“Kris, this is the second time in two days you’ve seen me. When I checked you out yesterday, your back couldn’t be better. Now all of a sudden you’re claiming that you hurt it when you fell down the stairs?”
“Yes.”
“What really happened?”
“You’re not obligated to know. All you’re obligated to do is help fix the problem.” Kris was lying face-down on a examination table, her eyes closed and her fists clenched. “It doesn’t matter how it happened, it just matters that it happened.”
“Well it’s not that serious. You bruised your spinal cord and broke your tailbone…”
“You don’t call that serious?”
“Compared to a few situations I’ve seen you in, no. You’ll be fine in a few weeks.”
“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”
“Stairs are a big no-no; you’ll be in enough pain already. I believe it is physically possible for you to go up and down stairs, but I would not recommend it at all. You might just end up falling over in an attempt to go up the stairs.”
“I have stairs at school, how am I supposed to go to half my classes?”
“If you don’t have an elevator at school, in which you should at any school with stairs, don’t go to your upstairs classes. If you need a note, I’ll give you one.”
“Yeah, okay, whatever.” She groaned and lightly pounded her head against the table.
“Don’t do that.” She stopped and looked over at the doctor. He was scribbling on a piece of paper. “Here, show this to whoever asks.” He gave her the piece of paper. She threw it in her purse. Mr. Siracusa was outside, waiting for her. He’d take her home once she was finished here. “And here’s a prescription for a stronger painkiller than you already have.”
“Thanks.” She stood, annoyed. She was still in pain, and all he did was give her more medication. It didn’t do anything for her problem.
“Just take it easy. Rest when you get home. Try and stay off your feet. Lay down if you can, and try to not sit down or bend over.”
“So basically what you want me to do is lay down in a bed until I get better.”
“Yeah, you can walk around if you need to, but I recommend milking this for all it’s worth.”
“Thanks.” She took his prescription and her purse and walked out of the room. She found Mr. Siracusa in the waiting room. “Okay, we can go now.”
“So what’d he say?”
“I broke my tailbone and bruised my spine. But I should be okay!” She rolled her eyes. “All he did was give me painkillers. I have enough from when I was in the hospital.” She peered at her prescription. “Tylenol 4! Ooh that stuff is fun.”
“You want me to put that in for you?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I had to get out of teaching for one day. You kids are too much to handle every day of the week.”
“You’re no peach either.” She followed him to the car. “I’m supposed to avoid sitting down and standing.”
“That’s fun. How are you supposed to do anything?”
“I’m not supposed to do anything.” She rolled her eyes and got into the car. She gave him the prescription and her insurance card and they stopped off at a Walgreens and put it in the pharmacy.
“I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
After the put the prescription order in, he drove her home. She noticed her mother’s car there, along with another one that looked vaguely familiar. She searched her brain for the owner of that car. Once they pulled up, she remembered.
“Oh shit.” She got out of the car and ran inside. Cynthia was in the kitchen, with Zac. She let out a breath. At least it wasn’t Taylor. “What the hell are you doing here?” she asked Zac.
“I should ask you the same thing!” Zac looked at the clock on the microwave. “It only noon. Why are you home?” Mr. Siracusa walked in.
“David! Why are you here?” Cynthia asked. Kris looked back to Mr. Siracusa.
“I had to take Kris to the doctor.”
“Why?”
“She had a problem at school that she won’t tell me and apparently broke a few bones.” Kris turned away, looking out the window.
“How did it happen?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What did you break?”
“A rib, my tailbone, and I bruised my spine.”
“Not to mention that bruise on your face. Was that from school too? Considering I actually believed you when you said you ran into a door,” Cynthia said.
“I have to lie down. The doctor doesn’t want me standing.” She started to walk away, but Zac only gently grabbed her shoulders. “Let go of me, Zac!”
“I’m not holding onto you very tightly, Kris.”
