☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

°•. ┊ Daylight┊.•°
✧ ˚ ━ we're the new romantics, act one

CHAPTER THREE — the pollywog

✧

The next morning, I took the aspirin and then chugged the glass of water, which was room temperature by now. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and give myself a moment, then I stand. Standing was a stupid idea considering the fact that the room started spinning. I ran to the bathroom, adjacent to the bedroom, and emptied the contents of my stomach. I stayed on the bathroom floor for a while, the cold tile feeling refreshing on my skin. I waited for the room to stop spinning before standing, I rinsed out my mouth and returned to the guest room. The sun has just started to rise, so it's quite early. I open the door and peer into the hallway, then exit the room. The walls are bare, when usually there'd be family photos of some kind. I make my way down the stairs, this house is huge. I take a moment in each room, taking it all in, there's some interesting art pieces all over the house. I found my way to what looks like a study, in it are a few framed photos. There's one of Steve and what I think is his mom, he looks really young. I go over to a larger framed photograph on the wall; it's Steve, his mom, and his dad. They look like they're at a barbeque, they look happy. "That was a good day." I jump out of my skin at the sound of his voice. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you. I was pretty young, so I don't remember much, but I do remember that day."

"Is she?" I ask the question without really asking.

"Yeah. It was a car accident-" He starts, but I cut him off.

"Steve. You don't have to talk about it."

"I want to." He moves further into the room, placing himself beside me. "It was a car accident, they were on their way home from one of my dads work parties. They had left early because I was sick, a 103 fever, and the babysitter didn't know what to do. My mom was so worried that she drove and she was going too fast. It was raining that night, the roads were slippery and she must not have been able to see that well... or something. She lost control of the car and they crashed into a tree. She was dead on impact. My dad wasn't too bent outta shape. Dislocated shoulder and messed up ribs, but other than that just some cuts and bruises. They said she felt no pain, but I think they're full of shit. How would they know what she felt? They wouldn't." Steve explains. My hands find their way to his, giving them a comforting squeeze.

"How old were you?" I question, softly.

"Seven."

"God. Steve, I'm so sorry. No kid should lose a parent that soon."

"Yeah. How old were you? When your dad left?" He inquires. His question catches me off guard and I hesitate. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business-"

"No, it's okay. I just needed to think about it. It feels like forever ago." I pause once more, remembering the day he left...

"You're leaving. That's what this is, right? You're just walking away. Is it that easy?" I question, my voice breaking slightly.

"This is far from easy. I'm leaving your mother. But I am nowhere near finished being your dad. I'm only a phone call away, Sammy." He states. Tears fall from my eyes, as I nod my head. "I love you, kid."

"I know." I breathe, closing my eyes, smiling softly at the exchange. Empire Strikes Back. That one scene. An iconic line. Star Wars has always been our thing and ever since seeing the latest one in theaters; we use that exchange a lot. For some reason, this moment feels like the last time we'll be saying it for a while. He says a phone call away, but it's not entirely true. He gives me a kiss on the side of my head and then gets in his car and leaves. Max runs out of the house, chasing the car and calling out to him. It breaks my heart. I wipe my tears and put on a brave face for her. I run after her, stopping her in her trackes before she goes too far. She breaks down in my arms and I attempt to soothe her.

"I was fourteen. My sister, Max, was ten. Then over the past year, my mom remarried. She married Billy's dad." I explain.

"No... that asshole is your step-brother?" I nod my head. "I am so sorry. How have you not killed him yet? You are a better person than me, Samira Mayfield." I laugh, shaking my head. "Do you ever talk to your dad?"

"I haven't since we left California. We used to see him a fair amount. Not as often as I'd like, but enough..." My sentence veers off.

"So, if you hate your mom's new husband and Billy, why didn't you just stay with your dad?" This guy has a lot of questions.

"Max. I wouldn't leave her to deal with Billy alone. I don't trust him not to do something to hurt her." I don't even hesitate to answer. "And my dad didn't want me there."

"What makes you say that?"

"He knew we were moving and the offer was never given. He let us go." I speak, somberly. Steve places a hand on my shoulder. "His loss, right? It's fine."

"I think I know what will lift our spirits a bit...pizza. You like pizza, right Sammy?" He jokes, referencing my unnecessarily long, drunken tangent about pizza. We exit his dad's office and return to his living room. Steve looks down at his watch. "Shit. We're gonna be late. And you look like you walked off the set of Grease. Not to worry, you can just borrow one of my shirts." The two of us go upstairs and I return to the guest room, putting on my shoes and picking up my jacket. I then realize that I have no backpack, which means no books or homework. Fuck. I go into the bathroom, using the mouthwash to rinse the alcohol and puke from my mouth. I fix my hair the best I can and it honestly doesn't look too bad. I clean up what was left of my eye liner, so it's not as smudged. I find myself back in the hallway and walking the opposite way than I had earlier. I knock on Steve's door, which I only know is his because the door was partially open. "I'm decent."

