dream lover
pair: henry creel (1959) x oc summary: elaine miller can’t help that the new student, henry creel, ends up with a locker right next to hers. In a town of pom-poms, pep rallies, and carefully kept appearances, their quiet friendship grows despite the whispers and rumors telling her otherwise; as elaine is drawn further into henry’s guarded world, choosing to follow her heart where others choose fear, it means facing consequences neither of them planned for... words: 6.2k note: sooo here it is!! i wasn't expecting so much feedback but it reallyyy motivated me to get digging; bc the age for Henry is like super confusing now! also i left out the other parents for now because if this story takes off the way i want it to then it would have some minor implications but thats a much later problem...anyway, enjoy and please lmk what you think!!
part two
part one
“Gooood morning, Hawkins, Indiana! This is Gary Schultz here to tell you that it is a bright and sunny, early fall morning but don’t pull out the winter coats just yet…”
The radio man’s voice laced with static echoed around Elaine Miller who sat in the Hawkins High gymnasium, kneeling on the polished basketball court, painting a banner of green and gold with a few other classmates just before the first bell rang. It was senior year and that meant she would take point on the Tiger Committee’s projects such as making a banner for the homecoming game in a few weeks.
As a few more students from the committee stepped in, Elaine gave her knees a break and stood up, glancing over at the clock above the gym doors, seeing that the first bell would ring soon. Taking a deep breath, she brushed off her pale yellow skirt, and grabbed her sweater. The rest of the committee could handle the work, but she still nervously glanced back at them.
“...and for all you stragglers out there this fine, Monday morning, here’s a little tune to get you going!” and the song came on, making Elaine groan. “Take out the papers and the trash! Or you don’t get no’ spending cash!”
That would be stuck in her head all day.
As she ventured out into the halls, the morning sun just barely peaking in through the windows as more and more students began to fill the space between lockers, Elaine weaved through with ease. She said her good mornings to just about everyone who passed her, her tired eyes not defeating her. She was always friendly, and she was the kind of person who perked up with each person who said hello.
“If you don’t scrub that kitchen floor, you ain’t gonna rock and roll no more…” she sung under her breath, the tune now stuck in her head after all. “Damn,” she sighed.
Elaine paused when she neared her locker though, seeing one of the metal doors next to her own open, hiding a frame she wasn’t used to seeing there. Her saddle shoes seemed to slow to stop, shuffling across the floor. She heard about a new student coming. Maybe this was him? She tread carefully, as if not to scare him away like he were a cat.
But then, the locker door closed just as she reached hers, and Elaine couldn’t pry her eyes away as she fell on the tall, blonde boy. She instinctively smiled out of politeness, masking the startledness from the sudden movements. His hair was neatly combed, back behind his ears and his clothes were equally as put together; a plain button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows tucked into dark brown pants and a light sweater vest holding it together. She quickly met his eyes again, pale blue and striking her down with nothing for her to interpret.
“Hi, I’m Elaine.” she greeted, wondering why she struggled so long to find the words.
Elaine found herself trying not to sink further behind her locker door. She was so worried about spooking him that she didn’t realize she may have spooked herself. But this boy didn’t look phased, or maybe he was really good at hiding it.
“Hi.” he said back, automatic sounding. “Henry. Henry Creel.”
He spoke like his own name should have been a secret, but Elaine smiled wider.
“Are you new?” she asked, glancing at her locker to grab her AP biology book as well as a notebook or two for her later classes. But by the time she looked back up, Henry was gone and her smile fell. “Oh,” she added softly under her breath.
Well, she’d be nervous too if she were him.
“Laney!” a voice said from behind, followed by the sling of a leather arm around her shoulders.
Elaine jumped, spinning around to meet the embrace of James Hagen, who swarmed her locker with a few of the others from his friend group.
“James!” she shrieked, squirming out of his brace.
She laughed and shook her head at him, continuing onto class with the rowdy bunch, taking one last glance at her locker and still curious about Henry Creel.
~
By the end of the day, she learned that Henry must have been a senior too as they were in most of the same classes together. At least for Chemistry, English, and Calculus. He sat in the back, and occasionally she’d glance back, but he’d be glued to his book. At one point in English though, James’s friend had passed a note around and when Henry ignored it, he threw a balled up paper at him and Elaine glared.