“You never said why you were here,” Kris said, turning around and poking Zac in his chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack out there, thinking Taylor was here.”
“Um, Kris, he is here.”
“What?!”
“I brought him. I didn’t tell him we were going here, but I still brought him. I thought it’d be good if you two saw each other again.”
“I don’t want to see him again! I made it very clear on the phone last night that if I ever saw him again it’d completely ruin my relationship with Brian…”
“You talked to him on the phone?” Zac asked, grinning.
“Shut up.” She walked out of the room, just as Taylor was walking down the stairs. She stopped, as he did.
“What happened to you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it! Do I have to tell everyone I meet that I don’t want to say what happened to me! No one believes me anyway!”
“Slow down, Kris. What’s going on?”
“Nevermind, it’s not important. As long as you’re here, I didn’t do anything, there is no bruises anywhere and I didn’t break any bones.”
“You broke bones?”
“Yes, but we’re going to pretend that didn’t happen!” She sighed and sat down on the stairs. As she bent her body, a few bones cracked and she winced in pain. She brushed her hair out of her face and let out a deep breath. Taylor sat down next to her.
“You sound pretty bad. I’m sure your bones aren’t supposed to crack as you sit down.” She let her head fall on his shoulder, for a moment forgetting that they hadn’t seen each other in months. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
Kris stood, finally realizing that leaning on him at that point wasn’t the best thing to do. She heard her phone ring in her room. She beckoned Taylor to follow her up the stairs.
“Come on,” she said, and went into her room. He followed, and got to her room when she picked up the phone. “Hello?” She laid on her bed, face down, and rubbed her back. Running up the stairs had hurt like hell.
“Why’d you leave school? How come Mr. Siracusa’s gone too?”
“Oh hi Brian! Nice to hear from you too, how’s everything going?”
“Who’s there?”
“My mother,” Kris lied. She really didn’t care if Taylor heard or not, but she didn’t want Brian to know. “I left because I got hurt. I went to the doctor. Mr. Siracusa brought me there and back.”
“Does he know?”
“No, but he’s pretty damn close.”
“Why would that be? What have you said?”
“I didn’t say anything Brian.”
“You better not have.”
“Listen, Brian. I know you’re at your lunch right now, so go eat. Let me be. I’ll be at school tomorrow. I’ll talk to you then if I don’t call you later.”
“You are such a bitch. Who really is there? It isn’t Taylor, is it? If it is, I will beat your ass so hard…”
“I love you too, Brian. Bye,” she said, and then hung up. She threw the phone across the room and it busted against the wall. She put her head in the pillow and flicked off the phone.
Taylor watched in amazement. It was never like her to be so sweet on the phone then immediately become so bitchy to it. He sat down on the bed next to her. “Problems?”
“Too many to handle.” Before he could respond, she put up her hand. “Don’t say anything, Taylor. I know what you’re thinking. I know you; so don’t start.” He huffed and stood.
“You don’t know me anymore.” He turned on her computer and sat down on her chair.
“Let’s see how much you’ve changed. You’re sitting with you legs crossed, which is a very feminine trait if I may say so. You always move the mouse to the other side of the computer cause I’m a lefty, but you never move the mouse pad.” As she said this, he realized that she caught him right in the middle of the act, but she was still looking her pillow. “You’re going to play a game of Ski-Free until the monster eats you, then play Freecell until you win.” He stopped, looking at his game of Ski-Free.
“Lucky guess, that’s all.”
“And I can hear the jealousy in your voice. You wanted me all to yourself again but you know you can’t have me because I’m with Brian.”
“Yes, but that never stopped you before.”
“I’m still right.” She smiled, but he couldn’t see her face. “And don’t touch my screen!” He took his hand away from the screen.
“Okay, so maybe you still know me. I guess I haven’t changed much.”
She finally took her head out of her pillow and looked at him. “You got muscle on you now.” He smiled and flexed his arm. She quivered in delight. “Oh dear God that’s sexy.”
