by Karla Luna
Hopefully by the time she wakes up, she’d know I’m her Superman.
“Yeah…” I whispered to Darrel, making him look up like he was surprised I said that, instead of ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I wish’. I even gave him a real smile and went over to gently put his hood down.
He pouted and fixed his messy blonde hair.
“She’ll be okay,” I finished.
And it really didn’t seem like a lie to me.
A week later, I’ve gotten to know Drake and Allie a bit more.
Drake was in Evelyn’s room with me almost all the time, and he told me about a lot of the crazy things they did in the past. Some got me a bit scared, some were actually pretty funny. I liked the distraction he brought, even though I still felt sad. When he found out Davne did this, he wanted to kill him just as much as I did, and I think that he was actually planning something out to end him.
It made me pretty happy. Now with the gang back together, I think bringing him down wouldn’t be impossible.
With Allie, I’ve come to the realization that she was actually a sweeter girl than she appeared to be. She didn’t interfere with Evelyn and I, but every single day she would talk out in the hall or walk around with me. I found out a lot about her and I guess you could say we were already getting close. When I talked to her, time seemed to go by so fast that it almost surprised me. I didn’t think about anything else. I could actually smile a real smile again.
Then back in Evelyn’s room, I just got depressed again. But knowing she was going to be okay made me want to try and take my mind off of it. People have had loved ones in coma for months, maybe years. If she was going to take that long, I didn’t want to throw my whole life away before she woke up. If she were to leave me, I would leave with her. Simple as that.
Instead of being so quiet with her, I actually talked to her as if she was listening. I kissed her, slept next to her… because I just wanted to be close to my beautiful angel.
I honestly thought Drake would be a threat, but he was a great guy, like Evelyn had said. It’s rare to meet people who have done bad things yet are so funny and nice.
We both seemed to turn bipolar in that room all the time though.
We would talk, laugh, then suddenly get really, really sad.
But the good things were that I talked more, I actually smiled more, ate more, slept more… everything. My hope was building up even more, for some reason, and I knew Evelyn would be waking up soon. I just wanted it to be as soon as possible because I missed her so damn much.
It was amazing how I turned from being entirely sad for a whole month, to turning a bit happier in a matter of days. I don’t know how it even happened, but I was glad it did. Because just sitting around, thinking Evelyn would be dying, was horrible. I mean, at times, I did think that. But thinking about her staying strong and alive was much better. It honestly really helped.
At the moment, I was in her hospital room trying to sleep in a very uncomfortable position on the chairs while clutching on to the teddy bear.
For God’s sake, I was putting my legs over the other chairs’ arms, which was mostly why it was uncomfortable. I almost wanted to drop myself to the floor just so I could take a simple nap.
But instead, I sat straight and began to close my eyes. But then I heard the door open so I pretended to be wide awake.
“Hi, sweetheart,” I heard my mom say as she quietly closed the door behind her. She took a look at Evelyn and I saw how her face changed. She would usually look worried and ask how she’s been. But this time, she seemed hesitant about something.
“Hi, Mom,” I greeted.
She sighed and pressed her lips together before speaking up again. “All right, um… best to say this now. I uh… I called Bradley, the guy you met that brought Evelyn to me that first day. And… well, we agreed that if she wakes up sooner than we expect… then she can’t stay here.”
That caused me to stand up.
“Whoa… what?” I never liked that Bradley guy. “W-why? Why, why are you taking her away?”
She shrugged one shoulder and averted her eyes. “I’ve told them about these things because I have to. I have no choice. Listen, sweetie, I like that you were honest with me. You know, telling your own mother about Davne and her, and why all of this happened. But honestly, I don’t think I’m helping her. And I don’t think she’s helping you.”
I stayed quiet and then chuckled all of a sudden. “W-what are you talking about, mom. I-I… she doesn’t even have to help me with anything.”
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your behavior ever since she arrived here,” she said, as she got closer to me. “I mean, yes, I thought it would be good for her. You’re a special, good boy, son. She needed to learn how to be good herself.”
“She is good, mom. She’s a good person.” My voice was coming up louder and I didn’t want it to. But it almost seemed as if even my own mother was starting to talk bad about my girlfriend and turn against our relationship.
“Would a good person offer you drugs and alcohol? I’m sure she’s been brainwashing you and making you do all of these crazy things. I’m simply afraid you’ll throw your life away because of her. Like, what if she decides not to go to college. Would you agree and not go either?”
I just chuckled again and shook my head. What in the world was she thinking now, seriously? This was not my mother. What the hell happened to her recently? “I’m not throwing my life away. If she chose not to go to college, then all right. It won’t stop me from going. I thought you would support this relationship, mom. When have I ever even brought a girl home for you to meet? No one. Evelyn’s the one, okay? I know she is.”
“I'm sorry, sweetie. She’s a nice girl, but she’s bad for you.”
I stared at her for a few seconds before nodding and replying. “Maybe I like that.” I was about to turn around, but I stopped myself and pointed at her, walking a little closer. “And just so you know… I want to spend the rest of my life with her, too."
