She didn’t mean for it to happen? What? I’m totally confused. She made the first move. She admitted that she was falling for me. What kind of game was she playing?

I sat with my head in my hands trying not to think of the headache this was producing. To many thoughts were running through my head and I didn’t have enough time to process any of them. Mom walked through the door.

“Hey baby. Serena just left. She said you had a headache.”

She stroked the top of my head before sitting next to me. I folded myself into her lap and pulled my legs up on the bed. Every which way I had turned to rest my face on her leg, was pressing on my cheek and onto the fracture. My moans of pain shifted to grunts of frustration. I sighed and sat up.

“How about I fix you that sandwich and then you can take another pill?”

I wasn’t really hungry but more confused about Serena.

“Okay.”

Mom began to tuck me back into bed.

“Can I sit out there?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I climbed out of bed and gathered a few things to keep me company. My Ipod, my notebook, a book ( The Count of Monte Cristo) and my pillow.

*****

“Thanks for putting the groceries away, Alice.”

“Not a problem.”

I forgot she was still here. Alice looked at me and I kinda looked at her.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“Not really.”

“How’s your eye?”

I gulped nervously before answering, “Fine.”

“What was wrong with your eye?” Mom asked turning around.

“Nothing, nothing,” I quickly answered laying down on the couch.

“When I came in, Serena was examining her eye. But that didn’t explain the bag of frozen peas on her face, though.”

She was baiting me to tell Mom what she walked in on.

“What?”

“I… I…I accidently hit…hit the wall when I, when I, when I first woke up. I didn’t know Serena was… was here and she kinda pop, pop, popped up scaring me,” I stuttered.

A nervous trait I inherited from my mother.

“Not again, Evan,” Mom sighed placing the sandwich on the round table in front of me.

She took my face in her hands.