Continuum

IV.

I turn to face her and sit back down, Aspen not releasing her firm grasp on my wrist. "If you tell me everything in truth and detail, I can just say that I remembered what happened," I say. It takes a few moments for her to begin telling me the story since she's still hesitant, but she does. Her rendition of the story starts with her explaining that Nolan and Kalila picked me up from my job so that we could go smoke.

"You dozed off on me in the car. I was talking about the stupid group presentation I have for English and you didn't hear a single word of it."

"I was probably tired, Aspen. You dragged me out to smoke like I didn't just have a long day of school and work. Can we skip to getting to the House?"

Aspen flinches. "Okay, damn." I need to conceal my frustration better. "When we got there, Nolan suggested we go to the top because there were people there recently. I knew it was a bad idea. Remember the time we smoked there during the summer and some random guys tried to rob us? I would rather have not encountered anyone else there again," she explains, picking at her nail polish as she talks.

"Okay, and what happened after that?" I press.

"Kalila went up first, and you followed behind her. For some reason, you slipped while climbing up, and plunged off the lighthouse to what could've been...your death," she breathes, her voice low. "But somehow, Nolan caught you."

I fell off the lighthouse?!

A lump forms in my throat but I swallow it, as well as the fear brewing in my chest. Clearly the knot is from the fall, even though she said Nolan caught me. How high up was I? Could I have internal bleeding right now? How would I know if my brain was injured? I'd have a concussion most likely, but I feel fine.

"That's the gist of the story. The details of the aftermath of your fall I won't get into. We took you home since you weren't injured from what we could see, and you woke up on the way." She looks away from me and grips her arms. "I'm still worried about you, Sabina."

I place a hand on her shoulder and squeeze it. Knowing this much makes me feel a little better, so I flash her a smirk to cheer her up. "Other than this knot at the back of my head, I feel okay, Aspen. So, don't worry, alright? I'm glad to be alive." I speak in a soft, calming tone. I can tell by her inability to look at me that she isn't convinced, but I heard what I needed to. I'll leave it be. Our timing couldn't have been better either, as Dana is returning with the other cheer captain in tow.

"Well, I've got to go find Elijah since we have work today. I'll call you later, okay?" I don't wait for her to respond and I start walking away, heading to the doors opposite the ones Dana's entering through. I don't wish to have to endure her pointless hostility any more than necessary.

I stroll through the halls, texting Elijah inquiring about his location. I'll probably walk into him sooner than he'll respond to me. His excuse will probably be that he didn't know he got a text. He's been a careless idiot for as long as I've known him.

"Yo, Sabertooth!" I cringe at the sound of Elijah's voice shouting the nickname I was given in middle school. Just as I thought; I ran into him before he responded to my message. I turn around to look down the hall and find Elijah Vector approaching me like a wild boar. He has his hand holding down his plain black fitted so that it doesn't get blown off on his charging rampage. I can't help but to roll my eyes.

"What's the rush?" I ask when he reaches me, stopping to catch his breath. I try to pretend like I don't feel some of our classmates watching our exchange as if there's something to see.

"We have work today in case you forgot. I need to deliver these copies to some teachers before we leave. Mind helping me out?" he asks me, referring to the stack of papers that he's holding. Many of the pages had been blown out of the stack on his way down the hall.