chapter six

 The last time that I saw Oliver Tate cry was when his mom left, in the eighth grade. We had hardly spoken that year, he was always so busy and I had made some new friends, and there was just hardly time for us to talk to each other, except for the mornings where his mom drove us to school together.

And then one day I had to ride the bus, and Oliver wasn't at school. And when I got home, he was sitting outside on the roof, looking solemn. And that's when I learned that his mom left, and that she wasn't coming back.

I still thought about the look on his face, whenever I saw the strong football player walking about in the halls, and I remembered how broken he was after he lost someone he loved. It made him more human, somehow, and it reminded me of who he used to be, before he got popular and left me behind.

And yet, here he is, standing in front of me, tears streaming down his face.

"Oliver?" I ask him, wrapping my arms around myself, trying not to be visually concerned.

"I need you to drive me to the hospital," he tells me, rocking back and forth on his feet, and there's a sense of urgency in his eyes that I know he's not joking. I nod my head, and run and grab my keys, and a pair of shoes that I can slide on when I'm in the car. I open my door, and Oliver is standing by my car, Bonnie by his side, and suddenly everything starts to come together.

I unlock my car, and Oliver lifts up the seat, and Bonnie scrambles into the backseat, and Oliver takes a seat in the passenger seat of my Volkswagen Beetle. I turn my car on, unable to look back at Bonnie, who's crying loudly in my backseat, and begin to drive to the hospital that my mom works at.

"What happened?" I ask as I slide to a stop, and I briefly look back at Bonnie, and immediately regret it. Her arm is bent in ways that it should not be bent in, and part of me feels slightly nauseous at the thought.

"I slipped," Bonnie manages to say through her tears, and I nod my head, staring at the road ahead of me. There's no room in my head to worry about this, I need to focus on the road and driving and making sure that we don't die.

We pull up onto a stop light, and I look over at Oliver, noticing his hand anxiously tapping on my center console, and I take his hand in mine, and give it a squeeze. He gives me a grateful smile, and as I continue to drive, his hand stays in mine.

"Is this where your Mom works?" he asks me as we pull into the Emergency Room parking lot, and I nod my head briefly, parking quickly. It's not my best parking job, but knowing that Bonnie's in a lot of pain makes everything feel a little more urgent, a little more important, and I'm not too concerned about if I'm perfectly in the lines when I'm parking.

"Come on," I tell them, hopping out of the car and moving towards the hospital doors, almost forgetting to lock my car entirely. Oliver and Bonnie are quickly behind me, and the second we enter through the doors to the ER, everything feels like a blur.

And suddenly, it's just me and Oliver, sitting alone in the ER waiting room, waiting.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Oliver asks me, and his hand hasn't left mine since we walked through those doors.

"She's probably going to have to get her arm set, I'm not sure if it's going to have to be surgically or not, and then she'll get a cast and some pain meds, and she'll be just fine," I tell him, not entirely sure of my words, just trying to tell him what my mom would probably say. My mom, who I haven't seen yet, and who I would really appreciate a hug from.

"She's going to be okay?" he asks me again, and I nod my head, wrapping my arms around him, giving him probably the most uncomfortable side hug ever. "Do you remember the last time that we were in the hospital together?"

I frown, and pull away, giving him a playful glare. "I cannot believe that you remember that."

"You broke your leg!" he exclaims, and runs a hand through his hair, looking over at me.

"And?"

"That was so stressful, how could I not remember that?"

"You're just not allowed to remember embarrassing things like that," I tell him, and he chuckles. I look towards the door, and Santiago and someone else on the football team amble in, concerned looks on their faces. Oliver stands, and his hand falls from mine as he greets Santiago with that bro hug that looks so awkward and uncomfortable.

"What happened?" Santiago asks, and I try to place who the other football player is. I know that he's on the football team, but I haven't gotten around to interviewing him yet.

"Bonnie broke her arm," he tells them, and I remember who the sophomore is as his features mold into a concerned expression. Chase Derrick, the only sophomore to make varsity football, and the sophomore that Bonnie is hopelessly in love with.

"Is she okay?" he asks Oliver, who shrugs his shoulders. I look around Oliver's shoulder, and I see my mom walking over to us, and I smile and run up to give her a hug.

"Hi baby," she says to me softly as I wrap my arms around her. I squeeze her tight, and she gives me a supportive squeeze in response, and then lets me go. She looks over at Oliver, who has a pained expression on his face.

"How are you doing Oliver?" My mom asks the much taller boy, and something about that question has Oliver come undone. My mom walks over and wraps her arms around him, the boy that used to come over every day in the summer for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and my heart aches. He's at least a head taller than her, as she comes up to his shoulders, and I wonder how I've never really noticed that before. Maybe because I'm just slightly taller than her, but he still looms over me by at least four inches.

"I'm alright Ms. Coleman," he replies after letting her go, and she gives him a sympathetic smile.

"Have you called your father?" He nods his head.

"And he's on his way?" Another head nod.

"Well, that's good," she tells him after a moment, and then she looks down at her phone, and gives Oliver an apologetic look. "I've got to go, but let me know if you need anything, okay?" He nods his head again, and she squeezes his arm, and looks back at me. "I'll see you tonight, okay?" It's my turn to nod my head, and she smiles, and walks away.

"Are you okay?" I ask Oliver, watching as Santiago and Chase go and sit down in the room, giving us some space to talk without being overheard.

"It's just a lot," he tells me, and looks in the place where my mother had just left us. "Do you think about your dad a lot?"

I'm surprised by the question, but I shake my head.

"You know that he was never around," I murmur, and Oliver's eyes are trained on me. "I mean, sure, there are some things that I regret that he's not here for, but also he's never been in the picture Ollie. I didn't know him, he's not even my father, really. He wasn't here to help raise me, or help my mom out."

"I just, I wondered if you might know how I was feeling right now," he replies, his voice no higher than a whisper, and I wrap my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder.

"She would be proud of you," I tell him, and I feel him nod his head, but I know he doesn't believe me.

"I just, I feel like she would know just what to do," he tells me, and I pull away from him, making sure that his eyes have caught mine.

"You are doing just fine, and Bonnie is going to be totally okay, and it's going to be okay," I tell him, and I really hope that he hears me, and fully takes in the words that I'm telling him.

"Dad?" he asks, and I turn around to see Mr. Tate, standing just a few feet behind him.

"Is Bonnie okay?" he asks Oliver, walking up to his son, and it's like he doesn't even notice that I'm there.

"She's fine Dad, she just fell, and broke her arm," Oliver explains, and I watch as his face hardens, and he closes up. His dad and him begin to talk in hushed tones, and I notice the pain that briefly flashes across Oliver's face, and I know that something else is going on, something that I don't fully understand.

"Thank you for driving them here," Mr. Tate says to me after a moment, finally acknowledging my presence. I nod my head, and sense that now would be the best time for me to leave.

"I'm going to get going," I tell Oliver, who looks back over at me and frowns. "Let me know what happens, okay?" He nods his head, still frowning, and I turn away from him. I wrap my arms around myself as I walk to my car, and as I sit in my front seat and take in the state of my car, I feel myself start to cry.

opening gif credits to: zuleszn
sign off gif credits to: potterlulls

AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGS:

Welcome to chapter six! We're nearing the end of the book (there are eleven chapters), so it's safe to say that this is the middle! You'll have to let me know what you guys think of Bonnie and Oliver, and how you think Adeana and Oliver's relationship is developing! Also, who is your favorite side character so far? (I'm partial to Santiago myself).

As always, I'd love it if you guys commented and voted, and I'll see you in the next chapter!