Nobody's Listening

F I F T E E N

"Where were you?" Cyd snapped at me when I got back to her house. I dropped the lanyard at her feet and let the tears run down my face. "No one knew where you were. My mom was completely freaking out! And I was too, actually! And Luke called. He's worried, and he's probably coming over in a few minutes."

I continued to walk upstairs to her room, completely ignoring her.

Cyd snatched the lanyard up and started up the stairs after me. "Do you have any idea what type of hell this household just went through? My dad literally had to take all of my little siblings out of the house because they were hysterical that you had been murdered or something!"

I whirled around and stopped, causing Cyd to bounce into me. I opened my mouth furiously, trying to think of something scathing to say. But all that would come out is, "He doesn't like me." I fell to the floor at her feet. "He doesn't like me," I choked out again.

Cyd squatted down in front of me. "Who doesn't like you, Dez?" she asked gently.

"James," I cried out, taking her hands in my bandaged ones. I stared into her eyes, trying to make sense of it. "James hates me. He hates me!" I felt like I was being strangled. I clutched at my throat, spluttering for air.

Cyd's big green eyes widened, and she took my face in her small hands. "Dezzy, calm down, honey. Calm down," she sobbed, tears pouring down her frightened face. "Mom! Help! Something's wrong with Dezzy!"

A blurry motherly figure suddenly came into my line of vision. Mrs. Papadopoulos took Cyd's place. She grabbed my shoulders and peered into my face. "Desirae, what's wrong?"

I shook my head. Cyd stepped in to answer. "I don't know where she went this morning, but she seems to think that James hates her."

Mrs. Papadopoulos clicked her tongue. "Honey, I'm sure he doesn't hate you. Now come on," she said, pulling me up into an embrace, "let's get you lying down on Cyd's bed."

Downstairs, the doorbell rang. Cyd cursed and ran down to see who was here. Mrs. Papadopoulos led me to Cyd's room and set me down on the bed. "Now, you calm down, and I'll get you a glass of water." She stroked my tear-stained cheek once and then disappeared.

I curled up on the bed, facing the wall. I shook with each racking sob that escaped my mouth. Why can't I stop crying?! I cried in my thoughts, trying to hold myself together.

"Oh my God," a male voice said from the doorway.

"Luke, wait!" Cyd cried after him.

Suddenly arms were picking me up, pulling me close. I sobbed into his chest, ruining his nice, clean shirt. "Shh," Luke muttered, pressing his lips to the top of my head, trying to calm me down. "It's okay, honey. C'mon, Dezza. You're gonna be all right."

"I don't know what's wrong with her!" Cyd bawled. "She just came back a few minutes again, and she was completely silent. It scared me so much, but then she started… doing this! Which scared me even more!"

At this moment, Mrs. Papadopoulos came back in. "Lucas, will you please sit her down on the bed again?" she asked disapprovingly. I was set back down and Luke backed off. She handed me the glass of water and I took a sip. It tasted so clean and refreshing, that I took another sip. Soon, I stopped crying, the tears drying into sticky trails down my cheeks.

"Will she be okay?" Luke asked.

"Yes, she'll be fine. Call me back in if she gets like that again, okay?" Mrs. Papadopoulos turned on her heel and walked back into the hall, closing the door behind her.

"What was that?" Cyd asked me, sitting down next to me on the bed.

I shrugged and took another sip of water. I really didn't want Luke to know why I had gotten like that. I gave Cyd a watery look and she seemed to understand. She gave me a tiny nod and placed a hand on my knee. "I'm gonna go call Mesh, then. And maybe I'll call my dad. I'll let him know you're safe and that the children can come back." She left, leaving Luke standing in the middle of the floor and me sitting on the bed.

"Are you okay?" he asked me, frowning slightly. His frown was just as crooked as his smile, and I smiled a little.

"Of course I'm okay. It's just been a rough week." I hesitated for a moment, and then continued. "I went to go see James this morning."

Luke cautiously sat down next to me. "How was he doing?"

"He looked… okay, I guess. He's leaving tomorrow for rehab."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, honey. I know you'll miss him a lot…"

I nodded warily. "I will."

"Do you want to go see him again a little bit later?"

What can I possibly say to that? If I say no, he's going to ask me why, and then I'll have to tell him what happened at the hospital, which would require a lot of explaining about my feelings for James. And if I say yes, Luke might feel a little bitter, and I will feel extremely awkward back in that hospital room. I looked up into Luke's kind gaze, and realized he didn't and wouldn't care if I liked James. He just wanted to make me happy. My heart melted a little.

"Sure," I said, smiling. "But first, I want to go back home and take a shower."

Luke laughed. "Okay, okay, let's go." We helped each other up and raced down the stairs to tell Cyd.