Chapter 2

Seeing As Though the Future Is Near, Pain Never Ceased To Exist

For days and days I was never able to come back no matter how hard I tried. I tried to tell myself to wake up, and I even tried to talk myself into fake reasons of why I should be up. Beating Trevor's butt in another race, and even I needed to get down to Florida. But through all of this I could hear other people talk.

"Dude," Trevor said, "She'll be fine. She's just majorly unconscious and has lung damage. She's a strong girl. I know she'll come out of this eventually."

But what was really surprising is that I could hear Ian on the other line from rooms away.

"This wouldn't have happened if you never challenged her to race. And you know so much better then to tell her where I was. That'll make her worry, and then she will do anything to get to that one spot and wind up hurting herself. As I said before, you are amazingly idiotic," I heard Ian scream.

"Dude! Chill! At least she's alive. Just be happy I knew what to do in the first place. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be alive right now. See, I know how to talk to doctors and drive. Give me a little credit," he said in a normal tone.

Ian getting furious now, "If you never told her, I wouldn't be thinking of leaving Josh right now. It's not that hard to come back. You knew that your only job was to make sure she would stay safe, and now look, she can't even talk. You better pray that she lives, otherwise, you will be the next to die," he said right as he hung up.

All downstairs you could hear Trevor pounding the walls screaming at nothing about how much he hates his life. "WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!" he kept roaring over and over.

Feeling a little bit stronger then I was before, I was finally able to open my eyes, but I still couldn't talk. Instead, I just texted Trevor to come up here. Right as I did so, he was upstairs in four seconds flat.

"OH MY FREAKIN GOD, YOU'RE AWAKE!" he kept cheering over.

Still not being able to talk, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen writing him a message. Trevor, I can't talk. What happened? Where is Ian?

He looked really sad right as he read the note. He bent down to the bed level and brushed the pieces of hair in my way of my vision towards him. "Kristie, you ran so hard for so long that your newborn vampire lungs can't take it. I know it's been a few months, but you need to relax because one little thing can set you off. Ian is still in Florida because Josh wanted him to stay a little longer. He told me to call him as soon as you woke up, but I don't know if I should," he said looking guilty.

Taking the pen and paper again, why? I want to talk to Ian. I miss him so much.

"Kris, you can't talk to him. If you can't talk to me, how will you talk to him? Notes can't go through the phone," he said while he laughed.

First things first. Never ever call me Kris again. Second, can't you tell him what I want to say? Please?

He looked guilty, the exact look he had right before we raced. "I don't think it's the best thing for you right now."

Finding out that I had some voice, "WHY NOT?!" I screamed as loud as I could at him. Apparently, I did have my voice.

"OH MY GOD. COULD YOU SCREAM ANY LOUDER!?" He said pressing on his ears like he was in pain.

I laughed, "Thank you for giving me my voice back, Trevor."

He laughed too, "Well, it was worth it."

"Can we please call, Ian?" I asked in my sweet and innocent tone.

"Already got you beat," he said as he pulled out the phone and dialed his number.

"What?" Ian answered on the first ring sounding annoyed.

Trevor laughed, "Is that any way to answer to your big brother?" he said in a sarcastic tone. "I just called to say Kris woke-"He was cut off by my screams of anger, "FOR THE FINAL TIME, DON'T CALL ME KRIS!" I screamed louder this time.

I could hear Ian on the other line laughing, "Can I talk to her, Trevor?"

Trevor ignoring Ian completely screamed at me, "FINE! JUST STOP RUINING MY HEARING. SCREAM AT SOMETHING ELSE FOR A CHANGE. LORD, HOW DOES IAN PUT UP WITH YOU," he said screaming like he couldn't hear anything.

I laughed, "Because he actually loves me unlike some people."

Trevor acting annoyed, "Just talk to him," he said as he handed me the phone.

Right before I could say hi to Ian, he beat me to it with a very long hey, I love you message. "Oh my God. How are you doing? You know I miss you like hell, right? I'm so very sorry that I'm not there right now, but you know Josh. Please tell me that Trevor hasn't done anything that scarring to you? Tell me he hasn't hurt you any more then what is done. When I get back I am so snapping his neck. I love you so much, Kristie."

I laughed, "Don't think I caught all of that. But I'm doing better. The real question is how is Josh? You don't have to kill Trevor; I already damaged his hearing enough. By the way, when are you getting back? I miss you even more. I love you so much too, Ian."

After that, we both laughed. "I'm still killing him. He went too far on that one. Josh is doing much better. Some of his bones healed, and the scars are going away. He can walk now, but he wanted me to stay, because otherwise, I would have been there the hour of what happened. I'm coming home tomorrow."

I sighed over the phone, "What if I come down there? Then you wouldn't have to leave Josh, and you could be with me. And if I do that, I could leave Trevor and not feel the need to snap his neck."

Ian laughed, "I was already planning on doing that anyways, Kristie. I really don't think it's a good idea for you to be coming down here. I mean, you just woke up from a coma sort of thing. Running down here isn't what I call 'relaxing.'"

I started to fight back, "But I don't want to be in a house all day. That's all Trevor would really let me do. I think I got out of the house twice. I turn eighteen in less then a month; I'm smart enough to make my own decisions."

Ian started to get mad at me defending myself towards him, "I was the one who told Trevor to keep you in the house. I really didn't want to have to come back up and see that you killed yourself. We both know very well that you shouldn't be down here. I know you turn eighteen in a month, but in the real world, so do I. In my world, I've lived for over 150 years, so I think I know what's best. This isn't up for negotiation, Kristie," he said in a final strict tone.

