Chapter 6

I could feel the blood trickle out of my shirt. D pulled up my shirt.  

Though I knew he was trying to figure out what was wrong. I felt embarrassed. When I looked down, I seemed to be clueless about my condition, I had a severe cut stomach!

D shouted, "Holy shit, you're bleeding like crazy," far too loudly. What happened to you? I was doubled over with agony; I was unable to speak.

Beck told D it was in a dog fight trying to save my small dog.

D looked at the crowd starting to form from all the commotion we were stirring up.

After learning what happened last night and because of my injuries. D, without any hesitation, swiftly and gently snatched me up and raced to the nurse's office before the crowd could close around us.

"Kaysi, I need you to stay awake. You're losing a lot of blood." "I need you to put pressure on your stomach as much as possible."

I got to the nurse's office, and the nurse removed my hands to observe the blood continue flowing. D instantly placed his hands on my stomach. When my strength was fading. I was hurting, and the pain was becoming more severe.

"I don’t think coming to school was a good idea," D said sharply with worry and frustration.

The school nurse informed me that this wound requires sutures, but I don't have the training to do it. She then dialed 911, and as the ambulance arrived, she told, glancing at D, to apply pressure for a while.

This is the second time I've seen D’s expression change so dramatically that he looked like a ghost with worry.

"You'll be alright," locking eyes with me, he whispered to me.

I felt like that was a lie to make me feel better. 

I looked up at him from the bed, smiled at him, and, with what little strength I had, said, "I am sorry."

My intrusive thoughts made me want to look at myself right now. But I dared not do something recklessly and was too weak.

The Paramedics were finally there. Who Is this looking at the boy holding me? As I passed out, I accidentally said "my boyfriend" instead of a guy that's my friend. I told the paramedics moments before I passed out.

He was sitting in the chair next to my bedside when I came.

"What do you think you're doing here? How did they let you in?"

The hospital only allowed close family most of the time.

D replied with a half-hearted smile. "They didn’t want me to let go of you because you were losing so much blood. And was keeping the pressure. You also had some of your intestine showing."

"Woah… My stomach was hanging out." How is that possible, I thought?

They said after your first injury, you must re-tore yourself open. It opened and tore further when you twisted and avoided the dodgeball. After surgery, they think the tear was from a bite or claw from the animal that attacked you.

"They said it had to be a cougar or a bear. You told Beck it was a dog fight with your dog and another larger pack of dogs." "Assuming you got this injury from something like that, it should not be this large."

He said with a look on his face, like, I do not believe your story. 

What I don’t get is why you just bandaged yourself up and did not go to the hospital in the first place.

"It was dark, and I had an adrenalin high during the fight," which was my lame excuse.

I could tell he didn’t buy into this story either. But he didn’t ask any more questions. I must be off the hook, I thought to myself.

I went home after four days of healing in the hospital, and D visited me every day while I was still there. Once, his grandma even came by; she looked oddly identical to this lady who was once kind to me in elementary school.

When I went back to school I was the talk of the school. Even people I didn't know at school were curious about what had happened. They watched D race through the school with me bleeding everywhere. Of course, the ambulance contributed to the drama and attracted their attention.

At least that day, I became even more well-known, I thought to myself.

After asking me what happened, one kid began spreading rumors and stories about the incident. Strangely, nobody included D in their stories despite my mention of him helping me—I'm not sure why.

Many versions were floating around the school, everything from getting cut open by a knife to having a virus that makes me throw up blood everywhere.

I feel kids will do anything to get cheap entertainment.  

D came up to me after school two days later, laughing and joking about what had happened and how I was already calling him my boyfriend. He told me when we got into the ambulance, I talked to the paramedics before passing out. 

Then D surprised me by officially asking me out on a date. I giggled and told him yes.

I was already hanging with him in the after-school program. I had to get help from the tutors to earn back some school credits. I was needed from too many missed days of school while being in the hospital and appointments.  

This gave us more of a chance to hang out.

It was towards the end of the school year -and everything was going great. He became the best boyfriend I ever had at this point in my life, at least, only ever having 2, that is. Also, he respected me, unlike the last.

