Chapter 2 -- Collision
Then
"Rayes! Rayes!" Austin heard his name being called. He started looking around for an open man to pass the ball. He couldn't run himself because he was already surrounded. That's when he noticed Chase Adams was pretty much open. Or at least, more open then others. He threw the ball to Chase who leaped up and caught it. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he headed towards the end zone and scored a point for Austin's team. That's when Coach blew the whistle, signaling the end of practice. Austin and the rest of the football team headed back down to the locker room to hit the showers. On the way down, Chase ran up to Austin .
"Hey. So earlier you said you needed to talk to me?" He asked worriedly, as if he were in trouble or something.
"Yeah man. You know how the Homecoming Game is coming up?" Chase nodded his head as he listened. "Well, you've been waiting for a chance to prove yourself. This is your chance. You're gonna host the Post Homecoming Party. Okay with you?" he asked with a slight smile on his face. Chase was a new friend of Austin and his group. They just recently started hanging out, when Chase tried out for Varsity over the summer and made it. Austin, Eric and their friends started hanging out with Chase Adams more and wondered why they haven't noticed him before. Chase was a pretty good looking kid with a nice build, brown hair and brown eyes. Plus he was pretty wealthy. His family owned one of the best restaurants in town. But now that he was one of them, he had to prove that he belonged. By hosting the first big party of the year (besides the Last Night Party, of course) it will boost his popularity by a million. A smile started growing across Chase's face.
"Yeah man. I'd love to host the party. No problem." Chase answered.
"Alright, good. That's what I want to hear. Later man." Austin said as he took off and headed down to the locker room to take a quick shower. Then he left to meet up with his girlfriend, Stephanie Brown.
"Come on now. Do you have to do this now?" Rachel McFarley asked Bryan sternly. Bryan Dellwood shrugged.
"Why, what's wrong?" He asked. She gestured towards the cigarette in his finger. "Well, we do it every day. At the same time. At the same place." He said slowly as if Rachel was new to their group. Every day after school, they would meet at the sidewalk directly across the street from the school to have a smoke. "That's why it's called `Smoker's Corner'." Bryan laughed a little.
"No you idiot." Rachel said smacking Bryan in the back of the head a little. "I mean, because of Heather." Heather Graham was another friend of theirs. Except she's spent the last couple months in rehab, even though she was only 17. Her parents were crazy and decided that she needed help, so they sent her to Utah for her rehabilitation. Nobody thought she would last. Not even her. Especially since she did do a lot of crazy things before she left. She did, basically, everything but heroine.
"What? She can still smoke cigs. You can smoke cigs, right Heather?" Bryan asked. She nodded her head.
"Duh, doofus." She said as she made her way to Bryan, took the cigarette out of his hands and took a few puffs for herself. "See?" Bryan, frankly, was glad that she was back. Heather was pretty hot. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. Plus big tits. Ever since she's been back, she hasn't been dressing like herself. She's been dressing a little more preppy and no dark make up, which was completely weird for anyone in the group to be doing. Although her appearance has changed, her personality was the same. Heather always seemed like she was high or something, even when she was dead sober.
"Besides, Jeff is the one smoking weed." Everyone turned around to look at Jeffery Levin. Jeff wasn't paying any attention at first, as he leaned up against the wall and smoked his joint. He must've noticed everyone's eyes on him and his head turned slowly. Then his eyes bulged out as if in shock.
"What?" he asked.
"God. He is so. Fine!" Heather whispered to Rachel, who just laughed and shook her head. Jeff was Bryan's best friend. Although, there was a period of time when Bryan couldn't stand him. Sophomore year, Jeff and Rachel started going out, which really pissed Bryan off because Jeff knew how much Bryan liked Rachel. Just seeing them every day together made Bryan sick to his stomach. Thankfully they broke up towards the end of Junior year. Now Rachel hates him for what he did to her. Bryan is just glad that he has a chance with Rachel again.
"Hey guys, check it out. So Friday night is the Homecoming game, right? Practically the whole town and the people from Mount Caramel will be there." Heather suddenly announced as if nobody else knew about this. "Well, how do you think they got here? They drove, right?" everyone nodded their heads. "So, those cars will be left there alone for at least two hours. Which gives us time to..."
