Clem's POV
"Ohhhh, Clementine!"
I groaned, turning in my bed to face the wall. I could hear Minnie and Violet chatting, and I could feel Sophie hovering over me. "Clem-en-tine!" She repeated in a sing song voice. The twin put her hand on my shoulder, lightly shaking me. "Wake up!"
"Five more minutes," I slurred, snuggling into the warmth of my blankets.
Back in my old world, I would have been up and at em by the time the sun rose. It didn't matter how long I had slept; I would be wide awake and fully functional even with only about an hour of rest. However, now that I had gotten used to actually getting a full eight hours of sleep, I was like a zombie when I got any less.
"I already gave you ten extra minutes," Sophie said. "If you don't get up soon, you're going to be late for class!"
"What time is it?" I mumbled, my eyes still closed.
"7:50."
"Just tell them I was sick."
"Clem, if you don't get out of bed in five seconds, I will drag you out," Sophie warned.
"Mhm, okay," I murmured drowsily, not really comprehending what she had said.
She started to count, but I was too tired to care. Suddenly, I felt something grab my ankles, and my covers where yanked off of me. "Hey!" I objected, finally opening my eyes to see who had stolen my comforter. As soon as I blinked them open, the curtains where ripped apart, and the light that spilled in nearly blinded me.
"Rise and shine!" Minnie sang.
"I'm going to start pulling on three," Sophie told me. "One, two-"
"Alright, alright, I'm up!" I declared, sitting up to show her I was awake.
Sophie let go of my ankles and crossed her arms. "It's about time."
Violet tossed some leggings and a t-shirt over to me. "We picked out your clothes to save you some time. Now get dressed," she ordered.
I sleepily slipped on my shirt, and slowly slid on my pants. Minnie put on some make up, and Sophie put her long, red hair into a fishtail braid. After I was done getting dressed, I sat back down on the bed, just thinking about how nice it would be to go back to sleep...
I realized that Violet was waving her hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention. "Hello?" Vi asked. "Earth to Clementine."
"Oh, sorry," I apologized. "Did you say something?"
"How late did you stay out last night, Clem?" Minnie questioned. "You're really... out of it, today."
"Like, three," I estimated.
"Well no wonder you're still half asleep," Violet voiced. "You only got around four hours of sleep."
"What were you doing out that late, anyway?" Minnie asked.
"The janitor and I are old friends. I just wanted to catch up a little with him."
"Well next time you guys 'catch up', try to be back BEFORE three AM," Sophie requested. "I don't want to have to wake you up like that every morning."
"Yeah, sorry about that," I apologized again. "By the way, thanks for doing that."
She grinned at me. "No problem." Then her eyes shifted to the top of my head. "You have serious bed head."
I shrugged. "It's fine. I'm too lazy to do anything with it."
"Well, it's going to bother me," Sophie stated. She walked over to me and pulled my hair up into high, messy bun. She scrunched her nose up, asking, "When's the last time you showered?"
"It's been a few days," I admitted. I had forgotten that showering was a thing you could do here whenever you pleased.
"You should probably take one soon," Sophie suggested. "You desperately need one."
"I bet that's why you got sent here," Violet joked, "You can't take care of yourself."
"I can, usually," I assured them. "I just need more time to settle in."
Minnie handed me some deodorant and spritzed me down with perfume. She took a deep breath, proclaiming, "Aw, that's much better."
I playfully threw a pillow at her, saying, "I get it. I stink. I'll take a shower later."
"After basketball," Violet decided for me.
"Okay, I will."
Minnie checked the time on the clock. "It's 7:55. We better get to class."
Violet and Minerva walked out of the room, their fingers intertwined. Sophie stood in the doorway and waited for me, making sure I didn't fall back asleep on the bed. "Come on, sleepy head," she said, putting her hand on her hip. I dragged myself out the door, and to my next class.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
Why did my first class have to be math?
I fought to keep my eyes open as Walter droned on and on about how to find the area of a circle. Pi times radius squared, I thought, frustrated at how much he was able to talk. It's that easy!
Violet was sitting in the desk next to me, trying to scrape off some nail polish. Luckily, we were in the very back row, so we didn't have to worry about our teacher realizing that we weren't paying attention. Sophie was a couple rows ahead of me, and Aasim sat in the very front row, the worst place to be. Sucks for him.
Walter was on his fourth example of how to find the area of a circle when his phone rang. He pulled it out of the back pocket of his jeans, squinting at it. "Oh, I've got to take this," said. "Don't act crazy or anything, or there will be consequences," he warned, then stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind him.
"There's never consequences," Violet said, rolling her eyes. "He's too nice to ever give out any detentions."
"Is his class always this boring?" I asked her.
"Yup, pretty much," she replied. "As you can tell, he likes to talk."
"I think it's more he likes the sound of his own voice," Sophie remarked, shifting in her seat to face us.
"He's not as bad as ," someone commented. "We literally never do anything in there but listen to her lectures on 'How to be better people.' "
"Which one is she again?" I asked.
"Science teacher," Violet told me, "But luckily, you won't have to deal with her until tomorrow. She'll be busy setting up for the assembly we have today after basketball.
"What's the assembly for?" I inquired.
"Gabe has this famous uncle, and once every year they have him come give us a speech," Aasim explained from the front of the room. "It's coach David's brother. He plays major league baseball, and he's pretty much the closest thing to a celebrity that will ever agree to come over here."
"I've heard of him. Javier Garcia, right?"
"That's him."
"He seems pretty cool."
"He is," agreed Violet. "Even though he playsstupid baseball."
came back in then, a little bounce in his step. "Are you guys ready to keep expanding your minds?"
The class let out s collective groan.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
After math ended, it was time for music appreciation. Minnie and Brody walked with me there, stopping with me while I splashed some water on my face to stay awake. How did I even function back in my old world?
This class had more people that I knew: Louis, Minnie, Brody, Mitch, Omar, Sarah, Marlon, and Ruby. Oh, and Becca, too.
The class was a lot wilder today than it was yesterday. There were kids from several different grade levels in there, and all of the younger kids were running around like crazy people.
"Looks like we have a sub," observed Brody. "Everybody only acts like a bunch of lunatics when isn't around."
, or in other words, Mark. The guy who's legs I almost ate.
"These are the best kind of days, though," Minnie commented. "No teacher means no work."
The poor substitute was trying to calm everyone down from the front of the room, shouting, "Okay, kids! Lets all find a seat, c'mon, sit down!" She could barely be heard over all of the children. Eventually, she saw that no one was going to listen to her, so she just quit trying. The woman sighed and plopped down in a chair.
Brody and Minnie went to go sit by the group of kids who weren't losing their minds, and I followed them. Everybody in that group was pretty much everyone that I mentioned before, plus a few other new faces.
