She tried calling him again, still no answer. She started panicking; she just knew something was wrong. She went downstairs to get something to eat when her phone rang. She looked at it; it was Seth, answering it right away she said, “What’s wrong?”
“Lia, this is Mrs. Rossetti. Seth was in an accident last night on the way home from work.”
Lia sat heavily on the chair, “Oh my God is he alright?” she said in a whisper, too afraid to ask.
“Yes, thank God, they kept him overnight just for observation, because he hit his head. He just woke up and told me to call you to let you know. He’s was so upset that you’d be worried when he didn’t call.”
“Can I talk to him?” Lia asked.
“Yes, here he is,” Mrs. Rossetti said.
“Seth? Are you alright?” Lia blurted before he could say anything.
“Yeah, I’m fine I didn’t want to stay here, but they made me,” he said.
“They wanted to make sure you were ok. Seth what happened?”
“The other driver ran a red light as I was coming thru the intersection. They hit the passenger side between the fender and the door. I guess it could be worse, I don’t know until I look at it.”
“I’m glad you’re alright, the car can be fixed.”
“Yeah I know, but I don’t have anywhere to fix it up here, it’ll cost a fortune at a shop, and I have to wait till the insurance sends me a check. I won’t be able to come down this weekend, but I want you to do what we planned then call me,” he said.
“No I’ll wait till you can come down. Maybe I can ask my Mom and Dad if you can bring it here to fix it,” Lia suggested.
“No, that’ll be too hard to fix it, with me being up here. I’ll think of something.”
“Babe, stop talking about the damn car. I want to know what happened to you.”
“I hit my head on the side window and smashed it. It cut my head right by the temple so they were worried I had a concussion, but I don’t. I guess having a hard head is good,” he said.
“Yeah it is,” she said. “Do you want me to come up there?”
“No, go to school and the game, I’ll call you went they release me. Hopefully they let me play tonight.”
“Do you think they will? Do you think it’s wise?” Lia asked.
“I don’t have a concussion, only a cut above my eye that they stitched a little, so I don’t see why I can’t,” he said.
“Um maybe because if you get hit it’ll break open and start bleeding again. Sit out tonight, Seth,” she pleaded.
“We’ll see, I have to talk to the coach. If the doctor releases me to play, then it’ll be up to him. They should be releasing me soon. I guess, I’ll go to school to talk to him. I wish the idiot wouldn’t have hit me, it ruined all my plans. Now, I can’t get down to see you and I can’t get to work, I’ll have to take the bus. This really sucks.”
“Seth just be glad you weren’t seriously hurt. Not having a car is an inconvenience, but not the end of the world. Was the driver drunk?”
“I don’t know, I was more worried about my car than the driver of the other car. He wasn’t hurt too bad, just scrapes and bruises, all my attention went to my car. Mom? Was the driver drunk?”
“No I don’t think so,” Mrs. Rossetti said.
“No Lia, my Mom doesn’t think so. He probably was distracted,” Seth said. “You better get going, school’s gonna start soon and I don’t want you to be late.”
“Ok I’ll call you later. Love ya,” Lia said.
“Love you too,” Seth said.
Lia sat at the table staring into space. She didn’t notice Cris walking into the kitchen. He looked at her and kept walking to the refrigerator pulled out the orange juice and was pouring himself a glass when he noticed she didn’t move.
“Earth to Lia, are you there Lia?” he teased. When she didn’t respond he shook her a little, “What’s up Lia?”
She looked at him, but didn’t answer right away. She was still trying to come to grips with Seth being in an accident. Even though he was fine she was still shook up. He could’ve been killed. The tears pooled in her eyes threatening to spill over. “Seth was in an accident last night. He’s ok I just talked to him, he has a few stitches above his eye and no concussion.”
“Shit, what happened?”
“I guess the other car ran a red light and hit him on the passenger side right by the door. He doesn’t know the full damage to the car yet,” she said listlessly.
“Lia, he’s fine you talked to him,” Cris said. “It’s too bad about his car though. It can probably be fixed without too much trouble as long as the frame isn’t bent. Nothing a new fender and door can’t fix, he can get one at the junkyard.”
“Why can’t anything go our way? Why does our life have to suck so bad? What the hell did we do that was so wrong?” Lia moaned. “It’s been one thing after another I just don’t get it; everything is trying to keep us apart.”
“It just seems that way right now, but that’s not the case, Lia. You two will always be together. Come on, we have to leave for school. I’ll call him later to see about getting the car fixed, see what parts he needs, the junkyard out side of town has a lot of parts for his car.”
“Well that’s good, but how are you gonna get them to New York?”
“I’m sure Dad will let me take his truck up there with the parts, if that’s what Seth wants to do. Come on we’re late,” Cris said.
~~*~~
School was hard for Lia to get through even though Seth texted her that he was released and at school himself. The day went so slow for her, every time she looked at the clock, it seemed to be standing still. She had the game tonight and she really didn’t want to go, she was depressed with everything going on lately. At least she didn’t have practice right after school; she was going to take that time to talk to Seth. She hoped he wasn’t allowed to play tonight it was too soon after his accident.
