Road to Recovery

-8- Road to Recovery

On the way to the amusement park 3 out of the 4 people in the car were sulking. Joanne was mad at Steve and her nose throbbed. Steve was actually happy but sad about his swelling eye. And Drew was angry that it was someone he knew that would hurt Joanne. Chris got over it.

"All of y'all disgust me. Get over it. Steve, you were punched. Jo, you were punched and pissed off. Drew, you have another reason to hate Derek . If you three don't suck it up I'm pulling this car and I'ma kick all of you out--"

"Fine" Joanne, Drew, and Steve muttered. She stared out her window as they drove away into the highway.

"I forgive you for punching me" Steve opens up. Smoke started coming out of her head. She slowly turned around.

"You...forgive...me?" she said slowly. Fear was in Steve's eyes. "You sure you want to say that?" her eyes had a fire in them. Burning for justice and righteousness.

"N-no, I'm sorry, was what I meant to say" Steve tries to choose the right words. She stares at her window. Then she smiled.

"It's okay. I forgive you now" her voice was a bit cheerful. That stunned Steve.

"W-what was that?" Steve said not looking at her.

"There's no reason to be mad once someone sincerely apologizes" Joanne pointed out. He shrugged. Joanne's phone started ringing. It was in her pocket. Steve looked at her pocket and before she could stick her hand in he took it and answered.

"Hello?" he said casually.

"Who's this?" a male voice answered. Steve peeked at Joanne, who had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Stop looking flirtatious. Great turn on but I'm talking on the phone right now" Steve told her. Yes, he also told Mr. Shafe, the person on the phone.

"Excuse me?" the person said.

"Joanne talk to his punk, he sounds mean" Steve handed her the phone.

"Hello?" she said slowly.

"Whore much?" he said.

"Eric, how sad of you. Jumping to conclusions. Do you want the whole story now?"

"I don't need the whole story when I just heard my proof that it's a lie" he sounded angry. Eric was the third friend that was out of the country. He went to France to learn more about art.

"So your not gonna hear me out one bi--"

"I just want an explanation. Not an excuse" he calmed down. Steve ultra sonic hearing was already activated. The other guys strained to listen.

"Yesterday during the after service of the funeral Amy and Lauren were wasted and they were telling everyone about his affairs. I simply walked out, got kidnapped by a crazy guy, and here I am--"

"Lies!" Steve interrupts stealing the phone, "I am not a crazy person! At first I kinda kidnapped her cause she looked like a cute, lost, puppy that was sad and all. Then, we became friends and soon to be sex budd--"

"Steve! Off topic. Tell the truth" Joanne slapped the back of his head.

"Hehe, okay anyway. She's telling the truth. Those two chicks aren't good. They sent us crappy quote and quote 'porn' plus they keep harrassing us with messages" Steve exaplained. The other guys were confused as to what was going on. Joanne was confused about the "porn" part but she let it go.

"That's what they're doing to her? How come they called me and told me she found out that Trevor did them in the past before they met? Lauren called me up and told me Amy was crying because some weird dude cussed her out. Then Amy told me she had threatened Lauren and Lauren was thinking about pressing charges" Eric went on and Steve listened,"...then they said she was going with some crazy guy."

"Am I that crazy?" Steve asks to no one in particular.

"You're amazing just the way you are" Joanne quoted somewhat boringly.

"Yeah yeah keep quoting that crap" Steve said.

"So, yeah who are you? And where exactly is Joanne? People are, you know, worried about her."

"I am Steven Greater. Joanne's whereabouts will remain unknown until she returns and if people were really worried about her, her phone would have rang non-stop. She's really received two calls while we were out. Her father and you, the girls don't count" Steve was a little more serious.

"Well, if it has to be this way then make sure she doesn't get hurt again, please? She's been through more than just the death of her almost fiance.  She used to take care of my brother," he says.

"Tell me about it" Steve said curiously.

"I don't even know why you're asking but, Liam, one day, when they were walking in the park a group of boys from his school jumped him, badly. Joanne couldn't stop them. They were outnumbered and she was held down. They beat up Liam so badly he was DOA. She blames herself to this day. Even though he insisted going to the park I banned him from going there. That's why he liked Joanne babysitting him more because she was easy to convince" Eric's voice was steady.

"What about--"

"Trevor?" Eric reads his mind.

"Yeah."

"From what I heard, Trevor was planning on proposing to her at some special place where his mom got proposed to. On the way there, a car overran a stop light slamming hard into Anna's side. Trevor protected her from getting hit hard. Instead of a head injury, she injured her ankle. Yet, his condition was surprisingly critical. He had extreme head trauma. He died of brain damage, all his other small injuries wouldn't have done much. When rock turns to stone, he basically risked his life for her" Eric explained. Steve was deep in thought.

So that's what those girls meant by 'she should have died'. Well I guess it's confession time for everyone.

"Wow" was all he could think of. Joanne wanted to know what they were talking about, but at the same time, didn't.

"May I speak to her now?" Eric asked him. Steve shrugged and handed the phone to her. Joanne took the phone and hung up.

"What was that for?" he asked her.

"How much did he tell you?" she didn't look at him. She stared at her hands on her lap.

"Uh, everything?" Curiosity burned at Chris and Drew.

"I had a feeling" she turns to stare at the window. As she wasn't looking, Steve looked up at the rear view mirror to see a curious Chris. Chris communicates through his eyebrows. He asked the ultimate question.

Are you going to tell her the truth?

Steve nods to him. Chris mouths the sentence.

Don't forget.