That was how the next few days went.
At her locker each morning, she learned they both had a habit of showing up before the halls would be shoulder to shoulder with other students.
“Hi–”
Her greeting would be swiftly interrupted by the sound of his locker closing and Elaine would be left frowning. She guessed it had to be because of James, the same boy who’d come up to her locker with his friends every morning like clockwork, just to turn around and snicker about Henry in class. She knew it would pass eventually.
Under the warm September sun, Elaine sat on the football field, sporting a plain white skirt and t-shirt with a green and yellow H printed on the front. Her pompoms were tossed at her sides as she let her legs lay out before her, leaning back on her palms as the other girls sat around. Her best friend, Diane lay on the grass, using their varsity cardigan as a pillow and sunglasses to hide her closed eyes.
“You know, technically, David hasn’t asked me to come to homecoming with him.” said their friend, Sharon, pouting in the grass across from them.
“We are the homecoming, Sharon.” said Diane, a clear lack of patience this afternoon.
Elaine snickered to herself. “It’s our last one. Who cares about the guys throwing the ball.”
“Well, we don’t care.” Diane shrugged. “Our boyfriends play basketball anyway.”
The word sent a shudder through her core. “James isn’t my boyfriend.” she quickly denied.
Then, all the girls surrounding them looked at Elaine, and she fought to hide her grimace. She wasn’t lying–James was not her boyfriend. She didn’t want him to be either, especially if she wanted to go away for college next year. They dated once, sophomore year, and she called it off. But they were drawn back to each other out of habit. It wasn’t an easy thing to ignore when all of her other friends had someone either. Elaine kept her guard up, and that wall would stay firm forever.
“Yeah, and I didn’t just cheat on our first test of the year.” another friend, Mary, said, rolling her eyes.
Elaine glared at Mary, pretending like she had just been squinting from the sun. When she glanced at Diane, the girl had already lifted her sunglasses from her face, sitting up to glare at Mary with no shame to chalk it up to the sun.
“He wouldn’t be my boyfriend either if mine kept messing with that new kid…like someone’s boyfriend has been doing.” Diane said.
It’s not that Elaine wasn't someone who stood up for herself, she just hated confrontation. Diane was the friend who could do that anyway and it was useful against Mary, who had certainly made it obvious she liked James for years now.
The heat from the sun was worse now, crawling up her chest as she tried to look anywhere but the group of girls in front of her. She glanced around at the football team making their laps, and the band kids in the bleachers.
There wasn’t much to Hawkins in Elaine’s eyes but these girls right in front of her. It was a small town and she had the same friends pretty much since she could walk. God knows they nearly all killed each other every few years.
“Whatever, that kids a freak anyway. Have you heard all the stuff from the school he was at over in Roane County? My cousin said he pushed a girl down the stairs!” Sharon cried.
Elaine winced, and once again, Diane rolled her eyes just before lowering her sunglasses and going back to her restful state. The thought of Henry made her think about her locker, and she realized she left important AP bio notes in there. Outwardly groaning, Elaine stood up and gathered her things.
“I gotta head out early. I left some things back inside.” she sighed, not really planning on missing anyone but Diane.
“See you in the morning to finish up the banner?” Sharon asked, smiling up at her.
“See ya,” Elaine waved, speed walking back towards the school.
The halls were quiet, save for the few clubs that were having their first meetings of the school year. She waltzed over to the hallway her locker was in, the same place it was in for four years now. Inside were pictures from over the years. When her sister started middle school, she was allowed to take school pictures with her so that was up there. A small flag for Hawkins Tigers, a picture of Elvis, and a few magnets to spare that held up pictures of her and her friends.
Grabbing the notebook she was looking for, Elaine swiftly shut the locker and turned to find Henry walking up the hallway.
Elaine froze, clutching her books to her chest.
Henry mirrored her, stopping briefly to look at her through his brown rimmed glasses. She didn’t know he wore glasses, and she couldn’t help but think that they framed his face really nicely.
Inhaling sharply, she smiled. “Hi, Henry. What are you still doing here?”
Part of her hoped he would stay and talk instead of turning away. The other part of her couldn’t get the image of him pushing her down the stairs out of her head either. But she took this week as a challenge–one she was determined to win.
Henry glanced down at the books in his hands, raising his brows to look at her.
