𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑| 𝐋.𝐂.

47: Trouble

"Valerie?" My brother says, stopping in his tracks with the paramedics behind him.

"What are the doing here?" I ask him.

"We're taking you to the hospital, honey." Mom says to me.

"What? No!" I exclaim, getting up from the couch as I feel the sweat on my forehead starting to dry up.

"Hey, hey, hey. Where do you think you're going?" Dad says, pulling me back down on the couch.

"Dad, this is ridiculous. I'm not going to the hospital. I probably just got dehydrated after working on all the conference stuff." I say.

Sophie then hands me a glass of juice and I thank her, taking a sip.

"Valerie, seriously, you should probably go with these guys." Alex says.

"He's right." Hayley says, nodding at me.

"I'm okay." I tell him.

"Give me your arm, please." The EMT says to me and and I hold out my arm for him.

"Probably just need to go to bed and I'll be good as new tomorrow. I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here." I say.

"Honey, they are taking your vitals before anyone goes anywhere, okay?" Mom tells me and I nod at her.

                                        ||

"Hi." I chirp at Carter and I wrap my arms around him as he stops eating his cereal.

"Sibling hug. Whoa. What's that for?" He chuckles.

"Just for this. For being the best brother." I cheese as I let go, patting his shoulders and then take a seat across from him.

"Okay, what you want?" He says, putting his spoon in the bowl.

"That's so mean. What, I can't just tell my brother that's he's awesome?" I tell him.

"Have I ever done it?" Carter asks me.

"Okay, fuck you for that. And fine, there is something I want." I say and he chuckles.

"I knew it." He says.

"It's nothing. It's just...Alex told me that he talked to you yesterday about something, and then he was gonna talk to me and it seemed pretty important. But then I passed out. So, what did you two talk about?" I ask him.

"You should talk about it with him." Carter says, continuing to eat his cereal.

"I knew it. I knew there was something. Carter, you have three minutes until Alex gets out of the shower. Tell me." I state, clenching my jaw at him.

He just keep chewing, looking at me.

"If you don't tell me, I'm gonna faint again and tell mom it was because of your cologne." I say and he sighs.

"You're gonna faint again once I tell you. Last night, Alex said while you and him were at the movies, you went to the bathroom. And while you were gone, Leo texted you. He deleted the message seconds before you came back." Carter tells me and my face drops.

I then get up from my seat and stomp over to Alex's locker. I put in the combination and open it.

"Valerie, wait. Just stop." Carter says, running after me.

"Where the hell is my Louie?" I say, trying to feel for it.

"Listen, just don't him I told you." He says to me and I finally find my Louise, opening up to see my messages.