Before I start the chapter, I owe each and EVERY one of you the biggest apology in the whole wide world. I am extremely pissed off at myself for taking SO LONG to work on this chapter. Would it be okay if my excuse was that I had A HUGE test to study for? I'll be taking in Saturday, and then I'll have craploads of free time to write for you all. Please forgive me you lovely readers...? Here you go. Enjoy, because this is what I've slowly been working on for the past few months. I apologize in advance for it's shortness.
"Right, he's in love with me. That's why he's dating me. Oh, no, wait. It's that other chick... what's her name.. Alice? Angie? Oh yeah, Alex. Even I know that's bullshit, guys."
"Before this whole Alex thing started and fucked up our lives, there was something there, between you two. It's hard to explain, but there was a certain chemistry there. Impossible to ignore, but apparently it went right by the two of you."
"Listen guys. As much as I really want to believe that that's the only reason he's with her, it can't be right. Let's face it; I was never subtle about my feelings for him. If he liked me, I'm sure that he wouldn't keep it a secret. At least he wouldn't go that far to keep it a secret."
Tay grimaces. "She's right. Damn."
Joe's eyes widen, and before he even opens his mouth, I know what he's going to say because I'm thinking the exact same thing.
"You don't think she knows about..?"
"She can't." I say, though I'm only trying to reassure myself.
"But she's also Alex. She has a way of finding out everything."
"The four of us and obviously Nick are the only people who know. None of us would have told."
"Think about it. What else could it possibly be? Nick's got the best track record you could possibly find."
"So you're saying that somebody else knows, and they told Alex?"
"Has to be, Kev."
Joe rests his head in his hands. "This is heavy."
"Joe. You're not Marty McFly and this isn't 1985. Please don't ever use that phrase again." Taylor chastises.
Kevin stands up. "Look. Forget the lame-ass Back to the Future reference. We've got to find out who knows, and if Alex told anybody if she does actually know. Because if one person knows, God knows how many other people found out."
"He's right. If this ever got out, Nick wouldn't be the same. He's already scarred permanently, but if people keep reminding him of it, he'll go into depression."
"I don't know why Nick thinks that this is his fault. Ever since he came back to consciousness that night, he's been blaming himself. That really changed him."
"He's awake," the nurse says gently to the four of us, while offering a sympathetic smile. Nick's mother stands up, and looks over to Joe, Kevin, and I. "You three go in. See if he needs anything."
"Are you sure? He's your son, you should be the first to see him."
The elderly lady smiles warmly, and shakes her head, refusing my offer. "No, honey. You go ahead. He needs to see his friends more than his mother. I'll be here when you all are done."
We nod, and cautiously file into the hospital room in which Nick was resting. The sight of him startles me, makes me gasp in surprise. His pale skin was covered in purple and black bruises, and there's a cold- looking IV needle stuck in the crook of his arm. Various fluids are being pumped into his body from a few plastic bags by his bedside. His right leg is elevated and covered in bloody bandages. Despite his broken and worn appearance, his eyes are shiny, wide, and filled with panic.
"Where is he?" Nick demands suddenly.
We all look at each other, understanding full well who he's talking about. None of us know how to tell him, so we ignore the question. When neither of us says anything, Nick gets angry.
"Where the hell is he?" This time his tone of voice is sharper, louder, and more threatening. I'm sure that he's already got a clue about what happened, because nobody's willing to tell him what's going on.
Kevin, being Nick's oldest brother, sits down on the foot of his bed. Anyone would be able to tell that he'd been crying. Hell, all of us were wrecks. I'd been bawling for 24 hours straight.
"Ryan lost too much blood, Nick." Kevin says gently, not daring to make full eye contact with his brother. "He died last night."
Nick doesn't say anything, but his eyes well up with tears and his fist clenches the plain white bed sheets.
"Listen, Nick-" Joe starts to say.
"I killed him." Nick's staring blankly at the wall across from his bed. "I killed my own brother."
