Unpredictable

Chapter 23

(Since I try to write what I know, this actually happened. [Well, the ankle part at least]. That's a little picture for you, my bruised and swollen ankle. It might help you visualize it better. Okay cool, thanks! <3)

There are two types of mothers when you're sick. There's the smother mother. When you give her the tiniest little sniffle, she makes you stay home for a week on at least 5 antibiotics. Unfortunately my mother is not that mother. She's type two, the scholar mother. The kind that won't let you skip school unless you're bleeding internally. Or cardiac arrest.

So, she convinced me to try to stay at school and tough it out. Great. So, once I had calmed down, I went back to gym and explained to my teacher what had happened.

Questions were all around me. Oh my goodness are you okay? What happened?! How did you do it?! Are you going home?! I told them it wasn't a big deal and I needed some space while I dressed out. Plus, today was a homeroom day, so I had to go there.

"Opal, you've been crying." I looked at Alice, who happened to be in my homeroom. I shook my head. "I have not." I squeaked. She sighed. "I know. Pretty hard to believe myself. In our whole relationship I have never, ever seen you cry. Ever. Honestly I'm afraid you're dying." I laughed, wiping a single tear from my cheek. "No, um, what actually happened is way more lame." I chuckled and explained.

The first thing she said was, "You're going home." I shook my head. "No I'm not. I'm fine." She rolled her eyes. "You're delusional. You are not okay. You know how I can tell?! You hate crying in front of people, and you're letting it slip this time because of the pain. Come on, give my your backpack." With that, she heaved my bag onto her shoulders, talked to our teacher, and strutted out of the room in full confidence.

I'll spare you the completely boring details of the doctors. I got it x-rayed and it's not broken, but severely sprained. As you already knew. I got a prescription for crutches just in case and was ordered to wear Axel's old air cast from when he fractured his foot.

So you're probably wondering where I am now with my ankle. Well, I don't have to wear the cast anymore, but ace bandage has to be wrapped around it in public. There are four bruises, a huge one on my ankle, one along the curve of my foot on the other side, one on my heel, and one just below my toes. But, there's improvement. I have a limp and still can't participate in gym for at least another week. But, like I said, improvement.

So at the moment I was walking the halls. I was allowed to be let out early so I could get to my classes on time. "Opal?" I heard. I turned and saw Michael, blue eyes sparkling. "Oh! Michael! Hi." He looked concerned. "You're limping!" He exclaimed. I looked down at my left foot, as if I had forgotten. "Oh, uh, yeah. Severely sprained ankle. I, uh, kinda fell on my butt." He walked towards me, chuckling. "I'm sorry. But hey, I can ask you that question now. You know, the one I tried to ask before your friend face planted?" What could I do? Hobble away as fast as I could? "Oh! Um, okay sure. Fine."

"Um, I was wondering if maybe, I dunno, you would go on a date with me sometime?" He asked, eyes on the ground.

And you know what I said? Like a stupid person who didn't need a relationship, I said yes. He had these big doe eyes and the quivering lip! Plus, I've never had a boyfriend before, which includes never having been kissed before. And, I don't know, maybe I wanted to see what it was like to have someone like you. No one has ever asked me out before, or even liked me before. At least that I've known about. So, maybe I really wanted to say yes. Even if it's not the best thing for me right now, maybe I wanted to see where this would take me.

"SERIOUSLY?!" "YOU SAID YES?!" "OUR LITTLE OPIE IS GROWING UP!!" "OPAL! YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS NEED TO SHUT UP! I AM TRYING TO LIFT HERE, AND YOUR SHRILL SHRIEKS AND WRECKING MY PEACE OF MIND!!" In order, the people who said those things were Bea, Rowan, Rosie, and Elliot. Alice just rolled her eyes. Bea sighed. "So dreamy. Your brother I mean." "Yeah." Rowan and Rosie agreed, while Alice and I made disgusted faces. She had brothers, so she understood. "Guys, I swear I'm gonna puke." I faked gagging. They laughed. "Back to the topic at hand, yes, I said yes to Michael. We go for coffee tomorrow." This earned more shrieks, earning another annoyed yell from Elliot. "Calm down Ellie!" I yelled in return. I heard him groan from the basement. "Opal! Time for your friends to go! Dinner!" I smiled at my mothers voice. "Alright guys. Details later."

I sat at the counter, watching my mother cook her gourmet meal of hot dogs. "Get your brothers from downstairs. They have heavy metal playing in their ears." I nodded, limping down the stairs to my basement. "ELLIOT! AXEL!!" I heard grunting and the music playing from their earbuds. The smell of sweat immediately hit my nose, and I grimaced. I saw them, both benching. "GUYS! YO DORKS!!" I yelled. "DID YOU HEAR SOMETHING AX?!" Elliot screamed in Axel's direction. "NAH! IT'S PROBABLY JUST OUR PAIN SISTER!! BEING ANNOYING AS USUAL!" He exclaimed back. I quirked an eyebrow. That's when I decided to walk over to Axel. I pulled out one of his earbuds and got in his face. "What about your pain sister?" "OPAL!!" He cried, weight coming down on his chest. "Ah!" He exclaimed, struggling for breath. I helped him get the weight off, but once he could breathe I flicked him in the head. "Get Elliot. Dinner." I walked off as smoothly as one could in my condition.