Trusting You, Falling After

"...That's when it happened. Fate became a dick."

"You sure about this?"
"Yes."
"No, seriously. If we get caught-"
"We won't."
Jack's short, curt responses were starting to scare Nate.
Not that he'd ever admit it.
"Let's go," Andy urged, acting as the watchman. He glanced over his shoulder. "There's no one here, just us."
Grunting, Jack backed up a few steps, then flung himself at the fence, grabbing wildly at the links. They winced visibly at the noise, and Nate took it as his cue to climb.
Much more discreetly, he took the first few links in his hands and climbed up as though scaling a rock wall.
Finally, swinging over the fence, he gestured for Andy to follow. Silently, they headed towards the school.
Garbed in black clothing, swathed all over, they unobtrusively made their way to the doors and pushed. Nate groaned and whispered, "They're locked."
"I got this," Andy muttered, and in less than ten seconds the doors were open. He flicked his pin back into his pocket and nodded. "Let's go."
They ran silently along the hallways and reached the principal's office. Andy once more picked the lock and stood guard outside. "Hurry."
"Shut up, and open the cabinet," Jack muttered.
"You can't do a thing without me," he smugly replied, slipping back to his position. "Now fucking hurry up."
"Fuck you."
Nate rifled through the files and pulled out Jack's. "I got it."
"Where should we burn it?"
"Bathroom," Andy replied in a low voice.
"Fine," Jack said, nodding. "Let's go."
"This is shit," Nate complained, tossing Jack the papers. He grabbed them and flicked open his lighter, setting them on fire without looking at them.
"What is?"
"This. Why can't we burn our own files too?"
"Because I said so."
"So?"
Without warning, his collar was clenched in a fist, and Jack dragged him into the air. "You go do what I say not to, I'll kill you."
"Dude, chill," Nate choked out, and he collapsed onto the floor. Coughing, he flushed the paper down the toilet and nodded. "That's done."
He didn't meet Jack's gaze.
When they went outside, Nate muttered, "I left something back in there."
"You're a fucking idiot!" Jack took a deep breath.
"Dude," Andy muttered, holding Nate's gaze. "We'll wait for you, but if you're not back in five..."
At the principal's office, Nate clenched the stolen files in his pocket and dragged them out. He scanned them to make sure of the contents and nodded. Sorry, Jack, he thought as he dropped them back into his pocket. But you're a fucking dick.
*
"Mom?"
Rory took a step forward, and that's when it happened. She collapsed.
"Mom!"
Hurriedly taking out his phone, he dialed 911 with shaking hands.
"Hello, this is emergency-"
"My mom fainted," he interrupted. He quickly gave out his address and added, "Please hurry!"
"We'll be right with you, sir."
"Thank you."
Leaning against the wall, he let himself slide down until he sat with a thump by his mom's side. "Shit, mom," he muttered softly. "I never meant to make you get hurt."
Hearing sirens, he got up and opened the door right before the officer knocked.
"Be careful, please," he urged as they lifted her on a stretcher and carried her down the stairs. The slam of the ambulance door made him run after them, only to see the truck racing away. "Shit, shit, shit to the fucking shit," he chanted, grabbing the car keys and following the ambulance to the hotel. He didn't stop for the sirens, or even the police car that pulled alongside him. His only focus was on following his mom.
When he pulled into the parking lot, he was immediately attacked by a police officer, who slammed him on the ground. "You-"
"My mom is in the ambulance and I was following her," he said quickly. "I need to get to her!"
"Um," the officer muttered, looking confused. "I'll be waiting?"
"Thank you, sir," he muttered, running to the hospital. "Thank you!"
Pushing through the doors, he walked to the attendant. "The patient who just came," he gasped. "Laura Adens?"
"Give me a second, sir," she murmured, typing on her keyboard. "Ah, room 306. Please do not be disruptive and be courteous-"
"I'm her son," he interrupted. "Can I go in?"
"Sure."
He ran along the walls, jogging from each side to the other until he found the room.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and stepped in.
"Mom?"
She was lying on the bed, her skin pale and cold, the IV line running into her arm.
"Shit," he gasped. "Mom, you can't leave me!"
He grasped her hands and helped them to his cheek. "Mom please don't leave! Mom you have to-"
A nurse came in and politely informed him that he was disrupting the hospital patients.
Blinded with sorrow, he turned and walked straight into a girl.
"Sorry!" they said at the same time, and awkwardly laughed. Rory stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you. My name's Rory."
"I'm Andria," she said shyly, taking his hand. "Sorry about that, by the way."
"Oh, that? No problem," he replied, smirking. His smile faded away as he realized where they were. "What happened that made you come here?"
She looked up. "My mom fainted."
"What? No way!" he exclaimed. "Mine did, too! That's so cool!"
