uncool, stanley barber

13

13 - just needing a hug is okay

"so, ricky berry's party" dina smiles as she grabs one of the bowling balls and tosses it. she's not gifted in bowling, so the pink ball goes into the gutter, bypassing the pins. she doesn't care though as she's stoked about a night out.

"oh, yeah. that's tonight" i say as i lean against the ball dispenser. i'm supposed to be working, but the alley is surprisingly quiet for a saturday.

"well, we're going" dina says as she gives syd a green ball. she mutters thank you before syd knocks down 8 pins.

"i don't know, dina" syd frowns.

"no ifs or buts or 'i don't know, dina.' we're going" dina instructs as i cross my arms. there's never any point arguing with dina about an excuse to party.

"but, you know. ricky's kinda-"

"a dick" i say, knowing what happened with ricky, me and syd. oh and bradley, but we don't bring him up for dina's sake.

"yeah, he's not great" syd agrees awkwardly. "and a lot of people will be there-"

"of course, that's what makes it a party" dina shrugs. she looks at us, feeling defeated. "i just, bradley's hurt his ankle and i'm super worried about him. then i thought, maybe a girls night could be the cure for my worrying."

dina catches my smile at her speech as we look over at syd. "okay. please don't leave me though."

"i'd never" dina smirks, wrapping her arms around syd's shoulders and hugging her.

we continue the game of bowling, going unsuspected by gladys as there's not much else going on. stanley walks out, since he's been sorting out the storeroom.

"hey, stanley!" dina calls over to him as she waves him over. he brightens up and strides towards us, a small smirk on his face. "you're going to ricky's tonight, right?"

he looks at me and smiles. "yeah, was planning on it. you gals going?"

"yes, we are" dina answers for us as i hand her the next bowling ball. she misses again as stanley flops his arm around my shoulders.

"sweet" he says. without us realising, gladys had peered her head from over the counter and was watching us.

"lovebirds!" she shouts in our direction, making me and stanley separate ourselves. "i don't pay you to play, i pay you to-" but she stops and realised there's no one else in the alley. she doesn't even finish her sentence, she just goes back to staring at nothing.

"i like her" syd comments as she gets a strike, making us cheer. "woah."

minutes pass with us starting up new games and all of us joining in. syd manages to win every time, it's like it's rigged or she's got incredible aim.

dina gets a strike, for the first time and hugs me tight. i laugh into her shoulder, but i catch syd's jealous gaze. i detach myself quickly. "nice one, di" i say instead, awkwardly hitting her shoulder.

she doesn't notice anything as she goes to hug syd, who welcomes her with opening arms. i look to stanley who's yawning, probably from all that driving yesterday.

"you still awake?" i chuckle, smirking at him. he nods his head lazily as he hugs me. it's like i'm carrying his whole body weight as his arms wrap around my waist and he nuzzles his face into my shoulder. "stan, what's up?"

"nothing" he mumbles. "i just need a hug right now."

shit. okay, few possible reasons for this: maybe he was hit by his dad again. maybe he misses his mum. maybe he's completely baked. or maybe he's just tired.

well, i didn't see any marks or bruises or cuts. he hasn't mentioned his mum in a while. he doesn't even have the faintest whiff of marijuana.

"i'm just tired." he's just tired.

"ok, sleepy head" i sigh, rubbing his back. "why don't you take a nap? there's not much going on here and gladys won't notice."

he pulls away and looks at me. he's got bags under his eyes, bigger than mine. when he dropped me off yesterday after the hospital, i got some sleep cause it was almost 2am. but, i don't think he got any sleep at all. what kept him up?

"you sure?" he rubs his eye, making me adore him all over again. i kiss his cheek before nodding.

"i'm sure" i walk with him to the tidy-ish storeroom and find a cosy corner for him. it has some clean towels for him to cuddle up in.

he does so as i retrieve our jackets from the hooks and place them on top of him. his checkered one and my fuzzy denim one.

he smiles at me, it's a tired smile but he's still making an effort. "you're so selfless, ella dawson to the rescue" he mimicks what i told him the other day. i kiss his forehead before turning off the lights and closing the door.