(Content in this chapter is a little bit more mature. Proceed with caution.)
I try to brush it off. I really do. But it was ten months. Ten months of constantly thinking about him and going on dates and having him over to the house. Even though some people think ten months ain't that long, around here it's a major accomplishment. Most relationships, especially in greaser territory, don't go past one night stands. They're considered lucky if they last past one month. Greasers usually lose their virginity before they turn 16. Breakups are common because so many guys get caught two-timing. I'm just one of many heartbroken girls.
The first week after we caught Isaac with Abigail, I sorta just kept to myself. For lunch, I would go along with Two-Bit and the guys but I didn't really talk much. I just felt sad; I still feel sad honestly. I moped around the house and cried a lot. I started crying really hard one night when I was trying to write an essay for English class. The topic was "Your best memory from the past summer". I immediately thought of the time Isaac and me had went riding horses. I thought of when I went with Isaac and the gang to a drag race over at the edge of town. I rode with Isaac in his truck and he won by a landslide. The whole assignment brought back all of my summer memories that I was trying desperately to forget.
I ended up writing about when me and my brothers went swimming at the lake, just the four of us. It was fun, but it wasn't the best memory. All of my best memories from the past summer involved Isaac. Needless to say, I got a C on the essay.
I'd been planning on continuing the moping routine, because I still didn't feel like putting forth the effort to act like I was fine. But I overheard Darry and Soda talking in the kitchen one night, when they thought I had been asleep for a long time.
"Should we talk to her about it?" Darry asks, his voice low. I'm pressed up against the wall. I just had a nightmare and was gonna go in the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"I think she just needs some time Darry. It was a bad breakup, it's gonna take her a while."
"Yeah, I know... It just worries me, her being so sad."
There's a pause. "Let's give her a couple more days. If she don't seem no better, we can talk to her."
"I reckon that'll work." Another pause. "I really just wanna pound his head in." Darry mutters.
"We all do, Darry."
I hate to worry Darry so much. I hadn't told him about me and Isaac having sex so he wouldn't worry. And now I'm gonna make him believe that I'm fine so he won't worry.
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I'm pretty sure Darry's already yelled at me to get up like five times but I feel way too shitty to even move; my stomach feels like something's trying to claw it's way out of it.
A hand touches my shoulder, shaking me gently. "Get up November."
"Go away Darry." I whine, trying to pull the covers further over my head.
"You're gonna miss your ride if you don't get up..." He says, rubbing my back.
"Good."
He yanks the covers off of me, just like I knew he would; that's always his last resort. I'm already squinting my eyes shut, because I know what his next move's gonna be. The light shines down and I roll over and sit up, ready to give Darry the glare of a lifetime.
"I don't feel good Darry." I mutter as I rub my eyes.
"I don't think anyone could feel good with that much blood coming out of em." He says, pointing at the bed. I look down... at the pool of damn blood I'm sitting in. It ain't a pool but still, my sheets are soaked.
"Dammit Dar, I'm sorry." I get up, already trying to get the sheets untucked before the mattress gets soaked too.
"Don't apologize for your period Novie. Go get cleaned up, I'll take care of this."
He's already taking my spot untucking the sheets and throwing my pillows onto Pony's bed. I grab a clean pair of shorts and underwear and head to the bathroom. When I yank down my shorts and underwear, I fight the urge to throw up. That is a shit load of blood. After I've cleaned the blood off my thighs and change I open the door, still holding my bloody clothes. I meet Darry in the hall, who's toting my ruined sheets. He raises his eyebrows at the clothes in my hand.
"Let's go put these in trash bags; sorry sweetie, but there ain't no way of getting that much blood out."
I just nod, sulking at the thought of having to buy new sheets and ruining a good pair of shorts and underwear. We walk through the living room and into the kitchen where the garbage bags are, all the while being watched by everybody. Great.
"Jesus Christ." Ponyboy says, wrinkling his nose. "I'm trying to eat."
I can feel my face heating up, from Pony's words and the way Johnny and Steve are both staring at the clothes, looking uncomfortable.
Soda, however, shoots Pony a look and walks over to me, putting a hand to my forehead. "You don't look so good, kid." He looks over at Darry. "Looks sorta pale Dar."
Darry glances back at me, depositing the bloodied sheets in a trash bag. His brow furrows before he answers, "You might outta stay out today Ember."
Before I have a chance to answer, Two-Bit strolls into the house, the door slamming behind him. He stops short of the fridge, probably looking for the cake Pony made yesterday, and stares at the clothes in my hand.
