"Juli! My house is gonna smell like weed! Could you just stop being such an addict for one day?" Evelynn shouts at me. I groan and roll my eyes at her. Could she just stop being such an uptight bitch for one day?
"Sorry, Evie, but I don't think Julie cares about your opinion on her drug addiction," Cole says professionally and I give a thumbs up to signify that he's right. Evelynn gives me a glare before plopping down on her bed. Peter and Cole are chilling on the small couch in her enormous room while I lay upside down in a fuzzy chair. My hair is hitting the ground and my feet are dangling above me.
The room is quiet for a few minutes, that is until Nessa barges in. "I bring offerings to the high and the hungry." I fall out of my chair in the process of trying to get to her. Peter and Cole laugh at me while Evelynn gives me a face that seems annoyed but amused. I reach for Vanessa and outstretch my arms to hug her.
"I absolutely love you, Vanessa. You're my best friend in the whole wide world." I crashed into her with a hug. I wobble a little when I pull away, then my best friend in the whole wide world does the meanest thing possible. She gives me an apple.
"Here ya go. You've been eating a lot of junk lately and I don't need you getting diabetes on me." The room has grown silent in anticipation. Even Evie, who takes no interest in my constant snacking is on the edge of her seat. I have to look up slightly while I glare at Nessa.
"If junk food is what kills me, I win at the life thing. So yeah, I would like my death food now." I take Vanessa's hand and open it, setting the apple in her palm. I then open my hand in want of something that has loads of carbs and sugar. She sighs but places a bag of Cheetos in my palm. I squeal and jump up and down.
The rest of the room laughs at my quick mood change. "Your so fucking small, Julie. It's like I'm friends with a dwarf." Peter gives a breathless laugh. I flick him off as I happily open the Cheetos.
'I'm friends with a dwarf.' I say in a condescending voice in my head. Bitch, he looks like a fucking giraffe. I don't know why Nessa likes him. It's like you gotta climb a freaking mountain just to be eye level with that dude. Cole, on the other hand, is the perfect height.
I go back to my chair, but this time I sit up so I can eat. I've learned my lesson from eating upside down and that shit hurt. Nessa takes the vape from off of the dresser and sits down against the end of the bed. Evelynn is the only one of us that doesn't smoke. She drinks like there's no tomorrow but smoking is a big no-no to her. I don't exactly understand it but I guess the rest of us have things we'd rather not think about so we get high. Evie doesn't need it so I guess it's good that she doesn't use it. Although it might be good for her to lighten up for a bit.
"I'm bored!" Evelynn whines. I think of this as the most useful information I've heard from Evie all night. The only things that have come from her are whiny remarks and the odd side glances I've revived. I stand up, go to Evie, pull her off the bed, and with me to the back yard. The rest of the group follows curiously until we reach the pool. Before Evelynn expects anything, I push her into the pool and laugh my ass off when she comes back up. "Are you fucking crazy, Juliette!"
Everyone else has started laughing now. "Yes sir, I am," I yell as I jump in the pool myself. Our clothes are probably ruined but she can afford it and I don't give a flying fuck. I swim over to Evie and splash her. She tries to act like she's annoyed but there's amusement clear in her eyes. It takes all of 2 seconds before her face lights up with a smile and she laughs loudly. I stare at her in shock. Did I just make Evelynn Pendelton laugh? Woah. I'm one funny bitch.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Cole yells amused. I smile at him.
"Just going for a swim. Would you three care to join." I give my best impression of a proper person. Although Evie is my only example for that so you can guess how my impression turned out.
I smile and laugh as Nessa gets a running start. She cannonballs in the deep end and squeals as she hits the water. Peter and Cole chuckle and get in the water too. They take their shirts off before they do, leaving me to look away from Cole and go underwater.
The last time we were in this pool was in middle school. We found a little lake the summer before freshman year and that's where we have goofed around like this ever since. I come back up from under the water and watch as everyone laughs and swims around.
I still remember my life before them and let's just say it sucked. I was the weird quiet girl who didn't talk to anyone. I met Cole in 6th grade when we had a math class together. We were partnered up for something and we instantly became friends. We were both quiet in a way so it was hard to start the conversation. But when it did start, I talked more than I ever had. And I realized how nice it was to have someone that listened.
