beer?" She asks. "I notice you were sitting down, all alone." Her eyes land on the couple next to me, making out aggressively. "Atleast sort of." She giggles.

"I'm sorry, I don't drink. But thank you." I give a small smile so she doesn't think I'm a total jackass for denying a drink. "Oh, okay." She sits down next to me, on the opposite side of the couple. "So, why are you here if you're not enjoying yourself? I don't mean to come off as pushy, I just wanted to know."

"Oh, well, my friends are here, and I didn't want them to come here alone." I try to come up with an excuse, and realize it's not a total lie. "Oh, okay." She looks away. "And where are your friends?"

"Oh, one is hanging out with the nerdy boys near the staircase, and one Is with the baseball team."

"Oh, so they're boys?"

"That's a fair assumption. Yes, they are." I reply.

She turns back to me. "Well, care to go swimming with me?" She holds out her hand. "What?" I ask, confused. "It's my house, don't worry." She grabs my hand, pulling me up. "Is anyone else swimming?" I ask, not really wanting to be the center of attention.
"Sure," she murmurs. "So, what's your name?" She finally asks, pulling me through the house full of people. "Uhm, Heather." I say, hoping she wouldn't recognize me from the Hawkins Paper, or the Daily News at Four. Nobody watches the news at four, maybe besides Mr. Wheeler.

"Okay Heather, I'm Natalie." We finally reach the screened in porch, and she pulls us outside, and I realize there's three people already in the pool. Of course we'd fit, the pool is gigantic, I just didn't know if i wanted all of the people outside of the pool, hanging around, to see my body. "It's okay," she assures me, climbing out of her shoes. "Okay," I utter, doing the same. She then dives into the pool.

She must be on the schools swimming team.

Once she comes back up, and her now pulled back ponytail is now falling in front of her face, soaked.

"Are you on the swimming team at school?" She asks. "Yeah. Jump in!" She yells, and a few people look over to us. I sigh, embarrassingly holding my nose with my fingers, jumping into the pool, pulling my legs up to my chest as I reach the water.

Once I'm at the surface, I finally breathe, and she giggles. "What?" I ask, annoyed. Now my clothes are soaked, and are probably going to be for a while. "You still hold your nose?" She asks. My face turns red. "I hardly swim." I look around us, and people are still talking to eachother, hardly noticing us.