Little House (Chrissy)
Sirianna's house was totally awesome, Chrissy loved hanging out there.
It was super weird, like Sirianna just lived with the Chief of Police and her twin brother and their… their half-sister? Adopted sister? Chrissy wasn't actually completely sure how the twins were related to El, she didn't look much like them. Sirianna said that Harry found her in the woods and Chrissy was pretty sure that was a joke.
Chrissy told her brother Phil that he was found in a dumpster, after all.
But still, Chrissy preferred hanging out at Sirianna's place most of the time. Chief Hopper wasn't home much, and he was really nice when he was there. Harry didn't jump around and yell like Phil did when Chrissy had friends at her place, and Sirianna seemed more comfortable at her place.
They weren't doing much, just gossiping while they painted their nails. Chrissy had already finished hers in a bright teal and had moved on to do El's while Sirianna tried to explain the new rift happening on the cheer team to her sister.
"Kate's just being such a brat, and she's saying it's because Chrissy isn't being a good captain, but everyone knows it's because Ashley and Alex hooked up the other night. So now she's threatening to quit and she knows if she does that we won't have a back base for our builds. But Chrissy is not going to beg her to stay and Ashley actually likes Alex, not just his car."
El nodded really seriously while Chrissy added the top coat of glitter to her nails.
"Kate is brat," El said.
"Kate is a total brat," Chrissy agreed. She finished El's nails and sighed wistfully. "I wish I had a sister."
El always agreed with Sirianna, it was awesome. No matter what Sirianna complained about, El was immediately on her side. Phil was still little, only seven, but Chrissy hoped that he would start agreeing with her when he got older. All he did was argue, like Chrissy wasn't almost ten years older and much wiser than him.
"You can borrow El anytime," Sirianna said. She blew lightly on her nails, the same dark red color she always picked. There were gold flecks on them that time, a bitchin choice really.
"Where was this offer when I was like eight and had to make imaginary friends?" Chrissy laughed and rolled over on her back so she could watch Sirianna dry her nails. "I had to make ugly friends so I could give them all imaginary makeovers, it was so pathetic."
"Careful," Sirianna sang, grinning wickedly at Chrissy for a moment. "As your friend who you gave a makeover to, I'd hate to think you chose me because I was ugly."
As if.
Sirianna was like stupid gorgeous, it was crazy. Chrissy didn't understand why everyone had been so shitty toward her when she first started Hawkins and she decided it had to be jealousy. Sirianna had the prettiest green eyes, she had like flawless skin, and she was short and tiny and just perfect.
She was funny too, like sassy funny and sarcastic as hell most of the time.
"Whatever." Chrissy rolled her eyes at Sirianna and flapped a hand at her entire everything. "You didn't need a makeover. I'd never wear makeup if I looked like you."
"Whatever," Sirianna rolled her eyes too, but Chrissy saw her grin.
"Whatever," El echoed. Chrissy and Sirianna both laughed and then Sirianna flopped down on the floor beside Chrissy.
"Harry never let me do anything with him when we were kids," Sirianna told her. "All he ever wanted to do was read or run around when we were allowed outside."
Chrissy kind of hummed about that because every time Sirianna talked about her childhood Chrissy got the feeling it wasn't exactly a great one. Chrissy didn't want to be nosy, she didn't want to like make Sirianna relive sad memories, but it was just the feeling she had about it.
Usually Chrissy's feelings were good. Chrissy had a feeling that she and Sirianna would be friends when they met, she had a feeling about Jason back in seventh grade. Chrissy could feel it when she was going to fail a test and she could feel that something was happening the day that her mom told her she was going to have a brother.
"Brothers just aren't as fun as sisters," Chrissy told Sirianna. "I tried to get Phil to come to a very fancy tea party with all of my favorite stuffed animals and he broke my teapot."
Which Chrissy was still mad about, really. Her grandmother gave her that teapot.
"Tea… party?" El asked. It was the way she said it that made it sound like a question, otherwise Chrissy would have thought she was just echoing her.
"Yeah." Chrissy sat up with her elbow propping her up and didn't understand what El didn't understand. "You know, like everyone wears fancy dresses and you have tea and cookies? I probably made my stuffed animals go to one every week."
El stared at Chrissy with her big brown eyes and Chrissy got the feeling that she was not understanding her.
"You know what I mean," she said to Sirianna, hoping she could explain. Except Sirianna was like staring at her blankly, blinking while she lifted a shoulder up in a shrug.
"You never had a tea party?" Chrissy asked. "But - you're like British!"
Wasn't that a thing? Like England was mad because the Americans threw their tea in the ocean? Chrissy assumed they all took tea really seriously there.
"I - didn't really have any friends, or toys, when I was a kid," Sirianna said. El nodded in agreement with her sister and Chrissy felt like a jerk. Selfish Chrissy, complaining about her brother breaking her teapot when Sirianna and El didn't even have toys.
"It was stupid," Chrissy said quickly. "Like stuffed animals don't even drink tea."
Not like… like…
"Oh my god!" Chrissy say all the way up and smiled when the perfect idea hit her. "We should have a tea party!" she told them. As soon as she said it, she knew it was a good idea.
