The Player Broke My Leg

Chapter 9

Today went different then I expected. I thought Jasper would be his normal miserable self. But that wasn't what happened today.

Not once did he do anything remotely rude to me. He didn't put any of my stuff on a high shelf, nor did he talk back to me in anyway. The only thing he did was help me, which terrified me. This was not normal and I wanted it to stop. Now. He even had the audacity to put together the shower chair that Emily made him buy. I was even scared that when I sat on it, I would have crashed the floor. But it didn't. Jasper knew if he made one mistake he would be shipped off to military school, and by how obedient he is, he didn't want that.

When seven o'clock came around, Jasper went home. I let out a sigh of relief when he had left. Being cooped up in a house all day takes a toll on a girl. I immediately went to the couch and did the thing that all girls love to do. Take off their bra.

Before Jasper had left, he cooked me dinner. Emily had wanted me to come over again that night, but I just wanted to have some time to myself.

I eat my dinner of chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese as I flip through what was on the television. Since it was later in the day most of the good stuff was one. Even Elf was on and it was no way near Christmas.

I watch movie after movie as I sit on this couch. Somehow, I was already developing cabin fever and it wasn't ten o'clock yet.

There was still no word from my mother, and I was beginning to think that there wouldn't be. I didn't even get anything from my father, not like I wanted those anyway. If he knew I had a broken leg he would probably camp out in the front yard just to spite my mom.

Suddenly, the house phone rang. I turned my head as I narrowed my eyes at it. Mom had my cell number, and dad had both, even though he didn't use the house phone in fear of talking to my mother. I grab it and look at the unfamiliar number before I hit talk.

I swear to God if whoever is on the other line asks my what my favorite scary movie is I'll freak out.

"Hello?" I ask cautiously. It was probably a wrong number, and telemarketers don't call at this hour.

"Hattie?" asked the voice on the other end of the line. I didn't recognize the voice at first. It was clearly male, but it wasn't my dad. The voice was deep, so it couldn't be Justin. He's only seven. He shouldn't be going through puberty at that age. "It's Evan."

I mentally slap myself. Of course it was Evan, but I actually didn't think he would call. Even though we saw each other two nights ago, it felt like a lifetime.

"Oh, Evan," I say as I switched the phone to my other ear. "What's up?"

"Well, there are two things I wanted to tell you," he said and I could tell there was a smile on his face. "My dad said he would give you a job if you wanted. It wouldn't be delivery though. It would be waitressing."

"Oh," I say as I look down at my big, clunky cast that likes to bang everything. "About that..."

"You don't want the job?" He asked in confusion.

"No, it's not that. Trust me if it would involve my getting out of the house for a bit I'm all for it," I start to explain to him. "It's just that something came up and...I'm very limited in the things I can do."

"Oh, that's okay," he says, but he sounded disappointed. "Well there was something else I wanted to ask you."

"Go for it," I said with a chuckle.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out some time?"

The phone slips out of my hand. Did I hear him right? No. I couldn't have. Why would he want to go out with me? It's clearly a mistake. He must have meant to call another Hattie. I'm pretty sure there's one in the next town over. I think she's almost one hundred but she looks sturdy enough. My attention snaps back to the phone and I picked it up off the couch where it landed.

"Hello? You there Hattie?" I heard Evan ask.

"Ye-yeah," I say. "Sorry, there was a spider on the table. I don't think I heard you right though."

"No, you probably did," he chuckled lightly into the phone. "So what do you think? Want to go out on a date with me?"

"Um...," I hesitate. I didn't know what to say, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head. "Okay. When?"

"I was thinking about maybe tomorrow night," he said. I could hear his nervousness from the other side of the phone.

"Sure, what did you have in mind," I ask as I glanced down at my leg. I knew I wouldn't be able to do much, but I could try.

"Well I was thinking we could go to that mini golf place on the good side of town. You know, the one by the fountain," he said and I could hear the smile on his face.

"Mini golf," I say worryingly to myself, but Evan heard it.

"You don't like mini golf?" He asked in disbelief. "Well, how about go karts. Everyone likes those."

"No, it's not that. I love mini golf," I start to explain to him. I didn't want him to think I hated anything fun. "It's just...I kinda had an accident."

"Oh my God, are you okay," he asked and I could hear the worry in his voice.

"Well, a fourth of me isn't," I say with a chuckle to ease the tension.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well, I kinda broke my leg," I say calmly. It was weird for those words to come out of my mouth.

"You broke your leg? How?"

"I just fell," I say and I can hear him let out a sigh of relief. That will be short lived. "Out of a window."

"What?" He yelled into the phone. "How you you fall out the window?"

"I'll give you one guess," I tell him. Everyone knew that Jasper and I were neighbors.

"Jasper?" He asked seriously. "What am I thinking. Of course it was Jasper. Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

"Naw. The doctors gave me the good drugs so I don't feel much. Unless I bang my leg on something. That's a feeling," I say lightly. "

"Do you need anything? Do you want lasagna?" He asked which caused me to laugh.

"I didn't know pasta makes everything better," I joke around.

"Oh yes. The Italians learned long ago that if you rub pasta on broken bones it magically heals in seconds," he played along.

"That explains so much," I chuckle before getting serious. "I'll understand if you don't want to go out. A girl on crutches doesn't exactly scream fun night on the town."

"What are you talking about?" He asked, sounding a little hurt. "I still want to go out with you. We'll just stick to activities that involves sitting."

"Sitting is the one thing I'm good at," I say confidently, but then mentally slapped myself. Why did I say that?

"Oh, good," he said with a light chuckle. "So, we could go see a movie. There's no standing involved. We should be good."

"That sounds good," I said.

"Alright. Think of a movie you want to see, and I'll pick you up around four," he told me, and I could hear the happiness in his voice.

"Okay," I say lightly.

"Okay," he laughed from the other line. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Hattie."

"Goodnight," I say as I hit the end button, but then the phone slipped out of my hands and crashed to the floor.

I have a date with Evan tomorrow?

Oh boy.

I'm in trouble.