Was there good news?

Anyone that knew anything about anything knew that any attempt to talk to CJ, Menlo, Randell, or the former Ashley T meant getting glared at at best and told to fuck off at worst. Primarily if you were at some point one of TJ's closest friends. They all knew why, even if it went unspoken.

Today, the small friend group spoke among themselves in hushed whispers, but afterwards, lacked that same distaste towards anyone who remotely looked like they were going to approach with any questions.

"I have an idea," CJ said, arriving at their lunch table. She arrived with an armful of craft paper, and carefully placed it down without bending any of the edges.

"What's with all the paper?" Ashley asked.

"Follow me on this. I learned how to make paper stars one time, right?" CJ pulled out a pair of scissors from her backpack and cut out a thin strip of paper from a yellow sheet. "I was thinking that we can make a jar full of them with messages written inside for TJ that we can give to him when we visit him. With all these colors it'll look really nice. It's cheesy, but what do you all think?"

"I think that a great idea. He's still into space and that sort of thing, right?" Menlo asked.

"Yep. Our first date was at a planetarium," she said. "It was really nice. . .I think I'll go tell Colten and see if him and his friends would like to do it, too."

Those four, plus Robert, were the only ones they kept updated. Other students didn't approach them normally, and they could be trusted to no go blabbing. Besides, their two groups got along well enough.

Like on most days, the goth kids weren't in the lunch room. CJ found them spending their break outside behind the school, some of them smoking.

"I don't know how you all don't get caught, but I'm not going to question it," CJ said, approaching them. "I have good news; TJ's awake."

"He is?" Colten asked, knocking off the ash at the end of his cigarette.

CJ nodded. "Yep! His sister says he can take visitors in a few days, so we're probably going to see him as soon as we get the okay," she said. "The rest of us, we're going to do this thing where we write some nice stuff on strips of paper and fold them into paper hearts, put them in a jar and give it to him as a gift. I'm going to make it look like a rainbow. Do you want to help?"

"Yeah sure. Just not with the rainbow part," said Owen.

"We'll make some and bring them to you, in two days or whatever," Colten said. "Let us know when it's okay to visit him, we'll stop by."

"Okay. See you in a few days, I guess." The four of them nodded and CJ headed back inside to join the others.

ZZZ

TJ rubbed the spot on his arm where the IV was just five minutes ago. It didn't hurt when the nurse removed it, but it was still sore. He'd rather deal with that than being attached to a bunch of machines. Laying in the hospital bed, his parents and sister talked to him, trying to strike up a conversation, but he only had it in him to give short but courteous answers, avoiding eye contact when he could.

They kept trying, though. Becky sat right next to his bed, working with him on a puzzle laid out on the overbed table. The box showed it was a puzzle of the earth. He didn't care too much about it besides picking up pieces that fell off the table onto his sheets.

"TJ, would you like to see your friends?"

He looked up as his parents came back into his room, probably from talking with his doctor. TJ shrugged. How was he supposed to face them after this? He had no doubt they wanted to visit, but. . .God, he probably made them worry so much, especially CJ and Bob. Bob was there when he first got his depression diagnosis, and saw him when he couldn't get out of bed, keeping him company over the summer and getting him out of slumps. And CJ, she was just as supportive and understanding, cheering him up, even make whole days about making him feel better. Honestly, she could've dumped him long ago for her own sake and be completely right to do so.

He shrugged at his parents question. Neutral, even though his mind was racing a mile a minute.

"They want to see you. CJ's been coming to the house around the time I went back, waiting for news that you woke up," said Becky. "It might cheer you up, after being stuck here with a bunch of adults."

"Yeah, okay," he mumbled. "Fine."

"You don't have to if you aren't feeling up to it," his mother said.

"It's okay, mom. They're probably worried, right? They can visit," he said, twisting the sheets in his hands. "Just. . . ."

"What is it?"

"I don't want my old friends to come," he said. He had no idea if they, or anyone else at the school knew what happened, but he wouldn't be surprised if they did. Either way, he didn't want to see the five of them. Just the idea of seeing them made him feel uneasy.

"Okay, Sweetheart. We won't let them come," said his mom.

TJ laid back in his bed.

ZZZ

It didn't take long for them to write enough to fill up the largest jar CJ found. She, Ashley, Menlo, Randall, and Robert were still working on folding the strips of paper into little hearts even after the first jar was filled. Carefully placing them inside, CJ was able to make it appear like a diagonal rainbow gradient. Topped off with a cork and a yellow and orange ribbon tied around the neck.

"How does it look?" She asked, holding it up for them to see.

"It looks great, CJ," said Ashley. "I'm sure he'll love it."

"Yeah, that's a great gift," Robert said. He looked down at the pile of stars he was folding. "But we're going to need another jar."

"I figured. I couldn't find another one laying around so had to go buy another." CJ grabbed a bag sitting next to her desk. After removing the foam wrapping, they each saw that it was a different shape than the other. "There's another one in the bag just in case."

After another hour, all the paper was folded, and two jars were filled with a rainbow of paper stars. Carefully placed in a bag to be taken when they visited, it was set aside. It was getting late, so they each started heading home before they'd get in trouble. Robert, being the oldest, took his sweet time getting ready to leave.

"Hey," Robert said, just as he was about to leave. He turned back to the front door as he stepped onto the porch. "How have you been?"

"Me? I've been okay, why?" CJ asked.

"Just asking, I know everything's been a lot to deal with lately. I've known Detweiler longer than you, but you're his girlfriend," he said. "You sure you're holding up okay? It's okay if you aren't."

CJ shrugged. "I know. Trust me, I've cried a lot. I still do. But that's normal when something like this happens, right? Anyone would cry when someone they care about gets hurt."

"That's right."

". . .I dunno. I talk to my parents about it, so it's not like I'm holding everything in, if that's what you're asking about," she said. "I know that's not good."

"Good. I know the focus has been on what happened to TJ, but you gotta make sure you're okay, too, you know? That's important," said Robert. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you later."

CJ waited until he was halfway down the sidewalk before heading back inside. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. Robert was right; this whole thing had shaken her up. Having seen what her boyfriend went through and having it all culminate into this, it made her furious. Confused. Sad and feeling useless as all she and the others could do was wait on any news to come, good or bad. Thankfully it had been good, and hopefully, it would only get better.

"CJ, are you alright?"

She looked up at her mother looking out from the kitchen to her.

"Mostly, I guess," She said. "TJ's sister said that he'll be able to have visitors soon."

"I know, sweetheart, you told me as soon as you found out," her mom said. "His parents have our phone numbers, I'm sure they'll call and tell us it's okay for you to pay him a visit."

CJ nodded and headed towards the kitchen to help set the table.

ZZZ