Unpredictable (A Dance Story)

Chapter 5

It was Thursday of the week that I was supposed to be on vacation. My right arm hung limply beside me as I walked through the now-familiar hallways of the hospital, making my way to the cafeteria. Mom helped me along, pushing the IV. I glanced at the clock. Right now, Abbie and Holden were probably in 7th period.

"What do you want?" Mom asked, starting to load a tray for me. I reached with my left hand to grab a parfait, but my grip slipped and the yogurt container burst, spilling everywhere.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled as the cafeteria worker came over to help clean up. She didn't talk, just eyed my bandaged arm and scratched up face and handed my mother a new parfait. I felt all the air rush out of me like a deflated balloon. Useless.

"It's fine, sweetie. Really. It was an accident," Mom assured me.

I didn't say anything. Still useless.

We sat down by my dad, who had managed to get by with nothing but tiny scrapes and scratches, and ate a silent lunch. No one had anything to say, so why try? I thought about things during my silent lunch, the same things that I had been thinking about all day. The only people that I wanted to share my thoughts with were Abbie and Holden, so I waited patiently until school ended, when I knew they'd come to visit.

"Aren't you skipping dance right now?" I asked when they walked in.

Abbie shrugged. "You're more important."

"Important?" I muttered, "I feel useless."

Holden shook his head. "Ford, you are not, never were, and never will be useless."

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Holden, what's one thing I'm good at?"

"You're good at a lot of things," he replied.

"Just name one."

Holden shrugged. "Well, you're a good friend."

I glared at him. He wasn't getting it.

"Dance," Abbie said quietly.

Holden gave her a look, like he couldn't believe she'd just said that, but I chuckled darkly. If one of them could explain how National Teen Miss Dance was going to perform without the use of her arm, I'd be glad to hear it.

"Ella, you'll figure something out," Abbie assured me. Not that I was buying it. I practically lived at the dance studio and worked so hard to be the best!

We all glanced at the bedside table as my phone lit up, showing a text from Logan. It was another beach text, asking me if I was having fun. Holden looked back to me with sad eyes.

"You've got to tell him."

I'd asked Abbie and Holden not to say anything to anybody. I had other friends at school, of course, who didn't need to know of my predicament. Logan was one of those. I hadn't responded to any of his texts, but that didn't stop him from texting.

"No," I moaned, "Don't make me!"

Abbie sighed. "It's better to tell him now. You don't want him finding out later and feeling upset because you never said anything."

Holden and Abbie had me backed into a corner on this. Holden handed me my phone and clicked it on, typing in my pass code for me. I sighed and went to my messages, glaring at them both. With narrowed eyes, I began to poke at the screen.

"Something happened."

I sent the message and clicked my phone off. If he didn't reply until after Holden and Abbie left, I didn't necessarily have to explain. Unfortunately, the phone lit up.