Chapter 6

Lavender’s POV

I could not stop the groan that left my mouth the moment I woke up. My head was aching so badly. I flung my hand to it, rubbing my forehead in hopes that it would calm down. I fluttered my eyes open, and I hissed in irritation at the light in the room.

The door to my room opened, and I turned to the side to have a look at who stepped in. It took a while for me to see who the person was as my vision was a little blurry. “Mum,” I called as she placed a glass of lemon juice on my bedside drawer.

She refused to say anything to me for a couple of minutes. Instead, she walked over to my wardrobe, bent over to the drawer, and took out a first aid kit where she then took a couple of medicines. She looked upset.

“Mum, what happened? You look upset,” I inquired, but she said nothing and just passed the drink to me followed by the medication.

I took them from her but I kept looking at her, waiting for when she would answer me. “Did I do something wrong?” I questioned, and a short and blunt reply came, “Yes.”

“But you permitted me to go, didn’t you?” I asked.

I was not stupid enough to leave without telling her, so why was she upset with me? Didn’t I come back before curfew? I could not remember much from the previous day, so I was not too sure if I did or not.

“I gave you permission to go have fun, but when I said fun, I did not mean you should take alcohol.”

Her words took me by surprise. “Alcohol? No, I only took juice with my friends.”

“Don’t try to lie to me, Lavender. You came home, passed out, and you wake up with a hangover. Does juice do that?”

“No, I did not drink any. My friends tried to offer me some, but I refused,” I explained to her.

I could not have taken it, did I? It was hard to say. My memory was so messed up, and the more I tried to remember, the more it felt like my brain wanted to explode from the work. I could only rely on my instincts to give Mum an answer because for a fact, I could not take alcohol.

I hated the taste of it, so why would I choose to ruin a nice day out with it? “Why will you mingle with people like that?” Mum scolded some more.

“You know them, they—”

My voice was cut short by the ringing of the landline. We both glanced at ourselves, which was then followed by Dad’s voice. “It’s Tiffany,” he informed me, to which I nodded before he walked away from the door.

I quickly threw the medicine into my mouth and took some water before tossing the blankets aside and rushing downstairs as I did not want to keep her waiting for too long. My eyes spun for a few seconds but relaxed after.

Once I grabbed the phone, I spoke, “Hey Tiffany.”

“You need to come to the hospital,” I frowned on hearing her words.

“Why?” I questioned.

“Caleb is about to undergo surgery, and he is requesting to see you,” she informed me.

I was stunned by what she told me. Not long after, I was jumping down from Mum’s car as we got to the hospital. What could have happened to him? He looked fine the previous day during our celebration, so what then happened? I had so many questions that were filled with worry.

Caleb was my best friend, and it broke my heart to know that he was in some sort of pain. Once I got to the reception, I told the receptionist who I was looking for, and she told me what ward he was in. Quickly, I got into the elevator, and I was on the second floor.

I did not have to look around much as I spotted Caleb’s parents, whose mother was barely able to hold in her tears. A few of my friends from the previous day were also standing outside of Caleb’s ward with forlorn looks on their faces.

I rushed over to them with a run and asked, “What is going on?” I asked, but all of them shook their heads.

Some of them were holding in their tears at the situation. My heart began to beat fast when my friends pointed at his ward. I glanced from the door to them before approaching the door. I did not want to think the worst of the situation, so I exhaled to clear out my mind. But when I turned that knob and pushed the door open, I was back to feeling my heart racing.

Caleb was lying on the bed on life support with a nurse checking on him. She left almost immediately, and I was left to stand at the closed door, staring at my friend hooked up to so many things at once; oxygen masks, IV drips, and many other things I barely knew the name of.

He looked shaggy and weak. His skin was so pale, and I could see he had a few dislocated bones and joints. The scene before me only made my heart ache. I found the courage to move closer to him, but I stopped right beside the bed, my tears finally leaving my eyes.

“C-Caleb,” I called out to him, with my hands shaking while trying to touch him.

But I stopped halfway because I did not want to cause him pain. He moved his head slowly towards where I stood, his eyes sluggishly opening up to look at me. “La-Lavender,” he managed to call with so much difficulty.

I nodded, taking a seat beside him, my cheeks already flooding with tears. “Who did this to you? What happened?” I could not help but ask.

Whoever did this to Caleb was brutal. His intention was clearly to kill him. His face was barely recognizable. It was swollen up, and a few of his teeth were gone. “I’m sorry,” he apologized with difficulty.

I shook my head. “You don’t have to. I need to apologize. I was not there to save you from the monster that did this? Was it a car accident? Did you get into a fight?”

My head had gone into different places, and I was not able to decide on one. I needed to know how this happened and why it happened. Who would want to fight Caleb? He was arrogant, but he always knew never to get into a fight because he could not win it so how come? Why did this happen?

“A man,” he managed to say again.

I frowned. “A man? Why would a man do this to you? Did you say something to him?”

He shut his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, they were red and moist. He was about to cry. Then, he moved his fingers. I noticed it and placed my hand over the top fingers that were not bandaged up. “I’m really sorry,” he apologized again, and I squeezed his fingers a little to not hurt him but comfort him.

“I was stupid,” he continued. “I- I tried to have my way with you.”

The moment those words left his mouth, I took my hand away from his fingers. “Please,” he began to panic. “I have always loved you, and I did not know how to tell you, so I wanted to use that route.

 Luckily, a man came to save you, but he grabbed me forcefully and threw me at the wall. He did not stop there. Once he took you away, he came back to finish what he started.”

I could not believe my ears. “So you spiked my juice?” I asked him, now understanding why Mum had thought I took alcohol.

“Yes,” his reply came, which made me get up immediately.

“Please, I’m sorry. I do not know what came over me. I was stupid, and I should not have done that. I’m really sorry,” he kept apologizing, but it did not take away the betrayal I felt in my heart.

My best friend tried to sleep with me without my consent. I trusted him with my life. If I were to tell anyone who I could trust in my time of need, it was Caleb, and he chose to do this to me. He could not even speak with me.

The pity I had for him completely disappeared as I turned around and walked to the door. I had to pause as he spoke, “I’m so-”

I turned the knob, yanked the door open, not wanting to listen to his sorry, and slammed the door shut as he called out my name.