A/N: Instead of a few long lengthy scenes like my usual writing, I decided to go on a different route with this one. There are more scenes here, but with less words in them. My usual chapter length is pretty much the same, perhaps a bit more.
Chapter 16- Shake, Make, or Break
In 1988...
Sheila destroys photographs in a rage upon realizing what one person is capable of, Henry watches and has the same thought about two people, Melvin is stunned into silence, and Wes and Wen won't stop crying.
Melvin has his real first kiss, gets his heart broken, and does something very, very impulsive.
Wes and Wen become extremely clingy to their older siblings for unfortunate reasons, which is a massive understatement.
Two tragedies strike, while Henry insists it's three, makes two lustful mistakes, gets punched in the face once, and doubts his role of being the oldest more than ever before.
Sheila loses something she never thought she had until it was too late, and almost loses something she always knew she had. Sheila has a breakdown, Melvin has at least two, and Henry struggles to keep it together.
Melvin realizes what he does and doesn't have, and incorrectly measures what outweighs what in order to make a critical decision.
Henry's very worst fear came true.
Sheila witnessed what "villainy" was really like for the first time.
But time will tell, all in the span of what is considered one of the worst years for the Go Family, the curse of 1988.
February 1988
It was time.
"It's time, Sheila," remarked Chloe in her room after glancing at the clock to see time had passed.
Sheila crossed her arms at her best friend. "I really don't understand why we're doing this."
Chloe hopped off the bed and stared at the dresser mirror and gazed at her reflection as she ran a brush through her hair. "It's a Harris family tradition when you're going to graduate from school soon and I can bring one friend. Besides, the weather actually isn't that cold!"
"It's not exactly warm enough to travel to the beach, Chloe."
"We aren't going there to go swimming, we're going there to launch the fireworks. And it's so pretty at night." Chloe's eyes glimmered with joy. "Watching fireworks is probably the most beautiful thing in the world!"
"If you say one more optimistic thing then I'm not sitting with you at lunch on Monday."
"Oh the horror! What can I do?" Chloe said sarcastically as she made her way back to the bed to face Sheila with an excited grin. "Come on, let's get going."
Sheila tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Wait, before we go, can I stop at my house first? I kind of forgot to tell Henry." She got up and put her coat on.
Chloe shrugged carelessly. "Fine, don't take too long though."
Sheila rushed out of Chloe's house so fast that she nearly tripped on her own two feet. She found that the front door to her house was opened and hastily burst into the living room. Everyone was there except for their father, which Sheila arched her eyebrows at since he was here this morning to slap her and Melvin for no reason at all. "Where did dad go?"
"Does it matter?" Melvin snarked, not bothering to look up from the TV.
"At the bar," her mother said, giving an actual answer instead of being snarky.
Sheila exasperated a heavy sigh and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course. Where else would he be?" she asked rhetorically. Henry put on his jacket and was about to leave, but Sheila stopped him. "Wait! Where are you going?"
"Lindsay's," Henry told her, tapping his fingers against the table nearby while glancing at the clock. He pretended he didn't hear Melvin scoff from behind him. He looked back at his sister with curiosity. "Why?"
"I'm just letting you know I'm going out with Chloe and her sisters to the beach to launch a firework," Sheila said three times the normal speaking speed.
"The Harris tradition again... right," Henry said more to himself than to Sheila. "Try not to get home too late." Because he was planning on staying the night at Lindsay's, not that anyone needed to know that. That being said, Henry left. Sheila smirked and went back out again, brushing past Henry as she dashed over to Chloe's house to get ready for the drive to the beach.
Henry once said that Lindsay wasn't that smart.
How wrong he was.
She was incredibly smart.
The times where Henry would go to Lindsay's house were perfectly scheduled by her. She made sure her parents were out of the house by a specific time, and that's when he would arrive. Even though her brothers were sometimes home, they normally didn't bother her when Henry was here. This was probably because of the fact that he was the only guy her brothers actually approved of.
