Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 01:53:35 -0800 (PST) From: Jason Decade <femtoka2@yahoo.com> Subject: Ever After 13 Disclaimer: This is a story about gay people...if you can't read it or don't like gay people, leave. Go...bye. But if you like it, read it and write to me. Chapter 12: !Scarred! It had been two days since Christmas and I was hella happy. I mean, it could have been the Playstation 3, or maybe it was Davis' present, but I felt happier. I knew that my happiness wasn't going to last long, but I was thankful that I had it at all. Some people couldn't wait for happiness, they were only glad to have their lives, no matter how bad things got. Across town, a plate smashed against as more stuff was thrown. A nurse hurried out of the room and stopped at Kendall. "He is angry." the nurse said, visibly shaken. "Are you okay?" Kendall asked. "I'm alright, he's just so angry." the nurse said quickly. "Yeah and he won't let anyone in the room. Mom and Dad had to leave, but they should be back." Kendall said hurriedly. "The question becomes how are we going to get in there? Soon his pain medication is going to wear off." the nurse panted. "He's just...He's crippled now." Kendall said, " I can't even begin to understand how he feels." There was a loud crack and a thud! Both women ran as fast as they could into the room. - - - - - - - - - - I was sitting in my room, playing my Playstation 3. Things hadn't changed much since Christmas. My family was stronger than I had ever seen them, now that's a change. My parents seemed to enjoy the extended family time and I was happy to be around them. My grandparents seemed to be even more protective of me. It was odd, they kept talking about this guy that my grandma was trying to introduce me to, a family friend's grandson. I thought it was funny. My brother seemed to be hiding something. He had been playing Playstation with me, though, so I guess it was alright. My big sister was odd, though. I think she still has a problem with it. 'It' being that I'm gay. I wanted to go and see Ballard but my parents wouldn't let me go, my mom and grandma said that once my arm was fully healed, then I could go, but I don't think it'll be that easy. Marco had called me too and Hannah, but I hadn't answered anybody's calls but Marco's....and Davis'. I invited him over, but there seemed to be some hesitation, so to save myself from embarrassment, I told him that I had made a mistake, that me and the family were leaving. I found myself trying to decide whether to text him or not. I stopped when I heard some arguing coming from down the hall and I peeked out of my room to see the end of an argument and I saw my sister's (Kay) boyfriend, Johnathan, slap her. "Hey! What the hell is your problem!" I said, coming out of my room. They both looked at me like deer caught in the headlights. "You just hit her," I said, shocked, " You just let him hit you." "Hey little brother." My older sister, Kya Mpenzi, which means Diamond in the sky beloved. During a trip to Africa, my mom and dad hadn't decided a name for her, so they convened with some 'shaman' and came up with the name. She was a beautiful woman and her attitude showed was larger than life. She never bent for anyone, except her boyfriend, who I hated. He was a spineless jellyfish but there was one problem, she loved him, " Why don't you just go back to your room." she said calmly. "No. That jerk just put his hand on you." I said angrily, " There's knives in the kitchen." "Look, this has nothing to do with you." Johnathan sighed, rolling his eyes. "Don't talk to my little brother like that!" Kya said angrily. "I want you to hit me. Touch. Put one finger on me." I said, putting my jaw out, " I'll give you a surprise labotomy. Or, get you fixed like a little puppy." "Oh, you're going to fix me." Johnathan said, getting face to face with me. "Nobody's doing anything." Kya said between us, " Umm, John, go in the room, I have to talk to my brother." Johnathan sneered at me and went into his room and I looked at my big sister, wondering how she, of all people, could let this happen and how long this has been going on. "I know what you're going to say." Kya said quickly. "No. You have no idea what I'm going to say!" I said angrily, " Cause I don't know what I'm going to say. I...You...He...Asshole!" "He's just stressed." Kya said. "Says the black and blue enabler." I griped, " What if I slapped you?" "I'd probably slap you back." Kya said. "Aha! THen why would you let him get away with it?" I asked. "Look, don't tell Mom and Dad. Or Eric. Or either pair of grandparents, okay?" she asked. I thought about it and shook my head, " I cannot believe you. Fine, but if he does it again, call me Madea." I frowned. "Thank you little brother," she said, kissing, " Love you." she said, going into the room with Johnathan. I walked down the hall and down to the living room where my mom and grandparents were and I slipped past them into the kitchen but stopped when I heard my name. "Dad, I don't like the guy." Eric said quickly. "I know the boy's parents, they are good people. Not great people, but good enough." Dad said, " And it's his life." "And what about Kya, I don't think everything's okay with her and..." "It's not our business." Dad said walking to the door, " Hey Adaen, what's up." he said, bumping into me. "What's up?" I