That's All She Wrote
II
A few days later found me in my work-room, squashing the lump of clay from the slowly-forming monster to a flat pancake. For some reason, my mind wasn’t allowing me to concentrate fully on the task. I hated how occupied my brain had become. Moving back to Huntington hadn’t exactly been on the agenda after my mother and I had left the first time, but Fate had a fickle way of changing things around. I sighed heavily, packed away the clay, and stepped back into my bedroom. My mother knocked on the door.
“You have visitors, hun.”
“Alright. Send ‘em in.”
When I exited my bathroom, hands now clean, I saw Matt and Brian sitting on my bed. The latter of the two’s eyes were wide as he stared around my room, taking in all the posters and artwork on the walls. I laughed softly and launched myself to land on the mattress behind the boys. Matt immediately leaned over to muss up my hair.
“Did you do all these paintings?”
“They’re not all paint. Some are chalk, some oils, some graphite. But yea, I did them all. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands.”
“They…they’re amazing!”
“Thanks, Bri. So what brings you gentlemen by?”
“Well, I was bored.” Matt shrugged, continuing, “Brian just wanted to tag along, I guess.”
I nodded slowly. “Sounds like sufficient reasons to me.”
“We were also wondering if perhaps you wanted to come hang out with us in the park.”
“Really? Me?”
“Why not?” Brian questioned, a raised eyebrow giving him a genuinely confused expression.
“I’m just the new girl, ya know?”
“Oh, shut up, Ames. Get yourself ready. We’re gonna have some fun tonight!”
“Lemme clear it with Mom and Dad first.”
Asking my parents if I could go out for the evening went better than expected: my father wasn’t having as many issues, so his mind was medication-free. When he heard Matt would be there, he seemed to brighten almost immediately. It took my mom interrupting with a granting of permission before he remembered exactly why Matt had initially been brought up in the topic. I ran back to my bedroom to find that Brian was now examining my pencil sketch of Ozzy Osbourne that was pinned to the wall between posters of Metallica and Zeppelin. I grabbed my messenger bag; shoved in a hoodie, my sketchbook, and my pencils; and flung it over my shoulder. Matt grinned.
“Ready?”
“Of course.”
The trek to the park was almost twenty minutes, but walking with my friends made it seem to fly by so much faster. I saw Zack and Justin arriving from a different direction. They sent me small waves of acknowledgment. I stared around, expecting Jimmy to be somewhere in the vicinity already, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a pair of long-fingered hands grasped my shoulders and squeezed.
“Boo!”
I shrieked and whirled around. “Damn it, Jimmy! Don’t do that!”
Everybody began laughing at my expense, and I didn’t know whether to join in or stay peeved. After a moment, I couldn’t help but giggle at both what had happened and Jimmy’s adorable pout. He scooped me up in a tight hug and spun in circles with me held snugly in his arms.
“Yay! Amy isn’t mad at me!”
I followed the guys to a small grove in the centre of an overgrowth of bushes and trees, where bottles of beer had already been set. Everybody else reached for a drink, and I settled into a comfortable sitting position on the dirt. The smiles that adorned my new friends’ faces were relaxed, genuine… I’d almost finished the sketch before Zack realised what I was doing. He leaned toward me to peer over my shoulder at the paper.
“Holy shit, this is amazing.”
“Thanks.”
I watched as my sketchbook got passed around the group, everyone but Matt complimenting my work. He smiled at me from across the grove. After a while, I began to get sucked into the stories the guys were telling about each other. I’d even started drinking some of the beers that one of them had brought. It felt amazing to feel accepted into their group. Night was falling, but nobody made any move to leave the comfort of the grove.
.:.
My mother raised an eyebrow when I entered the house the next morning. “Where have you been?”
“Um. Just out.”
“Amelia, I understand you’re a teen who wants to hang out with her friends without having too many rules or restrictions, but please, have some consideration for your father and me by at least letting us know if you’re going to be out all damn night!”
“Sorry, Mom. I guess I lost track of time. I was having too much fun.”
“Were you with Matt?”
“Yea, actually, I was. So don’t worry; he kept me from getting into trouble.”
“I somehow doubt that he was keeping you from trouble,” she laughed before waving me off toward my room.
Once there, I pulled on a new pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt. We’d all fallen asleep in the grove, only waking up due to the sound of children’s laughter from the playground. My mind travelled back to the time I’d spent with the group. They hadn’t made me feel like I didn’t belong – instead, they’d caused me to feel like I had always been there. Jimmy had wrapped his arms around me after I’d began shivering from the chill of the night. The two of us had drifted off to dreams long after the others, our soft conversation slowly fading away as sleep overcame us.