“Um, studying.” Henry cleared his throat. “Just trying to catch up on some of the things I missed the first week.”
A lightbulb went off in her head.
“Oh, what class? I take pretty good notes if you’d like to borrow them.” she offered.
Suddenly, a small curve tugged at the corner of Henry’s lips, and her heart softened. It made her straighten her spine a little, as if she could wriggle away the feeling. He shrugged his shoulders, exhaling as his eyes scanned over a notebook of his.
“Almost all of them…I suppose just English and chemistry?” he asked, raising a brow at her. “If it’s not too much of an inconvenience.”
She sensed his hesitancy in the way he spoke, and even the way he stood.
“No, I’m happy to help.” she stammered, trying to force her lips back into anything but a smile as she grew more flustered.
Elaine didn’t think she seemed intimidating–at least out of everything he’s probably experienced this week. But she treaded carefully anyway as she nodded curtly, turning back to her locker. She quickly rummaged through, pulling out a few pages that she already made into flashcards, and turned back to find him a few steps closer now and she almost didn’t breathe.
“Here.” Elaine said softly. “I already took my notes on Catcher in the Rye so you can just use what I wrote in the margins to help and here’s all the notes for chem from week one.”
When Elaine reached out to hand the small pile to Henry, his hand brushed hers as he took them, and her fingertips went numb. She chuckled nervously and withdrew her hand, looking up at Henry who sheepishly smiled down at his books. Behind his head, the lights by the exit flickered and it reeled her back into the painful realization that she was acting so stupid. There was no way she could hide from her own self destruction and she took a deep breath, holding her own books closer to her chest.
“Thank you, Elaine.” Henry said.
“Of course.” she shrugged.
It was truly no big deal. She was more than happy to help and even happier he finally seemed to respond to her. He started to walk around her to leave and her heart started to race.
“The only condition of sharing my notes is that you don’t act like a stranger in the mornings anymore.” she tacked on, glancing back at him.
Henry turned, slightly caught by surprise with his smirk hanging open as he looked back at her. He nodded and Elaine turned on heels, running back home with a new feeling of giddyness in her stomach.
~~~
When Elaine got to school over the next few days, Henry was already at his locker. She half expected him to shut the door and turn away but to her surprise, he looked over at her and said good morning every time. Without making it seem like she was too excited about that, Elaine simply said it in return.
Today, she couldn’t help herself though.
“I hope my notes in the margins weren’t too all over the place, I–”
“Morning, Elaine!” Diane’s voice interjected. “We just finished up the banner.”
Elaine turned around to see Diane, Sharon, and Mary strolling up to her locker. The girls behind Diane were chatting away, and when their heads turned back to her, their faces contorted with disgust as they looked behind her to Henry. Her heart sank.
“Oh god, Laney. I feel sorry for you having to have a locker near the new kid.” Mary sighed.
Elaine narrowed her eyes. “Mary–” she scoffed, glancing back at Henry, only to find him walking away.
“What?” Mary chuckled menacingly, glancing at Sharon who was also giggling. “It’s not like he heard me.”
The first bell rang, and Elained sighed heavily, shutting her locker before they all took off to first period. She shared a look with Diane, a frown etched on her face, but her friend shook her head slowly, as if she could read her mind. To try and change the subject, they talked about the banner and what was left for the homecoming preparations as they hurried through the crowded hallways.
Suddenly though, a series of loud thuds turned their attention to the windows that lined the hallways above their heads, and just as fast as Elaine looked up she quickly ducked back down when the glass broke.
Mary screamed and Elaine looked up to see her jumping back from a dead bird that fell at her feet–actually, a few dead birds and her eyes widened.
“Maybe he did hear you, after all, Mary.” Diane snickered, continuing onwards to first period with Sharon who laughed under her breath.
Elaine was momentarily stunned, watching as Mary still sobbed hysterically against the wall of the lockers. There was a strange feeling in the air, time slowing as she looked at the birds and Mary’s horrified face. The karma felt palpable, as strange as a coincidence it was. It reminded her of the one time during middle school when a lot more birds dropped dead in the recess yard from bad fertilizer. Maybe that was her way of trying to make what happened now a little less terrifying.
But she would be lying if she said she felt bad for Mary.
