A Gang of Our Own

Chapter Twenty- Eight

I caught a cold the next day. I blamed it on the crying congesting my nose. And the day after that it got worse. I had a nasty chest cold. My lungs felt swollen and like someone was sitting on them. My cough sounded like a horse's cough and if you don't know what that sounds like, let's just say it's very unpleasant. And with my heart still being on the mend, I was a wreck.

However, everyone was being really sweet towards me. Well, more so than usual. Matt told Mom and Blair about Cory. Mom was now checking up on me every five minutes while Blair visited me every second she had after school, since I was only allowed to leave my bed to shower and use the bathroom. I warned her to stay back. I didn't want to get her sick but the stubborn girl wouldn't listen. But I enjoyed her company. It was nice having a girlfriend to talk to. Plus, she brought me my homework every day so I wouldn't fall behind.

On Friday she came by as usual and sat on the bed next to me. I looked up from my Biology homework on cellular respiration and smiled at her. "Hey."

"Howdy. How are you feeling today?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure my throat is bleeding from all my hacking. Pressure in my head makes me feel like my brains could explode at any time. My lungs are sore everywhere and I can't breathe out of my right nostril."

She scrunched up her nose. "Oh, the doesn't sound like fun."

"Not really. Not to mention I'm kind of flying blind with this Biology homework. What the heck is alcoholic fermentation?"

"It's the part in anaerobic respiration where there's three choices: lactic fermentation, alcoholic fermentation, or-"

"And that's enough biology for me tonight." I interrupted.

She chuckled as I slammed my book shut. "So how was school today?"

"That kid in French class... um... Lucus? I didn't hear what exactly but I guess he said something pretty awful to Miss Lavalette."

"Are you serious? I hate Lucus. What did Mrs. Lavalette do?"

"She stood up on her desk and rapped him a song in french."

"She did what? Are you serious?"

"Oh yeah. It was beautiful."

"Was she good?"

"Almost as good as Eminem."

"The one day I'm not at school."

She chuckled and we fell into silence. I loved Blair's company. I loved Matt's company. But I really needed someone else's company. And I hadn't talked to him in six days.

"How's Triston?" I asked.

"He's doing good."

"The proper term would be 'doing well' ".

"Oh, hush."

I laughed, but I had a sad thought come to mind. "Does he know what happened?"

Blair nodded.

"He's still mad at me, isn't he?"

"I don't really know, Avery. He hasn't been very social with anyone lately."

"I'm so sorry." I sighed while shaking my head.

"For what?"

"Hurting your brother."

"I'm not mad at you."

"But he is. And he has a right to be. I was so awful. I don't know where those words came from. He didn't deserve to be treated like that, and no amount of apologies could make up for what I did. I miss him, Blair."