𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃'𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃

twenty-six

𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀-𝑺𝑰𝑿

—

𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒊𝒆

miserable, i lay down on the hospital bed, waiting for someone else to walk in and talk about this whole situation.

to my unfortunate surprise, the same dirty blonde-headed boy i saw earlier with zane walked in. "hey, kenz." he faintly smiles. "hey," i hesitate. "johnny." he finishes. in complete guilt, i bury my face in my hands and groan. i hear him laugh and walk towards me. i peak as he sits down, and i notice the scars on his face, and the pain in his eyes when walking.

i was completely speechless, and he noticed my stares and chuckled once more. "oh this? yeah, i was in the accident with you." he says. johnny says. "oh." i fiddle with my fingers, "what?" he asks. "what?" i ask back. "yeah, i know you don't remember me, but i know you. i know you fiddle with your fingers and stay quiet when you want to ask something." he smiles. i faintly smile back. "fine, you got me." i laugh, but the smile soon fades away as i stare at him. "i know that it's pretty traumatic— and you don't have to, i don't want to remind you of what happened— but, can you possibly tell me what happened? might help me remember." i ask. he stays quiet before saying anything.

"yes, yes for sure."

𝒋𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒏𝒚

"might help me remember." she continued. after asking to describe the accident, all i could think of was the image of her lying on the concrete, unconscious. snapping back to reality, i reply. "yes, yes for sure. in fact, i'm going to be spending a lot of time with you, as i can remind you of what you can't remember."

i swallow the chunk stuck in my throat, and look at her. "we were at the school's- los angeles academy of the performing arts' valentine's day dance. we were actually going through a fight, and that's a story for another day, but we made up." she made herself comfortable, and so did i. "after the dance, we decided to go to a party. we both got pretty drunk, and asked lauren— my sister and one of your best friends— if she can call for an uber to drive us home. while she was driving, i threw up in the backseat, and the driver looked back for one second." i explain as i pushed away the thought i've been thinking about lately.

"just then, a car ran the red light at an intersection, and crashed the side of the car where you were at. from there, we were all rushed to the hospital. you were mostly impacted— as you probably know by now."

she just store blankly at the floor. "uhm, thank you. but, i'm sorry johnny, i just can't remember anything." she says. i start tearing up, but stopped myself. "it's okay. we've got time, and i have a lot more stories." i smiled. "anyways, uhm, i'll send nadia in. she's been dying to see you." she smiles, and i walk out.

i walk to the waiting room, and tell nadia that kenzie was waiting for her. nads smiles at me as she heads for the room. i stand there, not saying anything, as i stare at the floor. maddie walks up to me and wraps her arms around me. i start to sob into her shoulder, and hug her back.

"i'm sorry," i start to cry even more. "if i didn't throw up, or even drank, this would've never had happened!" i sobbed, and lauren walked up to us. "look what i caused! my sister is hurt, you guys are all hurt, and my best friend won't even remember me." "hey, stop, this is not your fault." maddie says. "you did nothing wrong."

[634]