Set Me Free

What was an ambulance doing at the Connellys'? I stopped abruptly, staring over into the neighbors’ yard where Mr. Connelly was supporting Mrs. Connelly, who just about fell to the ground, sobbing like there was no tomorrow. What the hell is going on?

“Oh my goodness!” Ugh, I forgot Jenny was with me. “It better not be Andrew! He better be alright.”

At the moment, I didn’t care that Jenny’s voice was nasally and annoying, I was hoping the same thing she was. Then again, it better not have been Felicity either. She was only about thirteen and I was starting to take a liking to her, she was shy and seemed extremely nice...but it had to be one of them. Felicity or Andrew? Mr. and Mrs. Connelly only have two kids that I know of and both adults were both fine (health wise. Mrs. Connelly looked like she was having a hard time breathing), so it had to be one of them.

Curiosity finally got the better of me and my legs found themselves moving forward into the Connelly’s yard until I was right in front of the sobbing parents. I crouched down and placed a soft hand on Mrs. Connelly’s shoulder while she sobbed on the ground, this is definitely not good.

Mr. Connelly looked at me with a tears streaked face and tried getting his wife off the ground. I helped, but it wasn’t that hard. Together, we moved her to their car without a word and dropped her in the passenger seat. Mr. Connelly thanked me with a cracked voice and drove off, speeding down the street.

Looking back to their house, I thought it’d be nice if I closed the door for them. Making my way to shut the door, I saw a figure sitting on the staircase, not too far from my line of sight; Andrew.

So something’s wrong with Felicity. I didn’t really know what to think at the moment. Relief that Andrew wasn’t in the hospital, dread that Felicity’s in the hospital or guilt for feeling relieved that Andrew wasn’t in the hospital.

I wondered what happened to Felicity and felt like asking, but I didn’t think it was my place to interfere.

Instead, I summoned up the courage and walked over to Andrew, sitting next to him on the staircase, neither of us saying anything. I would occasionally glance over to him, just to see that he hadn’t moved in the slightest bit. I don’t even think he was blinking.

What was I supposed to do now? Comfort him somehow? It’s hard to comfort someone when you don’t know what’s wrong. I couldn’t really say that everything was going to be alright because maybe everything was not going to be alright. I couldn’t say that it was okay, because it most certainly was not okay. I couldn’t put an arm around him because...I’d probably start hyperventilating and pass out.
It turns out, I didn’t need to say anything...Andrew began first.

“She’s only 13, you know.” His voice was ragged and broke too many times.

He sounded as if he was trying his hardest not to burst out in tears like his mother and looking over at him, I noticed that his eyes were glazed over with unshed tears. He probably thought he was too much of a ‘man’ to cry.

“I know.” It was the only word that seemed to fit; what else could I possibly say? If you know, tell me, I sure could use the help.

I don’t know how long we sat on those stairs, not talking, but the next thing I knew, it was dark and my phone was vibrating like crazy in my pocket. It was most likely my father, hounding me for being late, but whatever. What’s another punch in the face right? I should probably get home though; I don’t want to be black and blue tomorrow. I’m running out of crappy excuses to feed people.
As if Andrew could read my mind, he finally turned to me.

“I’m okay.” He mumbled, staring right at me. “Thanks for staying with me.”

I was momentarily out of air, but once I got it back, I racked my brains for something to say that didn’t make me sound like I was an idiot.

“I-It was nothing.” I stuttered. “Hope everything goes okay.”

We both stood up at the same time, Drew walking me to the door.
I tried looking into his eyes again, wanting to drown in those blue pools just once more before going home, but he refused to meet my gaze this time. He finally cracked...

Sleep was a distant stranger that night. Every few minutes or so I would look out the window to see Andrew’s light still on. I wanted to just walk over there and stay with him until he was okay, but there was no way I’d have enough courage for that. I wish I had his number, then we could stay awake together, but I highly doubted I’d have the courage for that either.

I was able to avoid my father the night before and he did mention something about a business trip (aka, going to see one of his mistresses), so that was a bruise free week that I should love.
Leaving the house, I looked over to the Connelly’s. Mr. and Mrs. Connelly’s car weren’t back yet. Maybe it was pity or the fact that I really wanted to see Andrew again, but the next thing I knew I was ringing his doorbell, waiting to ask him if he wanted to ride to school with me. Maybe I was being too forward? What if he found me creepy and decided that he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore? What if...too late.

A disheveled Andrew answered the door, looking like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He was still in the same clothes from the day before, except they looked like they’d been worn for a month straight. His hair was sticking up all over the place, lacking that beautiful sheen I loved and his eyes...His eyes were what caught me. Instead of being dark blue pools that drew me in, they seemed to be black holes that sucked everything in its path, including his skin color. Andrew was as white as milk. He looked as if he were deathly sick.

“Andrew...what the hell happened to you?” I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but didn’t regret it once it came out of my mouth; something had to be said.

