The Shattered Ride

Chapter 13

    School starts today, and I'm not really excited. I mean, it will be great to see everyone again, but I'll have to face Erica again, and again, and again. Each day of my life. I didn't want to hurt her. And now she's disappointed because I didn't choose her. I didn't have much of a choice. I just wish she understood.

    I slowly sat up in my bed. I had a lot of pain this morning, but I at least I could move. I stood up, took a shower, got dressed, and went down for breakfast. Today I actually felt really sad. Sad as in angry at Jay for keeping me away from the person who I learned to like. And now, I wasn't even allowed to talk to her.

    The doorbell rang, and my mom went to get it. I was still enjoying my toast when my mom called from the front door, "Jordan, its Amy." And they came walking in. My mom didn't even do as much as smile. My parents found out about our kiss, and they didn't like that I started hanging out with her again. They knew how much I went through and how much I cared for her. I just said that this was just a friendship-gaining-trust kind of thing. The looked confused and I reassured them that this was nothing more than just a plain friendship. Well, only in my head. How I was going to convince Amy, I was not sure...

    Her smile was bright on this horrible Monday morning. She sat next to me, and kept staring at me in a big smile. I just looked at my food and could feel my parents eyeing us. This was weird. I gave her a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "Let's go." She stood up and headed to the door. I stayed behind, said goodbye and followed her out. I could hear them whisper loudly. Then closed the door and met her at the sidewalk. But what I thought was going to be a peaceful walk turned to be a horrible conversation where only Amy talks. This walk was nothing like the walks Erica and I had. This thought made me miss her so much. She made jokes that made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe. And she would have this beautiful, soft smile on her face when I talked. Why am I only noticing this now? Now that I've lost her. I swallowed hard. I could get teary here. Right now.

    Amy continued a conversation on her own. She changed so much. I used to like talking with Amy. Now it was awkward and I never got a chance to speak. I wish I could say something, otherwise I'd only be thinking about Erica. And I needed to get my mind off of her.

    We arrived at school and I was greeted by a lot of people. But others just stared at me. Amy told me to ignore them, and tried to give me a reassuring smile, but it didn't help. More people stared at me when I got to my locker. Oh no! Erica's locker is right next to mine... I sighed. This was going to be torcher and Jay knew that.

    I took out my books, and in the corner of my eye, I saw Erica approaching. I took a deep breath and walked away. She looked amazing today, and that was going to make me want her more. So I thought, why not just walk away whenever she's close? And it worked for the whole day. My only problem was Amy. She constantly forgot to bring my work, or suddenly didn't know what homework we have. She just wanted to kiss. So, I made her a deal. No kiss, unless she writes down our homework. It worked for very well. She even brought me my work after every period. But then, on Thursday, she got the flu. Now I had a problem. I tried walking around, but after two classes, I was too tired or in too much pain.

    After third period, I sat in the gym, in pain. All the moving made every part of my body cramp. I was still lying on the bench when I heard someone enter. I sat up slowly to see that it was Erica. She had her backpack on her back and papers in her arm. She walked over to me, and put the papers on my desk.

    She looked at me and said, "You okay? Can I bring you anything?" She asked it very dryly, but I could sense care in her voice.

    I sighed and said, "I'm in a lot of pain. I didn't realize how much effort it takes to walk around." We were quiet. She looked down. I could see she looked very worried about something. So I asked, "Everything okay-"

    "No Jordan. Nothing is okay. You won't tell me the truth, you're ignoring me when I just want to help, and now, I'm doing what your girlfriend was supposed to do. If you just asked me in the first place, you wouldn't even have to come to school. I would've been at you house every day, helping you. Teaching you. But instead, you chose one of the dumbest kids in our class. She flanks have her grade and you expect her to be responsible? Wow... Great... You know what Jordan, I'm just trying to help-"

    "Well, stop helping..." I interrupted. She had tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her everything, but that would make things worse, and I have to stay away from her. I don't want to end up in the hospital, again.

    I looked away, trying very hard not to cry. She let out a large chunk of air. I felt very bad, but what could I do? I mean, she wasn't even supposed to be here. She took a deep breath and turned around and walked away. Seeing her leave, hurt me more than ever.

***

    I hurried to the class. When I arrived, I explained and went to sit in my chair. Jerk. I was so mad at him. Why couldn't I help him? Why didn't he want me to know? Why does he keep lying to me? All the questions ran through my head.

    The math teacher went on with his class while I cried in the back. I couldn't take this anymore... I missed him so bad. The picture of him lying in my parking lot flashed in my head... this hurt so much! I just wanted to wake up from this bad dream...

    The bell finally rang for lunch. I walked over to the gym, but before I could go in, Jay stopped me. He smiled and gave me a hug. The hug felt tight and hard, and I didn't feel comfortable. "If you don't mind, I just want to quickly go and give Jordan his math homework." I tried to slip away but then Jay grabbed me into a hug, again. Really? What was going on? Why won't he let me go? "Can I please go?"

    He kept on smiling and put his arm around my shoulders. Then he started walking me to the lunch room. The gym is the other way? Oh come on Jay. "Let me go!"

    "Didn't Jordie boy tell you? You're not allowed near him. Bother speaking to him..."

    I stopped. What? "Excuse me?"

    He turned around to face me. He looked disappointed. What wasn't he telling me? He sighed and said, "Jordan lost a bet against C.J. So now, he has to stay away from you. I thought you knew?"

    I couldn't believe my ears. Why would C.J of all people bet on me? I gave him a look telling him I didn't care, and with that, ran into the crowd. I disappeared and ran to the gym. A little bet wasn't going to stop me. Anyway, I know how to handle C.J. You just threaten him, and he backs off. So I went to the gym to find Jordan eating a sandwich and looking at a picture. He didn't see me come in. I gave him a bit of a fright, and he immediately hid the photo. Okay...

    I went to sit next to him. Took out my lunch and ate with him. After a while, I explained what we had to do in math and then I left. Sitting next to him was hard enough. I left with the knowing that I had lunch with my best friend. After only four months, we have become real close and very good friends. I would consider him a best friend, but best friends don't ignore other best friend. I was going to irritate him until he told me why he didn't want to hang out with me. But first, I had to find out about this thing with C.J.