Lindsay twirled her blonde hair in a flirty manner when she saw Henry walking up to her house. They quickly pecked the other on the lips. Her eyes glimmered in interest. "What's up?"
"It's cold out," Henry marveled with a chuckle. Lindsay smirked and grabbed his hand as she dragged him inside. Once they were in, she let go. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he followed his girlfriend to the kitchen. She reached into the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beers, offering one to him, which he gratefully took. "Thanks." He took two gulps. "Do your parents ever notice that their beers go missing?"
Lindsay's face - albeit for a few seconds - darkened slightly, a sad glint in her eyes that she blinked away while laughing it off. "They don't even realize when I go missing," she quipped, half a joke, half not. Henry didn't know whether to smile or not, so it was more half and half. She shut the fridge and grabbed Henry's hand, pulling him into her room. She collapsed on the bed pressing the bottle to her lips. She opted to change the discussion. "Henry, what do you think of the city?"
Henry was sitting on a chair cross legged while staring out the window. "It's cool, but it's crazy there. It needs more protection."
"Okay, no duh... but I mean... what if you lived there?"
"What you mean on the streets?" Henry asked incredulously, turning around to see Lindsay's curious expression. "It seems like a death sentence to me. Did you hear about a homeless man being stabbed in his sleep a week ago? Things like that happen." Lindsay seemed to be in deep thought about her boyfriend's words. She strolled over to where he was and placed herself on Henry's lap. His instinct was to put the beer down and wrap his arms around her. He looked at her curiously. "Why do you ask?"
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Just asking, no big deal." But it seemed like it was, the way her eyes seemed somewhere else. They sat there for a few moments, before Henry grinned and lifted her into the hair and showered her with kisses. "Henry!" She exclaimed, laughing. He'd always do this out of the blue, showing his affection for her by randomly kissing her. Lindsay relished in the moment.
"Mom," Melvin whined in the kitchen, watching his mother clean the countertops. "Wes and Wen won't stop asking questions. Can you answer them instead?"
Their mother gave a little chuckle. "When you were four years old all you ever did was ask questions," she remarked, looking back fondly. "Although out of all of you, you definitely asked the weirdest questions." A memory of one came to mind. "You once asked why Jimmy Carter wore ties with stripes on them."
That made Melvin smile. "Wow, I was even interested in presidents, then."
"You've always loved history, you get that from me," she said with a wink.
"Mommy," Wes had trotted in with curious brown eyes. "Why does the moon happen?"
Melvin looked at his mother as a way of saying do-you-see-what-I-mean? She once again chuckled at her second son's expression and turned around to face the twin and say, "Well, the moon happens for night time," she began to explain. "The moon has to."
"Why does it have to?" said Wen, who joined the conversation.
"And why does night time happen?" added Wes.
Melvin groaned and began to pace while his mother laughed harder. He rolled his eyes. "Glad you think this is funny, mom."
"It is a little bit, you have to admit," she said in between laughs. Melvin's heart went all fuzzy as his eyes softened. He couldn't be annoyed with her for more than a minute. He loved it when she was like this, when she was actually able to laugh and smile, she actually looked healthy and vibrant. Melvin stopped his pacing and rubbed his forehead. His mother sighed and stopped cleaning, cupping his face gently into her hand, which he allowed her to do so. She was the only person in the world where Melvin would never flinch at her touch. "Believe me, you were worse, you had all that snark behind those questions."
Melvin broke into an affectionate smile. Before he could reply with a witty retort, the phone began to ring. His mother was about to go get it, but Melvin put his hand up and made his way toward the sound. "I'll get it, mom," he assured. "Hello?" He said into the phone.
"Hey Melvin."
Melvin smiled at the voice. "Hey Dennis, what's up?"
"I'm alright, how about you?"
"Okay I guess."
There was silence for a few seconds before Dennis let out a heavy sigh. "I hate to do this to you, especially since you're probably busy or something, but I need you to stop by my place and deliver something to someone. It's not bad, I promise. But the thing is, I'm currently busy at the moment."
