Forever and Never

Seven: Clear Skies From Here

Warnings: 2277

Word Count: mentions of marijuana and heavy making out (almost sex)

    "I assume your relationship with Stan only gets better from here."

    "Oh, yes."

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    So, the next day started out very tense. No one was talking to each other. Sydney avoided everyone, Brad was a fuming mess, Dina was a crying mess, and Ricky was a bruise-littered mess. Everyone could tell we went through yet another breakup from the way we completely avoided each other, so they had that to whisper about along with the fact that Jenny gave Brad some type of sex-trasmitted disease. I tried my best to stick by Dina's side and direct her away from the whispers, despite how impossible it was. We hardly communicated with each other all morning, save for the looks of concern we'd pass whenever hearing a hushed rumor about either one of us slip out. She told me that she and Syd had an argument when she found out we were lied to about what was on the security tape. After she dragged me to the library, I had my own suspicions as well that Stan would no doubt hear of.

    At lunch, Dina and I sat together with a few mates we only spoke to during class. It was the best crowd we had for the day, since I had no idea where Stan was and Dina was thoroughly avoiding her own best friend. A few tables away, Brad and Ricky sat alone, their table vacant and devoid of their usual followers. It could have filled me with amusement, but I remembered the reason they're in this predicament. They hurt Dina and I. And there was nothing amusing about that. Fortunately, our classmates were more than willing to avoid the topic of our ex-boyfriends and instead talked about anything else. In my peripheral, I watched as Stan approached Sydney, smacking his bagged lunch on the table and sitting across from her. He was wildly gesturing with his hands as he went on and on about something that clearly excited him. But Sydney was spacing out, her eyes not even on Stan. If I were over there, I'd be listening, Stan...

    "Zip?"

    I blinked and turned to one of my mates, Cassandra, who was smiling patiently at me. "Sorry, what?"

    "I was asking if you're still going to homecoming?"

    "Oh, uh... No, I don't think so. Not really in the mood to..."

    "Awe, man," The girls groaned. "But you need to get out, have fun!"

    I opened my mouth to protest when I felt a presence behind me. It swung around my form and plopped down in the seat beside me. A smile I'd hardly worn all day adorned my features at the sight of Stan. "Hey, lovely. Um... I know you probably don't wanna go to homecoming anymore, but... I was thinking we could go together?" When I didn't react, his smile dropped. "U-Unless, you're totally put off by that. In that case we could always just hang out? We don't have to go anywhere, we can just, like, sit and watch movies and-"

    "You know what, Stan?" Our fingers naturally interlocked. "I think going to homecoming with you is exactly what I need. Why the hell not?" We giddily smiled at each other as everyone at our table loudly gushed. This got Ricky's attention, and I could tell because I caught his stare. When our gazes met, he jumped and quickly looked away to the empty spot Brad once occupied. Clearing my throat, I turned back to the people around me as they continued to rave over me and Stan.

    After school, Stan drove us to his house for a well-deserved hang out. He mentioned that he spent so much time with Sydney that he was starting to miss me. I tried not to display my flustered state, but my stuttering failed me. As soon as we entered his house, he pulled me downstairs to his bedroom, the two of us chucking our backpacks wherever. When our eyes set on the record player, we raced towards it, shoving each other away when one of us got closer to it. Stan saw that I was winning and grabbed me by the waist. "No!" I laughed. "I'm picking the music!"