Trials and Tribulations of a Country Boy

School Time!

Chapter 3: School Time!

"Hey y'all," Scotty said when he got to all his friends.

"Hey Scotty," said Jay Booth.

"What's up man?" asked Jacob Bowes.

"Not much. Dropped Jackie off at school," Scotty replied.

"Aw. How come you did that?" asked Gabi.

"Alright, well... You guys know my mom's sister Shauna, right?"

"Yeah. We know Shauna," replied Kyle Wiggins.

"Well, her husband - my uncle Kevin - " Scotty stopped and looked up at the sky, unsure whether or not to continue.

"What happened?" asked Jacob.

With his voice cracking a little, Scotty continued, "A couple of weeks ago, Kevin got into a car accident."

"Oh my gosh, Scotty," Gabi gasped. "How?"

"He was sitting in traffic, waiting for the light to change. All of a sudden, another car - which I think was a dagum Sedan or somethin' like that - unexpectedly reared him from behind," Scotty explained, his voice still cracking.

"Oh my gosh!" Kyle and Jay exclaimed.

"Go on, what happened next?" pressed Jacob.

"The driver of the Sedan got out of her car and looked in Kevin's car. When she saw that he wasn't responding, she called for an ambulance." Scotty was about to continue on when three more of his friends, Yameer Green, Kanique Swanson and Ava Mumford - Taylor came over.

"Hello. What up everybody?" asked Yameer.

Kanique looked at Scotty, who looked like he was going to cry, then asked Gabi, "Why is Scotty so upset? It's not like him."

"Before you guys came over, Scotty was telling us how his uncle Kevin got into a car accident a couple weeks ago," Gabi explained.

Letting out a collective gasp, Yameer, Kanique and Ava shouted, "Oh my goodness!" Then they all put their hands to their mouths in shock.

"We're sorry, Scotty," said Ava softly, walking over and putting her arm on his shoulder.

"Thanks Ava," he replied, giving her a hug.

"You're welcome," replied Ava.

"So what happened after the Sedan owner called for the ambulance?" Kanique asked. Then everybody in the group looked immediately at Scotty, wanting for him to continue.

Scotty started with, "Well..." before the bell rang, signaling the start of first block.

"Uh oh. Time for class," stated Kyle.

"Oh darn!" groaned Yameer. "Scotty, tell us more after school okay?"

"You bet I plan to continue my story," Scotty softly chuckled.

With comments of approval and concern, all of his friends went inside the school. Only Gabi was still with him.

"Thanks for being willing to listen to me this morning, Gabi. And all of y'all," Scotty said to her.

"You're welcome Scotty Cooke," Gabi replied. "So will you tell us the rest of the story about the accident after school?"

"Um... Sure."

"Okay. Let's go to class, country boy." Gabi let out a small giggle.

"Alrighty then, miss Purple," Scotty quickly replied back.

The two laughed, then walked to their first class holding hands.

2:20 PM... After School

2 minutes after school was done for the day, Scotty and his friends were back in front of the building.

"Alright McCreery, the bell gave you a lucky break this morning," said Jay.

"So tell us more about the accident," Yameer pressed. "I mean, Kanique, Ava and I didn't get to hear the whole story."

Scotty then proceeded to tell Ava, Yameer and Kanique what he'd told everybody else that morning.

"Gosh," Kanique and Ava said softly.

"So what happened after the ambulance was called?" Yameer asked.

"Well, the ambulance came, causing another dagum traffic stall. The paramedics pulled Kevin out of the car and checked his vitals. They were fine, but he was unconscious by the time they'd found him. Then they took him in the ambulance and drove off to the hospital," Scotty stated, looking up again.

"It's okay man," said Jacob. "So how did Shauna find out?"

"The paramedics called her on the way to the hospital. From what I remember, she was very upset. She loves her husband, kids and my family more than anything else in this doggone world." Scotty looked a little emotional, remembering Shauna's reaction to the news.

"Aw, Scotty. It's okay," said Ava, giving him another hug.

Everybody else was quick to join in, thus doing a giant group hug. After they'd offered Scotty their condolences, everybody except Gabi left the school to go home.

After a while, Gabi said, "Oh my gosh, Scotty. That's a pretty scary story about your uncle. My sincerest of condolences."

"Thanks so much, Gabi," Scotty said softly. "That's actually why I had to pick Jackie up today. Because my mom and Shauna are at the hospital checking on Kevin, and Jared's not home."

"That's sweet of you," replied Gabi. "So you looking forward to prom on Saturday, bud?"

"Yes I am," Scotty chuckled. "Will I be seeing you and your family at my baseball game on Thursday?"

"Yes you will, mister McCreery." Gabi smiled at him, making Scotty do the same. Then the two hugged each other tightly.

"See you Thursday," they both said to each other.

After Gabi was gone, Scotty pulled out his phone, went to his Twitter app, and typed up a new tweet:

@ScottyMcCreery: Done w/school. How lucky am I to have a friend like Yoo_GabaGaba? #Luckyguy

Then he put his phone away and walked toward Loretta, ready to go pick Jackie up to take her back to his house.