I sat down next to Mitch, who was scrolling through his phone. He glanced up when we sat, nodding to acknowledge us. "Hey."
"Hey," I said back. Across from me, Louis and Becca were playfully wresting. Seeing them reminded me of what Becca had done last night, in that same spot. How does she sleep at night?
"You're looking..." Mitch started, eyeing me up and down with smirk, "... rough, today."
"Gee, thanks," I responded sarcastically. "For your information, I didn't get a lot of sleep."
"I can tell."
My eyes lids felt droopy. I rubbed them, attempting to get rid of their sleepiness. It didn't work. I yawned, leaning my head back against the wall. It won't hurt to rest my eyes for a couple of minutes...
"Clementine!" Sophie shouted.
I jolted my head up. "What?" I asked, annoyed.
"Don't go to sleep," she demanded. "You're gonna get your sleeping schedule all out of whack if you do. Stay. Awake."
"Fine," I said. "But I need someone to help keep me awake."
"I could explain to you what's happening in my story," Sarah volunteered.
"Okay," I agreed.
Sarah scooted over to me and started to describe what was currently happening in her book, but that did the opposite of keep me awake. If anything, it helped lull me to sleep. My head would drift forward, my eyes closing. Then, I would catch myself, and jerk my head up.
Finally, after about the fifth time of me doing this, Mitch asked, "Do you want some coffee?"
"You have some?"
"No, but the teacher's lounge does," he answered. "I'm about to go get myself some. Do you want me to grab you some, too?"
"Yes, please do!"
"Alright, I'll be back," Mitch said. He got up and walked right out the door. The sub didn't even care.
"How 'bout we do something to keep you awake while we wait?" Ruby suggested.
"Like what?" Marlon inquired.
"I have something," Louis spoke up, stopping his wresting with Becca. He pulled his cards out from his jacket pocket. "Truth or dare, anyone?"
Everybody agreed, so we all formed a tight circle so we could actually hear each other. The chaos happening around us was growing pretty loud.
Becca sat in Louis's lap, and he rested his head on her shoulder while he shuffled the cards. The moment made my lip twitch.
Lou passed around the stack of cards, and we all drew one from the stack. Brody won, and I lost.
"I won't make you do a dare, since you'll probably pass out while doing it," she joked.
"Alright," I said, disregarding her comment. "What do you wanna know?"
The cheerleader looked up at the ceiling, debating on what to ask me. Finally, she asked, "Who was your first kiss, and how did it happen?"
That was a tough question to explain. My first kiss had been Gabe, when he was dying. Of course, I couldn't tell them 'My first kiss was Gabe after he got bit by a walker and was dying on the side of the road.' I could change the story up just a little bit, though.
"It's kind of a sad story," I apprised them.
"That makes me want to hear it even more," claimed Ruby.
"Okay, then," I started. I took a deep breath. "I'll try to make it quick. Once, my friend, um, Gabrielle, left his family to go live with his dad. Well, he was going to, at least, but then a couple minutes into the drive there, he changed his mind and tried to turn the car around. His dad was a bad guy, he just didn't realize it until that moment." I paused for a moment as I remembered coming across the wrecked truck with Javi. "They crashed. A friend of mine took me to where it happened, and we found his dad dead. Gabrielle was still alive, though. But he wouldn't be for long."
I closed my eyes again, but not because I was tired. I could still see him there, looking up at me with his eyes slowly draining of color. Of life.
I continued, "And the first thing that dork says to me when I find him is, 'Take my playing cards.'" I can't help but smile a little at the memory. "He was such a weirdo.
"Anyway, after I took his cards, I kissed him goodbye. And, yeah, that's the story of my first kiss."
I opened my eyes to find them all staring at me, desolate looks on their faces.
"That's... really sad," Brody said softly.
"I'm sorry. For your loss, I mean," Marlon sympathized.
"Oh, it's fine," I assured them. "It was a long time ago." They all continued to stare at me. I guess my depressing story had thrown them for a loop.
"What about the ambulance?" Louis asked.
"They didn't make it in time," I answered. "Anyway, who's up for round two?"
Louis reluctantly passed the cards back around, his eyes glued on me. I could feel his pitying look he cast upon me. However, I pretended not to notice, drawing a card and passing on the deck like normal.
This time, Ruby won and Marlon lost.
"I've got a good one," Ruby announced, lightening the mood a bit. "You can't touch Brody at ALL today."
"WHAT?" Marlon and Brody both objected in unison.
"Yes!" Cheered Omar. "Yes, thank you!"
"Really, Ruby?" Whined Brody.
"Yeah, seriously?!" Complained Marlon. "You can't do that!"
"I just did," Ruby said triumphantly. "Now you two scoot apart until tomorrow."
Brody sat stubbornly in her place, and Marlon wrapped an arm around her.
Louis stood up and wedged himself in between the couple. "Scooch, you two!" He chimed despite Marlon's punch to the shoulder. "Them's the rules!"
Brody huffed, then came to sit next to me. "You suck," she spat at Ruby.
The red head just shrugged, saying, "I think we could all use a break from your guys' romance."
Everybody nodded in agreement.
Then, Mitch strolled back in, carrying two mugs of steaming coffee. He sat down in the circle next to me, handing me my drink.
I took a tiny sip. "Ugh, thank you. I really needed this."
"No problem," he said. "But now you owe me."
"Owe you what?"
"I don't know," he said, "I'll decide later." One of the kids ran behind him, accidentally kicking him with his leg. "Hey, watch it!" Mitch barked. "Someone needs to get these little twerps under control!"
"I'm on it!" Becca proclaimed, suddenly jumping up from her seat. I was surprised to see her volunteer so eagerly.
She went and got her guitar, then sat down on the piano bench. "Hey, kids!" She called. "All you kids, come over here!" All of them ran over to her, excitedly sitting down at her feet. "What song do you guys want to hear today?"
A thousand requests went up, and she held up her hand to make them all stop talking. "How about twinkle twinkle little star?" She suggested. All of their little heads nodded, and she strummed on her instrument and started singing the little tune. The children sang with her, and actually calmed down a bit.
I would have never thought someone like Becca would be good with kids. I glanced around me to see if anyone else was having the same thoughts as me, but none of them showed any signs of being surprised. I looked at Louis, who was grinning ear to ear. He looked so proud.
I scooted over to him, whispering, "Hey."
"Hey," he said back. The dread locked teen looked back to his girlfriend, bragging, "Isn't she great?"
"Yeah, she's good with kids," I admitted. I twiddled my thumbs, wondering if this would be the right time to break the bad news to him. Not yet, I told myself. "Louis?"
"Yeah?"
"I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"Not right now," I told him. "Later, though, we need to talk."
"Okay," he said, raising a brow. "Is everything alright?"
"No, actually, it's not."
"Are you sure it can wait?" He asked, concerned.
"Yeah, till tonight."