“You know you want me.”
“Yes I do, baby. Come to me now.” She turned over so she wasn’t hurting her neck so much.
“I’d jump you in a second, and you know that. Don’t tease me.”
“I gave it up once, that only makes me more obliged to give it up again.”
“You were drunk. So was I. I don’t even remember any of it.”
“Good.”
“Shut up.” He turned to her. “What do you remember?”
“Everything.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I remember from the time we got there to us leaving and everything in between.”
“Well, do you think you could tell me? I don’t remember anything before the accident.” She smiled and began explaining the night at the club. He listened intently, amazed by some of the things he did. (Kris knew he was pissed at himself for not remembering the first time he had sex.)
Towards the end, while Kris was talking him through the fight he and Kris had before getting into the car, Zac walked in. “Hi, am I interrupting anything?”
“I was just telling him about the night of the accident. He doesn’t remember anything.”
“What part are you at now?”
“We just left the club.”
“I need to hear this; I never found out what happened. Considering I was passed out, I think I have a reason. Continue.” She moved over so Zac could sit next to her on the bed, and continued the story. All three of them were there when it happened , so she had nothing to hide. But before she could get very far, Mr. Siracusa walked into the room. He looked at Kris, but noticed the two boys that were paying close attention to whatever she was saying.
“I’m gonna rush back to the school before they let out. Is there anything you need?”
“Yeah, could you get my flowers and bring them back here? Just the ones Taylor got me, you can leave the rose there for whoever wants it.”
“Okay,” Mr. Siracusa said, walking out of the room. “Bye guys.”
“Bye,” Zac and Taylor said.
“Who’s he?” Taylor added.
“He’s my homeroom teacher and my Psychology teacher. The only reason he’s so nice to me is because he’s dating my mother.”
“Your teacher is dating Cynthia? The guy who just walked in here?” Taylor asked. Kris nodded. “I need to poke fun at them.” He ran out of the room.
“Taylor! Wait up for me!” Zac yelled, running after him. They ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Taylor was just there to poke fun, Zac ran down because of the reoccurring joke that Cynthia was “his.” He ran in and grabbed Cynthia, looking at Mr. Siracusa.
“No! You can’t have her, she’s mine!” Zac yelled at him. Cynthia laughed, but played along.
“Sorry, David. I completely forgot I was spoken for by a fourteen-year-old.”
“You’re fourteen!?” Mr. Siracusa asked, surprised. Zac took a step back.
“Yeah.”
“I thought you were older than Kris.” Zac shrugged, but still kept a protective arm around Cynthia.
“Don’t try and flatter me, mister, I’m a guy! It doesn’t work on me! She’s mine!”
“Then I guess we’ll have to fight for her,” Mr. Siracusa joked, rolling up his sleeves.
“Don’t try, David. He’ll beat your easily. He may be young but he’s really strong,” Cynthia said. “And Zac, let him go, he has to go back to work so he doesn’t get fired.”
“I knew you were cheating on me, Cynthia. I could feel the tension the moment I walked in the room. You could tell, couldn’t you, Taylor? Since you know the feeling and all…”
“Shut up!!” Taylor said. “And don’t bring me into this! I just came down to point and laugh.”
“Why would you do that?” Cynthia asked.
“You’re my ‘Mom,’ I gotta do something about the situation. And if you’re just gonna do this, then I’m going back to Kris.” He made a dramatic pose, then waltzed out of the room.
“Just give me a kiss and I’ll leave,” Zac said. Cynthia pecked his cheek and he left.
“They’re a trip. I always loved having them around.”
“But they stopped coming when she broke up with Taylor, right?” Cynthia nodded.
“I couldn’t understand it. Zac’s her best friend. I’ve never seen her so close to anybody before. Then just all of a sudden he stopped coming around and it really upset her. But now it seems that they’re back to normal.”
