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By some miracle, I made it through the rest of the day, collected Wayne’s makeup work, and arrived at the hospital just in time to overhear one of Officer Russell’s infamous lectures.
One of the nurses stopped me in the hallway, but I could still see Wayne through the partially open blinds that covered the observation window of his room. He looked like he was praying for another coma. Officer Russell’s booming voice seeped through the closed door. A normal voice would have been muffled, but he was loud enough that I was pretty sure everyone at the nurses’ station could hear him as well as I could.
“Your blood tests came back. There was alcohol in your system, Wayne. Your scholarship has been revoked, but I imagine your grades would have eventually killed that opportunity if this incident hadn’t. Do you have any idea how humiliating this has been for your mother and me? Do you?”
Wayne’s voice was too soft to be heard, but I saw him mouth, “Yes, sir.”
Officer Russell paced the room. He was in full uniform, amplifying his intimidation level to its max. “In addition to blowing your scholarship and getting suspended from school for a week, you just might have cost me a promotion. I can’t even keep my own son in line, how am I supposed to be an authority figure for the entire town?”
Wayne’s bottom lip trembled, and he dropped his chin to his chest in defeat.
Officer Russell sighed. “I think it goes without saying that you’re grounded, maybe until graduation. And if you don’t bring your grades back up by the end of the semester, we might be looking into military school. I hate that things have come to this, son. I really do. But you’ve left us no other options.” He rested a firm hand on Wayne’s shoulder. “Your mother will be by later with a change of clothes. They should be releasing you in the morning, right before the funeral.”
Wayne shuddered, but he didn’t protest.
Officer Russell turned to leave. I backed away from the window and tried not to look too guilty as he noticed me in the hall.
“Janie,” he said, bringing his drill sergeant tone down to a more civil frequency. “It’s good to see you again.”
“I brought Wayne’s makeup work,” I said, holding up the folder I had stuffed everything in.
“Good. Maybe that will keep him out of trouble for a while.” He glanced at his watch. “Well, I’m on duty in five, so I better head out. Tell your parents hello.” He tipped his hat at me and hurried off towards the elevators.
I blew out the breath I’d been holding and let myself into Wayne’s room, closing the door behind me. It was quieter now. There were fewer machines hooked up to him, and it looked like he had at least been given a sponge bath at some point. His hair was still a disaster, and the stitches across his forehead were crusty and purple. The swelling around his left eye had gone down, I noticed as he looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.
“Hey,” I whispered.
“Hey.” He glanced at the folder under my arm and groaned. “Why couldn’t I have just died?”
“Don’t say that.” I glared at him and sat down in the recliner by the bed.
“Why not? My entire life is ruined now anyway.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, Janie. It is. I lost my scholarship. I’m suspended. I’m grounded for a very long, unspecified time. I look like Frankenstein’s monster. Matilda’s dead, and I have to go to her funeral tomorrow.”
“You’ll get through this, and I’ll help you,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as pathetic as I felt.
“You’re going to that funeral with me,” he said.
My heart ached. I was terrified of funerals and facing the Ds, but I was also all tingly because Wayne wanted me to be there for him. He needed me.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” He closed his eyes and relaxed.
“But first, you have algebra homework. Read the notes. We covered a lot of new stuff today.” The threat of military school had motivated me as much as I hoped it had motivated Wayne. If he was off at boot camp somewhere, it was unlikely that he’d be able to make it to prom.
Wayne’s brows knitted together as he looked over the pages in the folder I’d brought.
“I’ll come over after the funeral so we can go over everything before I turn it in for you on Wednesday. I’ll have to pick up your Tuesday makeup work on Wednesday too, if I’m going to the funeral with you.”
Wayne frowned, but he didn’t try to argue his way out of it. “Okay. I’ll get all of this done tonight. I really can’t afford to flunk out.”
“I heard your dad,” I confessed.
Wayne grimaced. “Yeah. I really don’t think I’d look good in fatigues.”
The military themed prom came to mind, and I bit my tongue as I blushed. It only got worse once Wayne laid his hand over mine. “Thanks, Janie. I really owe you one. You really are the best friend I’ve ever had. I’m sorry we’ve drifted so far apart this year.”
“Don’t mention it.” What I really wanted to say was that we wouldn’t have drifted so far apart if he hadn’t decided to date some skank who hated my guts. No matter how true it was, I just couldn’t bring myself to be that mean. Besides, it was really hard to be mad at Wayne. He oozed charm, even battered and bruised and with hobo hair.
“I better get home. I have homework to do, too.” I sighed and gave him a small smile. “Take it easy, Batman.”
Wayne chuckled. “I haven’t heard that nickname since eighth grade.” It was cheesy, but it had been worth the smile.
I left the hospital and walked home. The December cold was dry, so my jean jacket was plenty warm. I took the long way around Sagewood Subdivision, where Wayne and I lived, so I could walk past Lovers Playground, the abandoned park where the fateful party had been held.
A good sized creek ran along a ravine behind a rusted swing set and slide. Several years back, a heavy rain had flooded out the creek and washed away a chunk of land. A small boy had gotten too close to the ledge when his mother wasn’t looking and fell in, drowning in the unusually high waters. It had been pretty upsetting for the Jasper community, and while the park wasn’t officially condemned, no one had used it for so long that the place had nearly been forgotten.
There was a small rock ledge that jutted out over the creek, halfway down the ravine. Several Jasper High students had built a rock path down to it so they could hide out and drink under the radar. It had been a popular hangout for almost a decade now, from what I’d heard. I was relieved to see that it was empty and not marked off with crime scene tape. I still didn’t linger long.
When I got home, I called Chloe.
“How’s lover boy?” she answered on the first ring.
“Don’t call him that, and he’s fine. Mostly. I have to get his grades up before Christmas break or his dad’s going to ship him off to boot camp.”
“Hmmm. Maybe I should be calling him your bad boy then.”
“And he’s going to Matilda’s funeral tomorrow and asked me to go with him.”
Chloe barked out a laugh. “How’s that for irony? Your first date will be his ex’s funeral.”
“It’s not a date. Good grief, Chloe.”
“Okay, okay. Sorry.”
“The Ds will probably be there.” I groaned.
“Of course they will, but I doubt they’ll make a scene. Officer Russell will be taking notes.”
I hadn’t thought of that, and it made me feel a little less nauseous. “I need to ask a favor.”
“Name it.”
“If I don’t survive the funeral, you have to burn my sketchbook.” I pulled it out from under my pillow and fingered through the pages.
“Whatever. I’m going to sell it to the highest bidder. It belongs in a museum.”
“My psycho doodlings are hardly museum worthy.”
Chloe sighed. “When are you going to get it? Art is only as good as it makes you feel. It doesn’t have to be finely detailed and realistic. Look at some of Picasso’s later work. As long as it makes you feel something, it’s worth something. And honey, your psycho doodlings will definitely make people feel something.”
“Chloe, I’d just die if anyone saw these.”
“If you’re dead already, what’s it matter?”
I gritted my teeth. “Just promise me.”
“You’re going to be fine. It’s just a funeral.”
“Chloeeeeeee.”
“Okay, I promise.” She laughed again. I heard her mom call for her in the background. “Gotta go. Pizza’s here. Call me after the funeral tomorrow.”
“Can’t. I’ll be at Wayne’s, helping him with his homework.”
“Hmmm. Well, I’ll see you Wednesday then. Adios!” It was probably the only word she had retained from her Spanish class. It was a wonder I wasn’t tutoring her along with Wayne.