Courtney bade farewell to Dawn and Scott and immediately headed back to Hertfordshire, not bothering to get her stuff from the farm. She gave a brief explanation as to why she had to hurry off, but even she didn't have much information herself to properly tell them what had happened, even if she had time to explain. When the taxi dropped her off at the hospital she ran inside and went straight to the front desk.
"I'm here to see my sister, Katherine Bennett," she said urgently. The receptionist gave her a room number and she hurried off. Katie was asleep when Courtney walked in. She had a couple of scratches on her face but aside from that she didn't look too badly injured. Sadie was already sitting in the room with her and stood up when she saw Courtney.
"I'm so sorry Courtney!" Sadie wailed. "I should've told her not to go! It's my fault!" Courtney pulled her into a hug, just needing to be close to someone in such an upsetting time.
"It's okay. Where's mom and dad?" She asked, releasing Sadie.
"They haven't arrived yet." Sadie wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Okay, it's okay," Courtney assured her, even though she was still shaken herself. "Let's just sit down and you can tell me what happened." Sadie nodded and they both sat down.
"Justin invited her for a drive around town," Sadie began, having calmed a little. "She was so excited, you know how she has a major crush on Justin. I was excited too because Justin is like, super hot. We kind of didn't take your warning seriously because we had no idea why you were so against him. So she decided to go even though we knew Justin didn't have his licence. It was like, the first thing he told us, because he said he didn't want us to find out his flaws later. I don't know what happened exactly after that, because I haven't had a chance to talk to Katie yet, but the police were chasing them and then... and then... They crashed!" Sadie burst into tears and Courtney put her arm around her. Katie moaned and half opened her eyes.
"Courtney?" She groaned. Courtney took Katie's hand.
"Hey, are you okay?" Courtney said softly. Katie blinked and moved her head slightly to look at Sadie.
"Sadie?" Sadie smiled at Katie sympathetically. "Where's Justin?"
"He's already gone home. He's fine," Sadie told her.
"He didn't stay?" Katie sounded disappointed. Courtney and Katie's parents rushed in and breathed a sigh of relief to see their daughter safe and sound. Their mother ran to Katie's side and hugged her.
"Thank god you're alright!" She said, letting Katie out of the hug and kissing her face a few times before pulling her back in.
"Mom!" Katie whined. "I'm fine. I have a fractured wrist and a few cuts plus they want to keep me here overnight to run a few tests but I'll be able to leave tomorrow."
"Are you okay Court?" Their dad asked. Courtney nodded.
"Now that you're both here and I know Katie's alright I think I'll head back to school," she said. She gave Katie a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow." She headed towards the door.
"Courtney," Katie said. Courtney turned to face her. "I'm sorry you didn't get to stay longer with Dawn and Scott." Courtney smiled sadly at her.
"Me too."
Heather was pleased to see Courtney back at school, though when Courtney told her why she was there her happiness was short-lived.
"I can't believe that jerk!" Heather complained angrily. "How could he just... I mean he... Ugh!" She sat down on her bed next to Courtney. They were in Heather's dorm, since Bridgette wasn't staying at school and Courtney didn't want to be alone. Courtney just sat there in silence. "Are you okay?" Heather's voice had softened and Courtney looked up at her.
"Yeah, I'm just tired," she lied. She was so much more than tired. She was upset about what had happened to Katie, mad at Katie for being so reckless and forcing her to come home early, and most of all she was disappointed that she hadn't been able to stay longer. She told herself it was because she hadn't seen Dawn and Scott in so long, but a part of her had wanted to see more of Duncan, since it seemed that maybe he wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought, that maybe he really was the person in the letter.
"You can stay in here tonight if you want," Heather told Courtney. "Jo isn't here this week and I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Even if she did mind she isn't here to object."
"Thanks, that would be nice," Courtney said. She gave Heather a half-hearted smile and decided then that it was time for bed.
