*Josh's POV*
As my unconscious body remained still, I felt my mind travelling back to that time.... that day long ago...
***
"Put me down! What are you doing?" She yelled.
I placed her in the passenger seat, slammed the door, and ran around to the other side. I quickly opened the car door and started the car. I closed the door in one swift motion, buckled up, and hit the gas pedal as hard as I could.
"Stop it! Take me back!" she continued to shout.
"Brooke, please. Just relax."
Nathan is going to fix this.... he's going to undo what Aaron did to you...
"No! I'm not going to relax! You will not get any information from me. You better let me go now!! I swear!"
I just have to ignore her. She's not going to stop yelling.
She continued to yell for what seemed like forever, but eventually she stopped.
Finally, some peace and quiet...
I turned onto a curvy back road so it would make it harder for them to track us. I sped as fast as I could, but I knew I had to be careful. I'm not sure why, but I'm starting to feel more uneasy in the silence than I was when she kept forcibly shouting at me. I pushed away my concerns and focused on the road. Suddenly, she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Fine.... then, I'll just have to kill us both."
Before I could even react, she grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it hard to the right. I tried to fight her off, but it was no use. The car was spinning out of control. Before I knew it, the car had flipped over onto Brooke's side of the vehicle. We continued flipping until I hit my head on the side of the car and blacked out.
***
Suddenly as I came to, I gasped for air.
"Brooke!!" I called out hoarsely.
I tried to sit up, but I felt a hand pushing me back down.
"Hey! Hey, it's ok. Josh, it's me, Tyler."
Slowly as my eyes began to focus, my mind drifted away from my past memory. I looked up into the eyes of my best friend.
"Wha..... Where am I?"
"You're in the pack hospital. You passed out right after the ritual. Do you remember?"
I slowly tried to sit up with Tyler's help. "Yeah, I remember."
"Good. I'm not gonna lie. You had me worried for a bit there."
"Ahh, well you know me. I tend to bounce back quick" I flashed a weak smile.
Tyler chuckled lightly, "Of course. How could I think any different" He smiled back.
"So, I see you're awake!"
I looked at the doorway to see a black-haired woman who seemed to be in her late 30s. As I studied her slowly, she appeared to be of slight Asian decent, but I wasn't quite sure. Noticing my confusion, she moved to introduce herself.
"Hello, Josh. My name is Galena Crowley, the Healer. You can call me Lena." She smiled kindly as she walked towards me.
"Now, It seems to me that after you were bonded to the pack, you were significantly weakened. Now, typically, it is normal for there to be a lot of pain involved when making the transition. However, I have never seen anyone this weakened before."
"Do you know what caused me to pass out like that?" I questioned.
"I'm not sure exactly what is causing it." She responded.
Oh great. That's encouraging...
"However, you need to be very careful not to overwork yourself. I have healed you significantly, but you are still weakened by the bonding process. I figured it may take you a bit before your body gets used to the change."
"Ok. So, when can I leave the hospital?"
"Well, at least over night. I'm not sure if you will be stable enough to leave yet since I'm not sure exactly what is causing you to be so weakened. You will probably be discharged either Late Saturday or early Sunday morning"
"Ok." I responded. 'It is going to be so hard for me to sit here and do nothing...'
"I know," she smiled, "that's why I have Tyler here to keep an eye on you."
'Right, I forgot. She can hear my thoughts now too...'
"Yep! So don't be thinking of planning an escape," she playfully warned.
Tyler chuckled lightly as I rolled my eyes.
*Selena's POV*
It was about 10 am when I woke up Saturday morning. My sister Sarah came into the room a few minutes later.
"Oh good. You're finally awake"
I laughed, "Whatever, I was awake."
"Yeah, like two minutes ago."
I sat up in my bed as I reached for my cell phone to see what time it was.
"Breakfast is down stairs if you want some."
"Thanks, Sarah."
"No problem."
As she left the room I got out of bed and stretched a little bit. I started to think more about Josh, even though I really didn't want to.
Man, I really hate this. I wish that I could talk to Jake about this... But who knows how he'd react if he knew what he did. Talking with Nicole made me feel a little bit better, but I still felt like I needed to get it out.
I decided to mind-link Nicole, but only Nicole.
'Hey, any ideas to help me feel better? I know I talked to you, but I still feel like I need to get it out.'
'You think maybe it's because you haven't told Jake?' She responded almost instantly.
'I just don't know how he'd take it I guess...'
'Well, tell you what. When I feel like I need to get something off my chest, I write it all out. It helps me feel better. But you do need to tell him sooner or later, Lee.'
'Don't worry, I will... eventually.'
She laughed a little at that. I smiled before continuing.
'Thanks, Nicki.'
'Anytime.'
Putting my block back up, I quickly looked around for a piece of paper.
I haven't written in a diary for a long time, but, I need to get it out. Ah, here we go.
I pulled out a slip of college rule paper and reached for the pen I keep in my desk. For a while, I just looked at the slip of paper. But it didn't take me long before I started writing out everything. Not only just about what happened, but also about how I felt. How bad it made me feel. It was the first time I had even put to words how I really felt on the inside. Even when I talked with Nicole, I put on a brave face. But this... this was all of it.
