Chapter
XI
I got back out just in time to see Avery poised, her hands fastened before her and held out ready to jump in as the other person was near enough. Her movements were so instant, so abrupt that it startled me. I inched closer to watch as she maneuvered her way through the water. I, and just about everyone else was dumbstruck about how precise and graceful she was moving, with surprising agility and speed.
As quickly as the race started, it ended. For a moment, the room was quiet, everyone processing who the under-dog was, putting everyone else to shame. I grinned at her smug expression and started a one-man applaud. The entire action felt completely High School Musical and I almost stopped as abruptly as I started. I half expected them to start singing ‘We’re all in this together’ when a few persons joined in. I was about to congratulate her as Dylan stepped in front of me and smiled eagerly at her.
“Great job,” he gushed, smiling brightly.
“Thanks,” she replied shyly, having the nerve to look embarrassed.
“Hey, on a congratulatory note, how about some coffee?”
I inched closer to hear her muffled reply. “Sure, I’ll just go change and I’ll be right out.”
I stepped back slowly; a bit betrayed that she was leaving without seeing my race. It was just five minutes until my race started and to think that she was leaving for a random guy. I stepped back again as she broke free from the crowd.
“Good job,” I muttered without much conviction.
She nodded, her face still buzzing with delight from the previous conversation she had. “Thanks,” she said, giving me one of her rarely genuine smiles that made my lips turn up in response. “Hey, listen – um – I can’t stay here for your race, Reena called and – um…uh—”
The smile slipped completely off my face and I tried to look nonchalant—unaffected by her lie. Inside though, I was annoyed, annoyed that it took so long for her to let me try to be her friend and yet Dylan just pranced in.
“Yeah…tell Reena hi.”
Avery nodded absently and walked away slowly. She didn’t even have a tell; she merely sounded as if it was some embarrassing family emergency that she was uncomfortable telling me about. If I hadn’t heard what she had said to Dylan, I’d sure believe everything she’d say. I inhaled deeply and tried to focus on the race. I had to win, that was my job after all.
A trophy, three medals, and about a dozen pictures later, I finally got the go-ahead to leave. It almost came as a surprise to me that I won. After Avery had left, I had a hard time focusing on the race. It was irritating that she had so much of a hold over me and this quickly.
“Jason,” Alison called in a huff, running up to me. “Here, give this to Avery, she earned it.”
I looked at her palm and noted the large gold medal with waves running across the top and a strange merman looking thing swimming.
“So, does this mean you don’t hate her?” I asked playfully, scooping the medal from her hand.
Alison rolled her eyes at me. “No. Why would I like the girl that took all of your attention?”
“Wha—”
“Don’t deny it,” she interjected, smiling solemnly. “You broke my heart once, don’t do it again.”
I let out a frustrated huff as she walked away without looking back. It seemed to me that I was hurting the people I had no intentions of hurting. And the one person I went out of my way to make feel good had no qualms about kicking me to the curb.
The van felt oddly cool as the beginning of the afternoon kicked in. I had nowhere to go and no one to celebrate with. Of course, I had been invited to the local coffee shop for drinks, but I’d rather not expose Avery in the middle of her lie. I rested my head on the steering wheel and tried to ignore the unreasonably cold leather seats.
I flinched as I heard a loud rapping on the window. I rolled the window down and felt my face crumple in disgust upon seeing Breanna, rubbing her arms furiously. “What?” I snapped.
Breanna managed to look annoyed despite her close resemblance to hypothermia. “Oh, I just wanted to see if you were having a mental breakdown so I could ask to watch.”
I had half the nerve to roll the window up into her partially frozen face. “What do you want?”
She trembled as a slight breeze sifted by her, sending her hair in swirls. “I just got news Gina’s awake,” she said quickly, making my heart bounce around a little, “and I was wondering if I could get a ride.”
While I was debating whether the request made sense or not, a fierce wind came, and Breanna shivered so severely I thought she’d transform into a block of ice. I sighed and gave in, opening the passenger door for her. She hurried in and rubbed her hands together, possibly immune to the cold of leather seats.
I started the vehicle and the heat came on full blast making me blink repeatedly. If it wasn’t for Gina, I’d probably have just left her there because although I wasn’t sure I loved her, I knew I cared, but a little less as of late.
“I hear she’s fine, same old Gina,” she muttered into her hands. I snorted, however fine she could be, coming out of a coma.
Unable to fathom the possibility of a cordial conversation with Breanna I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m glad to hear that.”
I heard her huff and turned to see her glaring at me. “You could actually pretend to care.”
