A knock on my bedroom door startles me and I wake up, sitting up and leaning off my desk. I look at the papers and books in front of me. I'd fallen asleep before I could finish my homework. I look at the clock on my wall. 5:09pm on a Saturday night and I'm doing homework. Fucking pathetic.
"Come in, Mom," I call.
Jeremy opens my door and leans against the frame. "Mom and Dad left a minute ago. They saw you sleeping and decided it was best to let you get some rest or whatever," He notices my homework laid across the desk.
"Okay," I nod.
"So, I'm bringing Gale over to spend the night since the house is empty. Don't be weird." He pauses to think. "Come down soon when he gets here. I think he likes you." And with that, he leaves.
I purse my lips. Gale is nice to me and he's funny. He had dropped many hints about his feelings to me several times before, but of course they're nothing serious. He goes through at least a dozen women a week. He's still a good friend, though. Jeremy knows that, hence why he's always trying to set us up.
I start to finish the rest of my homework until I hear the doorbell ring.
I pull my hair out from the loose ponytail I had put it in. I lay the ribbon beside the biology book and go downstairs to the living room where Gale and Jeremy are talking on the couch. Jeremy is laying down with his head against the arm rest. Gale is sitting with his leg folded and his ankle resting on his knee.
"You guys wanna get snacks and watch a movie or something?" Gale asks when I sit down next to them.
Jeremy shrugs. "Don't got money, man."
Gale pulls his wallet out from his back pocket. "I'll pay."
"Let's go then," Jeremy sits up and pulls his shoes on while Gale and I sit on the couch. He looks at me and smiles. I force a smile back before also getting up to get my sweater and shoes on.
The streets are mostly empty due to the two kidnappings, Billy and Griffin. After Griffin, parents stopped letting their kids go out after 8pm. I don't remember their last names.
I'm walking in between Gale and Jeremy, they're both talking about something I'm not paying attention to. Gale drapes his arm over me. I shrug his arm off. Jeremy gives Gale a sympathetic look. He knows I'm smarter than that, but he'd rather me date Gale, his bestfriend, than some other kid he knows nothing about.
We get inside the shop and I go into the candy aisle, carefully scanning the price tags before choosing a bag of peanut m&ms. Gale and Jeremy are looking for drinks.
"You want a gatorade...redbull or something, Anna?" Jeremy asks, tossing me a watermelon redbull.
"I don't like this flavor," I tell him, scrunching my nose up in disgust. Gale studies my face and flashes his teeth at me. Jeremy puts the drink back and throws me a blue gatorade. I miss the catch and it htis me straight in the face.
"Oh!" I huff as I stumble back into a shelf.
Jeremy snickers and Gale tosses his water bottle at Jeremy playfully. It hits his chest. I pick the bottles off the floor while Gale and Jeremy mess around.
Gale shoves Jeremy sharply, too hard, and he stumbles into an arcade game where a blonde-haired kid is playing. His concentration is broken and I watch as the game rings once, meaning he's lost. He grabs his head in both his hands.
Damn. That really sucks.
I turn back to the refridgerator to close it when I hear Jeremy cry out. I glance over my shoulder. The blonde kid is clutching him by the collar of his shirt. He throws him across the floor and he lands back against a section of comic books. I drop everything.
Gale pulls out a knife and I back away from the action. Jeremy jumps on the blonde kid from behind holding him while Gale tries to stab at him. The blonde kicks at Gale and throws his head back, hitting Jeremy and prying him off of himself. He elbows him in the ribs and throws him onto the floor. Gale drops his knife.
"Jeremy!" I cry and rush to his side. He groans. The blonde is shouting in Gale's face. "Don't fuck with me or my game again!" He shouts through gritted teeth. He punches him hard enough that he falls back and the blonde hovers over him, carving something into his arm with his own knife. I ignore it, mainly focused on my brother.
"Are you okay?" I ask him, getting him to lie on his back.
"Holy fucking shit," he wheezes.
