His Dream Life | Park Solomon

Chapter 6

I feel energized this morning. Mostly due to what happened yesterday. Nothing major happened when Solomon and I did our project at his place, but still, spending time with him makes everything that comes after so exciting. He lights up my life like hopefully, I light his.

I see Hailey sitting in her usual seat, staring out the window. She looks at peace, and for the first time in a while, actually happy.

"This seat taken?" I joke as I take my seat next to her. She laughs and we have a normal conversation like always.

"Where's Solomon, by the way?" She asks when our topic of discussion reaches him.

I scan the class, but I can't seem to find him anywhere. He told me he had a photoshoot last night after our project, he must skip first period because he's tired.

When the class starts, Mr. Wheeler asks the class president, Jake to tell him today's attendance. "Nobody's absent today, sir." He answers, which is wrong. Solomon's not here.

"Solomon's not here, sir." I say in a loud voice, which is kind of embarassing because everyone is now staring at me. Even a few girls who sit across from me are giving me weird looks. They whisper to each other with sour looks on their faces. They're just bored girls who likes to gossip.

"He's probably out with a celebrity girlfriend!" One of the boys yelled. The whole class grow loud.

But, before Mr. Wheeler tells us to be quite, the principal knock our classroom door.

"Excuse me, Mr. Wheeler, I have an announcement to make," she says as she steps inside. "I have bad news. Solomon Park is injured last night. The studio where he had the photoshoot burned down and he got a few burns on himself. He's staying at the hospital and won't be attending school for a few days," the principal keeps on talking, but I can't hear much after that. My mind is filled with worry.

"Is it severe?" I ask loudly. Every eye is back on me.

"For that, I don't know yet. You may visit him in the hospital if you please." The principal replies as she heads out of class.

My hands fall to my sides and I have this tight feeling in my chest. "What if it's bad, Hailey?" I ask with tears in my eyes.

"No, don't think like that, Isla. We'll go to the hospital afterschool, how about that?" She tries to comfort me, but she seems just as worried as I am.

The rest of the school day was hell. I have to endure not knowing his condition and pretend that everything's fine, but it's not. I text him a few times, but he didn't answer. After what feels like an eternity, school finally ends and Hailey and I can go to the hospital.

"Excuse me, I'm here to visit my friend in the burn ward. His name is Solomon Park." I politely tell my intention to the receptionist, but she eyes me up and down.

"Yeah, yeah. Go stand there with those girls. I'll call when he's ready to be visited." She gestures a group of girls who are standing at the waiting area.

The girls are wearing uniform and they all carry a gift basket with Solomon's face all over it. Are they fan girls? I greet them and they greet me back politely. Beside them there are a few reporters that I think are waiting to meet Solomon as well.

We are all waiting quitely, but suddenly one of the the reporters walk towards the receptionist table. "We have waited for over an hour. When can we come in?" He talks in a tone that's inappropriate for the hospital.

"Sir, I need you to calm down, this is a hospital. Like I've said before, I'll call when he's ready." The receptionist replies sternly. But, the reporter starts yelling at her.

"Hey! We're all waiting for Solomon. Can't you just be patient? He's injured and all you can think about is that you're waiting for over an hour for an article?" One of the fan girls yell.

"If you can't behave, leave the hospital for your sake." Another fan girl says.

A security guard comes in and take the reporter away. The room grows quite again. I don't know why, but I feel proud to be one of Solomon's admirers. I may be more of a friend than a fan girl, but right now, I feel connected to his fans.

"That's really cool, you know, what you did before, with the reporter." I say to the fan girl who spoke up before.

"Thanks." She smiles at me.

Not long after, I see Solomon's mom come out of one the rooms. We make eye contact and she immeditately greets me.

"Isla! I'm so glad you're here. Solomon's fine, don't worry about him. Why don't you come inside sooner?" She says as she reaches out to me. I stare at the receptionist.

She hold my hand as we both walk to his room, Hailey walking right beside us.

"Knock, knock, your friends are here, Solomon." Mrs. Park says as we all enter the room.

Inside, Solomon is sitting on the hospital bed. My heart settles in relief when I see him.

"You're here." He says, his tone brighter than I expected. He smiles so bright, it's hard to belive he's injured.

"Oh, Lomon, what happened to you?" I ask worriedly as I examine him. There is a burn on his collarbone and arm.

"Just a burn. I ran out of that studio before that fire eats me alive." He tries to joke around, but I'm not in the mood.

"Don't joke about this, Lomon, I was so scared." I breathe out. I don't know why, but I start crying.

"I'm glad you're fine, Solomon." Hailey says as she rubs my shoulders to comfort me.

"Thank you, Hailey." He says.

He reaches out to take my hand, but I am still rubbing my eyes.

"Hey, don't worry. I'll be okay." He says with soft eyes. I sit on the edge of his bed with Hailey and we have a short conversation.

"There are fan girls waiting outside, you know?" Hailey reminds.

"Right. But, I don't usually invite them inside the hospital room. They usually just leave their gift baskets before leaving." He says.

"Hey, Solomon. If you're comfortable, can we just invite them in this time? They did something super cool before and I think they deserve credit." I suggest nervously.

"Yeah, they saved you from that reporter." Hailey adds.

He considers it for a moment and looks at his mom. "If they're as cool as you say they are, then sure" He finally agrees.

Mrs. Park invites the fan girls inside and they all behave appropriately. They seem giddy, but not impolite. Solomon thanks them for coming and accepts their gift baskets and they all leave.

Hailey goes out with Mrs. Park to grab some drinks and that leaves me alome with Solomon. I sit at his bedside, quitely watching the TV. But, when I turn my head to him, he's staring at me. I flinch my head back to the TV.

"I never thought I'll ever have a friend visit me at the hospital before this." He says.

"That's kinda sad." I tease him, scrunching my nose up. I turn to face him and our eyes lock.

"I was really worried before. I don't know why." I lower my gaze.

"I wonder why." He says as he keeps his gaze at me.

My eyes lift up, meeting his once again. The air feels still and my body freezes in place. I can hear the sound of the AC dripping. I can also hear Solomon's heart monitor accelerating.

"We've got drinks!" Hailey says as she and Mrs. Park comes in.

We break free from our stillness.