The House that I Grew up In

Christy was walking through the kitchen Friday morning, dressed in a hot pink bikini and white shorts, her hair pulled into a stylish upsweep and her sunglasses perched on her forehead. She had a beach bag over her shoulder, and she stuffed it with some bottled water from the fridge. Looking out the back door, she saw Annabelle sitting at the patio table, drinking a glass of iced tea and talking on the phone.

Joining her friend out back, Christy looked at Annabelle, who smiled and held up one finger, indicating that she would be done talking in a moment. “I’ll let you go now. I know you’re in the middle of your work day, Julia,” she said as the blond took a seat beside her. “But thanks for all the advice.”

Feeling a bit like she was intruding, Christy turned her head to look across the manicured backyard and was hit with a bit of sentimentality as she remembered so many times from her childhood, before gardeners and landscapers frequented their home and pulled out her old swing set and playhouse, when she and Annabelle had played for hours, no worries at all in their happy thoughts.

Suddenly, though, Christy couldn’t help but be shocked when she heard the last few words Annabelle was saying to her mother on the phone. “I already told you,” she lowered her voice a bit, her cheeks heating. “I’m not planning on sleeping with him… Yes, if I do, I promise we’ll be careful… Yes, of course I’ll talk to you about it if I do. You know that… Okay, I love you, too. Bye.”

With her blue eyes as wide as saucers, Christy looked at Annabelle with open astonishment. “Were you just talking to your MOTHER about sex?” she asked, her mouth now dropped open.

Blushing hard, Annabelle looked away from Christy. “Yeah, but it’s not a big deal,” she shrugged. “I told her I wasn’t planning on sleeping with Quinn; it would be too hard to get that close and then have to say goodbye.”

While this was a whole other conversation that Christy would normally be up for discussing, she still could not get past one point. “Yeah, fine, but… you discuss SEX with your MOTHER?”

“Stop saying ‘your mother’ like that,” Annabelle laughed, relaxing a little as she shook her head. “It’s Julia – she’s the person I’m closest to in the world. Of course I talk to her about all the important things in my life.”

Pulling her long legs up until she could rest her chin on her knees, Christy tried to take this in. “I have never been able to talk to my mother about sex,” she admitted to Annabelle. “I don’t think I’d want to. She would freak and send me to some all-girls boarding school, I’m sure.”

Although Annabelle wanted to disagree with Christy, to encourage her to build a more open relationship with her mother, she couldn’t. Mrs. Wilson and her husband were nothing like the people she remembered having backyard barbecues with every summer during elementary school. “I guess maybe things are different for me,” she tried to put this as nicely as she could. “I mean, I don’t have anyone else around most of the time. Julia and I only have each other. You’ve got all your friends, and Josh… right?”

“Right,” Christy immediately agreed, trying her hardest to give Annabelle a winning smile. “So was your mom actually encouraging you to sleep with Quinn?” she decided to change the course of the conversation; discussing the number of people in her life she trusted – or the lack thereof – wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on.

“Of course not,” Annabelle began blushing again, taking a deep drink of her iced tea before continuing. “She wouldn’t want me to do anything I’d regret. She just wanted to make sure that, if something happened spur-of-the-moment, that I’d be careful and that I would talk to her about it.”

Feeling something close to jealously, Christy shook her head in amazement. “You’re so lucky to have her,” she said without thinking, immediately looking away from Annabelle in embarrassment. “But anyway,” she immediately changed the subject. “I wanted to see if you had plans today.”

“Nothing concrete,” Annabelle smiled warmly at Christy, feeling a bit bad for the girl but not knowing exactly why. “I’m supposed to go out with Quinn and some of his friends this evening, but I’m free all day. Why?” she asked, smirking at Christy’s showy swimsuit. “You want me to join you at church?”

“Ha, ha,” Christy replied sarcastically, but smiled. Sometimes it was so easy to just be herself with Annabelle, like she was when they were kids, like she was before… she changed. “No, wiseass. I’m going to the beach. Josh is meeting me at lunch, after he plays basketball with some friends. I thought you might like to join me. We can read trashy magazines and check out guys on the beach.”

