Just a Girl

I frantically paced around Oliver, trying to decide what to do. My mind raced. I decided I had to get him to hospital in case it was alcohol poisoning. I found Soph, his girlfriend, and brought her to Oliver.

“Oh my god!” She gasped. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. He was just passed out.” I explained. “You’re not too drunk are you?” I asked.

“No.” She said.

“Good. We have to take him to the hospital. I need your help getting him to the truck. You can sit in the back with him, in case he wakes up. But we’ll take him anyway.” I told her my plan.

“Ok.” She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself.

“He’ll live.” I offered her a small smile, trying to comfort her. It was just as difficult for me to deal with people when they were in this state. Zeke was way better at it. I wished he was sober.

I grabbed one of Oliver’s arms, with much difficulty due to my cast, and Soph took the other. Together we got him into a standing position and awkwardly dragged him to the truck. I opened the door for Soph, and she slid in, pulling Oliver in and against her with my help.

I walked around to the other side of the car and slid into the driver’s seat. I turned the truck on with a loud roar.

“Soph, can you call Erin or someone to let them know where we went?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure.” She let out another seep breath.

“Hey, Erin.” I heard her say.

I concentrated on the slippery road so we didn’t get in an accident. It took about 20 minutes to get to the E.R.

“Cara.” Soph said softly from the back, getting my attention.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“What if he goes to jail. He’s drank and he’s underage!” She panicked.

“Soph.” I started. “Take a deep breath and calm down. Everything. Will. Be. Okay.” I stressed each word.

I heard her take a few deep breaths and she spoke. “Okay.” She said. “Everything will be okay.” I heard a smile in her voice. “Everything will be okay.” She repeated.

“Good. Now help me get him out of the car.” I said, opening my door and stepping out of the car. My feet crunched in the old, walked and driven on snow. I opened Soph’s door. We each grabbed one of Oliver’s limp arms and dragged him into the hospital, earning both curious and horrified looks from the few people in the waiting room. It was almost 2 in the morning, so there weren’t too many people. We walked over to the receptionist and she glanced up from her computer.

“How can I help you?” She asked.

“My friend here passed out. We think it was from too much alcohol, be we don’t know for sure.” I said. I looked over and saw Soph taking deep breaths. Her face was very pale.

“Ok. Name please.” She said.

“Oliver Eaton.” I replied. I saw her write something on a piece of paper. Then she picked up the phone and whatever she said was too fast for me to catch. A few moments later a man came over to us with a wheel chair. He indicated for us to put him in, so we did, gratefully. He flashed Soph a smile, and then wheeled Oliver away. Soph tried to go with them but the receptionist caught her.

“You have to stay here.” She told her. “Go sit.” She pointed to the chair with her perfectly manicured finger.

“Fine.” Soph huffed. We walked to the navy cushioned seats together and we sat down. I had a feeling that this would be like the night at the hospital with Mindy, just without Zeke.

“You okay?” I asked Soph.

“I’m just tired of Oliver being like this.” She turned to me. “I still care. I always will. But he’s just too reckless sometimes.” She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“He’s a teenage boy.” I laughed. “What do you expect? This is our time to live. Like really live.”

“I guess…” She trailed off.

“I fell asleep on Zeke.” I told her. “And when I woke up, he and Jordan were fighting about something. They wouldn’t tell me what.”

“Probably you.” Soph smiled.

“Me?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Jordan got really drunk and decided it would be a good idea to break up with Crystal. He told her how cute you were and how he thought they should see other people.” She averted her gaze away from me. “He has had his eye on you ever since you walked through the door of the cabin.” She whispered. “The truth comes out when you’re drunk, I guess.”

“But Zeke doesn’t like me like that.” I argued.

“That’s what you think.”

“Yeah, that is what I think. Did he tell you otherwise?”

“Sorta.” She said turning back to me. Her dark brown eyes were shining in the florescent lights of the E.R. “He told Jordan to back off because you were his.” She explained.

“Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean he likes me.”

“In what world?”

“Reality.” I said. “He could have just said that because he didn’t want Jordan and Crystal to break up.”

“Everyone but you see that he likes you…in that way.” She poked my shoulder. “Why do you think he invited you on this trip?” She asked. “He knew full well you guys would have to share a room. Why do you think he stayed with you when you went skiing? What about when he gave you his blanket?”

Now that I did think about it, maybe Zeke did like me. But did I like him like that? No. We were friends. I couldn’t date him even if I did like him. I wanted him in my life for a long time. Our friendship would be put on the line if we dated.

I realized what I was thinking and shook my thoughts away. I did not like Zeke as anything more than a friend.