Chapter 22|You're a dumbass

It was the last period of the day and I was bored out of my mind. That was probably partly due to the fact that I was in the library but that's besides the point.

I decided to text Caleb because I had nothing else to do. As soon as I had sent the text my phone started vibrating.

"Shit!" I yelped rather loudly as I almost threw my phone in surprise.

The librarian glared at me over her spectacles and I shot her an apologetic look.

I quickly answered my phone.

"You couldn't have just text me back?" I asked.

"My thumbs are too slow, plus I'm sure you wanted to hear my beautiful voice."

"Whatever you say."

There was a long, drawn out pause.

"Is there something you want to say, or did you just want to listen to me breathing?"

That seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in. "Sorry, there's this lady giving birth a few rooms away, she's really loud, it's distracting."

"Well she kinda has the right to be loud, that has to be painful."

"Yeah, I have mad respect for her right now. When people say it's a mans world they're actually retarded. Guys are like, underdeveloped. That is a skill to be able to grow a human."

I laughed at the 'guys are undeveloped part'. "Okay, so not that I don't absolutely love talking to you, but why did you call?"

"Oh right, there was actually a purpose to this phone call. They're transferring me to that hospital that's like five minutes from our house."

My eyes lit up and a smile crossed my face. "Really? That's great!"

I probably said that a little loudly for the librarians liking because she put I finger to her lips in a shushing motion.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"What for?" Caleb replied.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Who were you talking to?"

"The librarian."

"Ew, why're you in a library?"

"Study period."

"Oh."

"So when are they transferring you?"

"The day after tomorrow. That's what stick-up-his-ass doctor said anyway."

I snorted. "Stick-up-his-ass doctor?"

"Yeah, you know the guy who didn't understand my sense of humour?"

"Oh right, the one you told to do yoga."

"That's the one. So how's school going?"

I shrugged, but then realised he couldn't see me. "Dumb."

"You're dumb."

"No, I'm smart."

"You're a smartass."

"Well you're a dumbass."

"Why does it matter what kind of intellect my ass has?"

"You started it bro."

"Me? No."

"Is there another brother I don't know about?"

"Not that I know of," he paused. "I wish Jasmine was a boy, I always wanted a brother."

"If she was a boy she'd probably still still play with barbies and bedazzle everything. She's to girlified to be saved."

"True that. You know, a little birdie told me that prom is coming up and you have a date."

I narrowed my eyes. "Did that birdie happen to be hobbit sized and have red hair?"

"Maybe."

Note to self; kill Tara later.

"I was going to tell you, but it slipped my mind."

I was so not going to tell him.

"So this date of yours, do I know him?"

Not really

"Yes."

"Would I approve?"

Probably not.

"I think so."

"Does Kev approve?"

I haven't told him yet.

"Yes."

"Are you lying to me?"

Yes.

"No."

"You just lied again didn't you?"

Yes.

"Maybe."

"You're still lying to me," he said in a singsong voice.

"Okay fine!" I whisper shouted, not wanting to further upset the already snarky librarian. "I'm going with Ryan, dad doesn't know, please don't hurt him," I babbled.

"Oh..." He said.

I panicked. "Oh what? Caleb Harper answer me!"

After an exaggerated silence he finally responded. "I like that kid, he brought me a burger."

I released a breath, my whole body deflating as I slumped against the back of my seat.

"You're unbelievable."

"Unbelievably go-"

"Good looking, I know you've expressed that opinion to me before."

"It's not an opinion if everyone knows it, it's a fact."

"I don't think you're good looking."

"You're not supposed to, you're my sister."

"Good point, but I can practically see your ego inflating right now."

"Ah, I never denied that."

"So you approve of my date for prom then?"

"I don't approve of any guy taking my little sister to prom. But I guess out of all the guys you could have chosen, he's not too nasty."

Not too nasty? That's practically giving Ryan his blessing in Caleb language.

I grinned. "You're the best."

"I know."

I rolled my eyes. Of course that was his response.

