Chapter Text
May 13th, 1996
Natalie Scatorccio was very excited for prom. But maybe for all the wrong reasons. It wasn't for the dance, hell, it wasn't even for the event itself. She just wanted to get her hands on some booze and drink until she blacked out.
Because truth be told, it had been a horrible school year. They lost their chance to get to nationals, and her new stepdad was the biggest of assholes. So overall, she was ready to get out of Wiskayok entirely.
Smoking her cigarette, Natalie blew the smoke out of the window. Normally, she'd let it waft through the air of her bedroom, but her new step-prick was strict on smoking for whatever reason. It was almost like he didn't want the girl to die slowly.
But nah, she knew that wasn't the reason. Natalie had overheard a conversation between the man and her mom; he didn't want her to bring down the value of their shitty little trailer. He wanted to sell the thing and get a house in the city.
"Good luck with that..." Natalie scoffed, taking one last drag of her cigarette before flicking it out of the window. It'd take a miracle to get anyone to buy this piece of shit.
Enjoying the gentle spring air, the girl sighed before turning around. As nice as the peaceful moment was, it was a Monday, and she had class.
Leaning against the bathroom sink, Natalie dragged her toothbrush back and forth against her teeth. Hissing when she accidentally hit her gums more than a few times. After a minute of brushing, the girl spat the toothpaste down into the drain before wiping her mouth with her hand.
"Hurry it up in there! Some of us have work!" A deep voice sounded out from behind the door.
Running her tongue over her minty teeth, Natalie rolled her eyes. "Hold on a sec! Dickhead..." the last part was muttered quietly.
As much as she hated the man, she hated him even worse when he was mad. She could play nice for a little bit, if only for the sake of getting a ride. Hastily checking herself out in the mirror, Natalie finally unlocked the door and swung it open.
"There, all yours."
"About time," the man grumbled, brushing past the blonde girl and grabbing his own toothbrush.
Before he could brush his teeth, he glanced over at Natalie. "Go start my truck-- and don't even think about taking it for a joyride, you'll be in boot camp before you can blink."
"Like I have anywhere to 'joyride' to anyway," Natalie mumbled.
Taking her stepdad's keys from the counter, she pushed the front door open and made her way through the trailer park. Finding the aforementioned truck, Natalie unlocked the front door before hopping up into the seat.
Adjusting the seat a bit, Natalie smirked as she put her hands on the steering wheel. She had passed her Driver's Ed with flying colors; it might've been the only class she consciously put effort into. And it was all so she could drive some shitty car out of Wiskayok someday.
The sound of crunching grass snapped the girl out of her daydream. She quickly shuffled into the passenger seat, pulling down the vanity mirror so she could brush up on her makeup a bit.
Her stepdad pulled himself up and into the driver's seat, slipping the key into the ignition with a grunt as the car roared to life. "That makeup is what has you late for school every day, girlie."
"M'not late, I've been showing up on time for the past week."
"Your school calls, your mother may be passed out, but I ain't. If I get another call about you ditching, you'll be grounded until graduation."
Biting down on her lip, Natalie kept all the hatred that she had been harboring for months inside of her chest. It was just a few weeks, she could bite her tongue and act well until then.
Slamming the passenger side door behind her, Natalie slipped her Walkman over her ears to drown out the man's words. She had put up with enough of his asshole-ery during the car ride; now she had to put up with school.
Walking through the front doors, the girl made her way down the hall. Getting to her locker, Natalie spun the lock a few times before tugging it off. "But I'm a creep! I'm a weirdo--" Jumping when somebody leaned against the locker next to hers, Natalie put a hand on her chest when she realized who it was.
"Jesus! Don't sneak up on me like that, Jackie!"
The naturally blonde girl giggled. "I wasn't trying, promise! You were just lost in your music, what'cha listening to anyway?"
Pausing her song, Natalie pushed her headphones down and let them hang around her neck. "Radiohead"
"Ooh! Those were the guys you were talking about on Friday, right? I was trying to listen to them, but I dunno, they weren't really my style."
Shutting her locker, Natalie held her chemistry books under her right arm. "Thought so"
"You heading to Chem?"
"Fuck, don't remind me. I've already failed that shit once, trying not to make it twice." Natalie shivered, pushing the thought of Sophomore year down to the pit she usually kept it in.
