Free Fall

Chapter Thirteen

~Erick~

Cole caught up with me after English, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "Hey, man."

I looked over at him, surprised to see him chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"You okay, bro?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm great actually. I...I need some advice."

We arrived at our lockers, abandoning our bags before heading to lunch. At first, I thought he had forgotten he had said something but he took a deep breath as we got in line.

"Do you think Kelsey would ever like me?"

I stopped dead from grabbing an apple and grinned over at him. "No way."

He rolled his eyes and shoved my shoulder. "Shut up, dude. I'm serious."

I opened my mouth to laugh when suddenly Austin leaned over from behind Cole, his eyes flashing with disgust. "Not only do you hang out with losers, you actually like them?"

Austin's friends, our old ones, made gagging noises and Cole turned to him, looking down on him. "No one asked for your dumbass comments, Austin. You sound like an immature little boy."

Austin didn't even flinch. Even though he was 5'6, eight inches shorter than Cole, and nowhere near the muscular build Cole has, he stood his ground and grinned up at him. The whole line had stopped talking and were staring at the confrontation, whispering amongst each other.

"I'm nowhere near a little boy, Loughner. I've gotten laid thousands of more times than you have, and you ever will. I can actually get smokin' chicks, you're desperate enough to date Kelsey Hampshire." He winked as his friends howled with laughter and fist bumped him.

I didn't even see it coming. Cole suddenly brought up his fist and connected it to Austin's jaw, making him fall flat on his face. The line gasped and some cheered as Cole punched him one more time before I grabbed his elbow and yanked him away. I scanned the lunchroom, seeing a teacher weave through the crowd of students straining to see the fight.

"Cole, come on bro, you're gunna get busted."

"Talk about Kelsey or me or any of my friends again, and I'll do more than just punch your pretty face."

He finally allowed me to tow him quickly over to our small table in the corner where Kelsey sat alone, a questioning look in her eyes. "Who got in a fight?"

Cole angrily plopped into a chair and unwrapped his turkey sandwich. "Me and Austin."

Her eyes widened. "Cole!"

I shook my head. "He messed him up."

Kelsey was still gaping at Cole. "If you get caught, you're getting kicked out of school!"

He finally looked over at her and flashed her a half smile, showing off his dimple. "Nah. Austin won't snitch. He tries to act hard and will probably tell everyone he can take me in a round two."

She took a deep breath and looked over her shoulder at the sea of students who were just starting to go back to their tables, staring over at us. "I'm sorry about all this."

Cole stopped midway from taking a bite of his sandwich, staring at her. "Sorry for what?"

She turned back to the table, not meeting our eyes as she played with a napkin. "Losing your friends, having everyone hate you. It's all because of me."

I could hear the hurt in her voice, and I felt for her. I don't understand why kids are so mean to her; having goals in life and getting good grades seems 100% more better than what standards are for kids now.

Cole opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "I miss Charlie. School was bad but it wasn't nearly what it is now. And it's because you guys hang out with me." She swallowed.

Cole glanced sideways at me and I felt my heart hurt for Kelsey. All three of us sat in silence, remembering Charlie.

"Who is mean to you?" Cole's voice was laced with anger.

She threw her hands up. "Everybody. You just punched your best friend in the face."

"He isn't my best friend. He's not even a friend, or an acquaintance. He's a waste of space."

She looked at Cole, her dark brown eyes sad. "Why are guys okay with taking all this crap? Just to hang out with me?"

"Because we don't know who they are anymore. We don't want to treat people like crap." I answered and Cole nodded.

Kelsey sighed and gave us a small smile. "You guys are the best."

Cole leaned over and fake-whispered, "I'm better than Erick though."

She giggled as I rolled my eyes at him. "You're not my best friend anymore. You're an acquaintance."

*****

~Kendall~

According the the doctors, I flatlined.

Yep. I died and came back to life.

It wasn't painful at all. It was actually the most at peace I've ever been in my entire life. My body went numb and I closed my eyes as if I were going to sleep. And that's what it felt like.

Until my heart was suddenly zapped back to life; all my organs struggling to get enough blood flow to keep me alive. The light shining on me was super bright and I squinted against it, the voices of the doctors loud as they shouted to one another.

Once they trusted my body enough to survive overnight, they hooked me back up to oxygen and that damn heart monitor again before slowly slipping back into our usual routine as the week went by. By now I had no will to survive, and hated the doctors for bringing me back to life when there is no purpose for me to live anymore.

I don't even have anywhere to live.

Kelsey and Erick hadn't visited, not that I expected them to. Still, it would've been nice to have someone to have during this. You know, dying and all.

But a few days later, I was pleasantly surprised when Karen entered my room, smiling warmly at me. She stepped to the side as Kelsey walked through the door, nervously tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

For some reason, I found myself smiling at her. "Hey.''

She smiled back and waved as Karen left the room, softly closing the door. Kelsey awkwardly sat in the chair next to the bed and cleared her throat.

"How are you feeling?"

I snorted. "If I had a dime for every time someone has said that."

She laughed and shook her head. "But I'm genuinely curious."

"Alone. I don't feel like anyone is...there for me anymore. Fighting for me."

Kelsey looked at her hands and was silent for many moments, seeming to contemplate what to say. "Sometimes...Sometimes, you have to stop waiting for someone to come along and fix what's wrong. You have to stop feeling sorry for yourself, and realize no one in this entire world has an easy life. Sometimes you have to be your own hero."

The room got quiet was again, besides the beep...beep...beep of the heart monitor. "I don't feel sorry for myself-"

"Yes, you do. And that right there is where you need to cut it out. I know you've had probably the worst imaginable life, but that gives you even more opportunity to show how strong you really are. Life sucks, but you only have one. And you have many things to live for, Kendall. For example. You have a super attractive and sweet boy who'd do anything to see you better and you're being selfish by not trying to get better."

I felt tears sting my eyes, not because she was hurting my feelings but because it's true. Kelsey takes a deep breath and runs a hand through her hair. "I hope I'm not wasting my breath."

I look out the window at the darkening sky. "It's hard, Kelsey."

Standing up suddenly, she starts walking over to the door. "That's unfortunate. Real unfortunate."