Second Impressions

"Ms. Flicka," the professor glances over his bifocals, "Would you care to explain the equation to the class?"

He offers the chalk to me. I glance around, catching many eyes of strangers and only two of people I am familiar with. Standing up, I walk down past the many rows of seats to appear in front of Professor Mercy.

I smile, even though I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because everything is better, the way it's really supposed to be. Or maybe it's the fact that Professor Mercy has dandruff on his eyebrows. How do you get dandruff on your eyebrows anyway?

"Sure, why not?"

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I stare into my lap, completely covered by a harsh white sheet. The night's earlier events still run through my mind, which is quite shocking, even though the doctor says that I'm not in shock. My body amazes me sometimes. Like, I was Wonder Woman in my past life.

The scene replays itself in my head. One event. At a time.

"Dannit? Dannit!" I call frantically, slipping all over my slightly flooding drive-way. I hear a bark. Faint at first, and then louder. I finally see a shadow though I'm not sure how because of the rain and the darkness. I start jogging towards him, and him to me, but then a pair of bright yellow lights reveal Dannit and I know what is going to happen.

"Dannit! Stop! Stop!" My easy jog turns into a rushed sprint as I move in front of the car to stop it from hitting my dog. With my hands extended, I continue yelling for the driver to stop. Why aren't they stopping? Don't they see me?!

Everything is rolling and rolling and my body slams into a windshield and then onto the pavement. I slowly get up and glare at the driver. I am Wonder Woman. I am invincible.

I kick his headlight and start screaming at him as he gets out, sputtering. I can't hear any other screams over mine. I race up to him, grabbing his disgusting cell phone and snap it in half, pushing at him and screeching in his face.

I'm not sure how, but I end up in a warm house with a towel wrapped around myself and a cup of tea in my shaking hands. My brain is scrabbled. All of my thoughts and speakings and memories are all scrabbled like eggs.

"Autum, you're going to be okay. You're going to be okay." Arms attach themselves to me from nowhere, but they're warm and I don't care. I nuzzle into them further and close my eyes.

"Autum Flicka, your discharge papers have been signed. I hope I don't see you again." The doctor winks at his own little joke. That makes me smile. People who try being funny, but they really aren't, and laughing. It's funny because they know they're not yet they do it anyway.

There's a sudden knock on the door.

"Hello?" I ask, not quite sure who to expect. Brad slowly opens the door, his wet disheveled hair sticking up everywhere.

"Autum, would you please stay with us tonight? We don't want you to be by yourself right now." Brad tries choosing his words carefully, and I know why. It's been so long since we've actually talked. We graduated, applied to colleges, got accepted, got rejected, and this summer is our last summer before we actually try for our future.

I see red and blue hair through the doorway. With a sigh, I suddenly smile. I no longer feel broken. Why don't I feel broken? Did me getting hit by a car trigger something?

"Of course. I wouldn't want you to worry." Barely finishing my last sentence, Shale and Trev both burst into my hospital room. I think I saw tears but I'm not sure because they both bury their heads into my body, hugging me. I look at Brad with an arched eyebrow, but he too seems to be in his own little world.

"What's wrong?" I ask, pulling Shale away to look at her face. There's no make-up on her and her hair is in disarray. Then Trev looks up at me and he looks even worse. The bags under his eyes seem like they could qualify as his cheeks, his eyes are red and teary.

"We're just so happy that you're alright." Trev sniffles. "And that you're talking to us and you're actually taking one of our offers and that you're smiling and-"

"We're just so happy." Shale cuts in with a smile, hugging me and burying her face in my neck. I pat her back and look at Brad again.

"Brad, are you there? Do I have to bring the doctor in?" I poke fun at him. Trev wails again, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks.

"And you're joking!!!" His sobs wrack my body along with his. I sigh, patting him on the head.

"Can we leave yet?" I ask after a couple of minutes. Trev is still crying, but not as dramatically, Shale still looks like beautiful hell, and Brad has yet to become un-hypnotized. "Where's Tash and Shelby?"

"They're meeting us at my house." Brad snaps suddenly, taking me by surprise. He seems angry at me. It reminds me of the first time I met him. He's glaring at me, his eyes darkening while his stance is standoffish. I stare at him as he continues. "Tash has gone out of town to visit his grandparents at their beach house and Shelby is at a wedding."

"Call Tash and tell him to go back!" I pull Shale towards me, my eyes wide. I'm sure I looked like I should be in the Cuckoo's Nest. "He shouldn't have to come all this way."

"But he-"

"Shale." I stare her down solidly. Her shoulders slouch in defeat as she pulls out her cell phone and dials, arguing with Tash. Then they are both silent and she glances around before whispering into the phone so none of us can hear.

"What?" Trev questions, wiping his nose as she hangs up. She shakes her head.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get Autum out of here. I'm sure she's tired." Shale smiles a tired smile at me, allowing me to return it wholeheartedly. She shoos the boys out so she can help me get dressed even though I don't need any.

"What's wrong?" I ask after a couple minutes of watching her concentrate deeply. She jolts.

"Autum," she sighs, "we're so happy that you're alright. We've been really worried about you."

"Of course you are. Anyone would be worried if someone got hit by a car." I shrug, slipping a warm shirt over my head. The nurse had ran it through the dryer, which is why I'm sure it's the reason why it smells so much like a fat guy's butt. I have no doubt in my mind that a fat guy has had his clothes in that same dryer.

"No, well yes, but no. We've been worried about you since your mom died." She says it carefully, but I still manage to trip while getting into my jeans. She helps me sit up on the floor. "Brad has really changed a lot since then."

"Yeah, I saw that." I mumble, not even bothering to pull my jeans up properly. "I really hurt him. I didn't mean to, well, I did but it was so I wouldn't hurt him later."

"Autum, Tash told about how you think you're broken. Honey, you're not. This is just a rough patch. We go through these in life, but that doesn't mean we stop living." Shale whispers, wrapping her comforting arms around me, embracing me.

"I'm such a bad person." I sniff.

"No, you're a good person who has had bad things happen to you." I pause at those words, my mind turning and twisting.

"Hey, you got that from Harry Potter." We pull away from each other, look, and burst out laughing. That's how I know everything will be alright.

Everything will be alright. It will be fine.