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We finish the second and third periods, which we both have together, before lunch break begins. We circle the whole school looking for Elias and Lorenzo, who are nowhere to be found. However, we don’t give up, and continue to search for the missing duo. As we do so, I decide to start a conversation, feeling slightly awkward with the silence.
“So, are you excited about the concert on the seventh?” I ask her. I gave her and Elias free tickets for Lorenzo’s sake, even though Elias didn’t seem like he wanted to go. Has he ever even listened to my music? What am I saying, Aurora’s probably told him to. She really is lucky Lorenzo doesn’t use his friendship with me against her. Not that I’d let him, but still.
“Yes, very. I’ve never been to any of her concerts, even though I’ve always wanted to,” she says, her face lighting up as she almost jumps in excitement. This is one of the many reasons I like singing. It makes people feel better. It makes me feel better as well. Music is the better version of medicine, the less horrible choice. “Are you sure you’re okay with not going?” she adds.
I refrain from laughing. Who knew it would be so funny, or even possible, to get invited to your own concert? I’d love to go to be honest, but there wouldn’t be a concert to watch if I did. “Don’t worry, I’m fine with it. Lorenzo would’ve gotten me a ticket if I wanted, anyway,” I assure her.
We stop walking when we see the guys standing in the hallway. We’ve been looking everywhere for them, and they’re they just standing by some random lockers? They can’t just switch spots on us. Aurora says it for me though. “We have been looking for you guys for an hour.”
“They’re putting up the Christmas decorations, and the floor tiles are cracked.” Lorenzo explains. “They told us to wait here until they’ve fixed all the tiles, which they estimate will be when lunch break finishes.”
Elias turns around in his place. Cracked tiles? Since when were Christmas decorations so intense? I swear all they used to do was put up a Christmas tree at the entrance with a couple of ornaments, and that would be enough.
“We walked around the whole school, yet we haven’t seen them. But since when did they change tiles for Christmas?” I ask.
“It’s a new thing. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time and dangerous. They could improvise in many ways. We have to get to class soon, and if they’re not done by then someone could trip,” Elias points out. I don’t even comment because I have no idea what it looks like.
Time passes quickly, since we took over half of it to search around the school. My class is at another end, unlike Lorenzo’s which is right in front of him. Aurora has to go to the third level, so she heads off earlier. Elias has his class a few rooms before mine.
“Come on, we can walk together. I’ll show you the tiles we were talking about, we’re going to have to pass them anyway,” he offers. That isn’t a bad idea. I want to see what those tiles look like anyway.
We walk through the halls as Elias leads me to the decorations. Three rows of the floor tiles alternate with green and red colors, shining and glittering with the lights, and a man is standing on a ladder hanging ornaments. The tiles aren’tfinished yet, since they’re still not pushed down completely, and bits of cement scatter the floor.
“Can’t they just paint them?” I comment.
“They can, I don’t know why they don’t,” Elias answers. Whatever. Doesn’t really matter. I won’t be here after the winter break anyway. That reminds me, winter break is almost here. Damn, time goes fast. I need to find a winner, and fast.
As I’m walking, I feel something tug on my shoe, almost making me fall. I hold myself still before looking down to see my foot stuck in one of the tilted tiles. How ironic. “Shit, my shoe’s stuck.” I curse, getting down on my knees to try and free it. One side of the shoe tie is stuck to the corner.
“Like I said.” Elias reminds me. He kneels down to try and help me. Suddenly, I hear a bell clash on the floor, before feeling a shove from my back and sliding forward onto the floor. A big crash echoes through the hall, and chatter fills the area. What the hell was that? I use my hands to push myself up, coughing at the dust that appears in the air. I get up in a partly sitting position to notice the incident.
The ladder is on the floor, slightly tilted up. The man, who was hanging the ornaments on the tree, is gripping the emergency handle tightly, hanging from the air. I look back to see my foot still stuck in the tile, under the ladder, but untouched. I look further and notice the ladder is moving. Someone is under it. Elias.
“Elias!” I shout, flinging off my shoe and running to lift up the ladder.
I lean it against the wall and run back to him. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I panic, helping him sit straight. Some parts of his face are covered in white dust, as well as his clothes. He starts shifting his body, squinting as he does.
“I don’t know,” He’s almost whispering. I let my hands inspect his body, making sure his head and body is okay. “Violet,don’t. There might be bl—” he tries saying, before he stops and shouts out when my hand touches his arms. I look up, panic on my face. “My arm,” he mutters.
“This one?” I ask, taking his left arm. He winces, nodding his head weakly. “Calm down, I’m going to get some help.”
Chapter 46 – Trentanove
Val
My body gets colder and colder the more I wait in front of the door. The hall is completely empty and silent, giving me nothing to distract myself. My heart beats in my chest, the only sound I’m able to hear. I focus on the rhythm, away from the wooden door. I don’t sit down—I can’t. I pace back and forth through the hall, still close to the room in case anyone comes out. My fingers connect at my stomach, picking at each other. I spin the ring on my right middle finger, fidgeting with the silver.
The school nurse has tried to get me to class a couple of times but gave up when she realized I wasn’t going to budge until I had an answer. An assurance. They said the injury looked serious, and that it needed closer observation. It scares me, how serious they might mean. Roland and Emily don’t know yet. No one’s contacted them because they wanted to figure out what was wrong first. I’m the only one who knows. But I texted Aurora andLorenzo to come here after class. They’ll know what to do better than I will. My head is everywhere but here.
I stop and stare at the door. Why are they taking so long? Does that mean it’s bad? No matter what I do, how much I try to shift my focus, a heavy weight sits on my shoulders. This is my fault. Elias wouldn’t have gotten hit if he hadn’t needed to push me out of the way. He wouldn’t have been under the ladder, not if I weren’t there in the first place. However serious the injury turns out to be; I’m at fault.
I hear the sound of shoes running down the hall. I spin my body around to see a figure running toward me. The closer the figure gets, the more I notice their features. Black hair, dark green eyes. Class hasn’t ended yet. Why is Lorenzo here already?
“Violet! Are you okay? I saw your message and came immediately. What happened?” He rushes to ask, pulling me into a hug. I let him, taking in his comfort. His arms sooth my back, relaxing my body slightly. I then pull back to look at him, slipping my hands into his.
“Elias. We were walking to class when my foot got stuck on one of the floor tiles. While I was trying to pull it out, a ladder fell. It hit his arm. He had to push me out of the way, and now it’s either really badly injured or it’s broken. They’re saying it’s broken. I broke his arm.” I tell him, my pitch rising at the end. His eyes widen, but he stays calm.
“Hey, hey, calm down. It’s okay. I’m sure everything’s fine. You didn’t do anything. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s the school’s fault,” he says. His thumb rubs the back of my hand. I really want to believe that.
