Canon

Chapter Twenty

"WHAT?!" Chelsea shouted at me when I told her I forgot to bring a shirt.

"What could I possibly do? Chelsea, you know I can't let her see me cry," I whined.

"Is there a problem, girls?" Adrian arrived, putting his arm around me.

"It's just that this girlfriend of yours forgot to bring a shirt and now she's asking me if I could lend her an extra," Chelsea laughed when I rolled my eyes.

"Really?" he asked me, "It's all right, you could borrow one of mine,"

"They'd be too big for me!" I protested, but secretly, I did want to wear a shirt of his.

"What? No! They'd look cute on you," he smiled sincerely.

"Really? OK," I agreed maybe a little too quickly.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Innes arrived with Lizzie, who immediately came to hug Chelsea and I.

"Nothing much. Have you seen Chaz and Carter?" Adrian asked.

"I think they're out on the football field," Lizzie answered.

So off we went. After Carter and Chaz's practice, we'd go directly to Chaz's residence.

We sat at the stands where we waited for both of them. We just talked there about current happenings when all of a sudden, Chaz was on the grass and seeming to be in pain.

"Chaz?" Chelsea got up from her chair and went down to the field, "CHAZ!?"

Innes, Lizzie, Adrian and I did the same.

"What happened!?" Chelsea asked frantically.

"Seems like he tripped over..." Carter picked up a helmet and raised it up, "This."

"Chaz? Chaz, are you OK?" Chelsea repeated over and over again.

Someone probably called the local hospital since an ambulance arrived.

Chelsea, Innes and Lizzie came with Chaz while Adrian called Chaz's parents.

"How could this happen?" I asked to no one in particular, "And before the day of the competition..."

"Jazz, no one expected this to happen," Adrian touched my shoulders lightly.

"Come on," Carter told us, "Let's get our stuff and follow them to the hospital,"

All I could do was nod as Adrian led us out of the field.

When we arrived there, Chelsea was crying by Chaz's bedside and his mother was clutching his hand tightly while tears streamed down her face.

"Chaz's father is still in an out-of-town meeting," Lizzie explained, "But he'll get here as fast as he can,"

"What about the competition?" Innes asked innocently.

"Maybe we'll have to do without him" Carter exclaimed.

I wanted to argue with him, saying that it can't be since Chaz is one of the best, but seeing the condition that he is in now, maybe what Carter said was right.

"Why don't we hang out in the caf for a while?" Adrian suggested.

"Sure," Carter said a bit too quickly.

Lizzie and Innes sat on another table while Adrian got us snacks.

Carter and I were left alone, and then I had a not-so-good kind of feeling in my stomach as I remembered my dream.

I noticed Carter was sweating despite the air-conditioning and he can't stop twiddling his thumbs. He also looked pale.

"Carter, are you all right?" Despite how awkward I felt, I still can't bear to see another one of my friends hurt.