Jellyfish

10. Welcome

I think the happiest I'd been before that New Years was back when I couldn't comprehend life. Times before I had memories and responsibilities haunting me, that's when I was truly, freely happy. At least, I assumed so. Since then, the only time that really compared was probably that New Years and again, it might have had something to do with my new best friends. Some days with them I remembered so clearly I thought I could relive it, none more than the day our lives all fell apart for good. Surprisingly, New Years was not one of those days. I did remember the highlights of course, but only in the way you'd remember your first party getting wasted. It was a sensation more than it was a recollection. I could remember what it felt like to be there, in Isaac's house, but not quite what it looked like covered in streamers, confetti, and spilled alcohol. Of course, I do my best to recount it anyway.

It started rather unremarkably, as all my bad days did. I was still content from my holiday experience and in a suitable mood before I ran into Blair on the way to the bathroom. He rolled his eyes the second he saw me, but I greeted him regardless. "Good morning, Blair."

"Maybe for you," he bit back, quickly retreating to his cave upstairs.

Maybe it would've bothered me a couple weeks ago, but I didn't care much anymore. Blair was upset, and he had every right to be, but that was just really not my problem today. If he wanted to be childish and dwell I'd let him, he'd be doing it on his own. As for myself, I'd be making a pot of coffee and getting on to my day job. Money wasn't making itself and I found I no longer disliked being out of the house. In fact, I was in a pleasant mood for a Wednesday morning. I got where Oliver was coming from now, working on the holidays. It was much better than dealing with the attitude of an overgrown two-year-old at home, so I quickly donned my coat and went on my way. It was so much different walking alone during the day, the main thing being it was much safer than walking at night. I didn't have to rush along and pray I didn't slip in the icy road because I could actually see where I was going. Instead, I got to take my time getting to the store, a calm, content feeling settling around me. Today, for whatever reason, felt like a good day.

The work hours passed in a numb normalcy. Nothing particularly memorable ever happened while I was behind the counter, so I'd taken to texting the group chat Miles had made instead. I'd never realized how great it was to have my own phone until I actually had it and now I was certain I couldn't live without it. I may have only had five contacts, but that was all I needed to entertain me, and Miles made sure to keep me busy all by himself. It didn't surprise me that Miles texted a lot more than Frankie did. The group chat was more often than not full of message spam from the youngest of us when he didn't get an answer. Frankie was very different, texting when spoken too and rarely ever starting the conversations. He had definitely gotten more comfortable talking to me, but sometimes it felt like he was still too scared to talk to me. These observations had led me to the conclusion that Frankie was only entirely comfortable around one person and that was fine with me.

Today was one of the first times he'd ever taken it upon himself to start conversation and it had been to invite me to a party at Isaac's house. Once the idea was put out into the world, Miles latched on to it hard and wouldn't drop it until I'd rolled my eyes and threatened to block him. Despite them thinking it was a wonderful idea, I thought back to the last time I'd attended one of Isaac's parties and how it had led to threatening a drunk man into silence. Cain had surely not let that go yet, so I was hesitant to agree. Why was Isaac Moon even throwing this kind of party, I'd wondered? He was like one of those adult men who wanted to fit in with the teenagers except Isaac Moon was more or less succeeding. The way they'd described his party did sound fun, but there were just so many things that struck me as too strange. For the rest of my shift, I contemplated the offer though ultimately, it didn't matter what I thought. Miles was awfully good at getting his way especially when Frankie was the one making plans, and they were not taking no for an answer. It had been fifteen minutes to the end of my shift when Miles asked if I wanted a ride home. He'd sounded so sincere about already being out and just wanting to help, I suspected nothing.