Insecure

Chapter 4

Laura opened her eyes to see a blur. It was a familiar blur... White was all she saw. Where in the living hell am I? Her eyes moved around to try to gain focus as her strong nose was kicking in. She smelled...clean... Cleanliness. Within' seconds, her blur started to gain focus... She turned her head which was a mistake; sharp pain shot up her neck and to the back of her head. She grabbed the back of her head, looking around while using her peripheral vision. She felt someone in the room.... She grew tense... 

"Hey sleepyhead," Lilly greeted, leaning over her. Lilly, she thought to herself, sighing a sigh of relief.

 "Where am I?" Laura asked, her voice cracking.

 "The zoo. You fell off the zebra while riding it like a little cowgirl," Lilly joked, laughing.

 "Seriously, where am I?" Laura asked unamused.

 "The hospital. You started bleeding on my damn floor so I had to save you, plus I didn't want to be responsible for mopping up the floor if you died," she said, joking on the last part.

 Laura rolled her eyes and started to sit up, but she felt an instant pain in her neck again. "Ow," she said, touching the back of her neck.

 "Yeah, you might feel pain in that area for a few weeks."

 "Dammit, I hate this. To think I was just about to join the Softball team."

 "You must really be in pain."

 Laura laughed. "I don't like being in this bed."

 "Don't worry, you can go home now if you wish," the doctor said, poking his head in. "You seem very well rested, so you can try walking out of here. I gave your friend everything you need."
Laura nodded and slowly threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. At first she felt dizzy, but she continued to hold on to Lilly until they got to the car. "Are you sure you're okay?" Lilly asked.

 "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy and tired."

 They continued to walk out the hospital doors, meeting up with Lilly's mom. "Hey guys, they actually let Laura come home the same night?"

 "It wasn't as bad as they thought. They just patched her up and let her rest."

 "It hurts like hell," Laura groaned.

 "It's going to be okay, Sweetie. We're going home now," Mrs. Gonzales said.

 If Laura wasn't terrified of the pain that might go through her, her head would've turned quickly in her direction. "Home? Oh no. I can't go back to my Dad after I ran away! He'll hurt me for sure..." Laura could feel a sweat coming on...

 "Laura, calm down. You're staying with us until we graduate," Lilly interrupted, looking back at her best friend.

 Laura looked at her best friend like she was crazy. "What? You guys don't have to do that. I can just find some place outside a dumpster or something..."

 "Definitely not. You're definitely staying with us. You're family, Laura," Mrs. Gonzales assured her.

 She nodded and said, "Thank you."

 "We just want you safe," Lilly added.

 Laura nodded. Don't worry, I will definitely be safe away from everyone tomorrow night. Laura smiled and laid her head back, closing her eyes.

~~~~~~

The next morning, Laura and Lilly sat in the living room and watched T.V. before it was time to walk to school. "Are you sure I can go to school?" Laura asked Lilly while watching T.V.

 "Yes. You might feel dizzy or have headaches, but you have to at least try to go. I don't want to be without my best friend today," Lilly replied.

 "What if I trip and fall?"

 "I'll be there to catch you my love," Lilly replied singly.

 Rolling her eyes, Laura said, "You're so stupid sometimes."

 "But......." Lilly said, laying her head on Laura's shoulder.

 "I love you anyways."

 "There we go. We all know you can't live without me."

 Laura sighed. True, but I'm afraid it's going to be the other way around. After they finished their episode, they got ready and headed out the door. They threw their bookbags over their shoulders, calling out to Mrs. Gonzales. They both said good-bye as they headed out the door.

~~~~~~~

"What is all this talk about a new kid coming to school?" Lilly asked Laura after 3rd period.

 "I have no idea. I haven't seen a new kid around," she replied, looking through one of her notebooks as they continued to walk to their next class.

 "Maybe we're lucky and they're in our next class," Lilly said.

 "Yay, another person to bully me," Laura said sarcastically.

 "Maybe it won't be as bad as you think. This person has no reason to bully you. You're pretty, in shape, funny...Plus, you can't even see that bandage around your head," Lilly said, laughing at the end.

 "Gee, thanks."

 "Come on, you know I'm kidding," she said, playfully elbowing her as they walked into class. They still had a couple minutes until the class bell rang, so they quickly took their seats in the back.

 "Hey, if this 'new kid' showed up, they would have to sit across from me," Laura whispered to Lilly, looked at the empty desk that no one sat in.

 "Hey, you're right."

 Laura shrugged and got her books out for the day. Then, someone walked in that she has never seen before. This person had all of her attention obviously considering her mouth was gaped open. "Hey Laura, open your mouth a little wider, and you'll catch a couple flies," Lilly said as Laura blushed and put her head down. The boy she saw was 6'3, a little muscular, broad shoulders, short black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and was wearing a plain white shirt that clung to him with jeans.

 "There you are, Mr. Jackson."

 "You can call me Jayce."

 Laura looked up a little, and she looked around the room. Sure enough, all the girls were swooning over him. She rolled her eyes and looked over at Lilly who was writing something. A few seconds later, she handed it to Laura. She looked at it and it said:

He was so looking at you. I was watching him, and his jaw dropped a little when he came in sight of you. ;)
-- Your best friend, Lilly.

