Chapter 7: As normal as it gets

"Hey Ren, how's it going?" Louis cheerfully asked as he entered the hospital room. "Sorry I was late; I had to drop by some of your teachers. I got you a copy of the assignments they gave out." He shoved his bag to the floor and stood beside the bed. "Well, you're looking a lot better now." He said as he smoothed over the creases of the bed and tucked some of her loose hair. "Doctors said that you should wake up anytime soon now, but, that's just them. I still think you're being stubborn, you know." He sighed at his unresponsive sister.

"Still not talking, huh? Anyway, Ruby and Monique were here yesterday." He gave a laugh. "I actually half expected you to suddenly wake up and talk about the things you missed." He took a seat beside her and rested his head on the bed. "Actually, I'm quite surprised, Ren." He said, continuing to talk to his sister. "Well, remember that time you had the flu? You were so determined to have a perfect record that mom had to order you to stay in bed. Now you're missing a lot of school time."

"Hey, did you know that Larry Beale is actually worried and asking about you?" he said with a grin. "Guess he's kinda lost without you to compete with!" he laughed out loud. "Well, not that he can."

He took a quick glance at his sister. "Since it's just the two of us here today, why don't I tell you about my day." He said as he lazily closed his eyes. He didn't even notice the small movement on the bed. "Let's see… uh, you know, the council is missing you, the newspaper is missing you… Well in fact the whole school is missing you! Even some of those hot guys, uh, according to Tawny anyway, have been asking about you. Looks like you still got it, sis!" He laughed at himself. "Oh, hey you know that history teacher, Mrs. Pullman? She gives these super hard exams. You'll never guess what I did last night." He paused. "I know what you're thinking and no, I didn't sneak in the school to look at the test papers. I actually followed your advice and studied. When we took the test today, she actually said I aced it! What can you say about that, huh?" he excitedly told her.

He really wasn't expecting any answer so, suffice to say, he was quite freaked out when a small hoarse voice sounded in the room. "That's great, Lou," Ren answered with a sleepy smile.

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A few weeks later

"So, how's Ren doing?" Twitty asked as they took a seat. "She's already home from the hospital, isn't she?" Immediately, he started chewing down his lunch.

"Yeah, she got home yesterday," Louis confirmed. "Mom and dad wanted to make sure the therapy's finished before they actually took her home."

Tawny looked up from her lunch. "When is she coming back to school?"

"Probably on Monday. Her doctor advised her to take some rest before returning to school." He answered.

"Oh hey Lou, how about coming with us to the beach this afternoon? Let's check out the new store there." Twitty suggested with a huge grin. "Some of the guys said you can find major babes in there."

"Can't Twitty, I've got to study for that math exam tomorrow. Besides, I still haven't finished my science report, you know."

Twitty's smile froze. "Well, what about tomorrow then. Gary is throwing a huge party tomorrow night, maybe we could swing by. He really knows how to throw cool parties."

"Well, I promised my mom to help Ren sort out her school work 'coz she missed a lot of school, so…"

Twitty looked oddly at him. At the same time Tawny, who had been listening to their conversation, turned her head towards Louis. "Louis, are you sure you're alright?" she curiously asked. Twitty nodded in agreement.

Louis narrowed his eyes at his two best friends. "Yeah, why?" he asked suspiciously.

"You're not feeling dizzy or something? Feeling sick lately?" Twitty asked.

"I told you, I'm fine. Why? What's the matter with you two?" he looked back and forth at them. "You know, you guys are kinda acting weird these past few weeks. Is something going on that I should know about?"

Twitty looked incredulously at him. "Oh, we?! Dude, you're the one who's- Ow!"

Tawny had kicked him on the foot, hard.

"What was that for?!" he asked, rubbing his foot.

Tawny gave Louis a sweet smile. "Don't mind him, Louis," she told him.  "He's been pretty out of it, lately," she said as she cast a meaningful look at Twitty.

