Trigger warning: weed?
It was the day of the dance. 9 am. Saturday, September 8th. My stomach was in knots. I woke up feeling sick. My head was pounding, and my heart was beating deep and slow, the kind of feeling you get right before you do something crazy. I looked in the mirror. My face was pale and void of color, my eyes were misty, and my palms were sweaty. Fuck. I was sick. I panicked and ran downstairs. The moment my mom saw me, she let out an audible gasp. "Honey, oh Sadie... you look awful". I sighed. "I know, and I feel awful. But I'm supposed to go with Finn to the school dance."
I sat down at the kitchen table and buried my face in my hands. She took my temperature and felt my forehead, she instantly relaxed. "Well, you don't have the flu, thank goodness. Seems like just a common cold. If you really really want to go to the dance tonight-"
"I really, really do." I interjected looking at her desperately. "Well, I can take you to the clinic and get you some antibiotics. Go change and we'll go right away." She brushed my hair back and I quickly hopped from my seat. "THANK YOU MOM!!" I shouted, already running up the stairs. I was NOT going to miss the dance for anything.
It was almost 3. My mom had taken me to the doctor, loaded me with medicine, and I was now feeling - mostly- better. I still had the sweats, but not as bad as this morning. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my face. It was raw, flushed, pale, and spotted with freckles- or as my mom called them, angel kisses- that I hated. I had never liked my natural features. Bright red hair, blue eyes, freckles. I was a regular raggedy Ann doll. I started on my makeup. I looked up a makeup tutorial for blue eyes, but quickly realized I had NO idea how to do any of that. I started to cover up my freckles with my concealer, when I remembered a conversation I had had with Finn.
How many freckles do you have, Shady Sadie? I kinda want to count them all." Finn stated, staring at my nose. I blushed. "That's not gonna happen, Wolfhard. I don't let strange men touch my face." Finn laughed. I hoped he didn't notice my increasing redness. "Pinks a good look on you, Sink." With that, he hopped up, gave a small wink, and skated away.
I shot back to reality and felt my hands get tingly at the memory. Ok, maybe I'll go light on the foundation. I looked at the clock. It was almost 4. Fuck. Finn would be here in a hour. I started to panic, doing my makeup much quicker than I had been. I started to curl my hair then went to get dressed. I looked at the clock again. It was 5. Finn would be here any moment. I heard a knock at my door. Mom poked her head in and laughed. "Sadie, you look beautiful. Finns downstairs. Are you ready?" I took a deep breath and put on a nervous smile. "Yup."
Finn and I walked into the dance. He hasn't said much so far, other than saying I looked great and promising my mom he would get me home by midnight earning an eye roll from me and a smirk from my mom. The car ride there wasn't too awkward, but the tension was still obviously high. I decided to believe it was because we were both slightly nervous.
As we walked in, I saw the throngs of students dancing and singing. Everyone was having fun, even the chaperones. Finn turned to me. "Wanna dance?" He asked, extending his hand. I blushed and replied, "Thats what we came for right?" He laughed and led me out to the dance floor and continued to make a complete fool out of himself. I would've joined in but I was too busy trying not to fall over from laughter. After a while, all the awkwardness faded away and we were able to enjoy ourselves and sing loudly.
Then, a slow dance came on. I stood awkwardly, waiting for Finn to say something. "Well, Shady Sadie, shall we?" He said in an awful brutish accent smiling like an idiot. I laughed. "Yes sir, we shall." I said in an even worse accent. Finn took my hands and wrapped them around his neck. I had to stand on my tip toes to reach, but somehow, it was very comfortable. I decided to be bold and rest my head on his chest. We stayed like that for a while. I had never been so peaceful.
I looked up at Finn, and he looked down at me. I opened my mouth, to say what, I don't really know. But instead, I covered it with my hand. Oh my god. No. I was about to throw up. Finn looked panicked. "Fuck Sadie are you ok?" I shook my head. "I think I'm gonna puke." And with that, I pushed past Finn and ran towards the bathrooms.
Finn and I were on the roof of the school, his feet dangling over the edge. The cold wind on my arms gave me goosebumps. I was wrapped in his coat jacket, my head laying in Finns lap. He was stroking my hair. I was sorta out of it, and I didn't really know what was happening. I looked up at Finn, his face was pale and smooth from the moonlight. "Finn?" I said quietly. "Where are we?" Finn laughed. "After you threw up a few times in the bathroom, I brought you up here for some fresh air. You then laid down on my lap and told me to play with your hair. I think you were kind of out of it, but hey, who am I to judge." I awkwardly laughed trying to brush it off.
"Finn, I'm so sorry. I wasn't feeling that well this morning so I loaded up on antibiotics. I swear I was feeling better, but I guess all the dancing made me feel sick again." Finn smiled and looked into my eyes. "It's fine. It's better than dancing inside with a bunch of sweaty kids anyway." I smiled and looked away. "Hey, do you wanna smoke?" He asked. I scrunched my brows in confusion. "Smoke... like weed?" I asked. Finn laughed. "Yeah, that scare you?" I nodded my head.
And so, Finn and I sat there, on the roof of the high school, getting stoned and laughing at the sounds of woodland animals in the nearby forest. How we would get home, what we would do about our parents, or our cars, or our friends, we didn't know. All we knew was right then, we were high and we were enjoying it. I laid my head back down onto Finns lap, and stared into his dark brown eyes.
"You're like blue fire. The prettiest, yet the most fierce." Finn said. I sat up and put my hands around his neck then laughed. "Which poet was that?" I asked, colours still bouncing off the moon. Finn looked at me soberly although he was still goofed up. "Me." And with that, he leaned down and gently kissed me tickling my lips. I grabbed his face making the kiss more passionate then we smiled breaking apart. We stared into each others eyes breathing in the luminous air floating around us.