The blonde flips us off with both his hands, not even glancing at me, and goes back to his game. Not even a minute later, he's dragged out of the store by two police officers. I watch through one of the windows as they shove him into the car. Gale is clutching is arm, standing next to me.
"Punk," he practically spits.
We pay for the food and go home, none of us saying a word to eachother. "Maybe I should get going," Gale murmurs when Jeremy and I step inside the house.
"Come on, dude," Jeremy says.
Gale shakes his head. "I need to get this bandaged and stuff."
I go straight upstairs to my room and shut the door behind me.
I change out of my clothes into blue, plaid shorts, a black top and ankle socks {what im wearing rn🙈} and fall onto my bed. I don't bother to ask Jeremy if he's okay. He doesn't check on me either. I don't realise I've fallen asleep until the sun peeking through the blinds is shining on my face. I turn my head around. The kid, the one at the store, he's in my math, science, and english class. I've seen him some times before, but I've never payed close attention to him.
Sunday is a blur, like most days. I pee, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, go back to bed, eat lunch, pee, watch TV, study for the math exam on Wednesday, eat dinner, then crawl back in my cave. Jeremy isn't home all day. I'm alone in the big, empty house and I cherish every moment.
My alarm rings loudly and obnoxiously on my bedside table at 7am on Monday morning. I turn it off and throw the sheets onto the floor.
I hear someone in the bathroom across the hall. The toilet flushes and there are footsteps nearing my bedroom. I see Jeremy in the doorway.
"Feel better?" I ask him, groggily.
"Yeah. If you want me to drive you to school, get up now. I'm leaving early to meet Vanesa in like ten minutes," he tells me.
I sit up and rub my eyes. "Who's Vanesa?"
"Don't worry about it."
I get up to close the door in his face, then stand in front my closet and stare at my clothes for a minute straight, not moving. I take a white button-up and jeans and pull them on while walking to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. I comb my hair, dig in the drying machine to find socks, pull on my shoes, grab my bag and then I'm out the door.
Jeremy is waiting in his car with Gale in the front seat. I groan and climb into the back.
"How's your arm?" I ask Gale. Jeremy pulls out of the driveway.
"Good. My aunt's a nurse so she did what was needed, or whatever." His arm is wrapped in bandage.
I slam the door when I get out of the car. Jeremy always drops me off at the south entrance while he goes to the front of the school. I told him about it once, confronted him. He denies that he's embarrassed by me, but I know all too well that he is.
After all, who would want to be related to a goody-two-shoes? He acts like it's such a big fucking deal that I'm paid to do his homework and that everyone knows about it.
I shove the doors open and sit down in my usual spot in math. I'm the first one in there. The rest of the kids walk in a minute after the bell at the same time. I ask Donna, a girl who sits next to me, what happened.
"Vance Hopper. He's still in school after what happened on Saturday. Can you believe it?"
"Oh," I purse my lips and wait for him to enter. Everyone is seated and the teacher takes his seat behind his desk. I cross my legs and fold my hands in my lap. The classroom door is busted open and everyone's heads turn. Even Mr. Salvatore.
"Do not disrupt my class like that again."
Vance takes his usual seat on the left side of me. He leans back against the chair with his arms crossed and his legs spread.
I let my hair fall over to create a sort of curtain between us, however I can't keep myself from glancing his way occasionally.
He doesn't notice.
His big, curly, blonde hair is blocking part of his face, but I can see certain features like his nose, lips and jaw.
I don't even notice Mr. Salvatore has called on me until Vance meets my gaze.
"Do you have something you wanna fucking say?!" He spits. I blink and turn to look at the teacher. Everyone is staring.
"Sorry, what was that?" I ask.
Mr. Salvatore sighs. "Pay attention, people!"
I don't look at Vance for the rest of the class until third period, science.
Vance sits on the opposite side of the room, him near the front while I sit in the back. I take in the way he's dotting down notes on his paper, not like his usual self. I notice he cares about science, not the way he does about math or english. He actually cares. He finds this... interesting?
