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I laughed. Gwen had entertained me for many ride home with tales of Shawnte’s conquests.
“Aww, I’m going to miss those stories,” I said, still chuckling.
“I won’t,” Gwen deadpanned.
“So, what kind of stuff will you be showing at t
he showcase?” I asked, steering the conversation back to her. I’d always loved seeing the amazing things Gwen could capture with her lens. She’d been passionate about photography since I met her. It was one of my favorite things about her.
Gwen pulled her legs up in the seat, hugging her knees to her chest.
“I’ve put together a series of early dawn pieces. The morning sun, dew drops, things coming to life at the start of the day… that kind of stuff. I’m really excited about how it’s turning out.”
“I’d love to come see it,” I said, speaking before thinking. But as soon as the words came out of my mouth, and I saw the shutters close over Gwen’s face, shielding me from the happiness she’d been feeling, I knew my offer was unwelcome.
We rode the rest of the way in silence, and as I pulled up to her mom’s house, I vowed that on the way home I’d force her to talk to me. To explain why she’d shut me out, and continued to do so. I had to believe we could get our friendship back.
I missed her.
“Thanks for the ride,” Gwen said automatically as she retrieved her bag from the back.
“I’ll see you at the shower,” I said in response, catching her swift nod before she shut the door and hurried up the path to where her mother was waiting with open arms.
I left with a smile on my face at the sight, eager to get home and see my parents. It had been over two months since I’d been home, and I missed them. I couldn’t wait to talk sports with my dad, and have Mom’s pancakes for breakfast. As I drove toward the memories, I couldn’t help but remember how many of them included Gwen, good and bad.
Chapter Eight ~ Craig
(14 years old)
I blinked, trying to bring the room in to focus and become fully awake. All at once, I was aware of two things; I was not in my bedroom, and my arm hurt like hell.
I looked around the room at the sterile walls and various machines flashing and beeping. The smell that my brain associated with sickness filled my nostrils, and the fog finally cleared and it registered that I was in a hospital room.
I left out a deep sigh and closed my eyes, as the memories of the last twenty-four hours flashed through my mind.
I’d been in an accident. It had been my first day of high school, and I was wandering around, trying to get the lay of the land. I’d been crossing the parking lot, when a car came out of nowhere and hit me. The driver, a sixteen-year-old jerk who’d just gotten his license, hadn’t been going fast enough to kill me, and if I hadn’t landed perfectly wrong on my arm, I probably would have walked away without a scratch. But, unfortunately, I instinctively put my arm out to catch my fall, and I broke it when my full body weight landed on top of it.
The doctor had kept me overnight, since he’d finished putting the cast on late, and he said he’d feel more comfortable monitoring me, to make sure I didn’t get a concussion from the impact as well.
I groaned in frustration as I thought of what months with a cast on my arm would mean, then my eyes popped back open when I heard someone clear there throat from the side of my bed.
Gwen was standing there¸ looking disheveled and a little frantic.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking her over to make sure nothing was wrong. Gwen never looked disheveled. She may dress quirky sometimes, but there was always a method behind her madness, and she always looked great. But right then, she looked like she was the one who’d been hit by a car.
“Am I okay?” Gwen asked with a false laugh. “No… You were… Hit. By. A. Car… I saw the whole thing, Craig. I’ve never been so terrified. I was looking for you, to see if you wanted to go get some froyo or something, you know, to celebrate our first day of high school, and right when I saw you across the parking lot, that Jeep hit you… You went down, and I started running. I couldn’t see if you were moving or not… It was the longest two minutes of my life!”
Gwen started crying as she spoke, her words frantic, and I lifted my good arm to run it soothingly down her arm. My Gwen was sensitive, and I knew how she took things to heart. I could only imagine how worried she’d been.
“I’m okay… See,” I said, trying to put on a funny grin to make her smile. It worked, and she wiped her eyes as she looked over the length of me in the bed.
“Just the arm, huh?” she asked when her eyes landed on my plain white cast.
The doctor had asked me if I wanted a colored one… I was almost offended. I wasn’t a kid anymore after all…
“Yeah, it’s broken.” I lifted it slightly, then lowered it again when it began to ache. “Hey, have you seen my parents?”
Gwen nodded and gestured toward the door. “They’re in the cafeteria grabbing coffee with Cal and Shelly. I said I’d hang out with you, so I think they’re going to sit down and relax for a minute. They don’t look like they got any sleep last night.”
