Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1) (30 page)

Once we landed and pulled up to the gate, Patrick called home. “Hi, Dad. Yeah, we’ve landed. The flight was fine. It was a long day, Liz slept the entire way back.” There was a short pause. “That’s a good idea. Okay, bye.”

“What’s a good idea?” I was still tired, but I knew I missed something.

“My dad suggested that I drive you home and he’ll pick me up at your place. You know, to save you the extra drive.”

“I don’t mind taking you home. After all you did for me. It’s the least I can do.”

“But you’re tired. I would feel better if you were at home sleeping instead of dropping me off and driving home by yourself.” I couldn’t help but make a face. “Besides, it’d make my folks worry about you, and you wouldn’t want that. Now, would you?”

Great. Make me feel bad that his parents would worry about
me.
“No, I don’t.”

“So, let’s drive you home and my dad will just pick me up there.”

I was too exhausted to fight it and it did make sense. “Wait. He doesn’t know where I live.”

Patrick looked at me a little guilty. “I left your address on the fridge, along with your phone number. Just in case. My folks are cool, they just like information, in case of emergencies and stuff.”

I wished my parents were more like his – protectiveness balanced with understanding and trust. People you could have a healthy relationship with. Nope, not going to happen with my parents.

Patrick wouldn’t let me drive home. He insisted on driving my car. To be honest, I knew he was right and I shouldn’t be driving, so I let him. When we got there, his dad was already parked in front of my house.

We walked over to his dad, who sat in his car. “Hi, Dad.”

“Mr. Connor, thank you for letting Patrick come. It really helped me… a lot. Made a big difference.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad he’s a good friend and helped.”

I smiled, “Yes, he’s a great friend. Lindsey was great too. We all went to the zoo this afternoon and had a lot of fun.”

“That’s good.” Mr. Connor smiled back. “Liz, if you need anything, Mrs. Connor and I are here. You are always welcome at the house. “

“Thank you.” I shook his hand. Patrick walked me to the front door. “Somehow, ‘thank you’, doesn’t seem enough. But I don’t know what else to say.”

“It’s more than you have to.”

I hugged him tightly. I pulled away and looked across the street at his dad. “If your parents ask what happened… I understand if you have to tell them. I don’t want you to lie to them because of me. It’s okay with me if you tell them, I trust you. I just don’t want anyone at school to know. I’m not ready for that. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for that.”

“Okay. Don’t worry. If my folks ask, I won’t go into details. But I won’t tell anyone else. This is for you to tell, whenever you are ready and want to.” He hugged me. “Go, get some rest. I’ll see you early tomorrow at Mr. D’s for the make-up quiz.”

“Okay. Night.”

“Good night, Liz.”

I unlocked the door and walked inside. I saw him walk to his dad’s car and waved back at me. He got into the car and they drove off. The house was just as I left it in the morning – dark and quiet. I got a glass of water and headed to my room. I looked down the hall at my parent’s room. A light flickered underneath the door, they were watching television. I went to their door and knocked.

“Yeah?” My dad answered through the closed door.

“I’m home. My flight was delayed.”

“Okay.”

That was it. That was the extent of my conversation with my dad upon coming home after testifying in court against a guy who attacked me. So, I got ready for bed, went to my room and shut the door. I fell asleep, exhausted.

19. BACK TO REALITY

I drove to school early the next morning to make up my physics quiz. The parking lot was virtually empty when I pulled in. Maybe in my rush to avoid my parents this morning, I got to school too early. Patrick’s car wasn’t there yet.

I didn’t like the idea of walking through an empty campus by myself and just sitting outside of Mr. D’s room in the cold. I decided to just wait in my car until I knew that Mr. D was there or Patrick showed up.

It was weird. Yesterday already seemed so long ago, but seemed like it just happened, raw. I couldn’t believe I was on this side of it. The trial, at least for me, was over. I tried to put it out of my mind, so I could review for the quiz. I pulled out my book and stared at the pages. I was so tired that this stuff seemed a lifetime ago. I had to concentrate, focus. But, my mind kept drifting to yesterday. It started with anxiety, fear, and shame. Somehow, it turned to cathartic and fun. I had fun yesterday, after all my gut-wrenching testimony and soul-bearing lunch.

As emotionally difficult as it was, I wasn’t alone. Alone was originally what it was going to be, especially if my parents had any say. Thankfully, they didn’t. Patrick was there. Not only did he keep me company, but he didn’t judge me. I couldn’t believe that he accepted me for me. My parents, who were supposed to love me, no matter what, couldn’t do that. I was lucky to have him as a friend.

I wanted to do something to show him my heartfelt appreciation for not abandoning me like my family had, especially since he knew the truth. But what? A gift card or CD would never be a proper thank you for someone who saved your life – twice! I had to keep thinking about it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car park next to me – Patrick’s.

We walked to Mr. D’s room. When we got there, the door was locked. I guess he wasn’t there yet.

Patrick looked at his watch, “He’s usually here by now. Mr. D should be here soon.”

Sure enough, as soon as Patrick spoke, we saw Mr. D walking toward us. He unlocked the door and let us in. “Good morning, guys. How was yesterday?”

