by Shayna B
“Why are you swearing?” Blake asked from his seat beside me.
I turned my head to look at him. “My bag is on the ground.”
“So?”
I glanced around the room and saw that we were the only two left there. “I can’t bend over to pick it up,” I admitted quietly.
To my surprise, he didn’t ask why. He just reached down to the spot in between our chairs and felt around until he found my bag. He picked it up and set it on the table. “There, problem solved.”
I blinked a few times in surprise. “Um, thanks.” I carefully slung my bag over my shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”
He didn’t reply so I left the room with my mind whirling. I hadn’t expected him to be nice to me, and it had thrown me a little off balance. When I’d made the decision two days ago to befriend him, I hadn’t been prepared for him to show a slightly less hostile side to me. I didn’t know what had brought it on, but I suddenly had hope that I might actually get through to him at some point. That thought distracted me enough that I was able to mostly ignore my back pain for the rest of the day.
As soon as I got home, I changed into my bathing suit and headed for the hot tub out on the back deck. I sank into the hot water with a grateful sigh and leaned my head back against the edge. I closed my eyes and let the pulsing jets relax my muscles. This hot tub had been my saviour since I’d moved in with my uncle. Any time my back was sore and Jared wasn’t around, I’d come out here and the heat and jets would eventually relieve the soreness.
Jared found me out there half an hour later and sat in one of the chairs on the deck, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Rough day?”
“It wasn’t too bad; my back was just sore today. It’s better now though.” I moved my head so I could look at him properly. “How was work?”
“It went pretty well. Got a couple of new patients, which is a good thing.”
Jared had opened his own clinic in town when he’d moved in with me and Liam. He was slowly gaining more patients and I knew he was really enjoying his work. “In that case, I think we should go celebrate this weekend. How about a movie tomorrow night?”
“That sounds like fun. Think Liam will want to come as well?”
“Want to come where?” Liam asked as he stepped onto the deck.
“To a movie tomorrow night. We’re celebrating Jared getting more business at his clinic.”
“I’d love to, but I have to go out of town this weekend. Can I take a rain check?”
“You’re going out of town this weekend? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I asked him.
He gave me a puzzled look. “I did tell you.” When I continued to look at him blankly, he hesitated. “Didn’t I?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “No, you forgot to mention it. How long will you be gone for?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning and I’ll be back on Sunday afternoon.” He smiled apologetically. “I could have sworn I told you.”
“It’s not a big deal. Jared will be here so it’s not like I’ll be alone.”
Liam frowned. “Yeah, but I shouldn’t really be leaving you here. Do you want to come with me?”
I grimaced. “Ugh, no thanks. I’d rather stay here than go to a bunch of boring conferences with you.”
“Don’t worry Liam; I’ll make sure she stays out of trouble,” Jared said.
“More like I’ll keep you out of trouble,” I retorted.
“Pfft, I’m an angel. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You call having a random blonde woman sneaking out of the guest house in the middle of the night innocent?”
Jared flushed. “You saw that?”
I smirked at him. “Sure did. Poor girl looked mortified to be doing the walk of shame.”
Liam heaved a sigh. “I think I should hire a keeper to keep you both in line while I’m gone.”
I laughed and shook my head. “We’ll behave,” I promised him. “Will one of you hand me a towel?”
After supper, my back was feeling good enough for me to take Tonto for a walk to the park. I wasn’t able to play with him, so we just walked there and back. I didn’t see Blake, but it was later than I usually went there so I wasn’t surprised. I saw a few kids playing, and I watched them on the swings for a few minutes before turning around and going home. I watched a movie with Jared and Liam and was about to go to bed when my phone went off, indicating a text message. I glanced at it and then dropped it as if it had burned me.
Jared and Liam both looked over at me and when they saw the phone lying on the floor, Jared picked it up. His face darkened with rage and he swore under his breath when he saw the message. “How the hell did the little prick get your number?”
Liam got to his feet and took the phone from Jared. He read the message and immediately dug his own phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and then left the room for a few minutes. When he came back, he handed me my phone. “His number is blocked from your phone now. He won’t be able to contact you again.”
I shook my head as I took it from him. “He’ll find another way, I’m sure. But at least this will deter him for a while.”
Liam sat on the arm of the couch beside me. “Do you want to call the cops and file a restraining order on him?”
I sighed and leaned back. “No, I just want to pretend he doesn’t exist. Hopefully he’ll just give up eventually. If he doesn’t, then we’ll look into a restraining order.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. He’s not threatening me or anything, so I’m not too worried about it right now.” I got to my feet and hugged both of them quickly. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”
They both murmured their goodnights and I went into my room and got into bed. Once I was settled, I looked at my phone and noticed that Liam had deleted the message already. I plugged my phone in and turned on my side, snuggling down under the blankets. I forced the text message from my mind and drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
School the next day was the same as it had been for the rest of the week, aside from the fact that Rachel invited me to a party the next day. I declined, since I didn’t go to parties anymore, but told her I’d be happy to do something on Sunday if she was interested. We agreed to go shopping and she gave me her number and address so I could pick her up.
