Take What You Need {L.H.}

The Party

Annabelle hated parties.

So when she found herself sitting on a couch, drinking tea, in the back of her neighbor's scarcely crowded living room, she was less than pleased and more then bored.

Her neighbor, Lindy, dropped the invitation in Annabelle's mailbox over a week ago. It was Lindy's graduation party, which was even more boring than any other party. Annabelle was fully prepared to say no and move on with her life. So when Annabelle's mom told her she had to go, no one was thrilled.

Lindy wanted Annabelle to be there least of all. It was a pity invitation anyway.

Annabelle thought about calling Luke again. She almost did it, too. But something stopped her. Every time she saw his name in her phone, she flashed back to the whole egging thing. Every day for the past 3 months she thought and internally yelled at herself for it.

"You do realize parties are for socializing, right?"

Annabelle looked up to see Luke sitting next to her, holding his own cup. She didn't notice him when he walked in the door 10 minutes ago or when he sat down right before speaking. She was busy thinking about a way to get home.

"I don't know anyone here." She said, looking around at the guests once more.

"Didn't Lindy invite you?" He looked at her slightly confused.

"Yeah but she doesn't want me here and I don't want to be here. We don't even have the same social circle." She looked back at him, watching as he nodded his head.

"So I see." He said, taking another drink from his cup.

"So how do you know her?" Annabelle asked. She had never seen Luke come by the apartment complex. She was sure of this.

Since Annabelle was little, she would have these night terrors. When they got really bad, she would go to the balcony and sit there for a couple hours, trying not to fall asleep. One night, when she and Lindy were 13, Annabelle noticed a boy sneaking out of the 2nd story window. It was light enough to see the boy's face under the dim street lighting and just dark enough for them not to notice Annabelle. She watched as Lindy extended a very long ladder and tied it very tight right before he climbed down. This system was still going strong.

One night, when the girls were about 16, Lindy watched a boy climb down the ladder as she lit a cigarette. Annabelle, who's grandmother had recently died from lung cancer, walked over the edge of her own balcony, where Lindy could see her in a ghostly light.

"Smoking kills." She said, before slowly walking back to the sliding door to go inside.

"Wait." Lindy said. Annabelle thought about having some life changing moment where she gave this long speech accompanied by a cry session and a promise to be friends forever.

They both knew this wasn't going to happen. So Annabelle didn't stop. She gently slid the door closed and never mentioned those nights to anyone.

"Ashton's dating her." Luke said, looking around the room for his friend. Annabelle figured that's who she had been seeing sneak out the window a few times in the past week.

There was a silence that passed between them. Annabelle looked at the clock and noticed it was already 6pm. She had been there for 2 hours, satisfying her mother's requirement of being there.

"I'm going to go." She said out loud to herself. She slowly rose off the couch and walked towards the door.

"Wanna get a drink?" Luke asked. He had a slightly pained face, almost like he remembered the last time he asked her to do something outside of a planned event.

Annabelle thought of that same moment.

She had her hand on the door, slowly turning it. She turned back to Luke before opening it.

"What did the cow call her boyfriend before he left for work?" She asked him. She watched the confusion spread on his face.

"What?"

"A door a bull"