Keeping Secrets From Brother ✓

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven 

When I woke up I quietly got a change of clothes and went to the bathroom. I took my sweatshirt off and examined the long cut down my arm. It could be infected because I didn't wash it properly last night. I ran some cold water over it and cleaned my arm with soap. It started to bleed lightly but stopped after a few seconds. I got dressed and slipped on my sweatshirt so I could cover the cut. After, I went back in my room to comb my hair.

Justin slept peacefully and I didn't bother to wake him up. I'll let him sleep in today, I can walk to school. I set Justin's comb down and grabbed my bag. I slipped out of the room quietly and went to the kitchen. The cupboards were filled with snacks. It feels good to have food in the house. This will be the first time I bring something to school for lunch in a while.

I grabbed a paper bag and put some things in it. I grabbed myself a granola bar for the way to school then put my lunch in my book bag. I headed out to school. The sun was hidden behind the clouds and it was a little chilly. I bit into my granola bar and watched each step I took.

I'm so glad it is Friday. I'll probably stay home this weekend or walk down to the pond. There's not much to do on the weekend. Justin will probably go out and look for a job so I'll be sitting home alone.

I saw a car coming my way in the distance and got a little nervous. Not too many cars come down this way. When I was finally able to see the shape of the car I relaxed. Eli pulled up next to me in his car.

"What are you doing walking?" Eli asked.

"Justin got expelled for two weeks so I'm walking to school." I said.

"And he didn't bother taking you to school?"

I shook my head, "no I just didn't want to wake him up."

 "Get in." He said.

I put my wrapper in my pocket and walked around the car to the passenger's side.

"So Justin got suspended for two weeks?" He asked looking in his rearview mirror.

"Yeah." I whispered as I shut the car door. "So uh, how did your parents react to the bruise on your face?"

He chuckled and made a u-turn. "Well, they were freaking out for a while but they got over it."

I looked over at him and saw the bruise on his face a little darker. Now every time I see Eli's face it reminds me that I was the one who started the fight. Like Justin said, if I would have just shut my mouth when he told me to it wouldn't have happened.

"Hey what were you doing down this way?" I asked.

"Actually," he smirked, "I was going to see if you needed a ride since I didn't know what was going to happen to Justin. I did have to drop my dad off at work so I turned around."

"Why did you have to do that?" I asked curious.

"Oh, his car wasn't working. He didn't have time to look at it so I just dropped him off."

That has happened to Justin's car a couple of times. It suddenly didn't work. We couldn't take it in to get it fixed so Justin had to learn everything about cars. Now if something does go wrong with it, he knows how to fix it. I wonder if Eli would let Justin work on their car.

"My brother can fix cars. I can ask him to take a look at it."

"Really?" He asked shocked.

I nodded. "Justin won't mind. I'll ask him after school."

He smiled. "You're a lifesaver."

I shrugged. "No big deal."    

We didn't exchange anymore words in the car. When we got to school Eli and I went our separate ways. Some people pushed by me as I was going in to my first class. I was heading toward my seat when the teacher called my name.