Although the magazine and boy-watching didn’t necessarily appeal to Annabelle, she did like the idea of spending some time alone with Christy. Something about her friend had been off recently, but she wasn’t sure what it was. “Give me ten minutes,” she rose from the expensive wrought-iron patio chair and smiled. “I’d love to come.”

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“So you’re really not going to sleep with Quinn?” Christy asked a couple hours later, as the two girls were laid out on towels on the sand. Taking a swig of her water, she moved her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose so she could look at Annabelle over them. “Then why bother hanging out with him? He’s such a dick.”

“He’s not,” Annabelle replied defensively, but immediately stopped herself from growing angry. Anger was not a positive emotion, and rarely did any good. “You should try to get to know him better before judging him,” she said as she looked at her friend, knowing she had said nearly the exact thing to Quinn about Christy. “If nothing else, he’s really nice to me. Don’t you want your oldest and best friend to be with someone who’s nice to her?”

“Don’t try to guilt me into liking him,” Christy smirked, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose and laying down again. “But, yes, I am glad he’s nice to you, even if he’s always been a dick to me.” Looking over, her eyebrows raised as she thought of something. “And Quinn’s okay with this whole ‘not sleeping together’ thing?”

Lying back on her own towel, Annabelle felt uncomfortable. It was one thing to discuss her relationship with Quinn with Julia; her mother trusted her daughter’s instincts, and encouraged her to pursue her feelings with no end in mind but to see Annabelle happy. Discussing it with Christy, who shared an openly hostile relationship with Quinn, was a bit harder.

‘An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.’ Gandhi’s quote suddenly popped into Annabelle’s mind and, not surprisingly, came in the voice of her mother. Annabelle knew if she wanted Christy to trust her, she would have to trust Christy.

“It’s hard for both of us,” Annabelle admitted, looking out into the ocean as she continued. “But with me leaving at the end of summer, there’s just no reason to let ourselves get any more attached. So, yes, Quinn is okay with it. Probably not happy, but definitely okay.”

Looking at Annabelle’s profile, Christy could tell that she was telling the truth. “Maybe he’s not such a dick,” she admitted with a wry grin. Her smile faded for a moment as she continued, though. “It’s just… well, if your afraid of getting attached and having to say goodbye, why bother having any sort of relationship at all?”

Turning her head, Annabelle saw her reflection in Christy’s glasses. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to you, too,” she reminded her friend. “But I’m not going to stop caring about people just because I don’t live near them. I just won’t make it harder on myself – and that other person – than I need to.”

Biting her lip, Christy wanted so much at that moment to open up to Annabelle, but she chickened out at the last moment and decided just to give a little word of encouragement instead. “You’re probably right,” she said softly. “Sex can change things. But I am glad you met Quinn; I’m glad he makes you happy.”

“Thank you,” Annabelle replied sincerely, reaching over and squeezing Christy’s hand for a moment. Then both girls laid back in silence under the hot summer sun, thinking about what they had just discussed.

-----

“There’s my hottie girlfriend,” Josh said as he approached the girls on the beach about an hour later. Dropping to his knees, he leaned over to kiss Christy and run his hand over her flat stomach, going so far as to trace his fingers over the top edge of her bikini bottom. “Hey, Annabelle,” he added with a grin when he finally finished.

“Hey,” Annabelle replied, looking over. Despite her initial nervousness around Josh and Quinn’s dislike of the boy, over the past month, he had grown on Annabelle. If she ignored his arrogance and his flirtatiousness and his idiot friends and his incessant need to paw Christy whenever possible… he could actually be a nice guy. Most of all, though, he seemed crazy about Christy. In truth, this was enough for Annabelle.

“You won’t believe who I ran into on the b-ball court,” Josh motioned over his shoulder, and Annabelle realized for the first time that someone was standing behind Josh. She didn’t recognize the boy, who was about the same height and build as Josh, but with longer, blonder hair. “The Wiz! You remember Dan Wiszinski, right baby? He was a senior our freshman year.”

Looking over at Christy, Annabelle immediately knew something was wrong. Despite the fact that they had been laying out in the hot sun for a few hours, Christy’s face had turned bright white when she looked at the boy standing next to Josh. “I… I…” she stuttered, looking completely unlike her normal confident self. “I think so…” she finally choked out the words, looking terrified.