Geez, it was now only 1:30 still an hour to go. Is the day ever going to end? She had to talk to Seth, but if she did it now she’d get both of them in trouble. It was just so hard to wait. She kept worrying that his head injury was worse than he let on. She walked the halls in a daze and when everyone kept asking her what was wrong she told them, “Nothing’s wrong, just a bad day.”
She couldn’t take it anymore. So when Tina asked,” Lia, what’s with you today, you’re not your usual self? Did something happen?”
Lia exploded, “Seth was in an accident last night, he’s fine, but I’m worried about him. He went to school today and is going to ask if he can play tonight. All’s I know is that he has a cut above his eye, by the temple, and they kept him overnight as a precaution. God, Tina I can’t take much more! I’m going to lose it soon. If we have one more bad thing happen to us I’m screaming at the top of my lungs and the whole world will hear me!”
“Oh, Honey, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell us before this? You know we’re always there for you,” Tina sympathized.
“I’m tired of telling you guys all my bad luck lately. I don’t think I’m much fun right now and dumping my shit on you is not any fun for you either.”
“We’re your friends, Lia and of course we’ll be here for you no matter what. So how was your weekend with Seth?”
“Just great if you think yelling at his parents for trying to force him to see another girl, and then me punching that girl in the face, a great weekend, then it was. I do have to say, though punching her in the face relieved some of the tension in me,” Lia said laughing.
“Wow, you really are having a bad time of it. Look let’s get together this weekend and have a sleep over like we always used to, just me, you, and Tasha,” Tina said.
“I’ll let you know, it definitely sounds like fun, but have to see what’s going on with Seth. He was to come down, but with his car he didn’t know at the time if he could. He has to see if the car is drivable
. I’m gonna talk to him later so I’ll let you know at the game. Even if he does come down, I think I might sleep over anyhow, but I’ll let you know.”
“Good, I have to run I’ll be late for class. See ya at the game,” Tina said running down the hall.
She sat in her last class staring at the clock constantly, not even remembering a single thing the teacher said. She knew the more she looked at the clock, the slower time seemed to go, but she couldn’t help it. Ten more minutes, come on.
Finally the bell rang, grabbing her books and book bag she shot out the door before anyone else could. She headed straight down the hall and out the front doors to call him. She pulled her phone out of her purse and it started ringing. Looking at it she saw Seth’s number.
She answered right away, “Hey, Babe, how are you?” she asked.
“Ok, a little stiff, but ok. The doctor said I can play tonight, no fractures, no concussion and the coach spoke to the doctor and I can play tonight, which is great news because a few scouts are coming to the game to check out a few players. Hopefully I’ll be one of them. Who knows,” he said.
“Well I guess that’s great for you. I’m just worried that you’ll get hurt after the accident you just had,” she said listless.
“I’m not hurt; they took every possible test they could last night thanks to my Mom. Be happy for me Lia, this is the reason you wanted me to play up here,” he said slowly not wanting to cause an argument.
“I am happy for you and you’re right this is what I want you to do. I’m just worried because I’m not there to see how you are. Play great tonight and call me later I want to know how it went.”
“You hanging up on me?”
“No I’m not, I’m just reminding you to call later. Hey what’s up with your car?”
“Needs a new front quarter panel and passenger door, but I’m able to drive it. Cris texted me earlier, to see what’s wrong with it. So I can come down tomorrow, we’re gonna go to the junk yard to get the parts and fix it tomorrow, it’ll probably take most of the day, but the night’s all yours.”
“Well can we reverse that and I’ll have the afternoon after I get off work, because Tina asked me to have a girls night at her house and I really want to hang out with her and Tasha. You don’t mind do you?”
“No Cris and I’ll go get the stuff before you get off and then we’ll fix it at night.”
“Ok, if it’s not a problem. I don’t think I want to sleepover with you being down, so I’ll tell her just for a few hours.”
They talked for a few more minutes about their plans and before she hung up she told him, “Good luck tonight and play great. Don’t forget to call me afterwards.”
“I won’t. On Sunday morning you have to take that test. We’ll find some place for you to.” he said.
“I can take that any time anywhere. Right now I’m not worried about that, I’m worried you’ll get hurt tonight.”
“I won’t, nothing different from any other game. But the coach did tell me that if I play the way I did last weekend the scouts will definitely be looking at me too.”
“That’s great, did he tell you which ones where coming?”
“No he didn’t, it doesn’t matter which ones. If I have some then maybe others closer to home will be interested.”
“That’s true never thought of that. Play your best and see what happens,” she said a little more encouraging than before.
~~*~~
“Tina did you still want to get together tomorrow?” Lia asked when she got to the game.
“Can we do it tonight instead? Tasha can’t tomorrow she’s going away,” Tina replied.
“Yeah that works better, because Seth’s car isn’t as bad as he thought and he’s coming down tomorrow so Cris and him can fix it. I was going to tell you that I could come by for a few hours, but tonight works better. I’ll call my Mom to make sure,” Lia said.
