Chapter Two: For Life
When I came too Craig was ripping my door open and pulling me out of the truck. He held me against his chest in an alarming panic. I was still a bit out of it, everything was a blur.
"I'm so sorry Trixxi," he was muttering urgently in my hair. He searched every part of me for damage and when he was sure I was okay he pull me back into an even tighter embrace. I could hear sirens in the background; the neighbors must have called the police. When he finally let go of me I saw blood all over him.
"Fuck! You're full of blood!" I shrieked in horror.
He laughed, "I'm fine Trixxi, not a scratch."
What the hell was he talking about? He was covered in blood! Then I caught sight of my arm and that alarming pain shot right through my body. My entire right arm was covered in blood and there were tiny pieces of glass sticking out everywhere. There was a huge gash through my jeans on my upper thigh; I was a mess but nothing fatal.
Suddenly I noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Bridget?" I barely whispered. I was scared out of my wits and jumped to the worst case scenario. What if she was really hurt? What if she was dead? It would be completely my fault. If I hadn't been such a spoilt sport then none of this would have happened. I killed Bridget!
I was hyperventilating and not hearing anything Craig was saying to calm me when a tiny hand gave me a paper bag. I looked up at the stranger and almost stopped breathing. I have never been happier to see Bridget's face before. Good, no one's dead. Bridget had an ugly gash from her cheek bone to her chin, but she was alive and that's all that mattered.
"What exactly happened?" I asked Bridget when I finally calmed down. Craig was talking to the guy who was diving in front of us, luckily there was no damage done to him and his car, he was just a witness. By now I could hear the sirens getting closer.
"We drove into a concrete wall, thank god I hit the brake or we'd be squashed like bugs, and you know me, I hate speeding," she said and surprised me with a hug.
"I'm sorry for being such a prick Bridge," I whispered.
"I'm sorry for being a bitch," she whispered back. "Can you believed what just happened?" she laughed nervously. "We were fighting over your stupid brother's journal!"
I smiled, it was actually quite funny. "Gosh, we need to grow up," the two of us erupted in a bit of psycho laughing fit.
We ended up in the emergency room; I had like a hundred stitches in my arm and a couple more in my leg. Bridget got it the worst though; they said the gash across her cheek might leave an ugly scar. But she had the most beautiful face, not even a scar like that could dent in her confidence. "It adds character," she joked as they stitched us up. That's why she was my best friend I realized, that's why I loved her. Nothing and no one could stop her or tell her otherwise. She was confident and stubborn and knew what she wanted even if it meant she was a bit of a bitch sometimes.
I was bracing myself for my father's confrontation; I knew that he was on his way to pick me up from the hospital. When he walked into the waiting room with his darling wife and my stepmother Jess, I knew I was in deep trouble. But instead of shouting he hugged me tightly but was cut short by Jess's fake cough. I knew she would be the reason there was going to be a lecture later. I said bye to Bridget and Craig planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Good luck with the mom from hell," he smiled weakly.
The drive home was a silent and uncomfortable one, no one said anything, not even Jess who never lets pass an opportunity to lecture and bad mouth me had anything to say. But I knew the firework were waiting for me at home.
As soon as we entered the house I hurriedly made it for the stairs, a feeble attempt at an escape and maybe even not worth the try, but hey, at least I tried! I seemed to be trying a hell of a lot of things today though don't you think?
"Come back here young lady!" Jess seemed to shriek in that annoyingly high pitched voice of hers. I groaned to myself in defeat and slowly started making my way down the stairs.
"Are you crazy? What the hell were you thinking speeding around like that? You could have gotten yourself killed!" she huffed. She would have definitely have loved that hey? For me to be dead and out of her way. I was nothing but the ugly evidence of her husband's past love and she hated me for that.
"We weren't speeding!" I protested.
"You must have been drunk then!"
I laughed, "There was not a single drop of alcohol in our systems mom," I added the 'mom' because I knew how much she hated it when I called her that. "Bridget lost control of the truck; it's no big deal, just a freak accident!"
"You could have been killed Trix," my father said calmly. That was my dad, always calm but yet menacing at the same time. He was different, something I realized a very long time ago. But I suppose that all those in his profession were that way, some you could even go as far as calling crazy. But my dad was just different, not crazy like the rest of those power hungry scientists. "When they called to say you were in a car accident and were in the hospital we thought the worst."
"And on top of that Anthony is missing! We can't get hold of him, his mobile's off!" Jess sobbed. Oh my gosh! She's crying! I had to physical stop myself from laughing by covering my mouth with my hand.
"Trust me, Worm's okay. His probably found a girlfriend or something," I laughed. Shit! They knew I had something to do with his absence. But just as I finished the front door opened and in walked a red faced Worm his clothes tattered and filled with dirt. When he saw me he almost tackled me, but then he must have seen the blood all over my clothes and the state must seem to be in. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me wide eyed.
"What the hell happened to you?" he croaked.
"Long story bro," I waved his journal at him, I'd been holding on tightly to it all the time. I went through a hell of a lot tonight to get it back, there was no way I was letting it out of my sight, not until I gave it to him.
"Uhm, thanks Trix," he muttered taking his precious book and making his way pass our parents to his room upstairs.
"And where do you think you're going Anthony?" Jess shrieked once again. Gosh, when was she going stop doing that?
"Taking a shower and getting into bed mom," he mumbled not taking much notice of her.
"Yeah me too," I said quickly and hurried after him.
"And by the way Trixxi," Dad said calmly. "Both of you are grounded... For life."
Good shot Trix! I mentally patted myself on the back. Get your ass and Worm's grounded four days before high school graduation. I sighed, it could have been much worse ya know.
