Any Time At All

Chapter Nineteen

'Will is dead', is the first thing that you think of when you wake up. Your eyes are heavy and raw from all of the crying you did last night. You get out of bed and head to the bathroom to fix yourself up. You look in the mirror and are taken back by the person you see. Her hair is a mess and her eyes are puffy and red. You touch the skin underneath your eyes where purplish bruises are prominent,  marking your poor night's sleep. Thank God for concealer. You apply your make-up and let it go when you can't seem to hide all of the redness. You leave the house and head to school for a long and dreary day. 

On the ride to school, you feel embarrassed that Steve saw you sobbing like that, last night. It's so complicated with him. One day, he's friendly and then next he's mean. Scratch that, one hour he's friendly and then next he's mean. He is so unpredictable. But that was one of the things that you loved about him. Even though you had been friends forever, he was still able to surprise you. 

You arrive at school and sit on the hood of your car. There's still a little time before school starts, might as well relax for a minute. You close your eyes for thirty seconds before you hear someone say your name. You open your eyes and see Connor, a few feet away from you. He walks up and throws his hands in the air. 

"Where were you last night?" He asks you with his brows are furrowed. "I called three times!" He puts his hands down at his sides. 

"Hello to you, too. I was a little preoccupied at the time, Connor," you say annoyed but tiredly. "Before you get your panties in a knot, I was with the kids," you say but he cuts you off.

"The kids. The kids?" he says louder. "Why do I feel like you're with the kids more often than you're with me?" His tone is sour and he looks furious. 

"Wow, jealous, are we? Why don't I say something before you brutally murder them to get me to stay with you 24/7? Will is dead, Connor," you say with some extra bite than before. 

"Dead? What do you mean? How?" He asks in disbelief. He doesn't even ask if you're alright or not.

"He drowned in the quarry."

"Wow, I'm sorry. That sucks," he bobs his head up and down with his lips in a tight line. All the anger has left his eyes.

"That's it? That's all you can say?" you ask with utter disbelief. You mimic his head movement and then snap back. "I'm in mourning for one of my closest friends and I feel like shit, thanks for asking. Go to hell," and with that, you hop off the hood and walk into school. Connor just stands by your car and watches you leave. You feel good having the last word. You feel empowered. A smile breaks onto your face and you go to your locker. Taking out your stuff, you hear your name being called again. You shut your eyes and tilt your head up to the ceiling. "For Christ's sake, Connor, was me walking away not clear enough for you?"

"Sorry, not Connor." You open you eyes and see Steve standing next to you with an amused smile. "Trouble in paradise?" His smile gets so wide that his white teeth break through. You get distracted by his face. "(Y/N)?"

"Yeah, no, sorry. Trouble in paradise?" you ask. "I haven't been to paradise in a long time," you say and laugh a little. 

"Well, that's depressing," he says and that makes you smile. 

"Not to sound mean or anything but, what do you want?" You ask him and he becomes serious again.

"Oh, right," he starts. "I just came over here to ask how you're doing. Last night was rough, to say the least. I wanted to just, you know, check up on you."

"Um, I've been better," you nod your head up and down like Connor did. "Thanks for asking," you give him a friendly smile. "And thank you," you add.

"You just said that," he says, a little concerned. 

"No," you chuckle. "I meant, thank you for last night. For being there for me. I needed that. Sorry you had to see me like that, though," You admit, slightly embarrassed. 

"Hey," he says and grabs both of your arms, right below your shoulders. He crouches down slightly to be eye level with you. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, I'm here for you."

You smile at him and say you have to get to class. The two of you part ways and when you turn back to look at him, he's hugging Nancy Wheeler in the middle of the hallway. You turn back around and walk into the classroom. You couldn't help but notice the strange look on Nancy's face when you looked back. It was full of worry and concern. 

For lunch, I go outside and sit by myself. I really didn't want to see Connor right now. While I go to the secluded space between two parts of the school, I hear people talking and I stop in my tracks. "So, wait a sec. I don't understand. You went back to my house?" You immediately recognize Steve's voice.

"To look for Barb," you hear Nancy say.

"Yeah, okay, but why didn't you just talk to me?" He asks. "That's crazy."

"I don't know, I...I was scared," you hear her say, softly.

"You seriously think you saw a guy in a mask just hanging out in my yard?" When he says this, your heart stops and then begins again. What about the back yard that you two share?

"I don't think it was a mask." she whispers.

"But he had no face?" Steve asks suspiciously. 

"I don't know!" She whispers again. "I don't know, I just...I have a terrible feeling about this."

"Oh this is bad," he states. "This is really bad." You lean over to take a quick peak at the little open space where you were going to eat lunch. You see Steve leaning against the brick wall, opposite of Nancy.

"What?" Nancy asks. What does she mean 'what'? Sometimes, she is so oblivious. She literally just explained the bad situation. More ranting coincides in your head while they talk. Suddenly, you hear Steve yell for Nancy. 

You see Nancy stalk past you on the other side of the opening without seeing you. You get up from your spot and you walk over to Steve. He is standing there with his hands on his hips and a frustrated look on his face. 

"Hey," you say and walk over with your lunch box held tight in your left hand. "Trouble in paradise?" You quote him from earlier and give him another friendly smile.

"How much of that did you hear?" He asks. 

"Just the part that everyone else in the town heard. You, yelling for Nancy," you lie.

He nods his head and laughs a little bit at you trying to make light of the situation. He looks down at his shoes and kicks the ground. "Good. I haven't been in paradise for a while, too," he says and looks up at you through his thick, dark brown lashes. 

You sit down on the rocky ground and start to eat your lunch with your back against the wall. "Won't you join me, Mr. Harrington?" You ask with a bad attempt at a British accent. He laughs and sits down on your right with his arms wrapped around his legs. "We haven't had a real, friendly, happy conversation in a while, Harrington. What's new with you?"

He laughs at your true statement and shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know," he mumbles. "Not much. How about you?"

"Yeah, me neither. There isn't a lot to be happy about in my life, lately. But this is not supposed to be a sob fest." You say jokingly and bite into one half of the sandwich. You take the other half out and hold your hand out to give it to Steve. "PB&J," you say and wave it around a little bit like they do in the cartoons when they want someone to smell the food.

"Thanks," he says and grabs it. "You know, you really haven't changed. I know it's been a while, since we've talked, and I'm sorry but you are still too funny," he laughs and bites into his sandwich.

"It's not only you, Steve. I could have talked to you, too." He smiles at you and you finish your lunch with minimal chatter in between the comfortable silence.