A flashlight in the shadows.

Chapter 14: cuts and bruises.

Half the school murmured about Carson's car and the run in he had. The police were certain it was thugs, but Carson couldn't testify because he didn't remember anything significant. Kendra, Hannah, and Dina weren't interested in that. They wanted to know what I had done the night before.
"So...did you hang out with Bennett?" Dina teased. I rolled my eyes and took a bite of the salad.
"No, I didn't. I worked on homework." They all groaned.
"Your always working on homework!" They exclaimed. I sighed. Hannah smirked.
"Sarah, what would you do if I just told Bennett you were into him?" My eyes widened and I couldn't help but blush.
"Don't you dare!"
"Oh Bennett..." She teased. I threw a crouton at her and giggled. Sabrina sat next to him, legs crossed and smile at full blast. Bennett listened to her mindless chatter, but looked over in my direction once or twice. The second time caught her attention, and she looked over to where he was looking. When she saw me, she scowled and stared. I smiled and waved. She continued staring. I took out a piece of paper and wrote;
'Stare hard retard.' She scowled one more time before turning back to him, smiling again. Dina rolled her eyes and Hannah snapped her fingers.
"She is the definition of trashy."
"Damn straight!" Kendra agreed. We all walked down the hallways to our classes, which for me, meant my last day of English. Sabrina rolled her eyes as I stepped in the room. I smirked to myself and sighed. Mr. Fredeiw gave me a high five and sighed.
"I hope you enjoy college, Sarah. You'll do just fine there."
"I'm sure I will, Mr. Fredeiw, thanks." I sat down and leaned on my elbow. I got a text from dad; 'janes awake, she wants to see you after school.' I smiled and texted back, 'k.' At the end of the day when I went out to Kendra's car, she smiled and asked,
"Ready to go?"
"Hold on, gotta make a phone call." I sat in the car and dialed Bennett. He picked up on the third ring.
"You called?"
"Hey, Bennett. I'm going to see jane for a little bit, I'll be at your dad's place a little later than expected, ok?" He paused for a moment.
"Please try and be quick." Quick? He hung up and I sighed. Kendra and Hannah stared at me, wide eyed. I frowned and shrugged.
"What?"
"Did you...am I dreaming?" Hannah asked. I shrugged again.
"What're you talking about?"
"You just called Bennett. Oh. My. God." Kendra said, smiling and trying to contain her excitement. I sighed and face palmed myself.
"We have a skit together, ok? That's it." They wouldn't stop talking about it on the whole ride to the hospital. When we got there, Kendra stopped and looked at me with sadness in her eyes.
"Tell jane we said to stay strong, k?"
"Thanks," I nodded and got out of the car. When I arrived at janes room, she was in the same position I'd seen her in the night before. Dad was passed out and snoring. She smiled when I walked in.
"Hey, Sarah." I smiled and kissed her forehead. I sat down on the chair next to her and held her hand.
"How's my baby sister?" She shrugged.
"About as good as you'd expect. How was school?" I shrugged.
"School. Everyone's talking about you." She giggled a little and shrugged.
"I wish it was under better circumstances."
"Me too jane. Me too." I felt a tear push against my eye. She sighed and we were silent for a few moments. She then looked at me and said,
"I'm going to walk again." I looked at her, a little off guard. I smiled and nodded.
"Sure you will. With time and rehibilitation." She nodded and sighed again. A few tears fell from her eyes and her voice became shaky.
"Uh, Sarah..."
"Yes?" I asked, almost knowing what she was going to say.
"I know who did it." I nodded and smiled, tears in my eyes.
"I know, I took care of it." She looked at me.
"How?"
"I'll tell you when your better, let's talk about happy things for now," and that's what we did until 8:00.

[transition to her in the car.]

