Collateral Damage (From the Damage) (4 page)

Trevor whirled around, outraged. “It’s not the same thing.”

“You think? Because I was at that party that night, remember? And you were so determined to bang her on camera that you just kept pouring the drinks down her throat until she went for the idea. How is it different?”

“For one, none of those drinks were laced,” Trevor snapped. “And Kay knew what she was getting into. Meagan had no idea what you were going to do when you led her to that room.”

“Maybe.” Seth crossed his arms and gave Trevor a superior grin. “But if you ask me, the only difference between what I did and what you did is the type of drug.”

Rattled, Trevor took a step back. Trying not to be bothered by what Seth said, but wondering if he had a point. “Leave Meagan alone. You’ve put her through enough.”

Turning, he walked away from Seth. But he knew he hadn’t seen the last of him yet.

***

Kelly

***

Kelly thought she’d get by just driving Kendall to the hospital, but of course her wicked-stepsister insisted on Kelly going inside, too. Then she dragged her into the gift shop.

“Come on,” Kendall said when Kelly protested. “I have to get him a card, or a balloon or something.”

“Sure, we’ll just look for the sorry-I-ran-you-over, glad-you-didn’t-die section.”

Kendall rolled her eyes and headed over to the get-well cards. She began to look through them, not bothering to put them back in their organized place. “Boring. Boring. Borr-rring.”

Kelly walked behind her, picking the cards up and putting them back where they belonged.

“Ah-hah. Whattya think of this one?”

Kendall shoved a card into Kelly’s hands. On the front page, it had a picture of a girl in a skimpy bikini, with oversized breasts hanging voluptuously out of the top. On the inside flap it said, “Feel better yet?”

“Tacky,” Kelly said.

“Then this it is.” She checked the price tag on the back. “Any chance you could float me $3.95?”

Kelly looked at Kendall with her eyes bulged. “Seriously?”

“What? I’m broke.”

Shaking her head, Kelly dug four ones out of her wallet and handed it to Kendall. “Let’s just hurry up, okay?”

“You sure you don’t want to spring for a teddy-bear?” Kendall said, and then when Kelly glared at her, she continued, “Relax. I’m just joking.”

They paid for the card and then headed up to Alex’s room. When they got there, Kelly was surprised to find Kay inside. Sitting at the edge of Alex’s bed. Holding his hand.

“
Ten-sion,” Kendall said in a sing-song voice, announcing their presence.

Alex and Kay looked over at the doorway, cheeks flushing. Kay dropped Alex’s hand and stood up.

“Hey,” she said softly, in that mousy tone that always annoyed Kelly.

Kelly didn’t respond, but Kendall said, “Hey, I remember you. You were there last night, right? The girl with the ribbon.”

“Yeah,” Kay said. “And you were the girl in the car.”

Kendall simply smiled and turned to Kelly. “Is this the chick he dumped you for?”

Kelly gawked, eyes bulging, mouth dropping open.

“No,” Alex, Kelly and Kay exclaimed in unison.

“Wow. Did you guys practice that?” Kendall asked.

Kelly responded by giving Kendall a punch on the arm.

“I’m gonna go,” Kay said to Alex. “I’ll…I’ll text you later.”

“Okay,” Alex said, giving Kay that charming smile.

The one that used to belong solely to Kelly.

“Oh, and Kay,” he called as she reached the door. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“Anytime,” Kay said. Then she awkwardly squeezed between Kendall and Kelly when neither of them bothered to move.

Without Kay at his side to distract Kelly, she finally noticed the condition he was in. a few scrapes and bruises, a cast, but overall he seemed okay. He was smiling, and his eyes looked light and happy, not weighed down by secrets or pain. “Well,” Alex said, clearing his throat. “What brings you girls down here?”

“Her dad’s making her apologize,” Kelly said.

“But I
am
sorry,” Kendall said, taking the seat where Kay had been. “See? I brought you a card and everything.”