The following semester, we had a class that overlapped. It came in handy whenever I was sick and would bring my papers to me. 

When I returned to school during class one day, D asked me to attend the snowball dance at the end of winter.

He was a grade higher than me and was soon graduating.

We had been going on two weeks of dating. 

I felt scared that we were moving too fast sometimes. He looked at me as I hesitated to answer.

"So, do you not know how to dance or something?" 

"Yes, I told him very shyly. But I could learn before then." Could I get my mom to take me, or would she even allow me to go?

I could tell he felt relieved. "Nor do I technically, but ain’t it fun to try," he said jokingly, in a country accent.

"Yeah, D, it would be. Two dorks on a dance floor", I said, messing with him.

I was basking in the sun's warmth as I leaned against the brick of the building. For a February day, it was pretty warm, with a cool and calming breeze coming through the trees and the sun beaming down. The birds sang as if it was springtime. It was so peaceful, and I relaxed, melting into the stone side.

I spoke up as D was observing me. Trying to figure out what world I was in. 

"I enjoy soaking up the good days like this when everything goes right and perfect for once."

 He smiled at that comment. I took a deep breath of the fresh air and closed my eyes. Sweet moments like this burnt into my mind and touched my soul.

"What could be any better than this?" I whispered.

D leaned over to kiss me while I stood there daydreaming. He gave me a light kiss, his lips so gentle as they touched against mine. 

The warm breeze felt unbelievable, and this was my first kiss. I was thinking about that incident, going over every detail in depth. Whoa, his lips were perfectly warm and moist. It seemed that we stood there for a short while.

It felt unusual; I could feel my face blushing red and my heart skipping beats as it raced.

I worried him when I opened my eyes. He had a worried look on his face. 

"Was that horrible," he said

My thoughts were a bit too loud, but it was not that big of an issue. I was speaking aloud when I smiled and said, "I liked it." 

I thought to myself, since this was my first experience, how could I be sure anyway? How does one imagine a kiss to feel?

D seemed perplexed, and I was at a loss for words. "I apologize; did I act impulsively and go too far?" 

"I giggled lightly; no, it's just different. You caught me off guard, that's all."

"So I wasn’t that good compared to what you had before," " he said, confused?"

"NO.." "Jeez, for crying out loud;" I felt like a dork, as I admitted. It was my first kiss, and I didn’t know what to think. 

Oh, he said, finally in realization.

"I guess I wasn't as excellent as you had imagined then," he said with puppy eyes.

I was unsure of my feelings after my first kiss, which was hard to admit.

Was it good? D acted way too casually and forward about such an embarrassing subject.

"Well, it was hot and sweet. "Is this how a kiss feels like?" I asked.

D started laughing.

I had never seen him laugh so hard or smile so broadly.

He teased, "Nerd, is this your first time?" 

"Indeed, but you don't have to laugh," I pouted. I took my bag off and hit him with a whack.

Looking at us, you could see we had grown close. But we didn’t do things like other couples do. We never hung out outside of school. I was afraid my mom would freak out. I didn't know his number, so we didn't talk after school. So, I never thought we would lead to this.

I thought it was just a casual middle school romance, and I never thought anything like this would happen, like us kissing.

When it came time for the winter ball, my mom refused to get me a dress or let me go to any ball.

I felt like Cinderella half the time anyway, but this was rich. She disapproved of me dating when she learned about it.

Her excuse was mainly that she had never met him. But my mom never gave me any opportunity for friends to come over, much less a guy.

I thought I would tell her sooner, but I don’t think it would have made a difference. We argued back and forth for a minute until she grounded me in my room.

Being underage and living with my parents, I didn’t have much of a choice.

From then on, I chose to be emancipated. That's when you prove to the courts that you can be stable at 15.

I would move out, but I had at least 2 1/2 more years until I was 18. I figured that D and I could maybe move in together.

I had missed the ball, but I didn't let that stop me. The following day, I went up to D, ready to tell him I was sorry and share my plan for our new life.

He didn’t look happy. "Hey, D,"  I was about to speak when he interrupted me.

"Kaysi, before you start with whatever you are about to say," "I need to say something first. I am breaking up with you."