~~~
By lunch, rumors were thrown around about Henry Creel and the case of the dead birds flying through the window.
Elaine paid no mind to it, sitting next to James whose leg was bouncing anxiously as his hand rested over her knee. His dark hair was slicked back today, a curl or two popping out of their mold. His jaw was set, eyes firmly looking ahead. He was handsome by all standards, coming from a wealthy family that owned one of the hardware shops and did services around the town. But he was certainly as much of a brute as they came and when he heard about what happened, he was furious.
“If that kid ever does anything weird any time you’re at your locker, let me know.” James said to her under his breath, agitation evident in his tone.
She put his hand over his arm, covered with the soft fabric of his varsity jacket.
“I think I can handle it, James. Don’t worry.” she said softly, smiling at him.
He chuckled, the tension in his face breaking. “Yeah, those pompoms will save you, doll.”
Taking a deep breath, Elaine eased into his side as the group of them went into a new subject at the lunch table. It was the same all four years: Elaine and her friends with James and his from the basketball team. It was comfortable for her. When the conversation shifted to the college application workshops that were gonna be scheduled during their free periods, she noticed everyone but James spoke of any interest.
Her and Diane wanted to go University of Notre Dame and she couldn’t even fathom how sick to her stomach it made her thinking about how hard that would be.
“Wanna go to the drive in tonight?” James asked, the subject making him as nervous as it made her.
She turned her head, seeing the frustration get etched back into his forehead.
“I’m sorry, I gotta pick up Anna from school and watch her for a bit tonight.” Elaine frowned. “This weekend, maybe?”
The bell rang and James seemed satisfied with that answer for now–until Mary butted in and said they should all go to the drive-in. By the time their day finished, it seemed everyone was set on going together, even though that’s not what James had in mind. Elaine didn’t mind though.
As she grabbed her things from her locker, Elaine realized she hadn’t seen Henry since this morning other than the occasional glance back at him in class. She wondered if he bolted out of here, and part of her hoped he didn’t hear all of the rumors today.
Elaine strolled down the street towards the middle school, her light brown hair bouncing below her shoulders and pale blue skirt bellowing out behind her, picking up with the faint breeze that carried her on her walk. Other kids from the middle school ran in the opposite direction past her, and as she started to scan the area for her sister, Anna, she saw a familiar figure standing by an empty bike rack.
It was Henry.
Slowly, Elaine approached to stand next to him, clutching her books a little closer to her chest as she braced herself. She didn’t know why everything seemed to coil up when she got near him. It seemed he could feel her thoughts before she even got close, and the tall blonde boy glanced back at her, a smile faintly pulling at the corner of his lips.
“Hi,” Elaine greeted cautiously, settling next to him. “I wasn’t sure if that was you or not.”
Henry looked down at her. “It’s alright, I’m picking up my sister, Alice.”
“Oh,” she said, perking up. “I’m picking up my sister, Anna. I wonder if they know each other.”
When she looked at him, his eyes were seemingly scanning the area around them, almost cautiously and her heart flattened a bit. Maybe he did hear the rumors. She took a deep breath through her nose, looking to see if maybe Anna was coming out yet.
Quickly, she scrambled to find something to say, maybe anything that could put him at ease.
“I just want you to know…” she said, clenching her sweaty palms. “I don’t believe any of the rumors. I don’t think any of those things and…I’m sorry if my friends are being assholes.”
Elaine was scared to look back up at him, but she could feel his gaze on her already as clear as her heartbeat in ears. She finally did turn her head just a little, seeing something similar to relief across his expression, his eyes as soft as the blue of her skirt and her heart skipped. God, what was she thinking?
“Laney!”
Turning her head away, she saw her younger sister running towards her with a girl, whose hair was as light as Henry’s with similar blue eyes.
“Anna.” Elaine beamed, nearly staggering as her sister's arms wrapped around her. When she pulled back, she saw Alice next to Henry. “Did you have a good day at school?” she asked.
Anna nodded, stepping away to link arms with Alice.
“It was so much fun. This is my new best friend, Alice! Can we walk home together instead?”
Elaine raised her eyebrows, unsure of what to say, wondering if Henry would even want to walk with her after her butchered apology. But he started walking ahead.
“Come on, we’ll walk for a little bit.” he said, his head jerking in the direction of the road they walk.
