Jagged Edge

Jag had taken me to the park after the amazing night at Eva's house, which is where I was at right now. He had to go pick up groceries and I seen Veronica, Abbie, Kori, Zoe, and Valerie there. Valerie was one of Abbie's friends who I talked to, but I had only hung out with her a few times before. Zoe was sitting alone on a bench, watching the others mess around, so I ran over to her and jumped into the seat.

"Why hello there," I greeted her with a grin.

"Roxie!" she squealed, then pulled me into her arms for a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Jag went to get groceries and I seen you guys, so I thought I'd join," I shrugged. Zoe nodded and opened her mouth as if to say something, but got cut off by a shriek from Valerie and Kori. They, along with Veronica, had picked Abbie up by her ankles and wrists and were carrying her around. Abbie wasn't too happy with this and started thrashing around, kicking both Kori and Valerie in the stomach. Zoe sighed and shook her head, despite the smile on her face.

"They've been fighting like this for the past twenty minutes," she laughed.

"Shit! I'm surprised none of them have lost an eye or a leg yet!" I exclaimed. I sat back and watched the show again.

"Y'know what sounds like fun right now?" Zoe asked me. I turned to her and shook my head. "We should write a story!" she cried. She grabbed a notebook and pencil from a bag sitting off to the side of her and plopped it on her lap.

"We should write a dirty story for Abi," I suggested. Zoe lifted her head to look at Abbie, who at the moment licked her lips seductively and nodded her head to us. We burst out laughing at how perfect the timing was for that.

"Alright, sounds good. Who should we write it on?" she asked. I pondered that for a moment.

"Pogo and Ginger," I stated firmly, referring to Pogo, the keyboardist for Marilyn Manson, and Ginger Fish, the drummer. "I think it should be rape."

"That's perfect!" Zoe cried. She put the pencil to the paper and started writing rapidly as we giggled and smiled.

"You devilish dick!" Abbie cried from the little fight they had going on. Zoe and I turned our eyes to the noise and burst out laughing at her choice of words. Veronica was sitting on top of Abbie, which probably caused her to cry out like that.

"Ginger should call Pogo's dick a devilish dick," I giggled. Zoe turned to me and did the same.

"He should!" she said, then continuted to write. I was busy watching Valerie tickling Abbie until she squealed when Zoe plopped the notebook on my lap. I looked down and read what she wrote, giggling at certain phrases she used. Then I started to scribble down my part. She had written from Pogo's point of view, so I assumed that I'd be writing from Ginger's point of view. I finished it, looked at it, then handed the notebook back to Zoe.

By now, Kori, Veronica, Valerie, and Abbie were all up in the playscapes, playing pirate. Kori and Veronica were on one pirate ship while Abbie and Valerie were on the other. They were fake shooting each other until Veronica and Abbie approached each other. They had evil sneers on their faces. When they were about two feet from each other, Veronica stuck her hand out in between them.

"Truce?" Veronica asked. Abbie eyed her hand suspiciously.

"I'll have to discuss this with my comrades," Abbie said suspiciously. She turned back to Valerie and yelled, "Should we have a truce?"

"YES! Pump her hand, pump her hand!" Valerie shouted back. Abbie's face deadpanned and she glared at Valerie. "It means you shake it," Valerie explained.

"I know what it means!" Abbie shouted. She put her hand out and shook Veronica's.

"Truce party!" Kori yelled, using a pole to slide down from the playscape and stand next to Veronica.

Zoe dropped the notebook back in my lap, grinning widely at me. I read her part and couldn't help but giggle at the whole situation once again. I started writing, picturing the whole scene out in my head. It was disturbing and somewhat beautiful at the same time.

I handed it back to Zoe when I was done, and she looked at the page and smiled. "I think it's done," she said.

"ABBIE!" I yelled. Abbie stopped raving, as they were celebrating, and looked at me. I motioned her over. Valerie, Veronica, and Kori all followed her over. "I want you to read this," I told her, handing the notebook to her. She sat down on the bench while the rest of the group crowded around her to read it.

