Chapter 44: Asking Him to Leave

ADDY

I wake up feeling like I've been run over by a bus.

“You ~were~ run over by a car, you goof!”

I turn my head to see Kaylee, looking at me with concern.

“Kaylee,” I croak out. “Did I say that out loud?”

She nods and walks over to give me a quick hug.

I hug her back.

“Girl, you scared the shit out of me. I nearly had a heart attack when Asher called me.” She starts pacing the room after pulling away from me.

“Asher?” I ask, puzzled.

“Yes, Asher.”

“What are you talking about? We had a fight and he left.”

I hold my aching head.

She sighs.

“You had a fight, he left, and then he came back just in time to see you flying through the air!”

~He came back.~

That's all I hear.

“Really?”

She doesn't answer my question.

“Addy, for heaven’s sake, who told you to dart across the road like that?”

“I’m still here. Relax.”

“I could kill you.”

“You love me.”

“No, you gave me a heart attack. I don’t love you anymore!”

I roll my eyes at her, laughing. ~Always freaking out over nothing.~

Her phone rings and she answers it, holding it to her ear. She nods and says yes.

I raise my eyebrows, asking who it is.

“It’s your mom,” Kaylee says, handing me the phone, and I take it.

“Hello? Hello?” Mom yells, and I roll my eyes at her panicked voice.

“Mom, I’m okay! I just broke an arm, surprisingly. Got a few bruises here and there, but I promise you can come back to find your daughter still alive and kicking,” I chuckle.

“You scared the living daylights out of me and your father. I’m booking a flight home right now,” she says hurriedly.

“Mom, seriously, I’m fine!” I roll my eyes.

“You got hit by a car, and you say that you’re fine?” Her shriek makes me smile for some reason. I look at Kaylee, who has taken my phone to play ~Candy Crush~.

~Typical.~

“I’ve been through worse, Mom. Don’t come home. Finish your work first, and then I’ll see you on Saturday.”

“I’m coming,” she insists, and I groan.

“Seriously, Mom, if you come home because of this, then I won’t talk to you for a week straight. I’ll ignore you, and yes, I’m actually threatening you with this!”

She huffs.

“Are you one hundred percent sure that you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I have Kaylee here.”

“Fine, fine. I expect you to call me every day. Oh, and call Dad later. We tried to call you earlier but your phone was off.”

“Okay, okay. Talk to you later, Mom!” I hang up the phone after she says goodbye.

“All good?”

I nod. “When can I get discharged?”

“You can leave tomorrow. I talked to the doctor earlier.”

I nod at her, smiling.

“I’m leaving now, getting my stuff to stay over here. Will be back soon, okay?”

“You sure you want to stay over?”

“Yeah, be right back.” She hands me my phone and I give her hers, just as mine starts ringing in my hand.

Unknown number?

Kaylee waves at me before walking out, and I answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Addalynn!” A cheery voice comes from the other end of the line.

“Who is this?” I ask, confused.

“What, now you don’t recognize my voice?” the voice says, and I freeze.

“Jalina,” I say coldly.

“Oh, she remembers me!”

I roll my eyes in annoyance.

~What does she want now?~

“What did I do to have the pleasure of receiving a call from you?” I ask sarcastically.

“You gave me my boyfriend back. I couldn’t resist calling you to tell you about my brilliant plan now that he’s mine again. What would be the fun in keeping such a cool plan to myself?”

“I don’t care.”

“Bullshit. Are you really telling me you don’t want to know why Asher has been acting so cold toward you?”

I stay silent at her question.

“Just what I thought.” She laughs on the other line, and I think of a thousand ways to slap her through the phone.

“Xander.”

One name and my fingers tighten around my phone, my teeth gritting together.

“What do you mean, ‘Xander?’”

“Xander helped me out with filming a certain video. Had a lot of fun bowling? You were making out with my cousin and all?”

I freeze.

“What do you mean?”

“Xander never liked Asher, so when I asked him if he could do me a small favor, he agreed, of course. Took you out on a nice date, had fun with you, kissed you.”

I sit up on the bed in disbelief.

~Xander?~

~How could he have...?~

“I never kissed him, though.”

“Oh, that! You’d be surprised what magic you can do while filming. Just film from the right angle and everything looks perfect. One click and the video was in Asher’s inbox.”

I want to scream at her, but I don’t. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I end the call, throwing the phone onto the nightstand.

~This is why he’s been avoiding me this whole time?~

~Because of a goddamn misunderstanding.~

I scoff, feeling relieved, mad, and annoyed all at once.

~Why doesn’t this boy understand that communication is important? All this could have been easily avoided if he had just come up to me and asked what the hell I was doing!~

~Why can’t he see that I’m into him? And now he’s with Jalina? Of course.~

~Run back to your little plaything, jerk.~

“Buttercup?”

I lift my gaze from my hands, my face a mask of indifference as I see Asher looming over my hospital bed.

“I knocked, but you didn’t respond.”

He’s looking at me, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response. I’m too angry.

~What’s he doing here?~

~Did he come to lay more blame at my feet?~

“Do us both a favor and leave.” I strive to keep my voice steady and avoid looking at him too much.

He’s got dark circles under his eyes.

He takes another step closer, and I shoot him an irritated glance when I realize he’s closing the distance.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for… if I hadn’t just walked away… I couldn’t control my anger… but I…” His words falter.

“Listen, Asher. You didn’t cause the accident. I ran in front of the car.”

“I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have—”

I interrupt him again, shaking my head.

“It was all me. Please go. Thanks for checking on me, but just go. I need to rest.”

I gesture toward the door, not in the mood to listen to him blame himself and be angry with me.

My thoughts wander as I stare at the sterile white ceiling.

~Damn you, Asher!~

~I still have feelings for you.~

~But I’m not forgiving you anytime soon.~