Chapter 30

"I am recalling for the last time, will you marry me, Lisa?" Harris proposes to Jenny, she smiled and nodded her head, "Yes, John, I would marry you." she said wiping a fake tear from her eyes and fake squealing. I laughed as I watch them play a couple of roles written on one of the books I am using in writing my still unfinished speech.

"That was so great. You two need to join the drama club." I said as I write an interesting line from the book I am holding, this could be used to gain attention if my audience drifted from my speech.

"What did you write until now?" Harris asks, "Not much, but it's much better scribbling whatever there is than to cross my arms and do nothing as I did for the whole week."

"I'm so glad you called us, I would have died worrying about you," Jenny says coming beside me to give me a side hug, making me laugh and hug her too. Grateful for them.

After Carter stormed out of the house because of the silly fight we had, I couldn't bear the loneliness, so I contacted Jenny and told her to come with Harris because I was unwell. She answered right away, claiming she would do everything she could to leave the school with Harris. As I hung up with her, I dialed her mother's number and told her everything that had transpired; from my being unwell and returning home to talking with Jenny and convincing her to come. She stated that would be fine unless I was lying, to which I replied that I had a nurse pass to persuade her otherwise. She agreed and said she would phone the school to have Harris and Jenny leave due to family issues. See, this is one of the reasons I adore her mother. Not because she permits us to do things that aren't proper, but because she saw that I was sick and needed the company of my two friends. So I called Harris and requested him to fetch some books from the library that I had borrowed because they were on their way, and they arrived not thirty minutes later.

"Aw, I did call you as soon as I came here," I said letting go of her.

"Did you come by bus?" Harris asks, looking at me suspiciously. Oh. I still didn't tell them that Carter and I came here together. Oops

"No..." I trailed off, "It was actually Carter who brought me." I said looking down at my hands.

"What? So now you two became close buddies? Why didn't you just call me from my class? You called him and dragged him in with you? What were you even doing?" Harris begins his never-ending questioning.

"He was the first person that came to help me. And I was really sick, Harris. I wasn't like this back at school, so I just agreed to whatever he was saying." I said, but of course, he didn't give in.

"So you would have agreed if he said he wants to fu—"

"Harris! You should not always think too deeply about stuff like these," Jenny says as she hit on his arm.

True, I know Carter won't cross his lines especially if I am sick, he sure is a player and uses girls, but I just know it.

"How did he find you? Were you at the same class?" he asks again.

"No, I got out of the class and sat outside, then he found me," I replied, keeping the part where I was insulted out, they should not hear about it.

"Glad you're okay now, I think we owe him, Harris. Heck, he brought her here and made her food. Do you think he would do anything bad after he took care of her?" Jeny states and Harris scoffs.

"I don't know about that, Jenny, I may thank him, but not owe him because I could have done the same and more for Kate," he says, melting my heart.

"I am lucky to know that I have such caring best friends like you, munchies," I said smiling brightly despite what I'm feeling.

"Kids! Supper is ready!" Dad calls on us from downstairs.

"Supper? May you kindly tell me what time it is?" Harris asks, sounding terrified. I looked down at my phone, "It's seven past thirty," I responded, eyeing him hesitantly. What is the big deal?

"Oh, my God... I'm running late! Dad is going to kill me for this. Excuse me, but I have to skip supper. Dad ordered me to meet him at the garage at six o'clock, and here I am, having the time of my life. I have to hurry, bye." He said, hugging us quickly, and then rushing out the door, his frantic footsteps audible from here.

"What are you up to doing for the rest of the night? Mom told me to sleep over with you because you're sick, so yay for us!" Jenny said as we walked down the stairs.

"Don't get too excited, Jen. What we will be doing is sleep then wake up in the morning." I said laughing. She stopped and looked at me with a serious feature, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope," I said popping the 'p', "I'm dead serious."

"Why the change of heart? I thought we would..."

"It's freaking Tuesday tomorrow, not even Thursday." I said when we enter the dining room and sit at the table, "What's for supper?" I ask mom as I opened the lid covering the food.

"I made lentil soup. It will be benefitting all of us, especially you, honey." she said sitting the right of me, "But you know I don't like lentils," I said groaning internally.

"But I also know that you are sick and you need the nutrient inside the soup, so stop complaining and eat," she commands sternly.

"Fine," I said, drinking and chewing on the soup. It doesn't taste like Carter's at all, not even close, but tastes much homey and familiar.