How freaking fun would it be to get all dressed up and set up a little tea party in her yard? There was a beautiful little veranda that her dad built where Chrissy had her first kiss from Jason and with some flowers, some decorations… yeah, it would be so fun!
"With toys?" Sirianna asked, clearly not seeing Chrissy's vision.
"No! With tea and pretty dresses and we can just act all fancy and silly," Chrissy said, already planning it all out. "Okay, Sunday, I'm so not taking no for an answer. You two should come over and I'll get all my old dresses and - hmm, was it Nancy? I'll ask around, I think Nancy Wheeler used to do pageants when she was a kid, so I bet she has some fancy dresses that would fit El."
"I have plans on Sunday," Sirianna said slowly, because she so was interested.
"Tell Billy to fuck off," Chrissy said simply. She had plans with Jason that she would have to cancel too, maybe she would tell him to see if Billy wanted to hang out. "We are having a girl's day," she said, no room for an argument.
"Girl day?" El smiled and she was so adorable. "Max?" she asked Sirianna.
"That's Billy's sister, right?" Chrissy asked. El nodded and so did Chrissy. "Obviously she can come too! No party poopers allowed though, this is going to be so fun."
Sirianna and El didn't look like they believed her, but that was because they didn't understand. It was going to be fun, Chrissy would make sure of it.
Every girl should have a tea party at least once.
Sirianna invited Chrissy to stay for dinner, but Chrissy turned her down. Sirianna was a great cook, she just cooked a lot of starch and carbs. Which was fine because Sirianna had a perfect body and El and Harry were super thin, Chrissy had to watch what she ate. If Chrissy looked like Sirianna then it would be different. She was like fifteen pounds away from that though.
Jason showed up right at seven thirty and Chrissy shared a nod with Sirianna when he politely knocked on the door. The first few times he picked Chrissy up (which was so sweet even though Chrissy could totally walk home) he had honked from the driveway. Like, rude.
He was learning though and Chrissy was proud of him for politely greeting Sirianna and El both from the doorway while Chrissy gathered up her nail polish and magazines.
"Ready, babe?" Jason asked, smiling just as sweetly at Chrissy as he always had. Jason, Chrissy was so not biased, had the sweetest smile. There was just something so genuine and kind about it, something so boyish that never changed even as he grew and became more of a man than child.
"Ready," Chrissy said. She waved goodbye to El, then reminded Sirianna about their plans on Sunday before she followed Jason out to his mom's car.
"You're hanging out with Sirianna Sunday?" Jason opened Chrissy's door for her, which - romantic.
"Okay, don't be mad." Chrissy waited until Jason was in the car so that she could tell him everything. Jason was the best listener and Chrissy knew that as soon as she explained, he would be all for the girls day tea party.
Jason drove them to Chrissy's house and they parked in the driveway so that Chrissy's mom could see she was home but they could still talk. Chrissy told Jason about Sirianna and El's sad childhoods and how Sirianna said she never had toys or friends. Jason made a face when Chrissy said it was terrible and she knew he would agree with her.
"Okay, do not get mad at me, because I didn't say it," Jason said when Chrissy finished. "But Andy thinks that the twins were raised in like a cult or something."
"A cult?" Chrissy asked, her eyes going wide. "Like the Jim Jones thing?" Because that was sick, it was horrible. Those people all died in a massacre.
"Yeah. Think about it," Jason turned so that he could hold Chrissy's hands while he totally gushed. "Harry's a fucking freak, right? Like doesn't talk at all?"
Chrissy narrowed her eyes. Harry was not a freak, he was - he was just kind of different. He was nice, when people bothered to talk to him.
"Don't glare at me, Andy said it," Jason said quickly. "You know I like Harry."
Chrissy knew that Jason was perfectly nice to Harry because Chrissy told him if he was a bully then they were totally over, but… yeah, okay.
"But he doesn't get like anything," Jason went on. "I don't think he's seen any movies, he doesn't listen to music, and I saw him writing in pre-algebra and he was more lost than I am."
"So you think they were in a cult?" Chrissy asked, trying to imagine how freaking sad that would be. God, what if they had died?? Chrissy rolled down her window and pulled a cigarette from the glovebox, even though Jason crinkled his nose up over it. Jason didn't smoke and he hated when Chrissy did, but - like - if he was going to say things like maybe Sirianna had been in a horrible cult as a kid, then Chrissy needed a cigarette.
Also, he was the one who kept her cigarettes in his car.
"Maybe, yeah," Jason said, nodding. "That would explain why Sirianna never had toys when she was a kid, right?"
"It would!" Chrissy agreed. It would make so much sense! God. Chrissy was going to cry; what if Sirianna's cult had been like the one on the news a few years ago? What if she had been killed?
"Babe, you can't cry over something that never happened." Jason laughed and it was funny because Chrissy was the biggest baby, but he still pulled on her hands so she could fall on his chest and he rubbed her back.
"I just love her," Chrissy sniffled, feeling really silly even if she couldn't exactly control her emotions. "I'm so glad we met."