Melvin swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. Although Dennis said it wasn't bad, the thought of meeting someone to give them something made him very apprehensive. "Why me? Why not someone else?"
"Everyone's busy... doing things," Dennis answered, purposely emphasizing on one word hoping that he would get the gist. He took Melvin's silence that he did, and Melvin was thankful Dennis wasn't able to see the blush that spread across his face. "Yeah... so can you do it? I would pay you, too." Pay? For making a trip to give something to someone? Now maybe that he could do. But what about the twins? They would be alone with mom. But at the same time, she could deal with all their questions instead of him.
Still, Melvin was hesitant. "I don't know if I can go..."
"Nonsense," his mother interrupted with a warm grin. Melvin looked up from the phone, covering part of it so Dennis couldn't hear. His mother continued, "Is that a friend of yours that wants to hangout?" Well, that's one way of putting it. She gets a small nod from the teenager. "Then go. I can take care of the twins by myself." Melvin looked a little hesitant, but his mother went up to him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Don't you trust me?" He closed his eyes briefly in relaxation. He detested when people touched his hair, but the only exception happened to be his mother and maybe Sheila if he was especially upset.
"I've always trusted you mom," Melvin said earnestly, like he wasn't lying. His mother smiled from ear to ear as her second oldest took his hand off the phone and answered his friend saying, "Yeah, I can make it. Right now? Okay great. I'll see you." He hung up and gave his mother a peck on the cheek. "I'll be home soon." Before he left, he smiled at his little brothers and ruffled their hair affectionately. They may annoy him sometimes, but he adores them anyway.
"Jessica, put it out!" Amanda snapped from the driver's seat, her eyes not off the road. "If the car smells like cigarettes then both of us are fucked!" Jessica, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, shrugged carelessly and ignored her older sister as she took another long drag from the cigarette while using her other hand to turn up the volume when Michael Jackson's 'The Way You Make Me Feel' intro started to play on the radio. Amanda rolled her eyes at her younger sister's defiance. "I mean it! Turning the volume up louder isn't going to stop me, I'll just talk over it!"
From the backseat, Sheila looked at Chloe in confusion over the bickering sisters.
"This is a constant battle for her," Chloe whispered, filling her in. "Jessica has been smoking cigarettes for almost six months now. No one knows except me and whoever's older, so that includes Sarah too." Chloe furrowed her brows in deep thought. "I think Bethany is catching on, though. She's smart."
"My older brother's addicted to smoking too. He thinks we don't know, but there are days where he reeks of it. Our cat and Henry already don't get along, so now Lizzie practically hisses at him after he smokes."
"I am not addicting to smoking," Jessica growled defensively. "Neither is your brother, he's just a moron who's-"
"...addicted to smoking," finished Sheila, with a cheeky grin. She stared out the window to see the sun beginning to set already even though it was only five pm. Her eyes flickered back to the two sisters in the front who were still arguing. It reminded her slightly of the way her brothers argued, but they were sisters. Sheila couldn't help but wonder what it was like to have a sister, though Chloe did feel like a sister to her.
"It's not like I'm snorting cocaine off the fucking windshield, Amanda!"
"But what about the time you actually did, Jess! I had to drive you home and get your coked up ass to bed before mom and dad noticed!"
Sheila would like to know the history behind that one. She couldn't help but be amazed by the Harris family. Their parents seemed so normal and nice, and their daughters - at least the five eldest - were incredibly strange and got themselves into a lot of mischief. Their parents were clueless over things like that, but could tell if a couch or chair has been moved by an inch, and at least they cared. Amanda wasn't as bad compared to her sisters, but even she did questionable things at times.
Sheila spent the rest of the drive dreaming up scenarios if she had been born into a house full of sisters than a house full of brothers.
Melvin knew that he was a naturally nervous person, thank you very much, but in a circumstance like this, he knew it was justified. He just made it to Dennis' house and the sky had already darkened significantly during the duration going from his house to Dennis', which wasn't a very long walk. Henry's words echoed in his head that the trouble always started at night. He didn't know if any bullies were around looking for trouble and someone's skull to crack. Trying his best to look normal, he knocked on the door.
