𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄, 𝐬𝐭𝟐

TWENTY-FOUR. snow ball

NATALIE D'ANGELO

—

i don't talk to anybody after the meeting with mike. not max. not will. not lucas. the only person i talk to from the party is dustin. and that is only because him and steve came over almost everyday to hang out with christie and the last minute before they left they would peek their heads in to say goodbye to me.

but other than that i stayed to myself at school. i rarely spoke in the classes i had with the party anymore. speaking maybe twice in the three weeks that went by.

i stayed to myself in the lunch room, sitting in the corner next to christie lou who never spoke to anyone a day in her 2 months at school.

i spent most of my after school days curled in a ball in my room watching movies and sometimes crying till there were no more tears.

i had nobody. nobody besides christie.

it's december by the time i feel up to doing anything and the day of the snowball. the school dance for us right before we go on christmas break.

i don't have any motivation to go nor do i want to. i know that mike is going to be there and i don't wanna see him any more than i have to. that's quite often, more often than i would like to.

christie's head pops into my room, distracting me from the emerald world in front of me. "nat?" she says. "hm?" i question her, continuing to keep my eyes on the television screen. i lay in my bed, my blanket covering me as i watch the wizard of oz.

"nat?" christie repeats, a sense of slight annoyance in her voice.

i take my eyes off the screen, looking at her. "what?" my voice has the annoyance this time.

"you gonna go to the snowball?" she asks me and i sigh before replying. i answer with a shake if my head and a stern "no." she has asked me every single day since she found out that it was a thing. she's urged me to go for hours. usually impressionable me has yet to falter.

christie sighs after she gets an answer she's not pleased with. "why not?" she asks me, her eyebrows are furrowed thickly.

she steps into my room, shutting the door behind her before she comes and jumps on the end of my bed.

"why?" i propose to her. her eyebrows raise as i unwrap the blanket from my head, staring  at her. she cocks a trimmed brow at me and i copy her action, sending the brow right back at her.

"is this because of stupid mike wheeler?!" christie asks giving me a look. "no" i send a squinting look to her, before covering myself back up with the blanket.