“I care, I just don’t care for you being in my car.”
Breanna snorted and I could see she was trying hard not to hit me with a retort. The car was silent for a moment and I was thankful. Not because I was giving her a ride meant that we were suddenly buddies. I was uncomfortable enough, her talking would only make me feel worst.
“Listen,” she said demurely, touching my arm, making my brows furrow. I stopped at a stoplight and turned to look at her. She smiled lithely, reminding me of a cat, a Cheshire cat. “I know we haven’t been the best of friends, but I want to put all of that behind us.”
I checked her face to see if the cold had made her deluded or something. To my surprise, she inched her head closer to mine, pushing herself beyond the restrictions of the seatbelt. My eyes widened what I realized what she wanted. I placed my hand against her pink and mushy lips and pushed her head back.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked, my voice twisting in surprise. “You are my girlfriend’s best friend, what the hell is your problem?”
She looked surprised that I rejected her. I had to wonder what kind of friend she even was. I jumped slightly as the cars behind me honked, making me press on the gas for a moment. I took a deep breath to suppress whatever my mind was conjuring up.
“You can’t tell Gina,” she said in a controlled whisper.
“To hell I can’t!” I said, staring straight ahead. “Maybe now she’ll see you for who you really are.”
“No, she won’t,” she said, almost indistinctly—surprisingly calm.
I frowned and looked over to her for a second. “You must be crazier than I thought.”
“She won’t know because you won’t tell her,” her words oozing confidence.
I shot her a dubious look and shook my head. “If you think I’m keeping this from her, you’re sadly mistaken.”
Breanna smiled humorlessly and I held my hands tighter around the steering wheel. “I saw that kiss Avery gave you. You weren’t complaining then.”
I stiffened a bit and turned to see if she was serious. She wore a smug smile. “It was a peck on the cheek. People in France do it all the time.”
Breanna turned in her seat towards me. “We aren’t living in France, are we?” She stared at her fingernails as if they were more important to her than our conversation. “Listen, it’s simple actually. You don’t tell her, and I won’t either.”
My knuckles were white on accord of how tightly I had gripped the steering wheel as I tried to process what she was trying to do. What I knew about bullies was that if you gave into them once, they’d never stop. On the other hand, I didn’t want her
feeding Gina lies on her first day back into consciousness.
“That sounds good,” I forced my mouth to utter.
Thankfully, the hospital came into view and the entire place looked so immaculate and well-groomed that it appeared that no one really understood what hospitals meant—sickness, grief, death. As soon as I put the car into park, Breanna’s door swung open roughly, making me grit my teeth at the action.
We, to my absolute chagrin, walked through the sliding doors together and it wasn’t surprising to realize that it was about three times colder inside than out. The small, mousy lady behind the desk was busy taking calls but smiled up at us, showing—not fit for her age—braces.
“Good afternoon,” I said, as she held her hand over the receiver of the phone. “I’d like to see Gina Myers, please.”
Her brows furrowed a little as she typed the information into her antiquated computer. “Gina…Gina, oh! Here it is she’s in a private room… 213.”
I smiled gratefully at her while Breanna rolled her eyes. “Way to lay on the charm thick, prince charming.”
Because it would be better and because she wasn’t worth it, I decided to ignore her, heading for the chrome elevator. I wished the elevator doors would’ve closed behind me so I wouldn’t have to stand in the awkward silence with her, listening to cheery elevator music, especially because of what had just happened.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I cringed at the antiseptic smell that reminded me so much of a few nights ago. The floor was tiled, glossy and squeaky clean. The hallways were deserted. We saw room 209, 210 until we finally got to room 213. I was sort of nervous about going to see her, I was afraid that her condition would be so deplorable that I would be forced with inevitable blame. I had taken her to the party after all.
The door was slightly ajar and I pushed it open further. Gina was up on the bed, speaking to her mother. She looked so pale and grey that I had to take a breath to muster a smile. Her hair was ratty and stuck all over the place. Anyone who expected her to look horrible would be sadly mistaken, she still exuded this aura of effortless beauty.
“Hey,” I said, whispering, unsure why.
Her eyes snapped over to me and her face broke into a huge smile that seemed as if it took all of her energy. “Jace,” she said, reaching out for me, completely oblivious to her mother shooting daggers with her eyes narrowed into slits.
I smiled uncomfortably. I tried my best to ignore her mother’s looks of anger. There was a plush chair on the opposite side of the bed. I cautiously sat on it; afraid it would detonate. I pushed all doubt out of my mind and grabbed both of her cold, frail hands into mine.