"I don't have my books or my homework and your car was left at Tina Patterson's house." I inform.

"Yeah, we can go get my car after school. And as for your books, we can stop really quickly." He says. He comes over to me and grabs my arm, pulling me further into his room. We stop in front of his closet. "Take your pick. And make it fast. We're gonna be a little late, but it's fine." I run my hand along the shirts hanging up and Steve is in his bathroom messing with his hair. I settle on a blue and gray striped, collared, long sleeved shirt. I glance over and see Steve very focused on his mirror, so I use it as my chance to lift the tight, black off the shoulder shirt off of my body and replace it with Steve's. It's huge on me, but fuck is it comfortable. And it smells really good. The smell takes me back to the moment last night, where Steve was buckling my seat belt, and how close our faces were. I'm snapped from my thoughts, when I feel a tug on my elbow. "Good?" I nod my head and we're running out to my car. Steve gets in the driver's side. I give him my address and he drives there as fast as possible. I run in and run back out in record time. The ride was pretty quiet, only the radio playing in the background. "You know, that shirt looks a lot better on you than it ever has on me." He states. I look over and see him already looking at me.

"I didn't want to be the one to say it. I cannot imagine you in this, it's just too perfect for me. You would pale in comparison." I tease. We fall back into a comfortable silence, although I did catch Steve looking at me a few more times. We pull into the parking lot, having missed first period. We get late passes from the front office and Steve walks me to my class. History. He starts to walk to his own class, but I call out to him. "Steve." He turns to look at me. "Thank you, for everything." I say. He just smiles and gives me a nod, turning back around. I enter my classroom, all eyes turning to me. I hand the teacher my late pass and he gives me the assignments and the homework sheet, which we can work on if we finish our classwork early. I take my seat behind Nancy and start working. I just finish my classwork as the bell rings. I make my way down the hall, heading for the gym and Nancy is catching up to me.

"Hey. Is everything okay? I didn't peg you as the tardy type." She smiles.

"Uh, yeah. I am just personally banning myself from any more parties." I laugh.

"I know what you mean. Last night was rough." She starts. "Have you seen Steve today? I didn't see him before or after first. I know you just got here, but did you see him at all, in the parking lot or roaming the halls?" She finally gets to her point.

"No, no I haven't seen him. If I do, I'll let him know that you're looking for him."

"Thanks. Once more thing, can I borrow your notes? I didn't finish mine the other day and need them for last night's assignment." I say yes and pull them out of my bag. "Thank you. Catch you later?" She questions. I reply with a quiet 'yeah' and speed walk to the locker rooms. I ponder changing for gym and realize that it is the last thing I would like to do today. Delilah isn't changing either. Nancy asking about Steve and them being together at the party last night is adding up now that the booze has left my system. I kissed another girl's boyfriend. God that's low. Our class is supposed to go outside and play soccer because the basketball team is practicing in the gym. It's way too cold for that shit. Delly and I take a seat on the bleachers, basically ditching, but getting marked present because attendance is done as we exit the locker room.

"I thought you were going trick or treating with Max. And when she met up with my brother and his friends, she told me that you went to the party. Or rather that she forced you to go. She's pretty cool, by the way. I didn't know they were friends." She laughs and I shrug, stuck in my own thoughts. "So, how was it?"

"It was fine. Never going to another one, but an experience that I'm glad I can say I've had." I stop, but Lila gestures for me to give her actual details. "Okay, something did happen..."

"I knew it! Spill."

"So, I was talking with Nancy at the punch bowl and getting myself a drink. I was explaining to her that my sister convinced me to go and then Tommy came over and made a douchy comment." She rolls her eyes knowingly. "Steve told him to shut up. I ignored it, then took a few big sips of the drink in my cup and Tommy made another comment about if I drank too much that I would be making it too easy."

"Asshole."

"I know. Steve was about to say something else, but I cut him off and approached Tommy, then proceeded to dump my drink on him."

"No you didn't."

"Hell yeah I did. Tommy snapped at me and Billy was standing there, apparently they're pals which makes a lot of sense. And he said something about me being angrier than most because my dad doesn't love me and he then called my mom a whore. I contained my anger and began to drink, a lot. I spent about an hour drinking and dancing, until I got dizzy and went out front for some air."

"Wait, there's more to this story? I figured the Billy, Tommy thing would be it."

"No, there's more and I'll lead with the fact that I never made it home." She gasps loudly.

"You rebel. Who are you?"