"Praying for you, Nat," Jackie chuckled, adjusting her own books before pushing off the wall.
"I'd say I appreciate it, but the man above has never helped me before, so I doubt he'll start now."
"See you at lunch?"
"Yeah, see ya."
Putting a little pep in her step when she heard the warning bell, Natalie huffed as she made it to her class without being late. It was practically a miracle! She rarely made it in time to her first period, granted, it was on purpose.
Sinking down into her usual seat, Natalie rested her cheek on her knuckles in instant boredom. This was why she always missed Chemistry, because it was boring as shit! Mrs. T spoke like what Natalie imagined a Romanian robot would.
The only saving grace was the fact that her seatmate was thankfully absent. She didn't personally hate the girl, but she always chewed her gum too loudly, and it was annoying.
Natalie was able to drown out the woman's lecture for a solid ten minutes before she heard something that positively ruined her day. "So! I know prom is Friday, but this is still a school. So we'll be doing a project this week."
That? That right there sucked the life out of the blonde.
Letting herself flop forward onto the lab table, Natalie rested her forehead against the cold material. Barely managing to hold back a groan. The rest of the seniors in the classroom weren't as quiet, though, as they let out various groans and curses.
"Now, open up your textbooks to page 230 and get out your notebooks. Today we're gonna be taking notes on thermodynamics!"
Letting out a quiet sigh, Natalie slowly picked her head up and flipped through the pages of the big book. Stopping on the required page, the girl produced a pencil from her bag and begrudgingly took notes.
After what felt like an hour(only 30 minutes had passed), Mrs. T's lecture was finally over. "Now, normally I'd already have pairs for the project. But because it's prom week, I'll let you decide your own partners."
That slightly lifted the students' moods, kids instantly stood up to sit with their friends and get started on their project. But unfortunately for Natalie, she didn't have a single friend in this class. Shit, she didn't even have any acquaintances in the damn class.
Accepting the fact that she would have to work alone, the girl raised her hand.
Mrs. T just rolled her eyes and sat down at her desk. "And no, you cannot work alone. If there aren't enough people to evenly split it, you'll just join an already existing pair."
Slowly lowering her hand, Natalie could feel the headache coming on. Maybe she should have just ditched class again; dealing with her step-dad had to be easier than this bullshit.
But before she could lament any further, someone clearing their throat took her out of her brooding. "You don't have a partner either?"
Looking up from her notebook, Natalie squinted her eyes just a bit at the boy who stood next to her. She knew of him, and that was only because he was Coach Martinez's son-- One of them at least.
He would occasionally attend their practices. Most of the time, though, he looked like he'd literally rather be anywhere but the field. "You're Travis, right?"
Nodding his head, Travis continued to awkwardly stand with his hands in his pockets. "You can sit down, dude. Not like anyone is using that seat."
Pulling the chair out from the lab table, the boy sat down in the seat. His hands idly toyed with his own notebook, his fingers flipping the pages repeatedly as he stared down at the table. "So... how do you wanna do the project?" He slowly asked.
Shrugging, Natalie twirled her pencil between her fingers. "I dunno, probably just the bare minimum?"
That got a chuckle from Travis, and the corner of his mouth slowly turned up into a smile. "That's the best kind of project in this class."
Feeling her own lips twist into a smirk, Natalie rubbed the back of her neck and opened her mouth to crack another joke. But she was quickly cut off by Mrs. T, who stood in front of the class. "Now that you all have your partners, let me go over the outline of this project!"
Groaning dramatically, Natalie slumped in her seat. The same smirk was still on her face as she leaned over to Travis. "She just never shuts up. It doesn't help that she sounds like a--"
"Romanian robot"
"Romanian robot"
Hearing Travis say the same words as her, the blonde twisted in her seat to look at the boy. "No way! I thought I was the only normal human in this class," she whispered.
"Guess not"
The two teens locked eyes with one another. Natalie wasn't sure when it happened, but she swore that time had slowed down for a moment. Her grayish eyes examined the finer details of Travis's face.
Her gaze traced the boy's nose, admiring the way it sat almost perfectly on his face. But the boy pulled away after a bit, clearing his throat and turning to face the front of the classroom. Natalie followed suit quickly after, cursing herself for making things awkward.
