Chapter Eleven
Mysterious Friendship
"Ricky wants to put himself in the hospital," Changjo told me.
"Is he crazy? Why in the world would he do that?"
I was already losing energy but I had to continue on.
"It has to do with what I thought Ricky needed to tell you himself. I wasn't changing my song; that wasn't how I got hit. I was texting Ricky and wasn't paying attention. He blames himself for this and hasn't told anyone. This thing between you and Chunji set him over the edge."
Was this Ricky's way to be noticed? I prayed it wasn't as we made our way to a street where Ricky was making his way to the middle.
"Ricky!" I called.
He turned and was surprised to see me. I stopped on the sidewalk in front of him and caught my breath.
"ChaeYoung? How did you find me?"
"It doesn't matter how. Get out of the street right now."
I stepped out and grabbed his wrist.
"No," he said.
He took back his arm and stepped back.
"Yes. Get out and talk to me."
"No. Shouldn't you be with Chunji?"
"Ricky, I'm sorry. I didn't know you guys made a promise and I didn't know you liked me."
"Are you saying if I'd asked you before Chunji you would have said yes to me?"
I shook my head and Ricky started to walk away.
"Get back here!" I ordered going after him.
He stopped abruptly and I knocked into him. He turned around and grabbed me by my arms.
"You want me out of this road?" he asked.
I nodded and checked to see if there were cars coming. Luckily the road was clear right now.
"Then kiss me," he said.
"Kiss him and both of you get out the dang road!" Changjo yelled from the sidewalk.
There was no questioning. I had to kiss him.
This idiot...
"Okay that's enough!"Changjo said.
I stopped the kiss and stepped back. Ricky looked at me with those sweet adorable eyes and I found myself smiling.
"You're still in the street," Changjo commented.
At that time a car turned the corner and my eyes went wide.
"Car," I said.
Ricky turned around and saw the car that was swerving. The driver was clearly drunk. Ricky pushed me away and then I heard Ricky scream in pain. The car drove up a yard into a tree. I called for an ambulance and checked on Ricky. He was clutching at his leg.
"Stupid," I told him and kissed his cheek.
He tried to smile despite the pain.
"You thought I'd let you get hurt?" he asked.
I sat next to Ricky while we waited for the ambulance. All I had was a scrape on my arm. It was nothing compared to him.
I sent a text to everyone telling them to meet me at the hospital and that I'd explain there. I paced the waiting room and waited for someone. L.Joe was the first to arrive.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's Ricky," I said.
"Ricky?"
L.Joe and I turned to the new voice which was Niel. C.A.P came next and last was Chunji.
"What happened to your arm?" he asked as he took my hand.
He looked it over and I avoided his eyes.
"I'm fine. It's Ricky. He's the one who got hit by the car."
"What?!" they all shouted.
"I'd gone out to look for him. When I found him, he was going out in the middle of the street. I tried talking him out of whatever he wanted to do but he wasn't listening. Then a car came and he pushed me out of the way but he was still hit."
Chunji pulled me into a hug and I felt my eyes fill with tears. We sat down and waited for some news. Soon a nurse came out and we all stood.
"Your friend broke his leg and will be needing a cast. He has a temporary one on as of now. But he is awake if you want to go see him."
Chunji took my hand as we were led down to Ricky's room. I was the first to enter with Chunji. Seeing me made Ricky smile. Then his eyes moved down and noticed my hand with Chunji's and the smile disappeared.
"Hey," I said, offering him a smile.
"Idiot!" C.A.P said pushing past us.
He took me by surprise. Usually he was just quiet and wasn't much for talking. He liked to keep to himself.
"I know. You don't have to tell me how stupid I was. I know," Ricky said letting out a sigh.
"What were you thinking?" C.A.P asked.
"I was thinking that it was my fault Changjo is in a coma. I was thinking that maybe if I hurt myself that I'd have a shot with ChaeYoung."
"It's not your fault and there are better ways to get noticed!" C.A.P shouted.
"Besides," Chunji said, "ChaeYoung picked me. It's over."
"It's not over," Ricky said.
He looked at me with those puppy eyes again. I had to talk to him. But what exactly do I tell him? I liked the kiss but do I really want to date him?
After everyone was tired of hearing Ricky say it was his fault, they decided to go and let him rest.
"Do you want me to take you home?" Chunji asked me.
I shook my head and sat down in the seat by the bed.
"I'm staying," I said.
The thought didn't go over well with Chunji but he knew I wasn't going anywhere. He was the last to leave. Making it Ricky and I.
Chapters 8-13 for deleted. I'm re-adding them. No new chapter until Monday though.
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