Alex chuckled, taking the envelope Kendall held out. When he read the card, he laughed. 

Kelly, lingering in the doorway, rolled her eyes.

“Thanks, Kendall. I do feel better. But not because of the bikini-clad hottie.”

“Good. But, it seems I’ve missed some things in my absence.” Kendall helped herself to the hospital food on Alex’s tray. “So, tell me. Why’d you dump Kelly? I mean, I know she’s high-maintenance, but—”

“Okay,” Kelly interrupted. “We’re done here.”

“Oohh,” Kendall said. “So,
you
dumped
him
?”

“Come on, we’re leaving.”

“Whatever happened,” Kendall said as she crossed the room, “Kelly’s really hush-hush about it.”

Alex laughed at them. “Try not to kill each other, okay?”

“I’ll promise no such thing,” Kelly said as she opened the door for Kendall.

Kendall turned to Alex as they left. “You ever want to upgrade from that shy chick, you just let me know.” She gave him a wink, then turned and left.

Kelly shut the door behind her, then started hurrying down the corridor. “Do you
always
have to be so embarrassing?”

“It’s a gift,” Kendall replied.

“Return it.”

“You’re just mad because those two were practically lip-locking. I can’t believe you’re gonna let that plain-Jane steal him from you. What’s your problem?”

“I’m not into Alex that way.”

“That’s why you were crying over his wounded body last night.”

“Hey, I thought he was gonna die,” she snapped. “You’d know what that felt like if you cared about anybody.”

“What makes you so sure I don’t?”

“Whatever,” Kelly mumbled as she jabbed the ‘down’ button on the elevator. “Let’s just get home, okay?”

Kelly stopped by the gas station on her way home. As she pulled up to the pump, Kendall hopped out of the car. “Gotta go to the bathroom,” she explained.

Kelly got out, pushed the pump’s nozzle into her gas tank and set the trigger to fill it up. As the gas pumped its way through the hose, Kelly sat down in the driver’s seat, keeping her door open, and looked at her cell phone.

Not surprisingly, there was nothing from Gage. No texts, no voicemails or missed calls. Did he even miss her?

She scrolled through her contacts until she came to his name and the caller ID picture came up. She smiled, seeing the picture of him and Lizzie, their cheeks pressed together. Her finger hovered over the ‘send text’ button at the bottom of the screen. She really needed to talk to him about what happened with Alex. He would have some sage advice for her, some world-wise perspective that would somehow make all the grey areas seem clear, and would somehow cause her to forgive herself yet again. Before she had the guts to push it, the passenger door opened and Kendall slid inside.

She was carrying a bottle in a brown paper sack.

“I thought you were broke,” Kelly said, quickly pushing the ‘lock screen’ button on the side of her phone.

“When it came to greeting cards.” Kendall cracked open the bottle and took a drink, then wiped her lips. “Beer’s a different story.”

“It’s not even noon,” Kelly said.

“So? It’s a Saturday.”

Shaking her head, Kelly got out of the car and put the gas pump away. She used the credit card slot to pay for it, and when she turned back around, she saw Kendall messing with her phone.

Reaching into the car, she snatched her phone away from Kendall. “Can’t I leave you alone for two seconds?”

“He’s a cutie. The reason you’re not ‘into Alex that way’?”

“He’s none of your business.” Kelly slammed her door shut and started the car. 

“I’m just saying he’s hot. Speaking of hot.” Kendall rolled down her window and whistled at a guy who passed by.

To Kelly’s humiliation, the guy walked up to Kendall’s window. He was cute enough, but looked to be in his mid-twenties at least.

“Hey, Sexy,” Kendall said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “Whatchya into?”

“Goin’ out to the lake with a few friends.” The guy motioned to a jeep full of people. He leaned his elbows on the door, bending down to talk to Kendall. “You’re welcome to join. You, too, blondie.”

