Chapter Nine-Mistake # 1

"…Ow…"

"Doctor, he's waking up."

"Check his head."

"Someone give him some water."

"We need some anesthetics in here!"

"Owww…my head hurtsss. Where am I? Where am I?" Glare looked around the hospital room, his face twisting in pain every time he turned his neck. "Owww. What's going on? Why does my head hurt so much?"

"You've been through a lot, Matthew," the nurse told him as she gently patted his arm. "Everything will be ok, trust me."

"What's going on?" Glare asked, ignoring the nurse. "Where am I? Where's my family? What happened?"

"Al of these questions will be answered soon enough," the nurse responded as a doctor gripped his arm. "You're going to get some anesthetics, which will take your pain away for a while."

Glare watched as a doctor gripped his arm and sunk a needle into it. He tried to move his head but the doctors and nurses told him it would only make the pain much worse. He figured that they were trying to keep him from seeing his roommate.

'Shorty…Shorty, where are you?' he thought as he stared at the patter on the ceiling.

'Somewhere dark…I don't know where everyone is..I'm scared, Glare,' she responded in a small voice. 'Where are you?'

'In the hospital, I think. Do you know why?"

'Dad beat you. Icy told me. You hit your head on the wall pretty hard. Do you know why I'm here?'

'Here where?'

'At the hospital. I can tell that's where I am. Do you know why?'

'No…no. You feel close. A..are you in my room?'

'It wouldn't surprise me. I need to know what happened! Ask for me, please!'

'I promise.'

"Hey," Glare said softly, catching a nurse's attention. "Why's my sister in here? What happened to her?"

"How did you know that–"

"Please, lady, just answer my question."

"Ok…shortly after you were placed in here, your sister was hit by a car. A boy named Brian hit her. But don't worry; he's doing time in jail so he won't be able to hurt anyone." The nurse smiled before walking out of the room. Glare rested his head on his pillow as he began to think. The room was quiet except for the ticking of a clock and the beeps of the machines around him.

'Did you find anything out? I couldn't hear her,' Shorty's voice entered his head.

'Yeah…you're in here because you got hit by a car.'

'Oh…that explains the pain then. Who hit me?'

'A nurse said a kid named Brian hit you…you don't think?'

'It couldn't have been him. Not Twitch.'

'But you and I both know he was a car problem. And you must've been hit pretty hard while the car was going fast for you to be sent here in this condition.'

'It wasn't Twitch!'

'How do you know?'

'Because I trust him! He wouldn't do this to me or to anyone else in D-Tent. No on purpose!'

Glare sighed as he looked around at the tubes and needles stuck in him. He didn't want to admit it, but he was deathly afraid of hospitals. Ever since he was sent there when they were kids, he's never wanted to return. He didn't think he'd ever have to return because of his father, or ever. He bit his lip as pain suddenly shot up his legs and stopped at his midsection. He knew that something was happening to Icy if he was feeling this much pain, but he didn't want to know what it was.

He was afraid to know.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Glare tried to lift his head to see who asked the question, but the anesthetic didn't work yet and he dropped it in pain. He heard soft laughter as he gasped softly.

"Spit…Fire?" He questioned in disbelief.

"Happy to see me?" She questioned as she came into his view.

-----

"Hey Ally, Maggie" Icy greeted the small girl as she left her house and jumped into the back of Zigzag's car.

"Hey Mackenzie," they greeted in unison with bright smiles on their faces. Icy saw a bruise forming on the side of Ally's face, but didn't say anything about it.

"How's school for you two?"

"It's really cool!" Ally responded. "I'm glad I can finally go. I hate the homework, but I love to learn."

The rest of the car ride was silent, besides the song playing on the radio. Icy rested her elbow on the side of the car and held her head up with her palm as she dozed off. She hasn't gotten much sleep lately; she's been having nightmares about her father and her siblings. She keeps her door locked at night, afraid that he might come in and do something. She can tell he's getting mad, but he hasn't shown his anger yet. After they dropped off the kids at the school, Icy thought about something.

"Guys, can we not go to school today?" She questioned as she leaned forward so she rested her chin on Squid's shoulder.

"Are you not feeling well?" Zigzag asked as she looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not in the mood to go either," Squid said with a sigh. "Let's just skip and go to the movies or something."

"My mom will kill me if she finds out," Zigzag told them.

"Live a little, Ziggy," Icy said as she rolled her eyes at him. Squid grinned over at him as his eyes shifted from the road to his friends and back again.

"All right, all right," he said with a sigh as Icy and Squid cheered like little kids. "But if I get into trouble, I'm bringing you two down with me."

Squid lowered his head. He didn't think of that. Duke would have a better reason to hurt him, if not Ally, while his mom sat by and smoke pot. He didn't understand why she came back if she was only going to suffer from another addiction. He asked her to go back to rehab to get her life straight, but she only slapped him in retaliation. He fought back a couple of times, but that only lead to Duke hurting Ally.

