Deviant

Chapter 13~ In Between

I love Alex & Zach & Nat & everyone

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"Didn't I tell you this was a bad idea?"

"How is it my fault? You agreed with Alex too!"

"Because I thought you knew what you were doing!"

"Well, look. Now your daughter is unconscious because she's so dehydrated."

"My daughter?! She's your daughter too! For a man who passed the Bar Exam, you really aren't intelligent."

"For someone who works with injuries and conditions every day, you really don't know how to assess preliminary symptoms."

Through my weariness, I heard my parents' accusations and groaned internally.  I lay sprawled across my bed with water dripping across my face, confused at what had happened. My head was pounding as I pulled my eyes open.

At the foot of my bed were my parents, still arguing. Zach was sitting on my bed, hands clasped with his eyes stuck to the floor, his foot tapping frantically.  I slowly put my hand on his arm.

His head instantly shot up. He fell to the side of the bed, hands on mine.

"Nat! You okay?" Zach asked, his blue eyes searching my face.

I smiled and nodded slightly, my head feeling as if it would fall off. My eyes fell onto the cup of water as I started to realize my mouth was incredibly dry . He quickly understood and grabbed the cup, putting it to my lips as I sat up slowly. I grabbed the cup from him and drank the whole thing in only a couple gulps, each one washing away the salty buildup in my mouth.

I set the cup on my nightstand, my headache lessening greatly. My parents rushed over, finally noticing I was awake through their quarrel.

They went on opposite sides of the bed, my dad moving Zach over to feel my head and my mom doing the same on the other side.

They pulled away and my mom looked at me. "Did you drink water after tryouts?"

I shook my head and she sat back, a disapproving look on her face. "I taught you better than that."

My dad tsked. "You can't be doing that, Natalie."

Suddenly, my memory of the whole day came back to me.

I seemed to forget that my family wasn't all supportive and happy all the time.

I needed to escape.

I shot up and walked over to my dresser. I grabbed clothes I wanted to wear for the next day and tugged Zach's arm, who stood up to look at me.

Everyone looked at me confused but I didn't say a word until I pulled Zach down the stairs. I stopped by the door and put on my slip-on's.

"I'll be back when you guys can stop arguing and notice that its taking a toll on everyone else. Including me."

I grabbed the bags Alex took out of the car before leaving with Andrea and ran towards Zach's house, him close behind.

I got to the front door and Zach opened the door wordlessly.

We walked inside the foyer and I set my bags I planned to take to school down by the door. I heard the TV on despite it being late on a school night.

I had been at Zach's house so often I didn't even bother greeting his family and they didn't bother asking. Zach went into the living room as I made my way up the stairs and into his room.

Zach's room was painted blue and white, his bed dressed in blue and white comforters and pillows against the wall in one corner. Around the bed was a string of fairy lights with Polaroid pictures hanging from clothespins of various friends and shots from places he traveled to.