“Isn’t she coming to the game, just ask her then, we have to practice.”
Lia hesitated not wanting to show she was afraid of getting hit again, and really not wanting to be the base for Syd anymore. The girl was all over the place most of the time; she could stick it only once in a while. She needed to talk to Tasha about putting her somewhere else she wasn’t a good flyer for the hard stuff. Her confidence wasn’t there and until she got that she’d be all over the place.
“Tasha, can I talk to you before we practice?” Lia asked.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I was thinking over the week that Syd really shouldn’t be trying the hard stunts, she can’t do them. She has no confidence in herself and I seriously don’t want to get hurt again. So practicing with her out here isn’t a good idea. She gets distracted too easily,” Lia reasoned.
“I know you’re right, but we need her to go up,” Tasha said.
“But not out here. We can work on getting her confidence up in the gym then she’ll be able to do it out here. You know my head hurt so bad last week when she hit me and I don’t want to do that again. We’ll just do the easier stuff tonight with her, if that’s alright.”
“You’re probably right, you’re her base so you know what she can and cannot do. Keep her stuff easy tonight and we’ll build on that. If it doesn’t work out after a little, we’ll have to replace her with someone else. Who? I don’t know,” Tasha agreed. “Let’s start practice and I’ll let her know. Maybe if we keep it simple for her she’ll gain the confidence she needs and then we can move her to the harder stuff.”
“That’s what I think too. Thanks, Tasha for listening to me,” Lia said.
“Why wouldn’t I you’re my assistant captain and I know you know your stuff?”
Chapter 26
Seth surprised Lia at work the next day when he walked into the store. He was watching her help a customer and realized just how much he missed her. She didn’t see him and walked the other way. He followed her and walked up right behind her and asked, “Can I have some help here; no one in this store wants to help anyone.”
She quickly turned around laughing, “What are you doing here?”
“Picking my fiancé up from work, you get off soon right?”
“Yeah in about fifteen minutes. Your cut looks pretty bad. How did the game go last night? Were the scouts there and did they say anything? Sorry I missed your call I stayed at Tina’s last night and I guess I kinda fell asleep early,” Lia said.
“Let’s take this one at a time. My cut is fine, the game went great we won, and it was a really good team we played. The scouts were there and yes they talked to the coach about some of us and I was one of them, but we don’t know what was said exactly,” he answered.
“That’s great, but your coach didn’t tell you guys anything?”
“No, he didn’t have any real details. Later in the season if they’re still interested they’ll come back with some other people from the schools and speak with us. I’m just glad I was included since I’m so new there,” he said.
“That’s great, we’ll talk more about it later I have to get back to work before you get me fired,” she said. “Wait in the mall for me.”
Seth sat on one of the benches right outside of her work waiting. He saw some friends he knew he walked over to them; they were talking and laughing when Lia walked out of the store twenty minutes later. Walking over to the bunch of them, “Hey guys,” she said to the group. “Are you ready to go home?” she asked Seth.
“Yeah I’m ready. I want to get my car fixed,” Seth said. They walked through the mall hand in hand and when they went out to the parking lot and to his car, she was shocked at how bad the accident really was.
“I thought it was just small dent, but this worse than I thought.” There was huge dent between the front quarter panel and the door. It didn’t look like the door would be able to open. The window in the door wasn’t there, and the windshield had a nasty crack going from the passenger side to the middle. I
t looked like a spider wed crawling across the windshield. “Is the frame cracked?”
“No thank God. The car’s paint won’t match the new parts we got, but I’m going to have it painted when the insurance money comes in.”
“You could have been seriously hurt,” Lia stated.
“But I wasn’t. You know what the first thing I thought of as I sat in the car after the accident, before I even got out?”
“No, what?”
“That you could have been sitting in that seat, and you could have been hurt bad or dead. I thanked God you weren’t. A cut on my head and replacing some parts on my car is nothing compared to those few seconds I sat there thinking you could have been hurt.”
“You thought of me seconds after the accident happened? I would have thought you would have thought of your car,” she teased to lighten the mood he was in.
“Funny, actually it was the last thing, I got out and checked on the other driver first, then freaked out about my car, smarty pants,” he joked.
“Ok so how do I get in the car? I assume the door doesn’t open.”
“You have to crawl through from the driver’s side. Be careful I tried to get as much of the glass cleaned up, but there might me more”
Lia climbed over the driver’s seat, and the stick shift looking for anymore broken glass. She sat on the seat and put her seat belt on. Seth got in and started the engine. “Well at least it was only cosmetic damage and nothing else,” she said.
“Hopefully, Cris and I are gonna take a good look once we take the car apart. I was glad they had all the parts we know we need, and they had a windshield there too. That won’t go in until we’re done with the other stuff. I think everything else is fine. I got down here with no problems. My Dad did look at it and he didn’t think anything serious was wrong, and the guy who towed it put it up on the lift and checked the frame before my dad brought it home.”