Jill Valentine
The next day, Saturday. I sat in the kitchen with my parents as Dad read the paper and Mom was cooking something. "I feel so bad for that nice Piers boy," she says. I shake my head, "Yeah..." "How's Chris taking it," Dad joins the conversation. "I think he's getting better. He was a wreck at first, he blamed himself for what happened," I explain. "Yeah, I bet. Didn't you say his parents were abusing him," Dad asked. "That's what Claire said," I tell him. "Well is he back at that house," he asks. "I don't know. What are suggesting, Dad," I ask. "Chris is a good kid, your mother and I know that. I'm just saying, he deserves better than that... What if he came and lived with us?" That was actually a great idea, well a great thing for me. "Yeah, Chris is a nice boy. I like him, and he deserves a nice home," Mom says. "I'll ask him," I shrug, "I don't think he'd want to leave his sister with his parents though. I'll see."
The doorbell rang seconds later, I went to get it. I open the door to see Chris standing there. That was convenient. His right eye is swollen, and there seems to be dried blood coming from his nose, as well as some random cuts on his face. "Oh my god Chris! What happened," I ask. "Dad got the medical bill," Chris sighs. "Come on," I motion for him to come inside, "Let's get you cleaned up." Mom came into the living room just as we did, "Chris! Oh my...!" "Hi, Mrs. Valentine," he waves weakly. I walk him over to the couch. "I'll get the first aid kit," Mom says before heading to the bathroom. "I can't believe this," I say to him. "I'm used to it," Chris says. "What made you come here," I ask trying not to be rude. "I trust you, and your parents are pretty cool too," he says smiling at my mom as she reenters the room. "Oh Chris, you're such a nice boy. I can't believe you're stuck with all this," she says as she takes a seat next to Chris on the couch. "Don't worry about it," he says as she readies a cotton ball with peroxide. She gently dabs the cotton ball against the cuts. "Is this glass," she asks as she pulls out a piece of it from one of the cuts. "Beer bottle," Chris smiles weakly. "Chris, Richard and I were just talking about this... We think you should come live with us. You deserve way better than this," Mom says as she continues disinfecting the wounds. He grabs my hand, squeezing it from the pain of the alcohol disinfecting the cuts. "Really," he asks. "Really," Dad says from the doorway with the paper under his arm.
"Mr. Valentine, I don't want to impose," Chris argued. "No, like she said, you deserve better than this! You have pieces of glass in your face. You're a good kid, and besides, it'd be nice to have another man around," Dad jokes. "Well... Sure. I mean, if your guys are sure," Chris said nervously. "We're sure," I smile to him. "Thanks you guys," he smiles. Mom puts a few bandages on his cuts, and I have to admit it looks kind of funny. "What about Claire," I ask after my parents had left the room. "My parents wouldn't hurt her, she's their good child. Whatever the fuck that means," Chris sighs, "She'll be alright. I'll need to go back to get my stuff." "I'm going with you," I tell him. "No, I don't want you to meet them. Trust me, it's better you don't," he argues. "Fine, when are you going then," I ask. "Well, I'll go now. Now that my face doesn't feel like it's on fire. I'm going to bring Claire here to explain it. That okay," he asks. "Yeah, just be careful," I warn him. I walk him to the door, all this was happening really fast, but I was happy for him. I hoped he was happy too, but there was no way to really tell yet. He gets in his car and pulls out of the driveway. He starts to walk, I forget he didn't have a car since the crash.
When I returned to the house, my cell phone rang. "Hello," I answer with more of a question since I didn't look at the caller I.D. "Jill? It's Rebecca," the girl said through the phone. "Hey Rebecca. What's going on," I asked. "I'm having a birthday party tomorrow, it's kind of last minute, I know. But can you make it? I feel like we haven't seen each other in a long time," Rebecca said. "Yeah, I know," I agree, "I'll be there... Is it okay if Chris comes with me? He's going through a lot." "Yeah," Rebecca says, "I knew you'd want him to come. I'll see you then." I could see her bright smile just by the sound of her voice. We both hang up. A birthday party? I hope she didn't expect a gift, I really didn't have anything to give her.
