The following weeks are hectic.
The end of the school year is approaching, which means finals. Not only that but Ryan's graduation (and Caiden's graduation, though he insists on paying for everything on his own) is coming up, which means trips, college plans and celebrations. Along with that, I miss school for weeks at a time to go talk to schools about the Ribbon Campaign. After just a couple of visits, it blows up.
Bryce is with me to witness it all. Somehow, we convince Kara Deline and my mother and his mother that Bryce is my manager and must come along with us. It really wasn't too hard- almost all three of them just chuckled and went with it. It was a lot easier with Bryce standing backstage as I talked- I have to admit. And the huge smiles he would always give me after never hurt either.
People didn't fall asleep during my speeches- which was reassuring at the time- but I didn't realize just how much Kara Deline's offer had helped until one day Bryce and I were driving home and Bryce was scrolling through his phone. He said he had counted a total of fifteen tweets on his newsfeed in the past hour about the campaign and I swear I almost started crying at that moment.
One day in late May, when the weather has already mostly warmed up and I can feel the schoolwork inevitably beginning to pile up, I decide to get a twitter account and search up the Ribbon Campaign. I do start crying when I see a total of two thousand tweets about it- that's an insane amount of it. I scroll through every single one, retweeting the photos and sweet messages that people have left about it. I text Bryce my twitter and tell him to look at all the amazing support to which he responds by calling me and freaking out on the other side of the line with me.
The next day Bryce doesn't show up to math class, which I have to admit I'm slightly disappointed by. Twenty minutes into class when it's obvious he's not showing up, I turn and talk to Sadie, telling myself not to get hung up on it.
When I tell Sadie about the tweets, she grins boldly. "Ellie, that's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" We hug, ignoring the slightly strange angle of both sitting in chairs. When we pull away, she says, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to help much with it. It's amazing you've been able to carry it out this far, though."
"Oh, it's okay," I tell her. Even though it's true that Sadie doesn't help too much with the campaign anymore, she still raises awareness about it, wears a ribbon and always shows her support which is more than enough for me. I couldn't be more grateful to her; after all, she was the one who told me that I had to stop being doubtful and go try to make a change before I claim that I can't. "Bryce has helped me, anyway, so I'm not totally alone or anything."
Sadie wiggles her eyebrows but one smack on her arm from me is enough to keep her mouth shut.
I text Bryce at lunch to ask where he is. I don't see him at lunch and only get a reply from him after lunch. He says that he's out with friends- I roll my eyes and don't bother replying. I thought that he learned his lesson after they got him drunk and let him walk out onto the street alone, but I guess not. Bryce has been stuck with the same reckless group of people since he came to high school, so I guess I can sort of see why he doesn't want to give them up, but they're obviously not good people to be associating with. Not that Bryce cares, but still.
I don't see Bryce at all for the rest of the day which I have to admit, sort of dampens my mood. I'm not even sure why- I guess I've just grown so used to his loud presence that without it my day just feels a little... empty. Oh well.
I'm waiting by my locker when I see Bryce's friend- Chris Foller- walk by. Instead of going straight past me like I expect him to do, he approaches me. Chris Foller's voice sounds like he's been smoking cigarettes since the womb days. It's rough, hoarse and combined with his strong New York accent is just all in all intimidating. I don't talk to him much which is why I'm incredibly surprised when he asks me in his rough voice, "Have ya seen Newton?"
I frown. "Bryce? No, why?"
Chris huffs. "He's been spendin' more time with ya than he has with us. Thought if anyone knew it'd be ya."
"He said he was with you guys, skipping."
Chris' bushy eyebrows furrow. "None of us skipped today."
We both frown but don't say anything. Chris eventually gravitates towards his locker, leaving me alone to soak in my confusion. I eventually get shot out of my thoughts (and slight hurt that Bryce lied to me) when Ryan texts me to say he's waiting for me.
When I get home I try to focus my thoughts on something else but they keep drifting back to Bryce. I eventually break and text him. When he doesn't text back I end up spamming him and even try calling him. At nine at night, I'm freaking out.
"I'm sure he's fine," Caiden tells me when I come to his room and explain to him my problem. "Let's be real Ellie, the boy's not the... best around when it comes to decisions. You know he drinks and you know he probably does other stuff. I know he's been a lot better lately but after three years? He can't just drop that behaviour all at once."
I purse my lips. "You think he's drinking?"
"I don't know, Ellie. It's not like he hasn't skipped school before."
"Yeah, but he'd answer his phone! And he'd at least be with his friends, who drinks alone? That's just pathetic."
Caiden gives me a smile. "You want to check up on him?" When I nod, Caiden laughs.
"What?" I ask.
He shakes his head, a smile still plastered on his face- a knowing one. "Nothing. Come on, get in the car."