Zigzag looked out of the corner of his eye once he saw Squid lower his head. He knew that Squid was abused, but he still didn't know how to help his friends. He felt torn watching his friends being hurt, but he didn't want to see them being taken away from him or the rest of D-Tent. They were family, right? And family should never be split up, not if they have a choice.

"Pretend this car is a genie and we have three wishes. Squid, what's your wish?" Zigzag asked as he stopped at a red light.

"I wish…we could go see a movie three times in a row," he responded with a smile. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Well, I wish we could go mini-golfing," Zigzag responded. "Icy, what's your wish?"

"I wish we could go visit Twitch," she responded from the back seat. Zigzag and Squid exchanged confused glances.

"We figured you'd be mad at him since–"

"Uh-uh." Icy shook her head to emphasize her point. "I know he didn't do it on purpose, so why be mad at him? It's not like he wanted to kill Shorty, he liked her a lot. I mean, who doesn't? I just want to visit him to make sure he's ok."

Zigzag nodded and turned a corner as the light changed to green. For some reason, Icy got nervous when they got closer to the prison. She knew it wasn't because she was visiting a prison, but because she was going to see Twitch again. Icy stayed close to Squid's side as they passed by police officers.

"Excise me, sir, we're here to see our friend Brian Peterson," Zigzag said to a police officer behind the counter.

"He can only have one visitor," the police officer said as he looked them all in the eye.

"Can I go?" Icy asked Zigzag and Squid. "No offense, but I don't want him to be even more scared then he is now. And you guys practically scared him to death at camp."

"Yeah. Tell him we're all worried about him," Zigzag said with a small smile as he ruffled Icy's hair. She smiled before following the police officer out of the lobby. She avoided eye contact with anyone that was around her. A teen grinned flirtatiously at her but she flipped him off as she continued to follow the police officer until he stopped at a door. "We'll be out here if you need anything. I'm sure you won't because he hasn't attacked anyone, but we're here anyway. You have ten minutes."

"Thank you, sir," Icy said with a nod as she pulled open the door to a room and stepped inside. She tried not to laugh when she saw Twitch wearing an orange jumpsuit and a white t-shirt again. It brought back memories of CGL, some good and some bad. Twitch had his arms crossed as he stared at a blank wall. His black and red visor was backwards on his head, like usual, but it looked dirtier and more tattered before. "Twitch!" he turned around and smiled brightly before walking over to Icy.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" he asked as he gave her a quick hug, which she returned. His smile faded as he looked at her in fear. "I'm sorry about Shorty. I-I didn't meant to do it." He was twitching now, but Icy calmly listened to him. "I-I didn't s-see h-her. Sh-she ca-came out of n-nowhere. Y-You have t-to believe m-m-me!"

"Twitch, calm down, of course I believe you," Icy said as she placed her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "I know you wouldn't hurt my sister–"

"Right," Twitch responded more calmly with a nod. "Because I knew it would end up hurting you even more, after Glare being in the hospital and all." He took a breathe and sighed as he pulled off his visor and ran a hand through his hair. "You're one of my best friends and I don't like seeing you get hurt."

"Thanks, Twitch," Icy said with a small smile as she hugged him again. As she pulled away she placed a light kiss on his cheek.

"What was that for?" He reached his hand up to where she kissed his cheek as his face turned red and he looked at her.

"I don't know, I guess for being honest about this whole thing. Tell you what; I'll help you pay the fine to get out of here. You don't deserve to be in here."

"Oh, I couldn't let you do that," Twitch said as he shook his head.

"But I want to. Everyone in D-Tent are worried and I–"

"Times up," the police officer said as he opened the door to the room.

"You better go," Twitch said as he gently pushed Icy towards the door.

"Don't worry, you'll be out soon. I promise." Icy waved before following the police officer out of the room, back down the hall, and into the lobby where Zigzag and Squid were talking.

"How is he?" Squid asked her as they walked back to the car.

"Ready to get out," was all she responded as she jumped into the back of the car and buckled up. "Where are we headed now? The movies or golfing?"

"Movies," Squid responded quickly as he leaned back against his seat and rubbed his eyes. "Let's go to the movies."

"Why do you want to go to the movies so badly?" Zigzag asked as he suddenly stopped the car.

"I don't want to go that badly. So, can we go before we miss the movie?"

"Alan Smith, you've never played mini-golf before have you?" Icy asked with a grin as she tapped his head.

"Shut up!"

"Ziggy, he hasn't!"

"Mini-golf it is!" Zigzag declared as he turned the car around and started to drive towards the mini-gold course.

-------

"OW! OW! OW! Dad, let go of my ear!" Icy shouted as he shoved her into the apartment.

