“Under your bed,” I heard someone mutter unhappily to my right as I searched for my shoes. I jumped up from the floor in surprise, almost knocking my head against Alice’s bed.

I looked up at my aforementioned friend to see her staring down at me, one earplug out of her ear. She was smirking at me, and all I could do was roll my eyes at her. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was,” she shrugged, splaying back out on her bed. “But Rex is too loud even for earplugs.”

“Love you, too,” Rex called from the other side of the room.

I inched toward my bed and grabbed my shoes, quickly shoving them onto my feet. Alice continued to smirk as she watched the four of us. I knew she was glad that she didn’t have to get out of bed this early in the freaking morning. She’d be complaining even more than I was.

“You guys better not get caught,” Alice advised as she snuggled back under her covers. “Headmistress Pease is nice and all, but not when you get her pissed. So just be quiet while you’re sneaking out of here or you’re going to get your asses kicked.”

“I’m terrified,” I replied sarcastically, imagining Headmistress Pease’s kind face as I tied my shoelaces. That woman couldn’t hurt a fly!

Alice whistled. “Famous last words.”

I rolled my eyes, jumping up to my feet now and brushing myself off. The sooner we got out of there, the better. Alice could go back to sleep and we could go do whatever we were supposed to do.

I made sure to close the door as quietly as I could, but I was really tempted to just slam it to annoy Rex. It was really hard to annoy him, so I was proud of myself when I did. The only time I could remember really annoying him was when I made fun of him for being hay when he wasn’t…

“Be quiet! You don’t want us to get caught, do you?” Rex hissed as he tip-toed dramatically through campus, the rest of us just walking behind him like normal people.

“Here’s hoping,” Seth sighed flatly, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I just want to go back to bed. We didn’t even meet each other until homeroom started.”

“So?” Rex asked, sticking his tongue out at our best friend. “It’s still the day! We just have to wait for another two hours!”

Seth rolled his eyes. “I want to go to bed.”

“So do I,” River and I announced in unison.

“No!” Rex snapped loudly, causing him to slap a hand over his mouth when he realized how loud he had been. He then grabbed onto my wrist and began to run toward the exit.

River and Seth didn’t even bother running after us. When Rex and I had gotten to the parking lot, I hit him over the head as I breathed in and out heavily. He knew I hated to run!

“Idiot,” I spat, my hands on my knees as Rex did the same. “Why grab onto me and not Seth or River?”

“Because it’s more fun with you,” Rex informed me with a wide grin, and all I really wanted to do was hit him.

When Seth and River finally made it out to the parking lot, I had to hit both of them. They were starting to make me think that they went back to bed! If they did… they would have been in so much trouble.

But with me, not the school.

We turned toward the car and began walking toward it, and I was starting to get frustrated now. It was early, so early that the sun wasn’t even up yet, and I was already out of breath.

Stupid Rex… Thanks a lot.

“We’ll finally be able to walk around campus without Kendra popping up,” I grumbled to myself flatly, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets. The three boys smirked at me, so I assumed that they had heard what I had said. Not that I really cared.

I was glad that Jay couldn’t stop us either. I really didn’t want to see him after the paparazzi took a bunch of pictures of us the last time I had seen him. We weren’t even doing anything, so why take pictures of us? Sometimes I just didn’t understand some people… Why would they want a picture of Jay?

Yeah, he was attractive and talented, but what was so special about talking on a park bench with some girl? Oh, man… They didn’t think I was his girlfriend or something, right? What would River think if he saw a magazine or something with Jay and me on it?

I could only pray that that wouldn’t ever happen. Jay and I weren’t even doing anything! We were only talking! Because I knew that if it did, River would get jealous like he always did. And if he went to confront Jay about it, Jay might tell River about how he tried to get me to break up with him.

When we finally got into the car, Rex got to drive and Seth got into the passenger’s seat. So that forced both River and me into the backseat, me in the middle and River on my right.

“Where are we even going?” I whined from the backseat, blinking out of the window and into the darkness. He had gotten me up so early that the sun wasn’t even up yet! “What are we supposed to do all day? Nothing’s even open yet!”