I also expressed my anger towards him, even though it seemed more exaggerated than it actually was. It felt good to get it all out. I picked up the paper as I walked back towards my bed. I heard my cell phone vibrate on the night stand. I placed the paper on my bed as I reached for the phone. I had one new text message. I opened it and it turned out to be a text from my sister.
"Your breakfast is getting cold ;)"
I smiled lightly as I responded, "Be right down!" and made my way down stairs.
***
As I finished my breakfast, I received a text message from Jake. Since I had been ignoring him through the link, I guess he resorted to texting me. I almost considered not opening it, but I decided to anyway.
"Hey, do you still have my Government notes?"
I placed my hand on my head. Oh no! He gave me his notes, but we have a test this Monday! I completely forgot!
"OMG! Yeah, I do! I completely forgot about the Government test we have Monday!" I sent the text. I can't believe I let it slip my mind. A few moments later he responded.
"Mind if I come over to study?"
I was a little bit hesitant, but before I could even reply, he had sent me another text message.
"Don't think about saying no, because I'm already in the driveway ;)"
I chuckled. Of course he's outside.
"Ok, fine! I'll let you in!" I responded.
I walked over and opened the door. Jake, of course, was already standing there.
"Well, hello stranger," he winked at me.
"Oh, whatever. Come in." he chuckled as he walked in the door.
"Hey, Mom! Jake came over to study!"
"That's fine! Have fun!" she called back.
"Ok, come on" I nodded as Jake followed me upstairs to my room.
Oh no, the note! I quickly raced up the stairs and into my room.
"Whoa! What's the hurry?" I heard him question.
I hurriedly stuffed it under my pillow before he came in.
"What was that all about?" he inquired.
"Oh nothing, I remembered I had some of my clothes laid out on my bed so I wanted to get it off." I lied.
He looked slightly puzzled, but a small smile formed on his face.
"Selena, I've seen your bras and panties before."
My face suddenly turned red. "Oh, shut up Jake!" I said as I threw my mini pillow at him. He only seemed to laugh even more.
"Oh now, don't be embarrassed."
"Whatever, let's just focus on studying!" I reached into my book back, hiding my reddened face as I searched for my Government binder. He sat down on my bed and pulled out his binder as well. I joined him, making sure to sit where my note was so he wouldn't be able to discover it.
"So, I'll quiz you first and you can quiz me next."
"Alright, sounds like a plan" he smirked.
***
"What is the 10th amendment?"
I paused for a moment before answering, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
"Good job! See you do know your stuff," He encouraged.
"Yeah, I know it now. But when it's test time, I'll blank out."
"No you won't. Your smart. Smarter than me. You'll do fine."
"Thanks, Jake. Studying with you helps a lot."
"Yeah, it helps me too. Your hilarious acronyms will help me remember this stuff for the rest of my life."
"Thanks, I try" I smiled.
"Hey, you wanna take a little break?" He questioned.
"Yeah sure! You want something to drink?" I asked.
"Sure! What do you have?"
"Well, we have apple juice, orange juice, soda.... and we have yoo-hoo!" He perked up at the sound of that.
"Oh, you know I love me some yoo-hoo!"
"Alright, yoo-hoo it is! I'll be right back!"
"Ok!"
I raced down the stairs and opened the fridge. I reached in and grabbed two yoo-hoo's before closing it back.
"You and Jake having fun?" Sarah questioned.
"I guess? We're just studying."
"Right... of course." She looked at my mom and smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing," she stated with a smile still on her face. I looked from my mom back to her.
"You guys are weird." I stated as I headed back upstairs.
I struggled slightly to open the door, but finally managed to open it. I turned around and closed it behind me. I turned back around to see Jake standing with my note in his hand. I walked towards the bed and placed the yoo-hoos down, pretending to ignore the fact that he had found my note.
"So, is this what you've been hiding from me?"
I sat down, but looked directly at him.
"How could you not tell me this?"
"Look, I can explain..."
His eyebrows raised as if awaiting my explanation.
"The first day we came into school, I didn't know what to do because he ran straight past me. I thought it was something I did and I was worried about being rejected. But Nicole reassured me that-"
"You told Nicole about this guy?" he questioned.
Oh man, I slipped up. I had hoped he wouldn't catch that...
"Well, I was worried... that you would freak out."
"Freak out? You didn't even tell me that you had found your mate and that this guy is being a total jerk to you? I thought that we told each other everything, Selena!"
"We do!"
"Apparently not!" he went quiet for a few seconds.
"Well, I'm definitely going to have a talk with that-"
"No!" I cut him off. "See? This is why I didn't want to tell you anything! I knew that you would over react like this! I didn't want you to go crazy on him."
"Selena, he hurt you. And I'm supposed to just sit by? No way!"
"Jake, just stay out of it!"
"Whatever. Honestly, I am more hurt that you told Nicole but didn't think that you could talk to me about this!" As he looked at me, I could see the hurt deep in his eyes.
"Jake..."
"You know, whatever. I'll see you Monday, Selena." He grabbed his book bag and shut the door behind him.
Sigh... What have I done...