Chapter Fifty-Three
Author's note: I just read the fourth chapter of a story by a very good auther, BrookenLucas12, who is one of my favourites and I find out she mentioned me in it. I love it when you guys do that. Thanks! I hate to be all neurotic and I know everyone has the right to write whatever, but don't you find it kind of annoying when a summary includes the words 'I suck at summaries' or something similar? I find it a huge turnoff to a story. Anyway…
The car screeched to a halt in front of the ER and the two of us leapt out of Sawyer's car, grabbing hands before racing into the waiting room.
Aunt Haley was sobbing onto Nathan's shoulder. Sawyer clenched my hand tightly. He assumed what I'd already taken for granted.
Haley leapt up when she saw her son, and put her arms around him, still crying. Nathan put his hand on her shoulder, and the three of were encircled with each other. After another moment, Haley put her other arm around me, cried into both of our shoulders.
"What did they tell you?" asked Sawyer, shepherding his parents back to the uncomfortable plastic chairs.
"Nothing! They just called to tell us that Tessa Lydia Scott had been in a car accident and we needed to come down here!" said Haley.
"If they haven't gotten you to fill out any forms yet it probably means that they don't have to operate," I interjected helpfully. I ran a hand through my hair and met Sawyer's eyes painfully.
"Or that she's dead!" burst out Haley.
"Hales…" said Nathan comfortingly.
"Tess isn't dead," said Sawyer. Haley smiled slightly at him.
"I'll go get us some coffee," I said after hours had passed and nothing more had happened.
"I'll come," volunteered Sawyer. I sent him a scathing look over my shoulder, unable to tell him to piss off. It wasn't the time to inform his parents that we were splitting up.
"I'm sorry Callie," he said, as soon as we had rounded a corner and were out of earshot.
"So not the time Dan Scott," I bit back.
"What?" came a voice from behind me. Sawyer and I both turned our heads to look. A tall man with graying dark hair was striding down the hall, followed by a petite blonde.
"Grandpa?" asked Sawyer in surprise.
"Sawyer. Callie. Congratulations," he said. Deb, who had been at the ceremony, smiled and hugged both of us.
"Thanks. What are you doing here?" I asked. I didn't forget that the last time I'd seen him.
"My granddaughter is here," he reminded me.
"Oh, you've met her before?" I shot back. He raised his eyebrows.
"Callie," said Sawyer gently, putting his hand on my arm. I resisted the urge to shake him off.
"Whatever. Nathan and Haley are down the hall to the right. We don't know anything yet," I said, as Deb opened her mouth to speak. He took her elbow and the two of them walked quickly away from us.
"Callie…" began Sawyer.
"Don't even talk to me," I said viciously. I walked several more feet, but stopped when I noticed he'd stopped walking. I turned slowly to face him and took in his sad eyes, his tense face. I forced myself to remember that his sister was possibly dying. I walked slowly back to him and as I had before, put my arms around him and pressed up against him, hugging him tightly.
"She's going to be okay," I said, as gently as I was able.
"How do you know? And we're not okay," he said.
"We'll deal with us later. Right now, she needs us," I said. As we let go off each other, I ran my hand down his arm, bringing it to rest once it was folded in his own hand.
We arrived back five minutes later. Haley and Nathan looked incredibly stressed, and didn't notice we'd returned until we sat down beside them.
"Any news?" asked Sawyer.
"She's fine. Her wrist is broken and she lost some blood, but she'll be fine," said Nathan.
"So what's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," said Haley quickly.
"Then why do you still look so worried?" asked Sawyer.
"Sawyer, it's nothing. She's fine, she's great, we've all been here for hours, just go home. We'll call you in the morning," said Haley sharply.
"Mom?" asked Sawyer in surprise. She buried her face in her hands.
"We'll call you, your mother's just stressed," said Nathan. Sawyer nodded slowly and followed me back out to the car.
"So what now?" Sawyer asked, after we'd stopped in front of the house. I looked sideways at him. His hair was mussed, he looked years younger than he was, like a little boy who'd gotten lost in the grocery store. His hands were on his knees, sitting slightly awkwardly. Sawyer was a big, muscular guy and had problems with cars sometimes.
"I'm pregnant. We're having a baby. There is nothing to do. I'm going to give you a second chance. Don't ever sleep with Jenny. Or Lauren. Or anyone else. Ever," I said sternly.
"I won't," he said. He leaned over, but I stopped him by pressing a finger on his lips.
"No," I said simply.
The two of us walked into the house. I unlocked it with my key, and we dropped onto the first sofas we encountered.
"I wonder why Mom and Dad are so stressed," said Sawyer.
"She was in an accident," I reminded him.
"Yeah, but she's okay. They should have at least been relieved," he said.
"Maybe something Dan said?" I suggested.
"Usually always is. Are you hungry?" he asked.
"No. I'm going to bed," I said, standing.
I ran up the stairs and changed quickly into a decent pair of pajamas before getting into my side of the huge bed. I turned off the light and rolled over onto my side, hoping sleep would come to me.
It didn't. When Sawyer entered, a half hour later, I was still wide awake. I heard him strip down to his boxers. I felt the covers ripple softly against my skin as he turned them down, and I sat up quickly.
