THE SOUND — The 1975

My eyes widened as I heard the muffled echoes of my mother singing to the radio at such an early hour.

"And I will always love you!" My mother's voice rang through the kitchen as I peered over the staircase, drowsiness still ringing through my senses.

"Mom?" I asked, questioning her ecstatic mood.

"Morning Lina," she smiled brightly. "I'm making you your favorite omelet."

"Oh. . . cool," I replied nervously, scratching the back of my neck.

My mom served me my breakfast, going the extra mile to placing a glass of orange juice next to my food.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" she asked, sitting across from me as she glanced at the television in the living room to see the news.

"Baseball at the sandlot," I spoke through chewing my food. She nodded in response.

"I'm glad you've become more active, it's better that you put your stress into that than partying and smoking." She commented.

The subject was obviously awkward for the both us due to my stubbornness and the negative comments I kept to myself. She could tell the conversation was ranging from my comfort zone, so she just ate her food in contempt silence.

I finished my food and placed it in the sink as I rushed upstairs to get ready for the day.

I showered and managed to splash on some mascara and eyeliner for tonight's party. I threw on a black hoodie and denim jeans that were cuffed at the ankles and ripped at the knees. I avoided glancing at myself in the mirror one last time due to my own insecurities driving me to insanity. I'd probably change into three more outfits if I had.

I jogged down the stairs and threw on my ragged PF flyers and shoved my phone in the back pocket of my jeans.

My doorbell suddenly rang, alerting me that Benny had arrived. Expecting to be faced with the boy with lustrous hazel eyes, I was faced with Kenny DeNuenz.

My eyebrows shot up in confusion, "Hey DeNuenz, what are you going here?"

"The other guys are busy, I was wondering if you wanted to come with Yeah-Yeah and I to the grocery store?" He asked, nervousness dripping from his tone.

"Why the grocery store?" I laughed.

"I just didn't want to go alone and plus everyone's busy tonight so no baseball," He explained, Yeah-Yeah approaching my front door with an enormous smirk.

"Hello, Lina, why don't ya join Kenny and I for our world famous grocery shopping game," Yeah-Yeah said, interrupting the conversation.

"I mean, if we actually do something entertaining, I guess I can come for a bit, but
I—uh. . . have something to do in the evening," I replied to the boys' request.

I alerted my mom that I'd be out with the boys and we made our way to the large grocery store.

"So, what exactly is these 'grocery games'?" I asked, gesturing air quotes.

"Well, Yeah-Yeah and I usually go for our moms, so we created this revolutionary game to make it less boring," Kenny began excitedly. Yeah-Yeah nodded his head frantically as Kenny continued to explain.

"Basically, we get two carts, we get our assigned lists and see who can gather everything the fastest. Loser has to buy the winner whatever they want and the loser has to also buy the next baseball for the sandlot for when we destroy our old ones." Kenny elaborated further as we reached our destination of the grocery store, all of us excitedly rushing inside.

I agreed to participate by helping Kenny with his cart since I didn't have anything I needed to purchase. We set a timer on my phone and another on Yeah-Yeah's. As we hit go, Kenny and I ran down the produce section to grab the first items on the list.

We appeared like maniacs to the passing customers as we sped through the store. Kenny let me stand upon the end of the cart as he rushed past aisles.

Next on his list was to get spices, so Kenny pushed the cart with me standing upon the end of it, and ran to the specified aisle.

"What does your mom need, DeNuenz?" I frantically spoke as I jumped off the cart.

"Get salt, uh. . . hold on," he paused to re-read the list. "Get pepper, paprika, and oregano."

I nodded in reply as I scanned the items he listed. My eyes beamed as I threw them into the cart quickly and took my place back to where I was riding.

Kenny ran down the aisle for fun and we brushed past security.

"Hey, you can't ride the carts like that!" They shouted, causing us to hysterically cry in laughter as we sped to our next destination.

We grabbed the last few items, Kenny's list didn't consist of too much for us to get.

We ran to the meeting spot we had originally planned and to our surprise hadn't been met with a victorious Yeah-Yeah. Instead, he joined us after ten minutes with slouched shoulders and defeat written across his childish features.

"Ha, we won!" I laughed, throwing my hand up to high-five Kenny.

"Suck it losers, you only won because it was two people against one," Yeah-Yeah said with irritation piercing his words.

"Okay then, Kenny gets the prize from you, I don't need anything," I declared, causing both boys to stare at me with baffled expressions.

"Nah Lina, it's okay," Kenny shook his head with a kind smile.

"Don't worry about me, I don't want Yeah-Yeah to buy me anything." I smiled. Both boys looked at me with kind and appreciative smiles.

I went to wait outside the store for them as they went ahead to purchase their groceries. They walked out of the store with two buggies filled with groceries. I laughed as Kenny skimmed a bright cherry popsicle with his tongue, beaming with childlike happiness.

They both approached me as we started to walk home. Just as we turned the path to my road I felt Kenny slip a finger in the pocket of my hoodie and stayed quiet as Yeah-Yeah continued to rant about some story about Smalls from last summer.

I touched the item and was surprised to find a popsicle that resembled the one Kenny was licking. I smiled at him appreciatively and squeezed his hand with a smile.

I decided to save the popsicle for later and divulged back into Yeah-Yeah's story.

"You really should've been here last summer Lina, you know Squints kissed Wendy Peffercorn," He explained with beaming excitement.

"Who's that?" I asked curiously as Kenny smirked.