She shook her head at me as if I was crazy. And hell, maybe I was. Crazy in love for sure. “The Zavier I once knew wouldn't have ever taken drugs or drank a single sip of alcohol. He wouldn't have changed like this. You've changed. I thought you two could be something good, something special, that she could change with your help. But I was absolutely wrong. She’s been changing you for the worse instead. Where is my innocent boy? Because this isn't him and I miss him.”
I smiled but it seemed more fake than any of the other smiles I’ve had to put on these past few weeks. “Well, you’re never getting him back.” I didn’t have anything else to say after that, so I just turned around and headed back to my seat. I was done with this conversation. How could my mother be thinking that? I understand Evelyn’s done bad things, and that a mother only cares deeply about her son but… still. Why would she…?
“Javier Roberto Romero!”
I completely stopped when I heard her say all of that in a Spanish accent. I swallowed hard and slowly turned back to face her. She was just as shocked herself for saying that, and she was covering her mouth, too.
“W-what did you call me?” I asked her.
She didn’t seem to want to make any more eye contact with me. “I… n-nothing, Zavier. I didn’t say anything.”
“You called me Javier. No one but Anita’s mom calls me that because she can’t say my actual name.” The only name I really recognized was Roberto, since it was my middle name. But I had no idea why she called me Javier. Or why she said Romero at the end. The whole name just sounded so strange and unfamiliar to me.
“I have to go,” she quickly said as she walked right out. I was still in shock, but after a few seconds, I ran out and didn’t see her anymore.
I groaned and put my hands to my face in frustration. I then gripped my hair tight and turned to slam my fist against the nearest wall. Though I immediately stopped myself when I saw Allie standing there with a face full of fear.
If I ever hit a girl, I
would hate myself for eternity.
“Dammit, I… sorry, I…”
“Are you all right, Zavier?” she asked as she brought her hand up to touch my cheek. But I just moved away, which caused her to take her hand back and look down.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m… fine,” I replied in a stern voice. Then I tried to take a few deep breaths before turning to her and giving her a soft gaze. “I sincerely apologize for what you just saw. I’m usually not like that.”
She nodded and gave me a small smile, flicking her dark hair away from her green eyes.
“It’s okay, Zavier. I was actually coming over to ask you something.”
I bit my lip and nodded, waiting for whatever question she was about to ask me. She seemed rather nervous and shy and that made me wonder what she was about to ask. Since usually, she was outgoing and would tell me almost everything that was on her mind.
“I um… well, I know we’ve only known each other for a few days but…” She paused and took a deep breath. “I like you, Zavier,” she blurted out.
I just gaped at her and then averted my eyes after a while before slowly saying; “What?”
She giggled and continued. I didn’t miss the small blush forming on her cheeks either. “And I would like to ask you, if you would go on a date with me.” She smiled at me and nervously chuckled as she put a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I… well of course when I’m out of here. Having a date here would be silly, don’t you think?”
I was already lost when she said ‘I like you,’ now she was asking me on a… what? “What?”
She just giggled again and licked her lips before reaching for my hand. It felt so unfamiliar to me. It was cold. Not warm like Evelyn’s was.
Wait…
I quickly let go of her hand as if she had burnt me and then put my hands on my head to think of what to say to her exactly.
“Why are you telling me this? W-why are you asking me?”
“Because I like you.”
“Yes, I got that part, but Allie…” I gave her a smile, trying to let her down easily. “I’m not… look, I’m… okay.” This was going to be harder than I thought. Probably harder than what had happened with Joss, who I remembered moved away without any warning right after my rejection, which was weird.
“What is it, Zavier?” Allie asked, hope in her green eyes.
I tried to prepare for this even though it came out of nowhere. I honestly didn’t think Allie would like someone like me, much less confess to me. But I guess you can never help who you liked.
“Evelyn, the girl in there… we’re kind of together,” I said very carefully, watching as her smile went down. Her eyebrows knitted together as well, as she started shaking her head.
“I… no. No, you’re not. You’re not together.”
“Allie, I thought you knew this.”
“You never mentioned the word girlfriend while I was around.”
Hearing her voice getting louder caused me to put my hands up as if to show her I mean no harm. “Hey, hey… I didn’t have to. I assumed you knew. I apologize for making you think that I wasn’t taken.”
“You know what, you’re just a jerk like all the others. I thought you were sweet, but you just play around, don’t you? Get other girls to fall for you? How pathetic, Zavier. Really pathetic.”
I was taken aback.
Whoa! What? What did I do? I was just trying to let her down gently. I honestly thought she knew that the special girl in there was my girlfriend. Not my sister or something.
Before I could say anything else, Allie grumbled and walked away from me. She even did that mean, sassy hair flip as she turned.
Jeez. Everyone is becoming too much to handle here.
Please angel, just wake up and help me out here. These people are driving me nuts!
“Hey, Glasses.”
Oh, now what?
I sighed and turned around to find Drake coming over to me with a smirk on his lips. “Found the prick.”
“Prick?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “It’s a codename for Davne. What?” he paused and looked around. Then he turned back to me and got a little closer to whisper. “You think we should use something a little more harsh?”