It was like her sister didn’t even know she was there as she skipped away with Alice, staying a few yards in front of them. Chuckling softly, she braced herself for the walk ahead and fell into step with Henry, nearly shoulder to shoulder.
“Do you two live close to the school?” Henry asked.
Thankfully, it was his turn to be curious and Elaine didn’t have to fight against her better nature to not ask him a million things.
“Yeah, we live over at the end of a culdesac on Maple. Been there my whole life. I heard your family moved into one of those nice Victorian homes…but that’s because my mom is a big town gossip.”
Then, Anna’s little green eyes turned back around to glare at her. “I’m telling mom you said that.”
Elaine stuck her tongue out at the little girl who snickered and turned away. Henry found it at least a little humorous.
“She’s not wrong, it is a beautiful house. It almost feels too big though sometimes.”
Elaine looked back at the girls ahead, wondering if they would start hanging out more after school since they already seemed attached at the hip.
“I feel the opposite about my home, at least. Everything feels too small when you’ve been here so long. I want to go away for college, but not too far away, maybe Notre Dame if I can get in.” she rambled on, continuing on about the essay she still had to write and when the early decision application was due.
It didn’t take much for Elaine to get overwhelmed and she hated when she could feel herself get overworked in the middle of a sentence. She warily looked over at Henry as they almost bumped shoulders again.
“Sorry, this has just been a very busy first few weeks of school.” she chuckled nervously. “I thought senior year was supposed to be a lot more carefree and fun.”
“Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t have a hard time getting in, if these past couple of weeks have been any indication of how great you are.” Henry said, his lips taut as his gaze fell to the floor in front of him.
Elaine was slightly taken back, unsure if she heard him correctly enough to be as flustered as she was. But she took it in stride, consciously making the decision not to get too excited and simply smiled at him.
“Thanks.” she settled.
Just as the moment warmed her face, not to be mistaken for being sunkissed on a cloudy day, the familiar hum of an engine arrogantly tore through the street. She somehow recognized it before it sped by, and as she turned her head, familiar faces from the football team poked their heads through the window and the blue Impala was gone before she could even register who they were.
Elaine felt her throat tighten just a little out of instinct. She felt guilty about her gut reaction to being seen with Henry. She couldn’t tell if it was her own ego or because she knew how his kindness wasn’t seen by the others the same way she saw it.
But very quickly, the road split and Elaine and Anna went one way while Henry and his sister went the other. She said bye to Henry, almost wishing they had more time to walk together.
Elaine glanced back one last time, earning a suspicious look from her sister.
“What?” she scoffed.
Anna’s face scrunched. “You like Alice’s brother.”
“I do not, you brat.”
~~~
The drive-in was already half full when they pulled in to see North by Northwest, the screen glowing faintly against the setting sun. Rows of cars stretched across the gravel lot, radios crackling with the opening previews as people laughed and shuffled around with popcorn and sodas.
Elaine slid out of James’s Impala and smoothed down her skirt, the familiar comfort of the ritual settling her nerves. The drive in just opened this year so they spent most of the summer here and had a routine at this point.
James wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked over to the concessions, talking idly with the others while the sun dipped lower leaving a scalding orange sky mixed with violet and blues in its wake. But she could feel it in him, the tightness in his grip, the way his jaw worked like he was holding something back all night.
He was quiet as they got their popcorn and drinks, and he carried it as they walked back to the car where their other friends waited.
“So,” James said casually, too casually, “you walked home with that Creel kid yesterday?”
Elaine stiffened, eyes quickly finding Diane’s in the next car over, and turned her head slowly to look at him.
“What?”
Behind them, Mary perked up immediately, seemingly coming back from the concession stand right behind them, straw between her lips.
“I heard it from Bobby,” she chimed in, eyes gleaming. “Said he saw you two together by the middle school.”
Elaine’s stomach dropped, irritation flaring hot and fast. It came on so sudden, but something about Mary sitting awfully close to James didn’t help her anger.
“He walked with me because our sisters are friends,” Elaine said evenly, only looking at James. “That’s it.”
James scoffed, a humorless sound. “Yeah? Funny how everyone keeps seeing you with him lately.”
Elaine pulled away from his arm, turning fully toward him now. “Everyone meaning Mary?”
Mary laughed, unbothered. “Oh relax, Laney. People talk.”