"It tastes heavenly, Mrs. Anderson." Jenny compliments mom like she always does.

"Thank you, Jenny. You are going to sleepover right? She will really be needing you." mom remarked.

"Yes, I will. My mother already told me to." she replies smiling at her, "So, how is your growing business going?" she asks, directing the question to dad.

"Oh, what can I say, clients tires us wherever we go, but there are some adequate goods. It is going decently for us, thankfully." dad says before putting a spoonful in his mouth.

"I hope it will grow more than this and you get to where you want to be," she says smiling at both of them now.

"Dear, that is sweet of you, even our own daughter never said such a thing to us." mom said tapping on my hands, indicating it is a joke.

"Anytime," Jenny says, then silence fell on the table, which wasn't thick or awkward, but a comfortable one. Leaving us to indulge in this goodness in quiet.

We stood up and returned to my room after finishing and helping mom clear up the table. "I'm so full that I don't think I'll be able to eat anymore." Jenny sighs patting her stomach lightly. "You always say this, yet eat more," I tell her rolling my eyes, "No offense though" I added.

"None taken, you bitch." she said making me laugh as I walked to the edge of my bed and sat grabbing my phone from the nightstand. The red blinking flash indicates I have a missed call, that made my heart leap out of hope.

Could it be him?

I lightened my phone screen up and saw it was him, Carter. I quickly unlocked my phone and immediately called him back. I know this is a pathetic move, but I can't help it. No matter what happens, I have this urge of talking to him or hear his voice that rings in my ears all the time. After four rings, he picked up, "Hello?" Xavier's voice boomed from the speaker instead of him, making me look at the number I dialed, it says 'Carter (asshole)', so how come Xavier answered?

"Xavier? Where is Scott?" I asked, ignoring the way Jenny got startled when I called his name.

"He is wasted, Kate. He drank too much and started to make fights with random strangers, so Ben called Cole and me to come by. You remember Ben, right?" He explains.

"Oh my... why did he go to a God damned bar in the first place?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes with my fingers. This guy is totally out of his mind.

"And by the way, Ben told us that he had a fighting match with Troy." he said, making me snap my head up and stand, "What? Troy? How in the hell could that happen?" I almost yelled. This is a whole load of shit to see through, what the heck is wrong with this day?

"Troy was already here when they came by, so when these two beasts met each other's eyes, their jealousy made their adrenaline surge and fight. Words from Ben, not me." Xavier said, chatters and clinking of glasses heard in the background.

"I am not fucking jealous! Is that my mom? Tell 'em to fuck off." I hear Carter shout, "Bro what the fuck did you say? You are too fucked up! Kate, please come by here, we really need you." Xavier shouts as the song gets louder.

"Okay okay, which bar then?" I ask waking to my closet and rummaging through the clothes I will be wearing.

"Panlee's street downtown at the darker side of the mall," he replies.

"What? It's, it's almost too far to come!" I exclaimed, calculating how much time it will take to reach there by bus. Thirty minutes, with another thirty minutes of waiting for the bus at the bus station.

"Please, Kate. I can't come because I am monitoring these two idiots. Cole had already six glasses." Xavier begs.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, "Fine, but it won't be this easy, so you will be thanking me later." I said, looking at Jenny with an 'eh, I'm sorry' look.

"Mark my words, thank you so much, Kate. I will be waiting for you, now I gotta go," he said and with that, he ended the call.

"What happened to Xavier?" Jenny asks concerned.

"It's not him, but his troubled friend who is called Carter who he knows him by Scott. We need to go to the bar where they are. Xavier said that Carter is too wasted and needs our help." I explained what he said tersely.

"Then let's go!" Jenny says excitedly, probably because she is going to see Xavier again.

"Jenny, the bus station is a little too far away from here. But that's not the major issue, it's my parents. So, we need to wait until they are in their room then we could sneak out." I said, planning at the same time.

"What happened to Carter to the point that he needs our help? Doesn't he know that it is a school night?" Jenny says sarcastically. I sent her a glare, "This is not the time for joking, Jen. We need to get there as soon as possible." I said. I let out a sigh and laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Whenever we are confronted with a single problem, all of the doors slam shut and it becomes more difficult to figure out how to solve it, as it is now. If I tell my parents the truth, they would most likely lock me up and never let me out, even to go to school. And if I call Harris, I am certain he will not be able to come, and I highly doubt he will be at school tomorrow. So we have no choice except to wait for Mom and Dad to fall asleep, then leave when the coast is clear and head to a five minutes walk to the bus station.

