CHAPTER THIRTEEN

There was a commotion outside the school. It looked like a fight, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be involved, so I ignored it.

Ashton lived for that kind of thing, so he wanted to go nearer.

“Come on, let’s see what’s happening”, he said with lit up eyes.

“No. We have somewhere to be. Let’s go there instead”, Isa said.

“Come on Isabelle. Let’s just see what’s happening. I promise, five minutes and we’re out of there. Please?”, he cast a longing glance at her.

“Five minutes is a lot.”

“Isabelle, seriously?”, I laughed.

Ashton threw a semi-surprised look my way. “Right?”

“We’re wasting time already as it is. Go see what you want and let’s get going”, Maeve piped up, putting a hand to her forehead.

Ashton moved closer to the commotion.

“Wha—Chris! What are you doing?! Get off him!”

What?

I ran over, Isa and Maeve following directly behind.

We saw the fight for ourselves. Chris was on top of Abraham. Abe was a boy in our year. Pretty annoying human being, if I say so myself, but for Chris to beat him up this way, he must have really crossed the line this time. Abe had a bloodied nose, which looked broken, and blood was trickling down the right side of his forehead. Chris wasn’t spared too, although it’s obvious he had the upper hand. He had two little bruises on his left cheek, but that was it.

Isa and Ash dragged Chris away from Abe.

“What the hell, man! What’s gotten into you?”, Ash yelled at Chris.

He didn’t answer him, he didn’t even look at any of us. He went back into the school, probably heading for the boys’ locker room. Ash trailed behind him.

I and the girls all looked at each other, then I looked at Abe. He was still on the floor, but he was… smirking? What on earth was so funny?

He stood up and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He looked at Maeve, smirked again, and just left. We watched him walk through the gates of the school.

THIRD PERSON P.O.V

Chris went to the boys’ bathroom. Just as he was about to shut the door, Ashton put his right foot in-between the door’s hinges.

“Hey! What is wrong with you? Let me in, man.”

And he did. Chris let him in.

“What happened back there?”, he searched his face for any giveaways.

It seemed Chris was beginning to calm down, until Ash asked him that question again. He was with his water bottle, and he threw that at the wall. They both watched it shatter into tiny shards of glass.

“That bastard. He’s got some nerve.”

“Nerve to do what?”, Ash was only more confused.

He tried to think guess what Abraham must’ve done to get him this angry. Well, he doesn’t get angry easily, Ash thought. If you mess with the things and people he cares about, that could set him off. No one touched his Oreos stash, it’s at home. No one knows about his father’s condition, so…

“The bastard said my father would die. He wished him dead.”

“What? How’d he know that your father’s sick?”

Chris didn’t seem to hear his question.

“He wished he’d die, so I’d be away for a long time, then he could finally have Maeve. He said she’s too attractive, in every way to be left alone.”

Oof. His father, and potential girlfriend (sort of), and friend, at once. If Ashton didn’t move closer, maybe a life would’ve probably been lost by now.

“He sure is a bastard. Could’ve told me, I would’ve lent a hand.”

Chris chuckled a little. “I know that, man. I was just so angry.”

“Yeah, sure. But your mom won’t be happy about this. How do we take care of these bruises?”

Chris suddenly looked alarmed. “Shit. Mom! The hospital! Let’s go!”

He started to pick his bag from the floor when Ashton slapped the bag away from his hand.

“Dude, did you hear me? What’s your mom going to say about--”, he eyed him down, and up again, “this?”

Chris’s shirt was very creased, there was dirt on his jeans, his hair was very ruffled, and let’s not forget the bruised cheek.

He sighed heavily.The girls were waiting for Ash and Chris at the school’s entrance.

“Why are they taking so long? School closed an hour ago, and we’ve not gotten to the hospital”, Isa looked tired.

Just then, they came from the direction of the boys’ restroom. Oh well, I was close, Rayna thought.

“Do you have Chris’s extra shirt you carry around with you?”, Ash asked Ray.

She opened her bag to check for it. “Here.”

Chris took it from her. “Thanks, Ray.”

He took his creased shirt off with the girls still there.

“Hey!”

