Crestfallen

15: Prick

"You know it's winter right? And I'm sick," I stated the obvious, just in case he hadn't noticed. "You're welcome by the way."

Jeremy scoffed and looked back at me. He was about six paces ahead of me even with his limp.  "For what?" He questioned, slowing down so I could catch up, but speeding back up again once I was close enough. I sighed.

"Getting you to Macy's to get stitched up, taking you home, getting you that card." I threw in that last one with a smile. Jeremy looked back at me with a disbelieving look.

"You're welcome for saving you from that dog," he snapped, still not saying thank you.

"Did I not thank you for that? Well, thank you. See, it's not that hard. It's not even a pride thing, it's just a hey-someone-did-something-nice-for-me thing," I explained as we approached a building I couldn't see through the blizzard. Why did I agree to this again?

Because you didn't want to be late in front of the class.

Ah. Right.

I hobbled a little faster as we came to a stop in front of the building. Jeremy opened the door and I almost walked into it as it shut behind him. I growled quietly and opened it myself, my fingers almost sticking to the metal. I noticed that Jeremy was only in a sweater and he was hardly even shivering.

It must be a silent brooding thing.

Inside it smelled like warm soup and it was nice and toasty. I snuggled into my coat and followed Jeremy through the small shop. There was a dark-skinned lady behind the till smiling at us warmly. I returned her smile while I'm pretty sure Jeremy just continued to brood.

"I'll have tomato soup." He then turned to me expectantly. I raised both my eyebrows in surprise and approached the till.

"Hi, can I get a chicken noodle soup, please?" The old lady smiled at me and then punched in my order. Jeremy paid and I was even more surprised. I mean, it's reasonable to think that because he lived in a shack, he didn't have enough money, right?

She was quick as she poured our soups and handed them to us.

"Thank you," I said while Jeremy just took his soup and left. I frowned at his impolite behaviour and decided to call him on it. We sat down in a booth and I asked, "Why do you act like that?"

"Act like what?" He questioned while eating s spoonful of his soup.

"Like a total prick." I crossed my arms while I waited for my soup to cool off.

"What?" He asked confusedly, pausing for a moment.

"You didn't say hi, please, thank, you didn't even smile!" My voice rose slightly as I explained to him.

"So? It's her job if anything she should be thanking me for my service." My jaw dropped as Jeremy continued to slurp his soup.

"You're kidding, right?" I honestly felt like slapping him in the face, I had to physically hold my hand down.

"Um, no?" Jeremy continued to slide deeper into his pit of selfishness. Thankfully the soup was in a to-go container so I put the lid on and grabbed a plastic spoon as I got up. "Where are you going?"

"Back to school," I snapped angrily. My mood had been entirely ruined in five minutes by this jerk. Looks like silent brooding jerk doesn't get every girl.

"Why?" He asked genuinely, getting up from the booth. There was no one else here but the soup lady who was listening intently, not bothering to disguise her actions.

"When you decide to treat the people around you with half the respect you give yourself, then I'll explain why." The soup lady cheered and I stormed out of the shop, shivering. I couldn't really see where I was going and Jeremy hadn't followed me into the storm.

Figures.

I hoped I was going the right way. There'd been a left turn around here somewhere. I pulled out my phone to check a map, but then I remembered we didn't have data with our plan. As if my dad could afford a phone plan as it was. I huffed and the air in front of me turned white. I could hardly see what was in front of me and my footprints behind me had disappeared. There was no one in sight and I didn't even realize I was crossing a street until a pair of headlights came towards me with incredible speed. I could hear the tires spinning as the driver tried to stop and I tried to run, but I was standing on a patch of ice. As soon as I tried to move my legs, the other would slip.

I prayed that I wouldn't get run over, that some miracle would send the car spiralling in the other direction, but this wasn't a Twilight movie. Time froze for a moment as I accepted my fate, wondering what'd happen to my father when I was gone. Maybe I'd survive.

Then, before I knew it, all the air was knocked out of my lungs as I was flung across the road. Except it wasn't the car that hit me. There was a sound of metal hitting metal and I looked over to see that the truck had collided with a stop sign. It felt like I couldn't breathe and I tried to suck in the cold air. I looked up and found someone on top of me.

That would explain why I couldn't breathe.

I tried to roll them off me, but they groaned. "Jeremy?" I asked aloud. I was about to poke him when I saw blood in the snow. "Oh my gosh, Jeremy! You got hit!"

"It's just the fucking stitches," he snapped, rolling off me. Oh, false alarm, my bad. Idiot.

"We have to get off the road before another car c-comes." I was starting to shiver from the cold. Jeremy nodded and I tried to get up, but my pain shot through my ankle.

"Jeremy, I think I twisted my ankle. I'm calling an ambulance for you though," I stated, pulling out my phone.

"No!" He cried weakly, quickly losing blood.

"You idiot, I have to! Even if you're not my favourite person right now," I said, typing in the numbers.

"Please, I-I'll try to be nicer. J-Just don't call an ambulance." I sighed. I didn't know why he didn't want me to call the police, but I tried to stand up once more, not putting weight on my right ankle. We couldn't go to Macy's because she wasn't home and I didn't want to distract her, she had a Math final in third period.

"Do you h-have stuff to fix this at your... place?" I inquired, my teeth chattering while I spoke.

"No," he replied wearily.

I almost swore.

"Let's go," I told him, trying to help him up as best I could.

"Where are we going?" He questioned, standing on one leg like me. I would've sued the driver or something, but they'd already taken off like the great people they were.

I sighed, "To my house."