"We can fuck up there cars!" Jeff interrupted excitedly.
"YES!" Heather yelled frantically, jumping up and down. Bryan laughed, same old Heather.
Blair drove silently as he was lost in thought. He was getting pretty tired of the routine: get something to eat after school, ditch Teddy somewhere, head back to Blair's to have meaningless oral sex with Taylor, then to the library to drop her off. Blair really really liked Taylor, and he was nothing to her. Just a way to relieve herself, probably. Then he actually has to drop her off afterward.
"Hey, you okay?" Taylor asked. She probably noticed how quiet he was today. "Hey," she said grabbing a hold of his shoulder and pulling him to her slightly. She looked into his eyes sternly. He simply just shrugged.
"Yeah, no. Everything's fine, don't worry." He fake laughed. But he could tell that she wasn't buying it. They drove in silence a little more until they got to the library.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked cautiously as she got out of his truck. Blair simply just nodded as she closed the door. She kept looking back as she made her way to the building. Blair quickly drove away. He wasn't sure if you could continue doing this with her. They both knew that she didn't want him like that. Maybe it was time to move on and let her go.
Teddy sat on top of the look out seat, scanning the pool and it's surroundings for anyone drowning or doing something stupid. He thought that it would be slow, now that school started over a week ago. But it seems that maybe everyone was trying to cram in as much time in the pool as they can.
As time for closing grew nearer, more and more people left, making the life guard's job easier. From across the pool, Teddy saw Trevor Anderson smiling from across the pool at him. Trevor hasn't hit on Teddy since that night over a week ago. Teddy sometimes wonders what would've happened if he just let Trevor do what he wanted. Trevor had a pretty nice body, and a cute little happy trail from his belly button down into his shorts. But other times Teddy was glad with his decision. Since that night, he and Trevor have been pretty good friends and talk a lot more. Teddy returned the smile to him.
There were only a few kids at the pool now. But there was one kid on the high dive who caught his eye. It was mostly his buff body that lured his gaze to him. He wasn't football-jock-buff. But you can tell this kid worked out. His abs were so defined that it looked as if he had a twenty pack. Teddy laughed at himself for thinking such a thing. But this guy was really hard to look away from. He wasn't the biggest kid, maybe Teddy's size. Brown hair and piercing blue eyes. And one of those sexy, upside-down-triangular swimmer's body. Teddy could feel his erection growing in his shorts and adjusted himself to try and hide it. As he continued to look at this kid, he tried to figure out who he was. He did look extremely familiar. It wasn't until the guy dove into the pool and came back out soaking wet that Teddy realized who he was. His name was Bryan Dellwood. One of those weird kids from the school. He had gages in both earlobes; a random tattoo of a black star on his left wrist; he smokes, drinks and does drugs. Plus he and his friends play pranks on the school all the time. Last year, they had a massive water fight starting in the cafeteria and carrying out into quad. They had water bottles, water balloons, super soakers, and more. Dozens of kids got soaked, especially Bryan and his friends. (Which is the reason why Teddy only recognized him after getting wet.) They were suspended for a week because people's property was damaged. Books, assignments, and electronics, of course. It was the only thing people would talk about for a month. But it wasn't until now that Teddy noticed how extremely good looking Bryan was.
After closing, Teddy went for a swim by himself. He needed to relax for awhile. He found himself thinking about Bryan Dellwood and how hot he was. He wondered why Bryan would go to a community pool alone when his family had one in their back yard. Not to mention the pond only a few hundred yards behind their back yard, which they owned. The thought of Bryan in his trunks let Teddy's mind wonder back to Blair. He couldn't help but think of Blair every so often. Teddy had one of the biggest crushes on him, ever since they were kids. But Teddy told himself he had to move on. Blair was straight and always would be. He needed to move on. He couldn't waste his time fantasizing about a straight crush that would never even work out anyway. He couldn't think of Blair. He couldn't think of Bryan. Which lead his mind to Trevor. Trevor was really cute and a year older than him. Plus he was gay. And Teddy knew that Trevor liked Teddy. It was perfect.
