Street Lights || Sim Jake

7 ¦ Abuela?

"Where is Pipi-Longstocking anyway?" My seatmate glanced around briefly and then looked down at me again obliquely.

"Did you just compare my best friend to a girl who keeps a monkey and a horse as pets?" Caught off guard, his mouth opened a little and an innocent glint appeared in his bright eyes.

"Well- I mean..." He took a short breath and seemed to prepare for my response, which I was about to present to him when he finished defending himself. "It would fit. Heeseung is quite the monkey about his clinging, and you..."

My eyebrows drew together in anticipation. If this boy dared to equate me with a horse, I would slap him with my hind hooves.

"In what way should I be a horse?" There it was again. That smirk. He liked to provoke others.

"In none, really, but I like to play on other people's nerves." Understanding, I nodded and smiled fleetingly. At least he was being honest.

"She doesn't know about me shepherding Aleyshia at practice today. Heeseung doesn't trust her like he trusts me."

My neighbor's lips drew into a line and I looked at him in confusion. "What?" "I don't know. It seems to me that Heeseung is anything but a good friend."

"He's in love. What else do you expect?" Proud of my argument, I gently rubbed my face and then listened to Jake's words. "You're in love, too. And from what I've seen so far, you're not letting any of your friends down." Okay... Why was this idiot always right?

Unable to think of a counter, I merely shrugged my shoulders. "Not all people are the same." The Tramway stopped at my station and I indicated to number 81 that I had to get off here. He rose and let me pass him.

"I'll see you tomorrow for sure," I stated as I pulled my shirt down further since it had ridden up. Jake nodded and dropped back into his seat. "See you tomorrow."

I breathed in and out loudly as I got out into the fresh air. He was okay. Even though he was partially teasing me about my crush on Heeseung, he knew when enough was enough.

I have to admit that I was really impressed by his logical thinking. I didn't really know him yet, but what I thought of him so far was mostly positive.

Despite the nice weather, I was slightly tired and I yawned loudly. So loudly, in fact, that the slightly older gentleman watering his plants in his garden looked at me, disturbed.

"What, even teenagers have busy days," I warbled amiably, and with feigned euphoria, I turned off into my awesome grandma's front yard. What made me a bit puzzled was that she wasn't standing in the green as usual, but was nowhere to be found.

Suspicious, I entered the house and it was quiet. "Abuela?" My voice echoed through the clean hallway and I heard the chatter from the television.

"Estela..." came softly and I tried to find her. "Where are you? Are you okay?" I asked questions to help me find her faster. She didn't need much talking though, as I found her gasping on the floor in the kitchen by herself.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Concerned, I knelt down to her and let her know I was here. "I don't know. My left arm is throbbing really bad and I feel an extremely strong pressure that is taking my breath away."

Biology. Come on, Estela. Biology. What kind of symptoms were those?

When it hit me, I jumped up and grabbed my phone. "What are you doing, Stel?" "I'm calling 911. You're having a heart attack."

As I spoke it out, it unintentionally made me quite nervous. Abuela remained calm and the only thing that came from her was pained breathing.

TimeSkip:

"This is not good," my grandmother muttered as she laid next to me on a recliner and we rode the blue lights down the streets. "What?" "The insurance company canceled me two weeks ago. We can't afford this process."

I shook my head. It didn't matter at the moment. There would be an opportunity to write my mother, to ask her for help. But I nursed the concern that if I tried to contact her, she probably wouldn't even get back to me.

"We will certainly be able to pay this off in installments. Don't worry about it. I'm still here, too." With these soothing words, I talked to my grandma and watched as she closed her eyes in exhaustion.

The emergency doctor recognized my uncertainty and put a hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be okay. We've got the situation under control." "I hope so for your sake," it came defiantly from me, because I didn't like those imposing words. They said them to everyone, after all.

The ambulance stopped and I jumped off the heel to clear a path for them. I didn't want to be another burden now and held back. There was nothing I could do at the moment anyway. Nothing except hope that this doctor was right.

My cell phone vibrated and I caught sight of my best friend's name. I picked up, but made sure my voice wasn't too shaky.

"Andddd? What are you doing right now? Feel like having another coffee with me?" Her voice sounded chipper and cheerful. "If you like the hospital coffee.... Then yes," I gave as an answer and briefly looked for my grandma's stature, but she was probably already receiving treatment.

I would have liked to hit her over the head with a pan when she had icily meant that I should not call an ambulance. She said it would blow over.

"Hospital? What? Are you okay? Did something happen?" The joy in Melissa's voice had slipped away and the worry and panic had followed. "I'm fine. Abuela suffered a heart attack."

There was silence for a moment, until Brownhead spoke up again. "Do you want me to come by? I'd be there in five minutes." I shook my head and gave my answer at the same time. "Right now it's just waiting anyway. You don't have to come."

I settled down on an uncomfortable gray chair and pulled one leg up to my chest. "That's exactly why I should come. I don't want you sitting there alone, trapped in your thoughts."

I sighed. "Then come. I'll get the coffee." We both giggled at my last sentence and then afterwards I hung up.

Heeseung had texted me and somehow my stomach tightened. It was like some kind of disappointment. I wondered if he even cared about me even as a friend. I mean... I was his best friend and he had left me behind today because he wanted to bring his new girlfriend home.

I swallowed and wondered if I was even good enough for Heeseung. Was I too cheeky? Too loud? Too honest? Too rough? Should I also put on all my makeup, get up three quarters of an hour earlier to curl or straighten my hair? Should I also stand on the treadmill for hours to slim down my muscles? Was I supposed to be different?

I looked at the white mug that was slowly filling with latte and held in my left hand the mug with a warm chocolate. I didn't drink coffee. Still, we always called it coffee date. Only Melissa drank coffee and I didn't.

Next to me my brown head appeared and directly she embraced me. "I hope you're going to be okay," she murmured into the crook of my neck and then let go of me. I merely nodded.

"Insurance won't cover it and I think I'll have to worry about paying for this treatment. My parents probably won't come in, since it's hard to get in touch with them."

In one breath, I explained my current worries and looked into the brown eyes of my counterpart. All the other problems... So Heeseung and Aleyshia I certainly left out, since that wasn't important and I wasn't talking to anyone about them anyway.

"Don't worry about it. It'll work out." Funny... I had said the exact same thing to my grandma.

A/N: Everything will be fine ig