ETHAN'S POV
I hugged Brianna, feeling so grateful that I had someone to lean on to. She had been friends with me since we were toddlers, so I knew she understood. I had lost her for a while when she teamed up with that whore Rebecca, but right now, in this moment, it felt like we never stopped being friends.
She pulled back and smiled sadly at me, then joked, "Well, at least you only have one year of high school left until you can get the heck out of here."
I smiled, "True. But then again, I have no idea where I want to go for college. Mom has all sorts of ideas in her head about my future. And then there's Marissa..."
Just as her name flew out of my mouth, I got this sudden urgency. All I could think about right now was how shitty I would be feeling if Bri wasn't here right now. You really do need a friend at times like this. But Marissa, who did she have? Knowing her, she would be too reluctant to call her friends and 'bore' them by sharing her problems.
I sighed, and immediately Brianna said, "We should go see her."
I smirked and tousled her short hair, "You know, this is why we are best friends."
She smacked my hand away and walked out my room. I was feeling excited, I was going to end all this drama with Marissa for once and for all. And then we can be together, for real. Just thinking about it made me smile. Gosh I was whipped.
After grabbing my keys on the way out I overheard Brianna talking on her phone at the bottom of the stairs. So, like the nosy dork I am, I lingered behind to find out who she was talking too.
"Not tonight, I'm with Ethan... Not much.. no you can't join us right now, we need to go talk to Marissa about some stuff, but if you want I can come over later?... Ok great. See you later then Tyler, bye!"
I raised my brows, Tyler? I had bit bite my lip so I don't laugh. This was too funny. Tyler has had a crush on Bri for so long but he was always too stupid to act on it. I climbed down the stairs loudly and Brianna turned around to face me. I could tell she was trying not to smile happily.
She narrowed her eyes, "Why you looking at me like that?"
I shrugged easily, "Nothing. Oh by the way I was talking to Tyler yesterday and he told me some stuff.."
When I didn't continue she asked me impatiently, "Oh my god, what stuff Ethan? What did he tell you?"
I laughed out loud, "Dude, you're too easy. I was just messing with you. But now I know there IS stuff going on. So spill it."
She rolled her eyes and walked out the house, "We've been seeing eachother. Anyways, let's go get your woman."
I sighed contentedly at the thought of seeing Marissa soon, making me run and jump into my car.
We went straight to Marissa's house and I climbed up the tree to see what she was up to while Bri waited in the car. But to my dismay, she wasn't there at all. I even sneaked in and silently checked out the bathroom and living room but she was no where in the house for sure.
"Damnit!" I tried to think of where she would go. She wasn't with Bri, so she had to be with her other friends Hannah and Hailey. I had Hailey's number so I called her but she said she had no idea where Marissa was.
And of course, when I called her, her phone was dead.
"Bri, she's not home! And she's not with Hailey and all either."
Brianna frowned, "Oh, well.. what do we do now? Should we ask her aunt?"
"No I'm pretty sure Joe and Claire are asleep. I could hear them snoring from the hallway."
Just then Brianna's phone rang, "Hey mom... yeah.. oh, no I'm with Ethan. Ok ok, i'll be home soon."
She gave me an apologetic look, "My mom is pissed from god knows what reason this time, can you drop me home?"
"Sure. Then I'm gonna have to take a drive. I'm pretty sure I know where Marissa is."
"Where?"
"At her old house. If she's not there then I'm gonna really freak out. But I have this gut instinct that she's there."
"Well, do you even know where her house is?"
"Yeah I do." Then I explained to her the directions just the way Marissa had described to me all those weeks ago. It was near a famous monument which only had one street of houses nearby so it shouldn't be hard to find.
Brianna asked, "That's pretty far away huh?"
"Yeah, if I drive fast I can get there in half an hour."
As the car stopped outside Bri's house she opened her door, turned around and said, "Okay well drive safe, text me when you find her or else I'll be worried all night!"
I nodded, "Sure. We'll call you."
Then I drove off, my mind already focused on getting through this half an hour so I could finally see her. Right now I just wanted to make sure that she was okay. Because I just had this horrible feeling that something was not right.
A loud car horn pierced through my thoughts and as I looked at the rearview mirror I saw glaring headlights heading towards me. Fast.
I had no time to react as I heard a loud crash and my body plunged forward making my head hit the steering wheel hard. Then I felt the car bump and move sideways. My head was spinning and I could faintly hear someone calling out my name.
I was so scared. I thought I would have passed out but I didn't. I couldn't move in the car, as it had tumbled sideways and my whole body could be crushed by it.
It was a few minutes later that I heard the ambulance sirens. Some men helped me get out slowly, and I realised I couldn't stand up. There was a sharp pain shooting up my leg and my head was still spinning, like I would pass out any moment.
