The Dance

Tab: I don’t like this part either.

Ele: You’re making me not want to read it anymore.

Kla: yeah seriously, I’m gonna cry.

Nic: Go on Mar.

Tabriell arrived home an hour after leaving school. She creaked open a door of a ratty trailer and peered inside to see her mother fast asleep on the couch with a box of nicotine patches in her hand. Tabriell smiled, at least her mother was trying not to smoke anymore, and no sign of beer bottles was twice as good.

Tabriell edged through the door and closed it shut behind her, walking over to her mother and taking the box and placing it next to the sink in the kitchen. It was a ratty trailer with a couch on one side and one double bed on the other. The kitchen was between with a tiny fridge and a stove that was barely used. Usually the stove was used to warm up the trailer in winter. Luckily it was quite a warm day, even though it was October.

Tabriell slipped off her hoodie, wearing a black shirt underneath and tossed her hat on top of the stove. “Mom… time to wake up. I can’t carry you alone.” She whispered to her passed out mother. Her mother grumbled in response.

Ever since Tabriell’s father died, her mother had been a wreck but she woke up and began to stop her stupid actions and tried her best to be sober enough. The only thing that kept her to smoking every now and then was the fact her daughter didn’t have beautiful hair like some mother’s wished for. Not only that, but Tabriell’s eyes was a deep yellow hazel color, clashing with her hair and making her seem ugly or Medusa’s cousin.

Tabriell sighed and slipped her arm under her mom’s arm and pulled. Numb legs hit the floor and her mother pushed herself to her feet, staggering from exhaustion. Tabriell carefully dragged her mother along the floor to the only bed and her mom crashed on the bed, moaning for a second and starting to snore. Tabriell sighed and glanced around her for some clothes since the ones she was wearing were still soaked.

3 hours later…

After figuring out which hoodie to wear Tabriell was satisfied with another outfit almost a spitting image of the one she was wearing before. Her pants were no longer jeans but slacks with pockets on both legs. She swapped her shirt for another black one and another dark blue hoodie with a hole in the sleeve for her thumbs. She changed socks and slipped on her mom’s steel toe boots. Pulling the slacks over the boots she slipped her cap back on and ran through the front door of the trailer.

Even though it was still an hour and a half till the party she had to leave early to another house where Margaret was going to pick her up. Sure Margaret knew that she lived in a trailer, but she promised she would use all her possible power to prevent anyone else from knowing. Even Danielle didn’t know about where Tabriell lived. So every time she went to a dance with Margaret she would pick her up at the same house that was owned by a complete stranger. Tabriell exited the trailer and grabbed a worn out bike next to the door and mounted onto it. It was the only transportation she had besides walking and she found it in a garbage dump.

1 hour and a half later…

Tabriell had arrived at the not too shabby white painted house with a barbed fence around it a well 15 minutes before the time that Margaret was going to pick her up. When they finally pulled up she acted like she just walked through the door in the fence and approached the sleek black car. She could already tell by looking through the front windows that Margaret’s boyfriend was driving with Danielle’s boyfriend riding shot gun. Jon didn’t pay attention to her as she walked up to the car. The back door opened and Margaret helped Tabriell into the car with Margaret separating Danielle and Tabriell in case they started throwing punches.

Tabriell stared out the window as they drove off and everyone started chatting with one another. Jon didn’t say a word. Tabriell knew him from before, she knew she did, but not from where. Perhaps Elementary school. Jon’s face brought horrid memories to her when she first saw him, but she excused them, mostly because Jon couldn’t remember her so there was nothing to worry about.

Margaret’s boyfriend was named Paul and again, Tabriell knew him before High School. Paul remembered her however and never spoke a word about her at the public school, her being his girlfriend’s best friend. Paul wasn’t bad at all, he was nice, a good boyfriend to Margaret, not to mention he was good looking. His hair was brown, long but tied back with bangs sticking hanging in front of his face. Jon was good looking as well with short hair, dirty blonde and much deserving of a better girlfriend.

