My head was heavy as I tried to sit up straight. The hospital clean air filled my nose as I took my first breath. I held my head with my hand. The soft bandages that covered my forehead brushed against my fingers. "Hello, Mrs Brown." A nurse with a sweet smile approached me. Her dark hair was tucked into a low bun. Her skin was pale and freckled.

"How are you feeling now?" She took a look at my bandages. My throat was dry and sore. "Better, I guess." I struggled as I got the words out. "Your parents are here to see you." She smiled and left. My parents? They really bothered to leave there precious jobs and come see me.

"Jane honey, oh god." Mom came into the room. I inherited my brown hair from her. My mother never bothered to get another child or maybe she didn't have the time. I would spend most of my time in Kylie's house. Kylie's mother wasn't responsible either. She had bad alcoholic problems.

I think that's why we both became such close friends, family issues was one of the things we had in common or maybe the only thing. "How are you, now?" Mom asked as she held me. Her hugs never lasted, really. Just a couple of seconds is all I get. I didn't bother to answer the question. Dad got into the room. His hair was streaks of salt and pepper.

His skin matched mine, leaving us both almost dark skinned. "What happened?" He never liked to brush around the point. He was always straight with me, with anyone really. One of the things that made me study so hard was that no matter how hard I tried, my parents were never satisfied enough. They always thought that I wasn't doing enough.

"I can't remember much, really." My head pounded. Last night seemed to be like a dream that slipped away the minute you wake up. The details were very messy, I couldn't remember much. Dad sighted. "Good morning, Miss Brown." The three of us turned to the officer. I remembered him from our last meeting at the police station.

"Hello sir, I am officer Alkaline." He offered my father his hand. They shook hands. "Nice to meet you, officer." Dad said. "I am incredibly sorry about that, Miss Brown." He turned to me. "You should be arresting the boy out there." Dad demanded. The boy out there? I thought. Did they catch my attacker? "What boy?" I blurted out. "I assure you, Miss Brown, that I will take care of your safety." Alkaline nodded.

"I am telling you officer, that boy out there is the one you're looking for." Dad said. "Who are you talking about?" I asked once again. "Mr Brown, perhaps we can talk about this outside." They all ignored me, again. I jumped down onto my feet. The floor was cold against my socks. "Jane?" Mom called. I ignored her and walked out of the room.

Out in the corridor was Kylie and Zack, leaning against the wall. "Jane!" Zack looked up at me. He skipped my way. "Are you feeling better?" He asked. "I am fine." I said, my head burning. "J, god." Kylie hugged me. "Get away from my daughter!" I heard dad as he yelled. I pulled Kylie away to look at dad.

"Mr Brown, please, you have to come down." Alkaline said. "My daughter was attacked last night, officer. And you want me to come down!" As if he really cared. My childhood wasn't exactly filled with him being there at anything. Not a graduation or maybe a competition.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, despite the pain I was feeling. "This boy, he attacked you. He is responsible for all fo this crap." Dad demanded. I was confused. I remembered that I was going to meet with Zack the other night, but somehow I didn't reach him. "I didn't do anything." Zack said.

"That's right. He didn't." I tried my best to sound strong. My head was hurting so badly. It was a surprise how I was actually still on my feet. "Jane, you don't have to defend anyone." Mom tried to reason with me. "I know he didn't." I said. "You can't even remember last night for fuck's sake!" Dad yelled. I closed my eyes as the pain stretched to them.

"Jane, are you okay?" Zack held my arm. My balance was starting to betray me. It felt as if I was going in circles. That the world around me was spinning. My head was on fire. The back of my eyes burned like a camp fire. Last thing, I remembered was that I fell to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up again but this time I was sleeping back in our room. The lights were on. My head seemed to feel numb. I sat up straight, slowly, afraid to wake up any pain. "Welcome back, J." Kylie smiled at me. "How long was I out?" I asked. "About a day and half. The doctor said that you needed to rest." She said. "Where is Zack?" He seemed to pop into my mind.

Zack was slowly starting to become one of the important people in my life. I didn't have many, really. "J, I think you should just forget about him." She shrugged. Forget about him? I couldn't understand. Kylie seemed to like Zack. She liked the fact that I had someone else, so I wouldn't bother her. I guess.

I got out of bed. "Hey, hey. You should rest." She patted my shoulder. "I have had enough rest." I pushed her hand away. "Jane, your parents told me to stop you from meeting him." She said. I stopped in place. "Why would they do that?" I turned to her. "You were supposed to be with Zack that night you got attacked." She shrugged.

"They think he attacked me?" My voice turned hard. "Of course!" She said. That was bullshit. Zack wouldn't. Things were getting complicated. My head started to spin again. I took a deep breath to try to calm down my head. "It's okay, J." She came closer. "I am sorry Kylie. I have a class." I said and left the room.

I walked through the campus without a jacket. My arms were freezing underneath my sweater. As November came to an end, winter was starting to kick in. I rubbed my arms to warm them up a little. The clouds were gathering in the sky. It is going to rain later, I thought as I reached the sorority house.

I knocked on the door. Chadd opened the door for me. "Jane? What are you doing here?" He asked, confused. "Is Zack home?" I asked. "No, he's in the field." He shrugged. "Thanks." I said and left. "No problem!" I heard him say as I made my way to the field.

The field had blowing wind that hit me as I entered. It was empty except for Zack who was throwing his ball and running to catch it again. I walked up to him.

"Don't you think it's a bit cold to be practicing?" I asked, my teeth clattering. He turned to me. "Jane! Hey." He smiled. I smiled, my lips cracking. "God, what were you thinking coming out without a damn jacket?" He walked me to the benches. He wrapped his jacket around my shoulders.

"That's so cheesy, even for me." I chuckled as I sat down. He chuckled along. He sat beside me. "I thought we weren't supposed to meet?" He asked. "I am almost twenty, Zack. I don't think my parents have to control me anymore." I said. "You know I was going to break this rule anyways." He smiled at me. I smiled back. "I got you what you messed from yesterday." He said.

"You're a lifesaver." I laughed. "I know I know." He laughed along. Rain started to pour upon us. "Shit!" He cursed as he looked up at the sky. The drops were skipping down his face, right down his neck. "I am going to catch a cold." I said. "Colds are sometimes fun, Jane." He smiled at me.