The Gossip Web (20 page)

I’m proud to admit that I’d never actually been inside the school’s clinic before. I never had a reason to---I always stayed home if I felt sick. My father was a very understanding and compassionate man. If I merely mentioned the word period to him, he gave me anything I asked for. Sometimes living with single a father had it’s perks.

As soon as I stepped foot inside the clinic, I wrinkled my nose. The room smelt strongly of disinfectant and I couldn’t help but gag. There was an older woman sitting at a desk in the corner, rifling through a thick pile of papers as she muttered a few harsh words to herself. When Trace and I walked through the door her head shot up, and she gave us the largest and most creepiest smile I’d ever seen in my life.

“Hello, children,” She said sweetly. The woman pointed to a pair of chairs on the far side of the wall and added, “Have a seat please.”

Trace helped me onto one, and I was glad for his help because my head had suddenly started to spin.

“Oh…” I groaned and bit my lip. Why oh why was I such a klutz? I wouldn’t be in such pain if I had only been more careful!

Trace cupped my face with his hands and peered into my eyes. “Jade, are you okay?” He asked. “You look a little pale.” As I stared at him, I grinned as his shape shifted into two. It was heaven to see two of him at once, but it hurt like hell.

“Oh---my head.” I moaned, and I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that it would make the pain lessen. It didn’t though, and I groaned as I rubbed my aching head.

“Oh, you poor thing!” I heard the woman say, and a cold, weathered hand felt along my forehead. “Wow, you’ve got quite a bump there, honey,” she told me, clicking her tongue.

Without any warning I was lifted onto my feet. “Wait. Don’t---” I tried to beg her to put me back down, but I began feeling lightheaded and all I could do was groan.

“Here, lets move you onto the bed,” she told me briskly, completely ignoring my plea.

“Please…no,” I muttered. Then, I opened my eyes---and I immediately wished that I hadn’t. The small clinic swooshed around me rapidly like I was on a carnival ride. Thank god I didn’t get nauseous that easily.

“The room is spinning. Stop it!” I urged her, and she gently placed me back onto the chair.

“Okay, let’s see…” the woman mumbled to herself. I kept my eyes shut, waiting nervously to see if she tried to pick me up again. I honestly didn’t want to get up; my throbbing head told me so.

“Young man, help me get her to the bed,” the nurse said to Trace, and I felt four hands grab at me and pull me onto my feet. But something happened with my footing and I stumbled against one of them (I’m not sure which one), and their hold fell from my arm to chest. I tried not to gasp as I opened my eyes, finding Trace red faced with his hand placed firmly on my goods.

“Uh---I’m sorry,” he wheezed uneasily, moving his hand off of me. I couldn’t help my burning cheeks as I glanced towards the floor while the nurse continued to drag me over to the bed. When I glanced back up, I found Trace looking anywhere but at me with a slight grin on his face. I bit my lip and tried to stop panicking. After all, it was just an accident, right? He didn’t mean to grab at me.

“Now that that’s over with, I want you to lie down and relax, Ms---” she hesitated. “What was your name again?”

“Jade Cannon,” I told her weakly.

“Right, right.” The nurse looked over at Trace and asked the same question.

“Trace Gibson, ma’am,” he replied.

“Well, I think Jade will be fine. You can go to class now, Mr. Gibson. I’ll write you a pass.”

Dragging a hand through his shaggy brown hair, Trace stammered, “I was…I was hoping to wait for her.”

“Oh?” The nurse muttered, looking carefully between the two of us. When she noticed our affection for one another (which I’m sure was fairly easy to see) a smile formed on her lips.
             
“I see,” she replied. “Well, if Jade is your girlfriend I guess you can stay.”

Trace coughed at her remark and I tugged at the bottom of my shirt, but neither one of us made an effort to deny it. We avoided looking at each other, and he took a seat on the opposite side of the room when the nurse came over to examine me. I kept my eyes glued to the ceiling as my mind reeled and reeled. Why didn’t he correct her when she said I was his girlfriend? He could’ve easily said I was his best friend or something! Frowning with confusion, I hastily glanced over at Trace to find him staring at me. I blushed some more and looked away, praying for the awkward moment to pass.

Half an hour later I was allowed to go. The nurse confirmed that I didn’t have a concussion, but she told me I should head home and keep ice on it for the remainder of the day to stop the swelling. I called my dad and informed him of my accident, and he assured me that he would come pick me up. Fortunately, he didn’t have any meetings going on this afternoon; it would’ve sucked if I had been forced to stay cooped up in that clinic all day. After my call ended, I thanked the nurse for her help and hurried out of the infirmary, eager to go home and rest.

Trace accompanied me to parking lot (despite my protests), and I was grateful for his help. I was still a bit woozy and probably wouldn’t have made it out there successfully on my own. We just stood there quietly on the curb in front of the high school, waiting for my father to show up. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt shyer than usual at that moment. Maybe it was because Trace hadn’t cleared up that misunderstanding with the nurse earlier---or perhaps I was still shocked that he had “accidentally” felt me up. Overall, I was unsure of how I should act towards him…but I wasn’t in the greatest shape to analyze anything at the moment so I just kept quiet about the issues.

When my father finally pulled into the visitors parking lot, I broke the awkward silence between us. “Well, he’s here,” I said slowly.

“Yeah…” Trace mumbled, as he glanced over at me. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I can come over if you want?”

I grinned at his offer. “That’s very nice of you, but what could you possibly do to help me with this huge lump on my head?”

