"Dustin?" I asked the next morning heading to math class.
"Look," he replied, "I know what's going on."
"You do?" I asked.
"Yeah, and I don't want you to hurt him."
"Look, Dustin, whatever you think I'm going to do, most likely I won't . But I will tell you something if you promise not to tell anyone."
"All right," he replied uncertainly.
"I like him; I really like him."
"I thought so."
As he left, I wondered what the heck he meant by that, but decided to leave it alone and walked into my math class.
"Hey," I said casually to Cam as I took a seat next to him.
"Oh, hey, Freed," he replied, looking very preocupied with something.
"Whatcha up to?"
"Oh, nothing, really, just some adjustments to my computer's hard drive."
"Hmm..." I said, "Sounds interesting."
"It actually is, but the whole project is kinda hush-hush; you know how it is."
"Yeah," I replied, a bit disappointed, but the bell rang, and our math class began. After it ended, Cam tapped my arm.
"Hmm?" I asked, sweeping some navy colored hair out of my eyes.
"Didn't you have blonde hair?" he asked obviously trying to make some form of conversation.
"Yeah," I replied, "Long story; any who, I'm going to hook you up on a blind date, ok?"
"I don't know...." he said worriedly.
"Well, we could make it a double-blind date, I suppose."
He gave me a look saying "I'm not so sure about this."
"It'll be ok. I'll choose a girl for you; you choose a guy for me. And if it blows, you'll at least know you tried it."
He nodded with submission.
"Ok, see you tonight at seven."
He nodded again and we walked to our separate destination.
Then I saw Tru, walking absently by a road.
'No big,' I thought, but I was dead wrong.
In a matter of seconds, that ticked away so slowly, there was a shout, the second of tires screeching to a halt, and the sickly sound that a car makes when it hits an unfortunate animal. Then it became deathly silent, but by that time I had my eyes shut tight, afraid of what they might show me. Finally I worked up the courage to wrench them open, and I saw her, on the ground and then a helmet being thrown off , revealing the most unlikly person standing in a state of utter shock.
"Oh, my God," Dustin Brooks said, breaking the chilling silence. "What just happened?" Then he got off a motorbike and got someone to call 911.
And me, all I could do was just stand there like an idiot watching as the paramedics took my best friend on a streacher.
The next thing I knew, Dustin was standing in front of me, saying, "Freed? Are you ok?"
I just took one look at him and my tears started falling. I laid my head on his shoulder and said, "I can't believe what just happened," and I threw my arms around his neck, and broke down.
As he hugged me back, he whispered, "Sh, I know. Why don't we go back to your place. We can forget about the tutoring tonight."
I nodded as he led me back to the dorm we shared, when I said, "No."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to go back."
"Then we could go to my place," he said, and I nodded, liking his idea better.
Once I was in the safety of his dorm that he shared with Shane, and I went off and started crying again. What happened today was all too real for me.
And all the while, Dustin sat patiently, waiting for my tears to stop.
Once I was calmed down, I asked, "Can I borrow your phone?"
"Yeah."
And I dialed up Cam's number.
"Hello?" a voice asked.
"Is Cam there?" I asked, my voice shaking a bit.
"This is he," Cam replied, his voice suddenly turning very concerned. "Are you ok?"
I was about to tell him a lie, when he told me not to.
"Just barely... Oh, no, not at all."
"Why not?"
"My friend Tru got hit by a motor vehicle."
"Oh, wow, Freed. I'm sorry."
"I just stood there like an idiot. She was just lying there; I couldn't even see if she was breathing."
"Where are you right now?"
"Dustin's dorm, wh..."
"I'll be right there."
"But...." but it was to late to argue; he had hung up the phone.
"Who'd you call?" Dustin asked after I hung up. He handed me a glass of water.
"Thanks; Cam. I told him what happened. He said he'd be coming over." I sipped some of the water in the glass.
Dustin nodded and said, "You're, like, one of his only friends. He would be concerned for you."
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and as soon as Dustin opened it, a very concerned Cam looked over Dustin's shoulder at me.
"Come in," Dustin said.
Cam thanked him; then came over to me and asked, "You ok?"
I looked at him, as if saying, "Do I freakin' look ok?!?"
"If your best friend got hit by a motorized vehicle, would you be ok?" I asked him calmly.
"Oh," he said, "Right."
"I-I want to go see her," I said after a while of silence.
"You sure?" Cam asked.
I nodded and Dustin drove Cam and myself to the hospital.
As Cam talked to a receptionist about her, Dustin sat with me as I rambled on about something.
"Well," Cam after coming back, "The good news is that there was no severe damage, just a broken arm. The bad news is that she's still out cold. And visiting hours are practically non-existant here."
I nodded, and Dustin drove Cam and me back to my dorm, Cam having canceled the blind date.
To this day I still don't know who hit Tru, but I can tell you it wasn't Dustin.
Well, this is the long over due third chapter, and I hope you liked.