"One day you're going to replace me with Sirianna and I dunno if I'm going to be super pissed or not," Jason teased her. "I'll be more mad at myself, you know? I should have seen it coming."
"You're dumb." Chrissy laughed and hauled herself up so she could see Jason's smile for herself. He was so handsome, Chrissy loved him.
"There's that smile." Jason cupped Chrissy's cheek and leaned in slowly to kiss her, lighting up all the butterflies sleeping inside of her. He tilted his forehead to hers when they ended the kiss and Chrissy sighed when Jason kissed the tip of her nose.
"Tea parties need like fancy little cookies, right?" Jason asked her. "I'm going to Indy tomorrow with Chance to get new sneakers, I'll stop by a bakery and get some."
"I love you," Chrissy said, meaning it more than she ever meant it for anyone else.
Jason smiled and Chrissy could never get sick of seeing it, of seeing how much he did love her, how much he was always there.
"I love you," he said. It sounded like a promise, like one that would last for a lifetime.
Chrissy could never replace Jason with Sirianna, nobody could take his place.
Dad and Phil were in bed when Chrissy made her way inside. Mom was still awake, in the kitchen probably cleaning up from dinner. Chrissy wanted to go upstairs and take a shower, start planning the perfect tea party, but she knew her mom would grill her even longer if Chrissy didn't say goodnight.
"Mom?" Chrissy stood up nice and straight and smiled when her mom turned around. "I'm home," she said.
"I can see that." Mom turned off the sink and looked Chrissy over from head to toe. "How is Sarah-Anne?"
"Sirianna," Chrissy corrected her, for like the fiftieth time. Mom knew Sirianna's name, she just hated it and said it was weird and refused to use it. "She's good," Chrissy said. "Um… I wondered if it would be okay if I had her and a few other friends come over on Sunday? It's silly, we were going to have a tea party and the veranda that Daddy built would just be so pretty."
"A tea party?" Mom wiped her hands on her apron and started to glare, but Chrissy wasn't lying. "For girls your age? Isn't that immature, Christina?"
"It's for - for Sirianna's sister, El," Chrissy said, praying silently for Mom to let it go. It sounded so fun, Chrissy didn't want to be told it was childish and stupid, she just wanted to do something fun and silly with her friends.
"How old is the girl?"
"Nine," Chrissy lied. "And she's an orphan, Chief Hopper adopted her too and it's really sad, she never got to have a tea party. So me and Sirianna thought—"
"Sarah-Anne and I," Mom interrupted.
"Sirianna and I thought that we should have a tea party, just so she knew what it was like," Chrissy said. "Please, Mom? I'll set everything up and clean it up when we're done. You won't even know we're there."
"I suppose so." Mom sighed like Chrissy was asking for her to do anything at all for the day. "You'll be having healthy snacks during this, yes? None of that fattening nonsense that other parents let their children ruin their bodies with?"
Chrissy wrapped her arms around her stomach when Mom looked at her, eyeing the pudge that Chrissy couldn't get rid of, no matter how much she tried.
"None of that," Chrissy agreed, smiling harder to keep the prickling in her eyes pushed down. "Maybe - maybe we'll have almond tarts? I can get that sugar free crust from Krogers?"
"That's a good idea." Mom smiled back and Chrissy wondered, not for the first time, if they really looked as much alike as everyone said. Mom was short, thin, blonde, beautiful. Chrissy wasn't an Amazon or anything, but she was tall for a girl, still short next to Jason; she had her grandma's red hair, thick thighs, and crooked teeth.
"Thanks, Mom." Chrissy gave her mom a quick hug before she tried to hurry off to her room. "Love you!"
"I love you more!" Mom called as Chrissy quietly ran up the stairs.
She probably did, in her own way.
Chrissy poked her head in Phil's room to see if he was still awake and saw him passed out in his little train bed he was getting too tall for. His feet were poking over the end of the bed and Chrissy carefully readjusted his blanket so that he was covered all the way.
"Love you, Philly." Chrissy kissed Phil's forehead and smiled at him before she went across the hall to her own room.
The differences between her bedroom and Phil's were super obvious as Chrissy dropped her bag by her bed and flopped down on it. Phil's room was painted in blue with train posters all over the walls, Chrissy's was still a light pink that she picked the summer her mom was pregnant and decided to repaint the house.
The decorations had changed, Chrissy used to have princesses and dolls on her shelves, silly posters on the walls of Barbies. Chrissy had the Indianapolis Colts Cheer Squad on her wall then, photos of herself and Jason all over her mirror, her weight chart hanging by her closet with her prom dress beside it for inspiration.
It was still pretty girly, Jason said it fit her, but Chrissy looked around and imagined if she could decorate it again - would she do pink? Or would she pick something darker? Maybe even grey? Would Chrissy have a poster of Brooke Shields up to compare herself to every day? Or would she change it to something more interesting, less totally depressing?
Not that it mattered, Chrissy wouldn't have a real space to decorate again until like college.
Chrissy stopped daydreaming when her stomach complained and she rolled on her side, told herself it was like PMS cramps or something. Chrissy looked at her prom dress, at the beautiful size two dress that her mom picked out for her, and went over her todo list for the tea party.
