Bikes, Beaches and Afternoon Waffles

13 | Salted Wound

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❝ Lua ❞ by Bright Eyes

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Suddenly, Casper twitches and his eyes flutter open. Everyone crowds around him. After kneeling down, I scoop him into my arms and cradle his head.

"Casper!" I exclaim with worry, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I think so," he replies.

I exhale a heavy sigh of relief. He squeezes his eyes together and furrows his brows, placing the palm of his hand against his forehead to apply pressure. When he touches the injury, he jerks his head back and winces at the burning pain. I think his brain rattled around inside his skull after taking such a powerful punch. He must have a headache.

"Do you need ice?" I ask him.

"I'll go get help!" Valerie blurts.

"No," Casper interrupts weakly, "That won't be necessary..."

"Dude, you just got pulverized," Tyler clarifies, "You need some help."

"I'll be fine..." he assures us with a soft chuckle. However, when he releases the laughter, he flinches and holds the side of his ribs as if they are aching inside of his body.

"We should probably get you home," I suggest briefly.

"I can't have my parents see me like this," he mentions, "They'll ask too many questions."

"You can come with me," Valerie offers, "My parents aren't home; they are away for a business trip and won't return until next week. We can have the house to ourselves..."

Although the gesture was polite, Valerie had to make the situation awkward by adding a playful smirk to the end of her comment. When she bats her eyelashes at Casper, I assume that she was making a poor attempt at being flirtatious - and at a completely inappropriate time might I add. To make matters worse, I think she was suggesting something other than simply going to her house; her intentions clearly lie elsewhere...

"Actually, I should make sure that Chloe returns home safely," he replies before glancing at me. The moment we make eye contact, I blush and look away.

"Oh..." she mutters. After being rejected, Valerie glances at Billy and desperately attempts to make him the rebound, "Well, nevermind then. I actually don't really care. I was going to ask Billy anyways. We had made plans to hang out tonight - just the two of us."

"No, we didn't..." he reveals.

"Don't you remember?" she laughs nervously, "During the movie?"

"The same movie where you swapped seats to sit by Casper?"

"Umm..."

"Yeah, I remember clearly," he says, "And I think I would rather walk home by myself then with a girl that just wants to use me to make another guy jealous."