Finding Friends in the Roses
Chapter 2
Teresa
As Amanda went into her appointed room, Rachel and I walked around the west wing of the hospital. "Why do you think Mandy wanted to be in karate anyways?" I asked as we passed through a hallway lined with windows.
"I think she has this idea she's a badass. You know she personally asked for the tryout to be held by Honey, right?" Rachel explained.
"No way! So she wanted her face kicked in?" I asked with excitement.
"No, I think she wanted to be tested by the best. There's a lot I don't get about Mandy, but I think she's pretty awesome." Rachel added with a smile.
"Yeah, that makes more sense for her. But Honey was right, she is careless sometimes." I explained. My logic was true; she's always pushed the boundaries. It worried me sometimes.
"Yeah," Rachel agreed.
As we reached the end of the hall, we noticed Kyoya touring around with his father and a guide. I rushed towards him to say hello.
"Hey." I said as I approached him.
"Oh, hello. Why are you here, Teresa… and Rachel?" Kyoya asked in reply.
"Um, Amanda– you know Amanda right? Anyways, she got hit in the head trying out for karate. We're here making sure there's no brain damage." I explained, laughing inwardly.
"You mean Amanda? I have every class with her. The one who always hangs out with Yvonne?" Kyoya asked.
"Yeah–" Rachel cut me off before I could answer.
"I just got a call from Caleb, I think Mandy's out of the doctor's care. Not that we need to leave! But… yeah." Rachel explained as she rocked in place, making it obvious that she wanted to leave to check on Mandy.
"Well, I'll see you on Monday. Bye." I said and waved to Kyoya as Rachel dragged me up the hall. Kyoya just looked at me and cocked his head to the side.
As we reached a waiting area where we left Mandy, Caleb, and Yvonne, I noticed Mandy was lying across the waiting room chairs. She was using Caleb's knee as a pillow, and an ice pack sat on her forehead.
"So, is she okay?" I asked as they sat there motionless.
"She has a concussion; the doctor said it could last for a few days." Yvonne explained, her glasses perched on her face.
"I can't see! I need my glasses! Where's my bag, my glasses are in there!" Mandy shouted, making weird arm motions. Her tone sounded dazed.
"It's in the car; we can go in a little while." Caleb explained to Mandy as he hid his face with a hand. I was getting a strong feeling he didn't want to be seen with her while she was acting all wonky.
"What are we waiting for?" I was confused. We knew what was wrong. Why couldn't we just leave?
"We need a note-thingy. They're typing it up for us, than we can leave. It's just to let her parents and the school know she been to the doctor and she's fine." Caleb sounded smart for the first time ever.
"I'm hungry. Can we get lunch after this?" I asked as I sat down.
"I guess. Where do we want to go?" Caleb asked as he looked at each of us.
"Anywhere." Yvonne, Rachel, and I agreed.
"Apples." Mandy commented. "Can we have apples, Caleb?"
"You can have apples; I think everyone else wants real food." Caleb said. Mandy's face looked as if he'd crushed her fondest dreams or something.
A woman walked over towards us, "Who is with Amanda?" She asked, holding out a piece of paper.
"All of us" I told her, holding my hand out to take it.
"Alright, here," she handed the paper to me. I looked over it, "What is this shit supposed to mean? It's Amanda's job to know what this stuff is, not mine!"
Oh right. She's kind of… broken.
"Let me see," Yvonne said. I handed it to her, as she stood upright. "Okay, we're good. She's cleared."
We all walked on to an elevator. Once the doors closed, Mandy pressed every floor button. Caleb laughed as I pushed her back. Yvonne had her head resting in her hand; she muttered something to herself. When we finally reached the floor we needed to be on, we went to the car.
Yvonne
I spent the night at Mandy's to make sure she was okay. She was almost like a child, until six o'clock that morning, when she came to her senses and was her normal self again, or at least, as normal as Mandy could get. Most of the day, we talked about how she felt like her head should have been removed.
"I know we've been friends for years, but I feel like we don't know everything about each other." Amanda said as she gazed out the bay window in her room.
"Well, that's the good thing about our friendship. We still have lots to learn about ourselves and each other." I commented back.
"But I feel like me and Caleb are closer than you and me sometimes, you know?" she returned.
"That's fine. Maybe having that guy friend is better, you can get a guy's opinion on things. And maybe that's what you need." I explained.
"Yeah, but all of us: Teresa, Caleb, Rachel, and ourselves have all been friends since before we came to Japan. We even learned Japanese together." Amanda told me, with that deep look in her eyes. She sometimes had no meaning with words or emotions.
"Yeah, but that's what brings us together. We could make tons of friends from Ouran, but we will always come back together," I replied. Mandy still wore a face of sadness; it was almost like her head had been reworked. She's not the type to have trouble comprehending her own thoughts. I was worried I might not be able to help her.
She turned to me with a smile, "Let's not worry about stuff like that, you know, unless we have too," she giggled.
"Yeah, your right." I agreed. She switched back to child-like girl mind after that.
Amanda walked out of the room; I followed her down into the kitchen. She pulled two water bottles out of the fridge, handing one to me. "I think Rachel has golf or something after school on Monday. Remind me to let Caleb know, because Rachel would end up telling him last minute." She was cheery again, occupying her mind with domestic thoughts.
"Sure. So are you still going to do tea-kwon-do? You with your head injury and all." I asked with a small smile.
"No, my mom called last night to tell them. They said its fine," she explained.
"Well then, I want to go to the movies. 'You in?" I asked.
"Yeah, should we call Caleb and the others?" She replied with question.
"I guess so if you want to. Hey, isn't that Christmas party thing next weekend?" I asked her.
"Yes. Rachel's going to want to go isn't she?" she replied.
"Of course."
"Well, I guess we'll make plans to go. Caleb's not going to want to go, but we need a ride." She grinned.
"He'll just have to wait for us, or I can get a driver for us." I explained.
"Nah we have Caleb, 'might as well make him useful. Let's go call them, than we can go to the movies!" Amanda cheered.