“Dude!”

“Christopher!”

“Sheesh! What is wrong with the three of you?”, Ashton covered his ears. “Like you guys haven’t seen him shirtless before, especially you, Rayna.”

“Well, he’s right”, Isa shrugged.

“But it’s still fun to shout, plus we’re in public, so…”, Rayna looked left and right at Maeve and Isabelle. Rayna and Isa chuckled softly, but Maeve just looked on.

“I haven’t seen him without his shirt before."

Chris froze. Shit. I forgot she’s here, he thought. He scrambled to get the cleaner shirt on.

“For real?”, Ash gave Rayna a surprised look.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?”, Maeve rolled her eyes at him.

Everyone turned to look at the subject of the matter. Chris was smoothening his hair down.

“There. Now, let’s go.” He led the way.

“Hold on there, young man. You still haven’t told us why you got into a fight with Abe”, Ray pulled him back.

“Don’t get this shirt creased too, Rayna. I’m very sure this is the only extra shirt you’re with”, he gently removed her hand from his shoulder, where she had half a fistful of his shirt material. “He wished my dad died.”

“What? So out of the blue? Why?”, Ray was surprised too.

Ashton was staring hard at Chris, and he was trying not to laugh.

“Well…”, Maeve urged him on.“I don’t know. C’mon, let’s go, we’re late”, he pulled Isa along.

Isa turned to look at her female friends. They were lost too, but the five of them set off to the hospital to see Chris’s father. They decided to hail a taxi since they were late. Maeve flagged two taxis down, Chris and Ray got into one, while Ash, Isa, and Maeve got into the other.

Rayna got into their taxi first. Immediately Chris shut the taxi’s door behind him, and Rayna turned to face him.

“What, Rayna?”

“Why did Abe go so far as to wish your father dead, Christopher?”

“Oh, please. Full name?”

“Not the point, man.”

Chris raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Fine. He wished my father dead, so I could be away for long and he’d be able to have Maeve. He said he knows about her and Gabriel, but I’m a bigger threat than he is. Apparently, the ‘way I look at her’ is more threatening.”

“Jeez, that’s why he went that far? Maeve’s lucky though”, Rayna said with a sigh.

Chris was momentarily side-tracked. “What is lucky about any of this? I’m facing a probability of suspension from school because I hit him first. How’s Maeve even lucky, if I can’t get any luck out of it?”

She laid her head back and stared at the roof of the car while she spoke. “She’s beautiful. She’s really smart, she’s brilliant. She has lovely skin and long beautiful black hair. She has charisma. She’s in English honours. She’s all-around amazing”, she turned to look at him, “Can’t you see you even fell for her? I mean, you’ve known me longer, and just as she does, but you fell for her instead, not me. She’s got three guys fighting for her---“

“Rayna stop, just stop. Stop it.” He lifted her head off the car seat’s headrest. He turned her head to face him.

“First of all, I am not ‘fighting’ for Maeve---“

“Yeah, sure”, Ray interrupted.

He ignored her. “And you’re saying a lot of nonsense---“

“Oh, so she isn’t beautiful, huh?”, she interrupted again, wiggling her eyebrows and smiling weirdly at Chris. Well, he pointed the latter out. She adjusted her face, though after a little begging. He face-palmed himself.

“Don’t interrupt me again, Elaine. Now, where was I? Yes, I remember. You’re saying a lot of nonsense. You’re also in English honours! You’re also brilliant! You’re responsible too. I know you enjoy me reminding you that you’re b—“

“Oh please, don’t just get me angry here. I don’t like it.”

“Rayna, having this discussion will only irritate me further, and I don’t want to be any more of a mess than I am now. So let’s drop the subject.”

“Yeah, sure. You don’t want to be as red as a tomato by the time we get there because you can’t stop agreeing with me on my description of Maeve and you’re still thinking about it.”

As if on cue, Chris’s ears turned beetroot red.

“Rayna!” He glared at her.

Rayna just laughed and laid her head back against the headrest. She rested her right hand against his left shoulder, but he slapped it away.

She just laughed once more, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

“We’re at the hospital”, said the driver.