I was only in the hospital for about a day and a half after that, and I cannot even use words to express how boring it was. Luckily, Dustin and Cleo came and were there for me as much as they could. I love those two.
I left bright and early. It was a Saturday with the sun shining and the birds chirping. After checking out, I decided to find out where Tabitha was, only to hear from Cleo that she was in jail.
So we decided to visit her together since Cleo and her were getting quite close lately. I've actually been feeling kind of jealous and left out. But it turns out that they actually have a lot in common. Unlike ME and Tabitha. With us, I feel like I'm her babysitter and she's the rebel. Anyways, me and Cleo went up to the front desk and asked to see "Tabitha Rogers."
After that, we had to show them our identity cards, driver's license, etc. Then they finally brought us to her cell. She was wearing one of those orange prison suits that you see on criminals, but Tabitha was no criminal, sure she did bad things sometimes and broke the rules other times, but she just wasn't the criminal type.
As soon as she saw me, the look on her face went from bored to relieved in a matter of seconds. "Oh, Zoe! I'm so glad you're okay!" She gasped. ""I'm fine, Tabitha. But you're not. Why are you in here?" She looked down at her feet. "Never mind that, you guys gotta get me out of here please."
"Sure, we can bail you out",Cleo said. "No, I can't take money from you two, I mean-" she was now whispering, "escape." She was out of her mind again. I took a deep breath so I wouldn't freak out. "No Tabitha, were gonna bail you out ,okay? Cleo go give them the money."
"Alright", she said, leaving. I sat on a chair next to the cell and waited. "It was only four packs", Tabitha mumbled, breaking the silence. I looked at her. "What?" She sighed, "I stole four packs of cigarettes", she confessed. I started freaking out again, but just as I started lecturing her, she continued speaking, "And three beers." I looked at her with worry in my eyes. Worry, not anger because Tabitha deals with her feelings in a way that could one day take her life. She looked back at me with defeat. That was when Cleo returned and we all left.
Tabitha and I walked down to the park together and Cleo told us she had to go, but she couldn't tell us where or why. It made me feel even more drifted apart from her than I already had been. I honestly felt like crying a little. Cleo and I have been friends for eleven years. I still remember the first time we met...
Flashback
I was five years old, same red hair, same mindless behavior. Cleo and I were in kindergarten. I'll never forget how it all went down. She was popular from the start. There she was with a crowd of kids (all except me) making them laugh and being the perfect little princess she was born as. I didn't have any friends until that day actually. I was lonely, but not desperate. Cleo looked over at me and saw the sadness in my face. She walked over and said "hello", and I said it back. Then she said "I like your clothes" and I said it back. We smiled at each other. And from that moment on, we spent every minute together, told each other everything, and that's how it has always been......until now.
Flashback over
When Tabitha and I showed up at the park, we sat on the swings and she lit up a cigarette. I was still bummed about Cleo, and sore from the lightning strike. To my surprise, I felt a hot tear run down my cheek, I wiped it.
"Are you okay, Zoe?" Tabitha asked, concerned. "I'm fine", was all that I said, but it wasn't true and we both knew it. We just didn't say anything about it. I think that was the one thing that me and Tabitha had in common, when something is wrong or were upset, we don't talk about it.
She stood up and stepped right in front of me, holding out a hand. I was confused. "What are you doing?" I asked, making direct eye contact with her. "Take my hand" was all she said. So I did. Her hand was warm and smooth, like a blanket fresh out of the dryer.
She pulled me up off of the swing and lead me. Where though? I was not sure of yet, we just walked.