Red Bands

Chapter 17 - Lily & Jordi

Lilly;

I stand here somewhat awkwardly as Dash and Jordi talk.

"All right, well, the lay of the land is... My life is weirdly stable for the first time in basically forever. My mom's around and I have friends that I actually like, including you and this girl right here," Jordi says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "I'm not about to ruin that over a girl who might not be able to accept that I like someone else."

"Cool. Bro code," Dash says.

"You're such an amazing guy, you know that?" I ask, looking up at Jordi.

"I know," Jordi says, looking down at me. "And not the bro code. It's the Red band code."

"Ah," Dash says. "They better have some good popcorn here or I'm going home."

"They better have a good selection of candy here or I'm going with you," I say, walking with Jordi and Dash up to the concession line.

Chapter 12

Lilly;

"This line is so long," I whine, leaning slightly into Jordi's side.

"Calm down. We're almost to the front," Jordi replies, chuckling.

Finally, our little group of three reaches the counter. Jordi orders a drink and a large bucket of popcorn to share, and Dash gets a small thing of popcorn for himself.

"Thank you," he says as we turn away from the cashier.

"This is an embarrassment of riches," Dash says.

Jordi hands me the drink to carry and I take tiny sips of it. Dash walks in front of us and Jordi stops. He's bent over, hands resting on his knees.

"Jordi. Hey, are you okay?" I ask, kneeling down the best I can.

"J-man. You okay?" Dash asks, turning around to look at Jordi.

"I don't know, man. I-I don't feel good," Jordi answers.

"Come on," I say, trying to grab at the bucket of popcorn so that Jordi can sit down.

"Just wait right here, I'm gonna go get you some water," Dash says. "Make sure he stays right here, Lilly."

"I don't think he's moving, Dash," I reply.

"No, don't..." Jordi starts, turning to Dash, but he falls, spilling the popcorn.

"Jordi," I say. "Jordi, come on. Dash, get somebody to call an ambulance."

"On it," he says, cutting in front of the line. "I need someone to call 911. Please."

I've sat next to Jordi's head and pull him into my lap, brushing hair back from his forehead.

"We're getting you help, we're getting you help. You'll be okay," I say under my breath. I think it's more of an encouragement for me than it is for Jordi.

"There's an ambulance coming, Lilly," Dash tells me, kneeling down next to us. "He'll be fine. Calm down."

The ambulance arrives minutes later and the response team puts Jordi on the stretcher. They let Dash and I ride in the back of the wailing vehicle with Jordi. We get back to Ocean Park and I follow after Dash who is following after the people who are wheeling Jordi up to his room.

Jordi's sick. He's so sick. His mom helps him from the bathroom to his bed, where I'm waiting. Nurse Jackson walks in and gives Dash and I a look, telling us to scram. I jump up and wait outside the door, pacing back and forth.