The Hard Crush 1 (Feelings For You)

THIRTY

Hurry up, we don't have time," Jerry urged as he hurried to the car, his mom and Emerald right behind him. "Where's the key?" He asked Emerald.

"Move, I'll drive my own car," she snapped.

"You'll be slow, someone could be dying right now. Let me drive."

"No one's going to die," mom assured them. "Get in the back seat," she told Jerry. "We'll be there before you even know it."

No one really said anything during the ride to the hospital. Jerry had a lot to explain to them but he couldn't. Hilary had made him promise to keep everything to himself. At first he'd been so hesitant to report the issue to the police, but then he'd dialed 911 a second time full of determination when his other phone suddenly rang; it was Hilary.

"Jerry!"

What's happening? Are you okay? Is everyone okay?"

"Not really," she sobbed quietly." My mom's hurt. She's unconscious and we're taking her to the hospital right now."

"We? Your dad is with you?" He felt a bit uneasy for her.

"The coward?" She scoffed. A little bit of the helpless Hilary that had emerged faded and the old mean Hilary returned. "He tried to blame me for it. He told me to take care of my mess and then he took off. Like, who does that? And you know what's interesting? The fact that he actually thought I was on the phone with the police," she lowered her voice and asked, " Jerry, you didn't call the police, did you?"

Jerry sighed. Calling the police should have been the best option. Infact, it was the best option. But Hilary had opposed. She'd been so adamant about not doing so. "I didn't." He heard her release a sigh of relief and then he couldn't help asking,"Why though?"

"It's not something that should be discussed on the phone, can you come?" The voice. The desperate voice. But this was different. It was more of a 'I trust you, I wanna share my deepest secret with you' type of voice, and not the 'I trust my bed, it can contain the both of us making out on it' type of voice. "There's an emergency after all," she added.

Jerry looked at his clock; it was almost 10pm. Somehow he knew staying back wasn't going to alleviate his uneasiness or make him feel any more comfortable with everything that happened to her and her mom just a few moments ago. Deciding it was probably best to observe the situation, he didn't waste time in informing his mom and Emerald after Hilary had given him the location to the hospital they were heading to.

They arrived at the hospital after a while and as they exited the car, his mom finally spoke.

"So what exactly happened?" She asked curiously.

"I'm not sure. She just called, crying that her mom was hurt," Jerry said, refusing to look in her direction.

He caught Emerald giving him a once over as they walked towards the entrance. "I didn't know you and Hilary were that close."

Jerry didn't supply any response to that, because really, what was he supposed to say? He never imagined himself in this position with Hilary at all but these past few minutes he'd spent on the phone with her had changed his view and perception of her. He'd always seen her as someone who didn't give a damn about anyone but herself. Someone who had a perfect life with everything planned out for her. Someone who had everything she wanted; well except Jerry. People always saw her as a stuck up brat. But that was not always the case. Her life wasn't all that perfect. Her family was such a huge mess as it turned out. She probably was going through worse than she was letting Jerry on. And yet she'd managed to maintain a facade of arrogance, refusing to expose her helplessness and distress to anyone at school. She always showed off a bitchy attitude that covered the real deal. She was not entirely what people presumed her to be. She probably wasn't as bad as what Jerry thought she was. He hoped.