"Oh, and remember to tell Kev about prom. He'll get a hell of a fright if a guy in tux randomly shows up at his doorstep."

I chuckled. "Rodger that, but I should go," I said, noticing the people around me gathering their study material.

"Me too, the hot nurse should be here in approximately two and a half minutes."

Cue the eye roll.

"Okay then, I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

"See ya later alligator."

Then he hung up on me.

I stared at the screen, scoffing. Rude.

~*~*~*~

"Truth or dare?"

I rolled my eyes. "Truth."

Justin groaned, falling against the couch as if he'd been shot.

"You always pick truth."

I shrugged. "I'm too lazy to do a dare, plus after what you made Lee do I think I'll pick the safe option."

"Yeah you've completely scared me out of doing dares," Tara complained as she watched Lee. The poor guy was still slugging milk from the carton after Justin dared him to eat a whole chilli, seeds and all, followed by a glass of water which everyone knows only intensifies the heat.

All of us were sprawled across Ryan's living room floor, after attempting to decide on which movie to watch and failing miserably when Tara threatened to stick pins in her eyes. Obviously she'd never actually do that, but it was an effective way of getting us to abandon the idea of watching Star Wars.

Instead, Tara had suggested that we play truth or dare. I had been the only objector so it went ahead anyway.

"Are you gonna ask me something or what?" I asked impatiently.

"I'm thinking," Justin whined.

"Think faster," I retorted.

After several moments of intense facial expressions and wrinkled foreheads, Justin suddenly made a noise of what I'm assuming was discovery.

"Aha!" He said excitedly, "I've got one."

"Spit it out then," Kyle sighed.

"Hazel," he started, wiggling his eyebrows. "Are you a virgin?"

All heads turned to me, even Tara's eyes were on me. Geez, who did they think I was?

"Yes."

I wasn't ashamed to say it. It was my own decision after all.

I saw Ryan mutter something under his breath, but I couldn't quite hear it.

Nobody except for Justin seemed even remotely surprised. I mean come on, it's not really that uncommon for a seventeen year old to be a virgin right?

"Why?" Justin asked.

"Why what?"

"Why haven't you y'know 'done it' yet? Are you one of those weirdos who wait for marriage?"

That annoyed me a little that he thought he had the right to ask me that. "No I'm not one of those 'weirdos' who wait for marriage, but I actually happen to think that there's a lot of honour in doing that. Personally, I just haven't found a guy worthy of my time yet."

My eyes accidentally caught Ryan's, and I quickly broke the contact to avoid any awkward situations.

"How's about that movie then?" Tara said, saving us all from the awkward silence that was settling over us.

Tara and I were sent to pick a movie from Ryan's stash upstairs. We filed through the limited number of cases, both of us catching sight of the same cover.

I grinned at Tara and she grinned back at me.

We descended the stairs, Tara in front, me a few steps behind. She reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped abruptly. I carried on walking, unaware of her motives.

I was about to round the corner into the living room, but my arm was savagely yanked back, pulling me with it.

"What the hell-"

She clamped a hand over my mouth, dragging me towards her. She slowly lifted her hand, putting a finger to her lips.

I frowned. What was she up to?

"Listen," she hissed, pointing to the wall, then proceeding to press her ear against it.

Then I realised what she was doing. Eavesdropping.

She gestured for me to do the same. I rolled my eyes, not really wanting to listen into somebody else's conversation, but who am I kidding, I'm a curious person.

I too pressed my ear against the wall, straining to hear what was going on in the next room.

"You obviously like her dude, so grow some balls and ask her out," someone said exasperatedly. It sounded like Lee's voice but I could've been wrong.

My heart sunk as the next voice replied. It was undoubtedly Ryan. "There's no point asking her because she doesn't like me. She's too good for me anyway."

I faintly heard 'you're so whipped', but I was already pulling my ear from the wall. He liked someone. The only decent guy I meet and he likes another girl. One that I obviously didn't stand a chance against because she must've been a freaking goddess to catch his attention.

