Freak Show (Carnival Series book 1)

Chapter 14

After my failed attempt at speaking to Trevor, I gave up trying. Everything went down hill for me. I was failing almost every class, some of my friends left me, and I stopped eating. My happines was ripped from me, all because of one stupid kiss. I gave up talking, and fully resorted to lying on my bed, drowning in my own depression. My mother had been sending me to a therapist for the last month, doing her best to keep me from falling into a deeper state of despondency. I have lost at least ten pounds, and I'm still losing weight. Trevor hasn't been to school since we found him, and people keep asking me questions, thinking I know the answers. School finallly ended, and I stopped leaving my room. All attempts at making me get away from my bed have been fruitless. 

I hear three knocks at my door. I roll over on my bed, facing the window, rather than the door. Someone walked in and sat down by my feet. 

"Honey," my mom says. I don't look at her. "Honey, get up and get dressed. Some people are here to see you." She leaves me alone. I don't get up though. I stay in my bed, staring out the window at our neighbor's white siding. Someone knocked on the door, and when I didn't respond, they walked in. I heard multiple feet walking around, and someone jumped on my bed. 

"Andraya! Get up!" Jc yells. I don't look at him. Sam steps in front of the window, blocking my view of my neighbor's house. 

"Hey, c'mon. Stopo being lazy, and go outside! Let's go to Starbucks, or something," Sam says to me, kneeling down to look me in the eye. Connor pulls the bed covers off me, exposing my skin to the cool air. I shiver and bring my legs up to my chest, hugging them to me. Ricky pulls on my arms, forcing me to sit up, and Kian comes behind my back to keep me from laying down again. I groan and lean agianst Kian, trying ot lie back down, but him being so strong, he kept me from doing that. Kian pushed me off the bed, making me stand.  Connor wrapped an arm around my waist and led me to my closet. 

"Get dressed," he commanded. I open the closet, and they flood out of the room, to allow me to get dressed. I threw on a too-big tee shirt, and some jean shorts. I tihrew my hair in a pony, and I didn't care whether my make up looked good oor not. I left the room, finding all of them waiting at the bottom of the staircase. 

"Starbucks, or Subway?" Jc asks me. I sigh, and shrug. "Starbucks. You need an energy boost.." I walk down the stairs into the group of guys. Jc's hand rests on the small of my back, leading me out of the house with everyone else. We pile into two cars, Jc's and Kian's. I ride in Jc's with Connor and Kian. Jc puts me in the passenger seat, and buckles me in like a child. Jc gets in the driver's seat and starts driving. After sitting in awkward silence for a while, Jc reaches over and holds my hand. I squeezed it, letting him know I'm not as lost as I seem. 

"I was thinking we could bring some of your friends, Andraya. Do you think anyone is available?"Connor asks. I nod.

"Brittany, maybe," I say to him. He grins, now that I've finally said something. 

"Great! Where does she live?" I look at him, telling him that was a really creepy question. "It's not like I'm asking for her social security number!" I direct them to her house, and I go up to the door. I ring the doorbell, and Brittany answers the door.

"Andraya!" she excalims, engulfing me in a huge hug. "What are you doing here? I mean, not that I don't want you here, but still." She releases me, and looks at me.

I point to the car. "We're going to Starbucks. You wanna come?" I ask.

"Who's we?" she tilts her head, perplexed. She looks over at the car and sees Jc throught the window. "YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE FRIENDS WITH O2L." she screams, jumping in excitement. "I will come, but I won't get anything. I hate Starbucks."

We walk over to the car, Brittany squeezing in the back with Connor and Kian. "Hi, are you... Brittany?" Connor asks her. She looked like she wanted to scream, but all she did was nod.

We drove through town, the windows down, music blaring. They all were singing and dancing. I sat in my seat, paying closer attention to the road than Jc, who was supposed to me driving. We came to Starbucks, and we all stepped out of the car. Sam and Ricky were already there waiting for us.  

"What took you so long?" RIcky asks us when we get up to them. 

"We were getting Andraya's friend, Brittany." Connor says. She waves shyly at Ricky. 

"Awe, she's cute! C'mon. I need my daily dose of coffee." Ricky says. In the shop, a wave of aromas flood my senses. I sit down at the largest table, and everyone sitis around me. 

"I'll  go order. What does everyone want?" Kian asks the group. Everyone says their order, and goes back to their convversation. "What about you, Andraya?" 

"I'll have a caramel ribbon crunch frap. Thanks," I mumble. I fumble to find my wallet so I could pay.  

"No no no, that's okay, Andraya. It's my treat." Kian says. I half smile at him. He walks over to the counter to order. 

"He probably needs some help. I mean, he needs to carry seven drinks. I'll go help," Connor says. 

"I will too," Brittany exclaims. The two walk over to the counter to with Kian. Jc looks at me, and smiles.

"It's so good to see you out and about. We haven't seen you in so long," He pauses. "We haven't seen you since the Trevor thing." I look down at my hands which were folded in my lap. "I know you don't really want to talk about it, but I think it would help if you did." He says to me. I look up at him. His face was full of concern and sincerity. I watch him for a while, not speaking. Jc looked down at his lap, embarrassed. 

"I'm sorry. I just don't like seeing two of my friends down in the dumps," he explains. I noticed Sam and Ricky watching us. They seeing me looking at them, and they quickly turn away. 

Brittany, Connor, and Kian return with the drinks. They pass them out, and Brittany sits down next to me. 

"Connor is so nice! Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" She asks me. I shrug.

"I guess I forgot. I'm glad you're having fun though." I say to her. Her smile fades, and she hugs me. 

"It's okay. You don't need to be sad anymore," she says to me. "Besides, I think Jc's got a thing for you."