“Uh…” I didn’t know much about this name-calling business but Davne was most definitely a prick. And many other things. “Prick is good, I guess.”
“Great.” He then looked down at my teddy bear and frowned. “Leave the cute teddy bear, we’re going.”
As Drake drove to whatever destination the Prick was at, I grew a little nervous and scared. Or really nervous and scared.
Ian and Darrel were in the backseat and I sort of feared that with them being equally angry with Davne, it would cause them to act irrationally. I mean sure, they were the type of guys to not care about the law but I’ve never really seen them do anything as a gang altogether.
I really had no idea why Jesse decided to tag along. I told him to stay with Evelyn but he wanted to come as well. I didn’t want to waste my time trying to make him stay, so I just ignored it.
Drake turned the music down and turned to me for a quick second before looking back at the road. “So, Glasses, ever held a gun before?”
That nearly made me choke as I gave him an incredulous look. “What?” Don’t tell me we’ll have to shoot Davne, too. He’d shoot me first before I could get my gun up.
“I’m kidding, we don’t use them. Well, I’ve got some in case the coward brings one out. But other than that, it’s not my best weapon for situations like these.”
“Then… then what is?” I cautiously asked.
“This guy can fight,” Ian answered for me. “You’ve seen Evelyn? Drake taught her but he didn’t teach her everything. Man, this guy is like an MMA fighter, but better.” Ian then brought his hand over and messed up Drake’s dark hair.
Drake chuckled and shook his head. “Hardly.”
“So how do you know where Davne is?” I asked, making Drake cock his head to the side and raise one eyebrow. I sighed. “So how do you know where the Prick is?”
“Ah, he’s a smart guy with certain stuff but he hasn’t done things like these for as long as I have. He’s seriously gotta learn more. I can catch him faster than the police can. Plus, if he were smart enough he would’ve left the country by now, or at least the state.” He paused for a bit and reached in his pocket to take a paper out. He read it and showed me. We were at a red light right then. “And if he weren’t so stupid, he wouldn’t have told me exactly where he was right now.”
“What if it’s just a trick?” Jesse asked.
Drake shrugged. “Then we’ll find out. But I don’t think this is a trick. I’ve watched him for a couple of years. I talked to him earlier and I said a little something to tick him off. He’s definitely going to be there.”
He was about to put the paper back in his pocket, when I quickly grabbed it, unbuckled my seatbelt, and got out of the car.
I heard my name being called (as well as a few profanities), but I ignored it as I ran as fast as I could.
I had no idea what had come over me. I knew this was completely idiotic because of the last time I was alone with Davne, but I wanted to see him and do whatever I could to punish him. Besides, I only did this because I knew the guys would come by later to help me out.
Though for now, this was all on me.
Getting to the place wasn’t so hard. It was a little far and I was out of breath, but I had a lot of energy just thinking about us getting to end Davne. The place he had chosen to meet at was a dark alleyway.
Shocker.
I quietly walked in and kept a look out for him. My heart went quicker once I saw him close by, against the brick wall, with a cigarette between his lips.
Once he saw me, he smirked and threw the cigarette away, getting off the wall to come closer to me. He seemed angry yet also happy to see me. And all I did was glare at the Prick.
“Well, wel—”
I didn’t
even want to hear what he had to say anymore. I just went right over and swung my fist to his face. He didn’t expect it, so as he went to hold his cheekbone, I punched him again, making him stumble back.
Then, he seemed even angrier than before and started fighting back. I tried and tried, remembering what I learned and what Evelyn taught me. It was all going well until…
I was starting to have a stupid panic attack.
And of course, I still tried to punch and duck and kick. But there was no use. I was starting to feel faint and Davne took that chance to start beating me up like he had always done in the past.
I was coughing on the ground when I heard a lot of running. I realized I had dropped my glasses and they were only inches away from me. So I squinted my eyes and reached for them.
Once I placed them back on my face, I looked at the scene before me, still breathing rather heavily.
All three guys were beating Davne up, and I was so surprised to see how they all worked together. Davne didn’t have a chance. I guess he really was stupid for falling for this trick.
I coughed out and grabbed on to my chest once I felt like it was clenching tight. I heard a swear word, and then I felt a pair of hands on me, trying to calm me down.
“Hey, hey,” Jesse said. “Hang in there, buddy. Just hold your breath. Think about Evelyn. Something. Fuck, I’m sorry but I’m not kissing you.”
All I did right then was close my mouth and pinch my nose while tightly closing my eyes. After a few seconds, I took my hands away and exhaled roughly.
Once Jesse knew I was okay, he sighed in relief and looked back at the guys.
Ian and Darrel looked down at Davne’s bloody, motionless body on the ground. Drake walked around his body and then out of nowhere, he took handcuffs out and also a cellphone.
Then, he smirked. “You are under arrest, Conrad. Well... not sure if you're alive but whatever. I’ll be calling the cops now, letting them know where you are. I stole these handcuffs, so I do hope they appreciate the fact that you’ve already been handcuffed.” He nodded to Ian and Darrel, and they went over to put the handcuffs on Davne.