Biting his lip and tilting his head, Dan gave off a confidence that put Josh’s to shame. “I think I remember you,” he replied slowly, a small smile curling over his lips. “Christy, right?”

“Christine,” the blond spit out. “My name’s Christine.”

“And this is her friend, Annabelle,” Josh seemed oblivious to Christy’s discomfort. “She’s visiting for the summer.”

“Nice to meet you, Annabelle,” Dan’s eyes ran over Annabelle’s body once, and then back up more slowly. “Very nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Annabelle couldn’t really care about being ogled when she was so concerned about her friend. “Hey, Josh, we’ve been sweating all morning; why don’t you guys let us take a quick shower at the clubhouse, and we’ll meet you at the Crab Shack in 15 minutes?”

“Sounds good,” Josh replied, still unaware of any unrest. “Come on, dude,” he motioned towards Dan. “You’re old enough to buy beer, right? You should order two for us at the bar. No one will card me if you bring it back to the table…”

Without responding to Josh, Dan looked back down at the girls. “It was very nice to meet you, Annabelle,” he said, his voice unquestionably flirtatious. “And it was good to see you again… Christine. We’ll see you guys at lunch.”

As the boys turned and began walking away, Annabelle noted that Christy watched them until they were out of sight. She then let out a deep breath, and looked over at Annabelle. “What?” she snapped at the girl with such fierceness, it took Annabelle by surprise.

“Are you okay?” Annabelle ignored Christy’s hostility, too worried about her friend to care. “You looked really freaked out there. Do you know that guy?”

“No,” Christy barked as she rose, gathering her belongings. “I mean, I guess I sort of remember him from school. But I’m fine. I just wish you hadn’t told Josh we were sweating all morning. I don’t want him to think I’m gross.”

“Josh would never think your gross,” Annabelle tried to keep her voice calm and reassuring as she also got up from her blanket and started collecting her things. “It’s obvious he thinks you’re the most amazing girl in the world.”

At those words, Annabelle could have sworn she saw Christy’s eyes glass over, but she didn’t have time to confirm it. The blond quickly put her sunglasses back on and turned away. “Whatever,” she said coldly. “You don’t even have to come to lunch, if you don’t want to. I know you’d probably prefer to hang out with your non-boyfriend and have non-sex.”

Despite the sting of the words, Annabelle knew that Christy was being defensive for some reason she didn’t understand. “I’m coming to lunch,” she said evenly, and was sure she saw Christy’s shoulders relax just a bit. “And I won’t push you to talk. But you know, if there’s ever something bothering you, I’m here. I love you, no matter what.”

Biting her lip hard, Christy looked out at the ocean one more time. Sometimes she wished she could open up to people, but she pushed that thought aside. She was Christine Wilson now, head cheerleader, girlfriend of the captain of the basketball team, one of the most popular girls in school, envied by so many. She was not about to lose that, even for a moment.

“I’m sorry if I was a bitch,” Christy turned around, but still didn’t look directly at Annabelle. “I think the heat got to me. Come on, let’s go take a quick shower and have some lunch, okay?”

“Okay,” Annabelle replied uncertainly. There was no question about it now; there was something that was bothering Christy on a very deep level. However, Annabelle decided that the best plan right now was not to push the girl, but to give her the space she needed. Hopefully, then, she would feel comfortable enough to come to Annabelle on her own and share whatever was bothering her so much.

-----

After a very uncomfortable lunch where Dan flirted incessantly with Annabelle, Christy avoided saying anything or looking at anyone, and Josh had been oblivious to it all, Annabelle had been glad to get back to Christy’s house.

Taking a short nap and a luxuriously long shower first, Annabelle had met Quinn at his house, where they were picked up soon after by Forest and Katy. They all headed to a restaurant for dinner, and afterward they were planning on going to a party at a friend’s house.

It was easy for Annabelle to push aside her worries from earlier that day, as she was having a wonderful time at dinner. Quinn was being sweet and funny, Forest was his usual sarcastic humorous self, and it was so nice to catch up with Katy.

“It’s so awesome, all the stuff you and your mom had done,” Katy told Annabelle with admiration as she picked at her desert. “God, I remember, growing up, that your house was the house everyone wanted to hang out at. Julia was so awesome. She always hung out with us, but it never felt like she was trying to spy on us… It was more like she was a big sister.”

