Chapter Four: Three Day Weekend

I don't remember the way this was but the pictures prove I knew you once

Emma

I woke up the next morning and I could barely move. It was worse than the night before when I tried to put pajamas on. Everything below my waist felt like it was on fire, and my head felt about the same. I heard my mom coming down the stairs and I rolled over on my side to hide the dried trickle of blood.

"Emma honey you're going to be late for school," she said as she approached the bed.

"Mom, I'm sick. Can I stay home?" I asked. She felt my forehead; an instant mom reflex.

"You don't feel very sick," she said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"I have really bad cramps. Excruciating," I grimaced as I moved my legs; the pain was real but the excuse wasn't.

"Okay fine. Since it's Friday, I think it'll be okay. I'll call the school and ask them to send your work home with Manny."

"Thanks mom," I said. As soon as she left, I breathed a sigh of relief. That was close.

When I was sure she wasn't going to come back downstairs, I burst into tears. Why does this always have to happen to me?

I can remember the shock as the pain hit me last night. I never thought he'd do something like that. No one would suspect him either. If I told, no one would believe me.

I keep thinking about the shooting. I would have never been raped if I didn't bully Rick. It seems like everything that ever happens to me from now on will follow its way back to Rick. Everything will be my fault.

Ellie

"Have you seen Emma?" I asked Manny, of all people.

"No. Her mom called the school and said she was sick. Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"No reason. I just needed to ask her something. Thanks," I gave her a fake smile and walked off, turned the corner, and bumped into Jay. Great.

"Hey Ellie," he said, smiling.

"What do you want?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"You." He bent down and kissed me, but I pulled away.

"What the hell Jay?" I yelled. I realized that people were staring. He shrugged and smirked.

"Have you seen Emma?" he asked me.

"She's not at school today," I told him.

"I'm worried about her." Wow, Jay Hogart is worried about someone.

"We got her home okay last night. I just want to know what happened. That random kid said that he found her in the van and she must have just hit her head. But she went in there with some other guy before that. I couldn't see his face though; he was too far away," I explained.

"Do you want to go with me to her place after school and see if she's okay?" he asked me.

"Sure. I'll meet you at your car."

"Great. See ya later sweet cheeks," he smacked me on the butt before walking past me.

I glared at his back until he was gone.

"What was that all about?" a familiar voice said from behind me. I jumped up and spun around.

"You scared the shit out of me Ashley," I said, looking at my friend.

We hadn't really spoken in awhile. Ever since the shooting, she had become weirdly attached to Jimmy. Her ex-boyfriend. While Craig was off with probably every girl in school. He was mad at her for using up all her time to visit Jimmy, and so was Hazel.

"So…what are you sleeping with Jay now?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No. What's wrong with you?" I asked her, glaring right back.

"Nothing. Well, I just came from the hospital and Jimmy yelled at me and he really pissed me off," she said.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't bother him so much," I pointed out.

"I'm just concerned about him okay? Since when am I not allowed to be worried about a friend?" she snapped.

"Look. First of all, you haven't even talked to him in awhile, and you haven't been perfect 'friends' since you broke up. Second, he has a girlfriend to worry about him and you're just pissing her off too. And third, you have a boyfriend who is feeling neglected. So maybe he should have yelled at you," I finished, satisfied.

"You're such a bitch. No wonder nobody likes you Ellie," she hissed.

"Right. Sorry Ash but you just don't realize that you're the bitch. And no one likes you." I shoved past her and made my way to lunch extremely satisfied. I'd been wanting to tell her off for a long time.

Jay

"You sure she won't be mad that we visit her?" I asked Ellie, driving as slowly as possible.

"This was your idea. So if she does get mad, I'll just blame you," she said, rolling her eyes.

I stopped the car.

"I'm joking." Another eye roll.

"If you roll your eyes at me one more time, you can walk," I said, rolling forward.

"Whatever Jay. Go ahead and drop me off. Her house is right there." She pointed across the street.

"Well, here goes nothing." I pulled the car over to the curb and parked. Ellie and I got out and walked to the door. "No…wait…we can go in a different way."

I led Ellie around to the side of the house.

"What's over here?" she whispered.

"Her room." I pointed to the basement window. Kneeling down, I gently pushed it open and looked in.

"This is so wrong," Ellie commented, but she followed me in anyway.

We walked forward and there was Emma, fast asleep in her bed.

"How exactly did you know about this?" Ellie asked, still whispering.

"Don't ask," I told her. I watched her roll her eyes once more. "Should we wake her up? Or just wait?" I asked.

"What are you asking me for?" she whispered loudly. "This was your idea."

Jimmy

"Hazel…" I trailed off, looking into my girlfriend's eyes. Things were so different. I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to walk after this. The doctors weren't pleased with my 'progress' so far.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking concerned. This was our first spare moment alone. Ashley hadn't been back since I yelled at her this morning. I just couldn't take it. She constantly visited me (like any friend should) but she moped around. I don't need someone moping around my hospital room. I think I do enough moping without her.

