The Other Side Of Fear[1]

Chapter 11

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The doctor had advised me that my broken arm would require me to wear a cast while I healed for a couple of weeks. I had fractured my Ulna; besides that, I had no significant injuries besides being black and blue pretty much all over.

I had fallen too close to the edge and half of me had hit against a rock, causing serious bruising on my ribs which were still killing me as well as my arm injury. I had spent the past two weeks locked away in my room, feeling completely heartbroken over what Archie had done to me. The worst part of it all; he hadn't bothered to contact me at all. I figured he was afraid; afraid that I might press charges against him or something. I wasn't going to do that; a little part of me felt like he would never intend to truly hurt me so I didn't intend to ruin his life over one silly mistake.

The girls had texted me everyday and for this I was thankful. Tiffany even called around my place every other day to bring me copies of her notes from our classes together. I was starting to realise how much of a true friend she was.

Now, I was returning back to school, against my Mom's wishes, but I was about to go insane being stuck here. I was nervous to go back. I was nervous to see Archie. The memories of that night were still blurry and I knew I would never truly know what happened or what the timeline of the night was. All I knew was he pushed me, I blacked out in the water, I woke up to Cal Lakey pulling me out, then woke up again in my bed.

The fact that Cal had rescued me that night was still bizarre. He had been so angry the day before when he had pinned me against the wall; so threatening. He could have easily let me drown. I couldn't help but wonder if Cal being there might have scared Archie off and that's why he hadn't been the one to help me.

'Honey, are you sure you're feeling ready?' Mom asked me for the thousandth time.

'Mom, I've missed too much class,' I sighed, putting my books into my bag the best I could with one hand. 'I want to see my friends. I'm sick of being stuck in this room.'

'The doctor said you could take up to six weeks to heal,' she informed me.

'I feel fine, Mom,' I rolled my eyes.

'Well, what are you going to say to that boy?' she quizzed me.

'I don't know,' I shrugged. 'I don't hold anything against him.'

My parents, of course, didn't know Archie had pushed me. They only knew that he had not been the one to save me.

'We need to get going,' she said.

I grabbed my bag, throwing it over my shoulder, and followed her downstairs and out the door. Riley had already left early to catch the school bus with his new friends. It was weird...I felt like I had barely seen Riley since we had moved here. He was really thriving in our new school with his new friends.

Mom and I rode to school together and I texted Tiffany to let her know I was almost there. When we pulled up in the staff car park, I kissed my Mom goodbye and paced around the building to the entrance.

Tiffany, Kady and Millie were all gathered and broke into smiles when they saw me. They ran over and gave me the gentlest of hugs and I felt instant relaxation at being back with my friends. I was still a little nervous to see Archie but I tried to push him out of my mind, which was hard considering the girls brought him up straight away.

'I still haven't spoken to him,' I told them.

'You'll see him around,' Kady smiled reassuringly. 'It's kind of shitty of him not to text you all this time though. Maybe you should see that as a sign.'