I'm Sorry, Can You Repeat That?

~Jack's P.O.V.~

She fell, she FELL! First she was on the stairs and then Mrs. Asher is catching her. Mr. Asher ran to take her from his wife and lifted her up in his arms. I don’t know when Cain moved but he was suddenly next to Cherry’s motionless body.

“Is she okay?” My mom asked frantically.

Mrs. Asher nodded, “she needs to rest,” Mr. Asher took that as his cue and walked up the stairs with his daughter. Mrs. Asher was obviously flustered as she sat back down at the table, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Cain sat back down next to me, “what happened to her?”

“Cherry has Narcolepsy, it’s a sleeping disorder.” So…she’s sleeping? “Usually it doesn’t act up this way, and she is really good at taking her naps so this doesn’t happen.” She shook her head, “but if she was as upset as she looked her anger may have triggered her to pass out.” She took a deep breath to settle herself, “The last time she passed out she got into a car wreck.”

“That’s dangerous,” my mom said looking at her, “does she still drive?”

Mrs. Asher shook her head, “No, she rides her bike to school, but I still worry she’s going to drop in the middle of the street somewhere.”

“Well then that settles it,” my dad finally spoke up, “starting Monday Jack and Cain will take her to school.” My face fell as Cain jumped in his seat next to me. For some odd reason he took to Cherry fast and likes her a lot now. “Well since they go to the same school and we’re going to be neighbors starting tomorrow it should really go without saying.”

“What!”

“YES!” Cain said at the same time as me.

The doorbell rang and Mr. Asher yelled he was going to get it. My eyes were glued to my dad, “Are you serious I’ll have to take her to school? Come on! If I show up with her the guys will massacre me.”

“My word is final,” he said sternly as someone cleared their throat.

We all turned around and looked at Mr. Asher as two guys stood next to him. One was tall, almost as tall as me and the other was slightly shorter. The shorter one was hunched over, but you could tell he’d been crying. “Stan’s back.”

The tall one looked around the room and then at Mrs. Asher, “I’m sorry to come when you have company. We’ll just go,” he said when Mrs. Asher stood up.

“Don’t worry about it, Ethan,” she said and then looked at the rest of us, “Excuse me for a minute.” She then walked with the two guys out of the room and up the stairs.

Cain nudged me and I shot him a glare. He glared back and tilted his head towards the stairs. What is his deal? He gets so antsy now when it comes to other guys and Cherry, and he just met her! Well, kind of, he knew who she was during school and he would always tell me about who she hung around with. Even though I didn’t care at all, he acted like a spy telling me about guys she was with and when I didn’t react he’d get all huffy. His excuse, ‘we can’t have any problems.’

I glanced at my parents and saw they were talking to Mr. Asher in deep conversation. Cain nudged me again and I looked at him, “what is wrong with you.”

“We, and I mean you, should go check on Cherry.” He whispered reaching across the table grabbing the ring she left behind. He placed the ring back in the box and handed it to me, “go.” I shook my head and refused to move making Cain mad. He’s just like mom, a hopeless romantic, so annoying. Mrs. Asher came back in the room and sat down, “Mrs. Asher can we go see Cherry?”

I snapped to look at Cain, “Sure. Her room is the second to the right,” she said and Cain got up and pulled me out of my seat. I saw pulled up the stairs gripping two small boxes in my hand as Cain snickered.

When we got into the hall I yanked out of his grip, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hissed so no one down stairs could hear me.

“Making sure nothing happens to ruin this,” he snapped. There it is, his hopeless romantic side coming out.

I opened my mouth to say something when the sound of a flushing toilet distracted me. The bathroom door opened and the short guy from earlier came out rubbing his eyes. He stopped and looked at us, almost like a frightened animal, “I…um…”

“Who are you?” Cain snapped making the guy jump.

“T-Theo,” he said.

“Cain, leave him alone. It’s obvious you’re scaring him,” I said and Cain loosened up backing off of him. Poor kid looked just about to pee himself.

Cain sighed, “Fine then let’s see Cherry,” he turned around and the three of us went to Cherry’s door.

“Be quiet, she’s sleeping,” Theo said just before I opened the door. Giving him a nod I opened and walked into her room and froze on the spot. Cherry was sleeping, and Ethan was kissing her.