He got out of pool and started looking around, hoping maybe that Trevor was around. Then he heard a noise from behind him. Teddy twirled around to see Trevor standing there, almost in shock to see him. He was still wearing his guard trunks.
"Trevor. You're still here." Teddy said relieved. Trevor laughed a little.
"Yeah. I was doing inventory on the snacks and drinks. What are you still doing here?" he asked Teddy. Teddy was about to explain everything, but decided against it. Instead, he walked towards Trevor, taking big strides towards him and placed his hands on his face when he got to him and pulled him into a kiss without any hesitation. Trevor pulled away a few seconds later. "Whoa, what are you doing?" He asked surprised.
"Well isn't it obvious?"
"Yeah, but I thought you said there was someone else?" Teddy took a deep breath and shook his head.
"No. That's over."
"Well I can't be your rebound guy." Trevor establlished.
"No, it's not like that. Don't worry." Teddy smiled again before leaning up to kiss him. Trevor was probably a good 6'1", Teddy being signficantly shorter at 5'8". Teddy could feel Trevor smile as they kissed, causing him to smile as well. Teddy actually liked this and regretted not doing it before. His arms went up to Trevor's shoulders as Trevor started sliding his hands down Teddy's sides before slipping them into the waistband of his trunks. Teddy jumped back a little, but realized that everything was fine and they continued. The next thing he knew, his shorts were around his ankles exposing his erection right at Trevor. Trevor's hand slid down and grabbed hold of Teddy's dick and started pulling on it while they continued to kiss. Teddy broke the kiss for a second to look at Trevor. This would be the first time Teddy ever did anything like this, but he knew he like it.
Bryan Dellwood had just finished drying himself. He liked leaving the pool later than others, even though his parents had a pool in the backyard and a pond not too far from it. But he disowned his parents and their money long ago. Bryan grew up in this small town, so pretty much everyone who's in his class now are the same kids he went to grade school with. Those were simpler times: no drama, no money, no division. But sometime during junior high, that stuff did become an issue. Bryan soon realized that people were being defined by money. He also noticed his parents pressuring him to become best friends with Austin Rayes, Eric Dean, the bimbos who would do anything for them, and the guys who worshiped the ground they walked on. Bryan couldn't have any part of that, so he quit that lifestyle. His parents could never understand why he would give up their money like that and never treated him the same, so he left them and now lives with his uncle who isn't as, let's say "rich", as others. But they seemed to be fine by it.
Bryan closed the cashier box after taking a few twenties from them, then walked over to the fridge to grab a coke. (Remember, he's poor now.) As he closed the door to the 'office' of the community pool, he thought he heard some shuffling going on in the locker room. He thought he was alone. He decided to creep up slowly to where the noise was. He set his coke down gently on a bench as he peered behind a row of lockers when he saw something completely shocking and something he wasn't expecting. Right before him was a kid in his class, Teddy Griffan, completely naked and leaning against the tiled wall of the showers, eyes closed. And a kid who graduated last year, Trevor Anderson, on his knees, blowing Teddy. It was something completely random and something he never thought would see. He quickly pulled back and leaned against the lockers, still confused as hell. Trevor graduated last year, what was he still doing here? And Teddy? It's like, 11:00. He then remembered that he saw Teddy a little earlier. They were both lifeguards here at the pool. But they were gay? Well, obviously.