When she couldn't resist, Chrissy caved and snuck down to the kitchen to rifle through the cabinets until she found a box of Phil's fruit snacks. Chrissy heard a creak upstairs and grabbed the box like a thief to run it back to her bedroom.
Chrissy sat in the corner of her room where the mirrors couldn't see her and she opened packages of fruit snacks with Mickey Mouse's face on them until she had a mountain of rainbow colored gummies. She started with just the blue ones, just the best ones - she wouldn't eat all of them. Then she ate the red ones, then the purple, and even all of the orange ones that tasted nothing like an orange.
The mountain was gone and Chrissy looked at her fingers and the wrappers littered all over her floor and thought about Phil asking where his favorite snack was and Mom looking at Chrissy because she would know. Mom would know that Chrissy was weak, horrible, and she would be disappointed, angry, and - and —
And Chrissy stuffed the wrappers in the bottom of her trash can and stuck her shaking finger down her throat to make it all come back up. Her weakness and the horrible toxicity that was trickling through her body and twisting her skin until it puffed out more and became spotted with zits and acne because Chrissy could never do good enough. Could never be good enough.
It was a sick circle that left Chrissy shivering and out of breath, but empty and light when she was done. She curled up on her bed and stuffed a corner of her blanket in her mouth to keep from waking her parents or Phil when the emptiness turned into a deep hole of darkness and the sobs took over.
Chrissy woke up on Saturday with some pep in her step and a sunny smile to show. She dressed casually, pulled her hair up in a high ponytail, and grabbed her purse and jacket before she bounced downstairs.
"You're awfully happy this morning." Dad turned his head so Chrissy could dutifully place a quick kiss on his cheek before she hugged her mom at the stove. Mom was frying something up, something Chrissy knew was not meant for her, and she pointed at an apple and a package of unsalted peanuts.
"We have a game tonight," Chrissy said. She ruffled Phil's blonde curls, the ones that were just like Mom's, and stuck her tongue out when he whined about it.
"Home or away?" Mom asked.
The calendar was hanging on the fridge.
"Away," Chrissy said.
"You'll be riding on the bus, not in anyone's car?" Mom checked.
"Yes," Chrissy lied.
"And you will set the example for your team on snacking habits?" Mom pointed her spatula at Chrissy and Chrissy slowly tried to suck her stomach in. "I'm not loosening your uniform again, Christina. I mean it."
"No, Mom, we'll be healthy," Chrissy promised. "I was going to go to the store before the game so I could bring snacks with me to share with everyone."
"Atta girl." Dad nodded approvingly at Chrissy and pulled his wallet out, handing over his card for her to use. "Your mother said you're hosting some friends tomorrow, you can get whatever you need. Phillip and I will power wash the veranda for you today."
Chrissy thanked him while Phil complained that he didn't want to clean the veranda for a ‘stupid girl party'. Mom tsk'd at Phil and Chrissy was able to sneak out for the day without any more lectures about healthy eating or the package of peanuts that she wouldn't eat anyway.
Since it was still too early to stop by Sirianna's, Chrissy walked through town by herself while she played a silent game. Ten steps, one bite of the apple. Twenty steps, another bite. Ten steps, one bite.
Chrissy waved when someone recognized her, stopped a time or two to chat with the parents of her classmates. She laughed when she saw Nancy Wheeler's little brother and his friends doing tricks on their bikes, the one with the curly hair - Dustin, maybe - lit up and started trying to pop a wheelie on his bike with twice as much enthusiasm when he saw her.
"Bravo!" Chrissy cheered and clapped when he did it and Dustin smiled from ear to ear at the praise. Billy's little sister, Max, elbowed Dustin and rolled her eyes when Dustin wouldn't quit smiling.
Hawkins, really, was just the best place to live. Chrissy liked that everyone knew each other, that people were friendly, and kids could ride their bikes around town and play freely. Everyone always seemed so happy, so normal.
Sometimes she wondered if she was the only person in Hawkins who couldn't fit in just right, the only person who couldn't squeeze in her place all the way. She fit enough to blend in, to make friends and the cheer team, but sometimes she thought that people knew - they knew she wasn't really one of them.
It was a scary thought, one that Chrissy tried to kind of throw away when she reached Krogers. The half of the apple she had left went in the metal trash can and so did any silly thoughts about people staring at her, watching her.
Chrissy grabbed a cart and walked slowly through the store, stopping here and there to grab supplies. Pink plates and forks, a box of tea bags, some fake flowers to decorate the yard, a few balloons just because they were cute. Chrissy stopped in the snack aisle and made herself move slowly - to pay attention to her options before she just grabbed things all crazy.
Except the tea party wasn't really about Chrissy or the weight she needed to lose, it was about Sirianna and El and a silly and magical tea party that they never got to have.
Chrissy grabbed a package of frosted cookies, in case Jason couldn't find any, then a box of graham crackers. She moved aisles and took a container of frosting, some red food dye so she could make it pink, and sparkly glitter to add to it. There was the crust for almond tarts and Chrissy had her hand out, debating on if she should get the sugar free one or the normal crust when someone said her name.
