The girl's name had probably been Becky.
Or something equally glib and annoying. (No offense to the different Beckys of the world.) That had been Gray's type before he'd met her; the bubbly pretty girls, perpetual gum-chewers and future waitresses and plump-faced mothers. Red didn't really hate them, or care about them at all - not until she'd caught Becky Whatever crawling out of Gray's window the night he threw a party, half-dressed and hazy-eyed.
She felt like someone had ripped her heart out of her chest, and then smashed it with a sledgehammer.
The ghost of Gray, probably, the one she'd always been scared would hurt her.
If he could hurt her this much, she definitely loved him.
She met Scott only a few days later. From there, the chaos built.
But now, when Gray kissed her - in the rain, no less - everything went away and all she could think about was how imperfect every kiss she's ever had was compared to this one - where everything was so much sweeter because it could so easily be destroyed.
But everything hovered, still, unmoving, strong, when Gray walked away.
She lifted her face to the sky, knowing full well that she was still smiling. The memory of his kiss lingered as she touched her lips, the rain refusing to wash it away.
Did Gray really mean all that he said?
Did Scott mean everything he said?
Damn it. Well, the day would always come when she would be stymied by the inner workings of a boy's mind.
She walked slowly back to the school, inside the warm, noisy hallways, ignoring the stares and mutterings and complaints when she trickled water everywhere. The teachers eyed her but didn't bother to ask her to dry off.
How long had she been in the rain? Time had a way of turning itself off when she was in the rain.
Nobody commented when she walked in and out of classrooms dripping wet, and the bell finally rang and she heard her classmates sigh with relief. The rain had stopped and the sky was clearing. Soon the sun would be out.
Red almost smiled. She'd taken all of three steps outside when a sudden, sharp pain struck her in the chest. She doubled back, clutching her shirt, falling to the ground - and then it was gone, as quickly as it had come. As if she'd imagined it.
Isn't pain all imagined in the head? But this felt real.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" a voice said, disturbingly close. Red had thought she was alone, but now she felt hands grasping her arms, lifting her to her feet. "Oh, Christ. Guys, this is her! Grayson's friend."
"Red?" she heard someone call back - through the fuzzy roaring in her ears. "Red. Yeah, that's your name, right?" asked the one who'd lifted her up.
"I - I suppose," Red heard herself say. "I - It's simpler to say."
"What?" said the other voice impatiently. "No - we - we've been trying to find you for an hour. Grayson O'Shea's been attacked."
The roar stopped - and the blow was so sudden it cleared her head. "What?"
"He got dragged into an alley and beat up. Someone heard the fighting and broke them up. Knocked the attacker to the ground and called 911."
Was that what that was? That sudden pain?
"Where - is - Gray?" Red said out loud, fighting against the shock that threatened to collapse her. The question came out breathless.
"The hospital. Queen Medical."
Oh shit.
My mommy's in the car. She's not moving.
Nononononono
*******
YOU ARE READING
Red and Gray
Short StoryGray's back. He just spent a year being 'straightened out' - apparently - and now he's back, with his emotions no less conflicted than they were a year before. Only becoming more conflicted when he reunites with his best friend, Red.
