Max woke up on the sofa, his eyesight blurry. He hadn't made it all the way to his room. The phone rang, and he fumbled for it, the sunlight making it hard to open his eyes all the way.
"Hello?" He answered, his voice raspy. He cleared his throat out.
"Max?" It was Roxanne. He quickly sat up, his heart racing.
"Oh, hi Roxy! Sorry I just woke up, and sorry to leave so suddenly-"
"Max, Bradley's in the hospital. I'm here now with Jasmine and Stacey. I just thought you'd like to know. Someone beat him up real bad, we don't know who it could have been, but he's stable now." She said.
"Oh, shit. Okay, I'm on my way there. Need anything? Breakfast?" He asked her. Who could have done such a thing to Brad?
"No, thanks Max. I'll see you when you get here. Bye." She said softly. He hung up. His heart was still racing. She was doing it to him again. He felt like a teenager.
He ran up the stairs, knocking on the guy's doors. Bobby opened it, wearing nothing but his boxers. PJ was already up, typing away on his computer.
"What's up dude?" He asked, turning to look at him.
"Brad's in the hospital. I'm going to go see him if you guys want to come with." Max said, "But first I gotta shower."
"Dang man, is he okay?" Bobby asked, yawning. "I'll go."
"Same." PJ responded.
"I have no idea, I hope so. Roxanne said he was stable." Max said. "Hey guys, I'm sorry for not being home last night and not telling you. I was with Roxanne."
PJ and Bobby turned to look at each other, face pale.
"What do you mean you weren't here? You mean all night?" PJ asked, standing up from his desk.
"Yeah, I got in around 4 in the morning. But I stayed on the sofa." Max said confused.
"No, dude you don't understand." Bobby said. "We thought you were in your room. You were making so much ruckus we thought you had gone crazy."
Max understood what they were saying. He ran to his room and found his door unlocked, and lights still on.
His bed had been turned over, blankets and pillows on the floor. His desk had been rummaged, papers everywhere.
"Who could have done this?" He asked angrily.
"Woah, how did they get in is my question," Bobby said, walking over to the window.
"They broke my computer." Max said, seeing the crack on the screen. "What could they have been looking for?"
Max sighed, taking a seat on the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair, scared to start thinking of ideas. He didn't have enemies, that he knew of. Bradley had become kind of a friend in the past months, and besides, he was lying in the hospital. It couldn't have been Brad.
The Migalos were foreign, and knew nothing of him besides that he was the X-Games king. What could they have wanted with him?
And there was the Ghouls. The ones that weren't arrested.
He couldn't scare the guys. Not now.
"I'll call my dad, and report this to the police. We'll be fine. I'm going to go take a shower. Be ready in fifteen, okay?" He said, trying to sound confident.
Bobby and PJ just nodded. They knew he was afraid.
Jasmine walked up the steps to the Migalos house. She had changed, done her make up and decided to wear the highest heels in her closet. She had her short hair combed back, with her winged liner so long it made her face look mean. That's what she wanted.
She knocked and the maid opened, surprised to see her. She looked down at her watch, covered in diamonds around the rim. She never flaunted her wealth this way. She had wanted to make a new version of herself when she had started college. She didn't want to be known as Jasmine, the daughter of the wealthiest CEO in the country. She just wanted to be Jasmine.
But not today.
"Hi, Is Mikolaj here? I need to speak to him, now. Preferably in the living room." She demanded. The maid nodded and walked off.
She walked into the large living space, hoping that it wouldn't resort to what she was thinking. Hopefully not.
Mikolaj entered, and so did a group of guys she had never seen. They were smiling at her as they all walked into the living room.
"Giving orders now?" Mikolaj laughed.
"You're lucky I was awake, and in a meeting of all things. What brings you here, honey?" He said sweetly. The guys around him began to chuckle.
"Yeah, tell me why you would be holding a meeting at 8 in the morning," Jasmine asked. "You must have been up early."
"Taking care of some stuff, that does not concern you, love." He responded. She noticed that his fists were bandaged.
"Your hands okay?" She asked, taking a seat on the chair near her. She crossed her legs.
"What do you want?" He demanded, a little firmer than she wanted.
She chuckled. "I know what you did last night."
She looked at his face, wanting any sign of recognition. He began to blink rapidly. Bingo.
"I was sleeping, like any good student." He joked. Everyone laughed.
"Right, so anyways, what are you going to give me to stay quiet?" She asked.
"I'm not cheap."
He walked up to her, his smile tight. "What do you mean?"
"Like I said, to stay quiet. I know you wanted Bradley out the way. I need payment. Something, to keep my mouth shut." She said, loving the way she was getting under his skin.