He shrugged and replied, “We could play a game or something?”

“I don’t think I’ll be up for any game playing tonight,” I responded with a laugh. “Besides, don’t you have that party to go to?”

Trace’s eyes darted to the ground before he said, “Oh, yeah…but I don’t have to go to that, Jade.”

I shook my head and replied, “Go, Trace. You want to go---so go.”

“I’d rather be with you tonight,” Trace said, as he grabbed hold of my hands.

I bit my lip and glanced over at my father, who was parked and waiting for me. “I don’t think my dad would be too thrilled about that idea, especially after I almost cracked my head open. He’ll most likely be hovering all night anyways.”

“Okay.” Trace nodded, and he let go of my hand gently. “I guess I’ll just talk to you later then?”

“Alright,” I replied softly. “Thank you for everything today, Trace. I really appreciate it.” After giving him a sweet smile, I began to walk away. It was when I moved halfway across the parking lot that I heard him running after me.

“Jade, wait!” He called out.

I froze and turned around, surprised by the frantic look in his eyes. “What’s wrong, Trace?” I asked him anxiously.

Dragging a hand through his brown hair, he replied, “Nothing. There’s just something I have to do first---before I can let you leave.”

“Huh---” I began to ask, but I was cut off as Trace pulled me into a tight embrace. I simply stood there, dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to do…but I was so happy! His arms circled me tightly and I couldn’t suppress the sigh that had formed in my throat. I laid my head comfortably against his chest and closed my eyes as I enjoyed the warmth of his hug. I could’ve remained in his arms forever.

Then, Trace let go of me and I was forced back to reality. His face was beat red as he said, “Your dad is waiting…”

“Right, yeah…I forgot about him,” I replied breathlessly. I gazed down at the concrete and prayed that my father wasn’t observing the two of us. If he was, I would never hear the end of it.

Trace slyl dipped his head down towards my ear and whispered, “You give nice hugs, Jade Cannon.”

Now it was my turn to flush red. “Thanks,” I replied. “So do you.”

He gave me his charming trademark grin and said, “I’ll call you later tonight.”

I nodded and watched as Trace headed towards the front entrance of the school. “Bye!” I yelled after him, absolutely overwhelmed by what had just happened between us. Could it be? Did he actually forgive me for acting so foolishly the other day? He must have; he wouldn’t have held me that way if he didn’t!

On the walk over to my father’s car, my mind suddenly wheeled with doubt. If only I knew for certain how he felt. Maybe if he told me that he didn’t want Gloria, I could finally get rid of all the fear and uncertainty I felt about our relationship. And Gloria---well, I could possibly ignore her if I knew that he wanted me instead. I would’ve loved to see the look on her face if she had witnessed the two of us clinging to each other. She would’ve been so pissed!

After I climbed into the passenger seat of my father’s car, he turned and glanced at me, and an odd expression was etched on his face. Oh dear, he’d seen us.

“I know what you’re going to say, Dad---but please don’t,” I told him swiftly, staring out the window. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Thank God,” he mumbled as he started up the car.

We pulled away from the school and drove home in silence---neither of us mentioning the scene between Trace and I. I was grateful to him for giving me some time to myself, because although I said I didn’t want to talk about it, I thought about Trace’s hug the entire ride home.

25

             
I GOT A CALL FROM HEIDI
as soon as I got home. She sounded aggravated and upset, and I was sure she had heard about my accident at school. When I asked her about what was troubling her though, she told me it had to do with Jason (big surprise) but she wouldn’t go into detail. Typical Heidi. Had to lengthen the drama.

             
After a few minutes of listening to her grumble and curse nonsense, I finally asked, “So, what’d he do?”

             
“Everything!” Heidi screamed into the phone, causing my left ear to twitch.

             
“Okay…” I replied slowly. “But what exactly?”

             
Heidi gave me one of her big melodramatic sighs before she finally divulged everything. She told me that she saw Jason talking with Lana before gym today, jumping to conclusions before Jason had time to sort her out. Apparently, she’d gotten the wrong idea about why the two of them were hanging out together. Heidi then proceeded to tell me that Jason was going to Lana’s party later tonight, before she started whining that she hated Lana Mills. I prayed to God that I didn’t sound like her when I was complaining about Gloria, but I had a scary feeling that I did.

             
“So, you’re mad because he’s going without you?” I asked her hastily, when she’d paused to take a breath.

             
“What? No! I’m going with him!” She replied hotly. “Do you think I’d let him go alone, Jade? With that tramp there?”

             
I was confused about everything she’d just said; I didn’t understand why she was so upset if she was going with him to the party. I knew that Heidi wasn’t a big fan of Lana’s---I mean, neither was I---but to go all ballistic over nothing really wasn’t like her. Oh wait, yes it was.

             
“Can’t you see how terrible this is, Jade?” Heidi whined, and I rolled my eyes at her overly dramatic tone.

             
“Uh, sure,” I lied.

             
As I clicked my tongue against my cheek, I remembered that Trace said he was going to Lana’s party tonight too. My mind juggled with the idea of asking Heidi to play private eye, but I kind of felt guilty for even considering the idea---especially after how kind he’d acted earlier. I should just give Trace the benefit of the doubt and trust him. Besides, we weren’t a couple or anything; it wasn’t really any of my business to know what he did with his free time. But then Gloria’s wicked face popped into my head, and I came to the rational conclusion that it wouldn’t do Trace any harm if Heidi watched over him for me. It would only be for a little while anyways…