chuckled, " Nothing." He looked back at Eric, " I think I'm going back in with your grandparents. You going out?" "I am." I smiled, " I thought I'd take a walk or something." "Well, don't forget that your Uncle and cousin are coming to town. It's too bad they all couldn't make it." Dad smiled. "If you say so." I chuckled. "Smart-ass." he chuckled, " Be careful." he said, walking into the living room. Eric stared at me, " So, you going somewhere special?" he asked. "No." I smirked, " I am special-free." "So Davis Marchall isn't your boyfriend?" Eric asked. "No." I said quickly, " Ours is a love that is seriously cursed." "Cursed?" Eric asked, " Did he cheat on you?" he asked angrily. "No. There was just...is just things he needs tow ork out for himself. What I need is a hottie sent back in time to save me from a hottie robot. And me and the first hottie will sleep together and..." I stopped when I noticed that he was staring. "You just described Terminator." he said. "Well, yeah. I finally saw that sex scene and wow..." I said quickly, " Besides, I need a fairytale ending." "No such animal." Eric laughed. "You're artist guy and you don't believe in happily ever after?" I asked. "I'm artist guy, no unrealism guy." he said seriously, " Besides, it wasn't long ago that I was a senior and I know most of those guys and they aren't good enough for my little brother." "I think you've been reading to many 'how to be a big brother' books. Cause that shouldn't be in the manual." I said, shaking my head. "So, I'm thinking about moving back here." Eric said, " I miss this little town." "Why?" I asked. "Why not." he asked. "That's the question." I said, walking to the door, " See ya later." I said, leaving. - - - - - - - - - - I parked my car and walked down the street. I walked by the Antique Store on my journey and saw that Hannah was in there arguing with Zack. I knew better than to interrupt that, not that I would anyways. I walked on, past the Diner and the Pet store and waited for the lights to change colors so I could cross. As I crossed, I noticed that Kendall and Bradley seemed to be arguing. I tried not to stare as I walked over to them. As I reached them, they got quiet and Bradley walked away. I could see that Kendall was crying and I didn't really know what to say. She sniffled and looked at me, " Oh, hey." she said quickly, " What're you doing out here?" "Are you okay?" I asked. "Ummm, yeah. Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Kendall smiled. "Why don't we go and have coffee or something." I said, placing my arm around her. "Thanks." she smiled. We crossed another road and soon we were at the Coffee' Mound. We took a seat by the window and ordered. Kendall ordered something that I could barely pronounce and I ordered a Chocolate Chip Frappy-thingy. As we sit and waited for our coffee, I noticed that she was quiet. "So, you wanna talk about it?" I asked. "About what?" Kendall asked. "Whatever's got you so down." I smiled, " I know I don't look it, but I'm pretty smart." Kendall chuckled, " The world is a dark, dark place." she said. "Are you undercover EMO?" I asked. "No, sorry. It's just been a rough couple of weeks." Kendall sighed, " Parents coming and going, our big brother not around for Christmas or for us, and my brother being in a coma, then waking up and throwing stuff at whoever comes into the room." "Kinda like being outed in front of the whole school, by your best friend, getting dumped, and being hate-crimed more than once? It's been a rough year. Or it was a rough year. That's why we have a whole new one." I smiled. Once again, Kendall sighed, " Look, I'm sorry for any of the stuff I did or helped do. I think it's really nice to have someone's who's not the same person as everyone else is." she smiled. "Wait, you said that Ballard is awake? When?" I asked. "A few days ago." Kendall shook her head, " He won't let anyone inside long enough ta do anything." "What about the doctors? Nurses?" I asked hopefully. "Nope." she said. "I wanted to come and see him, but my parents heard that your parents wanted him to rest all he can." I said, " Maybe I should go and see him." "Right now, I just wanna sleep." Kendall chuckled, " But I've gotta get back to the hospital." "Well, I'll try to get my parents to budge...Kendall, it was nice. This was nice. You're different than everybody else thinks." I smiled. "Yup, that's me." Kendall smiled, " Nice to have an actual friend these days." "Ditto." I smiled, getting to my feet. We walked to the counter and got our drinks and headed in two different directions. - - - - - - - - - - Swoosh! Another basket for Davis. He had been practicing all day and he was determined to be the best and the only way he could be the best was to practice. He hadn't shifted any priorities, Adaen was still #1 on his list, but if he couldn't prove that he could take care of Adaen, then he had a potential problem: Eric. He remembered Eric. They used to be in the same crowd, the popular kids. Eric had been his friend and they had partied together. So what was Eric's problem? Swoosh! Davis was a good catch. Wasn't he? "Nice." Marco said behind him. Davis turned to his half-brother, " What're you doing here?" he asked. "You're not the only one that can practice." Marco said, dribbling the ball, then shooting and making it, " Besides, somebody has to give you some competition." "Believe