The school day has ended and the halls begin to empty. A few students come out of a side hall with battered instrument cases, Past them, back in the band wing, someone PLAYS PIANO.
Maren haltingly plays Sibelius' Swan of Tuonela. She wears a cardigan big enough to be her father's, no jewelry or makeup. Sherry her first friend here walks in looking more like an American teen in a 1988 oversized top, lip gloss, and thick bangs.
"You didn't tell me you play piano" sherry is surprised. "Hey! You are here. Why weren't you" "in Home Ec all week?" Sherry replies.
(The Yearbook photos)
"How does it look?" "You're not going to be in it, by the way. Mr. Esser says he reminded you three times to get your picture taken." Maren fends this off with a shrug.
"So hey, my dad's doing inventory all night and Jackie and Kim are sleeping over..you should Come too." Maren looks up, surprised, but then retreats. "My dad won't let me." Maren huffs. "So? sneak out. After he goes to bed." Sherry suggests daringly. "How would I even get there?" "You're down in Southwind, right?" Maren nods, almost hiding her insecurity about this. "You know where the power lines go up the hill? That's Chesapeake Road at the top I'm right there. You yourself said that you wanted to make more friends here." Maren goes back to Sibelius with a tiny shake of her head. "Just give it a thought" maren smiles at sherry sadly. "Thanks, though."
:HIGH SCHOOL, PARKING:
The buses are gone. Maren's father's beat-up station wagon idles out front. When Marens father sees her coming she greets him with a smile, he slides over so she can drive. Maren gets in, puts her bookbag in the backseat and turns back to the wheel, nervously . . :when they arrive at the trailer park Maren parks carefully. She helps her father carry groceries to their trailer. She looks to where the high power lines disappear from view into the trees. It is a grey afternoon. "That was good on the road you've got to work on your parking but other than that your good." Maren smiles and takes that in. "Do you think it'll rain tonight?" Maren's father looks up at the sky as he unlocks the door. "I don't think it's supposed to." He replies unsurely.
—time skip—
Maren and her dad eat dinner. They have only a few belongings. There are no photos on the fridge, no plants or pets to tend to. "You got homework?" Maren shakes her head. "Just some reading." Everything is quiet, always has been. Maren then gets ready for bed, finishes brushing her teeth and comes out of the room she stops at the hallway closet where she palms a screwdriver from a tool box there and hides it in her robe. "night, Dad." She shouts loud enough for her dad to hear.
Her father is in a sleeping bag on the sofa, watching a young Rudy Giuliani on 20/20. He always sleeps there. He gets up. "Sleep good." He walks her to her room. When she shuts the door he locks it on the hallway side she doesn't react It's a daily routine. It is dark under Maren's door, She can hear her dad Snoring in the living room, No sound coming from the Tv.
She's dressed again, quietly unscrewing a security grill on her bedroom window that keeps it barred shut. She lifts it away as quietly as she possibly can and then boosts herself out. She climbs down from there shutting the window behind her.
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:AN symbol of journey:
Walking towards where she was told to She waits. No lights come on inside. She zips up her windbreaker and heads off, She makes her way under the massive power lines, which Buzz overhead.
Sherry lives in a split level. As she walks up, Maren can see Sherry in the kitchen with Kim and Jackie fussing with a tube of instant cinnamon rolls. Maren Knocks on a side door. She hears the tube Pop, a cheer, and then the door opens. "Hey! You got prickers all over you" Maren's jeans are plastered from all the weeds she's climbed through. The other girls watch her enter. They all greet her and make her feel welcomed. They take big gooey bites out of the rolls. Some booze is sitting nearby. They've been drinking, but not outrageously.
"So Sherry said you couldn't come because your dad's real strict or some thing?" "He's like that. I don't know why. I crawled out a window." "Does he worry you're going to get kidnapped or something?" Kim asks Knowsley. Kim's tone hovers between slightly bitchy and slightly bored. Maren shrugs it off though.
"That might be a relief for him. But your dad must worry plenty" Sherry's eyebrows go up But Kim takes Maren's sarcasm in stride, is pleased even. "Not even. He wouldn't pay a dime to get me back. Or my sisters. My brother is a different story."
"Dads and their fucking sports boys." Sherry snorts.
"Think of all the money we'd save on bullshit,he'd say He calls me his glitter baby, and he's not being nice when he says it."
"He doesn't even know where I am" Kim sighs. "We're THE LOST GIRLS then" Kim hooks an arm around Maren, as if claiming her. "Lost girls. Damn right we are"
They've moved to the living room. Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" plays softly in the back Maren and Kim lie under a glass coffee table on which an array of Avon testers is laid out. Sherry and Jackie try do each other's nails. Maren and Kim watch from underneath.
"So you can't spend the night?" Kim starts. "Not all night He has tomorrow off so I should be back by six to be safe." "Jesus." "I'll just head back when you guys want to sleep." "Where'd you move here from, anyway?" "Eastern shore." Maren's affect is flattening even as her pulse is amping up. "Is your mom not in the picture? Sherry says you only have a dad."
Maren looks up through the table at Sherry, who looks back, seeing they're talking about something serious Sherry knocks on the table and Kim looks up. She shows Kim her nails. "Cinnamon Glaze." "We're trying to talk." Kim looks over at sherry in disbelief. Jackie looks at Sherry, who is a bit stung Maren closes her eyes, not wanting to be pulled into these social currents. "Kim, give me your hand." Kim relents and puts her hand up on the table so Sherry can paint her nails. Maren opens her eyes. Kim's looking at her. Maren really does look odd, taking shallower breaths now.
"Never mind about your mom Its not my business." "I don't have any memories of her, or pictures even. My dad won't tell me anything."
"I want to move. I'm going to divorce my family when I'm old enough. You can do that, you know." Maren looks at her again, at her face, her neck. Kim mistakes this for envy, or attraction. She smiles, used to it.
"Try that It's "Copper Fever." Sherry says letting go of Kim's hand. Kim pulls her hand back under the table to look at one still wet painted nail Maren watches vaguely. "It's too orange." Kim shows off her hand to Maren, who pulls it toward her as if to kiss it Sherry and Kim trade a puzzled look through the table. But when it reaches Maren's mouth, she slowly starts to bite Kim's finger, breaking skin. Kim tries to sit up, knocking her head on the underside of the glass. She starts to scream, punching Maren with her other hand. Maren strips the skin off the finger. Sherry pulls on Maren's legs, shouting.
- time skip-
Maren hurries fast as she can back down the hill under the power lines and through the weeds, dazed and terrified. She doesn't bother climbing back through the window. She runs up the front steps and bangs on her locked front door. She's panicking. In a neighbor's window, a light comes on. Maren's father, woken from a dead sleep, lets her in. When he sees the blood on Maren's mouth, he seems to know exactly what's happened. He's already moving.
"In the car. Three minutes. What you can take in three minutes. Got it?"
:AN: -cliffhanger 😵 oh no but if you've watched the movie I'm sure you know exactly what happens next, anyways I hope you like the story so far!! Please do tell-