Nodding, Annabelle smiled at Quinn as he offered her the last bite of the cake they were sharing, but shook her head. “I’m just so glad I ran into you,” she smiled warmly at Katy. “I was afraid I wouldn’t get to see any of my other old friends.”

“Besides Christine,” Quinn interjected sarcastically, but blushed when he saw Annabelle give him a hard stare. “Sorry, I know you still consider her your friend, and that you all used to hang out. I still don’t like her,” he mumbled his last few words, though, in the face of Annabelle’s disapproving look.

“She was different,” Katy surprised Annabelle by coming – somewhat – to Christy’s defense. “People change for different reasons. If someone’s a bitch to you, don’t hang out with them. But there’s no need to be all aggressive about them. If Christine’s nice to Annabelle, then let it go.”

Confused, Annabelle suddenly realized Katy knew… something. She wasn’t sure what, but she was positive that Katy understood something about Christy that Annabelle wasn’t privy to. And while Annabelle had no intention of pushing Katy for any answers, she did feel more confident that something had happened with Christy that she didn’t know – and that she was going to try to be there for her oldest friend in any way she could, until she felt comfortable enough to open up to Annabelle.

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As the four people arrived at the party an hour later, a short guy with spiked hair greeted them at the door. “Katy, Forest, awesome!” he grinned as they entered. “Dude, I thought you had to work every Friday and Saturday night until Judgment Day or something. How’d you get out of it?”

“I switched shifts,” Forest shrugged, snaking his arm around Katy’s waist. “Told a co-worker that my girlfriend had been out of town for a few weeks and needed me to lay the pipe something fierce. Oof!”

Forest grabbed his stomach, where Katy had just elbowed him hard. “Don’t be such an asshole,” she told him, a small smile teasing on her lips despite her best efforts. “God knows I can hold out A LOT longer than you can. Don’t make me prove it.”

“No, please don’t,” Forest was still rubbing his stomach, but grinning. “Ronny, you know Quinn, right? And this is his girl, Annabelle.”

Blushing, Annabelle realized that, while ‘his girl’ was a trite and slightly sexist description, it felt nice to have someone describe her and Quinn together as a couple. “It’s nice to meet you,” Annabelle smiled at Ronny.

“You too,” Ronny grinned at Annabelle, and shook Quinn’s hand. “Anyway, it’s a pretty tame party. There’s beer in the fridge, people hanging in the living room, and some horror movie marathon going on in the basement. Make yourselves comfortable.”

As Annabelle moved with the group through the small house, she thought about how strange life could be. After all, Christy and her friends seemed to have everything: all-American good looks, tons of money, huge houses, fast cars, designer clothes…; at the same time, Quinn’s friends all looked and dressed tough, had less money, and generally gave off the appearance of ‘bad kids’.

Yet Annabelle hadn’t had one issue all summer with anyone Quinn had introduced her to. On the contrary, everyone was friendly and open, welcoming her without even knowing her. On the other hand, all of Christy’s friends had been the opposite. The Girls had been cruel and unaccepting; The Guys had hit on her and insulted her when she turned down their advances; people like Dan, earlier, had made her uncomfortable with their innuendo and arrogance. With the exception of Josh, Annabelle knew that – while she wasn’t proud of herself for it – she didn’t like any of Christy’s friends at all. But she liked all of Quinn’s.

Forest had tossed Quinn his car keys early on, when it became clear that Annabelle and Quinn didn’t want to drink but Forest and Katy did. As the evening went on, Annabelle found herself having a lot of fun, even if she was far more sober than most of the party-goers. When she found herself being led by Katy towards the bathroom, she smiled at Quinn, and he grinned back widely.

