Pins and Needles

Chapter 24

School had chugged along much slower than I had desired. Of course, it was the last day of class before Christmas break, but there was still hope things would speed up. I had no more problems to face as all dire situations were dealt with. The police station had called me earlier in the day to tell me that Clark was hospitalized and Dean was being held at the moment. They also asked me if I wanted to press charges against Clark, but I said no obviously.

Now, I sat in PE next to Maeve, waiting for the clock to strike 2. Mrs. Peters had let us do our own thing since we didn't have any work to complete, so most of the students were either chatting or playing on their phones.

"I haven't seen Clark or Dean at all today; do you think something happened?" Maeve questioned.

I stuck a smirk on my face before letting it fade and answering her sarcastically, "I don't know, maybe they died."

She rolled her eyes, "Har har. Seriously, do you know or have you heard anything?"

"No, but if something did happen, Clark probably deserved it."

Maeve shoved my shoulder, "Don't joke like that!"

I caught her gaze and spoke in a serious tone, "I'm not joking."

We held eye contact for a while until I sat back on my palms and sniffed, "It doesn't matter, you're overreacting. They've only been gone for a day, so it's probably just a coincidence."

I couldn't help but chuckle. I held all the power here and it felt nice.

I wiped away my smize as Maeve spoke again, "I know, but I can't help feeling a little off. After all, the times I was absent weren't exactly for a... good reason. I just have this itch that something is wrong and I can't place it."

Our conversation was interrupted when a group of students began to form around one student and whisper not so discreetly about something. I looked over at Maeve and she just shrugged, so we got up to see what the commotion was about. The student at the center of attention was holding his phone and on it there was a video of two familiar boys getting taken away by the police. The video was shaky and angled to only show a part of the parking lot, so luckily, I was not in the frame. It picked up with Clark being lugged into the ambulance and Dean being picked up off the ground. He was clearly looking at something out of shot when he was loaded into the back of the police car. There was only one police car left and after a few seconds, the driver of that car came into shot and drove off. That was where the video stopped. I gave an internal sigh of relief that it didn't go on longer to show when I left the lot.

I peeked over at Maeve and noticed her worried expression right before she backed away from the group. Mrs. Peters approached the bunch and shooed everyone away, pulling the video kid to the side.

I clutched Maeve's arm and asked hesitantly, "You okay?"

She peered at me with a small shimmer of tears in her eyes, "They, they... t-they..."

I flipped my head over to Mrs. Peters, who was still preoccupied with the boy, then dragged Maeve into the girl's locker room.

I sat her down on one of the benches and said, "Calm down, it's alright."

Maeve's breathing increased as she gripped my arms and hyperventilated, "A-Are they okay? Do you think they'll be okay? What happened? Did they fight? I-Is it my fault?? I don't understand!"

I turned stark and snatched up Maeve's hand, "Never blame yourself for something that is out of your control. That's a ridiculous thing to say, so don't say it."

"I didn't want either of them to get in trouble for my foolishness. I care for them both so much," she swallowed, obviously not hearing me.

"Why are you so pent up about Clark? He mistreated you and yet you still think of him in such a way? Clark is a scumbag, he got what was coming to him," I was beginning to get frustrated. How could she not see that her feelings for Clark were absurd? Dealing with this was giving me a headache.

"As for Dean, I'm not sure why or how he got involved, but his actions were something he decided on his own, you cannot beat yourself up over that."

The lie was somber and pitiful and I had to prick myself after I said it, but I was listening to my own advice. Dean could have backed out from my plan if he wanted to, so I couldn't feel sorry for him.

Maeve stuttered, "B-But, I-"

"No buts. You are the victim in this situation and you need to get that into your brain. None of this is your fault, so don't come to me saying otherwise because it will seriously irritate me," I finished.

The girl's lip quivered as she breathed, "Ok."

We sat in silence for a good amount of time, allowing each other to cool off in our own ways before Maeve spoke up again, "What do you think happened between them?"

I shrugged, "Dunno, maybe Dean confronted Clark for what he did to you."

"Yeah, that explains Clark's... face, but I wonder why Dean would get involved when he and I were less close than everyone else in the group."

"Dean explained to me at the park that he didn't like Clark and if he did anything to you he would feel the need to step in. I think maybe he was just overprotective of all of us due to his background and loyalty."

She nodded, "Oh... right, that makes sense."

Another second of silence passed, then Maeve spoke very meekly, "Do you think Clark is ok?"

I turned to her and growled, "Maeve."

"I know, I know, but you've got to also remember that I was, or, still am in love with him. Feelings like that don't disappear after a disaster like this. Sure, he hurt me, but the memories of our relationship still bring me happiness and I can't help that."

I shook my head, "I just don't get it, why?"

"You don't see him like I do. He's a good person that made a bad decision. That doesn't mean I forgive him, but I know he has potential to grow from what he did. He cared for me and treated me well, so I was blinded by that when he began to change. I was seeing our relationship through rose colored lenses and by the time I did notice the issues, it was too late. I know I'm foolish for being like that, but I have learned just as I hope Clark can. I wish that he will be given a second chance in life and find his way to a new normal," Maeve turned to me and looked me directly in the eyes. "I am content with thinking like this and I'm sorry if that bothers you. But, I won't change my opinion, this is just the way I was wired."

I sighed, "It's fine, I still don't really get how you could treat him like that, but I'll move on."

Maeve giggled, "That's because you've never been in love so it would be a little hard to comprehend."

"You don't know that," I frowned.

"Oh really? Then who might the lucky fella be? Or, perhaps, chica?" she teased.

I grunted and rolled my eyes, averting her heated leer.

Maeve laughed aloud, "That's what I thought. You could only hope to have what me and Clark had!"

I scoffed, "Yeah right, in your dreams, maybe."

"Ok, I tried my best to get you two to like each other, but neither of you would budge, so don't harp on our relationship because of a trivial bias you have."

"Yeah, it was a valiant effort, but there was no way in hell we would ever get along. Maybe if we were locked in a box together and forced to talk to each other, but I might've killed myself before that could happen."

Maeve laughed and gasped, "My my, so dramatic. It was worth a shot."

I nodded and smiled shortly, then whispered to where Maeve couldn't hear me, "Mmm, maybe not."