Not a Best Friend Thing

Chapter Five: Sloane

Jacey studied Klay’s face thoroughly. She had subtle freckles scattered around the side of her nose to the slopes of her cheekbones. Her eyes were bluer than the sky, her lashes long, defining its perfect oval shape. He watched the jerk of her lips while she spoke and the angles of her brows when she'd frowned. Boy she was beautiful. What would it feel like to press a lip to those soft and reddish lips of hers?

“Which one Jace?” she sounded and it brought him to his senses .

“Hmm?” he mumbled shifting his look to the monitor.

“Ah yeah; so I just need to choose any of these?” he asked, finally conscious to the matter they were together for.

Klay nodded, “Uh-huh” “This”.. he said, pointing a finger somewhere on the screen.

“This seem easy.”

Klay was helping him with his essay about the scholarship offered to him by the university with a partnership to a particular NGO. In exchange that he’d play on the team. Initially, he wanted to quit playing football but found that school life was boring without it. Now he’d have to work on the application. He choose the topic that said… “What particular skill of yours, that you’re most proud of?”

“Good choice… the trick of a good essay is on it’s introduction so you have to think of a catchy start, could be a saying but they’re overused so I suggest a movie scene or personal experience that would fit to your topic.”

Klay started explaining. He nodded paying attention to her.

“Okay… how about--” he felt a vibration inside his pocket. He reached for it picked out his phone and found a message, it was from Sloane.

“SOS”

His eyed widened and automatically remembered she had mentioned once about her sick father, who was in and out of rehab. Said he was an addict, had murdered her mother. He attempted reaching her one time, luckily she got rescued before something bad happened. Thinking about the sick psycho made all his hair rose. God, what possibly had happened? He stood up making Klay wonder about his sudden commotion.

“Gotta run”

“What happened?”

He was already out of his chair when he said, “It’s Sloane” then he was gone.

Klay stared at the empty door. “Who the hell is Sloane?”

Jacey arrived at the address Sloane sent to him by SMS. He walked through what seemed like a slum, after parking his bike somewhere he find suitable. Then he head down the plank sidewalk. This place was so much different from theirs. People where scattered around the street in small groups with either a bottle or a cigar stick on their hands. He lowered his head when some of them eyed him sharply. He did know what kind of life Sloane had but seeing it with his own eyes, made him feel pity for her even more. It was just two days that they’d been hanging out but she already shared enough of her life to him. She was her dad’s stepdaughter, her mom got involved with him when they came here few years back. The two had been involved in crimes and that sort. Until she just heard that her mom was killed by him. What a tragedy. Now, Sloane all by herself had worked part time at a diner while studying. It made him think about Sloane’s condition. What did she mean about SOS?

He turned to McDaniel street and headed for fourteenth. Then he knocked on the door that supposed to be housed by Sloane. There was no answer. Turning the knob, he found that it isn’t locked so he entered. Then he gasped, the place was wreck! Like it was just hurled by a hurricane.

“Sloane?” he called out taking careful steps on the floor, broken glasses and sorts of debris scattered everywhere. The TV monitor where he stood across had big cracks on the screen. The sofas were mess too they were misaligned, strangled against each other. God, this was a total m******e! He found a stair that ran up to the second floor of the gostique building. He was on the bottom step when he heard a soft grunts, it was from on the other side. He ran toward the sound and he found Sloane plopped on the foot of the sink.

“Jesus, Sloane.”

She was a pulp for god’s sake. Her hair sticking to different directions entangled messily. He went closer and saw few bruises on her face and a cut on her bottom lip.

“Jace” she said weakly when she felt his presence.

“What happened to you?” she grunted as she tried to bring herself up.

“Let me, I’ll take you to a hospital” He said and carried her outside.

Veronica Gray walked through the hallways of St. Jude’s Hospital. She jerked her head around and the bones crackled. Gosh, she was exhausted.

“Coffee?” Nurse Nina asked when she arrived at the nurse station.

“No thanks” she said dismissing. She never do coffee, just tea. Which caused some arguments with his son. That child of him, was a coffee lover.

“Oh, before I forget, Dr. Hemingway sent you some flowers.” Nurse Nina said in a flirtatious tone.

It made for a smile to her face. He was such a thoughtful fellow. Nurse Nina pointed to the bouquet resting at the top the table beside the locker of their belongings. He made her felt like a teenager once again. Thinking about his charming smile seem to ease her exhaustion.

She departed from her thoughts when the telephone on her side rang, “St. Jude’s Hospital, what can I do for you?”

There was silence on the other line for a while then some familiar voice sounded distantly. Like the person was speaking a distance from his cell.

“Looking for Nurse Gray,” the voice stated, "you’re speaking to her," she replied with a little frown.

“Mom!” then she realized why it was familiar.

“Jacey! Why are you calling from this line?”

“Mom it’s emergency, my friend was beaten, she can hardly move…” he said then told her the address.

xxx

“Where have you been yesterday?” Klay and Jacey walked side by side to the crowded entrance of Downlake State University. Students were scattered around most in groups at eight on Monday morning.

“And when you keeping secrets from me? Who was Sloane?”

After Jacey disappeared on their essay session, Klay had been all wondering why he had left. What the hell were happening between Sloane and Him? Whoever she is…

“She was just a Fubu” the word made her flinch.

Jesus, how did that word became casual?

“So what happened?” she asked, ignoring the images inside her head. It had been forever since her best friend engaged to such activities, but when she would imagine him laying naked and covered in sweets with another woman on a bed, she’d always feel a prick of sadness on her her heart. And she just learned to live with it.

“Her stepdad had beat her.” he replied making several nods towards familiar faces.

“So what? You did a knight-in shining armor act?”

“Kinda” he shrugged a shoulder she felt a little envy rising from her abdomen.

She herself had imagined him as her knight, not as older brother or a friend but as a man toward a woman like her.

“ Gotta go Klay, my first class starts at eight thirty, see you later” he suddenly stated and gave her a squeeze, “love you” he waved and she watched him blend in with the crowd ahead of her.

With a sigh, she head into her own path and her sadness was suddenly set aside, when she took a glimpse of red scraggly like curly head somewhere upfront.

“Tara!” she called but the girl didn’t seem to notice her. She bustled through the crowd, difficulty sliding herself between bodies.

“Tara!” she called again, this time she stopped moving and took few glances around. When she didn’t see any familiar face, she continued walking.

“Tara Clearwater!” Klay shouted getting impatient.

It made to Tara to whip her head. When she spot her, her eyes widened. She waited for Klay to catch up to her.

“Hello Klay” she greeted with a nervous smile.

Klay put on a hard face, “Hello Tara” she smiled fakely.

“What’s up? You want this week’s ration?. Let’s head to the lib,” she said ignoring the tension Klay had given her.

“So, who’s the creepy author?” she directly asked.

Tara sighed, “I can’t tell you… yet.” It caused Klay to frown.

“What do you mean, you can’t tell me?”

"I can’t” Tara said her tone irrevocable.

Unbelievable, Klay thought. Clearing her throat she drawled, “Let me get this straight, you handed me a freakin’ book with a creepy author who had wrote about me. You dragged me into this and you can’t tell me a damn name? What’s your point?”

“I can’t tell you a name that’s the point.”

“Alright, well, that book might as well go to trash.” Klay mumbled. What would happen if she gets a name? Would she confront him? No. So whatever. It’s going to be way much easier to ignore it. Its not that big of a deal.

“But” Tara suddenly said, bringing Klay’s attention.

“If you accept my offer then we’ll talk”

She shook her head, so this was what this is about. “No thanks," she muttered then walked away.