Tabriell sighed, she had often thought of his face ever since she first met him. Soon after she realized how stupid it was, him dating a girl like Danielle who was much better looking yet evil at the same time, it was impossible to ever hook up with Jon. She didn’t know him that well either, she couldn’t remember if he was kind to her back in Elementary or if he was a complete asshole. She sighed again, ignoring the chattering Margaret and staring glumly out the window. Trees and fine furnished houses flew by and her eyes drifted shut as they flew.

13 years ago…

A small 5 year old girl burst out crying as someone took away her tricycle and started riding it around the park. A six year old boy chased after the thief, screaming at them to give it back. The tricycle thief escaped and the boy ran back to the crying girl beneath the tree.

“I’m sorry Tab… I couldn’t get it back for you.” The boy said his speech much better than any boy at the Elementary school. The girl looked at the boy, her eyes… a deep yellow hazel color, 

glassy from her tears. A gray hair matted mess on her head that covered her forehead and eyebrows.

“It is okay, Jon.”Tabriell said, wiping her eyes as more sprouted from his kindness. The tricycle thief road by screaming.

“Tabriell and Jon Kissing in a tree!! First comes denial, second comes death, and third comes Jon crying over a gray haired witch!”the thief screamed, laughing his head off and ridding off again.

Jon got to his feet and glared. “Shut up! Stop making fun of her! It’s not her fault she was born this way you jerk!”A teacher froze and grabbed Jon’s raised fist.

“Jon! There are no bad words at this school! I think you need a little time out!” the teacher yelled, pulling Jon back to the school door so he couldn’t play outside anymore. Tabriell watched as Jon struggled and screamed at the thief again and again. A smile spread across her lips for the first time since her father died.

13 years later…

“We’re here Tabriell come on.” Margaret’s voice echoed. Tabriell’s eyes drifted open to a open car door with Margaret at eye level with her, a worried look on her face.

“Yeah hurry up! I’ll be late you bitch!” Danielle yelled. Tabriell closed her eyes again, so it was a dream. She unbuckled herself and stepped out of the car. Margaret closed the door and Paul locked it.

The party wasn’t taking place at the public school but at the local gym, since the room was much bigger. There was a platform put in at the far end of the gym when they all entered. A DJ stand placed on the platform. On one side of the gym were drink stands, non alcoholic and alcoholic stands, as long as you had your ID. The music was a banging a rock song Tabriell never heard of so she drifted over to the drink stands while Margaret pulled Paul over to the dance floor. Danielle pulled a silent Jon as well.

Tabriell placed herself on a stool on the alcoholic side of the bar, her head rested on her crossed arms that rested on the bar. A girl bartender wondered over, cleaning an empty beer glass. Her name was Zelda and she went to the girl’s school and was classified as Tabriell’s somewhat friend.

“So you here alone again Tabriell?” Zelda asked, her hair was a charcoal black and was done up into two pig tails on the side of her head with black lipstick and a corner lip ring. She wore fishnet sleeves and a black tank that was sewn with the sleeves.

Tabriell sighed under all the sound and nodded. Zelda nodded and placed the glass under the counter where she pulled out a bottle of Smirnoff Ice. Tabriell stared out it questionably. Zelda 

grinned at her reaction. “You’re gonna need it if you want to live through this dance with her everywhere.” She said, nodding her head towards the lousy dancer Danielle.

Tabriell smiled as Zelda popped the cap and Tabriell quickly downed half the bottle. It wouldn’t get her drunk, but it sure eased her a bit. Zelda had done the same thing for her before at homecoming, but she had sneaked it in. The only reason was because Zelda had a slight fascination to Tabriell’s eyes and hairs, meaning she was bi.