"Chrissy, hi!" Nancy Wheeler, a girl in Chrissy's grade, turned in the aisle with her own shopping cart and smiled politely at Chrissy.
"Nancy, hi!" Chrissy snagged the sugar free package and tossed it in her cart with Nancy's eyes following it for a moment. "I just saw your brother a few minutes ago."
"Yeah." Nancy rolled her eyes and blew her bangs off her forehead. "He's supposed to be helping me get groceries, our mom has the flu, and what's he doing? Running around with his friends."
"That sounds about right," Chrissy laughed. "I'm sorry about your mom though, is there anything I can do?"
"No, thank you though," Nancy said. She waved her hand toward her cart and Chrissy saw that there were quite a few cans of soup in there. "I'm getting her supplies and stuff for dinner. What are you doing?"
"I'm having a tea party." Chrissy backtracked once she realized that might sound so stupid and childish. "I mean, it's for Sirianna's sister, well, not really, it's stupid, it's just that we were talking about it and —"
"I don't think it sounds stupid." Nancy's smiled warmed and she really was so pretty - Chrissy thought that Jonathan Byers must be secretly amazing to have such a pretty girlfriend. "I think it sounds fun. Like a grown up version of when we were all kids?"
"Yes! Exactly!" Chrissy beamed at Nancy and had a great idea. "Oh! Do you want to come? I was going to invite you anyway because El, that's Sirianna's sister, will need a dress to borrow and I thought maybe you might still have yours from when you were in pageants?"
"El Hopper? Yeah, I probably have some dresses that can fit her. It's not like I'd ever wear them again," Nancy grinned. "I can bring them over, I don't know if I can stay… I've got Holly…"
"Bring her!" Chrissy cried excitedly. Holly was still little, the perfect age so that Chrissy's mom didn't complain about teenagers playing dress-up.
"Yeah?" Nancy seemed just as excited about it, even if she was totally trying to play it cool. "Okay, great! I'll bring cupcakes or something!"
"Okay!" Chrissy gave Nancy the details, her place at noon the next day, and Nancy promised to bring her dresses, old tiaras, and any princess like attire that she could find.
"Oh, Chrissy?" Nancy scrunched her nose up when she gestured to the crust in Chrissy's cart. "If nobody's like diabetic or something, I'd get the regular one. The sugar free ones are gross."
"Oh. Okay." Chrissy kept her smile up while Nancy waved and walked off to finish her shopping and Chrissy only stopped smiling when she was alone and looked at the sugar free crust in her cart.
It would be fine. Chrissy would get the normal crust, have a healthy snack before the party. It was fine.
No biggie.
Dad and Phil were in the yard when Chrissy popped by to quickly stash her purchases in the garage. She couldn't trust herself to have them in her room and she didn't trust her mom to not blow up if Chrissy put them in the kitchen. Mom had to leave early in the morning for church, something Chrissy got to miss only during basketball season, and Chrissy could put together the treats then.
Chrissy's cheer bag was in the garage and she went ahead and grabbed it so she could go to Sirianna's house and hang out until it was time for the game.
They were playing one of the schools in Muncie and Chrissy was so excited. The last time they played the bulldogs they had totally kicked ass and everyone went out together afterward. Cheering was fun, Chrissy liked it, but it was the energy in the air after the games when they won and everyone wanted to celebrate together that Chrissy really loved.
It would be even better because Chrissy and Jason were going to ride with Sirianna and Billy so that they could hang out on the ride there and back. Jason didn't exactly want to hang out with Billy, but Chrissy talked him into it. She promised that if Billy was a jerk on the ride there that they would pile in with someone else for the ride back.
Nobody would be on the bus, Chrissy didn't know why her mom thought they would be. Just because they rode buses when her mom had been cheer captain at Hawkins didn't mean that they still did. Anyone with a car would drive and everyone without a car would squish in to avoid the stinky school bus.
Everyone at Sirianna's house was awake when Chrissy showed up at their front door. Chief Hopper - who totally told Chrissy that she could call him ‘Jim' - was the one to answer the door and Chrissy saw that they were all lounging around the living room and being perfectly lazy for a Saturday afternoon.
Nobody talked about diets or college or proper behavior for young women. Chief Hopper didn't look at Sirianna and pick apart her flaws and he didn't bark at Harry to find something to occupy himself. They were just… relaxing together.
Chrissy loved it there.
"Guess what?" Chrissy sat on the floor in front of where Sirianna was on the couch and she tipped her head back to lay it in Sirianna's lap. Harry had his feet on Sirianna's lap while his nose was buried in a book, but Chrissy managed to fit there okay.
"What?" Sirianna asked, her grin looking especially silly with Chrissy's view.
"Nancy's coming tomorrow and she's bringing her sister, Holly," Chrissy told her. "And she's bringing dresses for El and Max and probably some of her old tiaras."
"What's going on tomorrow?" Hopper asked. He did that sometimes, tricked Chrissy. He would be staring at the TV and Chrissy would think he wasn't paying any attention at all, then he would ask about whatever they were talking about. It was never mean or anything, it just surprised Chrissy.
