forgetting me

34

The Peterson Household
September 20th, 1991

William watched his father pull out of the driveway, off for some date with a woman he didn't know. William waited a bit longer before bolting up the stairs to his room.

"Is he gone?"

William smiled, turning on his light. "Yeah. We're good."

Elle pulled herself out from under William's bed, her face pulled in a frown.

"What?"

"You need to clean out under your bed," she said. William scoffed and swatted at his friend.

The two teens had only known each other since the end of April, but they had become fast friends.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" Elle prompted.

He smirked at Elle and bounded back down the stairs, Elle close on his heels. William was not a fan of the group Elle hung out with and some of the more questionable activities she got up into, but she had managed to convince him to break one rule. He opened the fridge and grabbed a couple bottles of beer.

"You're sure he won't notice?" he asked, hesitating to hand her a bottle. Elle put her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

"I thought you were just complaining that he hasn't noticed anything at all recently." William nodded slowly, but he still was hesitant. Elle rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air. "Come on, live a little on the edge tonight!"

She nudged William with her shoulder. He grinned and handed her two bottles, shutting the refrigerator door. He kept the other two for himself.

"You're right. It'll be fine."

They made their way outside to the back, the stars twinkling overhead. They both opened their first bottle and sat down on the grass together. They drank in silence for a while, the only sound the crickets in the distance. William thought the beer tasted disgusting, but he kept this to himself and continued drinking.

"It's a nice night," Elle commented. William nodded, looking up at the sky.

"We've got the perfect view of the stars here. Always have, and we probably always will." He rolled his eyes and suppressed a groan. "I think it's some curse."

Elle looked over at William. "Curse?"

William sighed and took a sip from his beer.

"We were stargazing the night my mom left."

Elle put her hand on top of his and looked at him. "I'm sorry, Will."

William shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it now. I've moved on from that woman."

Elle smiled slightly but didn't say anything else. They finished both their beers in silence.

"Hey, Elle?" William asked, now laying down in the grass.

"Hm?"

"Where are your parents at?" William glanced to his right from his position laying to see Elle, staring at the sky with her knees tucked close to her chest.

She giggled, and William couldn't help but join in. "Somewhere in the city. I don't know. I ran away because they were ignoring my existence. I live on my own most of the time. Every now and then, I'll stay with my gran, though. I trust she won't mention me because she despises my parents, too." She finished with a quick laugh, which made William snort rather loudly.

"Do you think we're drunk, Ellie?"

Elle let out a dramatic gasp. "Of course not! We only had two bottles of beer! Dos bottles," she exclaimed. William giggled.

"Are we a little drunk?"

Elle gasped again, but only slightly, before breaking into laughter. "Definitely," she said between laughs.

William smiled and let himself laugh with her. They laughed and laughed. They only stopped when Elle had managed to fall over onto William.

They both bolted upright. William's cheeks got a little hot, and he could see Elle's getting red. She smiled slightly, pulling at her shirt collar.

"Sorry," she mumbled. She ran her hand across her face, shaking her head.

William stared at her, marveling at her beauty. She caught him looking and smiled, turning to face him completely.

"What is it?" she asked, staring deep into William's eyes.

"You're stunning, Ellie," he whispered.

"You're not so bad looking yourself, Johnny Junior."

William shook his head slightly at the name, regretting having told her his full name. When he looked back up, she was still watching him. He smiled and made eye contact with her. Neither dared to look away from the other.

"Hey, Will," Elle said, almost in a trance.

"Yeah?"

"Can I kiss you right now?"

William didn't even answer her, he just leaned forward and planted his lips firmly on hers. He could feel her smiling when he slid his hand into her hair and she put her arms around his neck. Her breath tasted like beer, but William supposed his did too. They were having the time of their life sharing the moment together, until Elle managed pushed William backwards onto his back.

They started laughing again, William flat on his back and Elle on top of him.

"That actually kind of hurt," William admitted once they'd stopped laughing and Elle had rolled over to his side. "There's some kind of rock in my back."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that! I was just so in the moment!"

William grinned and stood up. He offered his hand to Elle.

"Shall we try standing?"

Elle raised an eyebrow and took William's hand.

"We shall."