Chapter Seventeen:
"Chase." I said.
He didn't reply to me as he was too preoccupied at the moment. The guy was on the ground howling in pain. After a while, he struggled to get up and limped back through the woods.
"What are you...How are you...Where did you...What?" I blurted out a bunch of different questions I was trying to ask him.
"I'll take that as a thank you." He smirked.
"Thanks." I blinked my eyes and shook my head, still shell shocked. "How'd you know I was here?" I asked.
"I didn't. This is my parent's cabin. I was just staying here for a little while. I was walking to the back when I saw you running up here." He informed me.
"So this is where you've been this whole time? Why?" I asked.
He was quiet for a moment. So I insisted. "Tell me."
"Fine." He began lifting up his shirt.
There was a long gash across his abs. He had about fifteen stitches.
"Chase!" I panicked. "What happened?"
"Just another fight. I was slouching a lot earlier this week because of it. My mom and dad would ship me off if they found out I got into another bad fight and this happened to me. So I told them I was staying at a friends house."
"You know, I was looking for you to the point where I actually followed Skylor to a hospital to see if you were there." I laughed nervously.
"Oh really? Does that mean you care about your boy Chase?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
"You wish." I laughed.
"What were you doing here with that guy?" He asked. "He's a low life."
"I didn't even know who that was. I was helping this girl and then he followed me and was talking about you guys and then I just sorta landed...here." I explained.
"By yourself?" He replied.
"Oh crap." I realized Bonnie, Brett, and Jonah were probably wondering where I was so I called them. I told them to drive over to the cabin where I was.
"They're on their way over here. If that's okay with you." I pressed the lock button on my cell phone.
"It's cool."
•
Hanging out at Chase's parents' cabin turned out to be pretty fun. We watched scary movies, played games, told ghost stories, and ended up making smores because Bonnie was adamant we do that.
The following Monday at school Chase was finally there. He was still walking with a little limp but it was barely noticeable.
I was in the lunch line grabbing some food and saw him.
"Chase. Hey." I smiled.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked.
"How are you feeling?" I glanced from his face to where the stitches were.
He chuckled a little. "I'm fine, mother."
"Good." I grinned.
"Um. There is one thing you should probably know." He got serious for a minute.
My grin faltered. "What."
"The guys kinda know about what happened at the cabin." His mouth formed a thin line.
"What? No!" I yelled a little. Some students stared at me but eventually went back to their own conversations. I did not want them knowing. It was so embarrassing.
"Well I couldn't lie to them. They stopped by after you guys left. Couldn't really tell them I was alone making s'mores." He shrugged.
I sighed. "Well I don't think it's a bad thing. Do you?"
"Jason and Crawford were almost cool enough to leave it alone after I told them I handled it. Skylor on the other hand." He scratched the back of his ear a little. "Well he's too stubborn to listen to me."
"Well they're at a completely different school. Maybe the situation will eventually just dissolve." I affirmed.
He nodded and we both went our separate ways.
•
•
I was in my room doing homework when I heard my doorbell rang. I decided to let Morgan answer it since she was already downstairs with her friends.
A few minutes later, she barged into my room. "Ivy!" She waved her hands dramatically.
"What?"
"You didn't tell me you had a hot friend." She wiggled her eyebrows.
"I thought you already knew Jonah?" I asked.
"Not him." She rolled her eyes. "Him." She pointed at my room door and Skylor walked in.
"Him." I mumbled.
"Well I'll just let you two kids chat a little, I'll be downstairs." She clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.
"What is it now?" I turned in my desk chair.
"Nothing." He shrugged.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
He dove in my bed and stretched out. "Wow this is a soft bed." He put his arms behind his head.
I stood up and folded my arms. "You have a lot of nerve to be here. Don't you ever get tired of being so mean?"
"I'm never mean to you." He muttered.
I took my pillow off the bed and hit him in the stomach with it.
"What the hell was that for." He grabbed his stomach.
"Why are you here?" I said sternly.
"Fine." He sat up and was now sitting on the side of my bed. He pulled and envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it towards me.
"What's that?" I asked warily.
"Why don't you open it and see." He reached his hand out and handed the envelope to me.
I slowly took it and opened it. There was money in it.
"Are these-"
"Your tips. Yes, they are." He cut me off. "I was gonna give them back, I just wanted to piss you off when I took them."
"Why the sudden change of heart?" I put the envelope on my desk and sat down in my chair.
"I just realized that you really don't deserve all the crap I give you. And if you want, you can come and work there again. I'll stay out of your way."
"I'll take that into consideration." A small smile tugged on my lips. "How's Cassie?" I asked.
"She's fine." He replied.
"That's good. She seems like such a fighter." I nodded.
"Yeah. That's why I love her." He muttered. As soon as those words left his mouth he looked up at me like he has just told someone's deepest darkest secret. His eyes widened, like he didn't mean to say it in front of me.
I can't believe I'm admitting this, but now I actually know how it feels to watch the one person you like be in love with someone else.
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