I go over to him and take his hand in my own. "You did not kill Ryan, Nick. It wasn't your fault at all."
He snatches his arms away and looks at me with cold eyes. "I was driving, Miley! I was driving the car, and now he's dead. There's nobody to blame but me."
"The only person to blame is the bastard who decided to get himself drunk as shit then drive home. It wasn't in your hands, Nick. There's nothing you could have done to prevent this from happening."
He doesn't respond, just continues to stare at the same wall. Kevin slowly gets up from the bed, and Joe and I follow him as he starts to exit the room. We all figured that Nick would feel better after he rested, that the pain will go away after a while. We never predicted that the feeling would get worse as time went on.
"It took enough to get him past the grief. It'd just be the same depression all over again." Joe says.
"Guys, the only way to figure out how much Alex knows is to talk to her ourselves. Since she hates Tay and I, it's up to you two to get it out of her."
Kev nods. "We'll talk to her tomorrow."
Taylor's eyes light up. "Dude. You think we could have like walkie-talkies? And code names? Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so cool!"
The three of us look at her. "No." The reply is simultaneous.
She pouts. "Joe? Come on, I know that at least you want to."
I roll my eyes. "Yes, Taylor, because the best way to stay inconspicuous is to have spy gear hooked up to us. And I'm sure she'd love to talk into a microphone for us to her loud and clear."
Taylor glances down and looks defensive. "I just thought it'd be cool, jeez."
I slam my palm against my locker- whether it's out of frustration that the lock won't click open, or out of frustration that nothing in life is going my way, I have no clue.
After I manage to open the locker after a billion tries, I get the books and binders that I need out of it. When I shut the bright blue door, I look to my right and see Kevin and Joe standing there, arms crossed over their chests and darkly tinted cop glasses resting on their noses. I giggle at how ridiculous they look, then look expectantly at the two of them.
"So...?" I pry.
They exchange a glance.
"Well.." Joe stalls with an annoying little smirk on his face.
"Just please tell me that you talked to the she-bitch and found out what she knows."
"Oh, we did. And she knows everything, Miles. Things that you wouldn't expect in a hundred years. She's dangerous. Nick's not the only person who should be kissing her ass."
"Now how do we keep her from telling the school our secrets?"
"Well," Kevin drawls out. "Unless you've got a psychologist, fighter jets, an attack rifle, and an ant farm lying around someplace, thinking of a plan's gonna be pretty damn hard."
I roll my eyes. "Thanks for all of the optimism, Kev. I appreciate your enthusiasm. But, in all honesty, something needs to be done about her."
"Obviously we can't gag and kidnap her, then use something even worse against her than she could use against us to get her to keep her mouth shut." Joe says, shaking his head.
My eyes light up, and I'm sure that they look like a little kid's would on Christmas morning. "Joseph, you are a genius and I am officially in love with you."
"Whoa. I don't like you like that, Miles. Calm yourself."
I laugh good-naturedly and give him a slap across the back of his head. "Dumbass," I mutter. "If you don't wanna hear my pretty damn incredible plan, I suggest that you be quiet."
"Look. Miley, I wasn't kidding when I said that this would be virtually impossible."
"Yeah, face it. I don't like saying this at all, but the girl's got a pretty fucking perfect track record. Nothing we could say would be useful to blackmail her."
I smirk. "Listen, and listen well, Jonases. It's perfectly clear that I'm the most stubborn person in the world, right? I won't stop until I find a way to bring Alex off of her throne for good. You can bet on it, kids."
I have a question. Should I update chapters as soon as I have them done, or wait until I have two in a row to update? I'm not sure which would be faster. Let me know in a review please. Did you like this chapter? Please tell me because reviews seriously inspire me, no joke. I'm not going to promise you a new chapter extremely soon, because you know how well that went last time. I do, however, promise to have it up as soon as I possibly can. I love all of you, and thanks for being SO PATIENT with me while I've been a butt.