“It’s a surprise!” Rex sung from the driver’s seat, taking a turn and making me crash into River. It reminded me of the time when I first ever drove with Seth and River. Seth was driving and took a turn, causing me to ram into the door. But I’d much rather slam into River than a car door…

“Why does he have to drive?” I asked Seth, who was in the passenger’s seat. He definitely did not look happy. I didn’t really blame him. If Rex crashed, he’d be the first to die. That was a depressing thought…

“Because he’s the only one who knows where we’re going,” Seth deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest and staring out the window. It almost made me laugh because he looked like a small child when he pouted. It was kind of cute.

I blinked, not believing what I had just thought. Did I just call Seth cute? Why would I think Seth was cute? Yeah, he was good looking, but I never had called him cute before… I’d always call River cute to make fun of him, but it was still true. I wonder how Seth would react if I called him cute…

That wasn’t going to happen.

“Whose car is this?” I asked, looking around the unfamiliar car. “This isn’t any of your guys’ cars.”

“I kind of… borrowed it from my dad,” Rex smiled from the front of the car, and I could only stare at him.

“You stole it?”

“I wouldn’t call it stealing.”

“I would.”

“I’ve had it for a week and he hasn’t even noticed yet,” Rex dismissed with a wave of his hand. “That shows how many cars he has.”

“You won’t get in trouble if you get caught, right?” I inquired, my eyebrows furrowing. “What if you wreck the car or something?”

“Like I said, this is one out of, like, a million cars he has,” Rex reminded me, not even looking away from the road.

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. Why did I have to get up so early? And why couldn’t I know where we were going?

“I feel like I’m being kidnapped,” I announced, but Rex pretended like he didn’t even hear me. I rolled my eyes, letting out a breath and resting my head on River’s shoulder. “Could you just hurry up and drive?”

“Shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive,” Rex sang, practically dancing as he took another sharp turn.

“You shouldn’t know that song,” I informed him, now shutting my eyes as I snuggled into River’s side. “You should listen to heavy metal or… opera or something.”

“Opera?” both Seth and Rex demanded in unison, almost causing me to burst out laughing.

“I could picture you two singing All I Ask of You together, like River and I did,” I grinned, leaning forward now so I would be in between the two of them. “It’s such an amazing love song. Fits both of you perfectly.”

River burst out laughing from behind me, but Seth only scowled at me. Rex was making a face of disgust, and I flew back into my seat, laughing along with River.

“That’s not funny,” Rex protested, his bottom lip sticking out as he gripped onto the steering wheel. “I’m not gay!”

“Uh-huh,” River smirked from beside me, hugging onto my waist and pretty much pulling me onto his lap. “You two are about as close as Delilah and I are.”

“Oh, God,” Seth groaned, clutching onto his head as if he had a headache. “You two have had sex.”

River continued to grin. “Exactly.”

I smiled at him, reaching up and pressing my lips to his as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He wrapped his around my waist, and we were pretty much making out until Rex turned around in his seat and started waving his hands at us to stop.

“Hey! Don’t go doing nasty things in a car that isn’t mine!” he cried out at us.

River stared at Rex for a moment, and I really thought I saw a vein pop in his forehead. “Did you just let go of the wheel?”

My eyes widened so much that I thought my eyes were going to fall out of their sockets. “You complete idiot!” I shouted loudly, trying my best not to scream. “Do you want us all to die?”

“Ah, crap!” Rex cried out as the car swerved. I let out a loud scream as both Rex and Seth grabbed onto the wheel and quickly taking a sharp spin out of the way of an oncoming car.

I heard a loud crash from Seth’s side of the car and he shouted, “The tire! The tire fell off!”

How could the tire fall off when we hadn’t even hit anyone?

River was suddenly on top of me as I felt the car flipping. I knew he was only on top of me to protect me, but I tried to push him off so he wouldn’t get hurt himself.

It only lasted about ten seconds, but it felt like hours before the car finally stopped. I was thankful that the car didn’t stop upside down. All of River’s weight was on me, and now he was pretty much crushing me. I was unharmed and almost perfectly fine, but I was sure that River wasn’t conscious.

