Kings Queens and Freaks

Part One: Chapter Three

Chapter 3

    The rest of the week had seemed to fly by and the closer Saturday came, the more I regretted my decision to get swimming lessons from Steve. On Friday it was all I could think about, I was worrying what kind of swimsuit I was going to wear, should I go shopping and buy a new one? Oh God! What if I start my period and I am as bloated as a freaking balloon!? My head's full of anxiety as I take a seat in the cafeteria, and pull out one of my textbooks. I figured I'd start reviewing and adding to my study notes, perhaps it would distract me from my thoughts. I look around and there are a few other students sitting at the same table as me. I didn't know any of them personally and if I was being honest; I hadn't really made many friends at all this year. Which also isn't surprising, but I thought I'd have at least found a small group to talk with. I have my mind buried in my book reading about medieval Europe, when suddenly a pair of hands slam down in front of me. The violent smash made me jump in my seat and I accidentally scribbled ink across what I'd just finished writing. I looked up, frowning my brows, highly annoyed that I would have to re-write the entire page. However, my expression instantly changes once I see who the hands belong to. Steve is smiling down at me and attached to his hip are two of his friends, also seniors. The tension in the air was thick and as I stared back up at him it was like I was looking at the sun slowly being devoured by a set of storm clouds. He takes a seat across from me and the other two immediately do the same.

    "Hey Henderson," Steve smirks and leans over the table. "Why is it that every time I see you in here, you're always sitting alone?" He raises his one eyebrow and looks at me mischievously.

My mouth opens and closes, I don't know what to say or how to respond. And I can feel the embarrassment in my cheeks burning like a raging fire. Was Steve trying to be mean? Funny? Trying to impress his friends? I didn't quite understand, this wasn't the Steve I knew. The girl beside him makes a scoffing sound, smiles and folds her arms across her chest. Steve looks over at her, rolling his eyes. Turing back to me he winks, then tries reaching out to take away the textbook I was reading. But just as quickly I snatch the book away from him. With the playful smile plastered across Steve's face I could tell he was messing around with me, and trying to make me laugh. So I smile back flirtingly, shrugging my shoulders. However, Steve was right I never did sit with anyone else, or talked to other people in the halls. And my smile soon began to fade at the realization.

    "I don't know, guess I just haven't found my people yet," I say shyly, fiddling with the spine of the closed textbook book in front of me. The boy and girl next to Steve continue to stare me down, as though I was the prey that they were hunting. Shifting in my seat, I started feeling slightly uncomfortable about the entire situation. Steve looks between me and his friends. He notices my discomfort and hurriedly comes to sit beside me on the other side. I don't think his friends were expecting his actions, as I heard the girl say "Steve" under her breath. He places an arm around my shoulder and takes a hold of my chin so I am only looking at him and smiles.

    "Hey, didn't I say we were friends like three days ago?" he says with a small squeeze of my shoulder. I roll my eyes, smiling and blushing, turning my face away from his.

    "Yeah, you said something along those lines." I shrug.

    "Then why don't you come on and join the rest of us?" As he says this, Steve points over to another table on the far side of the cafeteria. I follow his finger and see a table with a bunch of senior's and sophomores. I knew a few of the faces: Nancy Wheeler, of course and her boyfriend Jonathan Byers. But there were also many students I did not recognize, and I found it a bit intimidating. However, they did seem to be having a good time, chatting away all happily. "Come on Henderson!" Steve says trying to pull me up and out of my seat.

    "Ok, ok fine. I'll come," I say, giggling at his determination. As Steve helps to gather my things, I slightly glanced over at the girl that was sitting across from us, and my face drops noticing the irritation in her eyes. She didn't seem to be too pleased that Steve had invited me to join their group. As we made our way over to the table, I could feel Steve put his hand on the lower part of my back, guiding me to where the rest of his friends were. A slight shiver runs up my spine because of his touch, and I feel my cheeks turning red. There's the Steve I knew.

