Work in Progress

Chapter 17: Common Ground

*ELI'S POV*

"Sorry about yesterday," I say running up to Sam on the way to first period.

She jumps, "Oh my god! Don't surprise me like that!"

"And about that too I guess," Iaughing.

"Is it true?" She looks at me curiously, "Did you really slash Brendan's tires?"

"If I did, would you tell on me?" I cock my head at her.

She hesitates. "No."

"So what did you want to talk about?" I surprise her by changing the subject.

"Oh-- umm... Maybe later after class?"

"How about during lunch?"

She blushes and says, "Ok."

***

We didn't agree on a place to meet so I just went to the cafeteria to look for Sam. I spot her at a table with her friends. Kate nudges her and points at me. Sam gets up and makes her way to me.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey."

Sensing that this wasn't really the place to talk, I led the way to the yard stopping at my usual spot. I sit under the shade of a tree, leaning back on its trunk, and stretching my legs. Sam sits cross-legged beside me.

It takes a few moments before she lets out a deep sigh and says, "Just so you know, I won't be bothering little-- I mean Mia anymore." I stay quiet and wait for her to continue. "And I don't know if you've noticed but I've dialed down on the bullying."

"I've noticed." She looks at me surprised. "Go on."

"I also-- I also haven't said anything about-- you know... not even to Jane or Kate."

"I don't know. What about?" She fumbles for the right words to say and I laugh. "Relax. It's not a big deal. I mean, it is. But I've dealt with it. The majority at least. Oh don't look at me like that!" I say as I recognize the look in her eyes. "I don't need your pity. It's the whole reason why I left home. I can get past what happened to me but people can't seem to be able to see past the paralyzed orphan."

"Paralyzed?"

"Yeah..umm.. I was in a coma for four months... Then I woke up but couldn't move. Only lasted about two months. Then I spent the next six months basically living in physical therapy..." I don't know why I was telling her all these things. It was like I could tell her anything. She puts a hand on my shoulder, then as if changing her mind, awkwardly takes it away.

"But I got some cool scars out of it!" I say, showing her my arms and legs, then when I motioned to move my shirt up, she turns away in embarrassment. I laugh until she hits me on the shoulder.

"Do you miss them?" she asks, peeking at me.

"Every now and then. I'd see something or hear something that reminds me of my mom or my sister and for a moment I think about how much I wished I didn't survive... but I did. So... I've worked my way through that with my dark year," I say motioning quotation marks in the air at the last part.

"Why do you call it dark?" Sam asks carefully.

"Well to other people they would consider it dark but to me at the time it was the lightest I've ever been." I pause. "Because I was high all the time." I laugh again.

"I don't think that's a laughing matter," she says but also laughing a little.

"You sound like my aunt," I say, making a disgusted face.

"She took you in?" This time she didn't hesitate to ask.

"More like forced me. We kept our distance at first, both of us coping differently. But I had hit rock bottom. I did everything. Drowned myself on alcohol, drugs, people. But nothing was enough anymore and one day she found me at home barely alive. When I woke up back in the hospital I knew I needed to change things."

"Wow."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly." I laugh. As she struggles to explain herself I save her the trouble and ask, "What about you? What made you act out and be the bully?" It was only fair that she explained her actions also and frankly, I didn't want to talk about myself anymore.

"It's not as life changing as yours."

"Well, it had to be. We weren't born nice but we weren't born mean either," I try to encourage her.

"It was in eight grade. This girl basically told me I was a nobody no matter how hard I tried. She was just jealous because I got the highest test score when she always did. It's stupid."

"It's not stupid." I take her hand. "You were young and that stuck with you. You dealt with it how you knew back then." I couldn't help but think how I misjudged her.

"Yeah but I'm not young anymore!" she cries out in frustration.

"You are to me." I tease her to make her feel better.

She gives me a look. "I'm only two years younger than you."

"When's your birthday?" I ask, surprising her.

"July 7. Why?"

I pause thinking. "Eight months..." I say under my breath. Before Sam could ask me again, the bell rings and I get up. I offer Sam my hand, she takes it, and I pull her up. We both make our way to class finally understanding each other even just a little.

A/N: Fun fact. I actually started working on this story on July 7.