"Stop!' screamed the voice of her teammate. Mary halted as she caught the orange ball in her open hands. Agile, she weaved through the opponents, towards the basket. Quickly, she set up a perfect shot. The buzzer rang just as the ball swished through the hoop. Suddenly, a loud sob cut through the wonderful dream. Who was crying this late at night? More importantly, why did they have to disturb this particular dream? Sighing, she lifted her heavy eyelids. A burst of color met her eyes. It wasn't actually bright in the room, but she was facing the desk lamp between her and Lucy's bed, so it seemed that way.
The light lit up Lucy's face perfectly. She had jammed her knees as close to her chest as she could, clasping them tight with her hands. Tears flowed from her eyes, covered by her mess of bed head. Mary watched in awe as Ruthie wiped away Lucy's tears. Silently, she watched her two younger sisters interact.
"I'm so scared" Lucy whispered to her knees. "What if it hurts? What if I screw the kid up? I'm not ready for this."
"You know it's gonna hurt" Ruthie replied, kneeling across from Lucy, supporting herself on Lucy's knees.
"You're so cheerful."
"It's the truth" she replied, shrugging. "but mom will help you."
"Yeah, I'm gonna run back to mommy, when this whole thing is my fault."
"It's not your fault" Ruthie contradicted, "its Mary's."
"How is it Mary's fault?" Lucy asked, confused.
"She's the one who didn't stop you from going into the bedroom. She knew that guy was trouble, but she didn't stop it. You weren't even supposed to be at that party, but she took you, so it's her fault."
"I asked her to go." Lucy answered solemnly, unclasping her hands to wipe away her tears. Her legs fell criss-cross-applesauce.
"She could have said no" Ruthie told her, shrugging. A loud thump came from Annie and Eric's room, probably one of them heavily walking towards the bathroom. "I better go, is there anything else you need?"
"yeah" Lucy nodded, "a hug." She opened her arms wide as Ruthie crawled in. Her arms wrapped around Lucy's neck as Lucy's wrapped around her back. Ruthie pressed close to her sister, curving around her stomach and leaning against her shoulder. Lucy cried into Ruthie's shoulder, her grip loosened, but not completely. Mary watched for a long time until it was apparent that they had both fallen asleep. Lucy leaned back, against the wall, Ruthie slipped to use Lucy's belly as a pillow, her older sister's arms, now right below her shoulders.
Quietly, Mary got up. Ruthie's head couldn't be good for the baby, so gently she moved Ruthie to a pillow. Then, she spread a blanket from the closet over them both. Slipping back into bed, memories from that night floated up painfully.
"Please Mary?" Lucy begged, dropping to her knees and giving a very convincing puppy dog look.
"Fine" she groaned, "but you better not snitch."
"Duh" she responded, as if this was obvious.
The party was loud and noisy. Cans of beer stood, both opened and opened, on the counter. Boys and girls danced to a loud, thumping tune. Lucy had found a group of her friends, and they talked in a corner, all looking out of place. Mary found her way to her own friends, soon moving onto the dance floor. As she danced to a particularly tiring number, she watched Lucy blush bashfully as Todd talked to her. Todd looked perfect, but had a horrible rep. A reputation that Lucy knew nothing about. She tried to get past the crowd towards her sister, but they blocked her in. By the time she made her way to the edge of the thick crowded, blonde hair was whipping into a dark room as the door closed. She heard a protest, than the door clicked.
Mary waited for an hour outside the room until Lucy emerged, disheveled and looking as if she were about to cry. Hailey, a teammate of Mary's, had driven them, but they were close enough to walk home. Silently, they left and strolled through the street. As they walked up the drive way, Mary pulled her sister behind a bush. Calmly, she fixed her sister's hair as Lucy sobbed and sobbed. Slowly, she wiped away all traces of the party before rubbing away the tears.
"We saw a really sappy movie in the promenade with a couple of friends. Hailey gave us a ride home. The party never happened. If they smell drinks, we dropped by the pool hall to get Hailey's brother. We left a note, but they must not have found it. Got it?" Mary asked, looked straight into her sister's eyes, it was crucial that Lucy understood this. She nodded meekly, trying to stem her tears. Expertly, Mary pulled an old popcorn bag out of her purse, a few seeds jangled inside of it. She threw it in the trashcan before entering the kitchen.
The memories quickly morphed into dreams as she too fell asleep. By morning Ruthie had found a way to sleep comfortably with her head on the bed and her feet on the ground. Lucy had drifted onto the end table. No one would know what happened.
AN: sorry for the long break! Big bout of writer's block, but, I'm cooking up new chapters. I'm going to prolong this as long as possible!