He peers over his shoulder at me and I almost instantly drop my gaze to the paper in front of me, but I'm not quick enough. Our eyes meet for a split second and I swear for a moment I think I see him starting to smile.
He's not in class for english, seventh period. When the bell rings, I don't wait near the front of the school for Jeremy to pick me up. Instead, I begin to walk home.
I notice a kid leaning against a streetlight, hands stuffed into his pockets. As I get closer, I notice his familiar face.
"Vance Hopper," I murmur under my breath. He turns his head my way and starts walking towards me.
Natural instinct kicks in and I start walking the other way, deciding that it's a beautiful day and I should take the long way home. He follows.
"Hey, you!" He calls. Gravel crunches underneath his shoes. He's jogging to catch up with me. I speed up my walking, not wanting to run. It's cold outside and I can see fog coming out of my mouth as I breathe. My breath hitches when I feel a hand on my shoulder.
I tighten my grip on the books I have in my arms. I stop walking and turn to face him. "What do you want?" I mean to sound brave and confident but my voice cracks and I shut up.
"What's your fucking problem with me, huh?" He's not screaming, but his voice is very loud.
"I don't have a-"
"Yes the fuck you do, I saw the way you were glaring at me the whole motherfucking day! Made me skip english, not wanting to feel your goddamn eyes burning holes in my fucking back!" I flinched as he got close in my face. Now he was screaming.
"I'm sorry," I said flatly.
"You've got some fucking nerve, I'll give you that," he squints his eyes.
"Okay. Thank you."
"No! Not fucking your welcome! That wasn't-you're not-fuck!" He shouts in frustration. "Fuck you," He finishes coldly before turning to leave.
"Always someone else's fault to you, isn't it?" I say, quietly.
He stops dead in his tracks. "What?"
"You. I did't do anything to you. Nothing. And you're spitting in my face, beating my brother and brother's friend-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't beat up anybody's brother."
"His broken rib would beg to differ."
"Broken rib? The hell are you talking about?!"
"You broke his rib, Vance Hopper. He bumped into your fucking game and you got all hissy and fucking broke his rib!"
"He messed up my game! He had it coming!"
And we're both standing there in the middle of the street, shouting over eachother, both of us yelling in the others face.
He raises his fist.
I drop all my books except my history book-the thickest-and hit him with it over the head.
I audibly gasp when he stumbles onto the floor.
"What the fuck?!" He holds his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry-it's just that you were going to hit me and-"
"I wouldn't have actually hit you, dipshit!"
"And how was I meant to know that?!"
"FUCK!" He screamed, still clutching his head.
"Okay, calm down. It wasn't that bad," I murmur, crouching down next to him.
He grabs the book which is open and facing down next to him. He raises it, menacingly. "Wanna bet?"
"No. Sorry."
I move a strand his blonde, curly hair from his face and look at the bleeding bruise forming on his forehead.
"You have a huge forehead, sir," I lick my thumb and rub it against the bruise, trying to clean the blood away.
"Fuck you," He slaps my hand away.
"It's getting late and I have to be home, like, right now. Come with me, I'll patch you up then kick you out."
"Oh, how very kind of you," he grumbles. "Why?"
"Well, it's only fair. I made the mess, gotta fix it."
"Won't your folks worry about you bringing some guy like me home?"
"They're not home, never are. Plus, I'm not bringing you home. Not like that, anyway."
"Yeah. Whatever," he winces when I poke at his forehead again. "Shhhhit! Stop doing that!"
"Let's go before it gets dark. I don't want you to walk home alone at night."
"Why not?"
"There are murderers and kidnappers, Vance Hopper."
"So?"
"So you could die or get kidnapped."
"You care?" He sneers.
"If I had a choice to keep someone alive or kill them, I'm sure I'd choose to keep them alive, no matter how big a dick they are."
"Sure," He nods once and I help him up.
The walk to my house is filled with awkward small talk attempts. The moon peers down at us in the purple sky and it follows us all the way home.
