Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Oliver was released from the hospital three days later. He had lost a lot of blood but to my relief, was not a vampire. I rode to their house with him and his two sisters. Bianca sat in the front seat, arms crossed, popping her gum while Annabelle sat in the third row seat, sound asleep. Oliver and I sat on the second row. I knew I was sending him the wrong signals but I couldn’t let go of his hand or get my head off of his shoulder. I was just so relieved to see him alive. Oliver kept his arm around my shoulders but wouldn’t look at me or talk to me. He kept his face directed out the window the entire forty-five minute drive home. When we got to his house, Monica invited me in. I obliged but Oliver didn’t seem to want me there. Monica kissed her son on the cheek before heading off with the girls for bed. We sat alone in the living room, neither of us speaking. I wanted to say something…anything, really. Oliver seemed dazed and lost.
“Oliver…” I started but my voice was barely a whisper. I doubted he could hear me. Tears choked my throat. I had to inhale a deep breath to keep from collapsing. “Oliver, I’m sorry.” I said quietly.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he wrapped his fingers around mine and gave them a gentle squeeze. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t talking.
I studied his face. He seemed confused. “Do you remember what happened?” I asked.
He shook his head. “That’s what is bothering me. How can I not remember? It’s frustrating. I do remember you being there, though. Or maybe that’s all part of my hallucination.”
I thought about telling him everything then. It would make things so much easier if he knew but then I thought of Gabriel. Even if he had left me, I felt the need to protect him.
“I wasn’t there.” I responded thinking back over the events. Seeing Oliver in the state he was in…feeling that emotion of almost having lost him.
I clutched Oliver’s arm and put my face against it.
“What’s gotten into you, Jade? You are a lot…friendlier than before.”
I laughed a heartless laugh. “Yeah, well, you really scared me. What was all that crap before you ‘moved’, Oliver? How we couldn’t be friends anymore?”
He looked like he really didn’t want to answer and I didn’t blame him. This was a question I wanted to avoid as well but I needed know.
“I didn’t want to do that. I was going to run away to California.”
My eyes widened with surprise. “Why?”
He frowned deeply. “You know, I don’t know.”
“You really don’t know?”
He nodded. We didn’t speak again for a while. A few times I felt like crying but I held it back. I could not be weak in front of Oliver.
“How are you feeling?” I asked after a while.
“Hm, fine, I guess. I’m just a little confused.”
I looked up into his green eyes. “Confused?”
“Yeah. Why are you here and not with Gabriel?”
I recoiled as if I had been slapped. Oliver looked surprised. I let go of his arm and sat back on the sofa.
“Jade?” He reached out and touched my hand but I pulled it away.
“It’s nothing, Oliver. You should rest. I’m going to go on home.”
I stood up and headed for the door.
“Which home?”
I flinched knowing I could never go back with Gabriel. “My home. Not with him.”
He stood up and walked over to me. “Why? What happened?”
I shook my head not wanting to talk about it. I wasn’t sure what to say without telling him the whole damn story.
“You can tell me anything, Jade. You know that, don’t you?”
Tears burned my eyes. I bit into my lip and looked away from him, taking a deep breath.
“I don’t know who to trust anymore.” I whispered to myself.
“You can trust me, Jade. Of course you know that.”
“No, I don’t, Oliver. You left me. You told me we couldn’t be friends anymore. I blamed it on your jealousy but I don’t know what it was. Gabriel left me. I feel like I’m the most lonely being on the planet, sometimes. And then when I find the two most important people in my life…” A tear rolled out of my eye and I quickly wiped it away. “You just don’t understand. There’s so much that you don’t know.”
Oliver looked at me with a lot of concern. “What are you talking about? Gabriel left you? As in broke up with you?”
“No. Worse. Look, Oliver, I am really glad you are okay but I’ve got to go.”
“How are you getting home?’
“I’ll walk.”
“No, you won’t. I’ll take you. Or you can just stay here.”
“Oliver, I—“
“No, Jade, seriously, just stay here for the night. I’ll go to my room and you can sleep on the couch. I promise you, my parents won’t mind.”
I gave in and walked back to the couch as Oliver made his way to his room. Before he turned the corner, I asked him a question that had been bugging me.
“Oliver, where is Alec?”
Oliver turned slowly and looked at me with a lost look, his eyes filled with sorrow. That was all I needed to know the answer to my question.