Laura looked at Lilly and shook her head. "No way," she mouthed over to Lilly.

 Lilly nodded and whispered, "Way."

 "Okay, Mr. Jackson, you can have a sit back there next to the girl with blonde hair..."

 "Oh, you mean the beautiful girl in the back. Gotcha," Jayce said, smiling and sitting next to Laura. This caused different volumes of whispering and gasping all around the room. Things she heard but ignored were, "Why is he by the weirdo?" "She can't even stand up for herself. What a loser." "He called her beautiful? What is wrong with him?"

 Laura felt herself blushing really hard which got her a tap on the shoulder from Lilly. Laura mouthed "Shut up." Then, she felt someone put something on her desk. She looked down, and it was a note from the new kid. She picked it up and read:

Hey, I know this is weird, but can I have lunch with you today? I would like to get to know you.
L
aura had to stop herself from putting her hand over her mouth and screaming. She just wrote 'yes' and gave it back. She saw him smile and put it away in one of his notebooks and thankfully, he left her alone for the rest of class. While trying to pay attention to the teacher, her leg started to shake a little bit as different thoughts started racing through her head. What's happening? Why does he want to get to know me? Is he crazy? Is he just doing this to laugh in my face later? What's going on? Thoughts kept bouncing back and forth on the walls of her head and kept coming back like boom-a-rays. She was running her fingers through her hair when she felt Lilly tap her shoulder.

 Her head turned her direction. "What's going on?"

 "Later."

 "Come on."

 She groaned and passed the note to Lilly. She watched Lilly read it and it took everything for her not to scream.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my God. He's having lunch with us?" Lilly yelled in a whisper, obviously excited.

 "Well, with me. I can't believe I said yes."

 "Laura, have you seen him? It's kinda hard to say no to that."

 "You better watch yourself, you have a boyfriend," Laura said, laughing.

 Lilly smiled as a couple preppy mean girls walked up to them. "Hey. I saw that the hot new guy was sitting next to you and passing notes with you."

 "And?" Lilly said before Laura could get the chance to.

 "I'm just saying...He should be passing notes with me, like he must be pretty desperate if he wants to try being with you..."

 "If he was desperate, don't you think he would've started with you first?" Lilly fired back.

 "At least I'm not a little wimp who can't stick up for myself."

 "Hey, leave her alone," usually that would be Lilly's voice, but it wasn't. They both turned around, and Jayce was walking toward them.

Ignoring them, the girl looked at him. "Hey Jayce. Remember me? The beautiful girl you were talking to in science?" one of the girls said.

 "Sorry, I don't talk to bitches or bullies," he said, looking down at Laura. "Can I talk to you and your friend?"

 Laura looked at Lilly and nodded. "Yeah."

 Jayce gently grabbed Laura's arm and pulled them aside. "Is she always like that?"

 "If its not them, it's someone else. They've been bullying Laura ever since she started school."

 "Is this true?" he asked Laura.

 She nodded and said, "No big deal."

 "Seriously?" he said out loud. He sighed and shook his head. Then, he turned to them like a light bulb just went off in his head.

 "Can I walk you girls to lunch?" Jayce asked, putting his arms around Laura's shoulders while Lilly walked beside them to their table. Laura didn't even have time to react because before they knew it, they were at their table in the cafeteria. They heard gasps and whispers from everywhere, but at this point, Laura didn't care. She sat across from him and crossed her arms. She got comfortable because she could tell this was gonna be a semi-long talk. "I wanted to start off by saying, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that your whole life."

 "It's okay, really."

 "No. It's not. You are way too beautiful to go through that. I don't care what anyone says, you're beautiful."

 She tried her best to hide her blush."If you really knew me, you would think differently."

 "How so?"

 "Anyone could be listening. I don't want to give anyone another reason to talk shit about me."

 "Then, can we discuss it tonight?"

 "Tonight?"

 "Yeah, can I come by and take you somewhere?"

 "I don't know...." Laura started to say, trying not to scream. Seriously, what the hell is happening? This doesn't happen to me.

 "Laura, please. I really want to get to know you. Will you give me a chance?" he asked with pleading eyes.

 "The last person I let in, he cheated on me, hit me and bullied me after we broke up."

"I'm not saying we have to date. I'm just saying I want to get to know you."

Laura nodded.

 "Can I?"

 Laura shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

 He smiled and said, "Good. Now, tell me," he said, leaning towards her. "What is with this school that you have to listen to lectures in every freaking class?"

 "Did you not do that in every class in your old school?"

 "No, we usually did worksheets, and the teacher only talked for like ten minutes at most. This is just insane," he said, smiling at Laura while taking her hand and leading her to the lunch line.

 She smiled and shook her head. "It's something you're just going to have to get used to. You'll learn to block most of it out and listen to the important things you actually need to know."

 "You must be pretty smart."

 "Not really," she said as the lunch line moved up. She turned back to Jayce and said, "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."  She turned her back to him, moving up in the lunch line so she couldn't see him smiling at her.