Dennis answered, wearing a white tank top with a cigarette in hand, casually leaning against the door. "Oh, you're here! Great."
"What's going on?" Melvin asked, wondering why he was so 'busy' as he put it, but he didn't want to phrase it that way. His question was answered when another guy without a shirt on turned up at the door that looked slightly older than Dennis. "Oh."
"Yeah..." Dennis said awkwardly.
"Did you give the kid the weed?" The older guy asked Dennis.
Melvin's stomach dropped as his eyes went wide as saucers. "Wait, what!?" Dennis winced and looked incredibly sheepish at the moment. Melvin frowned at his friend. "Explain, please. You said over the phone that it wasn't illegal!"
Dennis held his hands up. "I never said that, I said it wasn't bad, and it isn't," he said defensively. Melvin glared him down intensely before Dennis heaved a dramatic sigh and explained: "Look, I promised Keith that I would give him this tonight since he paid in advance..."
"Keith?" Melvin nearly exclaimed, the look of anxiety creasing his face. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... Melvin could not believe this. Now he definitely knew it was justified to be nervous. "You mean that guy that calls me Bambi because I'm always anxious?" He knew that this reaction wasn't helping his case, but he didn't care. "You mean the guy that beats the shit out of people with toasters?! That guy?"
"Hey, he only beats his dad with a toaster," Dennis corrected cheekily with a grin.
"This isn't time for jokes, Dennis!" Melvin groaned, burying his face into his hands. "Not only that, it's an illegal substance! What if I get caught?"
The guy next to him rolled his eyes. "I'm going back to bed, let me know when you're done with..." he made a circular motion in front of Melvin. "...all this." That being said, he left, leaving Dennis and Melvin alone.
"You won't," Dennis reassured, he gave him a pleading look that Melvin had never seen before since he met him. "Please, Melvin. I already said I was gonna pay you, right? How's fifteen bucks sound-"
"Seventeen," Melvin blurted out, even though he had no idea why he was negotiating in the fucking first place. It was no different than that time when Sheila would stole alcohol and sell it to the neighborhood kids in the park in order to get some cash.
Dennis sighed and went into his house, leaving the door open as he got a backpack and handed it over to Melvin, who slipped it onto his shoulders. His brows furrowed in confusion when the bag was a lot heavier than he thought it was going to be. "It's in a brown bag buried at the bottom. It's covered by a bunch of bullshit education books," he explained. Then, he reached into pocket and pulled out the money and slapped it into his hand. "Pleasure doing business," he said with a little grin. "Welcome to the club." Dennis gave Melvin the address of Keith's address and then shut the door, leaving the freshman all alone.
Melvin stood there for a moment.
Was he really about to do this?
...Yes. Yes he was.
"Henry..." Lindsay emphasized knowingly followed by a giggle. She was pinned against the wall in her room while Henry was pelting her with multiple kisses on her neck, which he did purposely because he knew it tickled her. She roughly grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him into a kiss, slowly releasing the grip on his shirt collar and moving both hands up to his hair instead, which, as always, got lost in them. She flipped her body around so it was now Henry against the wall, but then Henry did the same back, making Lindsay break the kiss with another giggle. "Shh! My brothers are going to hear!"
Baby you're my angel...
The latest power ballad from Aerosmith that had been released earlier this year was filling the room, so Henry didn't know how that could be possible. He quirked a brow with a flirty grin. "So? It's not like we haven't done this before."
He leaned in to continue their moment, but Lindsay gently pushed him back with a wry grin. "Okay what if it was your little sister..."