Just then Kris came running through the kitchen, screaming and flailing her arms around. Taylor was running after her. They ran around the counter, but Zac caught her at the doorway. He flung her over his shoulder and Taylor began to tickle her feet. In between screaming and laughing, she managed to kick Taylor in the face.
“Ow!”
“Guys don’t be so rough, she’s still got a lot of broken bones.”
“I’m fine, Mom,” Kris said. Zac turned around so she could look at Taylor. “Are you okay? Want me to kiss it and make it better?” Taylor nodded. “Where do you hurt?”
“Right here,” he said, pointing to his lips.
“Bull.”
“Really!!”
“Fine.” She grabbed his shirt to help herself reach his lips, and gently kissed him. As the kiss grew more intense and neither showed any sign of letting up, Cynthia had to step in.
“Kristina! You are still dating Brian, may I remind you! And Taylor you know that.” Kris pulled away from Taylor.
“Shit. Zac put me down.” Zac put her back on her feet. She walked away, the two boys following after her. Kris turned around, and her eyes met with Taylor’s. For the first time she saw the love in his eyes that she never saw in Brian. It made her feel worse, because she still felt the same for him. She still loved Taylor. Shit, she thought. “I just need to be alone for a little bit. I’ll come down later.” She headed up the stairs, cursing and holding her back.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit. I don’t get this.” She flung herself on her bed, face down. She was afraid to lie on her back, just in case she was to hurt herself more. She didn’t want to admit to Zac that he really hurt her, but she was in a lot of pain at that point. Maybe there was some painkillers in her medicine cabinet.
Now that she was thinking about her relationships with Brian and Taylor, she found herself walking to the bathroom in tears. The past couple of days she had been very vulnerable. Maybe it was all the painkillers she’d been taking, maybe it was all the stress that had been pushing down on her, or maybe she was just changing.
She downed a few pills and walked back into her room, her eyes still red and her cheeks still wet. She laid on the bed again, crying silently into her pillow.
“Kris?”
“Leave me alone.”
“Sorry.” It was Taylor, and he didn’t leave. He only sat on the bed next to her.
“I said go away.”
“What’s wrong?”
She sat up, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked furious. “You want to know what’s wrong? You seriously do? It’s you, Taylor!! I was perfect until you came here. The second I hear your voice on that answering machine, I fell in love with you again. I spent months trying to get you out of my head, and of course when I’m happy is when you come back. Why couldn’t you have called earlier? Hell, why couldn’t you have called anytime before now? Now I don’t want to be with you because I’m happy with Brian. We didn’t fight before I found a picture of you under my bed. Every time we fight it’s about you! See this bruise on my face?” she asked, pointing to her face. “It’s because of you! I would not be bruised with broken bones if you just stayed away from me!”
“Are you saying Brian hit you?”
“Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying. Brian has beat me and thrown me because of fights over you.” She poked him in the chest, none too gently either. “He thinks I’m still in love with you, and if he finds out that I am, I probably won’t make it out of that fight alive.”
“When did he start to hit you?”
“Sunday.”
“So this is recent.”
“Yes, but would you get off that? Taylor, the only reason he hits me is because of you. I love you and he hates that!”
“You love me?” Taylor asked, shocked. She nodded and fell in his lap. She put her head against his chest. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“Say you hate me. Say you think I’m horrible and you never want to see me again.”
“I can’t lie to you, Kris,” he said. “I don’t hate you. I actually never stopped loving you.” He put his arms around her.
“That’s not what you were supposed to say.” She adjusted her head. “Just promise me that you’ll never say a word to anyone. About Brian hitting me. I can’t have anyone know, cause I’m afraid he’ll find out. I don’t know what I’ll do if he finds out, Taylor.”
“Kris, I have to say something.”
“No! Don’t! Please Taylor. Just do this for me?” She looked up at him, her eyes pleading.
“Alright, I’ll do it. But I am not happy with your decision.”
“Thank you.” She hugged him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. “It means a lot to me.”