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Stan stared at the mess of blood in shock. His cheekbone stung where Bradley Lewis had hit him. People ran around him, he could barely hear everything around him over all of the screaming.
Bradley's body lied in the middle of the gym surrounded by a pool of blood. His entire head was gone. The sight of it made him feel like he was going to vomit.
He needed to find Syd.
He ran out of the gymnasium, following the crowd of people out the doors of the school. By the time he made it outside, the police were there. He continued out, a million thoughts racing through his head
Syd was in love with Dina. He can't say he was surprised at this, in fact it actually made a lot of sense with hindsight. He saw the way Syd looked at her and the way her eyes lit up when she spoke about her. But it still hurt. Of course it did, the person he liked didn't like him back, at least not in the way he liked her, obviously it hurt. But he'd get over it. Besides, that was far from important at the moment. What was important was finding Syd, his friend.
His friend who had just killed someone.
Stan took a deep breath, the cool air filling his lungs provided him a slight sense of clarity, and headed towards the old water tower. He liked to go there often, when he needed to get away from his father or just clear his head. He would climb to the top and just sit there, and usually smoke. Away from everybody and all his problems, it was actually quite relaxing.
And it appeared that Syd had the same idea. Stan found her standing on the walkway of the tower, holding onto the railing and just looking down. Her face, hair, and the entire front of her dress was splattered with blood. Bradley Lewis' blood.
Stan climbed up the stairs, "Syd!" he shouted once he reached her.
She didn't even look at him, "How did you know where to find me?" She asked, staring blankly at the trees below them.
"I didn't," he responded.
Neither of them said anything else for quite a while. Stanley went to where Syd stood and sat down next to her, his legs dangling off the side of the tower. He stayed silent, not knowing what to say. What where you even supposed to say in a situation like this? So he didn't say anything.
After a few moments, Syd moved and sat down next to Stan. She still didn't look at him, but Stan saw that she had begun to cry.
"What the fuck did I just do?" She asked, breaking the silence.
"It wasn't your fault," was all Stan could think to say.
She finally turned to look at him, "How could you say that? I killed someone, Stan. Bradley is dead because of me."
"You didn't mean to... did you?"
"No! Of course I didn't mean to fucking kill him! I just wanted him to shut up."
She began sobbing harder, putting her head in her hands. Stan put his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting way. He just wanted her to know that he was here for her. Stan took the fact that she didn't pull away from him as a good sign.
"I'm not some fucking superhero, Stan," she said after another pause, "All I've ever done is hurt people."
"That's not true, Syd."
"Yes, it is," she didn't sound angry when she said that, like she did before. Instead, she just sounded... defeated. She said it as if it was some undeniable fact. But it wasn't. Stan knew that it wasn't.
Stan didn't know what to do. So, he did the only thing he could think of and hugged her. And, to his surprise, she hugged him back. "It's not," he said so softly it was practically a whisper.
Syd held on to him like she was a drowning child and he was some kind of life float. She buried her sobs into his shoulder, covering his light blue blazer and shirt in blood. Syd wasn't a very big fan of hugs, or physical touch in general, but this was nice. Stan smelled like weed, a scent that Syd found comforting, in a strange way. The smell reminded her of her father (though, as a child, she didn't know what the smell was yet) and the truck he used to drive.
They stayed like that, sitting on the walkway of the tower, for a long while. Stan was the first to pull away. "Let's go home," he said. Syd nodded.
They headed back to their houses, walking side-by-side in a comfortable silence. Stan had left his car in the school's parking lot. He had forgotten it there after everything that had happened. Since the school was the last place either of them wanted to be at the moment, they just walked. Stan can go back later to get it.
They made it to their street. Syd stopped in front of Stans's house.
"What is it?" Stan asked.
"I don't want to be alone," she admitted.
"You can stay over," he said.
She nodded in acknowledgement, "Thank you," she said softly.
"Wait here a second," he said. Syd gave him a confused look, "It's just... my dad," he explained. He went inside the house to check where he was and try to think of a way to sneak Syd in without him noticing. Thankfully, he didn't have to do all that. His father was in his room, sleeping, and lucky for them he was a very heavy sleeper.
He invited Syd in, making sure to be as quiet as possible just in case. They went to his room in the basement.
Stan gave her some clothes and directed her to the bathroom so she could take a shower. Syd looked in the mirror. She looked horrible. Well, she felt horrible. She peeled off her bloodstained dress and stepped into the shower. The water turned pink as the blood she was covered in washed away. When she was done, she looked at the clothes that Stan had given her- a baggy sweater and a pair of sweatpants. She pulled them on, the softness of their fabric against her skin felt nice and warm, especially compared to the dirty dress she was wearing before.
