Lies for Truth

Chapter 16

“It’s no big deal.”

“I asked because I want to know, I want to help.” the words surprised her as much as him. Knowing there was a reason that drove him to the things he did interested her, she wanted to know if there was hope for him to be a better person.  

He turned to the left and looked at her, his brown eyes filled with different emotions. “Really?”

“Instead of bullying me you could just ask for help with your schoolwork. Instead of blackmailing me to hang out you can ask.” She said tightly, if he would’ve been this Charlie last year they could’ve maybe been friends now.

“Really? If I would’ve asked you for any of that would you have said yes?”

“Before you ever teased me or bullied me? Yes I would have.” She confessed now that she got to know a different side of him.

“Then will you help me with school?” he asked hesitantly considering they did have a difficult past.

She looked into his brown eyes for a moment searching for the cocky joke from school that hurt her. She opened her mouth to answer when suddenly she heard growling from behind them. She looked and jumped from the swing. It was an angry dog that looked more like a wolf to her but this part of the city didn’t have wolves.

It charged at them and pounced on Charlie.

“No!” she yelled. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with Charlie but she knew she didn’t want to see him mauled and killed. She hastily looked around and saw a fairly large branch that had fallen. She swung and caught the animal on the arm hard enough to break skin. “Let him go.”

The animal let Charlie up and turned its abnormal blue eyes on her. Ariana froze, transfixed by those eyes. The animal turned and ran through the other side of the park.

She dropped the branch. “Are you ok?”

“I’ll live.”

“That’s a pretty bad bite.” She helped him roll up his shirt sleeve to examine the bite closer; it was pretty big on his forearm.

“Shit, do you know how many shots they give you for a bite? Chances of it having rabies or something?”

“Do you really want to chance it? I didn’t peg you as such a baby.”

“To prove I’m not a baby you want me to go to the hospital and get dozens of shots in my ass? I think I’d rather be a baby. You just saved me from a wild animal, you a girl, I think that already proves it.” they started walking back to the restaurant parking lot.

“There’s nothing wrong with being saved by a girl.”

“Says the girl.”

“Whatever you say. Are you alright enough to drive home?”

“It’s barley bleeding, yeah I’ll be fine.”

“What are you going to tell your parents, they might want you to go to the hospital?” Ariana kind of hoped they would, he really should have a doctor check that out.

“They won’t even care.”  He answered bitterly.

Ariana looked up at her companion and remembered what he said about his parents being physically abuse to each other. There really was a lot more to Charlie Lowell then met the eye and she hated to admit it even in the confines of her head but she was starting to feel bad for the guy and wished his life didn’t hold such tragedies. “I don’t have to be home yet, I can go with you to get the bite checked out.” She awkwardly offered.

“Why would you do that, why do you care after everything I’ve done to you?” he asked, stopping in the middle of the street.

That was a very good question, she thought. “I don’t know. A visit to the hospital is a prefect way to end the night.” She didn’t want to call it a date because it wasn’t something she’d consider a date. It was more like two people having dinner and making some bad jokes along the way.

“Ok then I’ll go but I confess I’m only doing it to spend more time with you.”

“Why do you want to spend time with me? After dinner this could’ve been over with and you probably wouldn’t have been attacked.”

“I like how you’ve made me feel tonight. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else, you don’t care about all that other crap most girls do.” He explained as they reached the parking lot.

“I’ll drive so you don’t end up passing out and finding bigger problems.” She led the way to her car and decided not to address the other subject anymore. She was there and she was going to see him through this, that was it.

“Your mom’s car right?”

“Yes, you can tell?” she pulled out of the parking lot and headed to the medial center.

“It looks like a mom’s car.”

Ariana shrugged and focused her attention on the rode. When they arrived to the hospital she sighed with relief to see they weren’t busy that Saturday night. She offered to wait in the waiting room but then noticed Charlie’s tight expression. She didn’t put it past him to escape through a window so she stayed by his side.

When the doctor announced he’d need stitches after cleaning the wound Charlie grabbed her hand. It amused her to see him the big bad football king scared. If she was a different type of person she’d use this against him at school but being the wimp she knew she was, this was going to stay between them.

The doctor stepped out as well as the nurse. Ariana looked at him then their hands. “It won’t hurt.”

“Liar.”

“I got stitches once and it feels funny but they give you good numbing anesthetics first.”

Charlie eyed her for a moment. “Where?”

She pulled her hands free and lifted her skirt to her knee, there was a now faint scar across the top of her knee. “I fell on my bike and landed on some glass when I was ten. I was a ten year old girl and I didn’t complain this much.”

“Ouch point taken.”

When the doctor and nurse returned and starting stitching each gash the animal created Charlie took it pretty well. He did tense when the doctor mentioned the shots he’d need. Half hour later then he was let go and able to go home.

Ariana drove them back to the parking lot so he could pick up his car. She got out and walked him to it, talk about as role reversal. “Are you alright to drive?”

“Yeah I feel clear headed.” He reached out and shook her hand. “Thanks for sticking around. I can’t think of one person who would do that.”

“I’m nice to a fault. Um, bye.” She turned away and walked back to her car admitting the night had gone pretty well considering.