My eyes were losing focus and slowly closing.
"Ethan! Ethan oh my god."
Brianna. I felt her grasp my hand and I had to fight to stay awake as I squeezed her hand and spoke as loud as I could, yet it was only a whisper, "Find Marissa. I'll be fine. Please."
And then everything went black.
---
MARISSA'S POV
My head felt weird, like there a big heavy book resting at the top of my head.
I wanted to open my eyes but they felt so heavy. I felt a hard slap on my cheek and my eyes immediately flew open. I frowned, holding my stinging cheek.
I looked at my surroundings and saw Brianna frowning at me. We were in her car.
"What happened?" my voice was slurred, dragging out every day.
"We're at the closest clinic I could find. You swallowed too many painkillers. You need to get checked up."
"Oh," that was all I said, because I felt like there was a hole in my memory and I had no idea how I got here.
She turned off the engine and I felt her put a hand around my waist and carry me into the small building with the glass doors.
I drifted off again at that point and when I woke up again, a doctor was checking my breathing. Then the old man gave me an injection, he said something about my body being dehydrated and I had to drink something which tasted pretty much like water.
I felt so drowsy. Brianna asked him some questions but I couldn't focus on to her words so I just rested back on the seat.
When she took me back to the car she told me firmly so I actually listened to her, "The doctor said you're fine, your body did not react too badly to the meds so you don't need an IV or anything but it's still better to get you checked at a proper hospital. But I know you want to see Ethan so we'll just go to him first..."
She kept rambling on but I couldn't comprehend what she was trying to say. I wanted to sleep. Just sleep for hours and hours.
Ethan? Wait.. Ethan... something was up. What had happened, why couldn't I remember?
Just when I was about to ask Brianna, it hit me. Like a rock being thrown at a window. My thoughts smashed like the glass and I let out a hoarse scream.
"Ethan! Oh my god Brianna! You had to take me to the hospital to him!"
I was sobbing and crying. Brianna didn't bother replying. She just kept driving. My whimpering only stopped when I slowly blacked out once again.
The next time I gained conciousness I was being dragged into the hospital. I shook my once to clear my mind. We walked up to the reception and Brianna talked to the lady there. Then she dragged me to the corridor to our right. After what seemed like ages, she gently seated me on one of the plastic chairs.
I had to keep focused. Brianna lent down in front of my seat, put my hands on my knees and looked up at me with her wide eyes. It looked like she was moving in slow motion but by now I knew it was just my head messing with me.
"Marissa. I'm just gonna remind you again with what's going on okay?" I nodded so she continued, talking to me as if I was a child, "You were upset. You drove to your old house and then for some reason you took some pills. When I found you to tell you about Ethan, you had already swallowed like half the bottle, so I know..."
"Tell me about Ethan? What? What are you talking about?"
She sighed, "Here we go again. Ethan was in an accident."
It took a while but then everything just clicked, "Oh my god! Yes, I remember now, I have to go find him. Is he here?" I immediately stood up, and regretted doing so because I stumbled and almost fell, but Brianna caught my arm just in time.
"Yes he is, and I got a call from his mom on the way here." She nodded her head to my right, and I saw his mom sitting there stiffly, completely ignoring us. "She told me that he's getting some check ups done an he had to get stitches on his forehead. He hit his head pretty hard so he suffered a concussion. And he somehow fractured his leg because the car doubled over and it got stuck..."
She stopped speaking, probably because she saw the look on my face. My eyes were wide and tears were just pooling out one by one. This can't happen to Ethan, he was too good for this sort of a tragedy. Brianna's expression transformed as she looked at my sadly, "Oh honey, don't cry. He's gonna be fine. Just a broken leg, some stitches, and he'll recover from the concussion in a few hours, okay? He's gonna be fine."
Her words were soothing but I couldn't stop. My body was quivering slightly. She looked at me worriedly, "Marissa, I think we should get you checked as well..."
"No! I have to go see Ethan first. I'll wait until we can see him, I just have to see him please then i'll go."
I was out of breath after talking so little. I just rested my head against the wall and followed Brianna's gaze towards the door which had just flung open and a doctor stepped out. I had to hold on just a few seconds, then I could sleep.
Brianna helped me stand up and we made our way to the doctor, along with Ethan's mom. We all looked at him expectantly. He sighed, pushed up his glasses and made me the happiest person in the world when he said, "The boy is fine. Just some stitches and after a few hours of rest, he should be able to have visitors. Until then, you just have to wait."
I sighed in relief. Feeling my whole body go into a form of pure bliss. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and I fell onto Briana. But none of that mattered. Because Ethan was okay, and that was enough to make me smile, even as my world turned black and I lost consciousness.