Faking It

30:Faking It:30

Chapter 30

Aiden

"Where the hell were you?" Tyler cries.

I shake my head, letting Alina go limping back to her hospital bed before I say anything to Ty.

When she's gone, I turn to Tyler. "Long story short, Alina thought she could talk this whole time, turns out she's really, actually, mute, and she had pent up anger, so we went to the basement."

Tyler lifts his eyebrows up and opens his mouth to say something, but I roll my eyes before he can.

"Not like that," I explain. "We went to hit something. It...it wasn't really something you could have been there for. She looked really broken, you know?"

Of course he doesn't know, but he still stands still and nods quietly, because that's just something that best friends do.

"You seem...happier," Tyler comments after a moment's pause.

Then, I nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Ty grins at me, patting my shoulder. "Good for you, then, man. Good for you." He then stands straight looking serious once again. "I talked to Mrs. Raft."

At this, I lift an eyebrow. "Uh...what for?"

He looks at me like I'm an idiot. I mean, sometimes I can be, but the way he's looking at me, it's like he's wondering if maybe Alina hit me hard enough to literally damage my brain and make me stupid.

"Dude. Alina is the god damn hospital and she's only woken up after five days. And you think that her parents wouldn't want to know why and how the hell she turned like this?" Tyler points out.

My eyes widen. "Shit. Oh my god. And this is all my fault! Oh, hell, they're going to hate me. Crap, and you talked to them already, they're going to want my head on a stick now, and if they see me anytime soon, they're going to-"

"Oh, hello, Aiden, sweetie," Mrs. Raft sweetly says as she passes by us. "Is Alina awake? I wanted to talk to her." I stare at Mrs. Raft, pretty much speechless. Mrs. Raft doesn't notice. "Well, I'll just head in anyway."

As she walks through the door, I turn back to Tyler and grab his collar. "What the hell did you do?"

Tyler laughs. "I did nothing. Alina spoke with her mother earlier, before you went in and took her to the basement. Trust me, I had every intention to walk up to Mrs. Raft and tell her that this whole situation was all of our faults, and even I was questioning myself because explaining how it was our faults would mean explaining the whole Jason, Jared situation and I think River's still iffy on telling his parents of it. So I was planning on making the whole thing up on how it's our fault. But before I tell her, she tells me that Alina already told her what happened, and I was like, freaking out, you know?"

I nod. "Then?"

"Well, here's the thing, mate," Jeremy pipes up, from behind me. "Sweet little Alina told her mum that her getting run over was her fault, because she wasn't paying attention when she was leaving school and she just walked right in front of the car without looking both ways."

I blink rapidly and stare at Jeremy and Tyler. "She what?"

"Yeah, asshole," River says, sounding beyond pissed off. "And the worst part is that, even though you almost got her killed, she still likes the pants off of you."

I grin at him. "Yeah. I know."

He lifts an eyebrow. "I am this close to punching you in the throat. Don't push it," he says, pinching his thumb and index finger together. And I really don't doubt that River would punch me in the throat, I really don't, so I don't push my luck. "And I swear to god, if you make her cry one more time, I'm so done with you going after her. So watch it."