Fast Times at Clairemont High

I sat in the hospital room with Audrey. I had begged the nurse to let me stay long past visiting hours. My parents had left as soon as they had heard she was alive.

To: Lyric
Hey, are you okay? It must be hard with everything going on.

It was pretty late so I didn't expect an answer. I just sat there, staring at Lyric's name. My phone buzzed and I got a text from Vic.

From: Bro
How's Aud?

To: Bro
Pretty good. Turns out she overdosed on some aspirin. Took nearly the whole bottle, which was never opened. The doctors say she's lucky to be alive.

From: Bro
Damn. She looks just like you, except for the hair. You would be such a great mother, you're so caring for her.

To: Bro
She's all I have left. She's my little sunshine.

I thought of how Audrey had described me. My heart. I started to cry when I saw her heart started to fail.

"Doctor! Her heart's failing!" I yelled, crying. A doctor quickly came in and tried to revive her. Her heartbeat returned, shaky at first, but then became steady once more. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. I pulled a chair over by her bed and sat in it, holding her tiny hand.

~

The sunshine burned my face as I woke up. It was Tuesday, time for school. I gave Aud a kiss on the forehead and promised I'd be back for her.

I wore the same clothes I had yesterday, not willing to go home and face my parents. I called Vic to pick me up.

I saw his car roll into the hospital parking lot and walked down. I hopped in and greeted Vic.

"She scared me. Right after we stopped texting, her heart failed. They had to revive her." I said, my voice shaky and uneven. Vic grabbed my hand. He sensed my fear.

"It's okay to cry, you know." He said. I nodded. I didn't like to cry- it made me feel weak.

"We're here..." He trailed, focusing on parking next to Jaime's car. They were all waiting for us. As soon as I got out of the car, Jaime wrapped his arms around me in a big hug.

"Love meeeeee!" He said. Mike laughed.

"Aaaaand IIIIIIIIIIII
Willllll never love yooooooUUUUUUuuu!" I sang, escaping from his tight grasp.

"Aww..." He said. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and he blushed. "Does this mean I am forgiven?" He asked hopefully. I nodded. "Yayyyyy!" He picked me up and spun me around. I held his hand, and my other hand was holding Vic's. Right as we walked in we were greeted by the sluttiest and rudest girl in the school.

"Damn, now you got two boys? What a slut!" Madeline laughed. Her wannabes joined in behind her.

"What a hypocrite. Everyone knows you've slept with nearly all the boys in the school!" Lyric accused. Madeline scoffed and strutted off with her whore army.

"She needs Jesus." Mike said, pretending to pray. He made everyone laugh. The first bell rang and everyone scattered to their lockers. The second bell rang, and I was late. I was walking to class when I heard someone taunting a boy and shoving him up against a locker.

"Emo Faggot." One of the guys said, giving Vic a sharp kick in the ribs. Vic just held his side and the boys went away. I ran over to him and dropped my books.

"Vic, are you okay? Who are those people?" I asked, my eyes welling up with tears.

"I-I'm fine, that was Logan Heist and his friends." Vic sputtered. I placed my hand on his cheek and wiped away a tear. He attempted to get up when his rib made a horrible cracking sound. I shoved my books into his locker and helped him to the Nurse's office.

The nurse told us that he had a bruised rib and that he should call home. Vic did, and his parents drove him to the doctor's.

Notes