Kelly scowled at him and shoved the gear stick into drive. “We gotta go,” she said to Kendall.

But Kendall opened her door.

Kelly grabbed her arm. “You’re not going with him, are you?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So you don’t even know him. This is crazy.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Kendall wrenched her arm free and stepped out of the car.

“Seriously, Kendall. Get in.” When Kendall only slammed the door in her face, Kelly yelled out the window, “She’s a minor, you know.”

But the guy just laughed at her and looped an arm around Kendall’s shoulder, leading her over to the jeep. “She’s nuts,” Kelly said, getting out her cell phone. Using the notepad function, she typed in the Jeep’s license plate number as it drove away. “Completely nuts.”

Since she was alone, she decided to go back up to the hospital to visit Meagan. Stopping by the gift shop, she picked up a cute little stuffed teddy-bear with a ribbon tied into a bow and a box of chocolates. After breaking her leg, she thought Meagan might need the sugar.

When she walked into her room, she found Meagan and Trevor watching a football game on the small TV. Trevor looked engrossed, but Meagan
seemed like she needed a break.

Fighting a smile, Kelly walked into the room and set the gifts down a table. “I bet Alex is watching that,” she offered. “In 221.”

“Hint taken.” He turned the TV off and stood up, turning to Meagan. “Are you going to be okay?”

She nodded, giving him a tight smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” He turned to Kelly. “Can I see your phone for a second?”

“Sure…”  Kelly narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but handed it over.

He began pushing away at the buttons as he explained, “I’m just gonna program my number so you can text me when you leave. It’s really important that Meagan isn’t alone right—”

“Trevor,” Meagan interrupted with a nervous chuckle. “I’ll be fine. You can go.”

“What’s going on?” Kelly asked, moving past Trevor to sit with Meagan.

“This guy at school—” Trevor started, but Meagan interrupted him again.

“The nurses know,” she said, sounding embarrassed. “I’ll be fine while you go downstairs for a few minutes.”

“Alright,” he said, handing Kelly’s phone back over. “But I programmed the number just in case.”

“No problem,” Kelly said, turning back to Meagan as Trevor left. “Is someone bothering you?”

Meagan nodded, “Seth. He caused the car accident.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know.” She leaned her head back against the pillow, looking tired. “He’s fantasized this…relationship between us. I guess he got mad that I wasn’t playing along.”

“Seriously?” she asked. “Is he in jail?”

“Not yet,” Meagan said. “But I really don’t want to talk about that.
You don’t look like you’re at the top of your game, either,” she concluded after giving Kelly a thorough once-over. “What’s going on?”

Kelly shook her head. “I wouldn’t feel right talking about it, with everything you’re going through.”

“You saw how overprotective Trevor was…well it’s always like that. Seth is all he can talk about. So please, make me feel normal and dish. Let me focus on someone else’s problems for a change.”

Chuckling, Kelly reached over and grabbed the box of chocolates, handing them over to Meagan. “
Only if you’re sure.”

“Absolutely
,” she said, breaking into the box. “Is it about Alex? How’s he doing?”

“He’s fine,” she said. “At least fine enough to be flirting with Kay this morning.”

Meagan raised an eyebrow in question as she bit into a piece of chocolate. “Are you
sure
he was flirting with her?”

“Oh, I’m sure. Trust
me, I know when Alex is flirting. He likes her.”

“You look sad about it.”

She shrugged. “It just kind of sucks…he’s moving on and I’m still stuck. You know? It would be nice if I bounced back before he did.”

“You did, remember? You put yourself out there with Gage.” Her speech slowed as she realized
how that had turned out. “And besides, it isn’t a competition.”

“I know.” Kelly reached out and took one of the chocolates as Meagan offered the tray up. “Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m undateable.”

“That’s not true,” Meagan insisted, giving her a scolding look. “Either one of them would be lucky to have you. It’s not your fault they can’t see what’s right in front of their faces.”