Sing Me To Sleep

The Party

Dear Alex,

I made it through the first week of my new high school. I wish we could go out for ice cream to celebrate like we used to. I admit I went without you, I hope that's okay. It almost felt like you were there with me, like everything was right for a while. But then I just couldn't stop thinking about you. And that day. I could feel myself going to that place I went to after you were gone. But then I saw Lena.

"Kara? What are you doing here all by yourself?"

She was with someone, a boy, they seemed close

"Oh just felt like coming"

For the strange moment I felt like I might tell her about you, and maybe I would have if we were alone

"Well come sit with us, we don't mind"

"Yeah okay"

We sat down and the guy she was with introduced himself as Winn. His eyes looked like they might pop out of his head when I shook his hand. I haven't gotten much better at being gentle. I thought his name was strange but I didn't say anything because maybe it wasn't strange to humans. I've been trying to get better at keeping certain things to myself, "inside thoughts", like Eliza calls them. I realized that when I don't, people think I'm odd. And I really liked Lena so I tried to be as normal as I could manage. We were getting along well and I decided I liked hanging around them. They didn't tell inside jokes and make it hard for me to keep up with them. Instead they asked me questions.

"So Kara, how old are you?"

"Sixteen"

"What do you want to do when you're older?"

"I'm not quite sure yet"

"What kind of movies do you like?"

"I don't care for many, they're kind of all the same to me"

"Do you have a favorite book?"

"This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald"

"How come?"

"Because it's the last one I read"

This made them laugh and I felt nice because they were laughing with me instead of at me. I could tell they knew I was being genuine and not snobby. I looked at how Lena leaned her head on Winns shoulder as she laughed and I figured they were "going out", a term I only know of because you explained it to me. I've learned that boys and girls are not often just friends on Earth but I'm not quite sure why.

We hung out at the ice cream shop for a while and by sundown I found that I didn't even mind that a pretty girl like Lena had a boyfriend because Winn seemed like a good guy and he made her happy.

"How long have you two been together?"

This made them get this funny look on their face and then they burst out laughing, which confused me until Lena explained.

"We're brother and sister"

"Really? But you don't look alike"

They told me that Winns mom had married Lena's dad when they were younger and they had been best friends ever since. If I'm being honest I felt a bit relieved but I didn't say that out loud.

Since it was the weekend, they told me they were heading to a party at their friends place and they invited me along so I accepted. I had never been to a high school party before so I felt nervous but Lena assured me that I would be alright.

We got into Lenas pickup truck with Winn behind the wheel. Lena set to picking a station, flipping through until she found this song about a girl. And we all stayed quiet. And we listened.