Just Me - [S. Barber]

The Big Question

"Alright. Um, can we just go over this one more time?" Stanley asks anxiously as the two of them sit in his car, which is parked by Ricky's house.

"Sure. Go for it." Lia nods. "Syd, if you don't have plans yet, do you wanna go to homecoming with me?" He says, looking Lia straight in the eye.

For a moment she seems to get lost in his sparkling eyes, which seemed to have been staring into her soul. The feeling of having him look at her made her feel warm inside, which is why she didn't understand what the hell she was thinking when she said this:

"Why do you like Syd?" She asks. "Um— I mean, she's really cool and, really nice to me. And she's perfect." He smiles, leaning back in his seat.

"Unlike me?" Lia mutters, just loud enough for Stanley to hear. "Sorry?" He asks. "Nothing. Forget it. I hope you and Syd have a wonderful time." She says sarcastically, quickly exiting the car and slamming the door shut.

"Hey, Lia! Wait!" Stanley calls, running after her. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I say something?" He inquired. "No. You didn't say anything. That's the problem." She explains.

"Look, whatever it is, I'm sorry. I just— I really need you right now, Lee. I'm a mess and I can't really function without you around. Plus, you're my only hope to get Syd.." He sighs, taking her hand in his.

Lia looks down at their hands, then back up at Stanley. "Yeah. Sure. I'm sorry." She sighs. He grins, evidently exposing his dimples, which Lia absolutely adored.

"Alright, well. You ready for your first party?" Stanley asks. "No." Lia laughs. "Yeah. Me neither. But we can stick together. And then I can actually ask Syd." He states.

"Yeah. R-Right." Lia nods in disappointment. The two enter the loud house, hand in hand, and glance around.

Once they have walked up the stairs, Lia reaches for Stanley's sunglasses, placing it on top of her head. "Show off your eyes, dude. Girls love that." Lia playfully winks, motioning towards Sydney, who is dancing around with Dina.

"What would I do without you, Lee?" He sends her a smile. "I don't know. Probably sing along to Bloodwitch all day." She shrugs. "We still do that."

"Yeah, well you'd be doing it alone."

"Right."

The four of them (Stanley, Sydney, Dina, and Lia) sit in an awkward silence on the couch. Lia leans her head on Stanley's shoulder, nearly falling asleep.