I Fell For You At The Cemetery

07.

07

Sarah breathed in relief as Joey mumbled something about getting her water and disappeared out the door. The air around them had been tense as she had followed him inside his house and he led her into the living room.

Sarah looked around now, her shoulders a bit relaxed due to Joey's absence, and she found the room quite untidy. It looked like it hadn't been vacuumed for days and bits of paper lay around on the dark carpet. There was a layer of dust that had settled onto the furniture in the room and Sarah assumed that Joey's family probably didn't use this room too often. Joey's family...

If he was sick then why did Joey answer the door? Surely, there must be someone else in the house with him considering his condition and they could've opened the door. Maybe his mother was busy in the kitchen or at work. Sarah rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she questioned whether Joey had any siblings.

She heard footsteps and her train of thought was interrupted as her back stiffened a bit again. Joey held out the glass of water to her and Sarah accepted it quietly with a nod, her eyes on the glass rather than his face. He settled himself on a chair from across her and waited. Sarah stared into the glass for a while before she took a sip, her mind working. What was she going to say to him?

"If you're sick, you should have informed the school," she said coolly, finally looking up and meeting his gaze. His eyebrows were drawn together as if he was curiously studying her.

He took a deep breath before answering her, taking his time with his words. "It was hard to get out of bed," he said, his voice hoarse. "So I couldn't make the call."

She pushed away the pang of sympathy she felt when she heard about his condition and instead said, "Your parents could have made the call."

"My dad's away on a business trip."

"And your mother?"

He flinched a little when she asked him that and coughed into his hand. "She passed away."

It made sense all of a sudden. The reason Joey had been crying at the cemetery was because of the loss of his mother and also, the reason why Joey's house was untidy and why he was alone at home, despite the fact that he was sick.

"Oh." That was all she could manage to say and he looked down at his hands. She didn't ask him how his father wasn't home at this time. That wasn't any of her business. She placed the glass on the table in front of her.

"Has your fever gone down a bit then?" She asked him, her voice more gentler this time.

He blinked at her for a second before nodding. "I just have a sore throat now."

"Okay... You're taking the right medicines?"

His lips curled up a little. "Yes."

She noticed the hint of a smile on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he coughed, shaking his head.

She frowned but decided to let it go. She looked around the room again, not sure what to say next while the green eyes seemed to bore into her.

Joey was puzzled to see her on his doorstep. He was pleasantly surprised that she had visited and even though, she acted like she wasn't worried, he knew otherwise because he had seen the slight relief that flashed on her face when she had seen him. That was proof enough. She did care.

"Do you miss her?"

Her sudden question snapped him out of his happy thoughts and he blinked at her, confused. "Huh?"

Then he understood a second later. "Oh... Yeah, sometimes."

She sighed. "I know that feeling," she said, giving him a small nod.

He was quiet for a while before he asked her, "Who was it?"

She glanced at him before looking down and shaking her head a few times, as if trying to shake away some bad memory. She gave a sad smile as she spoke to the ground. "It was just an idiot." She paused and her smile wavered. "An idiot who if only had listened to me then none of this would have-"

She broke off and closed her eyes, inhaling sharply. She tipped her head back a little and covered her face with her hands. There was silence between them for minutes and Joey could see how she'd clearly been affected by this person's death. He wanted to comfort her but knew that at a time like this, being silent was the best option since it was much better than empty words.

She sighed before letting her hands drop to her sides and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"For what?" He shrugged.

"For..." She shrugged and he smiled at her. "It's tough all over, Sarah," he said, causing her to stare at him. "You know, it's not Sarah anymore-" she started to say but he interrupted her. "You introduced yourself as Sarah to me when we first met and that's how it's gonna stay. Not Ma'am or Miss, but Sarah."

She looked like she was about to say something but instead, she stood up abruptly. "I need to leave. You'll be coming back to school soon, I presume?"

He almost rolled his eyes at her behavior but resisted the urge. Typical Sarah, he though to himself. Always trying to dodge him and bring school back into their conversations. "Yes," he said with a tight jaw.

"Good." She was about to leave when she stopped. "When is your father going to be back from his business trip?" She asked him, turning back to him.

"Uh, a few days I guess?" He told her, not sure what she was getting at.

"A few days, huh?" She opened her mouth to say something else to him before she closed it and walked out of the room. He heard her shut the front door after a minute and leaned back in his chair. Joey remained sitting there for a few minutes before another coughing fit seized him and he hurried into the kitchen. On his way there, he caught sight of a white piece of paper lying near the door on the floor. His first thought was that it was just trash but then he noticed the neat handwriting on it.

He frowned as he approached it, slightly coughing. His father didn't write in cursive letters so it wasn't his and Joey's wasn't as neat as this. He bent down and picked it off of the floor and read what was written on it. There was a number on it along with a sentence.

Here's my number in case of emergencies. Don't call me otherwise!

He smirked. That's one way to give someone your number.

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Author's Note: Please don't forget to vote and comment because I love hearing from you humans! :D What did you think of the latest chapter? Did you like it? Thank you so much for reading, love you all!

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