Me, getting furious now, started to take my anger out on him. "I'm not saying that you don't know what is best. I've been through so much in just a year that I think I can handle one trip down to Florida for a few days. My grades are perfect, and there is really no more schoolwork. And going back to keeping me in the house, I'm not that uncoordinated," I said while he laughed.

After laughing for a minute, Ian matched my tone I used before. "Kristie Scarlett Hamilton, you are staying in Wisconsin till I get back. There is no more talking about this. I'm coming home tomorrow, and I really don't want to see you hurt. I'm going to tell Trevor to keep you in the house, seeing as though you will find a way to get out of this. You are staying where you are for a few more hours. That is final, and I don't want to hear about this again," he said in a furious, but serious tone.

As for all that anger inside of me, I felt the need to do something about it. "Who do you think you are?" I said in a smart tone. "My dad? Oh wait, he's dead." I said right before I hung up on him.

Trevor came into the room after I hung up. While I wasn't really paying attention to him standing right there, I looked at the cell phone, thought for a second, and then chucked it at the wall as hard as I could.

Right as Trevor realized what happened; he bent down to his broken cell phone looking all furious. He grabbed all of the pieces and came over to where I was laying down. He threw all of the broken parts on me, and started screaming.

"KRISTIE SCARLETT HAMILTON THAT WAS MY FAVORITE PHONE. HOW THE HELL COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME? I THOUGHT WE WERE GETTING ALONG BETTER. WHAT THE HELL CAUSED ALL OF THIS?!" he said with his face going a little red.

Whispering, "Ian," I said right as I bursted out into tears.

Trevor forgot all of his anger and came and sat down next to me and gently stroked my back. "It's all okay, Kristie. Ian just forgets that he has anger problems. Was this the first time that it got like this?"

I laughed a little, "You heard all of this, didn't you?" I said, and he nodded guilty. "Yea. It was really never this bad. He scares me a little bit," I said in a whisper.

Trevor laughed, "He scares all of us. But Kristie, he only wants to protect you. He couldn't stand to loose you. He loves you so much, and he just lets his anger get to the best of him. Sometimes he can be a really nice guy. Don't you remember that one day in gym, a few days before your accident, the one time he was actually nice to you?"

I laughed a little, "Yea. It is one of my happiest memories."

"Hamilton and Smith, blue team, left side." The coach said as I groaned.

"Hey Kristie," Josh said in a huge grin coming over to where I was standing.

"Hey Josh," I said in a polite tone. "You know I'm not really a big fan of tennis, right? I can barely run without falling."

He laughed, "Oh c'mon, Kristie. You have to be some good," he said as he punched my arm really hard.

"Okay, first things first, never ever touch me again. Second, I'm not a big fan of gym at all. Give me a break for once, I have a lot to deal with," I said getting annoyed.

"Like what?" he said trying to be smart.

Before I could take all of my anger, and my racket out on him, Ian came over for once. "Hey Kristie," he said smiling at me. "You know I can be your partner if you want? I'll talk Coach Collins out of you two. Besides, Josh, don't you love to hang out with Trevor. He always puts us together for some reason. It really makes no sense to me," he said looking at me the whole time. His eyes were always so beautiful: that golden color staring you deep into your eyes.

I never knew if Ian knew that I liked him. He always seemed to hate me, but for some reason I started to fall for him. He wouldn't judge me if I said the wrong thing in any of our classes, but he would sometimes support my answers. He seemed like a really nice guy, and it just seemed like we fit perfectly together.

Stuttering a little, "It doesn't matter to me. I'll be on your team," I said as Josh groaned.

"But Kristie," he said whining a little, "We were getting along a little bit better. I thought you were finally starting to realize that you like me," he said right as I chocked laughing.

Ian was laughing hysterically, "Josh, just give this girl a break. You can clearly tell that she doesn't like you that way. I'll be right back."

That just left Josh and me. "Geeze, Kristie. Can we ever do anything together," he said starting to get mad. "Someone always has to come into the picture. Will it ever be me?"

I started to feel really guilty, "Sorry, Josh. I just don't like you that way. It won't be you because you will be to clingy to ever let me go," I said in a sour tone.

"Oh you know what, Kristie," he said starting off before Ian cut in.

"Hey guys," Ian said before he realized what was happening.

"What, Josh? Still going to fight for a girl you will never get?" I said getting mad now.

"Oh, it's on now," he said coming at me.

Before I could rip out his throat, Ian grabbed me and started to pull away. He quietly whispered in my ear, "He's not worth it. Let it go. You're my partner now."

Before I could translate what he said, Josh came full force and punched me straight in the face. Unfortunately he knocked me out before I could hear what went on between Ian and Josh. When I woke up, my face was swollen and my right cheek was all bloody. I was sent to the emergency room, and it took eight stitches to fix my face.

The next day Josh came up to me and apologized, and me being the nice person that I am, accepted it. Ian also came up and apologized for not getting me out of the way quick enough. I forgave Ian in a heartbeat because I knew that he didn't do any of it on purpose.

After the minor accident Josh still never gave up. What people don't know is that was the day before I fell down the stairs. Three days before I met the love of my life.

"Kristie? Kristie! Kristie! Kristie!? KRISTIE?!?! KRISTIE?!?!" Trevor kept roaring over and over.

"Sorry!" I apologized quickly. "I was just having a flashback. Lord, don't get to serious."

After Trevor heard me talk he let out a big sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that. Who was this about?"

I smiled and stared up into the ceiling, "Ian."

Trevor laughed, "So first Ian makes you cry; now he makes you smile? That's just jacked up."

Still smiling, "I'll be right back," I said as I made my way through the door.

I knew my only chance of escaping was to distract Trevor. I knew he would be sitting there till I came back, but what would a few days do to him? I laughed at that thought and ran straight to the door…all in search of my love.