i'm only given clues

Prologue

(I've Never Reached An Answer) I'm Only Given Clues

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They're in line at the café for their Saturday morning coffee when one of them actually chooses to comment on it. Normani just rolls her eyes because she's been waiting for one of them to say it for days, but refused to be the idiot who stated the obvious.

"This is quite possibly the most boring summer ever," Ryan sighs softly, staring blankly out of the window. "Ever."

Without the dancing team, without any sort of popularity to garner them invites to any social gathering, they've discovered that there's little to do in this town. They're just left hovering around, staring blankly and paying attention to the most mundane of things, going to the most uninteresting places just for something to do so they don't melt into their couches.

It's been two weeks since the end of school. They've been hanging out since New York; it's kind of nice having some company who wants to not talk as much as they do. It's been two weeks of waving goodbye to their friends as they go off on their own adventures and watching the multitude of nineties sitcoms that Normani owns on DVD.

Lauren and Ty were first; they left for camp (as per requested by both's parents) the first Saturday morning of summer vacation. Keith was next, choosing to follow Ashley on her country-wide clubs tour. Normani didn't even want to think about why and Ryan kind of just went green at the thought. Quincy was next, visiting his Grandma in Cincinnati for a week. Normani and Ryan had refused to acknowledge anything done by Camila and Austin, still pissed at them - Normani because of the stupid fight they had the last day of school, Ryan for obvious reasons, such as the chipmunk stealing her boyfriend two years ago. Troye and Jacob had mentioned something about the four of them doing community theater, but Normani had shut that mention down before they'd got past the first sentence. That was the afternoon that Dinah left for California with her parents, giving both her and Ryan hugs on her driveway. Normani still smiles when she remembers the kiss on the cheek Dinah had snuck her when no one else was looking.

That was six days ago and now it's just them wasting away as they search desperately for something to do. But what can they do in a barren land that had nothing more than a multiplex and a video store?

"Yeah," Normani huffs as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Ever."

/

Her parents come home from work at midnight and she tries not to jump when they slam the door as they come in. She's usually asleep by the time they get home, but for once it's before the sun rises that they wander into the living room and give her bright smiles like it's the middle of the day.

"Hey sweetheart," her dad says as he takes off his jacket. He bends to press a kiss to her forehead and she smiles despite her usual antagonism, relishing in the affection. "We didn't think you'd still be awake. We need to talk to you."

Her mind buzzes, trying to remember anything she might have done that would call for this intervention, but she comes up short. Her parents sit beside her, her mom at her feet and dad on the arm of the couch beside her with a hand resting atop her head.

"We're worried about you."

She give them her usual scowl, and they laugh. They always laugh.

That's the funny thing; most people think that her parents are the reason she is the way she is, but they're not. They might not be around all the time, but they're still parents. They still want to know how their kid is when they get home, or want to kick her ass when she does something she shouldn't. Just like she's still a teenage girl who wants her nosy parents to stay the heck out of her business.