-Jason-
I watched Elijah as she walked away from me to do her homework. Something was wrong…why wouldn’t she tell me? I a part of me was telling me that I should just leave it alone and go back to doing homework, but I pushed it aside and went to her room. I could hear her music echoing through the door. The base vibrated the door slightly. Taking a deep breath I knocked on her door.
I didn’t hear anyone come to the door so I knocked louder. “Go away.” I heard Elijah’s voice over the music, it sounded sad.
I knocked once more and I heard a small thud on the floor and then the door opened. “I said…” She trailed off when she saw me standing there.
She was crying, her eyes were puffy and a tear was at the edge of her right eye about to slid down her cheek. I wiped it away and hugged her. “I’m sorry. P-please, I-I don’t want you to be alone.” I stated. I didn’t care how much my ribs were hurting from hugging her.
I felt her arms wrap around me. “I’m sorry I let this happen to you.” Elijah apologized.
“I-I was protecting you…I don’t want you hurt…” I told her.
“But it’s my job to protect you.” She sobbed and looked up at me.
I shook my head at her, “I d-don’t want you to.” I answered and brushed some hair out of her face.
“But…”I put a finger on her lips to stop her from talking.
“D-do you want to g-go play basketball?” I asked her.
“You’re hurt.” She mentioned.
“Physically, e-emotionally you are th-the one that it hurt.” I booped her in the nose trying to make her smile.
“But it’s not fair.” She said.
She let go of me and stepped back. I reached over and grabbed her hand and pulled her with me outside. I didn’t care how much pain I was in I wanted her to be happy. I grabbed the basketball and bounced it over to her. A small smile spread across her lips and she bounced the ball back to me. I bounced it back to her once more and she started to dribble the ball. I smiled and got into the blocking stance that she taught me. I figured out how to do what was called a hook shot. Every time that I managed to get the ball would try a hook shot. I got it in a few times and I had a lot of fun.
It was nice to see Eli smile as well and seemed to be having a good time. She creamed me but it was so much fun. It came to the point where I was just holding the ball above my head so she couldn’t reach it. She jumped up and got the ball, but I couldn’t hold both of our weights and we fell to the ground. When we hit the ground her lips pressed against mine and I felt my face heart start to race and my face heat up. Her lips were soft and she smelled nice. She pulled away quickly and I could see her face become red across her cheeks.
“I-I’m sorry.” I said as I kept looking away and looking back at her.
“What are you sorry for it was just an accident.” She laughed lightly and got off of me. “I’m going to go and work on my homework…thanks for cheering me up.” She smiled after helping me up.
“A-alright.” I nodded and I picked up the ball and put it back where I found it, then I headed back inside myself.
I saw Eli’s dad and went over to him, “What is it Jason?” he asked me.
“P-please don’t be m-mad at Elijah…I was j-just trying to p-protect her…s-she was being bullied.” I told him.
He placed a hand on my shoulder and looked down at me, “Let’s see what happened to you today.” He said motioning for me to lift up my shirt.
I didn’t say a word and did what I was told. I took off my shirt. It was the first time, I able to see where I was kicked. There were dark bruises all over my chest and a couple on my stomach. The things that weren’t bruised were my scars.
“Are all these scars from that place?” He asked.
I nodded and looked down at the ground. I didn’t want to say anything. “You need to get x-rays, it looks like you probably have a couple of broken ribs.” He told me.
I nodded and put my shirt back on, “I-I’m going to go and d-do some homework.” I said and went back to the guest room to get my books.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I couple of days past and I had to miss school for my doctors’ appointment. As I sat in the doctors’ office I tried to control my breathing. I didn’t like being here. It was not to the place I wanted to be somewhere else.
Soon enough the doctor came in with a folder in her hands. “So the good news your healthy, there is nothing wrong, bad news you have two broken ribs, so you’re going to have to take an easy for a while, you’re also going to have to get a couple of shots and a check up on your ribs in a couple of weeks.” She told me.
“O-okay.” I muttered.
“We’ll have to run some blood tests on you as well the next time, just to make sure that there is nothing wrong with your circulation.” She said. “I’m going to write a note having you sit out of gym for a month.” She told me writing something down on a piece of paper then handed it to me. “I’ll see you in a month.” She smiled at me.
I nodded and hopped off the bed and walked to the door of the room, down the hall to the waiting room and out. I didn’t like this place. I handed the note to Elijah’s father and he set up an appointment for me in a month then we left. It was too late for me to head back to school so after we got back, I asked if it would be alright for me to go to the therapy center and wait for Elijah. He was reluctant but then he finally let me go. I walked there. It was a nice day out and luckily it was Friday tomorrow. When I got there I saw her standing in the parking lot with Conner…why was Conner there? I went to call her name when I saw Conner lift her chin up and he bent down and kissed her.
My heart felt like it snapped in two as I watched them kiss. I pulled my hands into my chest and grabbed my shirt. I felt my face get hot and my vision began to blur. I took a step back and stepped on a twig, they pulled away from each other and looked over at me.
“Jason…It’s not…” I shook my head and continued to back up then I turned and ran as I felt my tears flowed down my cheeks.
