Page 10 of If You Stayed

“Greater great!”

“Greater great, great!”

“Whatever, loser. Just go,” I said, rolling my eyes. I was sick of her being in my space, breathing in my tree-house air. I hated that a girl like her was able to breathe the same air as me. I hated everything about Kierra Hughes, and I wanted her out of my life as soon as possible. “That’s why you’re weird with your brace face,” I shouted to drive my point home that I wanted nothing to do with her.

I saw her eyes flash with tears, and I felt bad right away.

I was no better than the other kids.

I was such a dick.

Before I could apologize, Kierra puffed out her chest, madea fist, and shoved it straight into my gut, making me fall to the floor.

“Ouch!” I blurted out, rubbing the elbow that had slammed into the wooden floor. “That hurt.”

“That’s what you get, you stupid boy! I never want to talk to you again.”

Before I could reply, I heard Mom shouting from outside of the tree house. “Gabriel! Gabriel, get down here, will you? Kierra, you come down, too.”

My stomach knotted up, knowing she was probably going to yell at us both for fighting. I pushed myself up. “See what you did? You got us in trouble.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Kierra stated as she climbed down the tree-house ladder. I followed her, ready to defend myself.

“It was her fault, Mom! She—” After I hit the last step of the ladder, I turned around to face my mom and stopped talking when I saw her eyes. She was sobbing uncontrollably as she shook her head back and forth. “What’s wrong?” I asked. I’d never seen Mom cry, except for when she laughed so hard that tears fell down her cheeks. But this wasn’t that kind of crying. This was the kind of crying that scared me.

She combed her hair behind her ears and hurried over to me. “We have to get to the hospital, Gabriel, okay? We have to go now. Kierra, I tried to call your parents, but they didn’t answer, so you must come with us.”

“Why are we going to the hospital?” I asked, confused.

“It’s…” Mom’s voice cracked. She sniffled and startedcrying more. “It’s your father, Gabriel. There was an accident. We have to go.Now.”

***

Kierra

Gabriel and I sat in the hospital waiting room with his mom. We hadn’t said anything to each other, and as we waited, his mom paced back and forth. She kept glancing at the clock on the wall, then she’d move to the receptionist desk, ask for an update on Gabriel’s dad, and then argue that she wasn’t getting enough answers.

Then she’d pace again.

A few others waited in the same area as us. I’d never been in a hospital waiting room. I felt a little sick and scared.

I might not have liked Gabriel, but I liked his dad a lot. Mr. Sinclair was always sneaking me money whenever I’d come over to visit, since he couldn’t give me candy because of my braces. “Save it up for some Sour Patch Kids and Skittles when you get your braces off. Then come share with me. Those are my two favorite candies,” he told me.

I already had fifty bucks for candy thanks to him.

And whenever I’d get off the school bus, he’d ask me how my day was going and ask me about my designing and how softball was going for me. Those were two of my favorite things, fashion and softball. Gabriel played baseball, too, but I was actually good at it, unlike him.

Mr. Sinclair always made sure that I knew I was good, too. He even showed up to my games with my parents whenever he had free time.

I wanted him to be okay.

Ineededhim to be okay. If not for me, then for the toad sitting next to me.

Gabriel looked sad. Sadder than I’d ever seen anyone look. His head was lowered as he fiddled with his fingers in his lap. His legs kept bouncing up and down, and he hadn’t said a word since we got to the hospital. I didn’t say anything, either. I didn’t know what to say.

I wondered what Mom would say if she were there. She was really good at making people feel better when they were sad, and even though I hated Gabriel, I didn’t want him to be sad.

When the doctor finally came out to speak to Mrs. Sinclair, Gabriel and I looked up. We couldn’t hear them from where we were, but I knew it was nothing good. The doctor’s eyes looked sad and he shook his head.

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