The City Is at War

I wake up in a hospital bed, with an IV stuck in my arm.

Great.

William is sitting in a chair pulled up to the bed, sleeping. I smile and sit up trying not to wake him, but he's a light sleeper. He cracks open an eye and immediately brightens when he sees me.

"You're awake!" he exclaims, pulling me into an awkward hug.

"I was so worried about you," he murmurs, kissing both of my cheeks.

"The doctor says you just had a mild concussion," William continues, sitting back down.

"So when can I leave?" I ask.

"They wanna keep you here for the rest of the day, to make sure you're alright."

"I told you not to take me here Bill," I scold.

"Sabrina, why didn't you tell me what she was doing?" William asks, after a moment of silence.

"It's not that big of a deal, " I mutter, although I know it's the wrong thing to say.

"Then why did you tell Gabe?" he asks, his eyes full of emotion.

William looks angry, confused and hurt all at the same time.

"He just happened to be there, Bill. That's it."

William sighs, "I am so stupid. I let Stacey distract me, when I should have been paying attention to you."

Even though it's exactly what I wanted to hear, I couldn't sit there and watch William contemplate breaking up with a girl he truly liked, for me.

"I don't need you to baby-sit me, Bill. You should be able to have a girlfriend without having to worry about me."

"I see you're up, Ms. Serrano," the doctor says walking in.

"I see you have great timing,"I mutter.

"I'm sorry, it's just...you're family members are um...they really want to see you," he says nervously.

"I'll go get everyone," William says, standing up.

I sigh and lean back into the bed, waiting for my mock family to arrive.

Next Day

"Sabrina, are you okay?" Victoria asks, for the fifteenth time today.

It's only first period.

I roll my eyes, "yes Victoria. I'm fine."

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I sigh.

Probably another text from William.

Can we talk?

The text is from Gabe.

I haven't seen him since I passed out and everyone has been telling me to stay away.

Where?

Science lab

I raise my hand and ask to go the bathroom and Mr.Stertz nods and hands me the pass.

I walk through the halls searching for the science lab, when I spot him. Gabe is leaning against the wall, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"Hey," I say cautiously.

Gabe immediately looks up, "are you okay?"

"Except for a couple of bandages and everyone asking me if I'm okay, I'm fine," I laugh and Gabe smiles.

"They wouldn't let me see you and..." he trails off suddenly becoming interested in a strand of my hair.

"I can see why, I mean we're always fighting," I mutter.

"I know I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I really should be nicer to you," Gabe says absently, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.

I blush," I have strict orders to stay away from you."

I push Gabe's hand away, but he just lowers it to my cheek.

"Does it hurt?" he asks, completely unfazed.

Gabe traces small circles around my throbbing black eye and it feels much better. I nod but push his arm away anyway.

"Why does she hurt you?"

"Because she's Jadelyn and that's what she does," I mutter.

Gabe and I look up at the same time, almost sensing someone's eyes on us. Sisky and William are staring at us unabashedly and I start to feel guilty.

Why the hell am I hurting Sisky so much?

"I can't say I'm surprised," Sisky says bitterly.

"Sisky, Gabe just wanted to make sure I was okay."

"Did something happen?" he asks, his face softening.

I shake my head and try not to focus on the blinding pain in my side.

Sisky narrows his eyes, "then why-"

"Drop it," William orders.

Sisky looks between the three of us and after what seems like hours, he finally shrugs.

"Fine."

I smile in relief, although I know he hasn't forgotten and probably never will.

"I fucking missed you," I mutter, as Sisky pulls me into a hug.

Sisky laughs, "how much did you miss me?"

"Shut up," I laugh, slapping his arm playfully.

A little further down the hallway, William and Gabe are huddled together talking in hushed voices.

"What's that about?" Sisky asks, following my gaze.

"I don't know..." I say slowly.

As conceited as it sounds, I just know they're talking about me.

"Let's go on a pre-date!" Sisky shouts as soon as I walk out of my last period class.

"What? Right now?" Sisky nods excitedly and I smile tiredly.

I've been following William around all day to see if I could figure out why he was talking to Gabe. It's not easy following someone who's about twice your height.

"Sisky, um sweetie, I'm really tired-" I begin, watching Sisky's face fall.

"You sound like my mom," he mutters.

"No! No, you didn't let me finish. I'm really tired but I'd love to go on a 'pre-date'," I lie.

Sisky instantly brightens and pulls me towards the exit, babbling about how much fun we we're going to have. Sisky stops abruptly and I look up to see Bill standing in front of us. He bends over and whispers in Sisky's ear and I sigh impatiently.

William stands up straight again and I give him an expectant look. William opens his mouth and then closes it again before turning around.

"Bill?" I say quietly, hoping he just forgot to tell me.

He can't be ignoring me.

William stops for a second, tightens his grip on his backpack and continues walking down the hall.

"Sisky, what-"

"Don't worry about it," Sisky interrupts, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

"Um yeah. You're right," I mutter, walking out of the school.