"I didn't- we didn't- if you do." He said through gritted teeth.
"SO you did?" She asked a little louder.
He came close down to her face. "You couldn't do shit, so I had to take it into my own hands. We told you to get close to him, and you stopped reporting to me. It's your fault he got beat. Hear that?"
She smiled.
"I didn't want to. I'm in love with him, didn't you know that? Did you really think I was going to chose you over him?"
He grabbed her by the arm. She didn't flinch. She didn't want to show any weakness.
The guys around him were laughing.
"I suggest you leave, and maybe if you keep quiet you'll keep it from happening again, got it?" He said angrily. He let her go. "Guys, if you could throw her out of my house."
Jasmine snapped her fingers. Her three large body guards came through the entrance to the living room. They had been waiting silently for signal.
"I don't think that's going to happen. And you're right. I won't go to the authorities. I don't need them. I'll just let my friends beat the shit out of you, and YOU'LL know better than to mess with what's mine. Goodbye Mikolaj."
She stood up and walked out, hearing the grunting and punches of her body guards on the stupid men. She laughed. Sometimes it was nice to be the CEO's daughter.
Max spotted Roxanne at the entrance of the hospital. She was with Stacey in the lobby. Bobby ran up to Stacey and hugged her.
"Hey, Robert I wasn't expecting you," Stacey said.
"Max told me what happened. Is he okay?" Bobby asked.
"Yes, and no. He hasn't woken up. Cora's with him now." Roxanne said, looking at Max. He felt his face turn red. The thoughts from last night were running in his head. Her soft lips, the way her body felt under his. He shook the thoughts away.
"Should we not go see him?" Max asked.
"Let's give her a few minutes of privacy. She didn't look good." Stacey said.
"She must care for him a lot." PJ said.
The girls just looked at each other.
"What?" Max asked. "Is there
something we should know?"
At that moment, Jasmine walked in, her heels stomping loudly on the hospital floor. Max looked over her. She looked radiant. He had never seen her look so confident, so beautiful. It was strange.
She hadn't noticed them, but took the elevator up.
"I guess that will determine what we do." Roxanne said. "C'mon guys, let's go up."
Jasmine walked quickly towards Bradley's room. She felt proud. She felt better. She had done this for him.
She opened the door and spotted Cora in the room, holding Bradley's hand.
His left eye was slightly opened and he was looking at her and smiling. He had woken up to find her in the room. Her of all people. She stepped back, not wanting to see them together.
"Hey,"
She saw the gang walking up to her, to her dismay. She lowered her sunglasses, not wanting them to see her eyes tearing up.
"You look good," Roxanne said. "You feel better now?"
Jasmine nodded. She looked at Max. She felt nothing for him anymore. She swallowed.
"Is Cora still there?" Stacey asked. Jasmine nodded again.
"Guys, could you go inside? I have to talk to Jasmine," Roxanne said. Max nodded. He led them into the room.
"What's wrong?" Roxanne whispered. "I can tell you want to cry."
Jasmine chuckled. "It's nothing. I think I should go, though."
"You? Go? You're the strongest girl I know. Go in there. Let everyone know that you're the reason he was saved. Don't run away from anyone." Roxanne said, holding her shoulders firm.
Jasmine took a deep breath in. "You're right. C'mon."
She walked in, keeping in mind that she wasn't going to be scared of anyone. No one was going to walk all over again. She wasn't the same Jasmine they all thought she was.
She walked past Cora, ignoring her completely. She placed her hand on Bradley's face and heard him gasp.
"Jasmine?" He asked.
"Yes, honey. It's me." She said, confidently.
Bradley could barely see her, but he felt her hand on his cheek. He could smell her perfume. He knew it was her. His heart began to race. He could hear the monitor beeping a little faster.
"Hello to you too, Jasmine." He heard Cora say.
"Yes, yes good morning." Jasmine said, brushing her off. "How are you feeling Bradley? Can you speak?"
"Yes," he said roughly. It hurt to talk.
"I need you to rest. You have people here to see you, but I don't want you using up all your strength, okay?" He heard her say. He closed his eye again. He had seen her and now he was content.
"Yo," Was that Max?
He turned his face in the direction of his voice.
"I'm glad you're okay, dude." Max said.
"Yeah, man. You gave these girls a scare." Was that Bobby? Or the other one? PJ?
"I-I'm surprised you are all here." He said, his voice low and raspy. " I can't open my eyes."
"Rest," Jasmine said, and he felt her sit on the bed. His hand moved to her thigh. He squeezed it.
"Thank you," he said, feeling himself doze off.