"I was drunk. Anyways, I went outside and leaned against the house and turned to my right and saw the chivalrous Steve Harrington. Of course at that point I didn't know his name. But I greeted him because he was willing to stick up for some girl he didn't know and he replied. And I went on a drunken pizza rant-" She gives me a concerned look. "Don't ask. To sum it up I said I was going to get us pizza and nearly busted my ass getting to my car. Steve took my keys and drove my car, only I knew that I was far too shit-faced to pretend to be sober. This led to Steve letting me crash at his place, which is where I woke up this morning. And I'm wearing his shirt." I decide against telling her about the kiss, ashamed of the action, and not needing to be scolded by anyone else.

"I was going to ask why the hell your shirt is so big, but now I know." She starts. "But holy crap. That's amazing. I'm assuming if something sexual happened, you would let me know?" I give her 'really?' look and she moves on. "Okay, but was it awkward this morning?"

"No, it was surprisingly really comfortable. Something just clicked..." I look over at Steve who appears to be in a pissing match with Billy on the court. "It just fits."

"Oh my god." I turn my attention back to Delilah. "You're falling for him."

"That's ridiculous. I just met the guy. I barely know anything about him. You are delusional." I respond. "Plus, he has a girlfriend." Her eyes dart over my shoulder.

"He's looking at you." She says in a sing-song voice. I roll my eyes and try to hide my flushed cheeks, she sees right through me. "I knew it! You are soooo into him. And from what I've heard, they got into an argument and while Steve was driving you home, Jonathan was bringing Nancy home. Things might be over between them. You should ask." I ignore her and turn to watch the guys play. Billy gets the ball from Steve, the latter of the two falling to the gym floor. I swear it's a dick measuring contest. You could see the testosterone in the room. Steve looks at the gym entrance, Delilah and I following his gaze. Nancy's here. "What do you think that's about?" I shrug. I never did ask Steve why he was outside last night, instead of enjoying the festivities. The pair exit the gym and Delilah and I return our eyes to the game. One of the players runs outside, I'm assuming to get Steve. I hate to admit it, but Billy is good at one thing, basketball. The guys comes back in, but no Steve. "Waiting for your boyfriend to return?" She teases.

"He's not my boyfriend." I huff, my eyes trained on the court. Trying my best to keep them there and not on the gym doors.

"Not yet." She states. I laugh at her strange optimism, as the doors open and in comes Harrington. "You ever notice how short their shorts are? Like damn."

"I've never thought about it until now, but you're so right. They are tiny." I speak. My eyes follow Steve, he looks distraught. And he is definitely not focused on the game. Delilah pulls out her notebook and starts to doodle, she loses interest in the game quickly. I, however, pay close attention to it. Moreso, close attention to him. Steve's team loses. And the guys are off to the locker rooms for a shower and to change. Before he goes, the boy approaches me.

"Hey, wait for me?" He asks. I give him a nod and he waves to Delilah, then disappears behind the boys locker room doors. Lila gives me a weird look and then raises her brows. My eyes roll and I pack up my stuff. We sit for a while, talking about our classes, our English assignment, and the strange budding friendship between our younger siblings. The door from the locker room to the gym swings open and out comes Steve. I stand and look at Lila.

"You coming?" I question.

"He didn't ask me to wait. I'm gonna go home." She states and as we're parting ways, mouths 'I want details.' I go over to Steve and we start to walk out of the doors on the opposite side of the gym, that lead to the fields and the parking lot. We walk in comfortable silence back to the car. He tosses me my keys and I get in the driver's side this time. Even the first half of our drive is quiet.

"Are you okay? After your talk with Nancy, you seemed off." I break the silence and glance over at the boy.

"She dumped me last night. Or I dumped her today. I'm not sure which." He says, looking down at his hands.

"I'm sorry, Steve."

"A small part of me is upset. And the rest of me is somewhat okay with it." He confesses. "I don't know, I guess looking back on it, Nancy and I were kind of forced. She's in love with Jonathan. It's obvious. I was just afraid of losing the first girl that I said 'I love you' to even if I-." He stops. I easily see where his sentence was headed.

"Even if you didn't mean it?"

"Yeah." He exhales. "No, no I did. Just not in the way a boyfriend should mean it. I care about Nancy, I always will, but not as anything more than like a best friend." I pull up to the Patterson residence and park.

"At least you know how you feel and can move on. That's something." I turn and try to make him see the brightside, although I think he already does.

"Yeah. Thank you, Sammy."

"For what?"

"Listening. Caring. I don't know. I feel like I've talked your ear off and I only met you last night." He confesses holding eye contact.

"I don't mind. I'm sure my drunken rants were revealing, so we are even. Plus, I've liked getting to know you, Harrington. You're not half bad." I breathe with a smile.

"Thanks. Well, I should go." He says.

"Sure. If you need to talk, at any time, I would be happy to listen." I laugh. I take a notebook out of my bag and write down my address, ripping out the paper and handing it to Steve. "See you later, Golden Eyes." He pauses before getting out and walking to his own car. I take another look at him and then drive home. Weird day.

[word count: 3277]

lexi's letters; a weird day indeed-