Why Me?

Chapter 35

The rest of the day was just a blur. I'm not even completely sure what happened in those last classes. All I could think about was my mother and Luke. What if my mom dies? What if Luke goes to jail? What would I do then?

The last bell rings. I grab my things and head towards my locker. I half expect to see Luke standing there. There is a boy waiting at my locker, but it's not Luke.

"Hey Ash," I said.

"Hey Sara. You okay?" he asked.

"Okay as okay can be at the moment."

"Everything's going to be alright. I promise. Now come on. We gotta get you to your mom."

I followed him out of the school and to the parking lot. He opened the passenger door and I got in. Then he walked over to the drivers side. He got in and started the car.

The drive to the hospital was very quiet. The only sound was the music playing from the radio. No matter how happy the song sounded, it didn't change the mood of the car.

Ashton parked the car and we both got out. We walked inside in silence. My dad was waiting for us in the waiting room.

"Hi sweety. How was school? And where's Luke?" he asked.

I wish he didn't ask that.

"Luke got into a fight today and the sheriff took him away," Ashton answered for me.

"I hope you don't mind me asking but who are you?"

"Oh. Sorry sir. I'm Ashton, one of Sara's friends." He extended his hand and my dad shook it.

"It's very nice to meet you, Ashton. Now Luke got into a fight?"

"Yea. Apparently someone was talking shit about Sara. Luke was trying hard to ignore it because he knew Sara would be pissed if he got into a fight. The kid hit Luke a couple times and he just snapped. It became an all out bloody fist fight."

"Oh wow. I'm sorry that happened Sara." My dad hugged me tight. I hugged him back.

"It's okay. Just tell me how mom's doing," I said, changing the subject.

"She's doing better. They are doing some tests on her for the rest of the night so we can't see her. How about we go back home and order some pizza?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Ashton and I walked back to his car while my dad walked to his. He ordered the pizza and went to pick it up. Ashton drove straight to my house.

"Do you want me to stay or is your dad good enough company?" Ashton asked as we pulled into my driveway.

"Please stay?" I asked.

"Okay I will. I'd rather get yelled at later by my mom anyway."

"Is she upset about how you weren't really there all summer?"

"Yea. She's really upset. Especially because I was hanging out with you guys. I told her you were there and she simmered down a little but she was still fuming."

"Just give it time and she'll get used to it."

"I sure hope so. I don't want to see her yell at Sydney when she makes mistakes."

"She won't."

I turn my key in the door and step inside. It feels like forever since I've been in here. Everything is just the way it was before. Big shocker there.

"It feels like I haven't been here in forever," I whisper.

"I bet," Ashton replied.

We go and sit down at the table to wait for my dad. Just as I'm about to take my seat, the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it," I say.

I walked over to the door slowly. I turned the knob and opened it. There stood Luke.

I jumped on him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He caught me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I buried my face in his shoulder and cried.

"I see they let you off," I heard Ashton say from behind me.

"Yea. They looked over the school security camera and figured I didn't really do anything but defend myself," Luke replied.

"Well that's good."

"So where's your dad, Sara?" Luke asked me.

"He went to go get pizza. I'm pretty sure you can join us if you want," I said.

"I think I will. And maybe stay the night. My mom's pretty mad."

"I wouldn't blame her."

I giggled. Luke chuckled. So did Ashton.

I heard my dad pull into the driveway.

"They let you off easily," my dad stated.

"They did, sir. I got off with a warning," Luke replied.

"Well you're welcome to join us for dinner. Stay as long as you like."

"Thank you sir."

"And you don't have to keep calling me sir. My name is Joe. Call me that from now on, son."

"Okay Joe."

"Sounds much better than sir. You too Ashton. You can call me Joe from now on."

"Are you sure?" Ashton asked.

"Positive. Now come on. Lets eat this pizza."

We all walked towards the table. My dad and Ashton sat across from each other. I pulled my chair over next to Luke's and sat down. He pulled my chair closer to his so there was no space in between. I looked over and smiled at him.

We had little conversations that jumped everywhere while we ate. By the end, we were all a laughing mess. We helped my dad clean up the garbage. Then Ashton, Luke and I went up to my bedroom.

"Would you mind if I spent the night? My mom seems pretty mad right now," Ashton asked, looking down at his phone.

"You can definitely stay the night, Ash. As long as you're okay with sleeping on the floor or the couch," I replied.

"I'll sleep on the floor."

Luke sat down on the edge of my bed. He pulled me onto his lap. I couldn't object or struggle away so I just sat there. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. Ashton sat in the floor across from us and leaned back against the wall.