I hug him tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Flash forward ten minutes and I'm jumping out of the car to get to Bryce's apartment complex. Ringing up his room, I only have to wait two rings before a tired voice answers on the other voice, "Hello?"
Oh my God. Something's wrong.
"Bryce, it's Ellie. Can I come up?"
"Hmm, Ellie? Mm, yeah, you can."
The door unlocks and I bound up the stairs, taking two at a time. Caiden is quick to follow, walking cautiously behind me after hearing Bryce's voice on the other line. The first thing I hear on the other side of the door once we approach is Trent's voice saying, "I'll get the door, Bryce!"
In a hoarse voice, Bryce replies, "Mm, yeah, you do that."
I only have to knock once before Trent swings the door open with a giant smile on his face. It's pretty adorable, considering one of his front teeth is missing and his eyes are wide with excitement. "Hey Trent," I grin. "Is your brother here?"
"Are you here to help?" Trent asks.
"Help with what?" Caiden asks as Trent opens the door wider to let us in.
"Bryce!" Trent's smile has died down now that we've brought up the topic. "Something's wrong!"
I push by them quickly and look around the small apartment. At first I can't find him before I realize the huge pile of blankets on the couch is moving slightly. I step over the clutter of the apartment to get to Bryce, throwing the blankets back from his head. My heart drops at the sight of him.
He looks dead. His face is terrifyingly pale and his eyes are more bloodshot than I've ever seen them. He's shaking, too- he's obviously freezing. His body is curled in on himself from what I can see under the blankets and judging from how frozen he looks, he's shaking. "Oh my God, Bryce," I whisper, my hand subconsciously finding my way to his cheek. We both notice it but Bryce only moves closer to it. "What happened? Christ, you look awful."
Bryce shifts under the blankets, trying to sit up a bit. His moves are sluggish and weak, so I push a hand against his chest to keep him down. When he doesn't answer, I say, "Is this because of you sleeping with your window open again? Because I swear, I don't care how stuffy it is in your house-"
"No," Bryce croaks.
I can feel Caiden and Trent's presence lingering behind me, but I don't care. I move my hand from Bryce's cheek to his forehead, feeling how hot it is. "Then what is it? God, you have a fever too. You're sick, Bryce."
"It's okay," he whispers. "It happens sometimes. I'll- I'll be fine."
"This isn't okay," I insist. "We have to take you to the hospital-"
"No!" Bryce shouts, grabbing my wrist. "You can't, we can't afford it. Ellie, please. No hospital. Just- just stay. Please."
"I'll stay," I promise. I sit down on the edge of the couch and adjust Bryce so he's comfortable against the pile of pillows. I turn to Trent. "Has this happened before?"
Trent nods. "Mommy says Bryce needs to eat."
Caiden goes up to get something from the fridge for Bryce but Bryce says, "Don't bother, I... there's nothing, I gave it to Trent. I was gonna get more tonight but..."
"Bryce, when was the last time you ate?" I ask softly.
"Mm, couple days? I don't know..."
"Bryce!" Caiden exclaims. "You can't eat for that long and sleep with an open window and expect to be completely fine. Night's are still cold and not eating weakens your immune system." He turns to me. "I'm going to get something for the both of them. You staying here?"
"Yeah, thank you so much Caiden." Caiden smiles and ruffles my hair before heading out the door, taking Trent with him.
"Where's your mom, Bryce?" I ask, wiping his hair away from his away from his sweaty forehead. "I think you have the flu on top of malnutrition, Bryce."
"Flu season is over," he murmurs.
"It's still possible. Where's your mom?"
"Working late," he says, his eyes fluttering open and closed as he struggles to stay awake. I can't have him falling asleep until he eats something, though, so I keep talking.
"Why couldn't she bring you food?"
"We had food, I didn't want to stress her out..." Bryce looks troubled.
"If you had food why didn't you eat?'
"Trent was hungry."
I'm left in awe by his answer and choose to just lean down and hug him. Bryce tells me he wants to go to his bed once I pull away. "You can't sleep until you eat," I tell him as he struggles to sit up.
"I know," he says. "I won't, I promise."
I help Bryce over to his room. It's just as messy as the rest of his house, which I'm not surprised about. I wrap Bryce in a cozy cocoon of blankets once I manage to set him down on the mattress. He curls on his side and I have to hit his cheek lightly a couple of times to keep him from falling asleep.
"I'm hungry," he whispers. "I'm used to usually eating at least a double bacon cheeseburger a day."