Staring ahead at Mrs. T, Natalie's head was full of thoughts that she probably shouldn't have been thinking. Like how the boy was surprisingly cute, how his nose looked nice, or how his eyes looked like the kind you could get lost in.
This would be a long class period.
Thankfully, every class after first period passed as quickly as they usually did. Which was why Natalie was now sitting at a particularly crowded lunch table with a tray in front of her.
Normally, the Yellowjackets were split up during the school day, only really coming together for practice and actual games. But today was "special" in Jackie's own words. Speaking of the blonde, she was chowing down on some fries while moving her hands wildly around. "Yeah! Jeff hasn't even asked me to prom yet!"
"You two are already dating, isn't it a given that you're going together?" Taissa asked from across the girl, her shoulder slightly brushing against Van's from their proximity.
"Sure, but that's lame! He should be falling in love with me every day."
And that's how the entire table began discussing prom and who they were going with. The questions started at the head of the table, with Laura Lee. "Me?! Well... I don't really think there's anybody I'd want to go with, maybe my mother."
Everyone tried to hold in their laughter by ducking their heads, but as per usual, Van was the first one to crack. Letting a few giggles out before cupping a hand over her mouth. "No--! No, that's really sweet, seriously!"
Mari spoke up from her seat, "I already got my date!"
"Let's just hope it's not a guy who'll leave you for his cousin this time, Mar."
"Second cousins, so it's actually legal!"
One by one, every Yellowjacket answered the question until eventually it was Natalie's turn.
Poking at her food with her spork, the girl scratched the back of her head bashfully. "I dunno, I think I'm just gonna go to prom without a date. No sense in getting with someone for a single night, y'know?"
But even as she said that, a face came to mind as Natalie really thought about it. The conversation switched away from prom and back to school; every girl had some complaint about one of their teachers.
As her teammates spoke amongst themselves, Natalie looked over her shoulder. Scanning through the lunchroom to try and find a single person. And her wish was granted when she spotted a head of short brown hair in the corner of the cafeteria.
Watching Travis from afar, Natalie let a small smile slip onto her face.
Maybe prom wouldn't totally suck.
Unbeknownst to the blonde girl, Lottie was watching her keenly. She slowly traced the path of her eyes before finally noticing what her friend was staring at.
After the school day had ended, soccer practice had begun. But it was hollow for all the seniors on the team. They had missed their shot at nationals and only had a few weeks left of school anyway. It was mostly just an excuse to hang out.
Walking with Lottie across the field, Natalie kicked at the turf with the tip of her cleat. "You think the team will manage to win after we leave?"
Thinking about it for a second, Lottie just shrugged as she toyed with the soccer ball she was carrying. "Akilah is good, and Allie got a little better. When her leg fully heals, I think she'll be decent. But all the other JV members?"
Chuckling at the image that came to mind, Natalie shook her head. "Coach Scott is gonna have his work cut out for him when we graduate."
"I heard from Mari that he's switching schools when we leave," Lottie said while dropping the ball, idly flicking it up and keeping it in the air.
"No shit-- really?"
"Well, do you really trust Mari's sources?" Lottie asked with a grin.
"When you put it like that, not at all."
Laughing together, the two passed the ball around while chatting. It was nice. Natalie really hasn't caught up with her teammates. Their worlds didn't get to merge all that often. At some point during their practice, Natalie perked up a bit when she noticed a familiar head of brown hair in the distance. "M'gonna have a smoke real quick, be right back."
Stopping the ball with her foot, Lottie just waved the girl off before going back to juggling the ball.
Speed-walking over to the bleachers, Natalie grinned as she got closer to Travis. "Where's your dad?" She asked curiously; she hadn't seen Coach Martinez anywhere on the field yet.
"I dunno, I think he said some shit about having to head home for something," the boy shrugged, hands resting in his pockets like he had been doing all day.
Refusing to let the conversation die out, Natalie dropped her bag and knelt. Unzipping it before pulling out a small plastic baggie. "You smoke?"
"Oh-- Nah, I've never smoked before."
Standing back up, the blonde girl produced a lighter from her pocket and held a small joint between her fingers. "Wanna try?"
