This would be the first time she would be seeing Clint, and she was nervous. She had given herself a make-over of both the body and the mind, hoping to God that he would appreciate it, accepting her into his life more. Her fingers were nearly frozen numb as she rang the doorbell.
"Come in!" she heard her best friend yell.
The party had already begun. They were all there. Now it was time for her to make her big entrance.
She walked into a house of total chaos. Scott and Angela were sitting on the stairs engaged in some sort of deep conversation at very close quarters; her resting her head on his shoulder while he smiled and played with a tendril of her hair. The others, Timber, Jeanine, Dave, Ben, Carmen, Clint, and Bob seemed to be involved in some sort of game that involved them all running around after an object which appeared to be a shoe. Needless to say, the game screeched to a halt once they all saw Kelly standing in the archway to the living room.
Kelly's golden brown hair was worn down, slightly windblown from the early evening winds wafting through every now and then, insinuating a storm to come. She was clad in a pair of tight fitting flared jeans and a tight baby-tee which had a Japanimation girl on it and read 'Mamma said knock you out'. She wore a light magenta lip gloss and light blue eyeshadow. Around her neck hung a strand of multicolored beads and a silver bike-chain choker. She had a myriad of bracelets on her wrist.
"Hey guys." Kelly said, trying to seem calm and ordinary while she knew what kind of thoughts were running through the heads of her friends.
"Uh... hey..." Scott was first to speak.
"What's up?" Dave asked, following his brother's lead.
The shoe fell from Clint's hand.
"Hi Clint." Kelly said, not bothering the mask the annoyance and frustration in her voice.
"H-h-hi." he stammered.
"So what's on the agenda tonight folks?" Kelly asked, trying to remain neutral.
"We were thinking of watching a scary movie... there's a big storm coming." Timber said, pretending not to notice her friend's character change.
Bob smacked his identical brother on the stomach to get him to close his mouth.
"Oooh, a storm... sounds like fun." Kelly said with a weak smile. She noticed how Clint gawked at her like she was an oddessy. Maybe the change in her was for the worst...
* * *
The rain had soon begun to drizzle outside, transforming from small, misty drops, to large, brutal ones. Thunder clapped, seeming to surround the house, as the ten teenagers camped in the darkened living room, watching a movie.
Scott lay contentedly across the couch, his head nestled on Angela's lap while she played with strands of his wispy hair in need of a cut. Clint sat rigidly beside his girlfriend on the loveseat, with Jeanine on Kelly's other side. Ben had chosen the recliner as his perch, while Timber Bob and Carmen lay out on the floor, Bob's head on Timber's back.
Clint occasionally glanced in Kelly's direction, careful not to look for too long in case she noticed. She did notice this behavior and began to squirm uneasily under his fleeting gazes. She brushed her hair from her face, exposing her ears. She had gotten them double pierced in the lobe.
"What's that?" Clint nearly demanded, louder than he had intended.
Kelly looked at him with fierce eyes. "What's what?" she asked, pretending not to know what he was gawking at.
"Your ear!" Clint continued, not bothering to tread on the situation lightly.
"Silence is golden." Scott informed them.
"You put like a billion holes in your ear!" Clint accused, pointing in a rather puerile fashion.
"Clint, can we talk about this in the next room?" Kelly pleaded, not wanting to be dubbed the center of attention.
"Why did you do that?" Clint asked as if he hadn't heard. He manually turned her face to see the other ear.
"Clint!" Kelly growled, noticing that the movie was no longer the center of focus for the others in the room.
"Didn't that hurt?" Clint asked. "Why did you do it? That's so barbaric."
Kelly smacked his hand away from her face and got up from the couch, exiting to the kitchen. She peeked her head back into the living room when she realized that he did not follow.
"Clint, I think we need to talk." she informed him coldly.
"I think you need to be beaten with a copy of Vogue to undo what 'Biker's Today' magazine did to you." Clint commented, getting up to follow.
Scott laughed at his brother's comment openly. Angela put her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.
* * *
"What the hell is your problem??" Kelly hissed at her boyfriend once they were alone in the kitchen.
"What's yours?!" he demanded back.
Kelly just looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
"I mean, you suddenly waltz in here looking like Gwen Stefani on heroine! What is this all about? Is it about me? Is that why you decided to change your whole look? I'm missing something here Kelly, I think you'd better fill me in."
"Keep your voice down." she barked in a hushed tone.
"And what's up with you acting like such a bitch all the time? You were so sweet when we started going out... then you suddenly transformed in to this... this... well, this bitch!" he continued, wanting to get everything that was on his mind out in the open. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.
"Yes you did!" Kelly shouted, trying to remain calm, but failing miserably. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to spill.
Clint was taken aback by her sudden outburst. He stared at her in disbelief. He had only meant his words in a sarcastic sense, yet they ironically were true.