Katie was back for lunch the next day with a big smile on her face. When Courtney saw her she hurried over and gave her a hug.
"Are you okay?" Courtney asked.
"Of course! The tests were all good so they let me leave. Mom and dad are staying in town for a couple more days though," Katie replied, rolling her eyes.
"Good. Now that you're alright, you owe me an explanation," Courtney demanded. They walked back over to where Heather, Alejandro and Noah were sitting eating their lunch. "Why did you agree to get in a car with a guy who can't drive? More importantly, why were the police chasing him?" Katie rolled her eyes again, tired of being lectured.
"Look, Justin is like, super hot," Katie said as if that was explanation enough. "As for the police thing... Well, it turns out we were in a stolen car." Courtney was dumbfounded.
"A stolen... Oh my god Katie are you crazy? You could have died! Then where would we be?" Courtney scolded her. "It's bad enough as it is. How are mom and dad going to pay the medical bills? You know they don't have that kind of money. I hope you intend on getting a part time job to help them pay it off." Heather and Alejandro just sat there watching them argue, not even pretending not to listen. Noah at least had the courtesy to pretend to read, though it was clear from the way he kept looking up and never turned a page that he was listening, too.
"I won't have to," Katie told Courtney.
"What do you mean you won't have to?" Courtney asked angrily. "I hope they haven't let you off the hook because you're injured. If I'm the one who has to end up working to pay for your bad decisions..."
"That's not what I meant," Katie interrupted. "I won't have to because it's already been paid for."
"Really? How did our parents get the money?" Courtney wondered. Katie rolled her eyes once again, getting impatient.
"Our parents didn't pay!" Courtney cocked her head, getting more confused by the second.
"Then who?" She asked. Katie looked over at someone and Courtney followed her gaze to see Duncan enter the dining hall. Her stomach filled with butterflies.
"He got back late last night and came into the hospital this morning," Katie told her. "He paid for everything, no questions asked. But don't tell him I told you because he told me not to say anything." Courtney's mouth was open in shock.
"How did he know?" She asked. Katie shrugged.
"Scott and Dawn?" Courtney nodded, thinking that would make sense. She tried to catch Duncan's eye as he sat at a table but he didn't look at her and sat with his back to her. She looked at her plate, disappointed, though she wasn't sure why. Just a week ago she had tried to avoid any interaction with him, and now it almost seemed as if she were craving even a glance on her direction from him. Sadie walked up to the table and sat down. She had a big smile on her face.
"Guess who's back?" She said excitedly. None of them really wanted to guess so they just looked at her until she told them. She jerked her head in the direction of Geoff, who was taking a seat beside Duncan.
"He never left," Alejandro reminded her.
"No but in case none of you noticed, he hasn't been dining with us at all since he switched classes."
"Maybe he knows Bridgette isn't here and can finally come out of his hole," Heather said. Courtney hit her and Heather glared back. They turned their attention to Geoff and Duncan, who seemed to be having an argument. Geoff stood up, said something to Duncan and walked off. Heather gasped.
"He's coming this way, everyone act normal!" She said. They all turned back to their food and Geoff approached them. Heather began telling a fake story. "And then Courtney showed up and saved the day! It was great timing." She turned to face Geoff. "Oh hey Geoff! What's up?" He stood there awkwardly.
"Hey Heather, hey everyone," Geoff said. "Uh, have any of you seen Bridgette?"
"She went to see her family for the holiday," Courtney told him.
"Oh," he said disappointedly. "Do you know when she'll be back?"
"Not until Sunday, and she probably won't want to see anyone until Monday." Geoff nodded.
"Okay, well uh... Tell her I say hey." He walked out of the hall, slightly deflated.
"Do you think he'll change back to his old classes?" Heather asked excitedly, still hoping things will work between Geoff and Bridgette.
"No, because you're not allowed to switch classes twice," Noah reminded her. She huffed.
"Everyone knows his family gives the school the most money. If he wants to change classes twice, they'll let him."