Converse Queen

Chapter 4: "I look tough now, huh?"

"I don't wanna go!" I whined to my mom who was currently trying to force me out of the door.
She wanted us to go shopping for school supplies for my brother and I. He happily obliged, but I refused. My mother quit pushing as I was thrown over Keaton's shoulder.
"This is kidnap!" I screamed while he carried me out of the house and roughly dropped me into the back seat. I sighed in defeat and buckled up.
I hummed along to the music which quietly played in the background. Because the town was so small and only had small local stores, we had to drive to the next city over, Panama City. It was only a twenty minute drive, yet it felt like hours. Shopping was my absolutely least favorite thing to do ever, except for maybe going to school.
We pulled into the medium sized clothes store's parking lot and we parked. I made Keaton give me a piggy back ride. Once we got inside, he dropped me. Keaton and I fell into conversation as my mom browsed the rows of clothes for us. Every once in a while, she held up an outfit for us to look at.
I knew that most of the stuff she held up, I'd never wear, so I turned those down. The items I thought had a chance of clothing my body were thrown into the buggy.
"What about this, Keels?" Keaton joked as held up a skimpy backless dress that looked more like a shirt that got torn up by a paper shredder.
"I think it'd be cute on you," I nodded knowing he meant for me. He knew I'd never wear something like that.
He chuckled and put it back onto the rack. We got to the men's section and it was Keaton's turn to pick clothes.
After we finished getting new clothes, we put them in the car and walked to the store next to it. It was more of a supplies store than a clothes one. We had most of our supplies from our old school still, so we just needed a few new tablets, paper, and pencils.
We hurriedly grabbed the supplies and checked out. I thought we were going home, but instead we went deeper into Panama City. My mom must've wanted to sight see. Most of the area was covered in hotels and condos, nothing really special.
Mom pulled into a small parking lot connected to the beach that lined the road. I quickly untied my converse and threw them in the back of the car with my socks so they wouldn't get full of sand. I left my phone in the back of the seat so it wouldn't get messed up.
I got out of the car and yelled a race to Keaton, "I bet I could get to the water faster!"
Before I could even finish my sentence, I took off. The bright, white sand created a strong resistance and my legs felt like jelly halfway to the water, but I didn't stop. Keaton passed me up when I was only steps away from the water.
"You suck!" I cried out as my chest strained with each heavy breath I took. I was out of shape. I never played sports, so I never saw the need to be fit. My calves and thighs burned.
Keaton's breathing was normal and he didn't look to be in pain at all. "Actually, I won. You're the one who sucks!" He gloated. I rolled my eyes and pushed him into the water. The water only reached mid-calf, so he don't go under. I screamed as he pulled my legs from under me and landed next to him, "Pay back."
Pain shot through my thigh as I hit the sand. It felt as though I had been stabbed. "My leg hurts! I think something cut me," I cried.
Keaton helped me up and his eyes widened when he saw the shallow gash spanning around two inches. "Keeley, that doesn't look too good. I'm sorry for making you get hurt."
"It's fine," I shook my head as I covered the cut. The blood seeped through my fingers and ran down my leg. I could see a path of blood droplets as we walked.
Mom was a good ways down the beach talking to a couple. I immediately recognized it as my dad's boss and his wife.
"Hey, Mrs. Melissa and Mr. Steve!" I greeted cheerfully despite the pain my leg was in.
My mom caught sight of the blood and went into a panic. "What happened? Are you ok? Do you need to go to the doctor's?"
I swatted her hands as she tried to move my hand out of the way of the cut. "I'm fine! Just a small scratch from a shell or something in the water." I removed my hand for her to get a peek at the wound. As my hand moved away, the blood poured more. I hurriedly covered it back.
"You might need stitches," my mom worried. The cut wasn't too large. It was just being dramatic.
"I think I just need a really big bandaid," I nodded after I finished and glanced at my leg. It'd stop bleeding eventually.
"Honey, you need to listen to your mom. It looks bad," Mrs. Melissa agreed with my mom. Mr. Steve silently nodded.
I groaned, but I gave in. "Fine, I'll go."
We said a quick farewell and we walked back to the car. By we, I mean Keaton and Mom, I had to limp. She gave us towels from the trunk to wrap ourselves in. She gave me another for my leg.
Mom brought us to a small urgent care office and sat down as she did the required paper work. A nurse led me to a room and Keaton followed. I got comfortable on the bed.
The nurse interrogated me about what happened while she checked my vitals. After she was done, a doctor came in and looked at my cut.
She voiced one of my worst fears. "You're going to need a few stitches," she informed me as she poked around me thigh.
I tried to reason with her as the nurse came back in with a tray of items. "I don't think that's necessary! It's shallow, so wouldn't a bandaid work?"
The doctor shook her head, "That cut is not shallow enough to use a bandaid."
I felt the nurse rubbing my cut. A few minutes later, I couldn't even feel her cleaning out the injury.
I made sure I kept my head facing to Keaton as the doctor grabbed the needle and thread. She warned I would feel a little tug.
I held my breathe and squeezed my eyes shut as I waited for the sharp pain from the needle. It never arrived, instead all I felt was a small pull. I let my breathe out and opened my eyes as I realized I couldn't feel the needle.
A few moments later, she announced she was done and handed me a care sheet for the stitches. She led us out of the room and we met my mom in the waiting room.
I showed her my blood free leg and stitches then gave her the care sheet, "I look pretty tough now, huh?"
She rolled her eyes as she paid for the visit. "So tough."
I tried to make a tough face, but I looked more like I was constipated than tough. Keaton gave me a worried look, "Did they slip you some drugs when I wasn't looking?"
I gave a laugh loud and shrugged, "Maybe so. Who knows?"
My mom started walking out and threw a thank you over her shoulder. My brother and I followed suit.
*I need to update more...*