How To Save a Life (A Dance Moms Fanfiction)

Chapter 24- Rain Check

"Uh, there's something I need to tell you." Chloe muttered after looking at the time and coming to the realization that her and Ricky would soon be forced apart by the bell, as they would be forced to make their way to their separate fourth period classes.  Raising his eyebrows, Ricky looked up expectingly.

"I know we have plans to study after school today, but something came up." Chloe admitted, referring to the doctor's appointment. Chloe watched in devastation as Ricky's face fell.

"Can we take a rain check?" She offered.

"Of course," Ricky's voice was small.  "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." Chloe repeated with a slight nod.

Reluctantly, Chloe stood from the table. The bell would soon ring and she wanted to be at her locker early enough that would avoid the crowd.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Ricky assured her as she turned to leave the library. Replying with a three fingered wave, she sulked out of the library, disappointed that she wouldn't be able to study with Ricky after school. As she made her way down the hallway, towards her locker, two familiar, muffled voices drifted through the stagnant air. Chloe recognized them immediately. Stopping dead in her tracks, she turned to her left, where a closed door stood proudly. The door, which was labeled 'instrument storage closet', hid the two individuals from Chloe's sight. She crept closer to the door as the muffled voices became clearer.

"Alright, I'll give you your personal space." The voice was slightly flirty and belonged to non-other than Maddie Ziegler.

"I would like that." Brandon replied, his tone matching hers. The undeniable soft smacking sound of a kiss traveled through the door as Chloe stepped away, a feeling of guilt washing over her. What right did she have to spy on them? On the other hand, Chloe thought bitterly, it wasn't her fault that they chose a thin door to converse behind.

It looked like Maddie and Brandon wouldn't be breaking up after all.

***

Slam!

The entire house seemed to shake in response to the door being thrown back on its hinges, slamming into its frame. Chloe's delicate hands, which had moments ago sent the door to its deafening close, were now clinging angrily to the hem of her shirt. Chloe's mother opened her mouth to scold her as she entered the kitchen, but forcefully refrained her words when she saw her daughter's expression. Chloe's face was a mask of agonized anger. Hot tears were welled in the corners of her eyes, the incandescent kitchen lights glinting off the wet surfaces of her eyes, giving them an artificial sparkle.

"Chlo..." Her mother started slowly.

"Let's just get this doctor's appointment over with." Chloe muttered between clenched teeth.

Chloe's mother responded by cocking her head to the left, her words deceiving her. The mother-daughter duo soon enough left the house, their destination being the doctors office, their thoughts being those of Melanie. Melanie; who was the reason Chloe had to do this stupid doctor's appointment anyway, the reason Clara having bruises mattered at all, the reason Chloe's parents felt as if they were walking on ice that was growing thinner by the second.

During the short drive to the doctor's office, the vehicle was consumed in a heavy silence. Deprived of words, Chloe felt the taciturnity weighing heavily on her chest as the vehicle pulled up in front of the office. She stepped down from the vehicle, thoughts screaming through her mind; what if they found a bruise? Chloe had checked that morning, before she changed into her school clothes, her eyes scanning over her bare skin in the mirror, and she had found nothing. But what if she had missed something?

She dug her nails into her palm. You're being paranoid, she told herself. Clara was the one with the bruises. And besides, the bruises were spontaneous and had nothing to do with her parents, why would Chloe possibly have any bruises?

Now, sitting in the hospital waiting room, Chloe was nervous. Despite her knowledge that she had nothing to fear, she had never liked doctors. She was also nervous about the message behind this doctors appointment; Melanie was serious.