(Un)Fortunate

Chapter 14

The car ride is silent. I have always thought silence has the strongest voice. Max said a few words to me when I got in the car, but he quickly quieted down. I am about to inquire about his silence, but close my mouth and re-think.

"So. Uh, how was your day?" I ask, trying to fill the gap.

"It was nice, I drove around town a bit, ate a hot dog for lunch," he continues for a moment more before his voice fades.

"Soooo, how was your day?" He asks awkwardly.

"I have no homework, besides a paper due next week in language arts. I also got a lot of letters and gifts for Caleb and I," I say, reaching into the front seat to show him the box of letters I collected throughout the day.

After the bell rang, I was stopped in the hall and asked to stop by the office. I agreed and rushed there only to be greeted with about a dozen more letters the office had collected for me.

"Wow, that's a lot of letters and things."

"Yeah, and that's not even the worst part."

"What is then?" he questions, pulling up to the gate surrounding our house.

"The fact that Jessica came up to me randomly and just started being all sympathetic and stuff. And she mentioned Caleb only once," I say, letting my jaw drop a little at the end.

"Jessica Werner? The one with the millions of posters? Are we thinking of the same girl?"

"That's the one."

"Wow," Max says again.

We pull into my drive way and I hop out, and Max leaves to park the car.

"I"M HOOOMMEEE!" I yell to whoever hears.

No one replies. I sigh and put my bag down on the counter and go upstairs to take off my uniform and brush my hair.

After I am changed into a pair of running shorts and a light, airy t-shirt, I plug my head phones into my phone and decide to go for a run around the jogging track we have. Our property is big enough to have a basketball court, track, pool, and hot tub.

I step outside into the breezy air and feel goose bumps take over my legs. A shiver goes down my spine and I stretch a bit to warm up. I start a slow jog, the path begins where the woods meets our house. They go all the way through the woods. One lap equals a half mile.

The tree's are slowly developing green leaves, and a few dead trees stand out. Looking around, the squirrels jump from branch to branch. A nearby bird dances around on a branch, picking at something on there. I smile to myself at the beauty of the natural world. 

I blast Kenny Loggin's song: Danger Zone. I keep running, not thinking about anything but the steady rhythm of my heartbeat, and the rising of my chest.

After I run two miles, I stop, gasping for air. I heard something. The sound of a siren pierces through the air, chilling my bones. I take out my headphones and listen. I listen, but don't hear it anymore.

A flash of an image intercepts my train of thought. In the image, it is dark. Except, out the window, it is light. The flashing blue and red lights in the distance force me to wince in pain. I blink my eyes, trying to escape the image, but it stays there, locked in my memory. I finally manage to push it from my mind, and by then, I am breathing hard. I feel as if I have just woken up from a nightmare.

Someone calls my name. I look up and see Brandon waving at me. I wave back and start to walk towards him. When I reach him, his face has a rather puzzled look.

"Are you okay? When I saw you over there, you looked like you had just been through another car accident," he chuckles, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I force a laugh, and it comes out as more as a cough. I should be telling him what I saw. He is my brother.

"Yeah, I am really out of shape. That run caught me by surprise," I force a smile, adding a chuckle at the end. Why am I lying? I don't even know myself.

He puts his arm over my shoulders and walks me towards the house. I wipe my sweat on his shirt, and he removes his arm immediately.

"Gross!" He chuckles, wiping it back on me. I laugh for real this time and chase him around the yard with my sweaty headband.

Eventually, I am so tired and worn out, I can barely move. I wipe the sweat that has gathered around my cast. I feel an itch in there and try to itch it. I can't reach my finger down far enough to scratch it.

Brandon sees me there, putting my finger down my cast like an idiot.

"What are you doing now?" He asks, joining me over my arm.

"It itches, and I want to scratch it, but I can't reach it!" I say, but the sound of it sounds so ridiculous, I end up laughing.

"When I broke my arm, I stuck a pencil down my cast to itch it. You should try that."

"You broke your arm? When?" I ask, looking at him confused.

"When I was in third grade, I fell off the slide at recess. They had to call mom and everything. I never went on that slide again," he chuckles.

"Oh, I thought you were wearing a glove! All this time, and it turns out you broke your arm."

The cooler air has taken over and I shivered again. We head inside where I shower and put on clothes. I pick out a nicer outfit because I am going to the hospital to finally see Caleb. I pick out: a baby pink tank top with gold beading at the top with dark colored jeans. I also put on a pair of gold heels that match the top.

I slide on a baby pink bracelet and grab my jacket, blanket, purse, and box with all the letters in it so I can open them while I see Caleb. I quickly text Jen and Cameron that I am leaving for the hospital now and to meet us there. I run down the stars as fast as a girl can run in heels and into Brandon's waiting car. It is dark outside now, and my stomach makes a grumbling noise.

In the car, I charge my phone and cover myself with my blanket. It is a long ride. Almost forty minutes I counted last time.

I drift to sleep for a few minutes. I dream about Caleb and me and the time we went to the state fair. He purposely left me alone and had me looking for him for an hour. And when I found him, he was in the exact same place he left me.

Brandon shakes me awake, scaring off my dream. I flutter my eyelids, looking around. I see we are in the guest parking garage. I pull open the door and grab my stuff, minus the blanket. I take the first few nervous steps towards Caleb. I bite my lip to keep from sobbing and screaming.

Brandon must see my nervousness, and pulls me into him as we wait for the elevator taking us to the lobby, where we will meet Jen and Cameron.