She left the bathroom. Stan was sitting on his sofa, Sydney could see that he had also changed out of his homecoming clothes and into some pajamas. When he saw her, he smiled at her softly. She sat down next to him.
There was silence again. She looked around the room, remembering the first time she was there, when they had gotten high, laughed about jellyfish, and had sex. God, she lost her virginity here, not even two week before.
The utter absurdity of the past week or so caught up to her. She began to laugh. She tried (and failed) to hide her giggles behind her hand, but she couldn't stop.
Stan looked at her, confused, but after a second or two, he began to laugh as well.
"Why are we laughing?" He asked between his chuckles.
"I don't know!" Syd snorted,
Eventually their laughter died down, and they fell asleep.
Syd woke up a few hours later. She checked her phone, only to see multiple missed calls from her mother. It was then that all the events of the night before caught up to her. So it wasn't just a dream like she hoped. Stan was awake, on the other side of the sofa where Syd was. When he saw she was awake, he smiled at her.
"Good morning," she said.
"'Morning," he said. "Do you want anything for breakfast?" He spoke gently.
Syd shook her head, "No, thank you. I should be heading home."
He opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then closed it, then opened it again. "Alright. My dad left a little bit ago for work. So you won't have to sneak out or anything."
Syd nodded and got up to leave. She made it to the door before Stan called her again.
"Syd?"
"Yeah?" She said, turning back to him. "What's up?"
"You..." he paused, like he was trying to find the right thing to say, "You know I'm here for you, right?"
"Right... yeah, thanks, Stan. Same goes for you," Syd smiled at him before heading out the door and walking to her house. When she went inside, she was met by her mother. When she saw Sydney, she immediately stood up.
"I have been looking for you all night!" She shouted, "I was worried sick! Where the hell were you? Why are you wearing that?"
"I was at Stanley Barber's house," Syd answered, figuring that there was no use in lying,
"You stayed over at a boy's house?"
"It wasn't like that, Mom. We were just... freaked out after what happened."
"And you're wearing his clothes?"
"I had to change. My clothes... got dirty," Syd explained, deciding to lie about that part, "I fell. In the dirt. When I tried to run away."
Her mother's face softened. She was still angry, but now she looked concerned as well. "Are you okay?" She asked after a moment. Syd nodded. "Well, you should have called. When I heard what happened, I tried to call you. When you didn't pick up, I called Dina, and she said she didn't know where you were. I was terrified something happened to you. I was this close to calling the police!"
Syd paused. When I heard what happened. What did she hear? What could they have possibly told them? That a kid's head randomly exploded? That she was the one who caused it? "I'm... sorry," Syd eventually said. Her mother seemed shocked by the fact she actually apologized. "Can I go now?" Syd gestured in the direction of her room.
Her mother took a deep breath, "Fine," she said, in a we'll talk later tone of voice. Then she walked away, towards the kitchen.
Syd went to her room and dropped onto her bed. She stayed there staring at the ceiling for a while. After a while, she moved her head and caught a glimpse of the crack she accidentally made in the wall, peeking out over the dresser she used to hide it.
What is wrong with me? Syd thought. She will never get control over this power, will she? She killed Banana, she killed Bradley. She was a murderer. Bradley had humiliated her in front of the entire school. In front of Dina. What would she think of Syd now?
As her thoughts raced, the room began to shake. The three-day-old cup of water that sat on her nightstand splashed and spilled out the top, and one of the pictures hung on the wall fell with a loud crash.
There was a knock at the door, snapping Syd out of her thoughts. Everything froze. Liam walked in holding two plates of pancakes.
"Hey, Goob," she said, quickly sitting up.
"What happened?" He asked, looking at the fallen picture.
Syd lied, "It just fell down on it's own. Didn't hang it well enough, I guess."
"Oh, okay. I brought breakfast," he handed her one of the plates.
"Thanks, Goob," she smiled weakly.
He sat down next to her. They usually ate breakfast together, but Liam knew that Sydney probably wasn't planning on leaving her room any time soon, so he figured this was the best way to continue their tradition.
"Why didn't you come home last night."
"That's... hard to explain," she said.
"I heard Mom on the phone last night. They said a student got shot."
Oh, so that's what they were saying happened.
"Yeah, it was like super scary."
"Oh, well, I'm glad you're okay."
"Thanks."
They ate their breakfast. Liam talked about school and his drawings and Veronica Thompson. It was nice to finally get her mind off everything that happened the night before.
Syd spent the next few days in her room, only leaving to get food or to go to the bathroom. The only people she talked to were Liam, and occasionally Stan when he called on the phone to see how she was doing.
One day, when their mother was working late at the diner and Syd was stuck in her room, Liam sat in their living room, drawing and watching cartoons. He was about to get up to show Syd the finished product when their doorbell rang.
He opened the door to find Dina standing on the other side. She looked like she had been crying. She was holding a book that Liam recognized as the journal that Syd carried around.
