The Cure To All Disease

Chapter 21:

“Nika, I-” I whisper under my breath, the vapor leaving a fog on the cold glass of the car window. There's comfort in this but I’m terrified of what Nika thinks of this, what he thinks of me. I want to say that I’m sorry but that would be a lie, I’m only sorry for putting him through the trouble of having to pick me up from school, I’m only sorry for whatever my consequences would be. I wasn’t in the slightest bit sorry for what I had done to Phenix. At the moment I wasn’t aware of the damage but after my head had cleared and I caught a glimpse of his bruised and bleeding face I still felt nothing.

“You know, you’re lucky they didn’t expel you, after Lennox testified on your behalf they decided that the other kid was the instigator and let you off with a two day suspension. Also it looks like he got you good too. Those are some certified injuries.” Nika was the first to break the awkward silence, I knew that he would be. He chuckled about the whole thing like his usual self but I carefully observed him, paranoid that there was something else beneath it.

“Yeah I guess that I am , they said that I could come back to get my stuff out of my locker when school is over.” I shrugged feeling pressed back into my corner of the car.

“What’s wrong Ambrose?” Nika asks me and the shock is clear on my face, I shake my head, I won’t tell him anything. “Come on Ambrose I know something is wrong, something happened at the library, you came home upset and now you start a fight today. The Ambrose I know wouldn’t even hurt a blade of grass, let alone a fly, let alone a person.”

“Nothing is wrong” I shake my head again.

“You’re such a bad liar, I know that something is wrong. If  you don’t want to tell me that’s on you, but if you want me to help you I can’t unless you tell me what’s going on.” Nika continues to pry, sometimes I wish he was so persistent at times. If I told him the truth how would that change the hue we already have.

“It’s stress from school. I've never experienced anything like this before.” I clutched my knees bringing them close to my chest, some anxiety lingering long after my words were spoken. I’ve never lied before, not straight to the face of one of my parents like this.  Speaking something I blatantly knew wasn’t the truth as I hid the reality.

                “If it's too stressful we can always unenroll you, you don't have to stay. Something tells that you've actually been enjoying time and if it's something that you enjoy that much don't you feel that a little pain is worth it? The payoff can be even greater than you imagined.” For a moment I bask in the silence knowing that every comforting word he spoke was based on my deception. After a while a grin stretched across Nika’s face. “I think you left something in your locker let's turn around”

                “B-but I don't even even use my locker.” Nika drives like a madman as he makes a full u-turn and hastily drives back to the school, taking each turn along the winding road above the speed limit. “N-nika, you’re going to kill us!”I can feel the breath in my lungs, an undoubtedly strange feeling as I clutch onto whatever I can find. Even with my seatbelt on and tightly fastened, I can't help feeling like I will be flung out of the car and onto the pavement of the road.

“I think you do have something in your locker, some baggage in the locker of your brain, you won’t be able to let it go until you swallow your pride and apologize. You stubborn oaf.” The tires of the car came to a screeching halt in front of the school, and somehow what should have been a leisurely five minute drive was only done in about two. Somehow I’m alive, but there’s no time to think about this gift of life as Nika already begins  urgently nudging me out of the car.

“Fine, I'll apologize.” I hate being called stubborn even if it is true, so instead of letting Nika’s point be proved I complied. “I’ll be right back”