His heart was racing. His breathing was heavy. But that didn't stop him from peering around the lockers to watch them again. This time, Trevor was standing up straight while Teddy sucked on his nipple. He made his way down from his pecs to his abs. As he did so, Teddy pulled down Trevor's pants. He followed the brown happy trail that led down to the base of his penis. Teddy didn't hesitate for a second to place that nice seven inch cock in his moth. He started slow, but then quickened the pace as he bobbed his head up and down. Bryan knew he wasn't gay. Hell, he had the biggest and longest crush on Rachel McFarley for years. Yet he held his six and a half inch dick in his hands, rubbing it slowly as he watched. He couldn't look away. He pushed his shorts down just a little bit as he started jacking off. He watched as Teddy pulled off of the cock he was worshiping on to move over to the balls. He let one in at a time. Bryan's mouth dropped. It looked so hot when Teddy sucked on Trevor's big, hairy balls. His hand movement was now moving a lot faster. And seconds later, he watched Teddy swallow Trevor's thick, white cum, causing Bryan to shoot his load all over the locker next to him. His head was cocked back and eyes closed. He had the longest orgasm he had ever had in his life. It just kept coming. Hot, ropey cum spewed out and connected from the head of his penis to the red locker door. When he finally finished, he sat down on the bleacher right next to his coke. He was completely spent and exausted. He reached over to grab his coke and take a drink. He just wanted to relax, then realized what just happened. He grabbed his shit and ran out into the parking lot.
He couldn't help but picture it over and over again as he drove home. He kept getting hard. He knew he wasn't gay. Or atleast, he thought. No no. He wasn't gay. He had sex with Heather Graham last year (which nobody knew about). The last time he checked, gay guys didn't have sex with women. He had to shake it out of his mind. He turned the radio on to listen to Nine Inch Nails and blasted it.
"Well I'm sorry for working. I'm sorry that I bring money home for you." Stephanie Brown heard her dad yell at her mom. He had just gotten home. And it's 11:37.
"For me? You weren't thinking of me. None of this if for me. Who were you fucking tonight?!"
"What the hell are you talking about you crazy bitch?"
"What the hell am I talking about? What the FUCK do you thinkg I'm talking about?!" She then heard something break from downstairs. "I'm talking about you fucking some dumb bitch. Who's the ho?"
"The only dumb bitch I fuck is you. Ho." Stephanie knew that she couldn't stay in here tonight. Her parents fought every day. And when there wasn't something to fight about, they would look for something to argue about. Take tonight for example. Obviously her mother couldn't find anything to argue with her husband about. So she pulled this out. The oldest trick in the book. It would either bring out something that would cause a real fight, or it would lead to an argument about trust. Stephanie decided she couldn't take it any more. So she popped opened her window and started shimmying down the gutter and jumped off halfway down. The only thing she was wearing was gray sweat pants and a black tank top. No jewlery. No make up. She ran to her truck (which was extremely huge for her, but her parents used it to buy her off) in only flip flops. She thought how weird it was, she never left the house without designer clothes, bags, shoes, make up, everything. She also left her cellphone behind in her room. She didn't want her parents calling after they realized she was gone.
She continued to drive as tears poured down her face. She tried wiping them away, but there was no use. She wished that everything would just go back to the way it was before. She wasn't paying attention and when she looked up she noticed someone walking across in front of her. She slammed down on her breaks hard just in time. The kid must've not even noticed, he had a beer can in his hand. She looked at him like he was some freak from the circus. Which, basically, he was. He had a buzzed cut hair style and baggy clothes. His eyes looked dead. He looked dead. He was extremely skinny and kind of pale. Stephanie knew from school that this burn out was named Jeffery Levin. He must've just then noticed the headlights and turned to look at them like they just popped out of the ground. He looked completely lost.
Stephanie, with tears rolling down her face, honked the horn loud and long. You know, because she's such a nice person. This snapped Jeff's attention. He looked right at Stephanie for a long time, then decided to finally finish walking to the other side of the street.
"God, you fuckin moron." She mumbled to herself as she proceeded to take off. But she didn't go but five feet until she heard a sudden CRAAASH! Her head swung forward, along with the rest of her upper body. Her head hurt, but she pulled back to realize that the hood of her truck was smoking. "Shit. What the hell did I hit?" she whispered as she got out. But that's when she saw something horrible. The front end of her truck only had a few dents, but the red jeep that she hit looked like a Coke can after Austin smashed it against his forhead. The boy in the seat was leaning back in his seat. Eyes closed. He looked dead.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed as her knees hit the floor. Tears once again flowing freely down her face. "Someone please help please!" she screamed again. Then she heard the footsteps of somebody running towards her. It was Jeff.
