Piece of Work

"How was your day?" Mom asked as I walked through the door. I didn't answer her, instead walking straight to my room and shutting the door behind me.

Then, I took off my shoes and started the little homework I had. Of course, it was all for biology, so it put me in a bad mood. Anything that had to do with biology made me think of that horrible woman...

I finished around three thirty, so I took a nap for a couple hours. If I did that, then I could always stay up later at night, which worked out pretty well.

At six, Mom called me out for dinner, so I grabbed my plate and went right back into my room. On my TV was some sort of show that tried to make really fat teens lose weight. At the time, it looked like the trainers were trying to make the kids do a really vigorous work-out, and one of the kids was crying hysterically. No joke, he was on his hands and knees, crying so hard that he could barely breathe. That was just ridiculous.

Finally, eight thirty came around, and I got dressed to go out. I had a short, deep pink dress that cinched at my waist with a wide black belt and simple black heels that weren't too high. After putting on a little more makeup, I started out the door.

"Where in the world do you think you're going?" Mom questioned, getting up from the couch. The West Wing was playing on the TV.

"I give you the same answer every time," I told her. "I don't even know why you bother asking anymore."

"Because I hope that one day, you'll stop." Something in her voice made me hesitate. The emotion she was feeling came through in her words, and I knew that she generally was starting to give up keeping me from going out every night, staying out late.

Good, then it'd be easier for me to leave and come back without her hassling me. I stepped out the door and let out a breath. Despite the fact that it was nearing summer, the night was cold, and I could see my breath in the darkness.

I got into my small Honda Accord and started driving to a house that always had some sort of party going. It was sort of sad because the kid who lived there got to throw parties almost every night because his parents were almost never home, always going on vacations and leaving him alone. I don't know if he cared much though.

Right as I pulled up, a couple of people ran out to greeet me. "Hey!" they chorused happily.

See, Dan and Olivia were my school friends that I sometimes hung out with outisde of school. The girls standing in front of me, Liza and Nikki, were friends that I never saw in school.

The reason for that was because they were dropouts. They were also a little older than me; Nikki was nineteen and Liza was twenty.

Nikki had light brown hair that she straightened to be have no more curls than a pin. Her eyes were the color of lime, which she accented with a thick line of eyeliner. She was really pretty though.

Liza, however, wasn't as blessed in the looks area, but she was a real riot. Her hair was dark brown and a little frizzy, and her nose was big and pointed. Her eyes were in the mid-tones of brown, and she was tall, probably about five feet, eight inches or so. Pair that with her ever-present pair of heels, and she was taller than most of the guys at the parties.

"How was school?" Nikki mocked, snapping the piece of gum in her mouth. She reached up and ran her hand through her hair, making sure that it hadn't curled.

"It was okay, I guess," I snickered. Liza handed me a cup that I knew contained beer, and I took a sip. "Any guys worth our time yet?"

"Nope," Liza answered, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. "They usually don't come until later anyway."

"True." I adjusted my dress a little bit and took a breath. "Ready?

We started walking toward the front door, dodging people who were talking. On the couches were people hard-core making out, and couples were dragging each other by the hands up the stairs. It was always chaos.

"Hey," I heard a voice start from behind me. Taking another sip of my beer, I turned to face the person.

It was the kid! "Hi..."

"Sorry about bumping into you the other day in the hall," he smiled. "I was just distracted. You know how it is."

"Oh yeah. I get that." I was kind of surprised that he even remembered at all.

"So you're in my lunch, huh?"

"Yup. I guess so." I noticed that he didn't have anything in his hand. "You haven't gotten anything to drink?"

"No, I don't drink," he explained, smirking a little lopsided smile. He sure was cute.

"Well, I think they have Diet Coke too," I thought aloud. He just shook his head.

"No, I don't like getting stuff to drink at parties... I just always feel like something's going to be in it, you know?"

That thought in my mind, I looked down at my beer, scrunching my nose slightly. "I would go get out of here. This party sucks anyway. But I came with a couple of friends, and one of them drove."

"We can use my car," I offered, putting my beer down on the tall table next to me that held a couple of picture frames.

The boy nodded and, after I waved to Liza and Nikki, we walked out of the house to my car.

"I just realized that I don't know your name. Who are you?" I voiced as we got into the Accord.

"My name's Ben," he responded, running a hand through his hair so his bangs fell more smoothly over his forehead. "And you're Faye, right?"

"Yeah...How did you know that?"

"I just listen around, pay attention. And it's not exactly hard to miss your name."

"I guess." I couldn't really argue with that. I'd never met another person named Faye in my life. Just me.

Finally, I pulled into the parking lot of Tedeschi's and we ran inside. It was starting to pour outside, the rain falling in sheets.

"So what do you want?" I asked him, looking around the store. It was pretty deserted, even though it was only ten at night. Not even late yet, but I guess that most people were at home sleeping by now.

"Diet Coke," he answered, going to the back of the store where the fridges were. He pulled out a bottle and turned to me, looking over his shoulder. "You want anything?"

"No, thanks," I replied, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. We went to the counter and paid for the soda before walking back to my car.

"I'm gonna walk home," Ben informed, glancing down the street for a second before looking back at me.

"You sure you don't want a ride?" I gestured back to my car.

He shook his head. "No, I'm good. I'll see you at school." Ben then turned and walked down the street, eventually getting so far away that his figure could no longer be seen in the dim light.

Surprisingly, when I got back into my car, I drove home, not going back to the party. I didn't see the point. It was strange, but at the same time, it felt right.

When I walked through the front door, my mother nearly had a heart attack. "What are you doing home?"

I shot her an annoyed look. "So what? When I come home late, you're on my case, and when I come home at a normal time, you question me too?"

"I was just wondering," she whispered. The innocence on her face made me remember when I was younger and we were a lot closer. That had changed a lot.

I missed it for a second, but then I came to. Quickly, I disappeared back into my room and changed into pajamas.

It took a while for me to fall asleep, and the last time I looked at the clock, it was three in the morning.