Elaine’s patience snapped.
“No,” she said sharply, her voice cutting through the chatter around them. “You talk. And then you let everyone else pile on like it’s funny.”
Mary blinked, clearly not expecting that.
James frowned. “Elaine—”
“I’m serious,” Elaine pressed, heat rushing to her face. “Henry hasn’t done a single thing to deserve the way people treat him. He’s quiet. He keeps to himself. And now suddenly he’s some kind of freak because it makes you all feel better?”
“That’s not what I—” James started.
“Our sisters are friends,” Elaine continued, not letting him finish. “We both happened to be picking them up from school that day. So yeah, we walked home together. If that’s a problem, then I don’t know what to tell you. Our lockers are next to each other and we say good morning, like normal people do.”
There was a beat of silence.
Mary rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. “God, you’re being dramatic.”
Elaine turned on her, chest rising and falling sharply. “And you’re being cruel.”
That shut her up and her other friends whistled lowly around them. Diane was fighting back a laugh, but an impressed one that made Elaine feel a little bit better about defending herself.
James exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. The anger drained from his face, replaced with something closer to embarrassment.
“I just don’t like people talking about you,” he muttered.
Elaine softened just a little, the tension in her shoulders dissipating.
“Then maybe stop listening to them,” she said quietly.
The movie flickered to life on the screen, headlights dimming around them as people climbed back into their cars. James hesitated, then opened the passenger door for her without another word.
They settled inside, the radio crackling as the sound came through. James reached for her hand after a moment, tentative this time. She let him take it.
The tension eased as the movie rolled on; jokes whispered, popcorn shared, James squeezing her fingers during the dramatic parts like he always did. Kisses were stolen too, unfamiliar to their new and mending relationship. By the time the credits neared, it almost felt like old times again..
Somewhere between the laughter and the film’s ending, things smoothed over.
But the knot in her chest stayed.
~~~
Friday morning came around and after finishing the first exams in most of her classes this week, Elaine was relieved to be in the school gym instead of the library before the sun was up. The radio from the PE teachers office sat on the bleachers, playing Dion loudly into the depths of the empty gym.
Homecoming was tonight, and she wanted to hang the banner in the gym for the pep rally. The guys were supposed to do it the night before but she came in early on the hunch that they forgot.
In her cheer uniform, she ended up dragging the ladder out of the supply closet all by herself to hang it and she successfully got one side up before dragging the ladder to the opposite end of the bleachers now.
Climbing to the top with the edge of the banner in her hand, she was nearly breaking a sweat at this point. She thought she heard the doors open behind her and quickly glanced back, but saw not a single soul was in the school yet.
“Each night I ask the stars up above; why must I be a teenager in love?” Elaine sung to the radio. “I cried a tear for nobody but you, I’ll be a lonely one if you should say we’re through…”
The sun started to rise above the treeline around the school, and just as she was hooking up the banner to the hook in the wall, a beam of the early morning light in its pinkish orange fury went right into her eyes. While she squeezed her eyes shut, something in her gravity tipped unexpectedly, and Elaine’s arms flew out around her to try and catch herself but suddenly, nothing was under her.
Her stomach dropped before her body did.
There was a split second, sharp and cold shooting through her body, where she knew she was falling. The ladder scraped loudly against the gym floor, metal screaming, and her breath punched out of her chest as she braced for the impact.
But it never came.
Instead, the world slowed. It didn’t stop, it stretched and her descent stalled, like she’d been caught in thick air. Her body jerked once, suspended in that impossible moment, stopping her heart as it hammered against her chest…and then, she hit the ground.
It was hard enough to sting and to snatch the breath from her lungs, but not nearly as hard as it should have been and the suspicion immediately dawned on her.
Elaine lay there, stunned, staring up at the rafters as the radio crackled on, Dion still crooning cheerfully from somewhere far away. Her heart thundered in her ears, chest rising and falling, too scared to look in case this was all a reaction to something being horribly broken.
“Elaine?”
She twisted her head toward the sound just as Henry rushed toward her from the far doors of the gym. His face was pale, his eyes wide and unfocused, like he hadn’t meant to be there at all.
“I—I heard something fall,” he said, stopping short of touching her, like he was afraid to. “Are you…are you okay?”
