The Boy Who Broke My Leg

Chapter 4

I was tired. Hungry. In pain. And now apparently homeless for the next 2 hours. Which probably wouldn't seem like a big deal if I was running on my regular sleep cycle and didn't desperately need my pain killers which I had conveniently not thought of grabbing in the morning.

"You don't have your keys", Alistair echoes. "Doesn't anyone have a spare?"

"Kayla has my spare which isn't exactly helpful at the moment", I point out. "And her mom has the other but she's at work now but I have her house key but oh wait it's in my locked apartment."

"Wait, wait why is your apartment locked in the first place?" Alistair asks.

"Oh I'm sorry was I supposed to leave it open for all the thieves and robbers to throw a freakin house party?" I ask, not seeing what he's going at. Hangry me is no fun.

"No I meant your parents. Kayla said they were out of town or something? Cuz they weren't at the hospital or at home when I visited", he trails off at the end of the sentence like he knows he isn't supposed to be asking. "I'm sorry it's none of my business anyways."

He figured it out. I mean, it is pretty obvious when a teenager breaks her leg and ends up in the hospital and her friend's mom has to sign her release forms that something is up. And Kayla just gave him vague information when he asked her I guess, feeling like it wasn't her information to share.

"Well, they're definitely out of town", I mumble. A white lie.

Alistair looks more confused but doesn't press further. He just fiddles with his keys uncomfortably.

"My mom died of cancer almost two years ago. And my dad's somewhere in Europe at the moment he should be back this week. He's a pilot"

I don't know what makes me disclose this information. Maybe it's because I know he'll figure it out eventually and I don't want him to think we were lying because it isn't really that much of a secret anyways. Maybe it's because I don't want to be the cause of the uncomfortable look on his face for asking. Maybe it's just because I plain old tired and don't have a brain to mouth filter.

Even though I say it in a monotonous voice, a flare of pain ripples through my heart like it always does when I think about my mother even after all this time and I fight back a sigh and close my eyes.

There's a pause and then. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to intrude", Alistair mumbles.

"It's fine", I answer quickly, because I wouldn't know what to say either. At least he didn't ask any follow up questions so that's a relief.

My mind comes back to the present situation. My only two options at this point was to sit in front of my door and wait for Kayla to bring me the key when she was done with the math test. Or get a ride back to school and wait for her there. At least my apartment had good heating. The idea of waiting for possibly another three hours without food, medicine or sleep makes me want to scream. Or cry. Or possibly both at once. I open the car door and a burst of cold air hits me instantly. 

"Wait, where are you going? "Alistair asks.

"I'll just sit by my door or whatever. Maybe read or something till Kayla can get me the key." I belatedly realize I needed my crutches before I could move, which were conveniently in the back seat.

"You can't be serious. I'm not going to let you sit by the door for hours. What kind of a person do you think I am?" Alistair asks, sounding slightly offended.

"You think I should wait in school instead?" I ask, confused.

"No, I think you should just come crash at my house", he replies matter-of-factly.