After waiting in a line that seemed to wrap around the small house twice, Annabelle and Katy finally got their turn, and didn’t even think about it when they entered the bathroom together. Annabelle went first, and as she washed her hands at the sink, Katy sat on the toilet. “Listen, I don’t want to push…” she said to Annabelle as she flushed the toilet and stood up, pulling her jeans back up. Taking Annabelle’s spot at the sink, she looked in the mirror as she continued. “But how’s Christine… how’s Christy doing nowadays? I mean, since she and I don’t talk at all anymore, I was just wondering…”

Biting her lip, Annabelle looked into the mirror at Katy’s reflection and knew the girl was asking out of genuine concern. “She’s okay,” Annabelle said. “I’m not really sure what to add, though. I mean, the last time I was here, we were all thirteen. And we were all friends. I don’t actually know what happened to change that…”

Studying Annabelle’s honest expression, Katy wiped her hands on a towel and turned around to face her old friend. “After eighth grade-” she began, but immediately Annabelle cut her off.

“I don’t know if this is my smartest move,” Annabelle interrupted apologetically. “But I don’t think you should tell me anything else right now about Christy. I feel like there’s stuff that has happened in her life, but… I want her to tell me herself. I don’t want to know ahead of time, and like… push her. I want it to be honest and true when it comes out, because I think that’s the only way I could help her with whatever she’s dealing with. Does that make sense?”

Slightly drunk, Katy studied Annabelle for a moment. Everyone she knew had changed since junior high – Christy, Katy’s other friends, even Katy herself. But Annabelle still seemed… to be Annabelle. It was a quality worthy of envy – even at thirteen, Annabelle had been an honest, pure, kind, generous person. And despite all she had seen in her young life, she still held all those great qualities.

“I’m drunk,” Katy replied finally, eliciting a giggle from Annabelle that was so innocent, it made her smile. “So I know I’m in talkative mode. But I also know you’ve always been the one person I’ve ever known – besides your mom – that could read people. If you think Christy needs to talk to you without me saying anything first, I turst you. Trust you. Shit, I’m drunker than I thought!”

Taken suddenly from the seriousness of the conversation, Annabelle laughed heartily. “Thanks, Katy,” she told the girl as they left the bathroom. “Your trust means so much to me. And your friendship.”

“Always,” Katy threw her arm around Annabelle’s shoulder, leaning into her a bit as her inebriation took hold of her. “I could see you every day for the next fifty years, or once a decade,” she explained as they walked downstairs, where they were planning to meet the boys in the basement to watch movies. “And I’d still always want to be your friend. You’re just that girl… you’re so good for Quinn.”

If she had been give time, Annabelle would have responded. As it was, she and Katy were met at the bottom of the stairs by Forest, who led them to a couch overcrowded with people. Taking a seat beside Quinn, Annabelle looked up at him and smiled.

“Why are you giving me that ‘I’m about to save the world’ look?” Quinn teased in a whisper as he slid his arm over Annabelle’s shoulder. “And how is it possible that I’m even with a girl who has an ‘I’m about to save the world’ look?” he finished with an impressed grin.

Leaning into Quinn, Annabelle pressed her lips to his earlobe. “I’m not saving anyone,” she said softly. “I’m just helping. Like you’re doing for me… helping me be happy.”

Squeezing her ever closer, Quinn kissed Annabelle’s temple. “No, you save people,” he promised, just as the slasher on the TV killed another victim and the room filled with screams and laughter. As it quieted down, Quinn closed his eyes and kissed Annabelle softly. “You saved me.”

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I PROMISED MORE CHRISTY BACKSTORY, AND THIS IS JUST THE START. THANKS TO MY READERS/REVIEWERS. A FEW RESPONSES:

KINA: I LIKE DOING SPIN-OFFS, WHERE YOU GET TO SEE THE CHARACTERS FROM PREVIOUS STORIES AS BACKGROUND CHARACTERS. BUT I’M NOT REALLY INTO SEQUELS, AT LEAST RIGHT NOW. HOPEFULLY, I’LL FIND TIME TO CONTINUE MY KIRSTEN STORY SOON. AT LEAST THEN, YOU CAN GET SOME BROKEN DYNAMITE UPDATES.

PIKACHEESE: HA! I LOVE THAT YOU KNOW MY WRITING WELL ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT THE ‘LOVEY-DOVEY’ STUFF COMES BEFORE THE DRAMA. HOPEFULLY, I DON’T BECOME TOO FORMULAIC FOR YOU!

THANKS ALSO TO BLONDIEXOXO, MISTRESS LUNA AND GIRLFIXER. YOUR REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!