She sat up slowly, wincing more out of confusion than pain. Her palms pressed flat to the floor, grounding herself, being somewhat relieved when she didn’t see any bones out of place or blood all over the ground.
“I think so,” she said, though her voice came out quieter than she intended.
She looked at the ladder. It had tipped farther than it should have.
She looked back at him and her eyes narrowed in on that speck of red under his nose. Her brows furrowed, and her hand instinctively lifted to his face, stopping just short of a hair of space between her palm and his cheekbone.
Henry didn’t stop her, but he swallowed hard and gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m not the one who fell–” he started, then stopped abruptly.
His breathing changed.
Elaine noticed it immediately—the way his chest hitched, the way his gaze slid past her shoulder instead of meeting her eyes. Henry suddenly released his grip, his hands curled and fingers flexing like they didn’t quite belong to him.
“Henry?” she asked carefully, tilting her head.
The lights above them flickered. His head snapped up, eyes glassy now, unfocused, pupils blown wide. He shook his head gently, eyes sweeping behind his eyelids.
“I need—” He broke off, pressing his palm against his temple, eyes still unfocused on something else entirely. “It’s loud.”
Elaine pushed herself to her feet, her legs wobbling slightly. She frantically looked around, hoping someone would walk in and help. She was barely recovered from her own scare but quickly grabbed Henry’s hands.
“Hey,” she said, trying to hide the panic in her tone, stepping closer. “Come on. Let’s get some air.”
He flinched when she touched his hands, like her fingers burned, but then his hand curled around hers
“Outside,” she repeated, firmer now.
They moved quickly, guiding him toward the side doors. When they stepped out into the cool morning air, the noise in her head quieted immediately and she hoped Henry would ease up too. Birds chirped in the distance and the sky was now fully engorged by the pink hues of sunrise.
Henry stumbled forward a step, bracing his hands against the brick wall of the gym. His breathing was uneven, shallow.
“I didn’t mean to--” he said suddenly, voice low and shaking between his breaths. “I’m sorry.”
Elaine’s heart pounded, almost scared to move a muscle in fear that something else would turn horribly wrong.
She stepped closer, lowering her voice instinctively. “Henry. Hey. Look at me.”
He didn’t.
She hesitated, then placed her hand flat between his shoulder blades. She felt the tension there tight as a wire.
“It’s okay. You’re okay.” she softly tacked on.
That seemed to reach him and his shoulders sagged slightly, like something had loosened its grip and she stepped closer now.
“I didn’t want…” His voice cracked. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a defeated exhale, forced from his ribs like he had been holding it all in. “It happened again. I-I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have had to see that.”
She didn’t ask what it was or why, and simply kept her hand on him for assurance. Her own nerves were rattled still, from her own mishap only to leap right into another.
“Just breathe,” she murmured. “You’re here. It’s just us. Nothing’s wrong.”
He finally turned his head toward her then, eyes rimmed red, searching her face like he was afraid she might disappear if he looked away too long. The fear in his expression made her own heart sink. He didn’t deserve whatever plagued him.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
She nodded, even though her mind was still spinning, replaying the fall over and over again.
“Yeah, I promise,” she said quietly, cracking a smile as a thought came to mind. “Ya know, if you wanted to make my fall all about you, it would have been funnier if you just climbed the ladder and jumped again.”
Henry, exhausted, still managed a tug at the corner of his lips.
She still didn’t have time to wrap her head around what happened. She needed at least a few minutes to catch her breath and ask Henry what happened. That wasn’t even including the lapse in her memory about her fall; and that memory kept getting further and further away from her mind.
The bell rang inside the building, muffled through the walls, and Elaine nearly jumped out of her skin, and Henry looked startled too.
He straightened slowly, running a hand through his hair.
“Elaine, please…please don’t mention this to anyone. I should go,” he said, already stepping back. “I’m sorry.”
Elaine’s breath caught in her throat as she watched him distance himself. She smiled softly.
“For what?” she asked coyly.
He looked grateful when he glanced at her one more time, disappearing around the corner of the building, Elaine stood there alone, her racing pulse catching up to her.
She looked down at her hands, unable to shake the feeling that she should’ve fallen faster. She knew it and whatever had stopped her—even for a moment—had scared Henry more than it scared her.
That was the part she couldn’t shake.
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part two