Tabriell thanked Zelda again and jumped off the stool with her Smirnoff towards the bathrooms where she could find the only quite place available. She sneaked through a door past all the dancers and quickly closed it behind her, blocking out the beginning of a slow dancing song. She glanced down the hallway she had just entered to see two parallel doors to the bathroom. Some chairs were lined against the wall, opposite the doors. Tabriell sighed and sat on one of the chairs, her eyes closed as she sucked down more of her drink. Finally she was at peace and no one could possibly bother her…. The door to the dance room opened, Tabriell pressed her eyes down to ignore the music and not see who just came in to go to the bathroom.

“Tab?” a voice said. Tabriell’s eyes shot open and rested on the calm face of Jon.

“JON!” Tabriell shouted, jumping to her feet and losing her grip on the bottle, watching it crash to the floor and the rest of her precious drink wasted on the floor. “Fuck.”

Jon glanced at the bottle and smelt the slight aroma of alcohol. “Were you drinking?” he asked his voice shocked and different. “You’re not old enough to drink yet!”

Tabriell rolled her eyes. “So what! Its better then living through this hell of a dance with your stupid girlfriend ruining my life and practically molesting me!” she shouted back, her breath giving off a scent of alcohol she hoped he couldn’t smell.

“Molesting you? What do you mean Danielle’s molesting you? She never told me anything.” Jon said, his voice shocked, proving the fact he didn’t know.

Tabriell burst out laughing. “And why the hell would she tell you, huh? ‘Oh sweetie, by the way, I’m molesting this girl I think has a crush on me because she looks like a lesb.’ Is that what you thought she’d tell you?” she shouted and slumped back down on the chair. “It’s not like you care, you’re her boyfriend, and I bet it was your idea anyways.”

Jon’s eyes were wide and his mouth was dropped open. “I do care, Tab. I care about you living even though your mom has been a wreck since your dad died and you live in a trailer in the middle of nowhere.”

Tabriell’s eyes widened in horror. “Who told you that?” she demanded. Jon shrugged in response. “You liar! You couldn’t have found that out on your own!”

“I just remember it from Elementary. I remembered when I met you for the homecoming dance that I and you were in the same class. Your dad died when you were 5 and your mom went 

wrong so you had to move into a trailer and you stopped coming to school. I remembered you from Elementary because of your eyes.” Jon explained.

Tabriell sighed and sunk into the chair, praying to herself that Zelda could get her another drink. “Great observation, dick wad. So you know almost all my secrets that no other boy except Paul knows huh?” Jon nodded. “That’s great, now go get me another beer, or a shot will do thanks.”

“Just because my girlfriend is a bitch sometimes doesn’t give you the right to be an alcoholic, Tab.” Jon said, his voice soft and making her angry.

“Stop fucking calling me that!” Tabriell screamed, getting to her feet and shoving Jon to the ground. “My name is Tabriell! Only my friends can call me that.” The truth was, they had been friends, friends since birth since they had almost the same birthday but a year apart.

Jon stayed on the ground, looking up into the eyes of his once best friend, her eyes seeming to tear off his skin and clutch his heart so that he could hardly breathe. Jon looked away from her eyes; it was true he did know how Danielle treated Tabriell, only a little bit, just not the molesting. Unfortunately he did know about how Danielle had always beat her up and told everyone in the girls’ school that Tabriell had gray hair, but the truth was he kind of liked her hair. Slowly, he got back to his feet and looked down at her, Tabriell only rising a little above his shoulders, and sighed.

“I’m sorry. I’ve known that Danielle has made of fun of you all the time and humiliated you in front of everyone. But I swear to god I didn’t know about the molesting.” Jon said, he looked down at his hands, a few feet from Tabriell’s own hands that were balled up into fists. “It was stupid of me to keep on dating her when she was hurting my friend’s feelings. I’m sorry.” Tabriell’s mouth dropped open in surprise at his words, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” Jon repeated again, reaching up a hand and slipping off the hat to a still stunned Tabriell. He leaned down, the hat dropping to the floor and his hand taking hers, the fists loosening. Tabriell’s eyes closed before she could even realize what was happening, Jon leaned down farther with his other hand that took the hat going into her hair. Their lips finally touched in what seemed like years of time. The kiss was soft and gentle; Tabriell didn’t know what to do, it being her first as his tongue licked her lips. Zelda had even told Tabriell about different ways to kiss and how to tell if a guy or girl wanted to make out.