"No, no, no," Henry cut in sharply, suppressing a shudder. "She's already had enough boy trouble." Which he learned recently that Sheila and Chloe actually planted a stink bomb in Todd's house. Henry sent a silent prayer to whichever boy that crosses paths with his sister next. "God, now I'm going to worry. Thanks, Linds." He wasn't really mad, of course, but his words did have some truth to it. He doesn't know who would marry her, but if someone loved her craziness enough, all he could do was wish them good luck. Wait... why was he thinking about this when Lindsay was right in front of him? Oh god...
"No problem," Lindsay said cheekily, putting a finger to his lips. "Now be quiet." She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her bed and continued from where they left off. Henry's lips were scandalously close to hers as each of them grinned from ear to ear, teasing each other to see who would cave in first. Most of the time when they played this little game, it was Henry who always kissed her first. Now, however, it was Lindsay, locking her lips with his. They pulled away every few seconds in order to breathe, but this time, Lindsay managed to break apart in time to whisper seductively: "Take your shirt off."
Henry didn't have to be told twice.
Melvin had to give himself some credit where credit was due. For someone who didn't go out much, it was a miracle he could find his way around the neighborhood, especially in the dark. If Henry was already home, then he would be freaking the hell out that Melvin wasn't back yet. But his mother said he could go, so that should count for something, shouldn't it?
Melvin meekly knocked on the door three times and Keith answered before he could get a fourth one in, nearly whacking Melvin in the face when he yanked the door open... with a baseball bat in hand, ready to strike. Seeing that it was only the timid freshman, he tossed it aside with a slight smirk. "The hell do you want Bambi? What are-" The gruffy sophomore couldn't finish his sentence as Melvin just barged in his house while setting the bag he was carrying on the couch. Keith just watched as he did so. "Oh please, do come in," he drawled sarcastically with an eye roll, slamming the door shut behind them. "What are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?"
Melvin finally pulled the brown bag out. "Here," he said, handing it over to him. "Dennis was busy and wanted me to give this to you."
Keith took the bag and smelled it; still strong. "He's probably fucking that business major again. He always goes for the college preppies." Melvin blinked slowly at his blunt statement. Keith caught him staring at him. "What the hell are you looking at?"
Melvin's face immediately blushed a rosy red. "Nothing, nothing. Can you like... I don't know... hide that?" He said with a hint of fear in his voice.
Keith eyed him skeptically. "You're so paranoid." He looked at the substance that was just handed to him and back at Melvin accusingly. "You didn't smoke some of this shit, did you?"
"No," Melvin answered, a little too quickly. Keith raised a critical eyebrow that made the freshman even more nervous. "I-I didn't! I don't even-"
"You don't smoke, I know," Keith interrupted in annoyance. He shook his head in disbelief. "Jesus fucking Christ," he muttered under his breath irritably. Melvin looked down at the ground shyly, not knowing what else to say. The thick awkward silence was noticeable between the two. Keith cleared his throat and asked casually: "So... how long has your dad been kicking the crap out of you?"
Melvin's eyes snapped up to meet Keith's, who didn't look like he was saying it to be mean, but that he was genuinely curious. "How the... how the fuck..." he stammered, nearly speechless. His face contorted into a rage. "Why the hell do you have to be such an asshole for?"
"It's the easy way out," Keith answered with a careless shrug. Melvin felt his fists curl up. The thought would've scared him that he did such an action if it wasn't for the fact that he was so angry. Keith eyed the fists briefly before deciding to continue. "The way you asked those questions a few months ago about my dad. How you get uncomfortable if anyone mentions their dad. I may be an asshole, but I'm not a moron."
This made Melvin even angrier and in a blink of an eye he managed to push Keith against the wall and pin him, surprising himself and the sophomore. Melvin was still trying to process the fact that he attacked someone, especially someone as strong and aggressive as Keith. However, this wouldn't last for long. Keith took a moment to stare at him, long and hard, before easily getting out of Melvin's grasp and flipping him around so now that it was Melvin who was being pinned against the wall.