He didn’t reply, just moved out of the way and walked back into the house. Since he didn’t shut the door in my face, I took it as a sign that I should come in.

Walking past the living room and the dinning room, Andrew led me down to the pristine kitchen and sat down on at the table; his head automatically falling onto it.
I stood awkwardly next to him for a few minutes before finally deciding that I should sit down.

“Andrew...” I didn’t know what to say after that. I brought my hand up to place it on his shoulder, but retracted it as soon as I could. Maybe he didn’t need someone else’s pity. “...Are you coming to school?” What the hell kind of question was that? I mentally scolded myself as soon as it came out of my mouth.

Andrew brought his head up to glare at me.

“Does it look like I’m coming to school?” He snarled, resting his head back on the table.

Well, great, what am I supposed to do now? I can’t skip school; it’ll go on my record and my dad will break my neck. But I couldn’t just leave Andrew there all alone, now could I? Being a loner sounds really good right now.

“Mind if I borrow your phone?” I asked.
He looked at me strangely before shrugging and pulling out his cell.
Never in my life would I imagine myself doing something like this, but here goes nothing.

“Hello?” Mrs. Kartriche, the secretary. That’s right; I was calling myself in sick. Gasp; the scandal.

“Yes, this is Mr. Santon. I’m calling in for my son, Daniel Santon Jr..” I tried my hardest to sound like my dad, which wasn’t that hard since the school’s never heard from him. “He’s not feeling very well and won’t be able to make it to school today.”

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Andrew sitting up in his chair and looking at me with a slight smirk on his face. Hey, at least I got an emotion out of him.

“Alright then, thank you for calling in Mr. Santon.” She chirped into the phone before hanging up.

I can’t believe I just did that.

"I can’t believe you just did that.” Andrew’s voice snapped me out of the inner turmoil I was currently going through.

I just shrugged, like I was cool; which I most certainly am not.

"It's whatever (LIE!!!). Did you hear anything from your parents?”

His face visibly fell. Why must I always say the wrong things?

“Yeah, um...she’s stable...for now.”

“If you don’t mind me asking...what happened to your sister?”

Andrew turned his gaze down to the table, face falling yet again. I should shut up now.

“She um...she has epilepsy, where she has random seizures and passes out. She...had a seizure the other day, when no one was around, so they couldn’t do anything. She didn’t want to take her pills, so...my parents couldn't get her to stop seizing. When they finally called the police...her heart had practically stopped. They’d been trying to resuscitate her since yesterday.” Andrew’s head dropped right back onto the table.

Not thinking about what I was doing (it happens a lot), I actually brought my hand up and placed it on his shoulder. I was as stiff as wood, but what do you expect? I was touching the first guy I’ve ever liked (like-like), it was only normal that I was nervous.
It didn’t take long for him to compose himself. He looked like he was in agony just a second before, now he looked completely fine; like he’d just get up and decided that he all of a sudden wanted to play video games. Ha, even he can’t get over something that quickly.

“Alright, so I’m bored. Want to play some video games?” O.O...Not everyone can be right.

“Uh…yeah sure.”

Andrew led me upstairs to his room, that looked way cleaner from my bedroom window. Seriously, the room was an absolute mess; I couldn’t tell if the thing in the corner was his bed or a hill of clothes and pizza boxes. Didn’t he just move in three days ago? What does he sleep on? The only things that were distinguishable were the huge plasma screen TV mounted on the wall and the millions of video games underneath.

“Damn...”

“I know it’s a little messy; I just haven’t gotten to cleaning it yet.”

“A little messy? What do you sleep on?”

“The bed...”

“Which is where exactly?”

I’ve never skipped a day of school in my life, except for when I was in the hospital because my dad kicked me so hard and broke one of ribs, but other than that, I have never missed a day of school (sick or not) and I do not regret missing that day. Apparently I’m not that shy around Andrew now that I know him. Yes, it sounds cheesy and cliché and all of that, but it’s true.
I wish my life story was cliché, then maybe I’d have a chance with Andrew and be able to tell my parents about it without them shipping me off to my aunt Gerta’s in Greenland...did you know it’s cold over there? But unfortunately, dreams just don’t come true now-a-days.
Jenny has been calling and texting me non-stop, asking where I was and whether or not I was with Andrew. I was, but trust me, telling her the truth would not be a very smart thing to do.

So, it was about four o-clock and Andrew and I were sitting on his bed; that’s right, we found it. He was going through a playboy magazine *cue the eye rolling and secret heartbreak* while I was flipping through the channels on his television, talking aimlessly to fill the gaps

“Why do you call me Andrew?” He asked, interrupting me from my speech about how our English teacher is really an alien, looking for an eligible student to take back to her mother ship.

“Um...because it’s your name?” It came out more like a question than a strong statement.

Andrew stared off into space for a little while before looking back at me.

“No one calls me Andrew, except for my mother, when she’s mad and the people who don’t know me, but you know me.”

“So...?”

“So...call me Drew.”