LOVE HEARTS- max mayfield

Chapter 1 - The Bleachers

The first thing you saw when you entered the Carver household was a gun.

This wouldn't be surprising for an average American family but it still shocked the people who walked through the door to realise that frail Lottie Carver was in possession of a hefty firearm. No one knew why she kept it, you would think that her son Jason would be the one to wield it, placing it on a display of pride in his bedroom. But no.

Lottie Carver had two eyes, as most people do, and one was always kept firmly on the gun in the umbrella stand by the door. One eye drifted to its silhouette as she cooked breakfast for her two children. Eggs for Jason, sometimes he even liked them raw which disgusted his sister Ruby who always stuck with the Eggo waffles they did at the Hawkins minimart.

It was Ruby's first day at high school so Lottie was quite frankly, terrified. She felt her daughter was growing up a little too fast for her liking, Jason was long gone when it came to parenting but she always felt a maternal urge to keep Ruby close to her. Not the Ruby needed her mother to provide for her, she was independent in ways that her brother and mother could never be.

Ruby was someone who kept herself to herself. She wasn't shy exactly, she could strike up a conversation with anyone at a party but she always feared that she'd grow too close to the person and that was a terrifying thought to her. This year would be different she told herself. She'd make friends, lots of them and she wouldn't be afraid when she grew close to them. Nothing could hurt her anymore, Hawkins was a harmless place and high school was simply a challenge to overcome.

"Where the fuck is my basketball jacket??" she heard a furious yell from the top of the stairs as her brother came thundering down. "We have a pep rally today, I need it!"

"On the washing line outside honey it's drying!" Lottie called out from the kitchen. "And watch your language please Jason!"

Lottie sighed as her son tore out the door and ripped his still slightly wet jacket down from the line, tossing it over his shoulder and storming back upstairs. "I made you eggs, oh-" she cut herself off as Jason slammed his door shut.

"I'll eat them Mom," Ruby grinned.

"Thank you," Lottie smiled softly. "Now, are you ready for your first day at high school? You're growing so old now!" she swivelled round the kitchen counter and hugged her daughter who was trying to pour syrup on her waffles.

"Mom I'm gunna get syrup everywhere stop!" Ruby laughed softly, gently shoving her mother off her. "Of course I'm ready, it's just school," she rolled her eyes, shovelling down the food that was meant for her and her brother. "It's weird I'm joining like halfway through the semester though."

"Well you had a break from school and the teachers know that! You'll be fine sweetheart," Lottie kissed her daughter on the top of her head.

Truth is, it wasn't just school, so when Jason kicked his sister out of his car to drive round the school and pick up his girlfriend Chrissy on the other side of the building, Ruby was wishing she'd told her mom she was sick.

As she shuffled over to the entrance in the corner of her eye she spotted a familiar face speaking to what looked like a teacher. She recognised the girl from middle school but the bright smile that always seemed to have adorned her face was faded into grimace.

Ruby shook her head and carried onwards, walking confidently into the school halls as if she'd been there for years. She entered the office and gathered all her information for the year, ignoring the look from the head that seemed to say 'are you ready for this?'. Because she was. She thought.

Bundling her bag into her locker ready for 'the pep rally of the season' as Jason yelled through her bedroom door that morning, she heard a familiar voice behind her. It was warmth and it was comfort.