PIERS NIVANS
"Hey Rebecca," I answer my phone. "Hey Piers! I'm having a party tomorrow, interested," Rebecca asked bluntly. "Sure," I shrugged. "Can you ask Helena too, we don't talk but I mean, she lives with you so..." "Sure Rebecca, where is it," I ask. "Oh! Well, it's only going to be Jill, Chris, Billy and you two. I wasn't planning on doing anything special, maybe sneak into a club," she says. "Okay, I'll catch a ride with Jill. See you then," we hang up. Chris was going? Probably didn't know I was going... He would probably ignore me there too. I don't even know how I feel. I'm annoyed, maybe a little angry and upset that I'm losing him. He's one of my closest friends, even if I had a crush on him. I was kind of done with that though, I mean... Claire was really hot and she seemed nice, she was nice when I was in the hospital, but I think you'd have to be to someone in the hospital. I wanted to see her again, and that wouldn't happen if I didn't hang out with Chris again. What if I go to see him? I decided that's what I was going to do. Helena wasn't home, she was hanging out with some friends from school. I don't know who, she asked me to go but I was feeling lazy today.
I decide to walk over to Chris' house. I knew where it was, he lived in Raven's Gate. It wasn't too far, but it was a nice walk. I come up to the house and see Chris just coming out with a bookbag. "Piers," he asks surprised but quietly. Claire is standing right behind him. "What are you doing here," Chris asks. "I came to talk to you... Where are you headed," I ask motioning to the bookbag. "Let's walk. I'll tell you on the way," he says and we begin walking the way I came. Claire went back into the house, she didn't even really look at me.
"You're moving in with Jill," I ask after he told me the story. "Yep, better than that shithole," he says. "Where's Claire going," I ask. "She's staying at that house," he motions behind us, "They won't do shit to her. And if they do... I'll kill them." He's actually kind of scary, I know he's actually serious. "But you're okay," I ask as we arrive at our houses. "Yeah, I mean my face is messed up," he jokes, "But I think everything's going to change." I think he's right. "But we're cool," I ask. "Yeah Piers... It was just awkward at first. Did you hear what everyone said about me? Its a lot of shit," Chris sighs. "Well, I'm still here for you... Let's just not take a car next time," I joke. "Don't even joke about that," Chris says. "It's my arm. I'll joke about it if I want," I say seriously. Chris seems uneasy. He's definitely not comfortable about my accident jokes. "I'm going to head inside," Chris says. "Yeah... Have fun," I say before heading to my house.
Jill Valentine
The doorbell rings and I know it's Chris. I answer the door and he's carrying his school bag. "Come on in," I tell him. "I was talking to Piers," he says as he passes me by. "Finally," I tell him. "Finally," he asks. "You've been avoiding him the whole time. It's not like it's hard to notice," I tell him. "Yeah... He showed up at my house. He walked with me back here." "You're house? What was he doing there," I ask. "He came to talk to me," Chris says, "Guess he noticed like you said." Of course he did, Chris isolated himself. "He made some jokes about the accident," he said. "Oh yeah? That's good right," I ask. "I think it's too soon," he says. "Well, it just means he's okay with it. You need to lighten up," I tell him. He shakes his head taking a seat on the couch. "Did you hear about Rebecca's party," I ask. "No, we're going," he asks. "I am, you want to come," I ask. "Is everyone going," he asked. "Piers and Helena are, so is Billy."
"Billy," he asks. "Billy Coen. He's in Rebecca's global class. I think they're dating," I smile. "Billy? Nope, can't remember him," Chris says trying to determine if he did in fact know him. Billy was weird, from what I remember he was a little strange. Whatever, Rebecca liked him and I liked Rebecca, I'm sure we could get along. "You got all your stuff, Chris," my mom call. "Yes Mrs. Valentine. Thanks again for letting me move in," he smiles back. "No problem Chris." I like that my parents get along with him, but I could already see the akward situations that were bound to happen.
