Chapter 4
Coach walked up to Alan's room and knocked on the door. "Alan, it's time to get up now." Coach heard the sounds of sheets being peeled from a long-dormant body, so he knew that Alan was getting up. Chuckling to himself, he headed downstairs to make breakfast.
Alan jerked awake at the rapping and voice at his door. Slowly, he disentangled himself from his covers and began to get ready. As he was pulling his shirt over his head, he froze. Last night. He couldn't believe what had happened last night. He'd been dreaming of…oh no…dreaming. It was probably all just a dream, some cosmic force's cruel joke. But the memory was so vivid, so clear, like the contented look on Jules' face after they'd finally pulled away and bade each other good night—they did have school the next morning, after all.
Torn between hope and disappointment, Alan thudded downstairs for breakfast, praying that it hadn't all been a dream.
***
The alarm sounded—a hated, irksome buzz that rudely ripped through the blissful realms of glorious sleep. A pillow flew up and over from the mound on the bed, silencing the clock's protests. Gradually, a hand, then arm, then head, and so on emerged from the pile of blankets on the bed. J extracted herself from her warm, soft place of rest. But this morning, she (for once) wasn't in a foul temper. There was nothing that could ruin her mood.
"Wow," she whispered, pausing for a second. Wow. She was in love with her best friend. Wow. J finished tying her shoelaces. If the memory wasn't so vivid, so clear, she'd think that it was a dream. She cheerfully glanced over at the papers lying on her dresser as she ran a comb through her hair. What did it matter if it was a dream? She had the note to prove that Alan loved her, she loved him back, and if it was all just a dream, she'd simply grab him before lunch and pull him into the hallway closet after her.
J couldn't help but laugh at herself. She'd never thought this way before. In fact, if you had asked her days ago, she would have answered you that such thoughts were silly, superficial, and the like. But days ago she didn't know that she was in love…
'So this is what they mean when they say walking on clouds,' J contemplated as she pranced on air for the kitchen.
***
Ever since Alan was adopted by Coach, he'd gotten rides to school. Consequently, he didn't see J until just before homeroom. Her eyes meeting his, she shot him a look full of delight, love, and that special mischievous twinkle that never left her eyes unless she was upset. Alan could help but send her the same look back. Julius caught the exchanged glances between the two, and he pointed it out to Gerry, who wasn't phased. "Oh, so they finally got together? It took them long enough. It's been 16 years in the making."
***
Needless to say, it didn't take long for J to assure Alan that the previous night's events were not a dream. By lunchtime, the two were a full-blown couple. It was first class after lunch that the rest of the school knew about the pairing. This happened when Alan and J entered history hand in hand. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence, because they had often held hands, as friends, in the past. The tip-off should have been the interlocked fingers, for THAT was new.
For dense
people, J and Alan officially announced the nature of their relationship when
they reached J's desk. Alan pulled her
close, kissed her nose, and spun her lovingly around so she could sit
down. The class erupted in a mix of
"oooohs, awwws,"
and other various catcalls. Alan and J
flushed beet red as the teacher, a middle-aged woman from the
"Alright, Alright, cut it out. Ain't nothin' ya'll haven't seen before." In the back of the classroom, the guy sitting next to Sunshine leaned in and taunted,
"Lose your girl, Sunshine?" Sunshine was focused on J and Alan,
"No," he answered. "She was never mine. She's always been his."
***
The days passed. Everything seemed to be going perfectly. The Titans were on a winning streak, Alan finally had a home where he was safe and could be himself…and did I mention Alan and J? Nothing between them was different but everything was different. That's the best way that it can be described. They were still Alan and J, best friends, but there was something new and exciting between them that brought them all the closer. Then Gerry had his accident.
J's blood turned to ice when she found out. She thought she was done worrying about her best friends. She had thought that she'd never have to go into a hospital for one of these reasons again. But here it was, Coach on the other end of the phone, telling her that Gerry's car had been hit by a truck. All lingering euphoria from the Titans' spectacular win earlier that night vanished. Finally, J found her voice.
"I—I'll get my dad to drive me to the hospital." When J arrived, she spotted Alan sitting in the waiting room, a pained look on his face. He stood to meet her, and she walked right into his embrace, crying into his shirt.
"I know, I know," he murmured. "I feel the same way." J looked up at Alan with red eyes, to see that his own eyes were fighting to stabilize a wall of unshed tears.
"How bad is it?" she asked in a hushed voice. Alan was reluctant to answer. "Alan, come on! How is he doing?" she pressed, voice panicky. Alan gazed at her with hurt, compassionate, weary eyes.
"He's paralyzed from the waist down." J's throat was grabbed and squeezed by a tight fist as she covered her mouth with her hand and began shaking with sobs. Alan wrapped her up in his arms, a few tears sliding down his own cheeks. Slowly, J reasonably calmed and pulled herself from Alan.
"Where is he? I want to see him." Alan shook his head,
"He's only allowed to have one visitor at a time, and besides, Julius really isn't supposed to be in there because he's only supposed to be having family visit him right now." J could feel her temper rising,
"I don't care. Anyway, he's like my big brother, isn't he? Now, I want to see him!" she demanded. At that moment, Julius came into the waiting room.
"Gerry's in there askin' about what's keeping his little sis." J smiled gratefully at Julius and marched into Gerry's room. Her expression softened when she saw him lying there.
"There you are," he said, his old playful tone in his voice. "I was wondering what was keeping ya." J managed a slight giggle as she pulled up a chair beside the bed.
"My, my, aren't we the impatient one?" Gerry turned the best he could to look at her.
"I'm the impatient one? Why, I can think of a number of times—" J held up her hands in defeat,
"Alright, you got me. You're the very model of patience." Gerry straightened on his bed, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"That's more like it." After a pause, he queried, "what's it like out there?" J massaged her forehead.
"Very somber. And sad. The whole team's out there, plus Sheryl, both Coaches, and your mom, of course." Gerry's head moved a bit, like he was trying to shake it.
"It's not like I'm dead." J's face broke into a wide grin.
"Nope. You're not." Right then, Alan plus a few others appeared at the doorway, coming to see how Gerry was doing.
AN: As
we all know, Gerry eventually was released from the hospital. In the meantime, the Titans "danced
their way to victory." And there was much rejoicing (yeey). But I'm sure you're
beginning to want more of the Alan/J sappy stuff. Well, that's next. So sit back, relax (coughreviewcough)
and get ready for a whole chapter of "Awws!" Then, after that, we'll
get back to all the plot stuff.
