Waiting outside the lines

Chapter 26

As I'm walking I remember the huge cut on my stomach that's probably still bleeding. With my shirt and jacket still on I take the bottom of my shirt and rip it upwards until I get to right below my bra. I rip it all the way around so I come up with a cloth type thing. It's a good thing I don't like this shirt too much.
I stretch out the piece of cloth I just ripped and pull up my jacket revealing the cut. I wrap the cloth around my stomach tight enough to stop the bleeding. Then, I make a knot that's not too noticeable with my jacket on. When I'm done with that I keep walking towards my house. I start thinking about Jake and Lenny. I start wondering about what happened to them to make so evil. I know that people aren't just born evil like that. They're taught or forced to learn how to become that way. I know that people live how they're taught. They believe that what they're doing is right no matter how horrible it may seem to someone else.
While I'm thinking, I realize that I'm really close to the ice cream place and need to hide. I go into the woods and go through as quickly and quietly as possible. As I walk I think about how I didn't see the police car that we hid here in the woods. Either I past it without noticing or they already drove off looking for my "bestie".
After a walk that seemed like forever, I'm finally close to my house. I stop before walking up to my door. Should I knock on Wayne's door? I didn't see Jake's car so I know he's not there. I stand there for a few seconds more and realize he's probably not even there. I sigh and open the door to my house. I lock all the locks behind me then check if the windows are locked. After I know everything's locked and I feel safe, I take off my jacket and undo the knot to check my cut. As I look at my cut, I start walking towards the stairs up to my room. I hear a sound in front if me and bounce back. I swiftly bend down and grab the pocket knife in my sock and flip the longest knife out. I stand in a 'ready to fight position' with the knife in front of me. As I take a closer look I see who it is.
WAYNE'S POV
She stands there with her pocketknife ready. "Woah there! Calm down you little gang banger. It's just me." She tries to hide her fear with anger and practically yells, "Wayne what is wrong with you?! You scared me half to death!" I laugh knowing how much I scared her, as she puts her pocketknife away.
How long has she had that with her?
"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to. I swear." I take a closer look at Janet and notice she's wearing a shirt that exposes her whole stomach. "Nice outfit by the way." Her face instantly turns red and and she puts her arms over her stomach.
She must be self conscious or something.
I laugh at her expression and still red face as she playfully rolls her eyes. I know she's joking but I respond, "Hey don't be mad at me. You're the one who came in like that. You obviously wanted me to see you in it." I smile letting her know I'm messing around too. "Not fair. I didn't know you were gonna be here." She turns and starts up the stairs. I follow, saying sarcastically, "Okay Janet. Whatever you say."
I love this part of our friendship. Going back and forth, messing with each other. And I know she loves it too.
We get to her room and she goes straight to her closet. "How's your side?" she asks, her back turned to me. I sit on her bed and respond, "Still hurts like crazy. Do you have those ice packs?" She turns to me and says, "Ya they're downstairs in the freezer. Do you want me to go get them?"
"No no it's fine. I'll..." I pause and notice something on Janet's stomach. Is that a cut? I look at her for a second and see worry in her eyes, then I look back and see it is a cut. A really bad cut. "What happened to your stomach?" I ask her, trying not to yell. She turns her back to me and starts to go into the bathroom. As she closes the door she begins to say, "What are you-" but I don't let her finish. I push the door open and force myself into the bathroom. I could see the fear in her eyes but I don't care. The anger in mine oversees it. "Wayne what is wrong with you?!" she yells.
My anger builds as I yell, "Don't turn the tables on me! What happened to your stomach?!" She looks at the floor, silent, avoiding any eye contact with me. "Janet what are you hiding from me?!"
I'm so angry I'm breathing heavily and my heart's beating a hundred miles per hour. I feel like punching the wall in. Janet was hurt. I mean I knew something was wrong when I found all the blood but I didn't know it was this bad. Why doesn't she trust me?
It's so silent I think she can hear my heart beating. All of a sudden, her face is serious and she turns around. She puts the shirt she has in her hands on even though she hasn't taken off whatever she was wearing before. She turns around and without looking at me she walks past me towards the door and says, "I don't know what you're talking about."
At that statement my anger takes over and before she's fully out of the bathroom I grab her arm real tight and pull her back in. I kick the door closed and lock it with my free hand. Without letting go I say to her with fury in my eyes, "You are not leaving until you tell me what's going on." She looks at my hand that's still holding onto her so hard that her arm was red. She then looks back at me with serious eyes and says slowly, "Let go of me."
"No." She tries to escape my grasp but I just hold her harder.
She gives a little chuckle which angers me more. "What's so funny?"
She looks down at the floor then back at me, "This." Then she twists my arm until I let go and pins me against the counter, still holding my arm on my back. I feel the pain instantly and do my best not to groan in pain. While she's holding me down she gets close to my ear and almost whispers, "I let you into my house, took care of you, trusted you with the only thing I love and this is how you treat me? You lock me in here and force me to talk?" I glare at her through the mirror that's in front of me. "Janet let go of me." I growl through my teeth. "Now why would I do that?"
"Let go Janet. I don't want to hurt you."
She laughs, "YOU hurt ME? That's a good one. You like me too much to hurt me."
At that I become a slave to my anger and put my leg between hers and sweep her legs so she falls. She falls on her back and I pin her down.
"Is it funny now? Huh?" She glares at me as I speak. "I told you I didn't want to hurt you. And I don't. Janet I trusted you enough to come here and you don't trust me at all. I took care of your brother while you were off with Jake that one morning." I feel her squirm beneath me. "I didn't ask for that."
"No. You didn't have to. Because that's what friends do. They help each other and look out for each other. They don't lie to each other or keep things from each other. You obviously know nothing about that." She starts squirming again and all of a sudden I feel a sharp pain in my side where I have my bruise. I yell in pain and Janet takes that moment to push me over and pin me down. When she pushes me she makes sure I hit my head where I hit it before.
I lie there my head throbbing and my side stinging. I look up at Janet with anger and pain and betrayal all at the same time. She ignores my glare until I feel a trickle of blood roll down my forehead. As soon as she sees the blood, realization hits her hard. She has a worried expression on her face as she quickly gets off from on top of me. I stay on the floor and look up at her. "I-I.. I'm so sorry I don't know what-" She stands there breathless and not looking at me. I sit up as she looks at me and says, "Ok I'll tell you what happened."