Tell Me A Story

Chapter 3

"A bruise? Are you sure?"

Jake is on the phone, trying to calm me down. A thousand possibilities ran through my head throughout the day before I got home and called him.

"Yes, a large one on her forearm."

"What are you thinking?"

"Defensive wound. Like protecting herself from someone or something."

"Calm down, Adam. I'm sure there's a sound and perfectly good explination. Maybe she fell. You did mention she was kind of a klutz, right?"

I took a deep breath. He's right. There's about a dozen reasonable explinations. Maybe she did trip. Or just a simple bruise from who-knows-what.

"Yeah, you're right. I should really relax. Not much I can do about it, anyway."

"Exactly. Anyway, it's good you found someone who likes your writing as much as I do."

Great. Now I'm embarrassed remembering her expressions on that rooftop.

"Shaddup."

I can hear him snickering on the phone. He really is a dick.

"But it really is a good thing. You can have her be your editor and critic as you make each story."

"Yeah, some personal opinions and constructive criticism could come up as useful for me."

"Bingo. Anyway, gotta go. Dinner's ready. Remind me to confirm our hang out on the weekend."

"Okay. Later, dude."

"See ya, man."

Now I just lie on my bed to try and think about class for a while. Already being accepted into college isn't an excuse to forget about class at all. Before I knew it, my mind was already blank. Only ideas and thoughts about that bruise on her arm popped up every single time. I couldn't get it out of my head.

"Yoohoo? Adam? You there?"

Ashely was in front of me trying to get me out of my trance. Wait, the final bell? Before I knew it, I had already forgotten to sleep or pay attention to class for a whole day. What the hell?

"Sorry, I just had a lot on my mind."

"Wanna talk about it?"

She looks at me genuinely worried. I look at her arms and couldn't spot the bruise. Maybe i imagined the whole thing?

"Nah, it's nothing. Just some ideas on a story."

"Really? I wanna know."

"It can't be much of a surprise if I tell you what the stories will be about before writing them, you know."

"You're right, but I still wanna help."

I chuckle. This girl keeps getting to me in so many ways, I can't help myself from falling for her even more. But, I gave up on ever being more than a friend to her. I don't wanna ruin this friendship of ours with my feelings. Suddenly, her phone rang. Her smile as she looked at the caller ID got me curious.

"Oh sorry, gotta take this. Its my boyfriend."

She left to take the call on the hallway. I started packing my stuff as she left.

Boyfriend, huh? That explains a lot, really. Guess this really is the end. But who cares, as long as she's happy, who am I to complain. Before I knew it, she came back.

"Sorry about that, boyfriend wanted to ask something. Shall we head over to the cafe?"

"Sure, let's go."

As we headed towards the exit, she just kept talking about her boyfriend this and that. His name is Matt, apparently. And as she kept talking about him, I had a pit in the bottom of my stomach. She was so happy with him. She kept talking and talking she didn't notice the light turning green. I pulled on her sleeve so she would stop but what stopped cold was my heart.

Hidden under her jacket arm wasn't one bruise, but multiple ones. I pulled back her sleeve to look at the and she pulled back her arm.

"Ashley... I..."

"Sorry, I just remembered I had something to do. I'll read your story ideas later."

And she ran away.