"Hey, D," he said, "Are you okay?"
She smiled, Liam could tell it was fake. "Hi, Liam. I'm okay. Is Syd here?"
"Yeah, I'll go get her," he invited her in. She sat down on their couch as Liam walked to the edge of the walkway and yelled, "Syd! Your friends here!"
"Alright! I'll be out in a second!" Syd shouted back. She trudged out of bed and through the hallway, expecting the friend to be Stan. When they had last talked on the phone, he had mentioned wanting to hang out soon. She was surprised to be met by Dina, holding her diary. Syd froze.
"Dina, hi," she said. Dina looked at her. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was messy. When she saw Syd, the first thing she did was stand up, run to Syd, and hug her. Syd slowly lifted her arms to hug her back. Syd felt her hair against the side of her face and neck. She smelled like vanilla.
Dina pulled away, "Sorry, I know you don't like hugs." She sat back down.
"It's alright," Syd said, her anxiety rising as she sat next to her.
"I'm gonna go," Liam said, he went down the hallway to his own room, closing the door shut behind him.
"I think this is yours," Dina handed her the diary. "Don't worry, I didn't read it. Promise."
Syd took it out of her hands, "Thanks."
Dina's expression shifted into one more serious. "I wanted to talk... about what happened at homecoming." She talked slowly, carefully choosing her words.
"Yeah?" Syd said. the lamp that sat next to Dina on the side table began shaking. Syd tried to make it stop, but she couldn't. Thankfully, Dina didn't seem to notice.
"I wanted to know, Is the things that Brad said... were they true?"
Syd stared at her for a moment, feeling like she was going to start crying. Slowly, she nodded. The lamp started rattling harder. Then, suddenly, the light bulb shattered. Dina yelped, looking next to her, "What the hell?"
"I'm so sorry," Syd said, frantically standing up, "I'll go clean that up," she went to the kitchen to find a broom and dustpan.
"Syd!" Dina called after her, "It's alright. I'm not mad at you, or anything. Come back, please."
Syd walked back to Dina, but she didn't sit back down. "I wanted to ask you something else, too." Dina reached out, grabbed her arm and looked up at her. Syd felt her heart pounding in her chest. "What happened to Brad, his head," she made a face, like it hurt to remember. "You... did you have something to do with it?"
Syd nodded again. She was sick of lying. Dina deserved to know the truth. "I didn't mean to..." she started.
"What happened exactly?"
"I can't exactly explain it," everything in the room began to shake this time. The shattered glass on the side table and the floor, the pencils on the table that Liam was using to draw, the pictures that hung on the wall. "I-I'm sorry."
Dina looked around, "Holy shit. Syd, are you doing this?"
Syd took a step back, then stepped on a piece of glass. "Fuck! Ow!" She yelled, everything went still.
"How did you do that?" Dina stood up, and stared at Syd.
That's when Syd began to cry. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
"Syd," Dina reached out to hold her hands in hers. "Please tell me what's going on with you."
"Would you believe me if I said I can do things with my mind?"
"What are you serious?" Dina asked, letting go of her hands, "You really think this is a good time to joke?"
"I'm not joking! I'm serious. Please, let me show you."
Syd focused on one of the pencils on the table, the green one, concentrated as hard as she could. It began to rattle. After a moment, it flew across the room and hit the wall, then clattered to the ground. Dina stared at it with a look of both confusion and awe.
"What the fuck," Dina picked up the pencil, then turned it around in her hand, examining it. "You made the whole room shake earlier, too? And broke the lamp, didn't you?" Syd nodded again. "How did you do it? And what does it have to do with Brad?"
"I didn't mean to hurt him," Syd said, "I just wanted him to stop talking. I- I can't control it very well, and... I swear to god I didn't want to kill him. I'm so sorry, Dina." The tears kept falling down her face. Dina dropped the pencil and walked back towards Syd, putting her hands on her arms. Syd usually hated it when people touched her. But, weirdly, she didn't mind this. It was grounding. For some reason she didn't mind it as much when it was Dina.
"It's okay," she said, "I believe you, Syd."
They cleaned up the broken glass together and she helped patch up Syd's foot. While doing this, Syd explained everything that had happened over the last few weeks, and Dina listened. When they were done, they sat back on the couch.
"So, you found out that you had secret super powers, and instead of telling your best friend, you told Stanley fucking Barber." Dina said in a half-joking voice.
"Well, I didn't tell him. He just... figured it out."
"So, you and Stan never actually dated?"
"No, not really, We're friends."
"Alright," Dina smiled, a real smile this time. It was so nice to see, Syd thought.
They stayed there for a while, just talking. It was nice, being there, with Dina, laughing and smiling. For the first time in a long, long while, Syd felt like things were going to be okay.