"We're having a tea party," Sirianna explained. "Chrissy invited us. It's going to be quite fun. You could come."
"I'm gonna go with fuck no," Hopper said, adding a snort for good measure.
And that was it. He didn't want to know what they would be eating or if there would be boys or alcohol or anything else. He trusted Sirianna to make the right decisions.
"We did say no party poopers," Chrissy reminded Sirianna, teasing Hopper some.
"Too true." Sirianna started fiddling with Chrissy's hair, pulling it from the ponytail and combing her fingers through it. Chrissy sank down where she sat to make it easier and closed her eyes when Sirianna lazily began twisting her hair in and out of braids.
They didn't do anything, they just sat in a room with Sirianna's family and nobody yelled and nobody cried. It was nice, Chrissy loved being there.
Jason showed up right on time to leave for the game that afternoon. He looked like he had already won when he pulled a box from his car and flipped the lid open, showing at least a dozen little cookies shaped like hearts with pink frosting and little white decorations on them.
"For my Queen," Jason said, kissing Chrissy when she wholeheartedly approved of the purchase.
"My hero," Chrissy said, looking at Jason and wondering if they really could be forever - if Jason would really love her for the rest of her life. If Chrissy left Hawkins and she changed, if she wasn't the same Chrissy, would he still love her?
Chrissy would love him, if he changed. If Jason wasn't the sophomore hero on the varsity basketball team, Chrissy would still love him.
"You guys are so cute," Sirianna said, dangling her legs from where she sat on the hood of the police cruiser to wait for Billy. "It's gross, actually."
"Says you," Jason said, carefully storing the cookies back in his car for Chrissy to get after the game. "Like you and Billy don't make me throw up."
Chrissy joined Sirianna on the hood of the car so they could share her cigarette while Sirianna and Jason argued back and forth about who was worse. It was funny to hear them bicker when it was all playful nonsense, Chrissy knew that Jason would love Sirianna once he gave her a chance.
Billy pulled up in his Camaro, only a few minutes late, and had Steve in the passenger seat. Chrissy lifted her eyebrow at Sirianna in a silent question and Sirianna twitched her head to the side, a promise to tell her about it later.
Everyone threw their bags in the trunk and Sirianna stopped Steve when he offered the passenger seat to her - girlfriend's right, or something.
Sirianna piled in the back with Chrissy and Jason and Steve waved at Harry when he poked his head out the door before Billy backed out of the driveway and they were off. Chrissy sat in the middle seat and watched Sirianna playfully poke Billy in the back of the head, laughing when Billy threatened to dump her on the side of the road.
Chrissy smiled with Jason's arm around her shoulders, the windows rolled down to fill the car with crisp wind while they flew down the highway in the Camaro.
"Careful, baby," Billy's eyes flicked up in the rearview mirror to find Sirianna, "you're going to mess up my hair."
Sirianna pulled on a curl with a playful grin.
"Sirianna, I swear to God…"
"You'd dump your girlfriend on the side of the road? That's just tragic!" Sirianna cried. She reached past Chrissy to swat Jason's arm. "Jason, would you ever do something so terrible?"
"Chrissy wouldn't pull my hair while I'm driving," Jason said. There was a beat of silence and then — "She does it when I'm done driving."
"JASON MICHAEL!" Chrissy covered her red face in complete embarrassment while everyone else roared with laughter over the sound of radio and Billy freaking high-fived Jason without even swerving the car.
It was ridiculous and the boys were the gross ones as they started trying to one-up each other and Steve made gagging sounds in the passenger seat. It was… it was fun though, it was just silly and stupid and Chrissy wished it could last forever.
Hawkins won their game that evening, once again totally kicking the bulldogs asses. Chrissy was floating on cloud-nine when everyone agreed to meet up at a McDonald's between Muncie and Hawkins for a post-game celebration.
Jason sat with the guys, shooting Chrissy secret smiles and winks when she glanced at him, and Chrissy sat with her girls, enjoying the laughter and jokes about everything that went right or wrong during their routines.
Sirianna bought them both food and Chrissy pocketed the greasy nuggets when nobody noticed, refusing to ruin such a good day by pigging out on the worst food. She sipped her Diet Coke for sugar and felt it filling her up, bloating her stomach out, pushing until she thought she would be sick.
The rest of the drive was great - Billy played music and Steve made Sirianna take the passenger seat so Chrissy sat behind Sirianna with Jason crowded up beside her. Chrissy and Sirianna judged the boys on their singing talents, agreeing that they were much better at basketball than karaoke.
It was the best sort of day, the reason why Chrissy couldn't quit the cheer team.
Billy dropped everyone off at Sirianna's place and then he and Sirianna took off for their own post-game celebration at the quarry.
"You need a ride home?" Jason offered Steve, his arm around Chrissy and his chest puffing out stupidly because Steve was a junior. It was silly and Chrissy worked hard to not laugh about it.
"Nah, I'm gonna chill with Harry until Hargrove gets back. Good game, man." Steve aimed a light punch to Jason's shoulder, nodded at Chrissy, then basically like skipped inside the house.