I sighed, dragging my feet a little as I walked back into the living room, movie in hand. I wasn't sure if Tara was following me or not, but I didn't turn around to check.

I waved semi awkwardly as I was met by four sets of eyes that were trained on the plastic cover in my hand. I quickly hid it, knowing that they would strongly detest our choice.

"Whatcha got there sunshine?" Ryan inquired, craning his neck trying to catch a glimpse.

"Nuh uh, it's a surprise," I replied, turning to carefully remove the disk and set it in the DVD player.

Justin pouted. "I don't like surprises."

And I don't really like you right now.

I really wish I had the guts to say that out loud. I didn't.

"Not my problem," I said instead, earning me a snort from Tara, who had found her way into the room, and a raised eyebrow from Ryan. A sexy raised eyebrow.

I shrugged, pressing play and settling back into my spot on the floor.

"What the hell is this old school crap?" Lee asked as the opening scene of a sick boy came on.

A glared at him while Tara punched him on the arm.

I had strategically placed myself on the floor so I was in a position where I could look at Ryan in my peripheral vision. I would say it was a stroke of genius on my part. I mean if I couldn't have him, I might as well look at him. It was interesting actually, because a small smile graced his lips as he started to realise what the movie was. Then he casually looked around as if to make sure none of the guys saw his slip up that might decrease his manliness. It was cute. To be perfectly honest, in my books it should be compulsory for everyone to like The Princess Bride, but I guess the name puts a lot if guys off.

About halfway through the movie I turned around to find Tara peacefully sleeping on Kyle's shoulder. Well that's stretching the truth a little bit. She was drooling all over him to be more precise, with her mouth open and the side of her face squished. She was always an ugly sleeper. Kyle was none the wiser as his head rested on hers, a small puddle of saliva forming near his chin, which would probably end up in her hair.

I chuckled to myself. They were so made for each other. That made me feel so alone. Like I would be the only one at our school reunion who wasn't married and didn't have kids. By then I'd probably have cats and be calling them my babies. And to make things worse, I looked up and Buttercup and Wesley were practically fornicating on the screen. Well not really, but they definitely wanted to.

Nearing the end of the movie, my eyes started to betray me, and soon I fell into a deep slumber. It was one of the sleeps where you wake up in the middle of the night questioning your sanity because you realise you're sleeping on the floor. But you go back to sleep anyway because you're tired and you really don't give a shit.

~*~*~*~*~

The sterile smell filled my nostrils as my shoes squeaked on the freshly cleaned floors. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going as I read the signs on the walls pointing in different directions to different wings of the hospital.

Caleb had mentioned that he was in recovery. Where that was, I didn't know. Hospitals made me sad. Seeing little kids walking around with no hair and IVs stuck into their pale skin made me feel bad for all the things I complained about in my life. The things I had gone through was nothing compared to their struggle. Half of them had probably never known a life outside the hospital, that's how young they were, yet they probably had better attitudes than the rest of the population combined.

I sighed, walking around aimlessly. Nurses bustled around, accompanying patients, or ushering family members to their loved ones. I probably should have been paying more attention as I meandered down the long white corridor. I turned a corner, only to be abruptly stopped by an almost head on collision with a nurse dressed in a blue uniform.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed as we both bent down to retrieve the sheets of paper that were scattered during my moment if clumsiness.

She waved a hand as we both stood. "Don't worry about it hun, happens all the time..." her words trailed off.

"Hazel?" My head snapped up, and my eyes were greeted with a familiar face.

"Mrs Martinez?"

"Please, call me Stella," she said warmly.

I smiled with a nod.

"So what brings you here Hazel?"

"It's a long story actually, but I'm looking for my brother. His name is Caleb, you don't happen to know where I can find him do you?"

"Ah yes, the young man in recovery, the new arrival. Quite the character. I'm actually headed there now if you want me to take you," she offered.

"You're a lifesaver."

~*~*~*~

A pretty boring chapter if you ask me.

Until next time.