I took the last turn off onto an old road to Bennett's dad's house. When I pulled up to it, I couldn't help but cringe a little bit. It was a dirt drive way with trees and overgrown shrubbery every where. His 'house' was actually a mobile home parked into place. One of the windows had fallen out, but had been replaced with duct tape. I got out of the car and walked slowly up to the home. The scent of beer lingered in the air and I could see broken bottles and cans everywhere I stepped. A Rottweiler on a chain jumped up and down from its cardboard box and barked. I waved at it and stepped up the rickety wooden steps. They creaked under my weight, and I thought it might give way any second. All I could hear was loud country music. I knocked on the door and waited. I heard some shuffling and some yelling. A beer can hit the window just before the door flung open and Bennett appeared, black eye and a cut on his lip. I frowned and asked,
"What happened?"
"Change of plans, we're going to your house," he pulled me along with him and got in the car. I decided not to argue for once and got in, driving off. He sat on his side of the car, silent. I kept glancing over at him, concern in my thoughts. He sighed in frustration and said,
"Will you just watch the road, please?"
"You have a cut on your lip." I stated.
"Gee, hadn't noticed," he stated, rubbing it with his thumb.
"I can probably get you some cleaning alcohol when we get home."
"I'm fine," he stated. I frowned and said,
"You don't need to be a tough guy."
"Oh, I'm sorry princess." He stated, annoyed. I rolled my eyes and tried not to loose my temper. We pulled up to my house and I slammed the door shut, walking up the sidewalk to the house. He walked behind me calmly, hands in his pockets. I set my bags on the table and went to the kitchen to get some cleaning alcohol. He walked in behind me and leaned against the door frame. I patted the counter next to me.
"Sit." He crossed his arms and stared at it. I gave him flat eyes and said, "oh, stop it. Just sit down, will ya?" He sighed and sat down on the counter, staring at me. I soaked a few cotton balls in the alcohol and pressed it against his lip, not looking back into his grey orbs. He flinched a little, but relaxed quickly and stared at me some more. I threw the cotton balls away and sighed.
"What?"
"Do I make you nervous?" He asked, smiling a little. I laughed nervously and said,
"You wish. Let's practice the skit, c'mon." We went to the living room and I sat on the cushion chair we had, crossing my legs. My eyebrows knitted as I read over the parts.
"Orison, the plight of our love is to be cut..."
"This is boring, and there's some typos." He stated. I looked up at him and was surprised. He was tapping a pen against the script packet and sat against the coffee table on the floor. That's not what surprised me. He had a pair of black rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. He looked much more nerdy with them, in a good way. He looked over and saw me staring.
"What?"
"I didn't know you wore glasses!" I exclaimed. He fumbled with them to take them off and fold them.
"They're not, I mean, I-I don't really need them..." He trailed off, still holding them. I smiled and looked back at the paper. Then, my mouth decided it was going to screw me over and said,
"You actually look really good with them on." We looked at each other at the same time, eyes wide. I looked around the room and stammered,
"Uh, well, you know. For a jerk like you..."
"Don't pretend, book theif, you were checking me out." He smirked. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"In your very wildest of dreams, Bennett, let's get back to the script." We looked at the scripts, although we both knew neither one was interested. He finally broke the silence by asking,
"Can you sing for me?" I looked up from the paper and frowned.
"Uh...why?"
"Because you sound awesome." He stated, smiling. I sighed and shrugged.
"Ok, what song?"
"Hmm..." He thought for a few moments. "Rolling in the deep."
"By Adele?!" I asked, giggling. He nodded and looked at me. I sighed and cleared my throat.
"There's a fire, starting in my heart..." I continued singing. He watched me with wide eyes, turning on his side and leaning his elbows on the table to watch me more comfortably. Once I'd finished, I stopped and smiled. He continued staring. I shrugged and asked,
"How'd i do?"
"Sarah..." He trailed off, smiling at me with his mouth open. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Ok, thanks."
"You have to do the talent show!" He exclaimed, getting up and shaking me. I shook my head.
"Everyone will laugh! Besides, it's only two weeks away and..."
"And nothing, you've got to!" He shouted, shaking me again. I crossed my arms.
"Nope."
"Please?" He asked, giving me a puppy dog face. I giggled and pushed him away with my foot. He stared at me and said,
"I'll do anything!"
"Anything?" I asked deviously. His face lost a little color, but he smiled and nodded,
"Name it." I sat back and thought for a moment. Then, it clicked in my head. When I was a little girl, my father loved dressing up at our family gatherings whenever a holiday rolled around. When I was 5, he dressed up in a pink bunny costume and left a basket of treats for us. I got up and went to his room, Bennett following me. I flung open the closet doors and shuffled around. He crouched down next to me,
"What're ya looking for?"
"Just stand away for a minute," I stated, frowning. He shook his head.
"I want to help." He said, leaning closer. I shook my head.
"No, just stand up and wai-" but I turned to much to look at him, because I fell back and hit my head on the back wall of the closet. Bennett leaned in next to me and set a hand on my shoulder.
"Are you ok?" I rubbed my head and looked up to see that we were only a few inches apart. I stared for a second, but looked to the side and saw the bunny costume. I sat up and grabbed it from its hanger.
"I am now," I replied, smiling. He looked at it and raised his eyebrows.
"No. Fucking. Way."
"Yes fucking way. You said anything!" I laughed, handing him the costume. He rolled his eyes and said,
"Fine, but you have to sing a song I pick."
"No I don't! I don't even want to do the show!" I exclaimed. He sighed and shrugged.
"Well, can I at least make a suggestion?"
"Yeah." He thought for a few moments, biting his lower lip. Them he smiled and said,
"You have to sing Feeling Good by Michael buble." He sat back. I smiled wide and said,
"I love his music! I didn't know you listened to him!" He suddenly blushed and rubbed his rm with his other hand.
"Yeah, well...I just....he's big in Europe, ok?" He blushed some more. I frowned and shrugged.
"Why're you so embarrassed? You don't need to convince me that your a jock." He shot up and crossed his arms.
"I am a jock, though."
"Not the asshole type." I stated, smiling. He looked away and stood up. My cell phone started playing Thriller. Jane. I picked it up and smiled,
"Articulate."
"Why do you always say that?" She asked. I shrugged into the phone and sighed.
"I don't know, what's up?"
"I have an appointment for rehabilitation on Saturday, will you come?"
"Of course, jane. I'll see you later, ok?"
"K, love you."
"Love you too." I hung up and looked out dad's doorway to Jane's room. I thought about how she might never hop out of bed in the morning or walk to her bathroom again. Bennett looked down and squatted next to me.
"Are you ok?" I nodded and stood up, walking to the kitchen to make something. Bennett followed me and leaned on the counter. Then, he smiled and said,
"Hey, guess what?"
"Hmm?" I asked, taking out a pan to make fried rice in. He smiled wider and said,
"The schools making a boy-girl basketball team, try outs are on Friday." He looked at me expectantly. I smirked to the side and shook my head.
"No thanks, I suck at basketball."
"Please! For me?" He asked, making a puppy dog face. I shook my head again.
"The only sports I'm in are speech and softball."
"Will you at least show up?" He asked, still smiling. I rolled my eyes and sighed,
"Fine, I'll go. But I don't wanna try out, got it?"
"Got it?" He said, snapping his fingers at me and grabbing the rice from the cupboard.

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Thanks for reading so far! Hope the next chapter will be better, bye for now! :3