"Well..." He starts, smirking. "At least we know she ain't pregnant."
I don't know why, maybe I'm just emotional, but as soon as he says that, barely even mentioning pregnancy. Because I guess there had been a chance I could have been pregnant, with Isaac not using a condom the last time. But Two-Bit doesn't know how close to home his words actually are. It's still enough to make my cheeks flame and tears to brim. I hand my ruined clothes to Darry.
"Nice going Two-Bit." I barely hear Steve say as I head into the safety of mine and Pony's room.
I guess it's the loss of Isaac that has me so emotional. Lately, I've been crying at the drop of a hat. I sit on my bed Indian style and press the heels of my hands into my eyes, forcing the tears to go away.
It's only been a week, but I need to try to move on. If he was cheating on me, then he obviously wasn't meant for me. It's simple when I think about it, but it'll probably be nearly impossible to do.
Pony walks in, looking hesitant. "Hope you feel better Ember, we'll come see you during lunch." He gathers his books, gives me a small smile, and leaves, shutting the door behind him. Soda and Steve drop in to say bye, reminding me again that they'll be by to see me. I don't see Johnny or Two-Bit, not that I blame them. They're probably keeping their distance to avoid my fragility.
Darry pokes his head back in right as I'm drifting back to sleep.
"If you need anything, just call the office or Soda okay? Love you." I wave at him in acknowledgment and drift off to sleep.
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"November." Someone draws my name out and I open my eyes. I groan, trying to roll over and face the wall but whoever's sitting on the edge of my bed grabs my shoulder.
"You've slept the day away Ember. It's already lunchtime." Steve says, shaking my shoulder now. I sit up when he says that.
"No way." I mutter, getting outta bed and walking over to the clock on the dresser so my blurry eyes can see the numbers. 12:52. I can't remember the last time I slept this late.
Steve chuckles. "Come on, we brought you some food from the diner."
I follow Steve into the living room where Ponyboy, Two-Bit, and Johnny are already seated, watching TV.
A chorus of greetings meet me and I give everybody a grin, because honestly, I feel sorta nauseous. I feel like a pansy, skipping school just because I'm on the rag. But then again, this is probably one of the worst ones I've had.
"You feeling any better?" Pony asks, raising his eyebrows at me.
I shake my head as I bite into my cheeseburger. "Feel like shit." I mutter. And I do. My stomach still hurts really bad, I'm nauseous and I'm probably still bleeding like a stuck pig.
"Where's Soda?" I ask.
"He had a different lunch break today." Two-Bit says.
"That mustang y'all are working on sure is tuff, Steve." Johnny says around a mouthful of french fries.
"It'd be even tuffer if it wasn't fuckin' Socs who brought it in. I'm tempted to do a bad job on purpose." He says, smirking. It's saying something big if Socs bring their cars for Steve to work on; he's that good at it.
"Don't you think that would look a tad bit suspicious?" I ask, grinning. My grin disappears though as a wave of nausea hits. I jump up from my spot on the couch beside Steve and run to the bathroom, hand over my mouth. I land on my knees in front of the toilet, puking up what little lunch I just ate.
Someone tries to save my hair, but they couldn't pull it behind my head fast enough. After a minute or two, my stomach's empty. I sit back, leaning against whoever's with me.
"You okay?" Steve asks, hand still knotted in my hair. I take a deep breath, hating the taste of bile in my mouth. I nod, even though I still feel terrible.
For a second, I just sit there in Steve's arms. Cause I don't feel like moving, because this is reminding me too much of Isaac holding me. Even though right now, Steve's doing this in a brotherly way, it still reminds me too much. I force myself to stand up and Steve does the same.
"You probably outta take a shower right quick." He says, gesturing to my hair.
"Sorry about the puke." I say, blushing. I've known Steve since I was four, I'm usually not awkward around him but now... he has my puke on his hands so I have plenty of reason to be embarrassed.
"Ah hell, I can't even count how many times I've held Evie's hair back when she was drunk." He gives me the smirk that he's known for and makes most girls swoon. Not me.
"How long are y'all gonna be here?"
"At least 1:30."
"Alright... well I'll just be a couple of minutes."
He nods and shuts the door on his way out. Normally I'd lock the door, because I've been walked in on way too many times by one of the guys, but since everyone knows I'm in here, there's really no point.
I shed my clothes and turn on the shower, feeling like complete shit. I step under the stream of hot water, tilting my head back and trying not to over think everything. At least I have the gang to back me up with everything. So far, Isaac ain't said anything to me but that's because I've been escorted by either Steve, Pony, Johnny or Two-Bit to class. He hasn't had the opportunity to get me alone yet and it's only a matter of time before he gets a chance to explain his way outta the cheating.