"Gaaaaaay," Jason whispered to Chrissy when he opened the car door for her. He was grinning when he said it and Chrissy probably gossiped with him a little too much about all her hunches so she didn't think he was being a jerk or anything.
"They're really not subtle," Chrissy agreed. It was insane that they weren't like together yet. It made Chrissy sad too, like maybe they would be together if people weren't so shitty.
Chrissy waited until Jason was in the car to pull her legs up on the seat and ask him very important questions.
"If I was gay, would you still love me?" she asked.
"I… guess so?" Jason put his hand on Chrissy's knee and raised an eyebrow. "Is this like you telling me that you really are leaving me for Sirianna?"
"No," Chrissy laughed. "But like what if I wasn't a cheerleader anymore, would you still love me?"
"Yeah, of course."
"If I didn't have any hands, would you love me?"
"Yes, Chrissy."
Chrissy kept up the questions while Jason drove out to the park, the only place in town where they could park the car and just talk.
"Chrissy." Jason laughed and his hands were pulling on Chrissy so she moved over to straddle his lap in the driver's seat. "Yes, I would love you with no hands or three hands or four eyes or zero. I'll love you until we're both old and grey and wrinkly and I barely remember your name, okay?"
"Okay," Chrissy agreed, her heart beating fast because Jason could be so sweet when he wanted to be. Chrissy was crazy, she knew that, but he never complained.
"I love you," Jason said again, his voice dropping low and his eyes glittering in the dark. "Just you, Chrissy."
And Chrissy loved him.
They melted against each other, fitting in the sweetest whispers between kisses hot enough to make the windows steam up. Jason slipped his hands down Chrissy's waist, resting them around her hips, and Chrissy forgot what she had hidden in her pockets until Jason's fingers brushed against the food hidden there.
"Chris?" Jason pulled a cold, greasy, squashed nugget from Chrissy's pocket and the nickname and the embarrassment had her freezing, unsure what to say.
"What's this?" Jason asked. He looked from the food to Chrissy and even if she looked away, Jason always knew her too well.
"Don't," Chrissy said softly, her face and her stomach both burning with shame.
She should have thrown it out, gone to the bathroom to throw it away, something. Stupid Chrissy, stupid - stupid - stupid.
"Babe, babe." Jason caught Chrissy's chin and held it gently, turned it so she had to face him. "Hey. If I couldn't play basketball, would you love me?"
"I…" Chrissy took a second to answer, not because she didn't know the answer, but she wasn't expecting the question. "Yes," she said. Of course she would.
Jason's thumb rubbed small circles on Chrissy's cheek while she focused on breathing in and out, it was just Jason. The world didn't end every time she thought it should, it didn't end because Jason found something humiliating in Chrissy's pocket.
"If I said I wanted to bone dudes, would we still be friends?" Jason asked.
Chrissy laughed, a bit breathless and shaky, when she answered, "Yes."
"If I gained like fifty pounds and lost these rock hard abs of steel, would you love me?"
Yeah, of course she would. Chrissy loved Jason, Chrissy loved Jason because he was sweet and kind and made her smile and feel like a princess. Chrissy wouldn't care if Jason gained fifty pounds or five hundred pounds.
"Yeah," Chrissy said, her lower lip quivering when she thought she was getting the hint. "I'd still love you."
"Good." Jason bent his head toward Chrissy and she thought he was going to kiss her, but he whispered in her ear instead, "Because I'm about to smash these chicken nuggets, babe."
"Jason!" Chrissy thought he was kidding and she laughed and squirmed when he started tickling her in an attempt to take all of the nasty food hidden in her pocket. "Do not eat that!" she warned him. "I'm so serious, Jason, that's — oh my god!"
Jason stuffed three chicken nuggets in his mouth and started the most obnoxious mood-killing chewing that Chrissy had ever seen in her life. Seriously, it was disgusting! He had his mouth wide open in a big smile and he had to be making himself make the worst sort of sounds.
"Oh man," Jason groaned after he swallowed and Chrissy could barely breathe she was laughing so hard. "These are amazing. Seriously, Chris, like the best nuggets ever. It's gotta be your pocket lint, that's the secret ingredient."
"You are an animal," Chrissy said.
"Nuh uh. Try one." Jason held an only slightly-squashed nugget in Chrissy's face and stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "Come on, I played nice with your friends all night. The least you could do is tell me if I'm about to make a million dollars by selling your pocket lint."
"I'm so not eating that," Chrissy said, pushing Jason's hand away. "Ew."
"You're going to make me eat all of these by myself? I'll get gassy."
"You are so gross!" Chrissy complained even if she was still laughing. "God, you're such a boy."
"Who?" Jason stuffed another nugget in his mouth and winked while he chewed it open-mouthed as well. "Me? Christina Cunningham, I'll have you know that I am a man."
"You are the same silly boy that broke his wrist trying to show off in sixth grade," Chrissy said fondly. It was a terrible day, but Chrissy still had the flowers Jason brought her pressed in her Bible at home.
"Nah, I'm all grown up now." Jason leaned to the side and Chrissy couldn't see what he was doing, she heard the glovebox open though and when he straightened back up Chrissy felt the same flutters in her stomach at sixteen as she had when they were eleven and Jason had a bouquet of daisies and a cast on his arm.
