his and hers | 18+

17 | the more the merrier

•°•* ⁀➷
clementine

my mom never came to the hospital.

piper came into my room two hours after my MRI—which was really creepy—to tell me my mother picked up when she called, and said she'd be here soon. it's the next day, twenty four hours later, and she's still not here.

i don't know what i expected from someone like her. she probably wasn't sober when she picked up, and forgot to come. or maybe she was sober and just doesn't want to come and see why her only kid is in the hospital.

i've spent these two days playing uno with the guys—who have been so supportive i almost broke down in tears again. lucas went out to actually buy us all some food this time, and fattened me up way too much. i think i'm still bloated.

alex. i still can't believe pierce's friend alex is the alex.

alex and i weren't exactly friends when i was a sophomore, but back then the fact that he spoke to me without spitting meant the world to me. it still does.

our principal had called a meeting with me one day, and introduced me to alex. she'd said that alex had really bad grades, and was going to repeat the year if he didn't get them up. there was only two months left in school and i almost declined, but i saw the desperation behind his eyes. so i took him on.

at first, he was really silent and moody, kind of like pierce. it was my first year and i didn't have much information about anyone. i just kept my head down, and stayed out of packed hallways.

that's probably why i didn't connect the dots earlier, i only found out pierce was friends with someone named alex in junior year, but by then alex had been expelled, so i'd never actually seen him with pierce. this entire time, i've thought it was a different alex. you can imagine my shock when i saw him come into the hospital room, i was so nervous that he wasn't going to recognise me.

anyway, alex has a really short attention span with all things related to school. after one whole week of meeting up everyday at lunch to help his grades, i realised maybe if we took a break every time he started getting bored, it'd do us some good.

that's when i started bringing uno with me everyday. at first, he was being a grouch and pretended he didn't like uno. so i started playing with myself to make him feel left out, and it worked. every single time he started to get moody, i'd pull out uno and we'd play a game or two.

we never added each other on social media, or spoke to each other outside of tutoring, because like i said, we weren't friends. but back then, we were both going through some shit and appreciated each other's company.

"uno!" i shriek, gently slamming my remaining card onto the pile with a victorious smile. alex groans, and lucas stars complaining as i wave my arms around in the air, cackling.

"you're cheating!" lucas yells, pointing at me accusingly, then at my hospital gown—which i was given yesterday. "take off your gown."

"i'll take out your fucking intestines." pierce offers, butting in. i slap his shoulder playfully and turn back to lucas, repeating with narrowed eyes, "i'll take out your intestines."

lucas tilts his head back with a groan. "you know i didn't mean it like that. stand up and shake the cards i know you have in your dress out."

"fine, only to show you that i really am the queen of uno." i climb over pierce's legs—who has refused to leave my side since i arrived here—and step onto the floor. the second i do, a sharp pain hits my skull and my eyes momentarily shut.

i whimper in pain, pressing my palm against my forehead. a ringing sound penetrates my eardrums, and my stomach churns like i'm about to vomit. concussions suck. i keep my eyes shut for a few more seconds, hoping when i open them the room isn't spinning anymore.