The Mysterious Hero

The Mysterious Hero: Chapter 4

My entire body felt like it was run over by a tractor farming potatoes, then a fat ass gorilla sat on me, getting off only five, freaking, fabulous hours later.

In other words, I hurt so much.

I hissed through my teeth as I gently prodded the gash on my arm. Disgusting yellow puss protruded out of it, and I wondered if I was going to get an infection. I was too lazy and tired last night, so I didn't bother cleaning my wound, when I really should have. That was the sensible thing to do. But I wasn't very sensible at one o' clock in the morning.

I carefully dabbed a warm wash cloth on the wound, a whimper escaping my lips. I sucked my teeth, scrunching my eyes in concentration to get it over with. The wound stung and it was worse than those teensy-weensy booboo's you get from scraping your knees when you were four. This was much worse. I gritted my teeth so hard that I was afraid that they would crack. The antiseptic made me wince, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Now this part was even worse. This was basically spraying lemon juice on a fresh cut.

I fished out a large sized band aid from the first aid kit, aligning it carefully on the wound. No one would see the gash on my arm though, since I would be wearing my sweater on top. I was glad for that because people wouldn't stare at me like I was a freak, not that it made a difference, and Emily wouldn't be able to rip the band aid off, inflicting pain on me. Let's just say she was the sadistic one out of the group.

I faced the mirror, examining my face. The purple bags under my eyes wouldn't be very noticeable once I had my glasses on. I lifted my chin, touching the small scar that the robber had left. The scab was rough and ridged, which just made me want to pick it but I decided against it. If you really thought about it, picking a scab was kind of gross.

Adam yelled, calling me to get to the car. I closed my eyes with a sigh, shaking my head. School. I had school. Leaving the bathroom, I quickly grabbed my bag from my room then jogged down the stairs, remembering to lock the front door because Adam always forgot. When I was in the car, he gave me a once over.

I flicked the radio on, hoping that that would distract him from whatever he was about to say. Adam glowered at me as he proceeded to back out of the driveway. A pop music station started playing, and I knew that Adam would either change the station or turn it off so he could scold me. It was the latter.

"Every movement you make, you grimace. What happened this time?" he questioned with a concerned but livid look.

"I caught a robber," I answered vaguely, shifting slightly in my seat so that he wouldn't notice my occasional pain contorted face when I moved my right arm.

"And?" Adam growled, knuckles tightening on the steering wheel.

"It doesn't really matter..." I muttered. I didn't feel like sharing what had happened. It was just a long story with a bunch of fighting. And telling Adam that I got stabbed in the arm was something that I didn't want to share.

"For God's sake, just tell me, Lila!"

The sharpness in his voice made me snap. "Shut up, Adam! You can probably guess what happened! And whatever did happen, it doesn't matter now because I'm alive, not dead!"

Adam's face softened, but mine was filled with guilt. I shouldn't have yelled at him, he was just worried about me. He was the only relative I had that wasn't long distance. And Adam's rarely angry with me. He just cared about me. I was selfish and ungrateful, and I didn't deserve to have a caring brother like Adam.

"I'm sorry," Adam whispered, taking one hand off the wheel to unclench my fists.

His words made me cry. "Adam, don't be sorry! It's me! I'm sorry! I'm such a brat! It's just that I can't stand it when you think I'm going to get slaughtered or something..." I sniffed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you."