-Chapter 10: Swingsets-

-Zeke-

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Kris

K: hey

K: hey

K: hey

K: hey

K: hey

K: heyy

K: wake the fuck up!

Z: what the everlasting fuck do you want?!

K: we're going to a party!

K: I told you

Z: no the fuck, I'm not

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*thud*

I hear a sound from my window. I look out to see Kris stand there.

"Yes, the fuck you are!" She yells. "I got larger rocks, so you better get down here!"

"I actually hate you," I say quietly.

She smiles.

I sigh. "I'll be down in a minute. I don't wanna wake anyone."

"Ok!" She said, walking towards the front of my house.

I put on a pair of sweats, a t-shirt, and my jacket along with my beanie, and a lighter and walk, slowly, down the stairs where I find Kris sitting on the kitchen table with my cat, Moonie, on her lap. She looks at me, smiles, and waves.

"How and why?" I ask in disbelief.

Kris shrugged. "Window was open, and it's cold out there."

"Let's just go," I grumble.

Kris smiles, puts the cat down, and pushes me out the door. Almost literally.

————

On the walk to the party, I notice Kris was a lot quieter than usual. She looked sad and deep in thought.

"You look lost," I say.

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"Well, first, you aren't talking my ear off like you were a second ago, and second, you aren't smiling," I reply.

"I can't not smile?" She raises her eyebrow at me.

"Kris, you always smile. At least when I'm around." I turn to look at her. "What's on your mind?"

She sighed. "Do you ever just question yourself, Red?"

"In what way?" I ask.

"Like do you belong?" She says softly.

"Where's this coming from?" I ask her. I'm genuinely starting to worry now.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm lying to myself. Everyone wants me to be someone I'm not." She explains. "Same on this straight path. It keeps going straight forever, and as long as I'm on this path, I'll be accepted by the world."

I nod.

"But the moment I step off this path to find the sunshine and rainbows, I'm no longer accepted by anyone." She continues. "Honestly, it's just stupid."

"It's not really," I say to her. "We all have that fear."

"What do you do when you feel like people judge you?" She asks me.

"I don't care what people think about me," I reply. "Live your life the way you want to, not the way the world wants you to."

I ruffle her hair, and she smiles again.

"Thanks, Red." She said.

"No problem," I reply. "Now, let's get you to your party and get this night over with."

She playfully punches me and pulls me along down the sidewalk.

———————

I could hear the music before I saw where it was coming from. It was coming from a white house with drunk teens already passed out on the lawn. I start to slow down and begin to rethink my decision before Kris tugs at my arm.

"C'mon Red!" She said.

"This is serious peer pressure." I jokingly say.

She shrugs and pulls me into the house. The music was a lot louder.

"Holy fuck, he actually showed up." I hear someone behind me. I turn to see Jess holding two red cups.

"Yep. I'm here." I say.

She handed me one of the red cups and gave Kris the other.

"It's beer, drink up." Jessie nudged my shoulder.

"No," I say sternly.

"C'mon Zeke." She said. "Live a little."

I stare daggers at her.

"I've already lived." I coldly say.

Silence fell upon Jess and me as the party raged on around us.

"Come on, Jessie, let's dance!" Kris said while pulling Jessie towards the makeshift dance floor in the living room of the house.

I wait until I'm sure I'm out of Kris' line of sight before walking right out the front door and to the park across the street.

"Ah, freedom," I mutter to myself.

"Now, what to do, where to go." I think to myself while aimlessly walking around the park.

Then I hear this clicking sound. I look around and see a small light coming from the playground area of the park. Then the light vanished and came back swiftly. The pattern continued.

I walk over to a tree and peek out from behind it to see a figure sitting on the swing playing with a lighter. I walk out from behind the tree and make my own lighter out and ignite it. The flame is a lot bigger than the one of the person in front of me. The person jumps and turns to face me. I recognize it as the new girl from school.

"What a night to stargaze," I say her. "Hey, Cassie."

"W-what are y-you doing here?" She asks softly.

"I'm running from a party." I shrug. "What about you?"

She breaks eye contact and goes silent.

"I-I-I Can't s-sleep." She finally says. "Yeah."

"Been there," I say, sitting on the swing next to her.

"What do you have on your mind this night?" I ask.

"You're very poetic." She says without stuttering.

"So, I've been told." I chuckle.

"But seriously, why are you up this late?" I ask her. "Unless you're going to that party."

I motion to the house, still blaring with music.

"N-no. I didn't get invited." She said.

"Oh," I said.

"Yeah, I'm just not tired." She said before yawning.

I chuckle at her attempt to stay awake.

"Aren't you t-tired?" She asked me.

"No," I reply. "I normally don't go to sleep until around three or so."

She looks at me with wide eyes. All I do is shrug.

"It's just how I am," I say with a smirk. "My friends think I'm crazy."

"Oh." Cassie bows her head.

We sit in silence for a bit before a question pops into my head.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Cassie asked, motioning towards the red cup still in my hand. I hadn't realized I still had it.

"Huh, I don't know," I answer before I got and idea.

I pour the contents of the cup into a small star on the ground before lighting it aflame.

"My turn to ask a question," I say, sitting down in front of the fire.

"S-sh-shoot." She sits in front of the fire as well.

"Wanna be friends?" I ask.

She looks to me in shock.

"W-what?" She asks like she doesn't believe what she heard.

"Do you want to be friends." I clarify. "You seem to not have many friends around here, so I thought I should ask."

"S-sure?" She says in more of a question.

"Yay," I say.

"Why, though?" She asks me. "I'm nothing special."

I shrug. "There's just something about you."

"What do you mean?" She asks nervously.

"Can't explain it," I reply. "There's something about you that's so familiar yet so foreign."

She says nothing for a second.

"Why are you so nice to me now?" She asks. "You were so cold at lunch."

"My day wasn't going well," I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. "Sorry about that."

"I-It's ok." She says.

*bzzz*

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Kris

K: Zeke Idk where u are, but I need you to find me now

K: like right fucking now!

Z: wtf is going on?

K: IDK I saw jess leave holding her bag and walk towards a dark ally

K: looked down to get my phone and when I looked up again she was gone

K: plz hurry

Z: fine, cya in a few

K: thx

K: I'm back at the house

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I sigh. What the hell did they do now?

"What's w-wrong?" Cassie asked. "Did I d-do something?"

"No," I tell her. "My friend needs help. I'll see you tomorrow."

I blow the fire out.

"Y-yeah. See you too." She says somewhat sadly. I take a mental note but say nothing.

Before we part ways, we exchange phone numbers. Cassie has an old flip phone, so it took a while for her to put my number in. Once everything was set and done, I do a two-fingered salute before running back towards the house.