The last and only time I had been in the car crash, I was with these three boys. But it was Mr. Higginson who had been the one who caused us to crash. I was the most hurt out of all of us, but this time I didn’t feel any pain at all. Besides the fact I could barely breathe with River on top of me.

“Ah, memories,” Rex groaned from the front seat, fidgeting around a little in his seat, as if to make sure nothing was broken.

“Shut it, Rex,” Seth groaned right back at him.

“Guys?” I whimpered, my chin on River’s shoulder as I looked over at them. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the two boys in the front informed me simultaneously before looking to the boy who was obviously knocked out on top of me.

They could see him and I couldn’t, so I sniffed to stop myself from crying as I asked, “Is he okay? What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s unconscious,” Rex informed me matter-of-factly, causing me to stare at him flatly. “And it looks like he got hit in the head pretty hard. He’s bleeding.”

“Oh, my gosh,” I gasped, trying my best to keep him from falling onto the floor of the car. I now had a better look of River’s head, and my eyes widened. “Call an ambulance or something! Call someone! We need to get him to the hospital! He’s bleeding really badly!”

Sobbing now, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face into his shoulder. It seemed like hours later when I started to hear sirens and see flashing lights. The sun now was beginning to come up, but I couldn’t care less anymore.

Worst. Anniversary. Ever.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~*

“Stop looking so depressed,” Seth said from beside me as I sobbed in the waiting room of the hospital. I looked at him like he was insane. What the hell was his problem?

“Are you insane?” I cried out, gaining a few looks from other mourning people around the waiting room. I bit on my lip before continuing, quietly now. “That’s your best friend in there! That’s my fiancé! And you expect me to just be happy and giggly while I wait for the doctors to tell me what’s wrong?”

“You don’t think I’m upset?” Seth demanded, his arms crossed firmly over his chest. “He’s been my best friend since sixth grade, Delilah. I’ve known him a lot longer than you have. It’s just like it was when he got shot. And I can’t stand seeing you cry like this. If you cry too much, I’ll cry, too.”

My eyes widened when I noticed through my blurry vision that Seth’s eyes were red. I let out a small gasp before leaning forward and pulling him into a hug, sobbing into his shoulder. I almost noticed that Rex wasn’t with us, but I didn’t really care that much right then. Knowing him, he was probably somewhere in the hospital trying to find a vending machine or something.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” I assured, pulling away from him a little just to hold his face in my hands so I could look at him better. “We know River well enough; we know how tough he is. He survived the other car crash like he hadn’t been through anything at all, and then he went through getting shot with a full recovery. He’ll be perfectly fine… I know he will.”

Seth was giving me an intense look that I hadn’t ever seen from him before, and it confused me a little. I just continued to stare into his blue eyes, my hands on either side of his face, and I waited until his eyes were no longer puffy and red before I hugged him once again.

“I heard what happened, are you guys okay?” a new voice now said from beside us. I pulled away from Seth to see Alice plop down in the seat on the other side of me, Marnie right behind her. Alice’s eyes went wide. “Oh, my goodness… Where’s Rex?”

“He’s fine,” I assured with a nod, wiping my eyes as I turned toward her. “He’s probably just off to find a vending machine or something. He’s fine…”

“And River?” Marnie now asked, sitting on the arm of Alice’s chair.

At the sound of his name, I began sobbing again. Alice’s eyes went wide and she turned toward Seth in shock.

“He’s not… D-E-A-D, is he?” she asked, a hand shooting to her mouth. Even though I knew he was alive, just the thought of it made me cry even more.

“She can spell, Alice,” Seth snapped at her, now pulling me into his arms as I continued to sob. “But no, he’s not. We don’t know what’s wrong with him yet.”

“Delilah!” a newer voice now said, almost causing me to let out a groan at the familiar and annoying voice. I looked up from Seth’s chest to see Kendra running toward me, Jay walking lazily in behind her. I couldn’t help but find this annoying. My fiancé could have been dying and he didn’t even care one bit!