"What will you be wearing?" I ask Jenny as I put on my leggings and hoodie along with my thick jacket. I am still sick and feel heavy, but the way Xavier said it made me open my eyes a little and consider saving his ass than worrying while sitting here.

"Just a sweatshirt and jeans, geez. Do you think I want to look all good at this time?" she asks unbelievably.

"I just asked, since Xavier will be there..." I said shrugging my shoulders then winking at her, "Oh, shut up. You are passing your limits, young lady." she says waving her index finger at me.

"I was just saying!" was all I said before I hear a honk from my window, who the fuckity fuck is that horning at my room? As I peered down, I gasped. I opened my window to see what I am seeing clearly. It was Ben with some guy bopping his head up and down.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered harshly so that mom and dad couldn't hear.

"Saving you from going to the bus station and suffering to go there, come by here, I got your perfect backup plan," he says then wheeled away to the front of the house. If he is actually thinking that he could take permission from my parents to take me out with his long beard, tattooed arms, and lots of piercings, mom will call the police thinking he is a maniac guy trying to bluntly kidnap me.

"We just need to jump from this window, unless we can't make it like that from the front or the back door," I told Jenny.

"Fine, but we need to do something. Wait, I've got an idea," she said and quickly walked to my bed and opened my blanket, then went to my closet and brought some clothes with her and threw it on the bed, making it look like two people are sleeping there, then covered it with the blanket and the duvet. "Done, now we can go," she said smiling to herself.

"Great thinking, but how do we climb down from the window?" I ask, realizing that we can't just jump from the edge and make it. I mean we can, then we have to run to the car with at least ten broken bones.

"Rope?" Jenny suggests, I shake my head and look around my room, "Nope, no rope in here."

"Then let's tie your scarfs and clothes to make one!" She says and heads to my closet again, "But they will be damaged." I said cringing as she ties and pulls my clothes hard.

"If you want to go, see your loverboy and save him, you wouldn't think like that," Jenny says still tying my clothes.

"First of all, please stop calling him my loverboy, and second yes I do want to take him out of that misery, but hey, you want to meet your new lovey dovey, right?" I said wiggling my eyebrows. She scoffed and threw me the clothes she tied, "He is such a loser, I could have at least ten- tens of him." she fumbled with her words. Hm... tens of him, yeah?

"Let's just fucking go now," she mutters and ties the clothes she already tied with the new ones, making a long rope of my clothes tied up.

"Wait, with what will we tie the end of it?" I ask Jenny, feeling of uneasiness settling in my stomach.

"With the leg of the bed, it is made of metal, so it will be surely heavier than us and can handle us one by one, you go first," she said pushing me over.

"Me? Why me first? Let me tie it to the leg of the bed then we will see," I said crouching to the foot of the bed, tying the cloth very tight around it.

"Finished, I will be going first, but make sure it won't untie," I warned and headed to the edge of the bed. I breathed in a huge gulp of air then let it out.

Oh God, please help me out, hear my pleas and let me not die like this.

I carefully hopped off the window and held on to the rope that we made, praying it won't lose and make me fall to my death, so I slowly went down until my butt is touching the ground. I wheezed out a big sigh and stood up, dusting off the dried mud from me.

"Are you okay?" Jenny whispers from my room window, "Yes, you come now!" I whispered back. She nods and swings out her leg to dangle, then the other. She gripped the rope tight and hung on the rope, slowly sliding down as I did. I stood right below her in case anything happens and she might fall, but she didn't.

"Yes! We did it!" Jenny cheers happily and I shushed her immediately, "Do you want us to get caught? Even the neighbors will be telling mom and dad if they spot me here!" I whispered loudly at her. "Oops," was her response as she gave me my backpack, "Just in case," she said.

Both of us walked to a thankfully far away parked car of Ben's. "I thought you were going to knock and ask for permission?" I ask as Jenny and I entered his car, which smells like alcohol and smoke. Unsurprising, but still disgusting and gagging.

"What? I don't fuck with parents, you know. I actually parked it farther from any evil eyesight." he said and started his trunk, "Anything left?" he asks, Jenny and I responded with a shake of our heads, "Then let's bounce to that bar and save the night!" he yells as his truck moved smoothly through the driveway and turn to the left, where it takes to the hazardous region of this city.