My Player Best Friend

Helping Out

Chase POV

After a week, the doctor had given Sam permission to go back to school. I was beyond ecstatic to be with her in school again. That’s when it hit me. We’re not together anymore. I had no right to tell the boys to back off. But wait. If Sam and I were best friends again, I still had a right. I mean, I used to do it all the time when we were best friends, right? I had been spending a lot of time in the hospital with Sam. To my dismay, so was Jake. I was almost embarrassed to go to the hospital and visit Sam because Jake was always there and they seemed to have a world of their own that it felt like I was a nuisance to them. I couldn’t get mad at Jake. He’s my brother. I couldn’t get mad at Sam either; I was madly in love with her. So I just spent my time there watching them talk like I wasn’t even in the room. I was really wondering how they became close like that. I know that even before the accident, they were close. But not to the point that Sam would forget my existence because she was too caught up on Jake. But I refused to get mad, jealous or hold a grudge against them. I felt like it was my fault. If I didn’t ignore Sam, the accident wouldn’t happen and she wouldn’t lose her memory. It felt like karma. So I had no reason to fight it. I did it to myself anyway. The only thing I let myself feel is pain and regret. I let myself get hurt as I watched how happy Sam was whenever she was with Jake. Then there comes the regret where I regret everything I did before the accident. I had no one to talk about this so I kept it to myself, pretending I was perfectly fine with the situation.

On Monday, Sam went to school. I picked her up and we drove to school. The funny thing is, it was obvious that she didn’t feel awkward around me. It seemed so normal for her. She talked to me like the way she did when we were best friends. I mean, I know we’re best friends but it felt awkward talking to her because I just wanted to cuddle with her or hold her hand while we were in my car but I couldn’t do it because I wasn’t her boyfriend anymore.

“Are we like this before?” she asked me as I drove.

“Before we became a couple, yes.” I answered her without giving her a glance. I was afraid that if I looked at her, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands to myself.

“So you always give me a ride?”

“Yep.”

“Do I have my own car?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t drive.”

“Really?” she asked, shock.

I just nodded my head.

“I want to learn.” She told me.

“You know how to.”

“But you said—“

“I said you don’t want to. I never said you can’t.”

“Why?”

“When you were 14, you learned how to drive. So your dad bought you a car. Then one day, you went around the neighborhood driving and crashed into another house. You were traumatized after that so you never tried driving again.”

“I have a thing with car accidents.” She giggled.

I sighed. She found a reason to make the accident sound like a joke but she had no idea that the accident almost killed me too. The thought of losing Sam was enough to make me kill myself so we could live happily ever after…in another life.

“What do I used to call you?” she asked, changing the topic which I was thankful for.

“Baby.”

“Why?”

“You spoil me too much. You always told me that I’m immature and childish. You always take care of me and feed me like a baby.”