The next day, Chris and I meet up with Piers and Helena and we walked to Rebecca's House. I miss Chris' car no matter how old it was. We all talked casually as we walked. Chris even talked, I was nervous he wouldn't. We get there and Rebecca's waiting with Billy. Rebecca is the first of my friends to be turning sixteen. I only had a month to go. Piers had all the way until October and Helena was June I think. We all went to a club downtown, the spAce? Something like that, the name was just really dumb. Rebecca was planning a whole complicated way of sneaking in, but then Chris walks off. "What are you doing," she asks. I watch Chris as he walks up to the bouncer. "Hey Mikhail," I hear him say. "Chris! What's up," he asks before they share a hug. "Can me and my friends come in," he asks as our group walks over. "18," he asks. "Fuck no," Chris laughs. "Go ahead," he smiles and moves out of the way. "Thanks," I smile before passing him. Chris is following close behind me. "Want a drink," he asks. "Sure," I reply with a shrug and he heads over to the bar. "That was cool," Helena smirks. "Yeah," Rebecca agrees. "Wanna dance," Billy asks Rebecca, yelling over the loud dance music. "Sure," she shrugs and is pulled off into the crowd. "What about you Piers," Helena asks. "Ugh, what the hell," he follows Helena out onto the floor. Chris returns with this small shot glass. "How much was it? Twenty bucks," I laugh. "Free, I know everyone here," he smiles. I shake my head, "And how did you do that?" He shrugs, "Come on drink up! Let's go dance!"
I was surprised by that. Chris wasn't the best dancer, I remember that from Piers' party. I quickly chug the shot and then Chris brings me out into the dance floor. It's a mix of sweat and cheap cologne, but I don't really notice that. All I notice is Chris smiling down at me. He seemed to be having fun, which was all great. A few hours pass, Piers and Helena made their way over to us some time before. Rebecca and Billy had disappeared into the large mass of people. Helena's grinding against some random guy, which didn't really surprise me. Piers is keeping to himself, but still having a good time. Chris and I are dancing together, I don't know what we were really doing, I just did whatever felt right. After maybe three hours, Rebecca and Billy find us and say they're going to leave. We all say our goodbyes, but we decided to stay. Helena was now sitting in a booth with that guy and they were full on making out. Chris and I were still dancing, and I notice Piers and some guy keep looking awkwardly at each other. I raise an eyebrow to Piers and he blushes. "Go over," I mouth. He shakes his head petrified. The guy was cute, looked like he was around our age, probably snuck in too.
The guy's tall, he'd be my type if I wasn't in a relationship. He eventually comes over and starts to dance next to Piers. I smile over at Piers and he looks so embarrassed but kept dancing. He looked kind of happy, but Piers was always shy. Wait! That guy, he was so familiar. Dave? Dave Johnson? Could it really be him? I knew Dave from Raccoon Junior High. I hadn't seen him since eighth grade. When it gets to ten, we decided to leave. It was Sunday and tomorrow was school. Sadly. Chris and I are waiting for Helena and Piers at the front entrance. Helena gets to us first. Then Piers. We walk out and Chris says goodnight to Mikhail. "I think I knew that guy you were dancing with," I say to Piers as we walk down the street. I notice the number written on his arm. "Really," he asks, "Is he a douche? I have a feeling he is." I shrug, "I went to Junior High with him. He's our age, I don't know what he's doing at a club alone." Piers shrugs, "I got his number... Dave Johnson." "Yep, that's him," I say excitedly, "Never thought he was gay..." "How was your night, Helena," Piers asks, "I saw your little makeout session." She smiles and shrugs, "He's nineteen. I didn't get his number, you little slut," she jokes. Piers laughs rolling his eyes.
We eventually get home and go our separate ways. "Piers found someone at the club," Chris laughs. "What," I ask not understanding what was funny. "Nothing... It's just funny that we found someone our age at a club and he turned out to be interested in Piers. I'm happy for him," Chris smiles, "He doesn't know about his arm... Hope that doesn't change anything." "It shouldn't," I say, "If Piers got his number then I would think Dave's looking for something serious. If that's true, he wouldn't care." "Hope so," Chris sighs, "Piers needs someone. He's not the most confident kid, having a boyfriend might help him with that." I shrug and we enter the house, my parents are the first thing we see. "Where were you guys," my mom asks casually. "Rebecca had a little birthday party. We were over her place," I lie. I'd gotten better at lying this year. "Oh, I like Rebecca. You don't hang out with her that often..." I shrug, "She has a boyfriend now. They're together most of the time." "Oh," my mom says before walking away. "Wait, mom! Where's Chris going to sleep," I ask. "Your room," she shrugs, "I trust you two." I'm glad she did. It wasn't like we were going to be fucking every night, maybe some nights, but Chris and I loved each other, it wasn't just for sex. We head up after she left the room. We walk into my room. "Guess we're sharing your bed," Chris smirks. "Yeah we are," I kiss him. He smiles after and pulls me into another one. Then I push him onto the bed, guess tonight was one of those nights.