Young Writers Society

Chapter six

Raine furrowed her eyebrows, looking at Noah nervously as she clutched his phone nervously. Oh jeez please no, she thought nervously staring at the screen. Her mouth went dry. No. No, no, no, no.

“No…” she found herself saying, over and over.

Caleb: Um. so. something happened. no, not just something. just-- please don’t freak out. ah, who am i kidding? of course you’re gonna freak out. anyways... if you’ve been watching the news… i guess you could say im famous. yippee... okay, sorry. just had to lighten the mood. alright…. i got into a car accident. that’s why i haven’t been to school lately. that’s why i’ve been hesitant about telling you guys because i didn’t wanna worry you guys. yeah, i know, not the greatest decision i’ve made and im sorry about that. how am i doing? uh well… i got my leg shattered and it’s in a cast right now… i’ve got a total of 20 stitched all over me and… yeah maybe i shouldn’t torture you with the details. riva... she’s in more or less the same condition… um so.... yeah... that happened. sorry i didn't tell you guys any sooner i just-- i don't know. some crappy stuff has happened and i guess i just didn't wanna make your lives crappy too. sorry... :(

"No... no," Raine began to breathe heavily and quickly. Noah just glared at his feet. She stared at him in complete and utter disbelief. "This can't be happening," she whispered hoarsely.

"I saw the news report when it happened..." Noah said, staring into space, "I can't believe that--" his voice cracked. "--that it was them," he finished quietly. Raine's heart was about to beat out of her chest.

"This is all just a bad dream... I'm gonna wake up soon and we're all gonna see each other at school and complain about how much homework we got... and the teachers are gonna shush us because we're talking too much and..." Raine trailed on as Noah watched her, his chest feeling like a black hole. Raine gasped a bit, "Oh my god this is actually happening," she said quickly as she began to hyperventilate. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Noah watched her nervously as his own hands began to tremble. How could this happen...? "Um..." he was unsure of what to say.

Raine looked up at him, tears now pouring down her cheeks, "What's--" her throat was burning now. She gulped it back, "what's gonna happen to them?" she whimpered, wiping away the tears from her cheeks impatiently.

"I-I don't know," he whispered, staring down at his feet again. His face was hot and his eyes were reddening, "Crap this is bad--" he said, suddenly realizing the situation. "Oh man..." he began to feel sick to his stomach.

Raine breathed heavily, feeling a bit light-headed. "I-I..." her vision began to blur. "I don't feel so good..." she gasped a bit before the room swirled around her and she blacked out. 

...

Two years prior

Riva snuck up behind Raine, grabbing her shoulders and spooking her with a soft “Boo!” Raine smiled at her bleakly. Riva furrowed her eyebrows, sitting down next to Raine. “Who died?” Riva asked jokingly. Raine sighed wearily.

“I did, inside,” she replied, grinning a bit. Riva frowned, staring at Raine for a moment.

“Luke again?” she asked. Raine sighed again.

“Luke… Cleo… Noah… the entire gang of problems having a party inside my head,” she laughed harshly, “I- I don’t know-- I just…” Raine faltered, “The whole situation with Luke liking me… and that note he gave me. And Cleo… she knows about it. She sent a text to my mom the other day accusing me of stuff I would never do… and don’t get me started about Noah.” Riva nudged her playfully, her eyes gleaming with humor. But Raine sat there in silence for a few seconds. “I’ve just been so stressed lately and-- I...” she trailed off, staring into space. Riva frowned.

“Yeah… I understand,” Riva replied hesitantly.

“No. You don’t,” Raine looked at Riva, her eyes harder than stone, “you haven’t been through all this. You aren’t the one that’s had to deal with all this trash--” Riva gaped at her.

“Raine. Do you understand what you’re saying right now? Dude-- what are you talking about? This trash is just as much as mine as it is yours. We deal with this. Together.” Hot tears began to roll down Raine’s cheeks.

“I know Reevs. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to say that…” she rubbed her face off a bit angrily. Riva leaned on Raine’s shoulder, rubbing her other elbow.

“It’s alright… it’ll all be over soon,” Riva murmured calmly.

Raine sighed after a few minutes, smiling. “What would I do without you?” she asked, looking at Riva.

“I don’t know, prob’ly jump off a bridge,” Riva replied, grinning widely.

“If I did, what would you do?”

“I’d be right behind you.”

…

Present Day"RAINE!" Noah yelled. Oh man she fainted-- he heard footsteps coming up the stairs as he shook Raine. The door creaked open as his dad stuck his head through the door.“What’s all the commotion ab--” His father's eyes widened, staring at Raine who was pale as a sheet. "Noah... what happened?" His dad asked, rushing in. Before he could answer he cracked. This was too much. His two best friends were... no. Don't think about it. Push it back. He began sobbing profusely. He got up suddenly and rushed to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up. "Noah!" his dad shouted, while trying to wake up Raine. Noah gasped, feeling like he couldn't breathe.

Raine's eyes snapped open, the color returning to her face. She stared at Noah's dad for a moment until she remembered what just happened. She broke down into tears immediately, clutching her face in her hands. Noah staggered back to his room where Raine sat on the beanbag in tears. His dad was next to her, patting her back affectionately. "It's alright..." he said softly. Noah leaned on the doorframe wearily, still crying a bit. His dad looked at him, obviously concerned. Noah sat back down on his bean bag, trembling.

"R-remember that c-car accident we saw on the news...?" Noah asked quietly as Raine tried to calm herself down. Noah's dad nodded slowly. "T-t-that--" his voice broke up again, "that w-was--" he bit his lip, "Riva and Caleb w-were in that c-car," he finally said. His dad gaped at them as Raine started bawling again.

“You’re sure it was them?” his dad asked in complete disbelief.

“Y-yeah,” he said. Raine trembled violently as she handed the phone to show the text Caleb had sent them to him. Noah’s dad’s eyes scanned the message briefly.

“Well…” he looked at Raine, who’s sobs had subsided to soft whimpers. “Is there anything I could do for you, honey?” he asked Raine softly. Raine gulped and shook her head, not wanting to speak for the fear of crying again. “Al-alright…” he got up suddenly. “If there’s something you need I’ll be just down the hall--” he said, nodding at them, “Mom will be back in twenty minutes or so to make dinner if you wanna stay and eat--” he stepped out of the room and closed the door quietly.

Raine sighed shakily, “I knew it. I knew something bad had happened. I just knew it,” she said, her voice trembling angrily. Noah nodded slowly.

“Y-yeah,” was all he said.

“I’m sorry-- this has all been freaking me out--” Raine shook her head at Noah, “What about you? Are you okay?” she asked, a bit quietly.

Noah scratched his neck, “Well… considering I just threw up two minutes ago I’d say not,” he replied, his eyes wide with sarcasm. “I just didn’t think that-- that this situation would be so…” he trailed off, looking at her straight in the eyes.

“Yeah…” she stared at the phone, reading the message again, “You think we should reply?” she asked suddenly. Noah thought for a moment.

“I don’t know…” What would they even say anyways? Before they could think anymore, Noah’s phone began ringing. Raine jumped, almost dropping the phone. Her red, puffy eyes widened.

Her jaw dropped before she whispered hoarsely, “it’s Caleb.”