Cautiously, Tabriell opened her mouth to permit Jon to enter, and he gently stroked her tongue until she moved against his own. A bang from the door sounded and an all too familiar voice screamed. “You little bitch!!” Danielle screamed. Tabriell quickly withdrew and was shoved to the floor by Danielle. “You weren’t satisfied with me and now you’re going after MY man!?” Tabriell quickly shook her head, glancing around her for help from anyone, only seeing the whole school staring down at her with penetrating eyes, at her hair, at her eyes that belonged to a witch.

“Tabriell! Stop it Danielle!” Margaret shouted, pushing through the crowds of onlookers.

Danielle turned and glared at Margaret. “Oh shut up! It’s time I taught the witch a lesson she’ll never forget!” she screamed, pouncing towards Tabriell who cowered under all the eyes. Jon quickly stepped in, his arm around Danielle’s waist, pulling her back and throwing her into the crowd.

“Shut up! Stop making fun of her! It’s not her fault she was born this way, assholes!” Jon shouted, everyone quieted, staring at Jon as if he was a new man. Jon gritted his teeth and offered a hand to Tabriell. “Let me help you.”

Tabriell quickly shook her head violently. “NO!! This is all your FAULT!” Tabriell screamed, getting to her feet on her own. “I HATE YOU! I hate all of you jerks who just look at me and think I’m a witch! It’s you and your hatred that made me what I am now!!” she screamed, shoving away Jon’s hand and running for her life through the crowd of people, back home, back where she could be safe from the eyes that looked at her like they did.

Kla: But Tab! It’s your first kiss! And he tried to help you!

Tab: I blamed him though; I blamed him for letting everyone see me that way.

Ele: You didn’t mean it though, that you hated him.

Tab: No….

She couldn’t sleep the whole night. Maybe it was the hard couch that smelt like her mom’s cigarettes or the feeling of Jon’s lips still against hers. It had already been three hours or so since she ran for her life from the dance. She wished that Jon would come and kiss her again, maybe even love her and apologizing for not being there the past 13 years of her life. Tabriell closed her eyes again as she felt tears come once again. She held back her tears and her throat hurt from the pressure. A slight knock came to the door and Tabriell’s eyes shot open, her throat burning from the tears. It couldn’t be true; he couldn’t have come, although he probably knew where she lived. Tabriell stared through the darkness at the screen door, her heart pounding loudly, not realizing it that he wouldn’t come in if she didn’t answer the door.

Another knock came, a few minutes passed and a sigh was heard. Tabriell listened carefully as the person outside did something and started to walk away. Tabriell slipped her legs off the couch and tip toed to the door; she opened it and started out into the pitch dark night just in time to see a car drive off. She looked down at her bare feet, her eyes widened as she saw a neatly folded piece of paper. Tabriell glanced around her again and bent down, clutching the paper. She closed the door as she walked to her couch again and sat down on it, eyeing the paper. She flicked on a small desk light and slowly unfolded the paper. Her hands shook as she finally unfolded it and glanced at the writing. It was Jon’s; she couldn’t be certain but something in her just knew.

Meet me at Daniel’s Hotdogs near the park tomorrow at 5. I wanna talk to you.

Tabriell clutched the not tightly and held it against her dad’s shirt, her only pajamas. She tucked the note between the cushions of the couch and turned the light off, her eyes glassy again with tears and her throat still burning. Her father’s shirt had to long sleeves and she clutched them close to her face, smelling it for a second, replacing it with Jon’s scent. She sighed, satisfied, and soon fell asleep.

Ele: Uh oh… meet him at Daniel’s Hotdogs…. You die tomorrow don’t you?

Tab: Unfortunately… yes.