"Oh SHIT! You okay?" he turned to ask her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But what about him!" She pointed.
"Shit. Bryan!" He started running toward the passenger seat in attempts to carrying him out. "Call 9-11!" he ordered.
"I can't. I. I don't have my phone." She stammered. Of course this would happen. Jeff reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone and tossed it to her. She caught it and quickly tried dialing. She just hoped it wasn't too late.
Now
Blair went into his closet and grabbed a suitcase as well as some clothes and other shit that he needed for the trip. He threw them in the bag and headed towards the door.
"When do you think you'll be back?" Adam Adler asked quietly.
"I don't know." Blair said simply. Not even making eye contact with him. Ever since he got the news, he has been a little cold towards his room mate slash boy toy, which he felt bad about.
"Alright, well call me, okay? Or. I can call you?"
"No. I'll call you." he said as he made his way out of the door. Leaving Adam alone and hurt. Blair felt bad, but he couldn't afford to think about him right now. His mind was on his dead friend. What happened to him. And the last time Blair spent any time with him, which was years ago. That last memory made him think about the way he left things with his friends. Come to think of it, he hasn't seen any of his old high school friends since that last night. He started to feel guilty about his death. If only Blair had been there for him these past few years, instead of moving completely across the country to freaking San Diego. He felt a lump in his throat and he couldn't get rid of it. Then he realized that when he goes home, he's going to have to deal with all of his old friends that he just left and wondered if any of them would want to see him there.
The next thing he knew, he was parking the car under Long Term Parking at the airport. He didn't even remember the drive. He thought for a long time about possibly driving back to Pennsylvania, but that would take too long. He took a deep breath as he got out and headed towards the building.
Rachel McFarley sat anxiously, waiting for her friend. She hated this new rule that she couldn't wait in the terminals like she used to be able to. Now she's stuck on the other side of the metal detectors. It built up more anxiety. She looked down at her watch. His plane landed about ten minutes ago. Where was he? Would she even be able to recognize him? After all, it has been a long. And would he even recognize her? She no longer had the deep red hair anymore. It was now more like her natural hair color, but with some high and low lights streaked through it. Then she saw him and a smile grew across her face. His face kind of looked the same, but he seemed taller. And of course older. Possibly buffer? His head was now buzzed and he no longer had a faux hawk thing he tried pulling off in high school. For a second, she wasn't sure if it was him. But she recognized his blue eyes and thin lips and high cheek bones.
"Austin!" she yelled a little. She couldn't help it. He looked around for the voice that called his name, then he spotted her. Their eyes met and a smile grew wide on his face. She ran to him and leaped in the air a little as she embraced him. His arms squeezing around her tightly as they laughed a little. They stayed that way for a few minutes. Rachel found herself sniffing in his scent. Nothing's change. He smells exactly the same, and amazing. "Hey you." she whispered.
"Hey." he whispered back, then they pulled off for a second to stare into eachothers eyes. "Um, we should go get my bags." he suggested. Rachel nodded.
Rachel was quiet as she drove back into town. She couldn't believe that Austin Rayes was back in her life and sitting next to her in her car. But the thought was bitter sweet. She was exstatic to see him again after all these years, but on the other hand, he's only here because a mutual friend of theirs has just passed away. Would he even be here right now if someone hadn't just died? Probably not. Rachel sighed to herself. Austin must've noticed because he reached out and layed his hand on her thigh. A jolt of electricity traveled through out her body and her head snapped over to look at him. He had a soft, gentle look on his face with a slight, comforting smile. A quality he never had in high school, when he was the jerk.
"We can't do this." she said quietly. Almost at a whisper.
"What? We haven't done anything yet?" Austin asked curiously. Rachel smiled a little and shook her head.
"No. It's not that. It's just." she sighed again. "Okay, we've known eachother since we were like kids, right? Practically our whole lives. But we didn't start talking, I mean really talking, until our senior year of high school. And that was only by some freak accident. It's like, we all came together by means of a collision." Austin listened and nodded his head the whole time Rachel explained. "If it took us all seventeen years for us to meet, why would we throw that relationship away so fast?" Austin chuckled a little.
