Chapter 1 ( final thoughts)
It was soo dark, cold, and heavy down under the water. Salt water filled my lungs, and my dress that seemed so weightless before, was now keeping me from being able to come to the surface. My whole body ached from trying with all my might to swim, to keep my head above water, and trying to scream for it was no use, every time I opened my mouth water rushed in, every time I tried to get a breath salt water filled my lungs.
I was so tired, I just wanted to give in, what was the use? So much had happened to me, and no matter what I do, or try, I continue to be 'hurricane reed', just like poppy said.
I thought of everyone I knew; my mother, father, my brother, Josh, Dash, Noelle, Kiran, Taylor, Constance, Ivy, Upton. I would miss them, but I just couldn't go on, I was just too run down. One last try, then what will be, will be. I took all my strength and all my hope, and screamed.
" Help! Please HELP ME!"
It was no use, the lights of the yacht were just a small yellow dot, there was no way they could hear me. Would they even care? Who knew?, and I was tired of guessing. I closed my eyes, and let myself go. Thinking only good thoughts of my family, friends, and all of the things I had accomplished.
Then the darkness came... __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ( the best of the best)
There's that smell again, that mix of Clorox, plastic, and death. where did I know it from?
There was that similar 'beep beep beep' . I've heard it before.... but from where?
My head felt like it was full of pudding, all I wanted to do was fall asleep. No. No. I have to figure out where I am. I slowly opened my eyes and a bright light blinded me. Okay, Reed, at lest you know what to expect next time. I opened my eyes again, and saw Noelle and Kiran asleep in in chairs next to my bed, in a hospital room. The hospital!!!! Now I understood, my memories flooded back to me; the salt water, the cold, my last attempt at screaming to save my life.
I looked in front of my bed and saw Dash, and Upton sitting on a small couch, both with their eyes closed. Above their heads was a small dry erase board with little messages from all my friends, most of them consisting of 'get well soon' and 'we love you reed!' with smiley faces next to them. I looked more closely at the medium sized room. It was light blue, and vases filled with flowers were scattered around the room. There was a large window to my left, where Noelle and Kiran were asleep, but it had the curtain closed over it. A sink with a mirror above it was to my right, and when I saw my reflection I gasped. I had huge black and purple bruises on my face, along with what I was guessing was a cut above my right eyebrow. I now noticed that I also had a breathing tube, and a cast around my left arm. How had i managed to get so injured?
"Reed?"
I looked over at the door and couldn't believe who I saw. Josh. God, I had missed him so much.
"W-w-what are you doing here?" I whispered, my voice sounding rough and weak.
"I came as soon as I got the call", he said walking over to my bed, " God, reed, you don't know how much I was worried about you."
He ran his hand through his hair, which was sticking out in every direction. i wanted him to come closer, for him to tell me that he still loved me, and that there was a perfect excuse to as why he hadn't called, texted, or e-mailed me over the break. He didn't, just stood there, looking at me with soft eyes. Ivy, of course, they were probably still together. How could I have let my imagination run away from me again? It only caused me pain, something I really didn't need more of. But before I could respond I heard Noelle wake up. She looked like she never had before. She was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, which was fine, but what really threw me off was the fact that her eyes were rimmed in red from crying. Her face looked pale and exhausted, and when I meet her eyes they had a mixture of relief and tears.
" Oh, thank god" she sighed, coming over and hugging me, " Do you feel okay? Do you need anything? Don't worry, we got the best of the best doctors working on your recovery. You'll be good as new."
" Move over, it's my turn to hug her!", said Kiran, pushing Noelle to the side. "your probably overwhelming her anyways."
Kiran was surprisingly calmer than Noelle, I hadn't thought that was possible. Noelle was always so sure of herself, and since we hadn't been that close ever since.. the 'incident', I wouldn't have thought she would have been that way. A warm feeling came over me, now I knew for certain that everything was in the past, that she was my best friend no matter what. But that warm feeling didn't last long as I saw my reflection in the mirror.
" Hey", I managed to get out, what happened? how did I end up here? did they catch who pushed me?"
" Well...." Kiran started, looking a little uncomfortable.
" Well nothing, we have plenty of time to talk about that later. The most important thing right now is that you tell us if you feel okay.", Noelle said, quickly regaining her composure.
" I'm fine. well, maybe not completely, but I will be. I just mainly want to know what happened", I said.
I kept looking back and forth from Noelle to Kiran to Josh, who looked like he wanted to run away, reaching a new pale shade each second. I now noticed that Dash and Upton were standing up, looking at me like I was a ghost, something I should have been completely use to by now. Dash smiled at me, but Upton continued to stand there. Why was he here? Shouldn't he be with Poppy, the one he ran after instead of staying with me? I wanted an explanation, and I wanted it now.
"Do you guys mind leaving me and Upton alone for a while? I need to talk to him about something."
Noelle looked unsure but whispered to Kiran, who walked over and slightly pushed a confused looking Josh out the door. Dash followed Josh and Kiran, but Noelle stayed a second to give Upton a look of 'you'd better not make her upset, or there will be serious actions taken'. Good 'ol Noelle looks, got to love 'em when they're not directed to you.
Upton nodded, and she walked out the door. here we go....
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 3 (You must)
"Why are you here? Where's Poppy, you know?, the girl you went after after we got caught together? I want an explanation, I was about to give you a piece of me that I hadn't given away in a long time, and I have to say, getting caught by Mrs. Ryan and Poppy, then you going after Poppy to console her, really put the cherry on top!" I said, trying to stay strong, but feeling that familiar tightening of my throat, and the burning of my eyes. Not to mention the fact that my voice was still pretty weak sounding all on its own.
" Reed.... you really thought I was going after Poppy? I thought we had already gone through this, I like you, not Poppy." Upton said, looking at me with those Strong blue eyes.
"So why did you leave? Why didn't you tell me it was going to be okay? Didn't you know how much that hurt?" I said, my throat getting tighter and tighter, I didn't know how much longer I could keep the tears in.
" I was going after her to ask her, more like persuade her, to keep her mouth shut about what she saw. I didn't want everyone to know our own personal business.", Upton said " you must believe me about this Reed. I would never try to hurt you, god. If only I had handled it better, maybe you would have never gone out on the deck, you would have been safe..." he said, clearly upset as he made his way over to the couch.
He sat down with a loud plunk, and I could tell he was trying to keep his emotions in tack. Of course he was trying to protect me, why had I been so quick to assume the worst? I remembered the way he had been looking at me all night long, the way he had kissed me with so much love. I pain went through my heart, this wasn't his fault, and I had to make sure he knew it.
" Upton," I said " look at me, please. None of this was your fault. I was just so quick to assume, I wasn't thinking clearly about why you left. ooh Upton, I'm so sorry." I said, feeling the tears run down my face.
Upton got up from where he was sitting and came over to my bed. He very carefully leaned down and kissed me. That kiss said more than could be said, it was perfect. For a moment it even made for get about everything, including Josh.
" I love you, Reed"
" I love you too, Upton", I smiled.
I realized that I did really love him, but there was only one problem. I loved Josh just as much.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