I roll my eyes but then I feel my expression soften. "Soon, okay? Caiden will be back soon." I feel Bryce's cold fingers intertwine with mine and my heart skips a beat. I know I should be asking Bryce why he lied to me and the good job Bryce said that his mother had landed and why it wasn't working, but instead all I can focus on is the feel of his hand in mine. The back of my hand hits the mattress while Bryce's rests on top of mine, our fingers curled in between each other's. When I look at his face I see that his hazy green eyes are staring at our linked hands.
That's when the door opens. Expecting to see Caiden I surprised instead to hear woman's voice yell, "Bryce, Trent?"
Ms. Newton.
Bryce sits up weakly, his hand letting go of mine, and shouts, "In my room, Ma."
Ms. Newton's eyes widen at the state of her son. She rushes to the bed, mumbling curses under her breath. "Bryce, sweetheart, why didn't you call me?" Her hand rests against his forehead and she pulls him against his side, kissing his temple. "Oh, sweetie."
"I'm fine," he mumbles, but doesn't bother trying to pull away. I know that secretly he's been waiting for his mother to come home and he's been craving this sort of attention from her, since she's barely home to give it.
She turns to me and exclaims, "Ellie! How long have you been here?"
"I just got here," I tell her. "He hasn't eaten and I think he has the flu, Caiden's out getting food right now."
Ms. Newton's eyebrows shoot up. "Bryce, why didn't you tell me we were out of food?"
"I was going to, but your new job was stressing you out and you barely ate at home so I thought as long as Trent was fed then it'd be fine but then I started to feel weak and..." Ms. Newton shushes him when she realizes he's ranting himself into a panic. Setting him back down on the bed in his blanket cocoon when she hears Caiden come back in, she promises to be right back and goes to meet him and Trent.
Bryce's green eyes are distant. I've ever seen him like this- so raw. It's scary, if I'm being honest. I know if Bryce was feeling this cornered or panicked when he was healthy, he'd cover it up with humour. Now however, he has nothing left to hide and it's slightly frightening to see a person at that type of low.
Bryce sits up and shimmies out of his cocoon when Caiden and his mother come back in with some soup and a sandwich. When she sees that Bryce has began to eat the soup, she kisses him on the top of the head and tells him that she's going grocery shopping and she'll be back soon. "Please call me if he gets worse," she asks of me and I quickly nod.
She leaves, taking Trent with her. Just when Bryce is finishing up his food, Caiden's phone rings. "Hello? No, hey, I'm fine... Yeah, I'm with Ellie. We're at Bryce's, he's not feeling well... Okay, sure, I'm sorry... Yeah, I'll be back soon, love you too."
"Ryan?" I ask when he hangs up. Caiden nods. Ever since that night when Caiden ran out, Ryan almost refuses to have Caiden out of his sight. Every time he wakes up or comes home and doesn't know where Caiden is, he automatically freaks out that Caiden's left again. Those couple of days after we got Caiden back where tense- Caiden had been quick to apologize to my parents but after that he barely talked and retreated back into his own shell. Luckily Ryan was quick to pull him out, just as he always is.
"I'm going to head home, I'll be back later to pick you up?" I smile brightly when Caiden' calls our home 'home' but don't comment on it and instead just nod.
Soon enough it's just Bryce and I. After eating (he wasn't able to finish it all since it upset his stomach, so I set it aside for later) Bryce goes straight to sleep. I'm just texting on my phone when I get an email notification.
Dear Ellie Reinhart,
We have noticed the incredible positive influence that your Ribbon Campaign has been leaving across not just your state, but others as well. I truly believe that this campaign is something that holds amazing potential for greatness and would like to assist you in spreading this even further as quick as possible.
My name is Maurice Doug and I would like to propose an offer to you. My company and I are from the state of New York and are holding a series of seminars around the counter about the positive changes that are taking place in the world. It would be our honour to have you speak at these seminars. You may be speaking to a general public, students or even state members but at the end of the day will be spreading the word on this amazing campaign.
If you are interested, the seminars will be taking place on the last week of June and yes, you will be getting paid for your time and effort. I really do hope you consider our offer and many more offers that we and our other friends in other states can offer you. We truly believe you are doing something great. Please get back to me when possible,
Maurice Doug
Maybe I shouldn't have but the next thing I know, I'm shaking Bryce awake and shoving my phone under his nose to read. Just like last time, the first thing he says is, "I'm coming with you." When he sees the look on my face, he adds, "What? I want to see New York! But this is amazing, I'm so proud of you."
"I can't believe this," I mutter.
"I get five percent of the pay," he tells me before drifting back to sleep.
I spend the rest of the time screen-shotting the email and sending it to everyone I know, my fingers shaking in excitement from the opportunity.
3000 WORDS WHAT EVEN but hope you enjoyed this chapter! Idek what it was i had no idea what to do for this chapter so if this is really bad i'm sorry ): i love you all so so much, thank you for all the votes but please be sure to comment too! love you :) xoxo