"If I live that long," he remarked. When I gave him a dubious look, he claimed, "The anticipation may kill me!"
I rolled my eyes, chuckling a little. I made eye contact with Becca, and suddenly she stopped playing. "Hey, Lou, want to come play the piano for us?"
"Sure," he agreed. He got up and went to the piano, where he started to play "Marry had a Little Lamb". Becca smirked at me when he left, and I glared at her. You just wait, Becca, I thought. You just wait.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
The rest of the day went by quickly. But, as they say, time flies when you're having fun. Or when you have something you're really nervous about coming up.
I was really anxious about basketball practice. I mean, I know I did really well at free throws, but there was a lot more to the sport than just those shots. There was dribbling, defense, offense, etc. Plus, to make matters worse, my coach wasn't exactly my favorite person in the world. In fact, she was the opposite.
Violet led me to the gym and into the locker room. The girls were all dressing into their basketball shorts, putting their hair up, and rubbing their armpits with deodorant. Vi handed me some shorts, a tank top, and high top shoes. "Put these on."
"Who's are they?" I asked, holding them up to inspect them.
The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. Coach Lilly told me to give them to you for now."
As I got dressed, I noticed that a flock of girls was surrounding Becca.
Violet saw this, saying, "Almost everyone here treats her like royalty, except for me, Minnie, and Ruby. Half of them are actually her friends, and the other half are just sucking up to her so she'll pick them for her team if we scrimmage."
"Oh. Is she good?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, yeah, she is. She's the point guard. "
Point guard. Somewhere, deep in my brain, the word rang a bell. Point guard, point guard, point guard... Suddenly, my mouth was moving with my telling it to. "I used to be point guard for my old team."
"Oh really? Were you guys good?"
"Yup. We had an undefeated season." Hmm. That's nice to know.
"Well, even though Becca is the point guard, she was also a ball hog. You're not a ball hog, are you?"
"I don't think so."
"Okay, good. Hopefully you can take her place as the head pointer."
I took off my shirt and slid on the tank top. "You really think I can?"
"I bet you can," Violet stated.
After we were done getting ready, we all went out onto the floor. Everybody grabbed a basketball, and they all started to shoot on one goal. I got a basketball from the racks, and started to warm up by shooting on the goal that was unoccupied.
Swish. I sink one from the elbow of the free throw line. I take a step back, deciding to test my luck with a three pointer.
Swish. It goes in, easy.
I heard dribbling from behind me, and turned to see Ruby making her way toward me. "Whatcha doin' down here all by yourself?" She questioned.
I take a few dribbles to the side and shoot again. Swish. "It's too crowded over there," I answered.
"Yeah, it is pretty crowded," Ruby concurred. "You mind if I stay down here?"
"No, go ahead."
"I'll rebound for you," the red head volunteered, setting her own ball down and going to stand under the goal.
I shot again. Swish. I think this has to be one of my favorite noises. I shot a few more, not missing a single one.
"Okay, I guess I what I shoulda said was 'I'll go catch all your makes.' You're a really good shooter!" Ruby complemented.
"Thanks." I shot again, and it went in. However, this time I felt all squirmy as I did.
The sixth sense that I had developed in the apocalypse started to tingle; I was being watched.
I turned around to see Becca, sending a death glare my way. When she saw me watching, she turned and shot, swishing a basket of her own.
When she turned around, though, the feeling still didn't go away. I glanced around me, trying to figure out who was giving me this uneasiness. When I didn't see anyone on the court, I looked into the bleachers, where I made eye contact with my old enemy.
Lilly.
Her eyes bore into me, and I stared at her right back. Lilly wasn't looking at me with an angry look, though, as she used to; instead she seemed as if she were studying me, analyzing my every move.
I faced away from her. "Why is she looking at me like that?" I asked just loud enough for Ruby to hear.
My friend glanced up at our coach, then smiled. "I've seen that look before; that means she likes you."
Suddenly, Lilly blasted her whistle. "Layups!" She ordered.
We split into two lines at half court. The people on the right side shot their lay ups, and the people on the left rebounded. As it neared my turn to go, I started to panic. I have no IDEA how to do a layup. I watched the way Violet did it; Dribble, dribble, dribble, step, step, up. She made it look so easy.
Soon, it was my turn to go, and my body did that thing again where it takes control of me. I was okay with that, though, since apparently my body knows how to do layups correctly.
After we did the layup drill, we did a dibbling drill. Cones where set up in zigzag lines across the court. We were supposed to do a cross over at the first cone, between the legs on the next, and behind the back on another.
I immediately recognized that Ruby and Minnie were not one of the best dribblers. In fact, there were only a few girls on the team who could dibble with their head up, including me, Violet, and Becca.
The dribbling drill was also a breeze for me. In fact, it was actually kinda fun.
Once we were done, Lilly blew her whistle again. "Hustle up!" She demanded. The team jogged over to her. "We're scrimmaging today," she informed us. "The next game against the hawks is going to be a tough one, and I want us ready." The coach scanned her eyes over the group. "Okay, our usual team pickers, go, pick your teams." Becca and Violet stepped out, walking a few feet away from each other. Lilly flipped a coin, and Violet called heads. It was tails. Becca got first pick for her team. "Remember, ladies," Lilly reminded them, "You're picking to win."
"I want Minnie," Becca stated. Minnie jogged over to her.
"Clementine," said Violet. I went to stand next to her.
"Therrisa."
"Erin."
"Alex."
"Stephanie."
"Dewy."
They kept going back and forth, until all of the players had been selected.
The only people on my team that I actually knew where Violet and Ruby. Lilly handed us black jerseys to put on to separate us from the other team.
A girl from my team named Dewy jumped for the ball against Minnie. We didn't win, so we all sunk back on defense.
Everybody started yelling out who they're man was, so I did the same. "I got Becca!" I shouted.
Becca slowly dribbled down the court, glancing at all of her options. Then, as she neared me, she picked up the pace, and tried to drive right into the basket. I, however, was one step ahead of her, and planted myself in her path. She plowed into me, knocking me over.
Lilly's whistle sounded almost immediately on the impact. "You can't do that, Bec! Black team's ball."
"Becca, I was open!" I heard Minnie complain to her.
I went under the goal to pass it in, and threw it to Violet. She threw it right back to me when I did. "What're you doing?" I asked her. "You're the team captain."
"You got this," Violet assured me. "Show us all what you got."
Hesitantly, I dribbled down the court.
I went to the elbow of the three point line, and stood dribbling with my body between the ball. "Cut!" I yelled. "Get open!"
All of a sudden, Becca was lunging toward me, and my instincts wrapped the ball around my back. I got it with my other hand, and rushed toward the goal for a layup. It went in, and Lilly yelled, "Nice one!" Her being nice to me is so weird, I thought.
There were several more possessions after that, but my team always ended up with the ball. They didn't score on us once.
