The Elephant Tattoo.

Seven

"Hey, look, I think she's waking up!" Harley's voice was the first one I heard. Then, a couple more voices started murmuring. Feet shuffled against the floor. A weight pressed down on the side of my bed. All I could think was 'Why are they in my room?' Opening my eyes was my goal, but I couldn't seem to do it like I normally could. The harder I tried, the more it felt like I was peeling them apart. Eventually, the room came into focus, and with it, several people's faces. The first person I saw was Brendon, leaning worriedly over me, his brown eyes scanning me for something he couldn't seem to find. The next person was Harley, who was sitting in a chair next to me, and she was holding my hand. Wes came next, standing just behind Brendon and looking exceptionally guilty. Finally, my eyes landed on my mother, who was already crying.

"God, of all the ways I'd imagine finding out you almost died, this had never crossed my mind!" She cried out, burying her face in her hand and letting out a choked sob. I immediately wanted to reach out and comfort her, but something about what she'd said stuck with me. Almost died, I thought curiously. I surely didn't remember seeing any light or having any chats with the big man, but was what she said really true? Awkwardly, I cleared my throat and turned my attention to Wes.

"Where's Keaton?" I croaked, surprised by how hoarse my voice was. Brendon quickly walked across the room to a small table and picked up a bottle of water before tossing it to me. Despite my aching throat, everything else seemed to work fine as I reached up and caught the bottle. I smiled at him gratefully before turning back to Wes.

"He didn't want to see you." He said quietly, only looking at his shoes. I blinked, stunned by his words.

"What do you mean he didn't want to see me?" I demanded, shocked that a friend would suddenly want nothing to do with me.

"He just said he didn't want to."

"Oh, okay then." I said awkwardly, glancing over at Harley. She too looked a tad bit guilty and I knew as soon as I was functioning normally, I was going to find out why.

The rest of the day was a blur of doctors and needles and crying from my mother. Personally, I felt like she was overreacting, but I was going to say anything. I was allowed to leave later that afternoon, thankfully. However, my mother decided that I wouldn't be allowed out of the house anytime soon.

"So, are you going to tell me about this boyfriend of yours? How's Aiden doing?" Sarah asked me from where we sat on my couch in my room. It smelled faintly of cologne and I rolled my eyes.

"I don't have a boyfriend anymore," I started. This caused Sarah's eyebrows to shoot up in confusion. "We broke up after I didn't answer him because I was at a party."

"That seems like a dumb reason to break up." She commented unhappily.

"He was a dumb person." I muttered before I even realized what I was saying. My shoulders slumped at the conclusion I'd made. Aiden had been the love of my life at one point, or so I had thought. He was everything I looked for in a boy. He was smart, caring, and loyal as far as I knew. He worked on computers for a living and said stuff like "holy crow", which I found incredibly corny and cute. Now, as I took a step back and thought about our relationship, I found he was just a clingy, overly-horny boy who didn't truly love me. I was his prize to show off to his other nerdy friends at their gaming parties.

"He didn't deserve you." Sarah stated, reaching over to run her fingers through my blonde locks. It was extremely comforting and I closed my eyes.

"We just weren't right for each other," I mumbled. "I don't know if anyone is going to be right for me." At that, Sarah stopped her comforting strokes and I could feel her staring a hole through my face. I opened my eyes and blinked up at her.

"I'm going to tell you a story, Noah, and you're going to learn from it just like I did." She claimed, sitting up straight and facing me. She sat cross-legged in a pair of yoga pants and an over-sized tank top that probably belonged to Brendon. All of her gorgeous black hair was piled at the top of her head in an elegant messy bun.

"When I was younger, probably around your age if not a little older, I met this boy. He was the exact opposite of everything I'd hoped I would find in a boy. He was loud and sarcastic. He never did his homework and all he cared about was his stupid guitar and the band he wanted to start with his friends. I was quiet and wore these huge nerd glasses that even you would cringe at," Sarah said. "But for some reason, that boy started talking to me. It started in honors english, and he was trying to get me to explain what the hell the hamartia was in Oedipus Rex. I, of course, knew the answer right away and went into explaining it in so much detail, but when I looked up, that boy was fast asleep, his head propped on his elbow." Sarah laughed and reached over to squeeze my leg in anticipation. "Ten years later and he still falls asleep when I try to explain things like that to him!"

I was shocked to find out that it was my brother she was talking about. Despite knowing her for a long, long time, I didn't know their story. I smiled at her and leaned over to hug her.

"The point of that story is that you shouldn't go looking for the boy who seems perfect to you. If he seems perfect, it's not going to end well. I know you thought so highly of Aiden and his goals in life. All I'm saying is that maybe you should take a step back and let that person walk right up to you instead of looking for them." She rocked me back and forth a couple of times in our hug before giving me a final squeeze and pulling away. "Your brother and I have a date tonight and I have to get ready. Stay positive, Love, okay? It gets better." With that, she stood and started walking out of my room.

Once alone, I had time to contemplate her words. I knew she was right, I just didn't want her to be. I wanted to find my prince charming, and I wanted to have a boyfriend who loved me again. However, that didn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. Instead, I decided to focus on the problem at hand, and that was Keaton. I grabbed my phone before walking over to the cushioned bench attached to my window.

Me: Keaton?...

Keaton: Can't talk, busy. Sorry.

Me: Can't you at least tell me why you're mad at me?

Keaton: I'm not mad.

Me: Yes you are. Wes said you were.

Keaton: No, Wes said I didn't want to see you, and he's right.

Hurt, I threw my phone on the bench and crossed my arms over my chest. They were still a little sore from my fall about a week ago, but they were healing nicely and it didn't seem like they would scar.

I hadn't even wanted to be friends with Keaton and Wesley at first. They seemed like complete douchebags. Now, I wished I would have never let them give me a ride home. I wished I never would have watched scary movies with them or gone to the beach with them. Now, all they did was hurt me. Boys with dimples were bad. Gran was right.