"Sure"
Heading to her signature spot behind the bleachers, Natalie held the small flame up to the end of her joint. "Here, you can get the first hit of this. I rolled it yesterday."
Reaching his hand out, Travis ignored the fact that their knuckles brushed against each other before taking the thin paper from the girl's hand. "I just inhale, right?"
"Yeah, and hold the smoke in your lungs for a bit to really feel it."
Flicking her lighter open, Natalie held the flame up to the end of the joint and pulled back when the rolling paper was properly lit. Travis brought the non-flaming end to his mouth, his face scrunching up a bit at the taste before he finally inhaled.
The smoke passed through his mouth and straight to his lungs. The boy held it in just like Natalie asked, but all it did was make him double over and cough aggressively. "Fuck-" he said between coughs.
Trying to keep a straight face, Natalie cackled as she took the joint. Holding it expertly between her fingers as she keeled over. "Oh my God! I didn't think you'd actually listen to me!"
Standing back up straight, Travis wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What-- Ahck-- are you talking about?"
"I was fucking with you, dude. Holding it in doesn't get you higher, it's placebo bullshit or something." Bringing the joint to her lips, Natalie took a smooth hit before blowing the smoke out. It curled around her face and floated to the top of the bleachers.
"Very funny," Travis murmured, letting out his last few coughs into his elbow.
"In my defense, it was pretty damn funny."
Taking one last hit, Natalie held the spliff out to Travis with a grin. "Here, take your real first hit. Last one didn't count 'cause you almost died."
"I did not almost die," he grumbled, mimicking Natalie by holding the joint like it was a cigarette. Glaring at the thing as if it wronged him, Travis slowly brought it to his lips. Being careful not to suck in too much smoke.
Pulling his lips back, he only held the smoke inside for a second before blowing it back out ungracefully right into Natalie's face. The girl scrunched her face up like an annoyed cat and batted the smoke away with her hands. "Usually you don't blow it in people's faces."
"Sorry"
Running his tongue across his lips, Travis just told himself that the cherry he tasted was from the joint and not from the girl standing across from him.
Coolly crossing her arms, Natalie had a smug grin on her face as she watched the boy. "So? Feeling anything yet?"
"Uh-- No, is it supposed to be that fast?"
"Nah, give it a few minutes, and you'll be fucked up" she teased.
Hesitantly taking another hit, Travis cleared his throat and held the joint out to Natalie. "Here, I gotta go make sure my brother hasn't run away or something."
"I can come with--"
Bursting their little bubble, Lottie came from around the corner. Her open mouth paused when she noticed the two together. "Am I interrupting something?"
Smoothing her shorts, Natalie shook her head and stepped forward past Travis. "No, we were just talking."
"Good, 'cause coach Scott is running some scrimmages. C'mon"
Looking back at Travis, Natalie's hand drummed a little beat on her waist. "You can smoke the rest of that, think of it as a present for being my partner."
Just awkwardly raising his hand in appreciation, the boy rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side to avoid accidentally locking eyes with Lottie. The girl was intimidating to him for whatever reason.
Stepping out from under the bleachers, Natalie walked with Lottie to the field.
"You're really talking to Flex?"
"That's not his name," the blonde scoffed.
"Well-- Travis, whatever. That's who you're going to prom with?"
"Who said anything about prom-- We're just friends! Not every guy I talk to is my new boyfriend, Lot."
"Okay! Okay, just asking." Lottie raised her hands in surrender, grinning down at her friend.
"Ask less next time," Natalie grumbled.
The scrimmage game was just like any other; the team with the most varsity girls ended up winning without any difficulty. And unfortunately for Natalie, she was on the team with mostly JV girls.
Catching her breath after the game, she rested her hands on her knees. "Why did I get stuck with the B-team?" She grunted, using her practice shirt to wipe some sweat from her forehead.
"Bring it in, girls!" Coach Scott barked, using his foot to stop a stray ball.
"As you all know, we lost our shot at nationals last week. But that doesn't mean that our work is over. While some of you are graduating in a few weeks, this team will continue even after they're gone. That's why we have to keep practicing."
Loosely listening to the man's speech, Natalie couldn't help but let her eyes wander over to the bleachers. It was pretty easy to find what she was looking for, considering the fact that only two people were currently watching them practice.
