Chapter Text
The overwhelming noise of the speakers muffled the moment the door slid closed behind Vi, and she felt like she could finally breathe for the first time that night. The late night August air surprised Vi with a bite of chill, pleasant against her damp and overwarm skin. She dropped herself onto the low and wide stone fence encircling the house, back turned to the noise murmuring behind her. The neighborhood all around her was still, rows upon rows of cookie cutter homes staring blankly at her from her periphery, the blackened windows’ gazes heavy on her.
She shouldn’t have come to this party. She barely knew anyone here, let alone anyone she liked talking to, especially Cleo, the party’s host. She should have convinced Claggor to come with her, then she would have had someone to talk to in the crowded and ear-throbbing mess of a house party. Mylo would have been her ideal choice - he was the best to talk shit to - but he was already stressed about college going into Sophomore year. She couldn’t pull him away from schoolwork no matter how hard she tried.
Vi really didn’t know what she would do without them if she left for college next year.
Four. Seven. Eight. Four. Seven. Eight.
“You needed some air too?”
Vi’s head spun towards the voice and her blood immediately superheated in her veins. Dark blue eyes stared into her own, bright and bold on her striking heart-shaped face. One of the corners of her lips was curled up in a small smile, giving her eyes an unbelievably soft and friendly aura. The girl grabbed one of her arms and rubbed it, and Vi noticed the lean muscles in her arms, subtle underneath the long pink sleeves of her sundress.
She needed to mentally coax her lungs into breathing again.
The silence stretched between them. Vi didn’t notice the quiet until the girl broke it, her voice wavering and hesitant. “Do you - uh, do you mind if I… sit with you?” The girl’s shoulders hunched up around her ears, drawing Vi’s eyes to notice her now furrowed brow, the hint of teeth biting her bottom lip, the faint dust of pink on her cheeks.
Vi pinched her thigh to drag her mind back down to Earth.
“Y-yeah, yes, you can - uh, yeah,” she stammered. She hurried to shift her body until a space opened up on her right for the girl, her stiff limbs causing her to nearly flail as she moved. The girl smiled wider and sat down next to her, thankfully not commenting on Vi’s traitorous limbs.
She kept enough distance to not touch Vi, but she could still feel the waves of heat reach her through the little space between them. Every pore on Vi’s body raced to drench every part of her skin with sweat and she thanked herself for wearing a black tshirt. The girl reached her right hand out across her body towards Vi and kept it hovering in mid-air.
“My name is Cait, I’m Cleo’s cousin,” she said, her accented voice warm and soft as it settled around Vi’s shoulders. It soothed Vi, cooling her overheated skin ever so slightly, but the effect went away when Cait flashed her teeth and showed a gap in between her front two teeth.
Vi clenched her sweat drenched palm into one of the legs of her black jeans. She wiped the worst of the sweat away before grabbing Cait’s outstretched hand. Sitting as close as they were side by side forced Vi’s arm to contort to use her right hand, her elbow tucked against the side of her body and her forearm splayed out to the side towards Cait. Embarrassment began to choke her, but it ebbed when she felt Cait’s surprisingly calloused and cool hand grasp hers. Her touch pushed her racing heart into speeds that ached her chest, the ache worsening when Cait let out a small and chagrined laugh.
“Sorry, I, um, I should have thought about the - er - logistics of shaking hands like this,” she laughed. Cait’s embarrassed grin proudly displayed her gap tooth again, her closed eyes crinkled in the corners from laughter, and Vi begged God for any kind of mercy on her overworked heart. She forced all of the remaining spit in her mouth to shove the lump down her throat to the pit of her stomach and licked her lips.
“I-it’s okay…” Vi croaked once the lump made its new home in her stomach. Silence stretched between them again, her mind focused obsessively on their still connected hands and on Cait’s smile. It was only when Cait removed her hand that Vi felt aware of herself again.
“And you are…?” Cait asked. The corner of her mouth pulled up into a smirk that made Vi’s knees tremble.
“Er - Vi, I’m-I’m Vi, sorry,” she pushed out of her lips. Her face burned hotter than she believed possible, the heat intensifying when she heard Cait chuckle at her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Vi,” she finally said after her laughter faded. “So, uh… are you one of Cleo’s friends? I haven’t heard her mention you before.”
“Uh, no, we’re just. In the same grade, and they invited everyone, so…” Vi said, her words coated in weak and nervous laughter. She clutched the back of her neck in a desperate death grip and hoped that it looked like a casual neck rub. She needed to ground herself, and now .
“Oh cool, cool…” Cait said, her voice trailing off into a silence that suffocated Vi.
Did Vi screw this up already? Did she already drive away one of the prettiest girls she had ever seen? Why couldn’t she hold just one conversation -
Cait’s bubbling laughter broke Vi’s mini spiral. Her laugh was light, infectious, and Vi felt herself feel lighter with every giggle that floated out of her throat. “God, I’m sorry, I’m just - the worst at small talk,” she forced out between her fading bouts of laughter. Cait’s eye corners crinkled beautifully, her nose scrunched up, her gap tooth on full unabashed display, her shoulder knocking into Vi’s every now and then. Every second increased the fluttering in Vi’s stomach, but she couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face.
“It’s okay, I’m not the best small talker either,” Vi finally said as the last of Cait’s laughter died off.
They stared at each other, the silence a comfortable barrier against the muffled music still pounding away behind them. Vi felt her shoulders relax, her nerves soothe themselves, her heart still racing but no longer threatening to punch through her chest.
“Can I see your hand for a second?”
Vi could feel her brain freeze in place. The air around her restrained her, leaving Vi no choice but to blink slowly at Cait and her outstretched hand. Seconds strolled past them, answers alluding Vi no matter how many times she passed her eyes back and forth between Cait’s face and her hand. Her brain was able to notice how more and more red bloomed on Cait’s face with every pass, causing Vi’s to heat up as well.
Without realizing it, her hand reached towards Cait, and her stomach and heart worked themselves into a frenzy when she felt Cait’s cool and calloused hand wrap around her wrist. Her touch was gentle, but Vi could feel a strength in her hand that caused her throat to dry up. Vi watched as Cait reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a pen. She clicked it open and Vi struggled to stay still as the pen tickled the palm of her hand. She stared curiously at her hand and felt her tongue swell in her mouth when caught sight of a phone number.
“I know we’re both bad at small talk,” Cait said, Vi barely able to hear her through the ringing in her ears, “but I still want to get to know you while I’m in town. Maybe during the day and not outside of a lame house party.” That small shy smile graced Cait’s face again, still breathtaking even when her face was beat red. She let go of Vi’s hand and stood suddenly, walking backwards towards the front of the house. “Text me?” she called out. Vi nodded, still too stunned to do anything else, and was rewarded by seeing Cait’s unfairly beautiful smile one more time before she turned around to jog to the front yard.
Vi didn’t know how long she sat in the backyard staring at the number on her palm. She studied the penmanship, noting that Cait had almost abnormally neat handwriting, and tried to memorize the feeling of Cait’s hand around her wrist.
God help her she already wanted to feel Cait’s hand again.