Keith looked him dead in the eyes. "Bad move, Bambi." Melvin knew he was really living up to this nickname, because right now he did look like a frightened deer; contemplating on what Keith's next move would be. The room was filled with tense silence, with the only sound that was heard was the sound of Melvin and Keith breathing heavily as they stared intensely at one another, the latter's grip on the former as strong as their glares. A few seconds pass very, very slowly. Melvin thinks that Keith is plotting in those few seconds on how he'll get beaten to a pulp. Perhaps he'll be traditional and go for the toaster? Melvin closed his eyes and waits for the blow that doesn't come. Keith loosens his grip slightly and Melvin opened his eyes cautiously to see that his eyes had softened; and the heavy breathing had subsided. Melvin thinks Keith is taking pity and letting him go, but not quite.
The sophomore swerves in with a kiss instead.
POW!
The firework shot up in the air at the speed of light; and once it hit the sky, it exploded in a multitude of colors. Sheila watched in awe at the sight while the Harris siblings cheered upon its release. Earlier, Sheila had made fun of Chloe for such sentiment, such as the way the blonde's eyes were filled with admiration for such a tradition, ironically the way that Sheila's eyes were filled right now, not that she would admit such a feeling aloud. She wasn't the cheesy type; her eldest brother was that type. He was the type to stare at the sky in awe and all that nonsense, but not her.
But why was she so enthralled by a firework?
"Amanda stop with those stupid cartwheels, we get it, you love acro." Jessica's booming voice shook Sheila out of her thoughts. She blinked rapidly and watched as the Harris sister had taken off her shoes and socks - Sheila was wondering how the hell she wasn't freezing - and do multiple cartwheels in a row.
"Stop smoking that cancer stick in your hand," Amanda retorted with a shrug, before doing another cartwheel.
"Sheila can do cartwheels!" Chloe marveled happily. Sheila arched her eyebrows and backed away slightly, wondering what on earth possessed her best friend to include her in the conversation. "Sheila's really, really good at them."
Amanda smiled encouragingly. "Well let's see it." Sheila sighed; Amanda was really nice to her, so she owed her that much. Taking a breath in, Sheila leaned slightly back and did a graceful cartwheel across the sand. Amanda looked mildly impressed. "Nice stance. You could be a great dancer, you know."
"Amanda got a scholarship for dance," Chloe explained to Sheila. "So she's the first one out of the seven of us to go to college."
"Do you know any other tricks?" Amanda asked her. Sheila shook her head no. The Harris sister smirked and leaned forward to do her cartwheel followed by a spin before doing a cartwheel backward followed by a backflip. She spun midair while kicking her feet one at a time within the spin and landed on her two hands before bouncing off them back to her original stance. This was all done within five seconds. Sheila watched on in awe and amazement, while Chloe and Jessica rolled their eyes, having seen it all before.
"She's such a show off," Jessica said, tightening her grip on the cigarette. "You see, since Amanda and Sarah are the two oldest, they got fancy lessons for dance and martial arts since there weren't seven of us yet. Jessica continued with dance and quit martial arts, while Sarah did the opposite."
"Sarah is amazing at hand-to-hand combat," remarked Chloe. Sheila wasn't really listening. She was more so focused on the second eldest Harris sibling and those fantastic and wickedly cool moves that she did. Moves that she wanted to learn, she didn't think something like that could look so cool and graceful at the same time. A measly cartwheel wasn't enough for her now. A fire has been ignited tonight, and Sheila was not talking about the firework. Chloe frowned at her best friend, who's eyes were somewhere else. "Sheila?"
"Could you teach me all of that?" Sheila inquired Amanda, almost sounding like a child begging for an extra cookie.
"It's not exactly a learn-it-in-twenty-minutes kind of thing," Amanda told her.
"Oh I figured," Sheila said, smiling eagerly. "How does a set of Essie nail polish sound?"
Amanda perked up instantly. "You have it?"
Sheila laughed out loud for a good five seconds, when she calmed down, smile still in place, she said: "No."
"So you'll buy it," Amanda said, furrowing her brows.