But of course he didn’t care. He was cool and popular Jay Harris, and the person that could have been dying right then was competition for the girl that he was after.

What an asshole.

“Is he alright? Is River okay?” Kendra asked, almost shaking the answers out of me. She grabbed onto my hands tightly until Seth pushed her shoulder lightly to get her away from me, but she only continued to cry. Jay let out a sigh and plopped into the chair on the other side of Seth.

“You told her what happened?” I hissed at Alice so both Kendra and Jay couldn’t hear me.

She frowned at me. “Sorry,” she whispered. “She wouldn’t let us leave without us telling her where we were going. She’s annoying like that.”

“Where the hell is Rex?” I demanded now under my breath, starting to become impatient now. “He’s the reason this happened…”

“Not really,” Seth informed into my hair, causing me to pull away from him and look up at him in confusion. He took this as a sign of me telling him to continue. “The tire completely fell off, like someone tampered with it or something. If it wasn’t for the tire, we’d all be fine right now. The tire was going to fall off eventually anyway.”

“Someone tampered with it?” I asked, my eyes going wide. “Who would do something like that?”

Seth shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“I can’t wait any longer!” Kendra cried before jumping to her feet and running past all of us. I didn’t see where she went, but I honestly didn’t care. She could have fallen off the face of the earth and I wouldn’t have cared one bit. Actually, I wished that that would happen.

“And today was supposed to be the happy anniversary of the day we first met,” I sniffed, curling up into a ball in my seat. “This is ridiculous.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, Delilah,” Alice soothed, rubbing my back as she tried to think of what to say. “He’s been through so much!”

“We’ve already talked about that,” Seth warned her through clenched teeth, causing her to remove her hand from my back and placed both of her hands into her lap.

I sighed, looking down at my hands that were in my lap as well. My eyes went wide and I almost screamed when I saw that my ring wasn’t on my finger like it was supposed to.

I bit my tongue to stop myself from screeching, but my friends around me noticed that something wasn’t right. I held out my hand and stared at my finger for a moment, as if that would make the ring appear.

“Oh, my gosh!” Marnie cried out, her hands slapping over her mouth. “Your ring! Where’s your ring?”

“I don’t know!” I cried, clutching onto my finger. “I never take it off! I never do! Where could it be? I need to find it! This is the worst time to lose it!”

Alice dropped to the ground, looking under the seats. She grabbed onto Marnie’s hand and pulled her down to the ground as well. I jumped up, almost sobbing now, and I tried to think of what to do.

“I need to find Rex,” I breathed, walking passed my friends (and Jay) as I tried to find my blonde best friend. I knew that the hospital was a big place, but he couldn’t have gotten lost or anything! He wasn’t that much of an idiot… even if he was Rex.

I passed through hallways in search of him. Maybe he had seen my ring somewhere. Did it somehow fall off in the middle of the car crash? If it did, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get it back. But I had to! It was the ring that matched with River’s…

My eyes widened when I saw River leaning against the hallway wall right beside a hospital room door. I ran up to him quickly and clutched onto his shoulders, and he looked surprised to see me.

“Rex!” I cried out, shaking him a little. “Did you see my ring? At all? I think it might have fallen off during the car crash! If I don’t find it, I won’t be able to ever forgive myself!”

“I’m the one that caused the car crash,” Rex shook his head, looking away from me. “Everything’s my fault.”

“No it’s not,” I assured him, shaking my head as quickly as I could. “Someone messed with the tire. If it wasn’t for the tire, we’d all be fine. It wasn’t your fault, Rex. But have you seen my ring?”

“No, I haven’t,” he answered with a shake of his head.

“Is this River’s room?” I now demanded, stepping away from him and in front of the door. Rex nodded, and my eyes widened as I clutched onto the handle and yanked it open.

“Wait, Delilah, I don’t think that’s a good idea!”

But it was too late, and after I had stepped inside, I saw something that I definitely wasn’t expecting to see.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm having writer's block with this story. :/ But then again, I have writer's block with every story. :D Except for Hey There, Delilah. That story was so planned out it was almost ridiculous. xS

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D