The Dumped Club

12- Shopping is Therapy

Grace: Did you know that the Disneyland in Paris takes up one fifth of Paris?

Me: Well I wish Disneyland can move to this hospital waiting room and brighten things up because it's so gloomy.

Amy and I were both silent, with crossed legs and facing each other. If it weren't for the fact that she looked great and I looked like a hobo, we would be symmetrical with the hard expressions set on our faces. Mum and Paul had arrived a few minutes ago and were talking to the doctor. Mum's expression when she first saw us was tinted with anxiety, fear and sadness.

"You were right," I look up to see Amy in deep thought. "I should've dropped him sooner. Before all of this happened. Hope, please forgive me for staying out so much."

It was my turn to hesitate. All I could think about was how deep in the wrong we both were. She had tried to get a guy's attention that wasn't even interested in her and I had tiptoed around her so much that now we were in the Emergency Room. I could've stopped this sooner.

"It's OK," I swallowed the grudges down my throat. "But don't expect me to tiptoe around you any longer and act as your little servant. I will tell Mum the next time you go out."

"There's not going to be an next time. Mum's probably going to ground me or something."

I leaned against the metal chair and closed my eyes. I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep; the artificial hospital light made it impossible for me to be enveloped in complete darkness, the noise of the other patients was going to ring in my ears and the small, rigid chairs weren't exactly cushions made of unicorn skin. Who would want to shed a unicorn's skin for a cushion though? It would be hella comfy because unicorns are the only perfect thing in the world.

Grace: Did you know that Cinderella comes from the French word 'Cendrillion' which translates to 'little ash girl'? Or that Snow White is the oldest Disney Princess? Or that Disney animators had been trying to adapt 'The Snow Queen' before they thought of Frozen :))))

I smiled. Grace was the friend you wanted to have. Not only was she super nice and considerate but she was also a creative goofball who loved Art and animations. I sent her a quick text before getting up to say goodbye to Ryan, Jess and Fred.

"You sure you're going to be OK?" Ryan asked, giving me a tight hug.

"Uh-uh," I nodded. "I don't know how long we're going to have to wait but don't be surprised if we win the cranky pageant tomorrow morning."

Martin was staring in space, my grey hoodie wrapped around his forehead, already spotted with blood. We had already waited for near to an hour and he was going to get stitches in a few minutes. The Darwin siblings left and I curled back into the metal seat. Paul came over to where we were sat to pick Martin up who started crying the minute we were out of sight. He and Mum would be in the room with Martin and we had to wait outside.

Me: Martin's just gone into the room to get stitches. Hopefully it will be over soon

Grace: Good luck. Are you coming to school tomorrow?

Me: Forgot it was the first day back tomorrow :( I don't want to but I'll probably have to x

***

I'm not going to lie and say that everything went bloody well. Because it didn't. We waited for another half an hour or so until Martin, Mum and Paul came out and we set off home. Things went downhill during our ride back.

"How dare you set up a party when you don't have an adult supervising you?" Amy curled in her seat and leaned against me. "Your sister is sick and you're back at school tomorrow! Why tonight?"