The next morning Paul wanted to ask his mother what happened, but she wasn't home. It wasn't the weirdest thing. Sometimes she had to stay later. That's what it's like working as a nurse and a single mom, more hours meant more cash. Which was good because money was always tight.
A text message came in that made him feel even worse. The girl that got taken away in the ambulance was Melissa. Paul was overwhelmed with more guilt. He saw someone not looking alright. He knew someone needed help but didn't help them.
He made his way to school. It was spirit week but no one was focused on that. Everyone was gossiping about the weekend before. Some said it was another animal attack. Some said she got too drunk and just fell. There was even some who thought Quinn did something. Gossip was one of the most annoying parts of high school in Paul’s opinion.
At lunch, it was just the twins and him, so it was kind of quiet.
"Any word on Melissa yet." Paul asked his friends as he sat down.
"Nothing just yet. Quinn was over there this morning. He says she still isn't awake. Doctors are running more tests." replied Beatriz.
"It seems the universe is telling us to avoid all parties." Tyler added.
"Well homecoming is coming up. I wonder what will happen then.” Beatriz said.
“That’d be one way to wake Melisa up, tell her we were skipping the homecoming dance.” Paul joked.
The group laughed and then got a little sad. Lunch ended so it was time to continue the school day. In history class, he wanted to ask some questions. While raising his hand Paul called out, "Mr. Everald, I have a question."
"Yes, Mr. Paul Lisbon, go for it."
"Why did your family stop being in charge after like a hundred years?"
Mr. Everald thought about his answer for a few seconds, "Well, my family was in charge and did whatever to protect the town from bad people and bad things. They did a great job in the beginning, albeit their rules were strict, and they did some weirder stuff. Eventually the townsfolk felt my family couldn't protect them. My family got kicked out of office, and they took that personally, so they skipped town. My grandpa would tell me all the stories."
The class bell rang. The students gathered their things to leave. He continued, "And if you all do your assignments this weekend, I might share some of those stories."
The students exited to the hall. Paul skipped football practice to go see how Melissa was. Upon arrival, he was greeted by his mother who was talking to Delilah
"Hey honey. I'm assuming you're not here to visit me," she said, walking out from behind the nursing station to lead the pair to Melissa's room. "She was touch and go for a while, she's stable now. She's still not conscious, but you can hang out with her if you'd like for a little bit."
Nurse Lisbon left the room, leaving them inside. Delilah grabbed Melissa's hand. "Life is getting all messy. Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen. It's homecoming week of our senior year.” Paul could see the tears forming. Delilah took a pause to recollect herself. “Melissa was looking forward to it so much."
"Sometimes bad stuff happens. There's usually no rhyme or reason," responded Paul.
The machines in the room started beeping. His heart started racing. Fast beeping machines were never a good thing in a hospital. His mom came rushing in. "Hey kids, looks like we have to cut this short. Meet me at the nurses station."
The doctors came in as they went out. Delilah hugged Paul for comfort. Paul was secretly hoping that when Delilah grabbed Melissa's hand, their friend would magically wake up, and everything would end up okay. They'd all go to homecoming and live happily ever after. He was beginning to know better. Life wasn't like it was on TV.
A few minutes went by as they waited at the nurses station. His mom eventually came out of the room and walked up to them.
"Is she okay?" Delilah asked.
"She's fine sweetie, doctors stabilized her again." his mother reassured them.
"Well, do they know what's wrong?" Paul asked.
It was written all over her face. Paul could clearly see she had bad news but was hesitant to tell. "We don't really know yet. She has been in a coma for a couple days now. They are still working on it. I know it seems bleak right now but you gotta stay positive guys. You two should head out. Go do fun young people things. Nurse's orders." Grace replied. She then walked back into Melissa's room.
The duo walked to the parking lot. "So do you want me to drop you off at home, or do you want to grab a bite, or is there another destination you have in mind?" asked Paul.
"Well, do you think you could drop me off at Zane's place?"
Paul agreed and they drove off. The only sound in the car was the music from the radio. It wasn't one of those awkward silences. It was just silent. Delilah turned down the radio, "Do you believe in monsters?"
"Monsters?" Paul replied, baffled. "Like zombies and Dr. Frankenstein?"
"Yeah, like there are things or people that are inherently evil and only want to hurt people." Delilah responded.
Paul thought for a second, "Well, I mean, there are people out there that are monsters. Some people are all bad. Some people are all good. Most of humanity falls in that gray area in between, but yeah, I guess there are monsters out there."
Paul and Delilah drove up to Zane's place. It was huge. Paul had never been to this part of the town. He just assumed it was more forest. She thanked and hugged Paul goodbye and got out of the car. As she walked toward the house, Paul stayed parked and waited until she got inside.