“Breanna and I came as soon as she heard.”
Gina blinked and looked over my head to register the fact that Breanna had come along. “Hey!” she exclaimed tiredly, her grin fading despite her will to keep it up. “You two are the best.”
My smile faded into a very uncomfortable grimace. Breanna coughed a little. We were the exact opposite of the best. I wished she’d chosen two other people to bestow that title on.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, taking a different direction.
Gina closed her eyes for a long moment. “Tired. All the painkillers are draining me out.”
For the first time since we entered, her mother spoke up, “I think you need your rest now dear.”
She squeezed my hand and opened her eyes a slit. “Promise you won’t leave me.”
I gulped. I knew she wasn’t just talking about leaving the hospital room. I didn’t know what to say. I tried to deter it with a nervous laugh. “What if I have to pee?”
Gina closed her eyes again. “Promise.”
I looked at her mother who was gritting her teeth, then to Breanna who was staring into the distance.
I inhaled deeply. “I promise.”
The plush seats weren’t as plush some hours later. It felt like tiny needles turned upward sticking me relentlessly with every move I made. It didn’t make it better that Breanna was tapping constantly at her phone, her nails hitting the screen lightly. The only thing that made us aware that Gina was still alive was the machine beeping. She laid still, completely knocked out by the painkillers, slowly battling her way out of her comatose state—making steady progress with minimal damage, the doctor had reported. Every now and then, I’d grab her hand and be startled by how cold it was.
Gina’s mother had to leave to take care of business. But don’t think she spoke to me, she told all of this to Breanna who listened as if her life depended upon it. I was glad she left. I felt calmer after she did, no longer feeling as awkward.
I was staring at Gina’s painfully veined eyelids as the door swung open. Breanna and I turned as soon as it opened. A familiar dark-haired person entered trying to tip-toe in but failing miserably.
I sighed, I didn’t think I was mentally ready to see her, especially with what Gina had said earlier. Instead of greeting her like the normal Jason would’ve, I averted my gaze to the machine beside Gina.
Breanna beat me to the chase and spoke. “What are you doing here?”
I glanced up at them and realized that Avery was looking at Breanna with an eyebrow raised. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see your name on the door outside,” she spat.
“Listen here—”
“No, you listen,” she said, inching closer to Breanna. “You may be ‘the queen-bee’ at school, but you don’t know who you’re dealing with. You should be glad that you’re in the hospital.” Avery took a deep, controlling breath and turned to me. “How is she?” she asked in a completely different tone of voice.
I shrugged, still a bit miffed about earlier. “Why don’t you ask her?”
Avery’s brow furrowed and she folded her arms. “What’s with all the frostiness? I thought that was reserved for the well-renowned she-witch over there,” she said pointing to Breanna.
I had to say, I was happy about her immediate disapproval of Breanna, but that didn’t mean I was about to be happy with what she had done. “Here before I forget,” I muttered, pulling the medal out of my pocket and throwing it to her.
She caught it effortlessly and frowned. “Well, this looks… cheap.”
I snorted. “What do you expect? We’re a low budget school.” I squeezed Gina’s hand and sighed heavily. “How was Reena?”
Avery looked startled and spun the medal around in her hands numerous times. I was watching her closely to see how she’d react. I had to admit she could’ve been a good liar if she wanted. She played the role of a somber teenager perfectly.
“Oh, you know. She’s high, but what’s new right?”
Breanna saw a window of opportunity and took it. “Oh, you’re part of a druggie family. Why am I not surprised?”
Avery looked horrified that Breanna heard her say that, her new bad girl façade fading away. Although we weren’t friends, I couldn’t let Breanna’s venomous words harm the new girl. I gently rested Gina’s hand back on the cot and looked at Breanna.
“Accompany me for some coffee, please?”
Breanna looked up and over her phone at me. “Why?”
Avery appeared anxious for an exit of the stuffy hospital room. “I’ll come.”
That was the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen. I shook my head quickly. “No thanks, I just wanted Breanna to…,” I muttered, trailing off and scratching the back of my neck nervously.
Breanna looked smug that I declined Avery’s offer. Avery, on the other hand, looked surprised and a little hurt. I didn’t want to stick around to hear what she’d say. I stood and motioned to Breanna to follow me and, as expected, she let out an annoyed sigh.
I smiled slightly at the cleaning lady walking by as I waited on Breanna. My patience was running out. The wooden door swung open and she exited, looking rather bored. She stood quite far away from me as if there was something horribly contagious disease on my mere clothes that she couldn’t risk contracting which was very ironic.
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