She smiled when she saw Travis sitting with his brother; the younger Martinez was busy drawing in his notebook while the eldest looked at the field with disinterest. "Wonder if he smoked the entire thing..." Natalie mumbled.
"So! Reminder that there's no practice on Friday because of prom, but other than that, practice is over. Good job today, everyone."
Clapping his hands together, coach Scott gave the Yellowjackets a lip-less smile before turning around. Mumbling something about getting all the cones and balls together. Misty was quickly at his side as usual, congratulating the man on his pep talk.
Walking off to her bag, Natalie shouldered it before making her way to the locker room. Ready to get out of her uncomfortable gear and into her normal clothes.
She only managed to get one cleat off before Jackie got everyone's attention. "Yellowjackets! I have a very important announcement to make! There's gonna be a party Wednesday night down on the edge of the woods! And as the team captain, I say the Yellowjackets have one last party together!
Shauna was the first to agree, even if it was with a quiet grunt of agreement. One by one, the rest of the girls in the locker room had let out their own words of agreement. Natalie had to admit, the idea of spending one last night with the girls she had known for years now sounded oddly perfect.
"Hell yeah"
Shortly after that, everybody slowly trickled out of the locker room one by one. Natalie was the last to leave; she made sure to take her time when picking a song for her Walkman. After slipping one of her cassettes into the player, the girl walked out bobbing her head.
"One, two, three, and to the four," she said under her breath, mumbling the lyrics
Happily walking down the sidewalk, Natalie hummed to herself to the beat of the song. Jogging across the street when the light finally turned green, the girl decided to stop at the corner store. Something she usually only did when it was late, and she had the munchies.
Pulling out a few crumpled-up dollar bills, Natalie placed them and two bags of chips on the counter. "That'll be all."
"Hey, you're Vera's kid, right?" The man behind the counter asked, his voice gruff with age as he scanned the items.
Not expecting conversation, Natalie tugged her headphones off. Nodding her head at his words. "Yeah, yeah, that's me."
"Here, give these to your mom. I owe her."
He slid a pack of cigarettes over alongside her change. "Don't go smoking these, young lady. It'll just kill your lungs."
Giving the man a mock salute, Natalie tucked the chips under her arm and stuffed the cigarettes into her pocket. "I'll get these to her."
Pushing the door open, she stepped outside with a grin on her face. Two bags of chips and a completely free pack of smokes? This had to have been her lucky day or something; most of the time, her luck was shit. But not today, it seemed.
Not wanting to head home just yet, Natalie's feet instinctively took her to her secret spot. Pushing some fencing to the side as she stepped through the small hole. Some dumb teenager cut it years before she was even born.
It was some abandoned train tracks. Natalie didn't know much about it. From the few times she's listened to her history teacher, Wiskayok used to be a big town for trade or some shit like that. The girl hated history with a passion, mostly because it was her class before lunch.
Stepping over the rusty tracks, she found her favorite spot to smoke. A train car that had been long forgotten, it was just as rusted as the tracks were. Grabbing the handlebars on the side of the cart, she used them to hoist herself up and into it.
It was dark and smelled pretty bad. But it was her own personal piece of shit, so it would do. Sitting on the edge, she let her legs dangle as she plucked a single cigarette from the pack. "She won't miss one," Natalie mumbled, going through the motions of lighting her cigarette with practiced ease.
Taking a long drag, the girl slowly blew the smoke out of her nose. Her mind began to drift thanks to the quiet she found herself in. And of course, the first thought on her mind was him, Travis. Chuckling to herself, Natalie took another drag of her cigarette. "He's cool, and kinda funny." She mumbled, letting herself ragdoll down onto her back.
"And pretty cute too."
Groaning out into the empty car, Natalie closed her eyes and sprawled her arms out to her side. The feeling welling up in her chest wasn't unfamiliar; she had felt it a few times in her life. But not like this, not like she was letting herself imagine.
"Fuck, I think I like him," she mumbled, grinning uncontrollably against the arm that she draped over her face. Love was messy, it hurt, and for Natalie, it always ended up with her alone at the end.
But she was human, damn it, and humans loved playing the game of love.