"Rache. Come on, what are you talking about? You're not making much since."
"Okay, let me try to make this simpler." she whispered to herself. "Alright. I feel like, maybe there was a reason for all of us coming together like that in high school. But now look at us. We're living on opposite sides of the country. We haven't talked in years. And when was the last time you've talked to anyone else?" she asked him. He didn't answer, just look down. "We can't do this. We can't only come together during a tragedy. We have to spend as much time with eachother now. I. I can't afford to keep losing people." she said with watery eyes. She tried holding back the tears, but failed. Austin reached out and took hold of her hand, caressing it gently with his thumb. Rachel turned to face him.
"You're right. But look, I'm not going anywhere now. I promise. You will never lose me." he said before bending down to kiss her hand. She couldn't help but smile. She completely felt stupid now. She wiped her tears away and relaxed a little.
"Okay, now that I'm done ranting. How's life?" she laughed a little. "You have a restaurant, right?" he sighed.
"No, I'm a head chef at a restaurant. But I don't own one myself. Maybe one day. What about you? How's LA?"
"Sucks. But atleast I'm busy everyday, you know? Plus I'm helping people. I really don't want any kids going through what most of us went through at their age, you know?" Austin nodded his head in agreement. Rachel was working as a social worker in Los Angeles, which she absolutly loved.
"So do you ever go down to visit Blair?" he asked randomly.
"What?" she almost snapped.
"Yeah, well, you know he lives in San Diego, right?" Rachel shook her head.
"No. I didn't know that." She said stirnly. "How did you know that? You keep in touch?"
"No no no!" Austin said quickly. "He came in a few months ago trying to get a job as a bartender. I, of course, said 'No.' He practically begged. Telling me this whole story about how he's been living in San Diego as a bartender after he dropped out at San Diego State a few years ago. He'd do anything for a good job."
"Hmm. Serves him right." she said quietly.
"Well, apparently he's been seeing other people too. Trying to find a good job. It's pathetic, really."
"Do you think he's going to be here?" she asked.
"Yeah, my bet is he will be. But I'm hoping not." They were silent again.
"So, are you seeing anyone?" she asked, hoping it didn't sound like she was interested. Austin chuckled a little.
"Me? Nah. Too busy. What about you?" he asked slowly.
"Same. I just don't have the best of luck with guys. In case you didn't notice."
"Don't worry. The right guy will come around one day." he said, trying to sound encouraging.
"Or maybe I've already found him. But I let him go." he said simply. Austin set and stared at her for a second. She tried not to notice and kept her eyes on the road. But she can still see him looking at her from her peripheral vision.
Then
They sat in the waiting room silently. Neither one said anything. Stephanie was lost in her own thoughts. She couldn't believe that she hit someone. And this someone was possibly extremely injured. Or worst. He could be dead. She wouldn't be able to live if she knew that she killed someone. But Jeff said that he was breathing find when he pulled him out of the Jeep. Still, things happen.
Not once did she ever picture herself here. Almost two o'clock in the morning, in the waiting room of a hospital. Waiting to hear news about a boy she could've killed. Wrapped in the arms of his best friend. Her head was resting against Jeff's chest as he held her. She really misjudged him. She thought he was just an arrogant pot head, but he was a really sweet guy. As soon as he heard the crash, he sobered up and looked like a real hero. They road in the back of the ambulance together, with Bryan. He took care of her the entire time. If he wasn't here, she probably wouldn't have made it. And she was glad that it had been Jeff to help. If any of her other "popular" friends were with her, they would've convinced her to leave after they got him to the hospital safely. You know, because they're nice people like that.
She looked up at him. His eyes were closed, his head leaning back against the wall. He was probably sleeping. Stephanie knew she should probably be doing the same, but she just couldn't. She just kept thinking.
"Why are you still up?" Jeff asked suddenly, his eyes never opened. This startled Stephanie a little.
"I can't sleep." she said looking back down. She took his hands in hers and started playing with his fingers. "I thought you were sleeping."
