Only Differently Designed // ODD

15. Only Laura's Fault

BRRRSSSSHHH

The first time I hear that noise I nearly jump out of my seat high enough to bash my head against the car ceiling.

"Jeez Laura, you blow your nose like an elephant blows its trunk," Jenna turns to us from the passenger seat. I must have looked startled because she gestures at me and exclaims, "Look! You traumatized the poor girl!"

More like burst my eardrum.

"Gimme a break," Laura rasps, sounding as if her nose were plugged by a hairclip. "I'm sick okay?"

I hold my breath superstitiously. Seeing as I'm sandwiched between Laura and Scarlet in the backseat, the chances of me breathing Laura's air are a fifty-fifty, and I have no intentions of catching whatever virus she's hoarding.

"Try not to get too close to Massa now," Scarlet warns her. "It's enough that she got injured, she doesn't need to catch a cold as well."

"We're here girls!" Jenna's mom sings, parking. She seems to naturally emit a sing-song voice every time she speaks. As if she swallowed a doorbell at some point. ''You girls be careful. Tell Massa I said hi. I'll be back in about an hour."

We all file out of the car mumbling our "thank you"s and start walking into the hospital. Jenna is carrying a box of chocolates, Scarlet a plastic bag full of "fun things to do" and Laura her beloved tissue box. I tag along behind, hands firmly gripping both straps of my school bag, to make them seem occupied since there's nothing for me to carry.

Massa smiles and puts down the magazine she's reading when we enter her room. The girls – except for Laura and I who wave from a distance – rush to greet her with hugs and squeals. Her usually wavy hair is slightly ruffled after the hug.

In a few minutes, the leg laid out in front of her in a cast that soon becomes covered in all sorts of random messages written with the markers Scarlet brought. I'm not sure what to write when it's my turn so I just draw a cat's face.

"How are you?" Scarlet asks as she digs up more equipment from her "fun" bag.

"Fine," Massa sighs. "I'm just really disappointed that I can't participate in the rest of the tournament. I can't even go back to horseback riding for several months."

"That's alright," Jenna smirks. "I'm sure your boyfriend is willing to meet up someplace else that doesn't smell like horse dung."

"What boyfriend?!" Massa yelps, cheeks coloring.

"Fadi, duh." Jenna picks up the marker again and starts to draw an arrow struck heart on Massa's cast, causing the latter to throw her magazine at her.

"I hear he carried you all the way here in his arms, bridal style," Laura sniffles, grinning evilly.

When Massa turns even pinker, the girls go off on a shrieking streak.

"Oh my God did he actually?"

"Laura, you're kidding!"

"Look at her face!"

"That's so adorable!"

"What was it like in prince charming's arms?"

"I bet he was sweaty."

"Oh shut up, will you?" Massa growls, grabbing a deck of cards from Scarlet. "No one carried me, okay? Now come on, let's play. Broken leg or not I'm still kicking all of your butts."

Gathered in plastic chairs around Massa's bed we begin a game of Hand. The girls continue to talk and crack jokes. Jenna ends up eating most of the chocolates she bought. At one point Laura releases another nose bomb – BRRRSSHHH – and they all burst out laughing at how Massa flinches, eyes wide, at hearing the radioactive explosion for the first time.