Cole introduced me to the rest of the group and we were also fast friends. Ness and I spent almost every day together and I became so open and confident. I don't think I ever shied away from many people after that.
"Julie help!" Vanessa yells. I'm brought out of my thoughts and come to see that Peter is about to toss Nessa to the deep end of the pool. They're laughing but Peter gives me a condescending smile.
"You try anything and your next." He says. I give a fake smile back before swimming over and jumping on him. Vanessa and I take him down and dunk him under the water. It took a lot of effort but what's the fun in being lazy. Unless you're me and are perfectly happy with being lazy more often than not.
Nessa throws her arm around my shoulder and pants. "Thanks, Julie. That was a close one." She giggled and I began laughing with her.
All too soon, Peter comes up behind us and dunks us both in one swift motion. Once he lets up and we come back up for air, Peter is laughing uncontrollably. There's a hard glare on Vanessa and I's face. We look at each other in silent understanding that Peter will be paying for that later.
What feels like hours later we get out of the pool. Our skin is pruned and we are all a little exhausted. We head inside but stop at our cars to grab the extra clothes we always carry.
We are prone to spontaneous adventures so we like to keep some clothes in case we ever need them. It's a lot easier than packing a bag every time we go to places.
I pull out a baggy t-shirt and some black pajama shorts. When I turn away from my car, I come face to face with Evie's wonderful house bought by her wonderful parents. They let her roam free but still pay enough attention so they know she's safe. They buy her all these nice things and consider her in all of their decisions. Evelynn has had the life I could only imagine and I can't even hate her for it. It's not her fault that my parents can't seem to agree on anything. That I take drugs to keep myself awake because I was up all night listening to my mom and dad scream at each other until their voices are so tired they just give up for the night. My house has thin walls and small rooms. There are no places I can hide at home so I try my hardest to make myself busy, avoiding going there.
I walk inside before I can think too much about my pathetic home life. My mind has started coming back to the real world and I can tell that I'm sobering up a little. I take the vape from a distracted Nessa before I lose my buzz completely. I go into the bathroom to change, come out when I'm finished, and make my way to the living room where everyone else is. Nessa, Cole, and Evelynn have all piled on the couch, Peter sitting on the floor leaning on the part of the couch below Ness. "Hey, Jul. We're gonna watch a movie." Vanessa tells me.
"Ooo fun. What we watchin?" I Smile and plop down into the recliner. I've always preferred chairs from sofas. I tie my hair up on my head and lean back.
" We were thinking of an old one. What about 'The Edge of Seventeen" Evelynn says. That movie is from like 2011. Jesus. They did mean an old movie.
"Sounds good," I respond. Everyone else voices their agreement so Evelynn finds the movie. She's about to press play when I screech for her to stop. "Wait! WE NEED POPCORN." I yell and run to the kitchen. I quickly get the popcorn and go back to lay in the chair. I stop for some blankets on the way. "Okay," I say in content and Evie rolls her eyes and starts the movie.
Just as Nadine finds Krista giving her brother a handjob, I can easily tell everyone has drifted to sleep. I keep watching and don't fall asleep until the credits are running. I kept finding ways to relate to Nadine and It really put me in a sucky mood. It was hard for me to stop thinking and at this point, weed wasn't helping.
I kept thinking about how her brother is such a dick. That is until they were at Mr. Burner's house and he was telling her why he does the things he does. At that point, I was just sympathizing with him. I couldn't help thinking that both of our families were fucked up. There's were just fucked up in a different way.
But at least there was a happy ending. Nadine gained Erwin and forgave Krista. I wonder if I'll ever get a happy ending like her's. Maybe my parents will just end the suffering and get a divorce already. College isn't too far away. We're all graduating in May. I've got...okay grades. I'll just have to apply to every college I can think of and go to the one that hopefully accepts me.
I can feel myself slowly drifting off to sleep and I thank god that I am. I've had enough of my own head to last me a lifetime. I pull the blankets up to my chin and close my eyes. My mind wanders for a few more minutes but eventually, I fall asleep. The last thing that runs through my thoughts is the question of what happens next in my story? Do I get a happy ending?