me, you're not competition." Davis smirked. "Ouch." Marco smiled, " Whaddya say to a one on one game?" "I've got time to kick your ass." Davis chuckled, tossing Marco his ball, " First one to twenty one." "You got it." Marco smiled. - - - - - - - - - - "Oh shut up!" Hannah spat as she lined things up, " You have to go, I have customers." "No, because when you get home, you don't call and if I show up at your house one more time, your dad said he's gonna kick my ass." Zack argued. "Ok, but you really can't be here." Hannah growled, " If my mom comes here and sees you, she'll kick both our asses." "So, you're going to call me..." Zack asked. "I'll thin about it." Hannah said impatiently. "But I..." "Hey, my friend said beat it, stain." Christina said quickly. "Since when did I become stain?" Zack asked. "Since you became a lying, cheating scumbag." Christina smirked, " Now scram." Zack looked angrily between the two girls and left with a huff. Once he was gone, Christina looked over to Hannah, who looked as if she was about to cry. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Christina asked. "Yeah, he's just...a big fat liar and he's trying to make me feel bad." Hannah sighed. "He's a total asshole." Christina said, hugging her. "I know, but he just rattled me." Hannah said, " Hey, where were you coming from?" "The mall. I figured I'd go before it was too late. Then make another trip back later, wanna come?" Christina asked. "Sure, I think I need a new style. I like the curly red hair, thing, but I'm older now." Hannah said, pulling her hair, " Maybe I'll get it shorter, maybe back to my elbows and straight." "As long as you don't do a 'Phoebe from the sixth season of Charmed' I think it'll be cute." Christina chuckled. "You think so, cause I was kind of thinking the same thing." Hannah smiled. "I'd better go, I'm trying this thing where I get what I want." Christina smirked. "How's that different?" Hannah asked. "Who said anything about different?" Christina smiled, leaving. - - - - - - - - - - As I was walking through town, I sat on a bench. What was I looking for? What was I waiting for? Davis loved me...loves me. What am I waiting for? I mean, I love him too...I think. Definitely mushy feelings and my pants tent when I see him, but was that love? Was all these things I'm feeling for him love? "Hey, kiddo." Mr. Johanssen said, sitting beside me. "What the hell, you're back?" I asked, hugging him. "Yeah, I just got back in town." Mr. Johanssen smiled, " What's wrong, you seemed sad." "Lost. That is the primary word of the day." I said quickly, " Correction, year." "I would assume it would be. After what happened to..." "No, I think everyone's trying to put that behind us, too, but things have changed so much since you left." I explained, " The lastest in a string of really bad things would have to be the accident." I smiled. "Explains the sling, what happened?" he asked. "Me and a few other people were in a car crash, and there was only two survivors." I said slowly. "I'm glad you weren't seriously scarred." he said cheerily. I looked away, " Some scars are not as easy to see." I said casually, " I just...I've been asking so many questions lately. Like, why didn't I die? I mean, if everyone else died, what makes me so lucky. It should have been me." "Apparently it wasn't supposed to be you." Mr. Johanssen said seriously, " Look, I've known you for years. This isn't a really big town. I know you're a great young man and you were spared for a for a reason. You have something to teach us all. You need to forgive yourself." I looked up at him, " I don't know if I can." I said quickly. "You have to. If you don't, how are you going to let anyone else in?" he asked. "That was the plan." I said. "The survivor, have you seen him or her?" "No." I said standing, " Thanks." I said, walking off. - - - - - - - - - - I found myself wandering through the halls of the hospital. I wasn't sure if I was even going to the right place until I hear the yelling and saw Kendall and the nurses standing outside. I walked slowly, not knowing if this was going to go well at all. I was hoping that the feeling would pass, that I would just be able to forgive myself without doing any of the work, but I knew that it wouldn't be that easy. "Hey, what're you doing here?" Kendall asked. "I came to see him." I said softly. "I don't think that's a good idea, young man." the nurse frowned. I walked past both of them and into the room and ducked in time to see a plate smash against the wall. As I walked further into the room, he noticed me and stopped. For a moment, we just stared at each other. I could tell that he had been crying, his tears were still there. The room was a mess and I could only imagine why. I walked closer to him. "What're you doing here?" Ballard asked. I was quiet for a minute, " I came to see you." I said simply. "Oh." "I'm sorry." I said. "Why?" he asked. "For not coming sooner." I said quickly, " I couldn't..." "Why did we survive?" Ballard asked. "It's worse than dying...it's worse." I said loudly, " I know!" "I can't walk." Ballard said, laying back, " I can't fucking walk!" I walked to the bed and layed down next to him, my head on his chest, " What do we do now?" I asked. "I don't know." he said simply, cradling me. - - - - - - - - - - Well, if you liked it please tell me so I can start work on the next one.