"I'm not reading this shit!" Veronica exclaimed, walking away.

"Um, me either...no offense," Kori said with a small smile. She jogged up to Veronica and they walked over to the swings. Abbie and Valerie stayed to read what Zoe and I had written. Abbie shook her head in disappointment, Valerie giggled in disbelief, and Zoe and I watched with pride.

"You guys," Abbie sighed, closing the notebook and handing it back to us.

"Did you love it?" I asked cheerily.

"I think you both need to repent," Valerie laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Zoe exclaimed as she hit Valerie lightly with her notebook before she put it back in her bag. As soon as she dropped her bag on the ground, my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket, but before I could answer it, Abbie grabbed it and answered it for me with a smile on her face.

"Hello?" she answered with a fake accent. soon, the smile dropped from her face. "Yeah, she's right here."

I took the phone from her hands and said, "Hello?"

"Is this Roxie Fischer?" came the voice of someone I'd never heard before.

"That's correct."

"Of what relation is Ethan Jaggerson to you?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"I've called to tell you that he's been hospitalized."

"What?! Why? What happened?"

"There was a car accident."

"Oh my God, is he going to be okay?"

"He's in critical condition as of this moment. We called you first, since you were the first contact on his cell phone."

"Oh, God. Call his parents. Their number should be second. Call his aunt and uncle!"

"Thank you for your time, Miss Fischer."

The dial tone rang in my ears and my eyes stung with tears as I slowly closed the phone.

"Roxie, what happened?" Zoe asked.

"Jag...I need to get to the hospital," I whispered frantically. Zoe was dialing Adam on the phone before I even finished the sentence. She spoke with him for a few brief moments, then closed her phone.

"He's on his way," she said. I nodded and stared ahead of me. Someone must be playing a trick on me. Jag couldn't be in the hospital! He was probably fine, getting groceries for the both of us. Veronica and Kori probably did it to be silly, but then again, wouldn't everyone else be in on it, and wouldn't they have told me that they did it...?

"C'mon," Abbie whispered, helping me up. Zoe wrapped her arm around my shoulders and led me to Adam's car that was just turning into the parking lot. I climbed in the back, so dazed that I didn't know what to think yet. The news still hadn't sunk in yet. Nothing was processing, and in what felt like minutes, we had arrived at the hospital and I was being carted inside by Valerie and Veronica.

"Roxie Fischer? You can come and see Ethan, now," a nurse said. I was transferred from my friends arms into the hands of the nurse. She guided me through what felt like a labyrinth, but really was just a mess of similar white hallways.

Finally, I was tossed into a dimly lit room with nothing but a bed, machinery, and Jag. I walked hesitantly over to the bed and stood next to him. His head was wrapped with bandages and there was one over his eye. The skin that was exposed was slashed with cuts and marred with bruises. My eyes welled up with tears all over again as the realization of this whole situation finally began to set in.

There was a cast on his arm and some sort of contraption on his leg that was holding it up. All I could hear was irregular beeping of a machine. I took Jag's hand in mine and looked at him through blurry, teary eyes.

"Oh, Jag. What did you get yourself into this time? I wish you would've stayed with me for just a few more minutes," I whispered through tears. Then, I leaned down and pressed our lips together. The beeping became frantic, the beeps coming so close together that they were almost one long, continuous noise.

A doctor burst into the room, followed by a different nurse than before. I was dragged away and shoved into a waiting room. Eva and Aunt MaryAnn were both there and so was everyone who came with me.

"What happened?"

"Are you all right?"

"Is Jag all right?

"Do you need anything?"

I was bombarded with questions and I didn't know how to answer any of them. Was I in shock? Was this normal? I didn't know. I couldn't think.

"Let her have some space," Aunt MaryAnn suggested softly. Everyone silenced themselves and I sat down on an armchair. I listened to the sound of footsteps outside, hearing them get closer and closer until they stopped in the waiting room.

"You're all here for Ethan, correct?" the young nurse asked. She got all kinds of murmurs of agreement. "Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but Ethan has passed away."