We put our stuff down at our table. I wasn’t prepared for that question. Mr. D was a good teacher who cared. He had given me so much slack and understanding with things. He deserved the truth, at the very least he didn’t deserve a lie. “Over. The morning was… rough. I would have rather been in your class than there.”

Patrick took the copies of the quiz that Mr. D handed him. “Liz did great. I’m proud of her. You would have been too.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m sure I would have. Well, I’ll let you guys work on the quiz. You can use your calculators.” Mr. D smiled and turned to update the whiteboard with today’s homework assignment.

It took a while to focus, but once I got past the first problem, I was able to. I finished the quiz just a few minutes before the bell would ring. I walked up to Mr. D’s desk to turn it in. As I walked back to my chair, I was hit with a wad of paper.

“You don’t look sick. Where were you yesterday?” Joey threw another wad of paper at me. That was something that I didn’t miss.

“Not here.” I simply said and tried to go to my seat, but Joey stood in my way.

He looked at me sourly. “Did you know Patrick was gone yesterday too?”

“Really? Are you asking him if he was sick too?” I knew he wouldn’t.

“Just weird that the two of you were gone on the same day.” I didn’t know what he was insinuating and I didn’t care.

“Why? ‘Cause no one else would answer Mr. D’s questions?” I stared at him and waited for an answer. Joey rolled his eyes at me.

Patrick came up to us. “What’s up, Joey?”

“Nothing. Liz and I were just talking.” Joey raised his eyebrows and grinned.

“Hey, Liz, I heard you weren’t at school either yesterday. Where were you?” Patrick curiously looked at me.

Joey looked surprised. I went along with Patrick’s setup. “Yeah, I wasn’t feeling good.”

“That’s too bad. I was hoping I could borrow your notes.” Patrick smiled.

“Sorry. Wish I could help.” I laughed. “I guess we’ll both be playing catch-up today.”

“Please… like either one of you is ever lost in class.” Joey huffed and walked away.

The bell rang and the school day officially began. Joey may think that I’m never lost in class, but I knew that wasn’t always true. Today, was going to be a challenge. But, I guess, not nearly as hard as coming back after missing several weeks recovering from my injuries. If I was able to catch up after that, one day shouldn’t be all that bad.

* * *

Becca waited at the door of our English classroom when the bell rang for lunch. She threw her arms around Patrick, “Paddy! I missed you so much!”

“Hey, Becks.” He smiled and hugged her. She popped up on her toes and kissed him.

“Hi, Becca.” I spoke while she was still sucking on Patrick’s face. It didn’t stop her though. She took her time kissing Patrick. I guess she really did miss him.

We started walking to our usual table in the quad. She grabbed his hand and started swinging it. She began to pout. “Why’d you have to go to
San Francisco
?”

Crap. What the hell? I didn’t know that she knew. I knew he wasn’t one to lie. And I knew he wasn’t going to tell her about what happened to me, but what was he going to say? My eyes bugged out of my head and I nervously stared at him. Of course, Becca didn’t notice my reaction at all, which was good, ‘cause it was obvious something was going through my mind.

Patrick didn’t miss a beat. He nonchalantly replied, “I told you. I went to visit Lindsey.”

I relaxed. He managed to tell the truth and keep me out of it. Wow.

However, Becca didn’t like his answer and whined. “But why? I missed you. Did you
have
to go visit her?”

He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arm around her. “Come on, don’t be that way. She’s my sister and I’ll visit her whenever I want.”

Her brilliant response? “Hmph.”

The three of us met up with the rest of the crew. I sat down at the table next to Emily. “How you doing, Liz? I missed you yesterday. Feeling better?”

“Yeah, better than when I woke up, that’s for sure.” That was no lie. It was a nice thought, that I was missed.

“Hey, Patrick!” Emily called out across the table, interrupting the guys talking. “How’s your sister doing?”

He smiled. “Good. I was just telling the guys it was great seeing her. She’s loving Stanford, but misses it down here. I wish I could have hung out with her longer. But she’ll be down for Thanksgiving next week. Oh! That reminds me. We’re doing our Thanksgiving Leftover Party next Friday. Everyone can make it, right?”

I looked around the table and the crew nodded in agreement. Becca bubbled over with excitement. I turned to Emily and softly asked, “Thanksgiving Leftover Party? What’s that?”

She smiled and explained it to me. “It’s pretty cool. The Connors have a big family Thanksgiving dinner. But the day after, they invite friends and some family for a party with the leftovers from the day before. His mom and Lindsey get pretty creative reinventing the leftover turkey and veggies. It’s always a lot of fun and a lot of food. You’re coming, right?”

“Maybe.” I wasn’t sure about my family’s plan was for Thanksgiving. Some years we went out of town, to visit family or vacation. Otherwise, we did something at home or at one of my cousin’s houses that lived in town. If I got to stay in town, I definitely wanted to go. I couldn’t predict what we’d do for Thanksgiving or Christmas and I wasn’t about to start trying now. I’d just have to ask.

Emily and Bobby took turns describing last year’s leftover party. I think they were hoping to convince me to change my ‘maybe’ to a ‘yes’, not understanding that it wasn’t up to me. I appreciated that they really wanted me to go, though. It felt good to be accepted by them. Really good.