"I don't want…" I trailed off yet again, not sure of how to put it. "I guess I'm trying to say that I don't want to hold you back. I probably won't ever walk again, and I know I won't be able to play basketball. The doctors are trying to give me some sense of hope, but I can see it in their eyes." I looked away because she had started to cry.

"Jimmy, don't say that. I have faith that you can walk again. And even if you can't, there's always wheelchair basketball. You said so yourself that you always admired the people who could do that," she pointed out, trying to stop herself from crying any farther.

"That's just it Haze," I said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "You're giving me false hope too. I don't want to play basketball from a wheelchair. It wouldn't be the same for me. And that means that I won't be going to that college that you want to go to," I explained.

"So you're ending what we have? Because of this?" she asked, raising her voice. "Because you can't go to college for a different reason? It's all more important than me isn't it?" she yelled, more tears pouring down her cheeks.

"No! Nothing is more important than you! That's what I'm trying to say. You should be able to move on from me…from this," I said, pointing at my legs. "I want you to go to college where you always dreamed. In New York!" I protested. "I would feel guilty if you changed everything for me."

"Fine!" she yelled, standing up and grabbing her purse. "Then we're through!" She stormed out, her tear stained face still looking as beautiful as ever.

"I love you Hazel," I whispered after her. "That's why I did it."

Emma

"What are you doing here?" I said as I opened my eyes. They scared the crap out of me. Jay was sitting in the chair right near my bed, and Ellie was sitting on his lap. They both jumped up at the sound of my voice. "How did you get in?"

"Told you she was gonna be mad," Jay said to Ellie as if I wasn't in the room. "It was her idea!" he said, turning to me.

"We came in through the window," Ellie said. "It was his idea," she added.

"Whatever. I don't care whose idea it was. I just want to know why you're here. In my room," I said, agitated. I slowly sat up, trying not to wince, and pulling the covers up with me. I still wasn't wearing anything underneath them. I successfully made it into a sitting position, with my back against the headboard.

"What happened last night Emma?" Ellie whispered. I wasn't sure how to answer her question.

"Ellie said some guy found you in the van. And that he thought you hit your head because you were passed out," Jay said. Ellie glared at him.

"That's exactly what happened. I was completely high. I went in the van and I was stumbling around, trying to find more pot. The last thing I remember is falling and hitting my head on something hard," I lied.

"It was probably my books," Jay said, laughing a little. "That's where I keep them."

"But what about that guy?" Ellie asked. She wasn't convinced; I could tell. "And you were really knocked out. I mean, you didn't wake up or anything and we got you all the way back here and put you in your bed. Jay got you through the window," she added.

"What guy?" I said, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"The one who called you over to him. I saw you get in the van with him. I couldn't make out who he was though," she added.

"Oh, him. He was just a guy that I…you know…got a bracelet from," I said hesitantly. Ellie made a face, but let me keep talking. "I earned another one, and then he left. That was way before I fell though," I said, still lying.

"Are you okay?" she asked me. Jay was staring up at the ceiling, not really paying attention.

"Yeah…I was just a little dizzy this morning. And I have…girl issues," I added, motioning towards Jay and rolling my eyes.

"You sure? That's why you didn't go to school?"

"Of course. What else would have happened?" I asked. "I'm fine Ellie. Thanks for being so concerned though. If you guys don't mind, I'm going to get back to sleep. I just fell asleep before you got here." I'm really getting good at this lying thing.

"Sorry. We were just leaving," Jay said, rejoining the conversation. He grabbed Ellie's hand and dragged her towards the window.

"Call me if you need anything," Ellie said before she followed Jay out.

"I will!" I yelled after her.

Of course I wasn't actually going to go back to sleep. I slowly got up and walked towards the stairs. Taking a deep breath, I walked up them with my legs spread apart as much as they could be without making me fall. It hurt so badly.

I made it up to the bathroom and turned on the water as hot as it would go. I climbed into the tub, sinking down until the water met my chin. It felt so relaxing and made me feel better. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

A/N: I obviously made up the stuff about Jimmy and Hazel's college plans. It's just all a part of the story. At first this was going to be mainly Ellie, Jay, and Emma…but I'm going to try to involve a bunch of characters. I've written about rape in a few of my stories now, but I've never actually had any characters dwell on it. They've usually gotten right over it after a few weeks, but I'm not doing that in here. I want to explain Emma's feelings about it a lot more. And absolutely no one ever deserves to be raped, I have to say that. The title of the chapter and the lyrics at the beginning are from the song "Three Day Weekend" by Rise Against. Let me know what you think.

Sorry for the random update times, but I'm trying to do 2 fics at once and still make them both good. So I'm going to probably be updating once a week for each one. Once I have more chapters I'll try for twice a week.