"Whatever, look guys, I've got to run," Louis said as he picked up his things. "I need to swing by the library and get some books for that report. Maybe I'll get something for Ren too… Well, see you guys later." He turned to walk away but not before giving his friends a curious look.

Twitty and Tawny gazed at him until he disappeared around the corner.

"Did you hear everything he said?!" Twitty asked as soon as Louis was out of ear shot.  

Tawny rolled her eyes. "No, actually I was busy pondering about that dream I had last night," she replied sarcastically. "Of course, Twitty. I'm not deaf you know," she retorted.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Why'd you kick me and then tell him I was out of it?" he leaned forward and dropped his voice. "He's the one who's pretty out of it since the-"

"The accident, I know," she interjected. 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say something funky happened on that day." He said with a shake on his head. "Maybe he hit his head too hard, 'coz it's almost as if he's acting so…"

"Responsible?" she supplied.

"Exactly!" he exclaimed. "He's acting very responsible now. You know, studying for the exams, submitting reports, doing the assignments, which are not very Louis-like."

 Tawny nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. I know it's a good thing he's changed and all, but he kind of scares me. I don't think I've ever seen him like that."

"What do you think happened on that accident?"

She gave a shrug. "I don't know, he never seems to bring it up and when I ask him about it, he changes the topic." She sighed. "I guess he's just not ready to talk about it."

Just then, the school bell rang, signaling the end of their conversation.

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Louis got home and found Ren sitting on the couch with a magazine on her lap.

"Oh, hey Ren, what are you doing down here? Aren't you supposed to be resting?" he greeted her.

Ren looked up from the magazine she was leafing through and smiled at him. "Well, I am. I just don't want to die of boredom upstairs." She got back on her magazine.

"That reminds me," he said as he rummaged through his backpack. "I got you some books from the library. You know, to help you catch up on your studies."

"Thanks Louis, maybe you could put it in my room with my other school stuff." She said without looking up.

"Oh," he said, disappointed. He wasn't really expecting her to jump up in down in glee, but he wasn't expecting her somewhat dismissive response, either. "Aren't you going to do those assignments and special projects your teachers gave you? I mean,  you did miss out school for a while."

Ren looked up towards her brother. "Uh, sure I will, but I just don't feel like doing it today. Maybe on the weekend." She smiled at him.

He smiled at her uncertainly. "That's cool. Well, if you need help or anything, just tell me, alright? 'Coz you shouldn't push yourself too hard doing those things. "

"Sure, thanks Lou," she answered, still busy with her magazine.

Louis peeked at the magazine she's holding. "What's that you're reading, anyway?"

"Oh nothing, really." She answered. "Mom insisted that we go on shopping for tomorrow and get some new things, so I'm browsing for some ideas."

He took a seat beside his sister. "Are you sure you're supposed to be doing that? I mean, the doctor did say that you should rest, and shopping… well, shopping could be stressful, you know." He said, nodding his head. "Uh huh, I've read that somewhere."

Ren laughed out loud and rolled her eyes. "Louis," she said as she put her arm around her brother. "The doctor only said rest, not retire." She reasoned. "Besides, I think it's good to go out and have fun, for a change."

Louis looked strangely at her for a second before finally standing up. Now, why did that phrase sounded familiar? "Well, you're the boss. Anyway, I've got to study for tomorrow, so if you need anything, anything at all, just holler, okay?"

Ren raised her eyebrow. "Boy, you sure did changed since that last time I remembered, before the-"

Louis cut her off. "Ren, about that," he said, suddenly turning serious. "That last time, I really didn't mean for it to-"

"You know what, let's forget that thing. As they say, the past is the past. I mean, we shouldn't dwell on it. I'm not blaming you or anything." She smiled at her brother reassuringly. "It doesn't really matter to me. What really matters is right now. And right now you need to study, and I have to get back on my magazine." She grinned at him and went back to her magazine.

"Right," he nodded uncertainly. "Whatever you say." He gave her one last puzzled look before leaving her alone.

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