"How dare you skip school, and with those…juvenile delinquents!" Malcolm spat as he shoved Icy. She stumbled but regained her balance as she rubbed her sore ear.

"They're my friends, dad! And one of them is my boyfriend! And, FYI, I'm a juvenile delinquent too!" Icy recoiled as he slapped her cheek. She fell and lie on the floor staring up at the ceiling.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that again!" He shouted as he started to kick her legs. He hit her a couple more times before walking into his room. Sighing, Icy reached for the phone and quietly pressed buttons.

"Hola?" Magnet's thick Spanish accent came in through the phone.

"Hey imán, es helado," Icy responded fluently.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much. Are you doing anything tonight?"

"No. What do you have in mind?"

"How about we have a party tonight? We need something to get our mind off of school and the other things that has happened."

"That's a good idea. How about you meet over here at about…7:30? I'll call everyone up. I'll see you later.

"Adiós."

Reaching for her wallet, Icy kept her eyes glued to her father's door as she checked the money that was in her wallet before leaving the apartment as fast as she could.

----------------

"All right, I didn't expect the party to be this big," Nikita commented as she and Icy walked up the front steps to Magnet's house. The watched as stoned teens were laughing on the lawn and were trying to walk. Some smoked as they sat on the small grassy hill and others were drinking beer. Icy led them past the other teenagers and into the house where music was pouring out of the windows.

"Neither did I," Icy responded as they walked into the kitchen. "Have you seen Squid or Ziggy? They said they'd be here."

"Hmm…" Nikita scanned the crowd and her eyes rested on a tall figure by the door. "I found Zigzag. I'll see you later," she responded as she shoved past people to get to him.

"Don't set anything on fire!" Icy called after her with a grin. It faded when someone bumped into her. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry, Icy," Magnet apologized. "I didn't know this many people would come."

"That's what happens when parties get started in high school," she said with a shrug. He smiled but it faded when he heard something crash and people go 'ooooh'. "You might want to check on that."

"I will. See you later."

Icy waved and went around to find Squid. She shoved stoned and/or drunk people out of her way. She spotted Caveman and Zero sitting on the couch with Armpit and Twitch as they played poker with some of the other teens around them.

"Hey, I didn't know you were going to be here," Eric said with a bright smile as he walked up to her.

"Yeah, it's strange seeing me at my friend's house," she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "What're you doing here?"

"I tagged along with Ricky," he responded with a shrug. "I'm surprised you're here, with all of these…boys. You should be here with a man."

"Good idea….why don't you go find one?" Icy smirked as she flicked him in the forehead and walked off rolling her eyes. She jogged up the stairs and started towards the bathroom when she saw a familiar face. "Twitch!" She called over the music.

"Hey Icy," he called back with a smile on his face. "Thanks for bailing me out."

"What?" Icy yelled.

"I said thanks for bailing me out!"

"I can't hear you! Come with me!" Icy took his wrist and led him into an empty room. She closed the door behind them, muffling the sound before sitting down on the floor, resting her back against the bed that was there. "Now, what'd you say?"

"I said, thanks for bailing me out," he responded as he sat down next to her. "I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem. I didn't want to watch you slowly rot and die in there. It would ruin your face and no one would want to look at your once-handsome features."

"Y-you really think I'm handsome?" Twitch asked as his face turned red. Icy just shrugged. "Well, what would you do…if I said I think you're beautiful?"

Icy blushed and smiled as she tucked the blue strand of her hair behind her ear. Her eyes locked with his and before she knew it, she was leaning towards him until her lips pressed against his. Twitch placed his left hand on her cheek while the other rested on her waist. Icy brought up her arms and draped them around his neck as she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. He sighed softly as he ran a hand through her dark hair as she trembled slightly. He hesitantly stuck out his tongue and licked her lower lip, asking for entrance. She shyly opened her mouth and accepted his tongue as she intertwined it with her own. He pulled away lightly as he panted slightly and rested his forehead on hers, his breath tickling her lips as he looked deep into her eyes as her face flushed.

"Twitch…" Icy started in a shaky voice.

"Shut up…" he murmured before kissing her again. Gripping her hips, he gently pushed her over until her back was resting on the floor and he was leaning over her. He moved his lips to her neck as he trailed kisses up and down it as Icy gripped his shoulders.

"Twitch…Twitch…" she moaned softly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Icy? What're you doing?"

Icy's eyes popped open as she shoved Twitch away as he quickly got to his feet and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Squid stood in the doorway with his hand gripping the doorknob so hard his knuckles turned white. Icy guiltily looked at him and saw him in the maddest state he could get. He was breathing deeply through his nose to calm himself.

"Squid–" she started.

"I don't want to hear it!" He spat as he turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind himself.