Terminally Hopeful

Chapter 5

I stepped outside without limping. It was time to go home. I had said a goodbye to Conner an hour ago.

"Hurry, Sadie! Mom told us to be waiting by the stop sign!" Wyatt shouted from the other side of the walkway.

Hesitating slightly, I turned back at the hospital and pursed my lips while closing my eyes. I was looking for something. Or someone. Then I shook my head and flipped my head around.

"Coming!" I shouted back to him. Running to Wyatt was probably the most productive thing I had done since I left my hospital room.

Jane was waiting by the stop sign, just like she said she would. I hopped in and closed the door. My brother flopped himself in like a tuna.

"How do you feel, leaving that terrible place?" Jane asked teasingly.

"Honestly? I don't really want to leave," I admitted. She gave me skeptical look through the mirror. I shrugged and tried to brush it off but it was too late. Jane smirked.

"It's that boy isn't it?"

"No. No, it's not," I said limply.

"Yes. Yes, it is," she said back and I sighed.

******

My room was exactly the way I had left it. Perfectly organized. Sitting down on my bed, I looked at my phone and saw that someone had texted me.

Hey. Is this Sadie Brennel?

I bit my lip and wondered if I should text back. My phone dinged, causing me to look down.

This is Conner. I wanna know if I'm texting a stranger or my friend.

I rolled my eyes and typed back.

Yes, you loser. This is Sadie, I pressed the send button.

He sent me a smiling emoji and I cringed at how disgustingly sweet he was being. We texted back and forth and came up with the brilliant idea of meeting up at the alley again next week.

"Sadie!" Jane called. I yelled back in response. Then she said something I didn't expect her to say. "Allison and Trent are here to see you."

My head shot up. What? Who arranged this? Did Jane really set me up to meet my selfish brother and attention seeking ex-best friend on the same day? I groaned and stomped down the stairs.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Jane pulled me over into a corner. I raised an eyebrow.

"Trent. He knows. Wyatt and I went to meet Trent a week before you were released and Wyatt accidentally spilled that you were in the hospital. When I wouldn't answer him, he pretended to take Wyatt to the bathroom and Wyatt spilled."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Wyatt told Trent that you were practicing to join the circus. That's the story that I told him," she shook her head.

I was really confused. Why was she panicking when all Wyatt said was that I was going the circus?

"Wyatt told him you jumped off a cliff to practice and become an acrobat, but you got hurt. Obviously, Trent is going to assume that you attempted to end your life," she informed me apologetically.

I sighed. There wasn't anything she could do. I gave her a faint smile and assured her that it was okay. She looked at me in a way that made me feel like I just ended world hunger. After a quick peck on the forehead, Jane pushed me towards the direction of the living room, where Trent and Allison were waiting.

As soon as I entered the living room, a super hard figure rammed into me. Trent pulled me into a huge hug and wouldn't let go. I tensed up and didn't say or do anything until he let go. When he did let go, he leaned down so that he faced me directly and pushed my extra strands of hair around my face away.

"I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have left you! I could have lost you," he rambled like he cared.

I gave him a blank and confused stare back. I wasn't about to be nice to him.

Instead, I looked over him and saw my former best friend sitting awkwardly and not looking up at me. Jane and Wyatt weren't coming down anytime soon so I have all the time in the world.

I escaped my brother's embrace and sat on the couch opposite of Allison's. Trent sat next to Allison. Good. He knows he makes me uncomfortable.

No one knew what to say. No one wanted to be the first one to break the silence either. So we sat in silence. Then I got tired of it.

"It's okay. Trent, I don't know why you dropped out of college but I'm hoping you know what you're doing. Allison, you were probably just confused. I forgive the both of you so relax and explain," I urged.

It was Trent that spoke first. "Sadie, I know you're angry at me. For leaving you, for dropping out. But I'm going to tell you why I dropped out. I have no excuse for why I didn't take custody of you, I was just afraid. But I didn't drop out of college because I was afraid. I dropped out because... because I made a mistake. A mistake that will probably change my life forever."

I froze and my eyes widened. I recalled what Jane had told me while I was in the hospital. I think he got a girl pregnant. If he did, I would kill him.

"I was out drinking with my friends, and we accidentally entered this group of people who were gambling. I wasn't in my conscious mind, but they were. They completely tricked me and I lost almost all my money. I knew I couldn't pay for my tuition and my heart dropped. I wasn't sure what to do or where to go and so I decided to just drop. I'm sorry, Sadie," he confessed.

My mind couldn't understand why something like this would even happen. The first thing I thought was that he was an idiot for drinking, and that it was his fault. But it wasn't fair either. One mistake, that's all he made, and his whole life has been flipped. Feeling less hostile, I looked up at Trent and quietly grumbled, "I don't blame you, but I'm still mad at you for drinking and not being careful."

Allison suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

"It was my fault 100%. I have no excuses. I wanted to be like the bullies so that I wouldn't get bullied. Trent had a much better story for you than me. All I can say is I'm sorry. You can trust me when I say I'm going to make things better and make it up to you."

Allison said all of this really quietly and even though she was partly the "trigger," as Conner called it, her voice broke my heart.

I stood up and pulled both of them into a hug. Am I mad at them? Definitely. Am I thankful for them? Absolutely. And at that moment, the small part of me that loved them was much stronger than the part of me that wanted to strangle the both of them alive.