Something Happened

Chapter 13

By the time we dropped Benny back off at his house, it was around 10:00. It was late and I was pretty tired from the night with the guys. We mostly just sat around the table and made each other laugh. At one point Ethan snorted a piece of corn. I almost peed I laughed so hard.

"You seemed to have fun tonight," Jared tells me.

"Yeah, It wasn't bad."

"I'm glad that you can find some sort of happiness, after everything," Jared tells me, glancing at me when we are stopped at a stop sign.

"Maybe we should give it a break tonight. It's Thanksgiving, I don't want to talk about it," I tell him, trying not to be irritated with him. I know he's trying.

"I think we should though, talk about it. I think you should tell mom," his words make my heart beat a little faster. "I can't make you, it's not my place, but I think you should," he continues.

"I'll think about it," but we both know I won't. My lie hangs around in the silence for a while until we are home and inside.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Estelle. This year, I am grateful for you, and I am grateful for your friends, who can still make you laugh," he kisses me on the forehead, and walks into his room, shutting his door and leaving me standing in the hallway.

I wonder if we will ever get past this-him treating me like something terminal.

***

"Mom is taking us bowling for the day, she doesn't want to be here when I leave tomorrow so we are spending today together," Jared tells me around ten o'clock in the morning the next day. He is already dressed for the day and I haven't even gotten out of bed yet.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a few," he nods in response and shuts my door, leaving me to get ready.

A few minutes later, we are all shoved in Jared's rental-he insisted on taking it. We spend the whole ride to the bowling alley listening to my mom talk about how Mustang's are unreliable cars and how many teenagers come into the hospital because they were speeding with their sports cars. It made for a pretty annoying ride.

When we do get to the bowling alley, mom buys us two rounds on the first lane. There aren't a lot of people since usually you go bowling later in the day. I guess it's a blessing in disguise though, I won't have to worry about seeing anyone from school.

"This is fun, we should do this more often," my mom says after ordering a pitcher of soda and french fries.

"Yeah, I'll be home for Christmas if everything goes smoothly. We can all come again then," Jared tells her. She smiles, it's a rare sight these days, which makes my insides warm. In that moment, we feel like a real family. Like mom didn't spend all of her time at work and Jared wasn't in the army and dad never died.

We chat for a little while longer before going back to our game. It isn't long before we are starting another round. Of course, Jared won the first one and he will probably win the second one too. Mom and I both suck horribly at bowling, but it was fun any way.

"Hey, Estelle, do you know those guys? They look like they go to high school," my mom asks me. I look over at where she is pointing. My stomach drops as the lacrosse team grow closer, three familiar guys trailing behind them. Why are they with the lacrosse team? They don't play. Is Derek with them?

My hands start shaking and my head grows fuzzy. "Uhm, yeah, they go to my school. They are in my grade," I tell her. My voice weak and brittle.

"They look nice. Why don't you ever go out with one of them?"

Before I have the time to come up with any kind of remotely acceptable answer, they start to head our way. The closer they get the faster my heart beats. Please don't talk to me. Please don't talk to me. I chant the words to myself, sending out a silent prayer.

My prayer does nothing because soon enough they are all standing directly in front of me.

"Do you mind if we join you?" One of the lacrosse players asks, Trenton, I think it is. He is the only junior that I know of, but that's only because everyone knows Trenton, he's the school heartbreaker. His soft brown hair matches his big brown eyes almost perfectly-making him look like an adorable teddy bear.

"Not at all! We have plenty of room," and that is how my mother allowed almost the whole lacrosse team and then a few, join our bowling match.

As the guys start to find a place around our bench Derek moves across my peripheral vision. If my heart was beating fast before, it's nothing compared to it now. I turn my head to get a better look at him. He has bags under his eyes but he seems to be fine overall. Still has muscles, still has a minor limp, he still wears a smile. I don't understand how he can smile or be any form of okay knowing what he did to me, knowing what he took from me.

Derek must have felt eyes on him because his head turns and his eyes meet mine. His eyes have frozen me in my place. My feet and body no longer belong to me because my mind is telling me to run, to get away from him, but I make no move to get away. His eyes must have hypnotized me into obeying his every command.

Arms wrap themselves around my shoulder, I yelp and jump as a response. Behind me, Ethan puts his hands up in a surrender.

"Stop scaring people, it's rude," Jamie says, walking towards us.

"Hey, I saw an opportunity and I seized it. She was so entranced by Derek's wounded soul to notice me come up behind her," Ethan replies. Jared is by my side in no time, asking me why I screamed.

"I was just proving that I can make any girl scream," Ethan says laughing. Jared slaps him claiming that if he says it again he would lose something pretty important to any man's sex life.

"Stop being a bunch of little girls! Let's get this thing started already!" One of the lacrosse players yell. The other guys 'whoop' and cheer. I feel like I am going to be sick.