It is Saturday morning, and the sun is just creeping its way through my bedroom curtains. I roll over, facing away from the blinding light. Today's the day. The day Steve Harrington will see my literally half-naked body in a swimming suit. I stuff my face into my pillow at the thought. Ugh! Why did I even agree to this?? Slowly I pull myself out of bed, making my way downstairs. I can already hear my mom and younger brother chatting in the kitchen. I sit down at the kitchen island next to Dustin, while our mom makes us pancakes for breakfast. I stare blankly at the islands countertop, my nose tickles with the smell of maple syrup and fresh cut strawberries. Faintly I can hear Dustin's mumbling voice. Probably going off about some sort of new scientific theory he has, the kids a real nerd if I'm being honest.

"Jesus. It's too early for this." I say trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. Looking back up at our mom, she hands me a plate stacked full of warm pancakes. I could tell by the look in her eyes, she was thinking the same thing I was. We both share a smile, rolling our eyes at Dustin's endless chattering. Suddenly Dustin reaches over and grabs the pancake plate right from my hands, placing the entire stack in front of him. He begins dousing everything in syrup. "Hey, those are supposed to be for the both of us!" I scoff with annoyance.

    "Ooops," Dustin says, shrugging his shoulders, he stares at me as he continues to squeeze the bottle harder pouring out more syrup.

    "Oh, don't worry Hun. I'll be making more, Dusty's just a growing boy" our mom says reassuringly. Watching closely as she turns back around, I quickly punch Dustin in the side of the arm. Mumbling "pig" under my breath. Dustin yelps holding the spot I hit him and before he has time to react, I hop out of my seat to pour myself a glass of orange juice on the other side of the island. I stick my tongue out at him as our Mom hands me two fresh pancakes. I thank her and take my seat again.

    "So, what do you kids have planned today?" She asks.

Dustin explains he will be spending the day at Mike's. He and the rest of his nerdy friends are going to try and finish this Dungeons and Dragons champion they had started a couple of months back. And planned to figure out their Halloween costumes this year. Honestly, I sort of tuned out most of what Dustin was saying. I was debating on whether I should say I was meeting up with Steve or not. I hadn't mentioned any of our previous interactions, and I was afraid it would raise more questions than I'd like to answer. Mom and Dustin were now looking at me, waiting for a response.

    "I'm just meeting a friend at the library to study this afternoon" I lied, and luckily both of them didn't seem to question it.

After breakfast, I headed back up to my room. Closing the door, I flop back onto my bed and groan in frustration, rubbing my hands over my face. I should probably start getting ready and head over to Steve's. He mentioned coming by at around noon, and glancing at the alarm clock, I saw it was nearly ten. Getting off my bed, I head over to my dresser and start looking for a swimsuit to wear. I hold up two sets of spandex material. Oh. My. God. I realize I only had two choices; ugly and uglier. The first was a plain dark blue one-piece, which I'm pretty sure my mom had bought me five years ago, before my boobs came in. I'll have to pass on that one. And the other swimsuit was a high waisted two piece pin-up style. It was black, had white pock-a-dots all over it, and there was a small decorative bow sitting in the middle. I roll my eyes, stuffing the small blue one back in my drawer and throwing the pock-a-dots onto my bed. After squeezing into the swimsuit, I stare at myself in my vanity mirror. The suit hugs my body, making me feel very uncomfortable. If I was being honest I wasn't as thin as the other girls Steve hangs around with, especially Nancy. My stomach sticks out and my thighs rub together when I walk. Spinning around, I look at my back, and to my horror there were the back rolls. I wanted to cry! Cursing at myself; I wondered again why I even agreed to this. Steve was going to take one look at me and never want to talk or hang out with me again. He is going to finally realize that I'm just a lonely, fat, loser that has no friends. I felt tears starting to slide down my cheeks, but I knew I had to suck it up. Just go for it. Wiping them away, I quickly throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Before leaving my room, I take one last look in the mirror. "I guess this will have to do," I thought to myself. I take a few more deep breaths, trying to calm myself down, and look back at the clock. It is already a quarter to twelve. Shit! I'm gonna be late!