"No."
"What?" he asked in confusion, his eyes still adjusting to the dark.
"You slept with my sister. You're not coming in my bed tonight," I instructed. I threw him a pillow and he caught it against his chest in surprise.
"I can't even sleep here?"
"No. There's a very nice sofa over there though," I reminded him, indicating the far wall of the room. Slowly he backed off and lay down on it. His tall frame didn't come close to fitting it, but there was no way he was touching me after what he'd done.
I woke up early the next morning to catch the first shower. The first day of school had finally come. I showered, blow dried my hair and put on my makeup before my husband got up and had his own shower.
We ate silently. He rationed himself to one glance of my denim mini skirt and tight shirt. After we'd had our breakfast, we both grabbed our bags and headed outside.
"Which car?" he asked at last. I looked at him in surprise-the morning had been almost silent. I walked to mine and stepped in. He quickly made his way to the passenger side.
I hesitantly took his hand as we pulled into the school parking lot. He smiled down at me, dropped my hand and put his arm around my shoulders, taking my bag from me. His hand grazed my stomach as I did so, and I looked down at it and smiled.
We were quickly surrounded by a crowd of the most elite seniors. For the first time, I became aware of how much being a Scott affected your life, how it gave you a completely different status. Callie Jagielski had been one of the most popular juniors, Callie Scott was invincible, the most popular senior.
Our group dispersed into different hallways. Sawyer and I stopped at the long list of names posted with corresponding locker numbers. My fingers went immediately to the J's, but only one Jagielski was listed-Lauren. My eyes scanned the list again.
"Cal…" said Sawyer gently. He pointed to the name right above his-Calista Scott. I blushed.
The two of us began to unload our books into our lockers, which were unsurprisingly side by side. As we did, seniors and juniors constantly came up to us and we talked with our friends, our enemies and the wannabes.
"Callie!" came a call. I turned around and smiled.
"John!" I said happily. He was more tanned than he had been. We hugged.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm good. And you?" I asked.
"Great. Um, my locker's over there," he said. He pointed directly across the hall.
"Cool," I said. I locked eyes with Sawyer and raised my eyebrows. Sighing almost inaudibly, he shook hands with John and smiled tightly.
"Hey," came another, softer voice.
"Tess?" I said in surprise, embracing her. "You're back already?"
Her wrist was in a sling, and she looked slightly bruised, but was smiling bravely.
"I'm good. But Mom and Dad are furious," she said.
"Because you were in an accident?" asked Sawyer in surprise. Her eyes widened.
"Never mind," she said quickly, with the appearance of someone covering her tracks.
"Hey Tess," said John, to follow up the awkward silence that followed.
"Hey John. Um, anyone going into the vicinity of 203? I have no idea where it is," she said, looking around. The three of us glanced down at the papers we held.
"Oh, I'm in 202. Come on," said John. The two of them smiled before leaving together.
"You could afford to be nicer to him," I said.
"He's in love with you," he reminded me.
"Just a little. Besides, Cooper Anderson is in love with me and you helped him pass PE," I said.
"Cooper Anderson has never had the courage to say a single word to you. John Fenning is one of your best friends. He's also six feet and a varsity basketball player," he reminded me.
"And you think my affections are based solely on looks?" I said coyly. His arm slipped from my shoulders to my waist, and he pulled me in close, pressing his lips gently on mine.
I glanced around the crowded hallway. I was surprised they'd not burst into applause when we'd finished.
My phone rang and Sawyer's arm fell from my waist. I reached into my locker to answer it, but glanced at the screen first-J. Jagielski. Suddenly I had an image of them together, and looked back up at him. He was smiling down at me, his hand absently playing with the bottom of my shirt. I swatted it away.
The bell rang and we set off for homeroom. On the way, we encountered Lauren. She threw herself at me, her blonde curls bouncing. I hugged her in surprise.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I'm lonely. Can't you come home?" she asked.
"Uh, no. How are Mom and Daddy?"
"They're good. They miss you," she said. Her eyes caught sight of someone beyond my left shoulder. I spun around, afraid of what I'd see. Jason Winters walked up, looked me up and down, looked her up and down, and slung his arm about her shoulders.
"Hey babe," he greeted her.
"We've got to get to class," I informed them. At the end of last year, they hadn't done anything in public. Apparently something had changed.
"I hate that guy," said Sawyer, after we'd parted ways.
"Me too," I agreed.
"Every time he looks at Tess, Lauren, or even you like that… he's just so arrogant. Who was that on the phone?" he asked.
"Jenny."
"Ah. Do you want to talk about that?" he asked nervously.
"About how you slept with my sister after you promised, time and time again that you felt nothing for her?" I asked.
"I don't!"
"Was she better than me?" I demanded.
"Callie, I love you. No one is," he said. He took my surprise and annoyance as his advantage: while I stared at him, flustered, he took the opportunity to tilt my chin upwards and lower his lips to mine. As we kissed and I felt the tingling in my spine, the thumping of my heart, traces of indignation were lost to me.
"Some thing lie. That never does," he said.