Again, Sheila's smile became wider, but she resisted the urge to burst out into hysterical laughter again. "Nope." Chloe sighed in realization while Jessica smirked, almost like she was impressed by the Go sibling. Amanda, having not caught on with what Sheila was saying, blinked rapidly in confusion. "But I will get it for you by tomorrow. So are you going to teach me?"
"Deal," Amanda agreed. "Stop by twice a week. We'll figure it out."
Sheila made a mental note that she would have to search all over town to find a shop that had it.
Melvin had been cut off with a kiss before.
But this time, he liked it.
It was funny how these things worked sometimes. His first kiss was with someone he didn't hate and was kind of friends with, but he hated the kiss. But here he was, having his first kiss with a guy was someone he thought he absolutely despised, but ending up loving the kiss. Tender, gentle, and warm – all the things Melvin did not expect from Keith, who seemed like he was anything but.
But as of this moment, things had escalated quite quickly. Never in a million years did Melvin think that he would have his first real kiss and his first make out session on the same day. Needless to say, Melvin had no idea what the hell he was doing, so Keith was pretty much doing all the work, and holy shit... it would be a lie if Melvin said he wasn't enjoying the effort.
He felt his heart in his ears as Keith continued to kiss him, and with each one his heart accelerated with the desire and hunger for more. Each time they broke apart they were breathing heavily to catch their breath; before going back to kissing passionately.
SLAM!
It was so passionate and in the moment that Melvin accidentally backed up against the wall and made a large thud, but that was so unimportant compared to right now. He began to pay closer attention to the moves Keith was making while kissing him, before deciding to do it back. The older boy responded by gripping his shoulders tight then proceeding to run his hands down his arms before making his way up to his hair.
Melvin never felt anyone's fingers intertwine in his hair like this before, and had said that no one outside his mother would be allowed to touch his hair, but oh my god, he can make an exception now. The thrill stimulated through his body, finally breaking off the kiss as he gasped for air.
Holy fuck.
What the fuck did he just do?
"What the fuck did I just do?" Melvin asked aloud in a hushed whisper, still breathing unevenly.
The heavy rock song that was playing on the radio began to fade out. A softer rock song from the seventies took over. Keith didn't say anything; he just stared at him momentarily to get a good look at him, before smoothly running his fingers through Melvin's hair instead of intensely like he had earlier before making his way down to caress his jaw, to which he pulled in for a tender kiss, their lips brushing softly against each other. Melvin's eyes were lightly closed in complete bliss as his heart slowed down, but he could still feel the wild fireworks that launched in his head, along with his inner voice begging for more.
"We can beat them, just for one day...
We can be heroes, just for one day."
Melvin suddenly broke apart the kiss. "What song is this and who's singing it?"
Keith lifted an eyebrow. "You call yourself gay and you don't even know David Bowie?" Melvin stayed quiet, shaking his head no. "Heroes." The younger of the two took in this answer, a swirl of thoughts forming in his mind in a millisecond, before leaning back into Keith's touch.
"Can we stop here? I wanna buy some chips for the road," Jessica asked Amanda in the car, with a seemingly innocent smile on her face. Amanda rolled her eyes, sighing, and pulled into a parking space nearby a gas station and a store.
"Make it quick." Jessica's smile turned into a smirk as she left the car. Chloe and Sheila exchanged a confused look.
"She has to stop now for chips?" Sheila asked incredulously, looking out the window in direction of where the store was.
"Fast metabolism," Chloe remarked, also staring through the window. "Runs in the family."
Suddenly Jessica ran out of the store with a six-pack of beer in her hand, screaming: "Drive the car! Drive the car!" Everyone's eyes widened in fear because as Jessica ran to her seat, a man - presumably the owner of the store - showed up in front with a rifle, not without his sharing his colorful vocabulary. Amanda in a flustered manner floored the car, which made the tires squeal at an annoyingly high pitch while hearing gunshots in the distance. Sheila and Chloe immediately ducked upon hearing them.
"Shit!" All four girls exclaimed at once. Thankfully, they managed to get away in time before anyone was seriously hurt.