Finally, after about fifteen minutes of us playing, Lilly let us stop for a water break. I went to go get some water from the water fountain, but before I could, my coach called my name. When I looked to her, she motioned for me to go over to her.
I jogged over to where she was sitting on the benches for the athletes. "Sit down," she said, and I obeyed. Lilly cleared her throat, saying, "I just wanted to say that I'm genuinely impressed with you. You're a great point guard, and a great shooter. You're also not a ball hog; you give you're team mates a chance to score, too. It's not often we find players like that."
She looked at me expectantly, and I realized she was waiting for me to talk. "Oh! Um, thank you, coach."
"I'm really looking forward to having play for us," she told me. "Now go get some water and get ready to play again."
"Yes, ma'am," I said obediently. After getting some water from the fountain and jogging to the middle of the floor, Violet and Minnie came to meet me.
"You're doing so good!" Exclaimed Minerva, giving me a high five.
"Thanks."
"What did the coach tell you?" Asked Violet.
"She just told me that I'm a good point guard, and that she's excited for me to play for you guys."
Violet smiled. "She's never said that to anyone. I told you she'd like you!"
"She's told me I'm a good point guard, too," interjected Becca matter-of-factly. "In fact, she tells me that, like, everyday."
"Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but coach has been lying to you," Violet remarked with a false look of sorrow.
Ruby snickered at that.
"I'm better than you!" Becca fired back.
"Breaks over!" Announced Lilly. "Shirt's teams ball!"
Lilly tossed the ball over to Becca, who went to the top of the three point line. After everyone on her team was ready, she bounced the ball to me to check it. I glanced around, made sure my girls were settled, then gave it back to her. It was live.
Becca passed it, then immediately cut. She didn't get the ball, so she went and filled in an open position. The ball was passed around the floor a couple more times, until someone tried to make another pass to Becca. However, it was a slow, floating pass, and I easily intercepted the ball. After I caught it, I took off dribbling, hoping to get in a nice and quick layup. But Becca is evidently a really fast runner, because she was sprinting right next to me when I had barely made it to half court.
I could hear my teammates that I had left in the dust cheering me on. "Come on, Clem!" Violet encouraged.
I picked up my speed, hoping to beat her to the basket. Becca accelerated, too.
I was closing in on the goal. Just a few more dribbles and I would be there.
Suddenly, I felt a jab of pain in my right ankle. Right as I did, I heard Becca make a "Huh!" sound. My legs were moving to fast to slow down, and my right leg made a full, hard cycle as it had done before. My ankle completely gave out on the impact, and I fell, tumbling over the ball.
I laid on the ground for a moment, still processing what happened. Becca fucking kicked me, I thought angrily as I wrapped my brain around what just went down. That bitch!
"Clementine!" Minnie yelped. Her and the rest of the team stampeded over to me, forming a circle around me. Ruby and Violet knelt down.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, her eyes wild with concern.
"I'm fine," I answered, pissed at the situation . I tried to get up, but when I put pressure on my ankle, pain exploded into it like a fire cracker. I practically fell back to the floor. "Shit!" I cursed to myself.
"Alright, alright," I could hear Lilly saying from somewhere behind the group. "Give her some space, girls. Come on, spread out a little." They widened the circle, allowing Lilly to get through to see me. She got on one knee to inspect my injury.
Ruby gingerly lifted my foot, and I cringed at the pain that came from it. "Sorry," Ruby apologized. She lightly touched my swollen ankle, which had parts that were already turning blue. "This is either a break, or a very severe sprain."
Lilly grimaced at the news. "Great," she muttered to herself. "And just when I got a pretty decent player." She turned away from my foot, looking to Violet and Minnie. "Could you two get her to the nurse, please?"
The both came to my side, letting me wrap my arms around their shoulders. After they eased me up, I accidentally stepped on my bad ankle again. "Fuck!" I hissed.
"Coach Lilly!" Becca exclaimed. "She just used explicit word! That's a detention, right?"
"I'll let her off the hook for this one," Lilly said. "That looks like it hurts."
"Your sensitive ears wouldn't be hearing those words if you hadn't kicked her," Violet seethed.
"You did what?" Lilly queried.
"It was an accident!" Becca claimed. "Our legs just happened to hit each other!"
"Apologize." My coaches voice was firm, scary, even. She had that same look in her eye that she had back in my old world, as I saw her escape the school with my friends. The woman looked like a spawn of the devil then, and she did now, too. Only without the fire dancing around her.
Becca's eyes widened when she realized how serious Lilly was. "I'm sorry," Becca quietly uttered. Her whisper sounded loud in the silence of the gym.
"It's fine," I said back, but only to please Lilly. Then, Minnie and Violet turned me around, and we began to make our awkward journey to the nurses office.
"I can't believe you would do something like that," Lilly was saying, disbelief in her voice. I was glad she was seeing Becca's true colors.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
Luckily, my ankle wasn't broken, but it was pretty badly sprained. After Vi and Minnie dropped me off in the nurses office, she took one look at it and sentenced me to an hour of my ankle being elevated and iced.
"You can do that after you take a shower, though," stated. "No offense, but I've been holding my breath around you this whole time, and I'll pass out if I have to any longer."
The nurse let me use the her office's shower, and she had me wear some of the extra student clothes that she had; leggings and an Ericson t-shirt.
I had to use a plastic chair in the shower, since I couldn't exactly stand up. This time, I made sure to actually wash my hair and body unlike last time. When I got out, I felt a lot more refreshed, despite my ankle.
propped my leg up on three pillows, and an ice pack was resting on top of the swollen parts of my foot. I went to check my pocket for my phone, only to realize that it wasn't there. I left it in my bag, I remembered. My bag was still at the gym.
I let my eyes wander the room, since I didn't have anyone to talk to or anything to keep me entertained. had left to go find me a hair brush, and there weren't any other kids who had hurt themselves today.
My vision fell back onto my ankle, and I felt my rage boil up a bit.
Becca was bad before, but the fact that she actually physically hurt me? That was just fucked up. I had to get Louis away from her, soon.
I tried to think of how I was going to break it to him. 'So, Louis, by the way, your girlfriend is a bitch. She's cheating on you and she nearly broke my ankle.' No, not that, too blunt. 'Hey, Louis? We need to talk about Becca. I saw her making out with another dude the other day. Oh, you want proof? Here, take a look at this pic-'
Suddenly, the door swung open, and the headmaster bounded in decked out in clothes that all had the same 'D' logo as my hat. He had on the socks, the pants, the shirt, and... the hat. MY hat. He was wearing MY FUCKING HAT.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Rob was frantically apologizing to someone behind him. "I wasn't aiming for your eye..."
Then, Javi came in, holding his eye in one of his hands. "It's fine," he assured him, but I could hear the hint of irritation in his voice.