"You... you were just so damned perfect Clint." she said in nearly a whisper.
"Oh and that's my fault?" he asked, the hubris in his statement only meant as a joke.
"Clint!" Kelly scolded. "I'm serious. You have all those girls who want you, all your adoring fans... somehow I felt like I wasn't good enough for you."
"So you thought that by turning punk-rock, you would suddenly be appreciated more? Are you that precarious?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No Clint!" she exclaimed in desperation. "You just don't understand."
"Then help me."
"I felt like I had to try so hard to be good enough... that maybe if I were someone else you would like me more. I don't know Clint, I guess I was stupid, but I'm tired of having to try so hard to be your girlfriend." she stammered.
"Try so hard?" Clint reiterated, feeling that if he said the words aloud he would better understand them. "You're acting as if I'm bringing you down, as if I'm dragging along with your life, slowing it down with every step." Clint said, turning to look out the window so he wouldn't have to face her.
"I didn't say---"
"But in actuality, I think you were the one bringing me down!" he suddenly exclaimed.
Thunder clapped loudly, lightning flashing across the window and casting a strange blue light over the land. Kelly flinched at the loud sound, while Clint didn't even bat an eyelash.
"There's someone else." she said softly, breaking the silence that had blanketed the room with a dense fog.
To the deafening roar of thunder, Clint had managed to remain stoic, but he winced upon hearing this news.
"His name is Trevor." Kelly continued. "We're just friends now, but have wanted to be more recently. And... we kissed."
"I don't want to hear this." Clint murmured, not having the energy to speak.
"And when I'm with him, I know that it doesn't matter what I look like or how I dress, or act." she said, feeling the sudden urge to push him to his limit.
"It never mattered with me either." Clint reminded her, not daring to look in her direction, only seeing her reflection on the glass of the window.
"And I want to try dating him for a while." Kelly concluded, a content smile working at the corners of her lips.
This was the last straw.
Clint spun around, rage glowing in his eyes. "Just SHUT UP!!!" he barked. "Okay? Can you do that much? Shut the fuck up!"
Kelly's eyes went wide, thinking he might hit her.
"I mean, it's bad enough you cheat on me while I'm gone..."
"I did not cheat! I told you, we're just friends!" Kelly interrupted him.
"But now you have to rub it in my face that you've found someone?" Clint raged on. "Is this supposed to phase me? Am I supposed to give a shit? Kelly, I knew we were over from the second I kissed you."
Tears pin-poked in her eyes.
"And you know what?" Clint asked, suddenly calm and subdued. "I'm happy for you."
He pushed past her, going back out into the living room.
Kelly leaned heavily on the refrigerator, feeling as if she could not support her own weight. Sobs racked her body violently.
* * *
Clint appeared in the archway of the living room, his form outlined by neon blue as lightning flashed. Everyone's eyes were on him. They had all heard the altercation he and Kelly had had in the kitchen.
Thunder cracked and the house went completely dark.
* * *
"Matches!" Bob exclaimed, extracting a small pack from a drawer in the kitchen. "Did you find the candles?" he called across the room the where Timber was searching in another drawer.
The kitchen was bathed in a soft glow of light from the luminous full moon.
"Nope. I think they might be in the drawer next to yours." she replied, carefully making her way over to him.
Bob opened the drawer and began to search blindly for something that felt like a candle.
"Bob..." Timber said, shaking her head the way she always did when he was doing something completely inane.
"What?" he asked, not really in the mood for her pundit-like behavior.
"Why don't you light a match so you can see?" she suggested, rolling her eyes.
Bob looked at her for a moment, realizing she was correct in her suggestions. "I like my way better." he insisted, being stubborn for no apparent reason.
"Just light the fucking match Bob." Timber said, taking the matchbook from him and lighting it herself then handing it to him.
"Yes'm." he said with a grin. "I don't know if you'll ever change, you've been raining since..."
"Shut up." she ordered.
"Whoa... bitch mode."
"Kelly-mode." Timber quipped, giggling.
Bob, too, began to laugh.
"Eureka! I found a gold mine of candles!" she suddenly exclaimed, taking a handful of thin candle sticks out of the drawer.
"Awesome!" Bob rhapsodized, helping her extract the rest of the candles from the drawer and setting them down on the counter.
"Jurassic Park, we are back in business."
"And they say I watch too many movies?"
"You do." Timber giggled. "Let's go back into the living room." she said, taking an armload of candles off the counter.
"Wait, let's get something to eat. A snack. I feel like some cookies."
"You always feel like some cookies." Timber commented, setting the candles back down on the counter and focusing on lighting just one.
"I love those chocolate chip ones that you buy. They are so good!" he squealed.
"You and my mom are the only people I know who like those nasty things."