"She's the hottest babe to ever live in this city, and she's also the love of Squints' life," He explained as though I were supposed to know of the Wendy Peffercorn. I laughed at him talking about her appearance and managing to get lost in his own thoughts.

"Actually, I don't find Wendy that attractive, I mean she's okay. . . not really my type," Kenny spoke up breaking Yeah-Yeah out of his thoughts.

"Did your mom drop you on your head DeNuenz or did any of your heaters curve back to hit you in the skull?" Yeah-Yeah asked with a flabbergasted expression dancing upon his features. "Wendy Peffercorn is the babe of babes."

"I'd have to argue with you there, Yeah-Yeah." He laughed, nudging Yeah-Yeah playfully as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to let his mouth hang open.

"You my friend, are one blind ditz." Yeah-Yeah finally spoke as he took his place back to pushing his buggy of groceries down the street.

We hung out for a little while before the evening slipped through the cracks of daylight, notifying me that I had to get Benny so we could make our way to that party. I was surprisingly a little disappointed that I'd have to leave them due to how much fun I was having listening to stories told by both boys.

I waved goodbye to them as I turned into the front of my street. I jogged and turned back to see a smile on both their lips.

I laughed to myself as I continued to jog to Benny's house, thinking of their adorable smiles.

I walked up to Benny's door and hesitated as my heart pulsed with a loud thunderous pang of beats. I felt butterflies dance in the pit of my core as I rung the doorbell once. I smiled as I came into contact with Benny's friendly grin.

"I'll be ready in a sec, I just need to grab something, you can come in if you'd like." He said, opening the door enough for me to walk in.

"Oh, and luckily I just found out my parents left town for a couple days to some wedding so it's just me and my older sister, she's not home though." He explained, running up the stairs as I trailed behind him.

I took in the sight of his house with many large ornaments and pictures of him and a
girl—which I assumed was his sister. His house was coated in vibrant hues of yellow and green creating a warm feeling to vibrate through me.

He led me into his bedroom; the large room containing posters of Babe Ruth and The Beatles. I noticed some trophies and more band posters of Pink Floyd and a movie.

"You like The Breakfast Club?" I asked with a stunned expression.

"Oh, yeah it's pretty great," he chuckled nervously as I continued to scan his room.

His bed was made neatly with two nightstands containing scattered baseball cards. I honestly adored the childlike aura of his room and wouldn't mind living in it myself.

"You are very obsessed with Baseball," I called out to him as he walked into his walk-in closet to retrieve a pair of PF flyers that looked replicated to mine.

"Obviously, baseball is the greatest sport known to mankind." He declared, sitting on his bed to tie his shoes.

"Nice shoes," I complimented with a chuckle, being returned with a grin on his pouted lips.

"I wonder, who gave you such great taste in attire?" He asked, throwing on a plaid black and white long-sleeved shirt over his white tank top and black denim jeans.

"I was just gifted with great taste." I smirked, slowly making my way out his bedroom door.

He looked at himself in the mirror before exiting as I waited for him in the hallway.

"Wait, Elena, does this. . . look okay?" He asked, the adorable nervousness present in his tone.

I scanned his outfit, avoiding to lick my lips at how insanely attractive he was and nodded my head frantically, "yeah, you look great, let's get out of here."

He smiled widely as hues of pink tinted his cheeks. We ran down the stairs and exited the house abruptly.

"How are we getting there?" he asked as we sped down the street of our neighborhood.

"Don't worry, we are meeting them at Vincent's drug-mart, they offered to get us a ride if I came." I explained, Benny trailing behind me as we arrived in a short time span.

"Are you sure you're okay with this
Benny? parties can get very out of hand, it might be overwhelming for you," I looked at him with worry.

"Nah, I'll be fine Elena. Besides, I'm going to have fun with you and to get to know you, not really for the other bullshit." He said, causing me to smile and a flock of butterflies to tumble in my abdomen.

We made our way to Vincent's drug store making some small talk along the way. He occasionally asked me questions about these types of parties and I based my answers on my own experiences.

Just as Benny said, both girls were laughing as cigarettes hung from their coated lips. They were surprised to be met with both me and Benny.

"Isn't this a surprise, the Jet coming out to do something other than baseball," The redhead giggled annoyingly. Her tone being a pitch of high vibrations that made me want to place headphones in my ears.

"Well, we could use the company for the party. Our ride will be here in a few minutes, I'm glad you decided to join us new girl," The raven haired girl spoke this time.

"Let us introduce ourselves first," gestured the smiling girl. "I'm Charli Santos, and this is Adrianna Schaffer." She explained, pointing to the girl with wild devilish scarlet curls. They inhaled another puff of their cigarette—or blunt, I couldn't tell—before laughing about something random.

They had probably taken delight in their own party, I thought to myself.

A beaten down black car pulled into the driveway and a girl with short waves of russet hair reaching her shoulders appeared in the driver's seat, waving us to come in.

"You ready?" I asked Benny as I noticed him become visibly nervousness.

"Yeah. . . It'll be fun." He smiled. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it reassuringly causing both of us to engage in a haze of our eyes intoxicating each other.

I let the negative thoughts ease from my mind as I kept my hand in Benny's and entered the car.

Please, please don't let this night get the best of me pleaded in my head as the words engraved themselves in the center of my thoughts.

///////a.n\\\\\\

This chapter is un-edited! Sorry, I was rushing this at 2 am but I thought I'd put it out anyways.

Enjoy!

-nr