Totally, 100 Percent, Cliche

Chapter 8

     "Alright, who set the bathroom on fire this time?" Shawn Stevens stormed out of his house with his fists clenched, ready to pummel the fire-bug. His parents must be out of town. He noticed Scott and I standing awkwardly on his lawn, and sauntered over.

     "'Sup man?" Scott and Shawn proceeded to do a complicated handshake that looked as if they had practiced for a couple of hours to perfect. I don't even think Shawn really noticed I was there.

     "Yo Shawn! Go long!" I didn't have time to place the voice, but I knew it came from the other side of the yard. A football came flying out of nowhere, headed straight for my face.

     Suddenly I was rudely pushed out of the way by Shawn, who made a grab at the football. His shove sent me flying backwards, and I landed on my butt, face flaming red with embarrassment. My glasses had flown off somewhere in the fall.  Shawn's grab was off, and he ended up smacking the ball to the ground where it bounced up and hit him in the groin. He doubled over, grabbing his pants trying to relieve the pain.

     "Kloe! Are you alright?" Scott offered me a hand which I gratefully took a hold of. He pulled me up gently but swiftly, putting a steady hand on my shoulder.

     Shawn looked over and seemed to finally notice me for the first time. His eyes went wide, and I heard him inhale deeply. He looked down at his hands, and instantly released his hold on his groin.

     "Well, hi there. I'm Shawn. Have we ever met?" You could tell he was trying to sound sultry as he stuck out a hand, which I denied kindly. After all, I had just seen where it had been.

     I was about to open my mouth when Scott decided to speak for me. "Of course you've met her you idiot, she's in our-" He stopped suddenly, and gave me a look that I couldn't quite make out without my glasses. "Our um, our region. Yeah. We've played her school a couple times. Canyonview, right Kloe?" He grasped my arm a little tightly, as if just telling me to roll with it.

     "Yeah, Canyonview. We've probably met at some other party or something." I hoped my lie was convincing enough, even though I knew it didn't have to be. I'd known Shawn for a couple of years now, and he wasn't exactly Einstein. I still had no clue as to why I was lying however, but if that's what Scott wanted then of course I'd go with it.

     "Hey Shawn, can you do Kloe a favor and grab her a drink? She looks parched. Thanks man." Scott clapped Shawn on the back before he even had a chance to say anything. Shawn just nodded and walked around to the back of the house where he probably had a cooler of drinks.

     "Come on Klo, let's get inside before he comes back around front." Scott still had a hold of my arm, and he led me up the porch and into the house. The whole house seemed to be jam packed full of people, and it was hard to maneuver. Once we stepped inside we didn't really have any control over where the mass of bodies took us. It was then that I remembered something.

     "Scott! My glasses! Did you pick them up?"

     "Have you ever considered contacts? You almost look like a completely different person."

     "Um, not really. But Scott, my glas-"

     "It's cool, I got them right here in my pocket. Oh crap!" I heard something drop to the floor. Knowing it was my glasses I instinctively reached down to grab them. Right as I did so someone crossed between Scott and I, stepping on my hand. There was a horrible crunching sound, and I felt instant pain. The glasses had been crushed under my hand, and the glass had shredded my palm.

      I cried out in pain, clutching my hand.  Scott lifted me from my crouched position, and forced our way through the mob of drunk, sweaty teenagers. He brought me to the front of the bathroom door which he forced open, revealing a couple in the middle of a hard core makeout session. The boy broke away first when he noticed our presence.

     "Dude! The hell, man? Do you mind-"

    "Out!" Scott shoved both of them out roughly, and pulled me in with him as he closed the door behind him, ignoring all protests from both the boy and the girl.

     Scott wrapped his arms around my waist and gently lifted me up so I was sitting on the edge of the sink. I was biting my lip hard to keep from crying out, and I began to taste blood. 

     "Which hand Kloe, which hand?" I held out my left hand, and looked at it for the first time. The palm was shredded, and I could still see bits of glass sticking out of my skin. "Oh. Well. Not too bad then."

     "What's the diagnosis, Doc?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood just a bit. It obviously looked horrible, and he was just downplaying it. I don't know why he bothered, I knew how much pain I was in.

     "Well it looks like we'll have to amputate so we can save the rest of your arm. I'm sorry Kloe, but you will never play the piano again.

     "Wait, what?!" It took me a second to realize he was kidding. I don't even play the piano! 

     "Kloe Kennedy, still as gullible as the 9 year old girl I used to know." He was laughing now, and I swatted him playfully with my good hand.

     "Oh shut up, I don't even play the piano. The pain was just making me delirious, that's all."

     "You make me delirious."

   "What? I wasn't sure I had heard him right, and I couldn't completely make out his facial expression.

     "Good news," Scott said in reply, changning the subject. "Shawn keeps a first-aid kit in this bathroom. Accidents tend to happen at his parties." Scott opened up the cabinet beneath the sink and began rifling around looking for the first-aid kit. "Ah hah! Here it is. We'll have you good as new in no time."

     "Thanks Doc." Scott held my injured hand in his, palm up. He proceeded to remove the glass from my hand, but my hand had gone completely numb in his grasp. I couldn't believe this, Scott was holding my hand!

     We stayed silent as he wiped the up the blood with a warm, wet rag. It was more of a comfortable silence, instead of the awkward one I had been expecting.

     "Sorry Kloe, but this will sting." Before I could react he poured an anti-septic of some sort on my hand and I cried out in pain. This didn't sting, this BURNED! I but my lip quickly, before I cried out any further.

     Scott grabbed my other hand and squeezed. "It's OK Kloe, I'm fixing it." Tears pierced the corners of my eyes. He noticed, and removed his hand from mine to wipe the tears from my cheeks. His thumb rested on my cheekbone for longer than was necessary. He inhaled deeply, and let out a long sigh as he withdrew his hand from my face completely.

     The silence resumed, and he wrapped my hand in a clean white bandage.

     "It'll be healed within the week, but if it gets infected, please book another appointment with me immediately."

     "Thank you Doctor, how could I ever repay you?" I replied sarcastically. I made sure to roll my eyes for good measure. For about a minute he didn't say anything. Then he leaned in close, and brushed my cheek with his lips. Whispering in my ear he said, "I'll collect payment later." I choked out a quick reply of OK, suddenly unable to speak.

     Well!" He said a little louder than necessary as he lifted me off the counter and onto my feet. "I don't feel much like partying anymore, do you? How about we go get ice cream or something? I mean, you were such a good patient after all."

     "Yeah, sounds great!" I laughed. He opened the door and slid his hand through my good one. After guiding me through the crowd, he ushered me out the door and into his car.

     As we pulled away from the party we never noticed the cherry red Ferrari convertible, or the red head sitting in the driver seat.

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Oh my goodness guys, it's been two whole months?! I am so so sorry! (: Lemme know what you think in the comments, fan, and vote!!!

xoxo Sophia