I don't feel good. This is a sudden, new wave of sickness. I'm in the middle of washing the shampoo outta my hair but all of a sudden I feel really bad. I scrub my head, trying to let the water do its magic and make me feel better. I finally get all of the suds outta my hair but I still feel lousy. I'm really dizzy. I reach for the shower curtain and pull it back.
I'm falling.
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**(Steve's POV)**
"So I heard Isaac's hubcaps went missing this morning." Two-Bit says. "Or he was raising cain about it when I walked by his locker. And something about oreos?"
I keep the smirk off my face, or attempt to. "Really?" I ask.
Johnny's grinning and Pony's shaking his head. "Why'd you only take two hubcaps? And what the fuck's up with oreos man?" He's laughing though, and I can't help but laugh too.
"So maybe I bought a bag of oreos and took the two halves apart and stuck the creamy side on Isaac's windshield. And maybe I took two of Isaac's hubcaps just for the hell of it. He deserves it." I say, because the bastard does. Sure, plenty of other guys around here two-timed their girls like it doesn't mean anything. I'm guilty of it, Lord knows Two-Bit is. But it's different when it happens to someone who's like a little sister to ya; I can't imagine how Soda and them feel.
"He's gonna know it was you man, once he sees them hubcaps gone. But the oreos-" Two-Bit starts but gets interrupted. A crash sounds from the bathroom. Not a crash like November might have dropped the shampoo bottle. A crash like she mighta fell. We all look at each other.
"November?" Pony hollers, worry evident in his voice. No answer. "I'll go check on her." He mutters, getting up.
"Hold on Pony, let me do it." I say.
His brow furrows and he shoots me a look. "Why?"
"Cause I doubt she wants her big brother to see her naked if she fell or something."
"She wouldn't want you to see her like that either." He mutters, but still sits down.
"Maybe not, but it's something I'm used to seeing ." I say, smirking. I walk to the bathroom door and listen but there ain't no sounds.
I beat on the door and wait. No answer. Shit.
I push the door open. The shower curtain's pulled. "November?"
She still doesn't answer. I walk closer to the shower curtain, fisting it in my hand.
"November, if you don't answer I'm gonna pull the curtain back."
No answer.
I pull the curtain back and a string of cuss words leaves my mouth. So much fucking blood. How the fuck is she still alive? She's in the shower, on her back. I lean over the side and put my ear to her chest, and send a silent prayer up to whoever's up there. She's breathing. Footsteps come running towards us.
"Don't let the kid in here." I say. My hands are shaking.
"What? She's my sister!" Pony shouts.
"Exactly! You don't need to see her like this. Go call an ambulance!"
I slide my arms underneath her armpits and slide her outta the tub, being as gentle as possible. She's laying across my lap and she looks so fucking pitiful, I tear up for a second.
In any other situation I wouldn't try to avoid looking at her. If I'd accidentally walked in on her and she was fine, I wouldn't be able to control how I would wanna look. But now's completely different. Her whole lower half's covered in blood. Her face is a sickly shade of white. I pull my black t-shirt over my head and slide it over hers. I pull her arms through the t-shirt and at least now she won't be completely exposed.
Two-Bit walks back into the room. "What the fuck's wrong with her?"
"I don't know!" I yell. I shake my head a second later. I shouldn't take this out on Two-Bit. I cradle her in my lap, her head on my shoulder. God, she has to be okay. Her brothers won't be able to take another loss. I won't be able to stand it. Nobody would be able to stand it, even Dally.
"Can you call Darry so he can meet us at the hospital? Maybe ride down and pick up Soda?" I ask, my voice weaker than I'd like to admit. He jut nods. "Take them with you, Two."
Surprisingly Pony doesn't complain about not getting to stay with Ember. I'm just trying to think of what she would want. She probably wouldn't want her brother seeing her like this... all bloody and half-naked. It's definitely gonna be something I'll never forget.
"Stevie..." My old nickname drifts up to me from November's pale lips.
"Novie you're gonna be fine. The ambulance is on it's way."
Her eyes are full of tears and damn it all I can't help it. A tear comes out and makes its way down my cheek.
"You're gonna be fine." I mutter, wishing with everything I have that I'm right.
(This might be the longest chapter I've written haha I hope yall enjoyed that. Any ideas or questions just comment or message me! Reviews and favorites/follows are appreciated!(: )