Under The Bridge

Chapter 4: What's Wrong With His Face?

Chapter 4: What's Wrong With His Face?

Later that same evening, with shaky hands and an even shakier voice, I took a deep breath and jingled the bell that would summon my best friend. "H... hello? Jade? Are you okay?" Sal's said, his voice ringing out loud and clear though the tin-can system. "Hi Sal! I'm fine, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go to the park with me later, just the two of us. We could swing on the swings and horse around on the playground equipment or something." I replied, mustering up all of my strength and courage to keep my voice steady as I spoke to him. "Sure, just let me finish up my winter break homework, and I'll meet you in the elevator in say, ten minutes?" He said, his breath suddenly hitching and his voice raising an octave as he asked his question. I bit my lip nervously, excited by his reaction but also slightly suprised that I could pick up on something so subtle through a dinky little metal can. "Alright, I'll see you then Sal." I replied, and closed my vent, shutting off communication with him so that I could get ready.

I brushed my hair, what little I had at least, and straightened up my clothes, making sure my nice black jeans and combat boots were clean, before heading to the bathroom to freshen up. I ran a lint roller over my black Sanity Falls tshirt and brushed my teeth, making sure to floss and use mouthwash, just in case I actually had the guts to confess to Sal and... I didn't even want to think about kissing him. The idea alone nearly sent me into a panic, so I swallowed it, forcing myself to pretend that this was just a normal outing with my friend. I grabbed a can of Axe Apollo from my drawer and sprayed myself down, applying the matching deodorant and putting on my favorite superhero cap before waving goodbye to my dogs and heading out the door.

The trek down to the elevator felt like forever, and when I finally locked up my apartment door and headed down to it I was all but running. I skidded to a halt in front of the shiny metal panel, preparing to hit the down button, but to my suprise the doors opened on their own, revealing Sal already standing inside. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't wait to see you. I missed you today." He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, and my face heated up at the sight of him. He was wearing his hair down, and I was certain he did it on purpose. "Sal, we had breakfast together you dork." I replied, stepping into the elevator with him, and he stared down at his shoes in response. "I know. Fried egg sandwiches. They were tasty too." He replied, looking back up at me, and I knew he was smiling under his prosthetic. "That they were, Sal Fisher. You certainly know how to cook an egg!" I said, teasing him playfully, and he laughed in response, causing me to laugh back. It was at that moment that we both realized that we had forgotten to hit the first floor button on the elevator and were just stopped on my floor in limbo. We blinked stupidly at eachother and he hit the button, the two of us still laughing and talking to eachother all the way down to the first floor. When we stepped out of the elevator I raced ahead of Sal, running out the front door ahead of him. "Race you to the park!" I called out playfully, and I bolted, charging down the street until I was out of breath. Naturally, by the time I was winded Sal was way ahead of me, and I gave up, grinning goofily at him, and leaning against him when I caught up with him to catch my breath. "You're a goofball." he said, though he was clearly panting under his prosthetic. He leaned into me at this point, effectively causing us to cuddle while we were walking, and causing me to blush bright red. Even though the situation was driving me wild, I put up with it all through the rest of the way to the park, only moving away from him when we walked up to the swingset. We sat in swings facing the rest of the park and proceeded to have a competition on who could swing the highest, and who could jump the furthest out of their swing.

This went on for close to thirty minutes before we decided to move on to other equipment for a while, needing a break from sitting down. "So Jade... Why did you want us to come here by ourselves?" Sal asked, as we were getting up from the swings, and his question totally caught me off guard. I continued walking, staring at my feet while I contemplated a response for him. It was when I looked up to answer him that the unthinkable happened. "Sal, I uh... WATCH OUT!" I shouted, beginning to reply before I realized that he had turned to look at me, putting a funnelball goal in his blind spot. There was a loud clang as he walked face first into the pole, smashing his prosthetic into his face and falling backwards onto his butt. The thump when he his the ground sounded pretty painful, and I instantly leapt into action to help him up. I offered him my hand and pulled him to his feet, dusting off his shirt as he did the same for his pants before reaching up under his prosthetic to see if his nose was bleeding. I knew that's what he was doing because i'd seen him do it once before when he'd tripped and faceplanted on the floor. That time he actually was bleeding and excused himself to the bathroom to take care of it. This time however, I already knew what his face looked like and I wanted to make sure he was alright. Without a second thought I undid the bottom buckles on the back of his head and lifted his mask, examining his nose to make sure it wasn't broken. "Your nose isn't broken. It's not bleeding either. I think you'll have a small bruise on your cheek though." I told him, smiling at him, and he breathed a sigh of relief, his blue eyes closing softly for a moment. "Thank you. If my nose was broken It would swell up and I wouldn't be able to wear my face. That would be bad. Thank goodness it's alright." he replied, opening them back up and smiling sweetly at me.