Love is Only a Word

Chapter 2

“I just don’t see how this could’ve happened,”

“Please wake up, Tia!”

I slowly opened my eyes to the recognition of my room, and my parents hovering over me. I was lying down in my bed, with the covers on top of me as well. Everything in my room looked the same as it did when I left for school, but it didn’t have the same atmosphere. Something changed in the air. Something didn’t feel right at all.

My mom stroked some of my hair out of my face. “What happened, honey?”

I just turn away from them and face the wall. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I pout.

I hear them mumble something very quietly. I didn’t even attempt to listen. I didn’t attempt to think. I didn’t even want to know what time it was. I know it’s still day time, because light is flashing through my only window in my bedroom.

“Can you please leave?” I ask quietly, struggling to keep myself from crying. “I really need some time alone right now.”

After some hesitation, my parents finally begin to make their way out of my room. “I’ll call you down when dinner is ready,” My mother said as she closed the door.

I’m trying to calm down. I have a headache, and I don’t even know how I got here. Suddenly, I think about my phone. I slowly get up from the bed and search my room for it. After an unnecessary amount of time, I find it under my pants near my closet.

I turned my phone and realized that it was 4:30pm, which meant school was over two hours ago. I had four missed calls and ten messages in my notifications. I sighed loudly and threw my phone onto the bed and sat down on the floor, trying to get myself together.

“This is my entire fucking fault,” I start to mumble to myself. “I embarrassed myself in front of everybody and now I have to see all of them tomorrow. I can’t do it. My life is going to be a living hell tomorrow and now-”

My phone started blasting Mercy by Kanye West, interrupting my conversation within myself. I crawl to the bed to find out the person calling me was Shawn, Kenny’s best friend. I sit down on the bed, questioning whether I should pick up the phone or not. I clear my throat and answer the phone.

“Hello?” I ask very flatly.

“I saw what happened between you and Kenny today.” He laughs quietly, but I still hear.

“What’s your point?” I snap back.

“Calm down, I’m just trying to make sure you alright. You left before school even started.”

I lighten up a bit. “Sorry, I’m just not in the best mood right now.”

“Can I do anything to make it any better?”

“No.”

There is an awkward silence on the phone, which easily aggravates me.

“What’s the real reason you called me?” It isn’t like Shawn to ‘check on me’ unless he actually wants something later.

“Why can’t I see if my buddy is okay without wanting anything?”

 “I know you, Shawn.”

“What if Kenny wanted to go out with you?”

“Don’t fuck with my feelings,”

“Well….” He pauses for a couple of seconds. “He’s on the phone right now.”

 

Click.

 

Shawn calls back, but instead of answering, I call my best friend Jayde.

“Tia, where the fuck have you been all day?!” Jayde yells through the phone, straining my ear drum.

“I don’t even know, what happened when I left?”

There was a long pause, which made me anxious. “Are you sure you want to know?” Her voice much quieter than it was before.

“Yes,” I reply blankly.

“Well, when you ran into the building, everybody was kind of just staring in shock, because everyone for some reason wants to believe that you’re the sweetest person in the world. Anyway, Kenny stood there for a good minute, until his friends started to crowd him. You were the talk of the day, at least in all of my classes. Everybody were saying how shocked they were, and hoping you were okay. I mean, all the girls said that. The boys kind of laughed it off. Kenny was silent for first period, and then acted like nothing happened the rest of the day. I don’t understand. I guess the incident shook him up at first, but he slowly gotten over it. What happened when you went in the school?”

I couldn’t believe it, Kenny, quiet? That’s impossible.

“Tia?” Jayde mumbled through the phone.

“I don’t know, I passed out on the floor and woke up in my bedroom. Everything in between is beyond my knowledge.”

“Are you coming to school tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” I say reluctantly. “But if I see or hear one more thing about Kenny, it’s going to be some serious damage either to me or my room.”

“Trust and believe, Tia. If somebody messes with you, they are not making it to the end of the school day.”

“Thanks, Jayde. I have to go now, see you tomorrow!”

I hang up before she even says goodbye.

I don’t even know what to do next. My headache is getting worst, and I’m not sleepy at all. I decide to go downstairs in the kitchen for dinner.

“Here you go, baby.” My dad says as he gives me a plate with ribs and macaroni and cheese, one of my favorite dishes by him.

I give him a faint smile and thank him.

“Do you feel any better?” My mom walks in the kitchen, massaging her hands with hand sanitizer before sitting down to eat.

“Not really,” I admit.

“You can miss school tomorrow,” She suggests, but I shake my head.

“I already missed a day’s work of school. If I miss another day I’m going to end up never wanting to go, so I might as well get my day of Hell over with.”

My mom just glances at my dad, and my dad glances back. I eat silently, not saying another word.