Escape ~ S.Harrington

14} Party in the Woods

    When Nancy and Jenna showed up, Jonathan already had a few old cans set up for some target practice. He was trying to shoot at them, but was failing miserably.
"You're supposed to hit the cans, right?" Nancy smirked as she approached him alongside Jenna.
"No," Jon replied, "Actually, you see the spaces in between the cans? I'm aiming for those."
"Hey," Jenna made grabby hands at him, "Let me give it a shot."
Jenna walked up right next to him and snatched the gun out of his hands. She quickly aimed it up and shot down all of the cans first try.

"Where did you learn that?" Jonathan planted his hands on his hips, examining her for a moment.
"Oh, you know, Hopper's been teaching me some police skills when we both have some free time. I don't want to be a cop, but the skills are nice to know. Plus, I get some bonding time with him. It's a win win. Here," Jenna held the gun out towards Nancy, "Your turn, Nance."
"You ever shot a gun before?" Jonathan asked Nancy skeptically.
"Have you met my parents?" Nancy chuckled sarcastically.
"Yeah," Jonathan scratched the back of his neck, "I haven't shot one since I was ten. My dad took me hunting on my birthday. He made me kill a rabbit."

"Oh, yeah," Jenna nodded, "I remember you running over to my house afterwards crying. Then you forced me to watch cartoons with you to calm you down. Those were the days, as sad as it is to say."
"Why did he make you kill a rabbit?" Nancy questioned.
"I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something," Jon shrugged, "I cried for a week. Jenna over here was my emotional support buddy. We watched a lot of Looney Tunes."
"Jesus," Nancy muttered in disbelief.
"What?" Jon tried to lighten the mood, "I'm a fan of Thumper."
"I meant your dad," Nancy corrected.
"Yeah," Jon sighed, "I guess he and my mother loved each other at some point, but... I wasn't around for that part."
Nancy opened up her hand, silently asking for the gun from Jenna.
"Just point," Jenna instructed, "And shoot."

As she tried to line up her shot, Nancy said, "I don't think my parents ever loved each other."
"Must've married for some reason," Jon commented.
"My mom was young," Nancy explained, "My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac... and started their nuclear family."
"Screw that," Jon told her.
"Yeah," Nancy finished lining up her shot, "Screw that."
Nancy pulled the trigger and hit one of the cans perfectly. She sent it flying into the air.
"That's my girl!" Jenna proudly squeezed her shoulders from behind, "I think we have our shooter."
"But you have a better shot, Jenna," Nancy turned around, "Why me?"
"Let's just say that I like a more... hand-to-hand combat kind of weapon."

~

The teens started their trek through the woods to find the monster... or that was their goal, at least.
"You never said what I was saying," Nancy broke the group's silence and turned towards Jonathan.
"What?" He questioned.
"Yesterday," She clarified, "You said I was saying something and that's why you took my picture."
"Oh, uh..." Jon winced slightly, "I don't know. My guess... I saw this girl, you know, trying to be someone else. But for that moment... it was like you were alone, or you thought you were. And, you know, you could just be yourself."
"That," She scoffed, "Is such bullshit."
"What?" Jonathan stammered out.
"I am not trying to be someone else," She defended, "Just because I'm dating Steve and you don't like him..."
"You know what?" Jon snapped, "Forget it. I just thought it was a good picture."
God, I should've stuck with my children instead of these adult-sized children.

"He's actually a good guy," She yelled back at Jonathan.
"Nancy," Jenna finally butted in, "As his kinda-best friend, he really isn't anymore. He's a piece of shit."
"Yesterday," She tried to explain, "With the camera... He's not like that at all. He was just being protective."
"Yeah," Jon shot back, visibly irritated, "That's one word for it."
Jenna clenched her fists at her sides, trying her hardest to keep her composure.
How could she be defending Steve like that? He was a huge ass the other day and crossed the line on many different levels.