The headmaster turned to me, then quickly glanced around the room. "Where's ?"
"She went to go get me a hairbrush," I replied, trying my best to keep my anger from showing. "Where'd you get that hat?" I asked him. "Because it looks really close to mine-"
"Clementine, I don't have time to talk!" The dean snapped. "Can't you see we're in a crisis here?" He gestured to Javi, who was looking at Rob like he was an idiot.
"Like I said, I'm fine," The athlete repeated. "Just go get me some ice."
"Yes, of course," said . "Let me go find you some." He scurried out of the office, muttering more apologies.
Javier slumped down in a chair across from me, removing his hand from his eye to reveal a dark purple bruise.
"Ouch," I commented. "What happened?"
"Your headmaster decided to throw me a baseball without warning me first."
"Well, that's rough."
"What happened to you?"
"I sprained it in basketball ."
"Oh, that sucks. Sounds like we've both had tough days," Javi huffed. His eyes fixated on my face, and suddenly, he perked up. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't think so."
"I swear, you look so familiar..." he mused. Then, he snapped his fingers, saying, "Oh, that's right! You're that girl who wrestled someone to get that little kid a ball at one of my baseball games!"
"Oh!" I exclaimed, fake realization in my tone. "Yeah, you're right!"
"You got kicked out of the game, but I still came and got a picture with you afterwords, remember?"
"Yeah! I completely forgot about that."
"And then you got to throw the first pitch at my next game," Javi continued. "Yeah, I sure remember you. But I don't remember you going here. Have you always gone here?"
"No," I replied, "I just started recently."
"How are you liking it so far?"
"It's alright. But that headmaster is a pain."
"Believe me, I know," Javi concurred. "The dude thinks we're, like, best buds, and it's honestly really annoying. He's part of the reason that I always dread coming here."
"You know what he did?"
"What?"
"He stole my fucking hat," I ranted to him, catching my cursing only after I had said it. "Whoops, sorry for my language."
"It's okay, kid," he chortled.
"Anyway, he took it away a couple of days ago, and he's wearing it today." I sighed. "This is just one more thing to make the day a little bit worse."
"Aw, c'mon," Javier spoke encouragingly. "It'll get better. Where's your fire that you had last time I met you? Your energy?"
"I think I burned out," I told him.
"Would it help if I got your hat back?"
"Yeah," I said. "But I don't know how one would do that."
"Oh, I have an idea," stated Javi, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Do tell."
"You wait and see. I'll do it at the assembly."
"Alright, fine."
"There is one condition, though," Javi claimed.
"What?"
"You have to smile if you want me to do it."
I gave him a fake, over exaggerated smile.
"No, it has to be a real smile."
I groaned, stretching out my fake grin even wider. "This is as real as it gets," I expressed through clenched teeth.
"I don't know, I think you need to laugh, too."
My cheeks were starting to hurt, and I was getting agitated by his games. Forgetting that I was in this new world, I glared at him and flipped him off. As his eyes widened, I realized what I did.
To my surprise, he laughed at my gesture. "That's the girl I remember," he affirmed. "You don't take crap from anybody."
"Are you going to help me get my hat or not?"
"Yes, I will."
"Okay, thanks. I owe you one."
"Yeah, you do. Say, you got any nice hats? I'll accept that as payment."
I let myself chuckle at his joke.
0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0
After my hour of icing my ankle was up, found me a pair of crutches that I could use to hobble around. Apparently, crutches REALLY tire you out. It took me ages to get back to the gym, and there weren't even people in the hallways. It was going to be rough when I had to carry my bags and maneuver my way around a bunch of kids.
Eventually, I made it to the gymnasium for the assembly. After struggling to open the doors, I went in to find that the kids were still chattering and filling the bleachers. Good, I'm on time.
"Clem!" AJ's shout rang above all of the other troubled youth's voices. I spotted him in the bleachers, awkwardly waving with my elbow still propped on a crutch. He scampered down to me, his face etched with concern. "What happened?"
"Oh, I hurt it in basketball," I explained, trying to play it off as if it wasn't a big deal. I didn't want him to worry. "It'll be fine, though. It won't take long to heal."
"How did you hurt it?"
"Becca accidentally kicked it."
"How do you do that on accident?" Alvin Junior questioned.
"I don't know. Anyway," I said, trying to change the subject, "Where do you want to sit?"
"Clementine!" I heard from behind me. I turned to see Violet approaching me, my bag in her hand.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." She observed my crutches, then at my still very swollen ankle that had some athletic tape wrapped around it. "How's the ankle?"
"A little better after icing it," I lied. Honestly, it hurt like hell. It was constantly pulsing with pain.
"How about you sit in the bottom seats?" Violet suggested. She pointed to some benches just in front of the stands. "So you don't need to make the climb up to the bleachers?"
"That's probably a good idea."
"Ohh, that will be the best spot!" Chimed AJ happily. "Let's go!" He took off running toward them, and I almost did, too, until I remembered my screwed up ankle.
"I'll carry your bags over there," Vi volunteered.
"Thanks." I began to make my way toward the seats, which were about 100 feet away; so close, yet so far.
I saw that my blonde friend was glaring up at someone in the crowd above us, and I curiously looked to see who. When I spotted Becca, an involuntary scowl took over my face, too. "I still can't believe she's low enough to hurt someone that bad," Violet stated, shaking her head. "I mean, even if she doesn't like you, you're still incredibly valuable to the team. I thought she at least cared about the team more than that."
"I did, too," I concurred. Thinking out loud, I said, "Well, actually, considering she's a cheater in relationships, I'm not very surprised that she's a cheater in sports, too."
Violet stopped walking. "What?"
"Hmm?" I turned to her, confused by her sudden halt.
"What do you mean, 'she's a cheater in relationships'?"
Oh shit. How could I have let that slip? "U-um," I stammered, "Y'know, cause Louis deserves someone so much better than her, and somehow she has him?"
"I don't think that's what you were implying," Violet told me suspiciously. She put a hand on her hip, asking, "Is there something I need to know?"
"You don't need to know it," I answered, "but someone else does."
"Now I'm curious, and if you don't tell me what it is, it's going to bug me the rest of the day," Violet said stubbornly. "Now spill."
"Okay," I gave in, "But you have to promise to not tell anyone."
"Cross my heart," Violet promised. "Now what is it?"
I leaned in closer to her so I couldn't be overheard by other people. "I saw Becca cheating on Louis with another guy," I admitted. "Last night while I was waiting for the janitor, her and someone else snuck in the music room and started to, y'know..."
Violet didn't even look surprised. She sent a death stare to the topic of the conversation, saying, "I bet I know exactly who it was. She's been getting really friendly with this 11th grader some afternoons after basketball." The other teen glowered. "Now I know why."