Once Amanda steadied the vehicle, she used one hand to drive while using the other to slap Jessica repeatedly. "You said you were getting chips!"
"That guy had a gun," Sheila marveled, her eyes wide in shock. She didn't hear the obvious statement from Chloe that nearly everyone in their neighborhood had a gun, her mind was somewhere else. Her heart rate had been so accelerated at the moment that she felt sweet relief upon it slowing down. It was like a high. Not that she knew what being high was like, but she could only imagine that it felt as euphoric and stimulating as this. The feeling of her adrenaline spiking and rushing through her veins at a sudden and alarming rate that Sheila didn't know was even remotely possible. She loved the feeling, the thrill, the danger. Sheila smirked to herself, leaning in the backseat with her eyes slightly closed in satisfaction and bliss, while the Harris sisters continued to bicker.
"Really, Amanda? Really? You know me by now." Jessica cracked open a beer, much to Amanda's grief. She offered to the eighth graders in the backseat. "To your graduation in a few months."
"Don't give them alcohol!" Amanda protested.
Sheila once said that when she tried beer once it tasted bitter and wouldn't touch it. Now, however, she was willing to make an exception. She took it, surprising herself and her best friend. "Thanks."
"I hate you," snapped Amanda to Jessica, who only grinned. But she realized it was no use. "At least hide it well, Jess," she added in a defeated tone. She eyed Sheila from the backseat mirror. "If you puke all over the car, our deal is off."
"She isn't gonna puke," Jessica said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Then, a familiar song - to at least the Harris sisters - took over on the radio, all the blondes in the car immediately perked up. Sheila arched her eyebrows in confusion on why they were so excited. Even Amanda started to press on the gas and roll the windows down; the wind harshly going against them while the music turned up and began to blast while nearly passing the speed limit. Sheila looked up. The sky's background was now pitch black, with small white dots resembling the stars.
Combining all these factors, Sheila began to understand why.
"We could steal time, just for one day...
Oh we can be heroes, just for one day."
Sheila listened intently to the lyrics. She felt her whole body go numb and her eyes close; with the cold wind against her black hair that began to spiral out of control, and for once, she didn't mind it a single bit. She turned to Chloe, who was singing along with the song. "What is this song?"
"Heroes," she answered.
If Sheila wasn't so moved, she would've laughed at the irony of the song in the moment, considering that what Jessica did was pretty villainous.
"Holy shit."
Thus the words that escaped from Lindsay's lips settled throughout the room. The boombox was playing a Rolling Stones song that neither she nor Henry could recall the name of. Both were cuddling under the covers sitting in darkness; other than the faint light of the lamp beside the bed on the small table. With the dim light, Lindsay looked her best; the way her vivid blue eyes popped out whenever she stared at him. Henry's eyes dilated upon sight of her eyes, before shifting his eyes to her lips. The Rolling Stones song faded out, before being replaced with a new song.
"We can be heroes, just for one day...
we can be us, just for one day."
"I know this is destroying the moment," Henry interrupted, and Lindsay laughed aloud, not bothered at all; which, in return, made Henry's smile reach his eyes as he played with her hair. Ah, she was amazing. "But what song is this?"
Lindsay looked at him as if he were the crazy one in their relationship. "Are you serious?" Henry nodded, confused. "It's called Heroes by David Bowie." The lyrics that stuck out to him: 'We can be heroes, just for one day,' rang in his head over and over; like a broken record. For a minute, he kept to himself in total contemplation of the song, interpreting it metaphorically, before deciding to think about it quite literally. Unrealistic, he knew, but not impossible.
Henry looked at her, really looked at her. Her smile, the way it reached to her eyes. Her eyes, which were filled with thrill. She laughed - which was joyful. The way she shook her blonde hair out of her eyes, stunning. The little tuck of hair behind her hair, a subtle movement, but nonetheless projected the air of perfection. Slowly, but surely, he began to close the gap between their lips, sealing it with a kiss.
Yes, Henry concluded, that was the right word.
Perfect.