"Bring that candle over here! I need some now!" he urged.
"Okay, crack head much?" Timber asked sarcastically, but never the less went over to him with the lit candle.
She swung open the doors to the pantry and began her search for the cookies.
Bob ravenously dug through the shelves, looking for his beloved cookies. "Aha! Here they are!! Ohhh... come to daddy... mmmm...." he muttered desperately as he tore the bag open.
"Damn Bob... the bag isn't going to run away.. you don't have to attack it like that!" she resumed her survey of the pantry, searching for something that would appeal to her senses.
"Whoa! Holy shit!" Bob exclaimed, pointing up in the cabinet to the top shelf. There were five large jugs of vodka sitting off in the corner.
Timber's eyes lit up. "Bob!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I have an idea."
* * *
"This is stupid." Bob commented, watching over Timber's shoulder as she made a substance she called 'Fool-aid', which involved mixing Kool-aid mix with cheap vodka as opposed to water.
"Too bad your mom thought it up." Timber quipped.
"Ohhh!!!" Bob said with a grin playing on his lips. "Them sound like fightin' words."
"Do you really think you can take me?" Timber challenged, mixing the substance at a lax pace.
"Think? I know. And if it weren't raining I'd ask if you wanted to take this outside." he continued with arrogance weighing heavily on his tone.
"Yeah, don't put yourself in a situation where you'll have to stick your foot in your mouth." she told him. "Well, then again, it's better yours than mine!" she said, her repartee bringing a smile to her opponent’s face, which was illuminated by the candlelight.
"Add a little more Kool-aid." Bob directed, taking the paper pouch and pouring in a generous amount. "Damn, did you have to make so much?" he asked, motioning to the other three pitchers that sat at the edge of the counter waiting to be taken to the living room.
"You have to make this stuff in bulk." she insisted.
"Whatever you say..." Bob trailed off, taking the spoon from her and stirring the substance himself.
"Okay... I think it's done." Timber said excitedly. "Let's take it out."
* * *
The dour mood that was settled over the living room was torn right down the center when two lights danced their way in from the kitchen.
"We've got candles, we've got drinks, and we're going to have a good time tonight." Bob announced, setting his candle down in an abandoned holder.
Timber set down the pitcher in her left hand and put her candle at the polar end of the room from Bob's. She began to walk about the room, setting up the other candles until the room was relatively light.
"What?" Bob asked, taking notice that no one had spoken.
Scott sat up against Angela with his head against her chest and her arm around his shoulder; the same position she often sat on him. Ben was still stretched out in the recliner, gazing blankly out the window at the pouring rain. Carmen had taken a spot next to Clint on the love seat, between him and Jeanine. Kelly was seated at the other end of the couch with Angela and Scott. All had gloomy expressions on their faces. Even Dave, who was sitting on the floor with his knees tucked up under his chin.
"Okay... I guess no one wants to talk." Timber said.
"Well we've got something to spice up you life!!!" Bob suddenly exclaimed, holding up the pitcher and making it obvious that he had already tried some of the contents. "Try this shit guys! It's so good!" he insisted, as Timber retreated to the kitchen to get the other pitchers.
"What is that Bob?" Scott asked in his big-brother voice.
"Fool-aid!" Bob was more than happy to say. "And it's so good!"
"Fool-what?" Clint asked.
"What the heck is Fool-aid?" Scott asked, turning so he could look at his brother.
"Dude, it's like, you know..." Bob insisted.
"No, we really don't know Bob, enlighten us." Dave said wryly.
"It's like Kool-aid 'cept like insted of water, good ole' H2O, you mix it with vodka!" Bob explained as he lit the last two candles.
"Whoa!" Carmen said. "That sounds like it would be pretty good."
Timber thumped the last two pitchers down on the coffee table, and started pouring cups. "Everyone try some." she ordered.
"I'm so fucking bored, I would try anything." Jeanine commented, reaching for a cup.
"Then let's do something." Ben said, thumping his head back against the head rest of the seat.
"Oh God, here it comes." Scott said, swigging down his green drink in a few gulps.
"Yeah, no." Ben said.
"Okay, oxymoron." Timber pointed out.
"What'd you just say about his mom?" Bob asked, working on his third cup.
"Oxymoron!" Timber repeated. "It's like when you put two words together that make no sense next to each other. 'Yeah' and 'no' are opposites!!!"
"Hey, any of you guys ever play Asshole?" Carmen interrupted, sitting forward.
"Clint?" Kelly said, contented with her joke.
Clint was the only one who didn't laugh. He only shot her a glare.
"What's Asshole?" Dave asked, trying to avert everyone's attention away from an altercation in the making.
"It's a card game... a drinking game." Carmen said, smiling. "Trust me. It's fun."
* * *