"Anyway, I've been deciding on whether I should tell him or not-"
"Of course you should tell him!" Violet interjected. "Yeah, he'll be a little sad, but he'll get over it. Eventually."
"And that's what I decided," I finished. "I've just been waiting for the right time."
"What if he doesn't believe you? I mean, he thinks the world of Becca for some reason. Chances are, he'll trust her over you."
"I have picture proof."
"Smart," Violet complemented.
"Thanks." I started to walk again, and so did she. "I just still don't know when to tell him."
"You'll find the right time," Vi assured me. "Make sure that it's only the two of you when you do it, though. If Becca if there, she might start crying or something to make him stay, and then he might not break it off."
"Noted." I inhaled deeply, glad that I was no longer the only one who had the burden of knowing Becca's secret. "It feels so good to get that off my chest."
We made it to the benches, and I gladly sat down in the chair. I set my crutches to the side, and Violet set my bag with it.
"Alright, I better go," Violet said.
"See you later," I replied.
"See you. Oh, and good luck with the situation."
"Thanks. I'm going to need it."
She waved goodbye, then headed up into the bleachers. AJ bounced in his chair beside me, obviously excited to see Javier. I couldn't help but laugh at his giddiness. "Are you excited, goofball?"
"I'm so excited!" AJ crooned. "This is my first year seeing him close up! All the other years, it was only the big kids who got to see him. But this year I get to see him, too!"
"Hey, do you remember that one time that I wrestled someone to get you a ball from one of his baseball games?"
"Yeah, I do." Alvin laughed at the memory, saying, "That man was so surprised that you were so strong!"
Louis walked in front of us, and I absentmindedly smiled at him. He returned the favor, but when he saw my ankle and the crutches, his grin dropped. "Whoa, what happened?" He asked, stopping and kneeling down to take a better look at my injury.
"Hurt it in basketball," I explained.
"Oh." He looked up at me, his expression sending me a look of sympathy. "Sounds like you had a rough first practice."
"Yeah," I huffed, "tell me about it."
"Does it hurt?"
"Yeah, but it should stop soon."
"Hey, Louis, where are you sitting?" AJ inquired.
"I was just on my way to find Bec," He answered.
"Why don't you sit down here with us?" The little boy requested. "We've got the best view from here!"
"I don't know, little dude," Louis said doubtfully. "I promised Becca I'd sit with her..."
"It'll be fine," AJ assured him, waving his hand dismissively. "You can just tell her that you also promised ME the same thing, before you promised her."
"Okay, I'll hang with you, buddy," Louis caved in. He came and sat down in between AJ and I.
"So," Lou started, "have you ever met the famous Javier Garcia?"
"Actually, I have," I informed him, recalling my conversation with Javi earlier. "In fact, he really likes me."
"Is that so? How'd you meet him?"
"At one of his baseball games, I wrestled someone to get a baseball that flew into the stands for AJ." He let out a quick and sudden snort, and I gave him a quizzical look. "What?"
"I can just imagine you hiking up your sleeves, marching up to someone, and demanding, 'Hey, give me that ball!'" Louis spoke in a high, squeaky voice to imitate me. Then, his voice dropped extra low to pretend to be the other person, "'No, I had it first!' Then, BOOM! You knee em right in the balls."
"That's kinda like what happened," AJ pitched in. "After some guy stole the ball from me, she went up to them and yelled at him to give it back. When he didn't, she kneed him in the spot and THEN punched him in the face. After that, she tackled him to the ground to get me that ball."
"Wow. I'm impressed," Louis articulated.
"Anyway," I continued, "I got kicked out of the game, but Javi really liked me, so I still got a picture with him afterwords."
"That's, like, kind of really awesome!" Lou exclaimed.
"Yeah, so now he's going to help me get my hat back that that stole."
"The headmaster stole your hat?" Louis queried. "What kind of headmaster even does that?"
"I know, right! I mean, he's an ADULT. He's supposed to be teaching us NOT to steal."
"How's he gonna get it back for you?"
"He hasn't told me yet. But I'm ready to have it back. He's been wearing it all day, though, so I'll have to wash it before I wear it again."
"You might want to sprinkle some holy water on it, too," Louis joked.
Then, the waltzed out into the middle of the gym floor, still wearing my hat. Holding his microphone up to his mouth, he shouted, "Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Everyone quiet down, find a seat!" Slowly but surely, the crowd's loud chatter simmered down into a quiet murmur. He kept going, "Introducing, Ericson's favorite baseball star, drum roll please..." All of the students pounded their feet into the bleachers, and the seat I was sitting on started to shake. "JAVIER GARCIA!"
Javi strutted in through the entrance, and the troubled youths all cheered like crazy (almost as loud as they did for me in the free throw competition). The athlete waved to his audience like a queen does to her people, giving them a modest grin. When he spotted me, he winked.
Javier met with Rob in the middle, and Rob handed him the microphone. "Hey there, kids!" Javi greeted. "How are we today?" Various answers were shouted back, and he nodded as if he could understand what everyone was saying. "I'm glad you guys are good! I'm doing pretty good, myself. Now, there's one topic that I want to cover straight away. Do you guys know what what that is?"
The crowd was quiet other than a few responses from the brave students. "No, no, not exactly," Javi said, "but good guesses. What I actually want to talk about is..." He turned so his back was facing the crowd, then spun back around dramatically, announcing, "Thievery!"
The headmaster gave him a strange look, but said nothing. Javi continued, "Who thinks it's bad to steal things?" Almost everyone raised their hand, other than the handful of people who had been sent to the school for being kleptomaniacs. "You guys are right. Stealing is bad. But, let me ask you this; what would you guys do if I told you that one of the adults here stole something?"
All the little ones' mouths dropped, as if they were shocked that a grown up would ever do such a thing. Then, he declared, "Well, an adult here has stolen a friend of mine's hat." Louis nudged me with his elbow. "Do you guys think you can help me find it?"
Everybody replied back with an enthusiastic "Yeah!"
I watched the headmaster's color drain from his face as he realized what Javi was trying to do.
"Okay, then," Javi continued, "I guess I should probably tell you what it looks like. It has the same logo as my jersey." He pointed to the "D" on his shirt. "And it's blue and white."
Robert suddenly turned, hastening toward the exit door. However, Garcia grabbed hold of his shoulder before he could make it far.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on there a second!" Javi cried dramatically. "We need your help to find the hat!"
"This is awesome," Louis whispered to me before standing up and shouting, "Don't leave yet, headmaster, sir! We need your help!" Everyone above us giggled at his remark.
The baseball player spun around to the crowd, hanging an arm around his shoulder as if they were buddies. The older, chubbier man just stood there stiffly. His cheeks were red and puffy with anger and embarrassment. He was really sweaty, too, because his sweat stains were slowly expanding around his armpit area.
"Okay, kids!" Javi chimed. "Do you guys see her hat anywhere?"