"It's my heart." Jason held up one of the pink heart-shaped cookies he bought for Chrissy's silly tea party and there was a cigarette on top of it, a real sacrifice for Jason to offer her. "And your lung cancer, which, for the record, I'll still love you through."
"A cookie and a cigarette…" Chrissy felt water pooling up in her eyes, just a big ball of emotions all the time lately. "How romantic," she whispered, looking at Jason and wondering how it was possible to fall more and more in love with someone.
Surely there had to be like a maximum, like one day Chrissy couldn't possibly love him anymore than she did.
"Here." Jason tipped the cigarette off the cookie and held it up for her, slowly. "You can multitask, my Queen."
Chrissy thought about the calories in the cookie, the sugar in the frosting and the cookie itself. It was fattening, nothing healthy at all about it. Nothing except for the way Jason looked at her with steady blue eyes that would probably still love her even if she refused.
Chrissy leaned forward and took a small bite, nothing at all like the way Jason shoved cold chicken in his mouth like an animal. Jason still lit up - the same smile he smiled when he gave Chrissy his daisies and she said she would go to the Snowball Dance with him - and Chrissy didn't let herself think about how the cookie was going to stick to the lining of her stomach, adding more fat and sugar there to bloat her body.
"See? Delicious, right?" Jason took a bite on the other side of the heart and then held it so Chrissy had to take another bite and they took turns until the cookie was gone and Jason was passing Chrissy a cigarette and her lighter.
It wasn't until Chrissy had slid over to the passenger seat and blew smoke out the window that it struck her…
"Did you… did you just reward me for eating a cookie with a cigarette?" Chrissy asked.
Jason scoffed and checked the time, it was getting late and they would both need to be home soon. Chrissy didn't want to go home, she didn't want the night to end.
"What? You're the only one who can like offer rewards and shit?" Jason asked. He winked when Chrissy's jaw dropped and she was shocked. "You should have had a nugget, babe, I had a crazy reward for that."
Chrissy tried, the entire drive back to her house, to find out what it was, but Jason wouldn't cave.
"We'll go out tomorrow after your girl's day and you can earn it," Jason teased her. "It's pretty great, much better than - what was it? Oh, a ten minute backrub if I played nice with Hargrove."
"I so did not promise you a ten minute backrub," Chrissy pointed out.
"You're right." Jason kissed her quickly on the nose, then the lips, wiping the pout away. "You should have." He grabbed the box of cookies from the backseat and put them in her hands. "I love you, Chris. I hope you have the best tea party, or whatever."
Chrissy did have the best tea party - or whatever.
Nancy and Holly showed up first with bags and bags of dresses and accessories. Little Holly had her hair all curled and offered Chrissy a box of sprinkle covered cupcakes. Chrissy had been working since her family left for church and had most of the treats ready and the veranda decorated with a family china and tea set.
"Did you actually make tea?" Nancy asked, looking inside the empty tea pot while Chrissy adjusted the cupcakes around the table. Nancy looked great, like a princess in her homecoming dress from freshman year and her hair in perfect curls.
Chrissy kind of looked great too. She somehow still fit in her freshman prom dress and it made her feel good that it still fit, it wasn't too snug, and she could twirl around in it without feeling stupid.
"I figured Sirianna could," Chrissy said, shrugging. "I don't really know how?"
"Why would Sirianna know how to make tea?"
"Because… she's like British?" Chrissy said slowly, wondering if she was the only one who remembered the war started over tea.
"I think that's stereotyping…" Nancy said, blinking like Chrissy was being dumb. Nancy might be a genius, but Chrissy was so not wrong.
Sirianna showed up with El and Max both and as soon as Chrissy told her she didn't know how to make tea, Sirianna got to work. Chrissy and Nancy dressed the girls up, even if Max rolled her eyes a lot, and Holly helped them do their makeup.
"Pretty," El said to Max when they were all finished and everyone was dressed up and looking like princesses.
Chrissy shared a look with Sirianna, a look because she had a feeling, and Sirianna shook her head.
"El is a baby," Sirianna whispered when Nancy set up Jonathan's camera she borrowed to take photos of them all in front of the veranda Chrissy decorated.
"She's like eleven," Chrissy reminded her. El was so not too young to have a crush and Chrissy was sure that she smiled more often at Max than she did anyone else.
"A baby," Sirianna repeated stubbornly.
"Okay! Everyone get ready!" Nancy ran back to them, one hand holding Holly's hand and the other keeping her tiara on top of her head.
Chrissy linked one arm with Sirianna then grabbed a pink frosted heart-shaped cookie off the table to hold up. The girls all squished together and smiled widely when the camera flashed and took a series of photos of them all.
Then, because Chrissy was silly and stupid and fifteen, she shoved the cookie in Sirianna's face and started a very unladylike mini food fight. Sirianna threw a cupcake at Chrissy, Chrissy tossed frosted graham crackers at the girls. Holly giggled and threw an almond tart at her sister, El and Max took cover under the table.
It was kind of perfect, really.