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 failing miserably.

"You're supposed to hit the cans, right?" Nancy asked him.
"No," Jon replied, "actually, you see the spaces in between the cans? I'm aiming for those."
"Hey," Jenna yelled over to him, "Let me give it a shot."
Jenna walked over to Jon and took the gun from him. She quickly aimed it up and shot down all of the cans first try.

"Where did you learn that?" Jonathan asked her as she went to set the cans up again.
"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. Win win. Anyways, Nance, you give it a go."
"You ever shot a gun before?" Jonathan asked Nancy.
"Have you met my parents?" Nancy asked while chuckling.
"Yeah," Jonathan said back, "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 said, "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."
"Why did he make you kill a rabbit?" Nancy asked.
"I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something. I cried for a week. Jenna over here was my emotional support for a while."
"Jesus," Nancy said in disbelief.
"What?" Jon questioned, "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 Jonathan.
"Just point," Jenna instructed, "And shoot."

Out of nowhere 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 replied while aiming up her shot, "Screw that."
Nancy shot at one of the cans and hit it perfectly. She sent it flying into the air.
"That's my girl!" Jenna yelled at her while hugging her from behind, "I think we have our shooter."
"But you have a better shot, Jenna," Nancy told her, "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, maybe.
"You never said what I was saying," Nancy said, looking 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 replied, warily, "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 replied, "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 and not these half-adult children.

"He's actually a good guy," She yelled up to Jonathan.
"Nancy," Jenna told her, "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 said back, highly irritated, "that's one word for it."
This pissed Jenna off.
How could she be defending Steve like that? He was a huge ass the other day and crossed the line on many different levels.