All of the little kids pointed at the headmaster, while the older ones sat back and laughed, like me. "That's what you get for stealing my fuckin' hat!" I bellowed, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear me over everyone else.
"Yeah," Louis added, "You don't mess with Clementine!" He winked at me on the last part.
"Wait!" Javi exclaimed with false shock. "You're telling me that your HEADMASTER is the one who stole her hat?"
"YES!" Cried the crowd, pointing to my item on Robert's head.
"Oh!" Javier quickly swiped it off his head. "We found it!" He looked back at me, gesturing for me to come up there with him. "Will the rightful owner of this hat please come up here and claim what is hers?"
"That's you, Clem!" AJ proclaimed. He jumped up and got me one of my crutches, while Louis got the other. After getting situated on them, I started to make my way over to him. After my first few steps, I glanced behind me to see that Louis was recording me on my phone. Smart, I thought. I'll probably want to see this later.
After making it up there, Javi pulled me over to position me next to him, and then plopped my hat on my head. "There you go, kid," he said just loud enough for me to hear.
"Thanks again," I told him. "That was awesome!"
"No problem." He pointed to a lady in the front row of the bleachers, saying, "Now look at her and smile. I want to get a good picture of us to remember this."
I did as I was asked, thanked him again, then went back to my seat. However, when I got there, Louis was nowhere to be seen. "Hey AJ," I said, "Where's Louis?"
"He went to the bathroom," AJ filled me in. "He said he'd probably be out for the rest of the assembly." Then, leaning in and pulling me close, he whispered, "He probably has the dookies."
"Maybe." I picked my phone up from off the bench where Louis left it. I opened up my camera roll, only to be met by dozens of dumb selfies from my old lover. The surprise made me chuckle a bit. "I should've known."
However, when as I scrolled through them, my eyes landed on a photo that I had forgotten I had taken. The one of Becca with the other man. My giggling instantly stopped once I realized what might've happened.
Oh no.
"AJ?" I hesitantly inquired.
"Yeah?" He answered, only half listening because he was trying to pay attention to whatever Javi was saying.
"How did Louis seem whenever he left?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, did he seem mad? Sad? Maybe both?"
"He had a weird look on his face, but I just thought it was because his stomach hurt."
Shit. Oh, dear God, how could I have let this happen?
I quickly stood up and balanced on one leg, straining my neck to see if I could see Louis anywhere in the bleachers. Sure enough, I saw him storming up the stairs, right past Becca. When she saw how upset he was, she reached out and grabbed his hand to try and stop him. The angry teen jerked it away, continuing his walk up the stairs. Becca got up and followed him.
Violet was sitting in the row behind them, watching this all go down. When they were both gone, she saw me. Vi gave me a 'What the hell happened?' look.
I sent her back a 'Wait a second,' and she nodded.
"Goofball, I'll be right back," I said to AJ, picking up my crutches again.
"Where are you going?" He asked curiously.
"I think I'm about to get the dookies," I lied.
His expression morphed into a look of disgust. "Okay, then, say no more. Shoo."
While Javi continued to give his speech, I got onto both of my crutches and slowly climbed the stairs. Nobody took much notice of me, though, because they were too focused on what the special guest had to say. Once I made it to the very top, Violet came to meet me, and we snuck behind the concession stands.
"Well?" She rose a brow at me.
"He saw the picture," I quickly explained, "But he saw it without me."
"Oh, God," Violet mumbled. "He's going to think you were trying to hide it from him."
"I know." I took off my hat, running my fingers through my hair. "Oh, shit. I fucked up."
"Where did they go, anyway?" My friend asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
Just then, I heard the door to the concession stand slam shut. It made both me and Violet jump.
"Louis! Stop! Just tell me what's wrong!" Becca's pleads could be heard through the walls, but they were barely audible due to the assembly happening below us and thickness of the concrete between us.
"Speak of the devil," uttered Vi. I put my fingers to my lips, telling her to shush. We both pressed our ears against the stand, straining them to hear more of what was going on.
"Look me in the eye and tell me your not cheating on me," Louis demanded, his voice sharp.
"What?" Becca asked innocently.
"Tell me your not seeing someone else," Louis repeated.
"Did someone tell you that I was?" The cheater started. "Because if they did, they are ly-"
"Damn it, Rebecca, just tell me the fucking truth!" Louis snapped.
"I'm not cheating on you!" She blurted out.
It was silent for a minute. "What do you think is happening?" I asked Violet.
"I don't know," She responded.
Then, their fight continued; "Liar," Louis said in disbelief. "You liar."
"I'm not lying!" Becca claimed. "How could you ever think I would do something like that to you?"
"I didn't think you would do something like that," he admitted, his voice falling. "But I have proof, Bec. I saw the picture."
"The picture?"
"Look."
He must have sent it to himself.
Becca was silent.
"Are you still going to lie to me?" Louis said, his voice sounding weaker than it had before. "And don't try telling me that's not you."
"I'm sorry," Becca apologized. I could hear the shame in her tone. "Okay? I'm so, so sorry."
It was quiet for a long time before Lou spoke again. "Why?"
"What?"
"Why? What did I do?"
"Nothing," Becca answered regretfully. "It's more of what you didn't do." She waited for him to say something, but when she realized he wasn't, she kept going, "I was bored, Lou. Physically. I was just ready to experience what it was like. The most you've ever done is let me kiss you."
"I was the first one who accepted you here," Louis told her. "When everyone else thought you were crazy after you came, I offered to be your friend. I was the one made sure to you weren't sitting alone at lunch. I was the one who took care of you when you were sick. I was the one who let you cry on my shoulders when you were upset." He took a long, deep breath. "And this is how you repay me?" His voice cracked, and I could tell he was really hurting. When he's trying to hold back tears, his voice breaks all over the place.
"Louis, we'll get past this," She assured him. Her panic was obvious. "C'mon, we've had fights before. We'll get through it."
I carefully moved around the side of the small building, and Violet followed me. I made it to a window, and slyly peeked inside to see what was going on. Vi did the same. You could just barely make them out since the lights in the room were off.
He was leaned up against a wall, his arms crossed. Becca was standing next to him, her hand on his cheek, trying to convince him that it would all be all right.
"I'm sorry," Becca kept saying, starting to cry. "I'm sorry, it was a mistake."
Louis was shedding a few tears, too. He refused to look her in the eye.
"Louis, please, at least look at me!" Becca begged.
"I can't do this," he said, looking at the ground. "I can't trust you."
"I'll change!"
"I just..." Louis finally looked at her, his face sullen. "I think we need to break up."
My eyes widened, and I looked I Violet. She looked shocked, too.
"What?"
"We're through."
"Louis-"
"We're done, Becca!" The pain in his voice broke my heart.
"Please, don't do this!" Becca beseeched.