Andria gave him a dry grin. "Sure."
"Oh, sorry. Not cool. My bad," he muttered, somewhat embarrassed. She smiled at him and inclined her head partly. "See you around."
"Sure," he replied, holding up his hand in a wave. She returned it, grinning, and on a sudden flash of inspiration, he caught up to her. "Hey, you want me to drive you?"
"Oh, um," she stammered, her cheeks flushing. "Well, um, and I'm going to quote, 'You might be an axe murderer, for all I know.'"
"That's great, um, who's that quote from?"
"Fault in Our Stars," she sighed, her eyes glazing over dreamily. Rory shrugged and laughed. "I'm sorry, that's a really weird name."
"Oh. You're one of those people, aren't you?" she asked, her face twisting into a disgusted scowl. He stopped her from walking away. "I'm sorry?"
She hesitated. "Have you ever opened a book?"
"No fucking shit," he replied, laughing. "School doesn't exactly give you a choice."
Her face fell, and she asked softly, "Do you... Look down on some sorts of people?"
"Only those that deserve it," he answered slowly. She glanced at him suspiciously. "Who deserves it?"
"I mean, everyone knows this!"
"Humor me," she retorted in a dead serious voice.
"Those below our status level," he replied, looking away. For some reason,  saying it back at his home made him feel superior whereas... saying it to this girl made him feel awkward and uncomfortable- almost... Ashamed.
She stepped back out of his reach. "I'm sorry, I have to go."
"Wait, at least give me your number!"
"I thought you don't talk to those below your 'status level,'" she sneered, turning and walking away.
He stared after her, open mouthed. That cute as fucking hell girl was a nerd?
"What the fuck just happened?"
He didn't know that back at her house, Andria was asking herself the same question.
*
Andria's Part of the Story^^
She had gone back to the hospital after hearing her mom was awake and thriving.
"So, what happened?" she asked, sitting at the edge of the bed. Her mom shrugged. "Andria, you know I love you right?"
"Oh, mom don't tell me it was intentional!"
"No!" Her mom sucked in a horrified gasp. "No, of course not!"
"Sorry..."
"Anyway, I'd been taking anti-depressant pills the whole winter," her mom confessed. Andria shot up, bounding away from the bed. "Mom," she whined.
"My allergies were acting up-"
"You're being-"
"And I took a pill with the allergy medicine-"
"An idiot!"
"And I fainted- don't call your mother that!"
"You know what? I'm leaving," Andria said sharply. "I need some time to think."
"Andria-"
"You promised me, mom," she muttered in a shaking voice. "You. Promised."
She stalked out of the room in a fury and that's when it happened.
Fate became a dick.
She bumped into a broad chest, and apologized at the same time as the guy did. She looked up.
Oh shit.
He was cute.
Ripples of brown hair, dark brown eyes, tanned skin...
After a while of friendly chatting, she asked hesitantly, "Have you ever opened a book?"
"No fucking shit! Like school gives me a choice," he remarked. Instant disgust welled up inside of her, and she questioned, "Do you look down on some sorts of people?"
"Only those that deserve it," was his nonchalant reply. She suddenly found it hard to breathe. Fate was so cruel. Why couldn't she have one guy like her? Was one lasting crush too much to ask?
"I'm sorry, I have to go," she muttered. She tried to grab her arm but she stepped out of reach.
"At least give me your number!"
No way.
"I thought you don't talk to those below your 'status level,'" she snarled, walking away.
What the fuck just happened? she asked herself at home, hugging her knees to her chest. Did a popular person just... Talk to me? Nicely?
Her mind flashed back to the jocks and the last view she'd had of them. Arguing over some stupid pieces of shit.
Trying to distract herself, she grabbed her laptop and started to type. Today, however, she wanted to write something different.
Choices
-anonymous-
Life is full of choices. Walk? Run? Breathe? Blink? Just now, I'm making the choices as to which keys to hit, which words to type.
But what if choices are much more complex? They're built on reasoning. Understanding. Laws.
Today a guy talked to me. He didn't know my status as a nerd. That was why he had made that choice.
Yesterday my mom fainted. Had she known about the effects of both allergy medication and depressant pills, she'd never have fainted.
And the day before that, three popular guys tried to hit on me. Because of the law that any popular crap can get what he or she wants.
It's life. It's shit. But everyone knows that.
-anonymous-
***
So, Jack went against the law to break into his principal's office! But after seeing his dark side emerge, Nate went behind his so-called friend's back and kept the discriminating information.
Rory's mom collapsed from something after seeing his dad have an affair, but I assure you it wasn't merely because of shock! (That would be way too sexist) Guess!
And finally, Andria is still struggling to navigate the confusion of high school laws and territory!
Sayonara!
Your favorite author,
-stelewolfe-