That evening Jared took me to the movies. We pulled into the parking lot and climbed out of his truck. He slung his arm over my shoulders casually as we headed inside to get our tickets. We were standing in line when I heard someone calling my name. I turned my head and saw David and Rachel moving in our direction. “Oh, there are some of my friends from school,” I told Jared.
He followed my gaze and smiled. “So I get to meet some of your friends then?”
“Apparently.” Once they had reached us, I smiled warmly at them. “Hey guys, I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”
Rachel clutched David’s hand and beamed at me. “It was a last minute decision.” Her eyes shifted to Jared, who still had an arm over my shoulders. “Hi, I’m Rachel and this is David.”
“This is Jared,” I told them.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Jared said politely.
Rachel had an odd gleam in her eyes as she looked between us. “Are you two a couple?”
I snorted and shook my head. “Not even close. He’s my brother.”
She lifted an eyebrow and looked at Jared again. “Your brother?”
“Well, we’re not actually related but we grew up together. I’ve literally known him forever.” I didn’t tell them that Jared was my actual brothers best friend, because that would just lead to a lot more questions that I didn’t want to answer. “I’ve always considered him my big brother.”
“So does that mean you’re single?” she asked curiously.
I fluttered my eyelashes at her. “Why Rachel, are you trying to ask me out on a date?”
All three of them laughed and Rachel s
hook her head. “I don’t think David would like sharing me,” she replied in a fake sad tone.
David looked at her incredulously. “Are you kidding? Girl on girl action is hot!”
Rachel and I both groaned and rolled our eyes. “Why are men such pigs?” I asked forlornly.
“Hey, I didn’t say anything,” Jared protested.
“But you were probably thinking it,” I replied.
He shrugged his shoulders. “No comment.”
We had reached the ticket counter by now so he paid for our tickets. Rachel and David decided to go to the same movie as us and we ended up sitting together. I had a great time and on the way home Jared told me he’d really liked them. I could tell he was happy that I had made some friends already. Though he never said anything, I knew he was worried I would slip back into a depression like I had for the first two months after the accident. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably never would have gotten out of that funk and I was glad that he was happy for me. I didn’t want him to worry about me, especially since I’d made so much progress.
When we got home, we went our separate ways; me to take Tonto for a quick late night walk and Jared to the guest house where he slept. I only took Tonto around the block and then went back home to go to bed. As I fell asleep, I had a smile on my face. I was happy, and that was something to be proud of after the hell I’d been through in the past year.
Chapter four
I went shopping with Rachel on Sunday and ended up having a lot of fun. It’d been awhile since I went out with someone that wasn’t Jared or Liam, and I enjoyed the girl time. She tried to pry me for a little more information on my past, but I dodged the questions and she quickly understood that I didn’t want to talk about it. After that, we talked about almost everything else and we ended up laughing quite a bit. The trip managed to take my mind off the fact that I would be seeing my brother in the hospital shortly.
Unfortunately, the carefree afternoon came to an end when we parted ways a couple of hours later and I remembered where I had to go next: the hospital. I drove there and went up to Jake’s room. My heart clenched as it always did when I saw him there, but I resolutely walked in and sat by the bed.
“Hey Jake.”
I sat with him for half an hour, telling him about the rest of my week. I’d heard somewhere that people in comas could sometimes hear the people around them, so every time I saw him I made sure to catch him up on my life. If he ever did wake up, I wanted him to have every chance at knowing what had happened while he was unconscious. I knew the chances of him waking up were slim to none, but I refused to let go of the tiny ray of hope that I still had.
I drove home and immediately decided to take Tonto to the park before dinner. We went to the field we usually went to and I tossed the Frisbee for him for about twenty minutes before turning to leave. When I saw Blake sitting at his usual bench, I decided to go and say hello before I left. Tonto followed along behind me as I walked to the bench and he perked up a little when he saw the dog at Blake’s feet. I told him to behave though, so he didn’t approach the other dog. I sat beside Blake and stretched my legs out in front of me. “Hey,” I said.
He sighed. “Am I not allowed to have a peaceful day without you badgering me?”
I made a face at him, even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “There’s no reason to be so rude. I was just saying hi.”
“Fine, hi. Now go away.”
I shook my head and laughed a little. “No, I think I’ll just stay here. It’s a beautiful day and I don’t feel like being cooped up in the house.”
He groaned and let his head fall back against the back of the bench. “Then go bug someone else.”
“Oh get over it. I won’t bug you; I’ll just sit here quietly with my dog. You can go back to ignoring me.”
He scowled but didn’t say anything else. I pulled out my phone and started playing a game, content to just sit in the silence. Fifteen minutes later, Blake finally blew out a breath and turned in my direction. “Why are you still sitting here?”
“I told you, it’s a nice day.”
“Yeah, but why did you decided to sit next to me.”
I shrugged and continued playing my game. “Being alone can be boring sometimes.”