"Go." Louis pointed toward the door. "I can't do this right now." He turned his back on her and sat down on of the cashiers chairs.
Becca reluctantly trudged toward the exit, wiping her running mascara. Seeing the both of them like this actually made me feel kind of guilty.
Vi and I scampered back behind the concession stand before she could see us. Once we were behind them, we just stared at each other, unsure of what to do next.
"I... I can't help but feel kinda bad," I admitted.
"Don't," She told me. "It had to happen eventually."
"But not that way," I countered. I peeked around the corner to watch as Becca went into the girls bathroom. "What now?"
"You should talk to him."
I turned back around to her. "Are you sure that's a good idea? His broken heart is still really fresh."
"You owe him an explanation as to why you didn't tell him," Violet said, justifying her suggestion. She pointed to the door, ordering, "Now go, get in there."
"Are you 100% sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure." She started to walk off back toward the bleachers. "Good luck in there."
After Violet went back to her seat, I turned back to the building. Taking a deep breath, I walked around to the front of the door. Okay, Clementine, I told myself, this is going to be tough seeing him like this. Like when Marlon died. Just hold it together.
I stood in front of the door, debating on whether or not I should actually go in. Yes, you should, I decided. Then, without giving me time to chicken out, I twisted the door knob and walked in.
"Louis?"
He still sat in the chair, holding his head in his hands. I went and sat down in the chair next to his, tired from standing on my crutches for so long. Louis didn't look up.
I didn't say anything. I wanted him to speak first.
Finally, he did. "Where you planning on telling me that you caught my girlfriend cheating on me?" He asked bitterly.
"Yeah," I told him, "I was just waiting for the right time."
"Was this that 'thing' you needed to tell me?"
"Yes."
He actually snorted a little. "This is not what I was expecting."
"Well, what were you expecting?"
"I don't know. I thought that maybe you were going to want me to help me set you up with Mitch or something, I guess."
"What?" I asked, puzzled. "Why in the WORLD would I want that?"
"Hey, he's a catch," Louis claimed, his normal self peeking through a little bit. "All the girls want him. And he likes you. Y'know, LIKE likes you. Frankly, I'm surprised you two aren't dating." However, after he mentioned that, his normal self shriveled back up again. "Becca was a real catch, too."
I didn't know how to respond to that. Silence settled between us.
Eventually, I said, "I'm sorry you had to find the picture yourself."
"It's fine," Louis mumbled glumly. Suddenly, he lifted his head and asked, "How'd you get that picture, anyway?"
"The janitor and I have history," I told him, "and I was visiting him when I heard some, erm, strange noises from the music room."
"Oh." He put his head back down.
I sat in my chair awkwardly, unsure of how to comfort him. "I'm sorry that this happened."
"Me too." A minute or so ticked by without either of us saying a word. He turned to look at me, and I realized that he was crying again. His nose was running, and his eyes were red and glossy. "Why do you think she did it?" He quietly asked.
"I have no clue."
He wiped his runny nose. "I'm not enough."
"What?" I scooted my chair closer to his. "Of course you were good enough! How could you even say that?"
"She said she was 'bored,'" he remembered, using air quotations. "Am I boring?"
"Oh, believe me, you are the opposite of boring."
"I don't deserve her." He was looking off over my shoulder, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
"Louis-"
"She's too good for me."
Does he really think this lowly of himself? In that moment, I didn't care that this wasn't the same Louis I had known in the apocalypse. I took one of his hands in both of mind, instantly pulling him back to reality. He looked at our hands, then back up at me, surprised by my action. "Louis, is that really what you think of yourself?"
He downcast his chocolate eyes from mine. That was enough of an answer for me.
"Lou, I need you to trust me when I say this; you are AMAZING. You're smart, funny, kind. You've got the biggest damn heart I know, and one of the most beautiful voices. You're not boring; you're charming, charismatic, and theatrical. Entertaining is another word that comes to mind." I couldn't help but smile at his old quote. "You're enough, Louis. You're more than enough. And if Becca can't see that, it's her own loss."
I could feel my own eyes tearing up. I hated knowing that he felt this way. I hated Becca for making him feel this way. I just wished that I could take away his pain.
Louis was staring at me intently, his eyes boring into mine. I didn't break our eye contact, though. I figured if I held it, it might show him that I really meant what I was saying. I subconsciously squeezed his hand between mine.
He took his other hand, placing it on top of mine. I could feel all of my butterflies inside my stomach flutter.
I searched his eyes, looking for some kind of emotion. I found pain, loss, and sorrow. However, as I searched deeper, I found something else, too; hope, lust. Love. They were looking really similar to the same ones on the old Louis. In fact, almost identical.
He moved in closer. I felt myself being drawn toward him.
His eyes closed. Mine did, too.
We're getting closer.
Closer.
Closer.
At the first touch of our lips, I forget where I am. I forget everything that's happened since the day I died. The pain in my ankle dissolves, and so do my butterflies. This is just me, with the same old Louis.
The kiss is gentle, yet filled with passion. We party briefly for air, then gingerly come back together again. He moved one of his hands to caress the side of my cheek, softly stroking my cheekbone with his thumb. Like the old Louis.
I place my hand on his chest, loosely gripping his shirt. Just like I used to do.
The kiss feels so natural, as if we've done this before. I savor the moment. I've missed this.
Suddenly, I feel his eyes flutter open mid kiss. He dropped his hand, and I pulled away. Louis just sat there blinking, looking astounded at what just happened.
"Whoa," He uttered. "I... I don't know why I just did that."
I study him. He's staring at the floor, looking confused. Frankly, I was, too. Why did he kiss me? I know him, but he doesn't really know me. Maybe we just have natural chemistry?
"I feel better," Louis thought out loud. "I felt like shit a minute ago, and know I feel... I don't know. But it's better."
"Good."
"Sorry if that was weird," he said, fiddling with his thumbs. "I don't usually kiss people within my first 72 hours of knowing them."
"It wasn't," I assured him. You know what? Might as well tell how I feel while we're here. "In fact, it was kind of nice."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"I liked it, too."
We both stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to do next.
"It's weird, I feel like we've done that before," he told me.
"Oh really? Probably just because I've had lots of practice," I chaffed, hoping to make things less awkward.
"Damn, then, I guess I've been swept off my feet by a player," he played along.
"What can ya do?" I teased, shrugging and tilting my head.
"Maybe kiss you again," he tried, "to make sure being swept off my feet is worth it for you."
"Maybe."
He grinned, leaning in again, this time fully aware of what he was doing.
AN: Aloha. Sorry for the wait. It's finally summer, so hopefully that means more time for me to write.
I think there will only be about 3-5 chapters of this left. We're getting ready to wrap it up, folks!
Anyway, tell me what your favorite part of the story was, and let me know if you want to see any characters added in.
Tell me all of your thoughts!