As he was about to drive off, there was a knock on his window. It made him jump slightly, but it was nothing. Before he could think of anything or gather his thoughts, he was already driving away.
The idea of going out and doing something fun seemed awful to Paul. He just headed home. What didn't seem awful was ordering a pizza and binge watching television so he did just that. The pizza was half gone when he got a text message informing him Melissa woke up. He exhaled.
It was a little disappointing to not see Melissa in school immediately, but he understood. Wednesday and Thursday went by, and he got a couple of text messages from her saying she was okay.
The day that everyone was looking forward to came, Friday. It was the day of the homecoming game and then the dance. Paul was kind of excited. He was hoping it could be a night with all his friends.
The school had a half day and at the end of it would be a pep rally. Blue and orange streamers enveloped the gym, along with posters and the school mascot, a bulldog. The players were called out one by one. Cheers filled the auditorium.
Coach got up on stage to give his big speech. Paul couldn't help but find it funny especially because the coach was reading the speech from note cards awkwardly. “Alright settle down. We aren't known for having a winning year ever. But this year it's gonna be different. Not only did we win our first game, we also won another one a couple of weeks ago. That's two. This team with our history has a chip in their shoulder. We are not gonna waste it. The universe brought these young men together and with the chance they've been given we are gonna be driven as all hell.”
The crowd stood up to clap and cheer. His teammate Trevor, who was standing in line beside Paul and Quinn, started laughing. “That's the Legally Blonde musical.”
Paul and Quinn started laughing as well. The group left the auditorium to go to the football field. Coach's speech worked because he was amped up. Unfortunately the Autumnvale Bulldogs lost that game.
Paul and the team couldn't harp on the loss for too long, they had a dance to get ready for. He showered, put on his lucky pendant, and put on his suit. Flashes went off as he walked downstairs to leave. His mother was taking a hundred photos.
When he arrived, the gym looked great. Where funky colorful decorations used to be, now there were sparkly elegant ones. It was also nice everyone dressed to impress. The twins were at the punch bowl so he approached, "Well, you two clean up nice." The three hugged. He continued, "Where are the rest of us?"
Tyler explained, "Melissa isn't coming, not feeling up to it. Zane had a family emergency, and Quinn is moping in the corner because Melissa broke up with him through text earlier today.”
"What?" Paul said in shock, "I didn’t call that one. I was kind of hoping to see us all together tonight.”
Beatriz laughed. "Even Zane?"
"Eehhh, he's fine in very small doses.”
Paul excused himself and went over to Quinn to try to cheer him up. "Hey, man," he said while sitting down. "I heard about the break up, that's rough bro."
"She said that we couldn't be together anymore. That ever since the attack, she has a new perspective on life, and she's a new person.”
Paul put his hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Being dumped sucks, especially over text, but I mean, stop me if I'm being too honest here. A few weeks ago, you didn't even know if you wanted to be with her, so..."
Quinn looked at him. "Bro?"
"I'm just saying," responded Paul, "I'm here and the twins are here. Maybe you could join us and have some fun." Just then Rhea entered the gym with Aiden. "Or maybe, just maybe, you could find someone else to dance with."
Paul left to take his own advice and find someone to dance with. He walked up to Kelley and escorted her to the dance floor. Quinn eventually joined the group and had a good time.
As the group was having a punch break, Delilah walked in. Beatriz ran to hug her and brought her back to the punch bowls. The boys all smile and give compliments.
"I'm glad you made it. Now let's all bust a move," exclaimed Paul. The group laughed and shook their heads.
"No one says that." said Tyler.
The friends continued having a good time. The music cut off and Principal Balder walked up to the microphone that was in the middle of the stage. “Alright students, you've been waiting for it. Its time to announce your homecoming king and queen. Up first your homecoming king is none other than……Quinn Redington.”
Quinn rushed to the stage and got crowned. Paul was not surprised. Melissa basically spent the last month making sure Quinn was going to be homecoming king. Sadness was all he could feel for his friend. Melissa was so looking forward to it, and he was so looking forward to her being here.
Principal Balder started talking again, “And now the moment you've all been waiting for your homecoming queen is…….Melissa Winters. Unfortunately Miss Winters could not be here so I had her brother reach out to her, and she picked a proxy. Miss Benoit please come up.”
The look of shock and happiness was plastered on Beatriz's face. She went up to get crowned. Mrs. Balder had one more thing to add. “Now Melissa did say you have to give the crown to her after tonight.”
The principal left the stage and the music started blasting again. The students rushed to the dance floor. Paul was just relieved the night ended normally, the only lights flashing were the ones reflecting from the disco ball.