DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VICTORiOUS. This chapter is from Andre's POV.
Chapter 28
Crash
September 21st, 2005. At night.
No. This can't be happening to me. This has to be some sort of misunderstanding. A-a mistake. That's all. Even Cat knows.
"It's a mistake, right Cat?" I ask the redhead next to me. She looks at me, sadly.
"Andre, it's not a mistake." She answers in a low voice.
Oh, shit.
Several hours earlier.
Cindy won't shut up! I'm tired of her constant whining! At four years old, she complains about everything. She can't stand doing the mouth inspection at night after getting ready for bed. I can't say as I blame her for not liking it, but must she mention it all the time? She always has to say something about anything. So, she never shuts up pretty much. Other than that, she doesn't say much since she's only in kindergarten and doesn't have a good vocabulary yet. Hasn't stopped her from complaining though.
Enough about her. Here's what's happening with me now. I started 6th grade last month and Cat is in my class. We sit next to each other and we do everything together.
My piano lessons have since ended and I have a keyboard in my room that I love to play a lot. After the piano lessons, I took some song writing lessons. Cat has done some singing lessons and she has a beautiful voice. She's gotten more girly each day, it's kinda annoying. She just wears pink dresses with red jackets a lot. I don't think she has any other colors. Don't even get me started on her room. Her hair gets redder each time she dyes it. It's like the stop sign red now.
Joey is doing a little better as well, which is good. He's been on the same medication for the past four or so years now. It seems to be helping him a lot. He still has his odd quirks and his obsessions over his collections.
Today is my birthday. My grandparents are coming to visit from Wisconsin today. My mom and sister will pick them up from the airport later today. I haven't seen them in a long time.
My grandpa is a Vietnam War veteran. I know nothing about that war. Whenever I asked him about it, he told me I was too young to understand. He says he'll tell me when I'm a teenager. That's a couple of years from now. After the war, he went into the music business and a few years ago he retired from it. He was a producer for some company for years and he always told me it was the best time of his life.
My grandma was also in the music business as a producer. She was with the same company that grandpa was; he worked there with her after the war. Grandma recently retired with grandpa. I guess that's where I got my love for music.
I's the morning now. Cat slept over at my place. I am waking up from my alarm now and I turn it off. Today is a half day at school, so Cat and I will be done by noon, which is awesome. I love half days. Unfortunately, they only come once a month, usually near the end like today.
I sit up from my bed after turning off my alarm. I yawn and stretch. I groan and crawl out of bed and put on my bathrobe after taking off my clothes. I leave my room and go into the bathroom to take a quick shower. I sing Happy Birthday to myself while I shower.
I get out after singing Happy Birthday ten too many times. I grab a towel and dry myself off while I hum that stupid song. Man, it's hard to get it out of your head. I then comb my hair to get those cursed tangles out. I've let my hair grow out recently and I'm thinking of getting dreadlocks.
I put my bathrobe back on and leave the bathroom only to almost walk into Cat, who's standing there in her neon pink bathrobe.
"Took you long enough; happy birthday." She says, slightly annoyed, but with a little smile.
"Thanks, and we got plenty of time." I say with a smile, raising my hands in defeat.
"Yeah, yeah; outta the way." She commands and I step aside so she can go into the bathroom. I eye the door suspiciously.
"You had to go really badly, didn't you?" I ask.
Pause.
"…yes." Cat replies in a small voice. I chuckle, shaking my head and going to my room to get dressed. I then go downstairs for breakfast.
"Happy Birthday," Mom says.
"Thanks." I reply, receiving a hug from her, dad, and Cindy. "What's for breakfast?"
"Pancakes." Cindy replies.
"Please tell me we have plenty of strawberries; Cat really likes 'em." I wonder, somewhat worried. Dad chuckles.
"We got plenty. She showering?" He replies.
"Yup. Should be down soon." I answer.
After school. Bus ride home.
Wow, I love half days. Cat and I are already on the bus on our way back home. It's like we never left the bus.
"When are your grandparents gonna be here?" Cat asks. We're sitting close to each other on the bus, since it's so loud.
"They should be landing around 3ish and after being picked up, they'll be at the house a little past four." I answer.
"Cool. Are they nice?"
"Yeah. I'm sure they'll love you, even if they find your red hair odd." I reply, answering multiple potential questions for her. She smiles, but still looks a little worried. "It'll be ok." I reassure her.
"Ok," she says, smiling a little more.
