Finding My Normal

Chapter 10

"Nah, she cheating, bro."

I turned to look at Lee who was studying me. We had finally made it to bowling and the guys were convinced that I had somehow rigged the game. I'd been getting strikes and spares nonstop since we started playing, despite them making me change balls every single turn. I was in first place, followed by Brent who had only missed a few pins the whole game. Next was Lee, who was mad because he couldn't get a strike to save his life. Trevor and Jahmil were both last but that was because the two had been huddled in a corner for the last half hour whispering about something.

The sound of a phone ringing sent all of our eyes to their corner. Without missing a beat, Jah pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it out towards me without taking a break from what he was saying to Trevor. I jogged over to him to get it and answered without looking at the caller ID. Immediately, I recognized the voice as Rob. He launched into a whole big speech about how he had ran though his connects and heard from the block that the hit had been on me and not my grandmother. My breath caught in my throat as he continue, telling me how he had possibly found someone who could tell him who was at the house that night, but he wouldn't know for sure for a couple of weeks. I opened my mouth to respond when he asked me if I understood what he'd said but nothing came out.

"Yo, Jah? You there?" Rob sounded agitated at the fact he had to repeat himself.

"No, this isn't him but I'll tell him what you said. Thanks." I breathed out. My breaths were coming in quicker and it felt like the room was closing in on me. The call was cut swiftly from the other end. Thoughts were swirling violently in my head, leaving me without any control over my body. Brent saw me first as I slid down the floor with tears streaming down my cheeks. He hurried over to me and grabbed my face in his hands, whispering calming words. I felt as if he was worlds away as my thoughts continued to wreak havoc on my mind.

"Ki! What's wrong?" Lee's worried face popped into view. He looked as if he was going to cry, which only caused me to cry harder. Suddenly, I was wrapped in a pair of arms and being lifted off of the ground. The guys gave orders back and forth as the person holding me headed somewhere. My face was buried in their chest. Sobs shook my body as I thought about how my grandmother would have been alive if I had been home that night. It was all my fault that she was currently 6 feet under. I did that to her. We stopped moving and I heard my car being unlocked. The doors opened and I could feel that I was being sat on the lap of whoever was holding me.

"Is she going to be okay, B?" Lee's voice broke the silence that had surrounded us.

"We're gonna make sure she's okay, Lee." Trevor responded. The car started and we started moving. Eventually, I fell asleep to the feeling of someone rubbing my back.

When I woke up, the guys were all squished onto my bed with me in the middle. I was laid in the middle with Trevor to my right and Brent to my left. Jahmil and Lee were squished next to each other at the foot of the bed and they were all asleep. My eyes wandered over to the clock on the bedside table that flashed 3:10 am. I tried to get out of the bed without waking them up and I'd almost succeeded until Brent's arm shot out to steady me when I'd almost ran into the bedside table. I turned towards him to see that he was wide awake.

"How you feeling?" He whispered.

"I'm fine, you?" I asked, stretching my stiff limbs. "How did we all end up in my bed?"

"They wouldn't leave your side. You scared us back there. One minute you're answering Jah's phone and the next you're having another panic attack. You wouldn't stop crying, even when you fell asleep." Trevor stirred in his sleep, catching both of our attention. "I carried you from the bowling alley and the guys went to their rooms to shower before coming right back here to make sure you were okay."