Jeremy's car is missing from the driveway.
I open the door and lock it behind us.
"Sit," I take a chair from our dining table and drag it into the kitchen. He sits.
I take a bottle of alcohol from the top of our fridge which sits next to a box of Cheerios and pour it onto an old rag.
"Please don't tell me your putting that nasty fucking thing anywhere near me."
"It's a rag."
"Use a clean cloth."
"It's a rag."
"Or a towel."
"No," I drag a chair from the table back into the kitchen for myself. I move his hair out of the way, but it simply falls back into place when I move my hand back.
"Here," I reach into my pocket and pull out my pink ribbon. I tie his hair back, ignoring his protests. I'm almost done tying the knot when he takes a firm grip on both my arms. With a strong tug, he pulls me away from his hair.
"No." He says, firmly. I say nothing. I stare at him, at his bright blue eyes that glimmer under the kitchen light.
He's mad, but that's nothing new. I blink dumbly and look away, pulling my wrists out of his tight grasp.
He watches me closely as I tell him to hold his hair back.
"This is gonna hurt," I tell him. "Don't scream. My ears can't take more yelling from you, Vance Hopper."
With one hand on his jaw, holding him in place, I press the rag against his head, gently. I feel him stiffen underneath my touch. His jaw clenches as he grunts.
"You're fine," I reassure him, wiping the blood. "This disinfects the wound."
I throw the rag in the sink and put the bottle back on the fridge. I take a napkin from the kitchen table and soak it with water, to clean the blood. "Cleanses," I murmur. He stays completely still, listening to my every word.
"And then bandage," I finish, taking a box of Avengers band-aids from one of the cabinets. I take two and unwrap them. I place them in an X over his bruise.
I sigh, content. "Done."
"Can I get a mirror or some shit?"
"For?"
"Well, to fucking admire my beautiful bruise."
"The bathroom is the last door on the right," I motion to the hall.
While he goes to check out his super-cool bandaging, I clean up the kitchen, dragging the chairs back into place.
I hear a familiar roaring of an engine outside. At first, I think nothing of it. It's Jeremy. Then, I remember who I have in the bathroom.
"Shit," I run to the bathroom while I hear the front door unlocking.
The door's closed. "Vance Hopper, what the hell are you doing?!" I hiss.
"Annabella?" Jeremy calls.
"In the bathroom!" I respond.
I try pushing the door open, but it's locked. "Vance!" I hiss.
I hear the toilet flush, then the sink turns on. Footsteps are nearing to the hall. I push against the door some more. I hear it unlock and I shove past him, closing the door behind us.
"You need to go. Jeremy-if he sees you in here, we're both dead."
"Where? The fucking bathroom? I needed to pee," He points to the band-aids. "And I wanted to see my bandaging, which is fucking awesome, by the way."
"No, idiot. My house!" I walk past him to the window just above the toilet. I push it open. "You need to go. Come on! Quickly!"
He purses his lips. "I'm not afraid of that fucking kid. I'll beat the fucking crap out of him, I'm not climbing out of that motherfucking window."
"Why the hell not?" I pleaded, tired.
"I won't fit."
"Yes. You will. Come."
"When you said you'd kick me out afterward, I didn't think you were being serious." He steps on the toilet and swings one leg outside, holding the top of the frame with his hands.
"Good. Other leg."
He swings his other leg outside and I push him. He falls outside and I let out a sigh of relief. "Ow!" He grunts.
"You'll live," I whisper-yell.
A knock on the door makes me jump. "You good in there?" Jeremy asks.
"Yeah! Go away! I'm... on my period!" I blurt and turn back to the window. I lean my head outside. "Vance?"
I turn to the front of the house. He's already walking away. I shut the window and lock it.
That man will be the death of me, I swear to god.
3250 words🤭
a/n this was meant to be a robin n vance ff like "what happens when u cant choose" but then i was like no. but still lmk if u want tha🙈🙈