Chapter 8 #2
“Your cousin will hear about this,” Jerry scoffed, grabbing his shirt that had fallen to the floor after being torn to shreds during the fight.
He stormed out of the house, slamming the door shut behind him.
Mere seconds later, I heard a thud outside and then shouting.
The three of us—alongside the rest of the people at the party—rushed outside to see that Jerry had collapsed onto the front porch.
“Somebody, call the ambulance!” Ayden shouted, rushing over to Jerry’s side.
“You seem an awful lot worried about him,” Hero said skeptically.
“Just because I’m mad at him doesn’t mean I stopped being friends with him!” Ayden shot back.
Hero’s jaw tightened and averted his gaze. It was obvious that Ayden was hinting to their own friendship. About how Hero stopped being Ayden’s friend over something that could’ve easily been resolved.
As the ambulance was called, Hero dragged me back inside to have a one-on-one conversation. Ayden didn’t notice, otherwise he wouldn’t have allowed that.
“You came,” I breathed.
“Don’t get any ideas. I only came to see how terrible of a host Ayden is.” He wiped his bloody lip with his thumb. “Definitely terrible.”
I chuckled. He seemed to be in a better mood than he was at school, which was ironic considering he was just in a fight.
“Well, I’m glad you came,” I said, then observed his bruised face. “I’m sorry for what Jerry did to you.” I reached out to touch the bruises. He winced and, instinctively, I took my hand away.
“Sorry,” I said quickly.
“It’s fine,” he said, then looked down at my dress. “That’s cute.”
Cute? Was he flirting? No. Hero doesn’t have feelings for me. I would know, wouldn’t I? He would’ve made a move by now, especially since he knew my feelings. He was just simply saying my dress was cute. The dress, not me.
“You mean the dress that some of your blood is on?” I joked. “Thank you.”
“My blood compliments it pretty well,” he joked back.
We both broke out into laughter, and I slid down the wall to sit.
He sat down next to me. He didn’t say anything.
Instead, he rested his head on my shoulder.
My heart rate grew steady and I felt calm around him, unlike the butterflies I felt with Ayden. Like he was my home.
I should’ve pushed him off. I had a boyfriend. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I found myself resting my head on top of his. We sat there in silence. Comfortable silence. More comfortable than the silence I had with Ayden on the balcony.
A few minutes later, the paramedics and police arrived.
The two of us stared out of the window, watching as the police officers questioned those present at the party, while the paramedics placed Jerry on the stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance.
The window was thin enough to where we could overhear everyone telling the officers that he was in a fight with Hero prior to his collapse.
“Shoot, that’s not good,” I whispered.
“It’s fine,” he said, rising to his feet. “I can’t hide from things forever. I can’t hide from what I did.”
“Don’t tell me you’re—”
He nodded. “I am.”
He was going to confess to almost drowning everyone in the classroom.
“You can’t be serious,” I said incredulously. He began to walk to the front door, but I scurried to the door and blocked him. “You can’t. You’ll go to jail for a long time.”
“I deserve it,” he said. “I almost killed people. Including you, Pepper.”
I shook my head. “You’d be killing me if you do this.”
Hero stared into my teary eyes, then tried to walk around me. I grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him. My eyes were no longer just teary; it was a waterfall. “Please,” I sobbed.
He turned around to face me but stayed silent.
“Is that why you were being so nice to me just now?” I cried out. “Because you were going to leave me?”
Hero shut his eyes, tightening his jaw. He was trying his hardest not to cry, and he didn’t want to see me cry, either. Without opening his eyes, he pulled me into a warm embrace as tears rolled down his cheek.
“You don’t get to cry,” I sobbed. “Not if you’re leaving me like this.”
He unwrapped his arms around me. “Fine, I won’t confess, okay?” He gently wiped away my tears, and then his own.
“Promise?” I asked.
“I promise, Pepper.”
* * *
It was getting dark outside, but the police car lights brightened up the area. One of the officers brought Hero aside to question him. After a moment, he was placed in the back of the police car. My feet had a mind of its own again as it rushed me over to the police car.
“Are you arresting him?” I asked the officer.
“He’s being taken in for further questioning,” the officer replied. “His mother will be present.” He then turned to face everyone and raised his voice. “We must ask everyone to leave the party now.”
Everyone scattered; some left in a car, some walked. Everyone except for me—and Ayden, of course. I watched as the police car drove away; I didn’t avert my gaze even for a second until it was completely out of sight.
I laid down on the grass, staring up at the stars and shining bright moon. It was a full moon tonight. Next to me, I heard shuffling. Ayden had laid down in the grass too. My mind drifted off as I watched the stars move ever so slowly, soon falling into a deep sleep.