We wait for our stop and chat a little, and soon we are at the stop. We get off and go to the mailbox to get the mail. Not a lot; it's mostly birthday letters to me from distant relatives.
We walk back home and Cat still looks a little nervous. I take her hand in my empty one and squeeze it a little.
"It'll be fine, I swear. Even if they don't like you, it doesn't mean that we can't still be friends." I tell her. She squeezes back a little tightly.
"I know, but it doesn't relieve me of my nervousness." She says, looking down. She eventually stops and I walk in front of her and face her.
"Will this help?" I ask. She looks up at me, confused. I take my hand and put it under her chin. I bring our faces together and I put my lips on hers.
It's pleasant. Her lips are smooth and moist and feel warm against mine. I can feel her warm breath against me and it tingles me for some reason.
I don't know what I was thinking. Oh, that's right, I wasn't. I just felt that it needed to be done.
We part after a while and I look at her. Her eyes are closed, but she opens them slowly.
"Sorry." I say, feeling myself go warm in my cheeks.
"No, I kinda liked it." Cat replies, blushing.
"Well, that's good."
A couple of hours later.
"Andre, we're on our way to go pick up your grandparents. See you in a couple of hours." Mom says loudly from the garage.
"Ok!" I shout from the living room. I'm here with dad and Cat. We're about to play Clue.
An hour later.
The phone starts to ring. I groan. I was about to make my dramatic accusation.
"I'll get it." Dad answers and he gets up to leave the room to answer it. "Hello?" I hear him say from the kitchen.
"I was so close." I mumble. Cat smiles at me sadly.
"It'll be ok." She replies, stroking my hair and rubbing my arm.
"Oh my God; I-I'm on my way now. Thank you." I hear Dad say. I look at the kitchen, where he bursts out. "Get your shoes on."
"What's going on?" Cat asks.
"That was the police." Dad replies, as he puts his shoes on. Cat and I put ours on and look at him.
"What's wrong?" I ask. Dad looks at me, sadly.
"Andre, the others were hit by a drunk driver and they're in the hospital." He answers.
What? They got rammed or something? How did that happen?
"C'mon; let's go." Dad urges. Cat and I jump up and the three of us run outside to dad's car and jump in as he turns it on and speeds his way to the hospital.
"Are they alright?" I ask as dad drives like a maniac down the streets.
"Your grandpa died in the accident as the drunk driver did; I'm not sure about the others." Dad replies, strain in his voice.
Oh, my God. My grandpa is dead? How could this drunk driver do this sort of thing? I think as I feel Cat's warm hand on my shoulder. I'm in the passenger seat and she's in the back.
We arrive at the hospital before I know it and I'm absently following dad down a corridor to wear my mom, grandma, and Cindy are. Dad leads us to a man in a white lab coat.
"Are you Mr. Harris?" The man asks.
"Yes, I am." Dad pants. "What's the situation doctor?"
"Your wife and daughter are in surgery now; they both suffered critical injuries, but we are doing the best we can to save them; as for your mother, she will be fine, just a broken leg and fractured shoulder. She's sleeping in room 118, if you want to see her; she's got a lot of morphine in her, so she might be a little off when she wakes." The doctor explains. Well, that's a relief that grandma is alright. I'm worried about mom and Cindy now.
We visit grandma and she looks like she was in a pretty nasty accident. Her face is covered in bandages and her leg is in a cast and being supported by wires. Her shoulder is wrapped up in thick bandages as well.
Two hours later.
We've been in grandma's room forever now. The doctor came in a few hours ago to check in on us and he said he would return once mom and Cindy got out of surgery. Dad is on grandma's good side and Cat and I are sitting together against the wall.
There's a knock on the door.
"Come on in." Dad answers, yawning a little. The door opens and the doctor walks in. Judging from his blank look, he has bad news.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"I'm very, very sorry to say this to you all, but they didn't make it; their injuries were too critical. We tried everything we could." The doctor replies, sadly. Dad groans and puts his face in his hands and I can hear him start to sob. The doctor leaves.
No. This can't be happening to me. This has to be some sort of misunderstanding. A-a mistake. That's all. Even Cat knows.
"It's a mistake, right Cat?" I ask the redhead next to me. She looks at me, sadly.
"Andre, it's not a mistake." She answers in a low voice.
Oh, shit.
My life has changed and I don't know what to do.
Chapter 28. Comment or review plz or whatever. Sorry for being lazy. I'm gonna do better.