“You have visitors, hun.”
“Alright. Send ‘em in.”
When I exited my bathroom, hands now clean, I saw Matt and Brian sitting on my bed. The latter of the two’s eyes were wide as he stared around my room, taking in all the posters and artwork on the walls. I laughed softly and launched myself to land on the mattress behind the boys. Matt immediately leaned over to muss up my hair.
“Did you do all these paintings?”
“They’re not all paint. Some are chalk, some oils, some graphite. But yea, I did them all. I’ve had a lot of time on my hands.”
“They…they’re amazing!”
“Thanks, Bri. So what brings you gentlemen by?”
“Well, I was bored.” Matt shrugged, continuing, “Brian just wanted to tag along, I guess.”
I nodded slowly. “Sounds like sufficient reasons to me.”
“We were also wondering if perhaps you wanted to come hang out with us in the park.”
“Really? Me?”
“Why not?” Brian questioned, a raised eyebrow giving him a genuinely confused expression.
“I’m just the new girl, ya know?”
“Oh, shut up, Ames. Get yourself ready. We’re gonna have some fun tonight!”
“Lemme clear it with Mom and Dad first.”
Asking my parents if I could go out for the evening went better than expected: my father wasn’t having as many issues, so his mind was medication-free. When he heard Matt would be there, he seemed to brighten almost immediately. It took my mom interrupting with a granting of permission before he remembered exactly why Matt had initially been brought up in the topic. I ran back to my bedroom to find that Brian was now examining my pencil sketch of Ozzy Osbourne that was pinned to the wall between posters of Metallica and Zeppelin. I grabbed my messenger bag; shoved in a hoodie, my sketchbook, and my pencils; and flung it over my shoulder. Matt grinned.
“Ready?”
“Of course.”
The trek to the park was almost twenty minutes, but walking with my friends made it seem to fly by so much faster. I saw Zack and Justin arriving from a different direction. They sent me small waves of acknowledgment. I stared around, expecting Jimmy to be somewhere in the vicinity already, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a pair of long-fingered hands grasped my shoulders and squeezed.
“Boo!”
I shrieked and whirled around. “Damn it, Jimmy! Don’t do that!”
Everybody began laughing at my expense, and I didn’t know whether to join in or stay peeved. After a moment, I couldn’t help but giggle at both what had happened and Jimmy’s adorable pout. He scooped me up in a tight hug and spun in circles with me held snugly in his arms.
“Yay! Amy isn’t mad at me!”
I followed the guys to a small grove in the centre of an overgrowth of bushes and trees, where bottles of beer had already been set. Everybody else reached for a drink, and I settled into a comfortable sitting position on the dirt. The smiles that adorned my new friends’ faces were relaxed, genuine… I’d almost finished the sketch before Zack realised what I was doing. He leaned toward me to peer over my shoulder at the paper.
“Holy shit, this is amazing.”
“Thanks.”
I watched as my sketchbook got passed around the group, everyone but Matt complimenting my work. He smiled at me from across the grove. After a while, I began to get sucked into the stories the guys were telling about each other. I’d even started drinking some of the beers that one of them had brought. It felt amazing to feel accepted into their group. Night was falling, but nobody made any move to leave the comfort of the grove.
.:.
My mother raised an eyebrow when I entered the house the next morning. “Where have you been?”
“Um. Just out.”
“Amelia, I understand you’re a teen who wants to hang out with her friends without having too many rules or restrictions, but please, have some consideration for your father and me by at least letting us know if you’re going to be out all damn night!”
“Sorry, Mom. I guess I lost track of time. I was having too much fun.”
“Were you with Matt?”
“Yea, actually, I was. So don’t worry; he kept me from getting into trouble.”
“I somehow doubt that he was keeping you from trouble,” she laughed before waving me off toward my room.
Once there, I pulled on a new pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt. We’d all fallen asleep in the grove, only waking up due to the sound of children’s laughter from the playground. My mind travelled back to the time I’d spent with the group. They hadn’t made me feel like I didn’t belong – instead, they’d caused me to feel like I had always been there. Jimmy had wrapped his arms around me after I’d began shivering from the chill of the night. The two of us had drifted off to dreams long after the others, our soft conversation slowly fading away as sleep overcame us.
I'm glad you liked this chapter! I wasn't sure where the heck I was gonna take it when I first started writing it. d:
4/5/13