"Nope. How can I sleep with all that thinking?" She looked up at him again, confused. Yeah, he was a sweet guy, but sometimes weird. "You wanna know about that tatts, don't you?" He said. Still, eyes closed. She nodded her head. As she played with his hands (trying to give herself something to do) she noticed that he had a few tatoos. She only saw two, but had a feeling there was more. One was a black star on his left wrist, and the other was a spider on his middle finger of his right hand. "Me and all my friends have that star. It's like, our thing. You know? And the spider, well that one just looks cool when I flip people off." Stephanie chuckled slightly. She still examined his hands. She thought they would be all dirty and yellow from all the cigarettes. Untrimed nails and probably dry skin. But they weren't. His hands were nothing like that. She found herself playing with his hands for a few more minutes.
"Stephanie?" she heard her name being called. She looked around but didn't see anyone. The only ones in the waiting room were her and Jeff. Jeff's eyes were now open too, so she knew she couldn't have imagined it. Then she saw Austin come around the corner from the hallway. Fully clothed?
"Oh, right. Him." she thought to herself. She had almost forgotten about him.
"Are you alright?" he asked making his way to her. She quickly realized that she was sitting in a chair with Jeffery Levin, and his arms were around her. And her boyfriend, who wasn't Jeff, just came in the room. So she quickly got up.
"Um, yeah. I'm fine." The next thing she knew, he was hugging her and holding her tightly.
"God, I'm so sorry, babe." he whispered.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." she said again, a little aggrevatedly. "How did you know I was here?" she asked, pulling away.
"I saw your truck and a jacked up Jeep getting towed. I recognized you're license plate, so I talked to the guy and he told me you guys were probably here."
"Shit." she whispered as she placed her hands on her face. Now she would have to go and get her truck back tomorrow. Or, more like, later that day. She also found his story a little weird. Austin just happened to be driving around at two in the morning, fully clothed, hair spray keeping his faux hawk up, found her truck and followed instructions leading to her being in the hospital? It just seemed weird.
"It's okay. Everything's fine. I'll take care of it, okay?" she nodded her head. "Alright, come on. Let's go."
"What?" she looked at him like he was some kind of monster as she stepped back.
"Well, we need to get you home. It's late." he explained.
"I can't. I need to make sure Bryan's okay."
"Who?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Stephanie twirled around to see Bryan leaning up against the door frame, a crooked smile on his face. Jeff jumped out of his seat as if he saw a ghost. Bryan seemed fine, he only had a cast on his left hand. Stephanie ran over to hug him tightly. "Oooh." he said quietly.
"Ohmigod. Are you okay? I'm so sorry" she said as she jumped back.
"No, it's okay. Really."
"So what happened, man?" Jeff asked.
"Well, I have a fractured wrist. Which means I have to wear this stupid thing for a few weeks." he said grimly, pointing at the cast. "And a few bruised ribs. But either than that, I'm fine."
"Shit, Bryan. I'm so sorry. I don't. I. I just." Bryan laughed a little.
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I promise." he said with a huge smile on his face. Stephanie couldn't help but smile back.
"So how are you going to pay for it?" Jeff asked. Bryan groaned.
"Well, they're sending the bill to my parents. So of course I'm going to hear another speach about how great and amazing money is."
"Okay, that's all nice Ryan, but you're okay right? Can we go now?" Austin finally joined in.
"It's Bryan." Stephanie, Bryan, and Jeff all chorused together.
"Whatever. Let's go, Steph." Austin said walking out of the room.
"Okay." Stephanie said after him. "I'm sorry again." she said hugging Bryan, gently this time. "Thank you so much." she said kissing Jeff on the cheek gently and smiled before catching up to Austin.
"Who was that?" Austin asked.
"Don't worry about it."
Thanks for reading my story so far. I understand it's kind of confusing. There's so many characters and I added more in this chapter. But essentially, it's a teen soap opera. Please try and bare with me. And the jumping back and forth between then and now may be a little too confusing. If it's too confusing, let me know. I'll either drop the jumping altogether, or make it so that every other chapter is "Then", while the others are "Now" if it's easier. Please email me, comments and concerns are welcomed.