“So you’d rather sit beside someone who clearly doesn’t want you here?”
I turned my attention to him fully. “If you didn’t want me sitting here, you would have gotten up and walked away.”
He opened his mouth to reply and then shut it again with a frown. I was feeling rather smug about rendering him speechless as I got to my feet. I reached out and patted his shoulder once in mock sympathy. “If you come up with a great comeback to that, make sure you tell me in class tomorrow. Have a good day.” I walked away with Tonto trotting happily along beside me.
Liam was home when I got back from the park and he joined Jared and I for supper. Since it was such a nice evening, we decided to eat out on the back deck so we could enjoy the good weather while it lasted. When we were finished eating, I tilted my head back to let the fading sun warm my face. I was hoping that the peacefulness of the late summer evening would soak into my subconscious so I didn’t toss and turn all night. I didn’t feel like dealing with a sore back tomorrow.
“What do you think, Hales?” Liam asked me.
I moved my head to look at him. “Huh?”
He chuckled and tilted his head in Jared’s direction. “Jared suggested that we go up to the cottage next weekend if it’s still nice out.”
I smiled at the thought. “That sounds like fun.” I loved going to the cottage on the lake. In the early part of my recovery we had spent a lot of time there. Being in the water had helped me regain the mobility in my back that allowed me to walk again. “Is the weather supposed to stay pleasant?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean it will. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes.”
“We should probably winterize the place while we’re up there. I doubt we’ll get many more nice weekends.”
“We were already thinking of doing that. Even if we do go up there again after next weekend it’ll probably be too cold to go boating or do any of that kind of stuff. We’ll close up the boat house and make sure everything is put away that needs to be.”
I sighed and looked up at the sky. “I’m going to miss the warmer weather. I swear the sun makes everything seem better.”
“We can go somewhere tropical for your winter break if you want,” Liam offered. “I know it’s not for another few months, but it’ll give you something to look forward to.”
I glanced at him again with a smile. “Have I ever mentioned the fact that I like how rich you are?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Money doesn’t buy happiness, you know.”
“I know, but it sure does make it easier to find happiness.” I stretched out my hand and laid it on his shoulder. “My happiness comes from the two of you now. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you guys.”
Liam shifted a little uncomfortably. “You would have managed without us, Hales,” he muttered, echoing what Jared had said the other day.
I shrugged and removed my hand. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t be in the place I am mentally right now, that’s for sure.” I got to my feet and stretched carefully. “I’m going to go finish the last of my homework and then get some sleep. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
Chapter five
My life developed a routine over the next few weeks. I went to school and sat next to Blake in first period, always greeting him cheerfully. Sometimes he would respond and sometimes he act like a jerk, depending on his mood. After that I’d go to the rest of my classes and I always ate lunch with Rachel and David and their friends. Once I was home I’d go to the park with Tonto and more often than not Blake was there. I started sitting with him for around twenty minutes every time he was there and he never asked me to leave again. We didn’t talk too much, but our silences had become comfortable rather than hostile.<
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Wednesday evenings I visited Jake and almost always woke up with a sore back on Thursday morning. There were other morning I woke up in pain as well, but Thursday mornings seemed to be the worst. Blake somehow seemed able to sense the days that I was sore and he would grab my bag and place it on my desk after first period. I never asked him how he knew I was in pain, but I did start to notice that on those days he would actually talk to me a little more than on other days.
Almost a month after school had started Mr. White, our Biology teacher, announced that we would be doing a project with our lab partners. This project would count for fifteen percent of our grade, so he encouraged us to work on it outside of class. Since Blake never participated in class, Mr. White offered me some extra help. Instead of agree, I frowned and turned to Blake. “Why can’t you help me with the project?” I asked him.
“Because I don’t want to.”
“So? Life is full of doing things you don’t want to do. I don’t think it’s fair that I have to do this on my own just because you’re being a brat.”
His eyebrows shot up behind his sunglasses. “A brat?”
“Yeah, that’s what you’re acting like.” I turned to teacher, who was staring at us with wide eyes. “Don’t worry, Mr. White. Blake and I will do the project together.”
“No we won’t,” Blake retorted.
I ignored him and smiled at the teacher. “I’ll let you know if we have any questions.”
Mr. White looked between the two of us and then shrugged and walked away. Blake was scowling beside me, but I didn’t care. I’d known him for four weeks now and he never did anything in class. It didn’t make any sense to me, and I was kind of sick of doing everything alone whenever we had to work with our lab partners. And Mr. White never said anything to him, so I had a feeling the teachers might be getting paid extra to ignore Blake’s attitude.
Blake refused to speak to me for the rest of the class. I asked him for his phone number so we could set up a time to meet, but he ignored me. I narrowed my eyes and decided it was time for slightly more drastic measures. When the bell rang, instead of getting up to leave like I usually did, I stayed in my seat. I’d noticed the same girl coming in to get Blake after class a few times, so I figured she would be my best bet for getting some information.