I D E N T I T Y

Two Boys, One Girl

I'm reading on my bed one afternoon when I hear a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

It's Rachel.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?"

I shrug, "Fine I guess, I mean at least I'm not the arena right now." I turn the page of "The Hunger Games".

She smiles at me, her eyes searching my face.

"Soooo what did you want?"

She snaps out of her stare, "Oh, right, um, honey so I know things didn't go amazing when he visited last time, but..."

Who was she talking about?

"Umm, who?" I ask suspiciously

"Well, um, it's Steve."

My mouth drops, "No. No don't let him in the house! Tell him I'm sick or something!"

She looks nervous, "Yeah about that..."

CRASH

Rachel whirls around quickly and looks down the stairs. I get up quickly and look beside her.

"Uh sorry Ms. Comber! I was trying to kill a spider but I missed and hit the vase instead!" A deeper voice apologizes from below us.

I look at Rachel in disbelief,

"You didn't!"

"Yeah I'm regretting it too now."

"Rachel I punched him in the face! I don't want to talk to him!" I exclaim.

"Look honey, he drove all the way here in a rundown jeep after you punched him." She looks at me for a second, "I know you don't remember sweetie but he really cares about you."

I think about this.

Could he really care that much?

Apparently so.

I sigh. "Fine," I say through clenched teeth, "but only 15 minutes at the most."

She smiles, "You got it." She looks down the stairs, "Steve! Get up here!"

I go back to my bed and wait. I hear running, then someone stumbles into my doorframe, he looks around and then leans against my door in, I'm guessing, an attempt to look cool.

"H-hey Peyton! I brought some KFC, you know, finger licking good!" Steve says brightly.

It takes everything I have to keep a straight face.

He fumbles for the food,

"I, uh, got your favorite! Mash potatoes with extra gravy!" He says kind of nervously.

I do like gravy...

"Ok, come on in."

He looks relieved and comes in and sits on my bed. An uncomfortable silence fills the room.

"Sooo why'd you come to my house?" I ask him bluntly.

"Well I had to see you, I mean I've missed you so much Peyton. So, so much."

I blush and look down at my purple comforter.

"You really do care don't you?"

He looks surprised, "I've always cared about you. I mean you're amazing and I'm an idiot who tried to kiss you when you had just woken up from a coma. So I guess it's no wonder why you'd question me."

I look up at him finally, "Yeah you are kind of an idiot." I say smiling mischievously.

He pretends to look shocked. "Says the one who punched me!"

"See this is why your an idiot, your logic is messed up! If your gonna kiss me, your gonna get punched!" I say laughing.

He's laughing too and It suddenly occurs to me how natural this feels. Maybe some memories are coming back in place!

"So are you going to be able to come to school in August?" He asks me.

"I don't know.."

It was June at the moment so school was only two months away. I would be heading into 12th grade. There would a lot of people who would bombard me with questions and memories...

"I mean I'd be three years behind! I couldn't do the work."

"I mean technically you only missed two school years so your really only two years behind."

"What difference does that make?!"

He laughs, "I'd say I'd tutor you, but I got mostly C's on my papers."

I also laugh. "I'll let you know when I decide."

He nods and we just stare at each other for a bit. Steve seems like a great guy, but am I ready for a relationship?

My thoughts are interrupted when Rachel knocks on the door.

"Ok Steve, time to go, Peyton needs her rest."

Steve nods, "Got it Ms Comber." He turns back to me. "I just wanted to let you know that I'll wait."

His statement takes me by surprise. "What?"

"I'll wait till your ready. For a relationship I mean."

"Oh..." I trail off, unsure on what to say.

He merely nods and then walks out of my room, down the stairs, and out the front door. I sit there on my bed thinking: Did that really just happen?

                                     ***
It's 2:00 in the morning and I'm eating cereal at the kitchen table. I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I think I about Steve. And I can't seem to think of anything else, so here I am at two am, eating Fruit Loops.

Steve, Steve, Steve

I squeeze my eyes shut. I wish I could get him out of my mind. I need a distraction. I look over at the phone.

Who would you even call?
Someone, anyone
Kevin

Kevin has been the only person that visited me at the hospital that I've been interested to keep touch with. He just doesn't act like I've been in a coma. He treats me...normally, which is very refreshing.

Would he even be up at this time? Knowing him, probably. The phone rings in my ear as I wait for him to pick up.

"Peyton? What are you doing up this late?"

I snort, "I could ask you the same thing."

He laughs a little. "Yeah well, I decided to watch all of the Harry Potter films and they're very long so here I am!"

I laugh, "Awesome. I just needed to talk to someone so here I am."

"What do ya wanna talk about?"

I shrug, "Whatever you want."

We talk until the sun rises and by then we're both half asleep. My mom makes me hang up and go to bed. I close my eyes and I finally, finally, sleep.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter- Vanna