Fright

♧

James remarked after observing Lena in the cafeteria for a short time.

"Do I? Well, I couldn't sleep a wink last night because my little sister had a fever," she replied in such a weary tone, looking like a mirthless ghost. An attractive ghost. At least in the eyes of James when they both sat across each other. "But my dad is taking a few days off from work. He'll take care of her, I suppose." She then ate her food in stony silence.

There was a shrill from a bunch of loud students as they came over to their table. Lena didn't know who these people were until James introduced them.

"Lena, these are all my cronies here. Joe, Victor, Hailey, and Nolan," he said as all of them shook Lena's hands. One of them in the group, Victor, boldly kissed her hands in a seductive manner. "Hello there, milady. James told me a lot about you." he winked when James smacked him by the arm in repulsion and flashed him with a glare.

"Ow! Jeez, man. It's not like she's Clara."

Victor rubbed his arms and suddenly cracked a smirk.

Clara?

"Oh yeah, what happened with the two of you anyway? You guys had a fight or something?" queried a tall, lean, blondie who happened to be Hailey.

"We broke up." was James' blank reply.

Before anyone wanted to ask why, Joe stepped in to avoid the conversation of his friend's personal love life and said, "Lucky for you, your birthday is going to be soon in a few days. Care for us to explain why you haven't invited us to your birthday party yet?"

"I was going to. But I don't know where exactly, since my parents are away for a while. I will invite all of you, that's for sure. Probably we can celebrate my birthday back at my gran's place. What do you guys think?"

Then Hailey reminded quickly,

"You know very well that she is not fond of us."

"Except that we are nothing but pieces of shits." put in Victor bitterly.

"Come on, guys. Give it a rest." James held his laugh. "You know how she reacts when we all have a habit of drinking and smoking weeds in her house," explained James. "Try not to get caught if you are in her place. She thinks it's ill-mannered, so she might as well kick you out for that."

When school ended, at last, Lena thrust outside the building and fled her way to the parking lot. She was expecting James would come at any moment. But just by a few moments ahead, she decided to use the public phone around the corner of the street. She went there, fumbled the phone and pulled it out as she dialed the number. Finally, it appeared to be Betty's muffled voice on the end of the line.

"Hello, Betty is everything alright?"

Lena was already concerned just when she heard Betty's gentle sob on the phone.

"Lena—Serena—the poor little thing—she's awfully sick and it's getting worse. Your father had to bring her to-" Betty didn't finish her sentence.

"Where are they?" Lena forced herself to be calm.

"They're in the hospital right now. Your father tried to phone your school but no one picked it up."

Well, Of course. The school office was not doing their part well. Great. Can anything be worse than this? Lena cursed a few words under her breath before she hung up. She was worried sick, and so Lena burst out and carried her legs where she sped toward the parking lot. She spotted James, who was waiting for her in the same spot where he usually stood.

"James, I hope you don't mind if you can just drop me off at the hospital?" Lena asked hurriedly. "Don't worry, you don't have to wait for me there."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's my little sister. She's sick-" Lena wanted to cry at that moment, but she wouldn't dare to cry in front of James. Eventually, he started the car and led her inside.

Luckily enough, there were no signs of traffic in the street. Lena's hands were cold as ice, as she was twiddling her bracelet just to repress her feelings on their way. James knew what this silence meant, and he slipped his hand lightly on hers. It was a warm touch, it eased her anxious mood a little and she was trying to put her troubled thoughts out of the way.

"I'm all ears if you want to talk." James began, still not letting his other hand go while he was driving.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have opened the window last night while she was sleeping," her eyes were almost filled with tears.

"I know why now. She got a fever because of me."

"You didn't know, Lena. So, it's not really your fault," James reassured her, as he pressed her hand in a clasp.

Her hands felt cold and motionless, but he still held her.

"How old is your sister by the way?"

Lena hastily wiped the tears that were beginning to bother her.

"She's just about eight-months now."

As soon as they arrived in the hospital, they came in and saw Betty carrying Serena outside of the elevator.

"Lena, you're here," Betty approached her. She noticed there was a fine-looking guy beside Lena that caught her attention even for a situation like this.

"Is this your friend?"

"Yes, this is James. He came by to drop me off."

Lena leaned aside to check her little sister while she was having a deep sleep, "How is she?"

"She's fine, thank God. The doctor said that she is just having a cold fever. Your father is going to get in touch with the doctor just to know why the poor little darling had a terribly hard time to breathe."

"Is that so?" Lena couldn't handle the wee face before her. She took her little sister out of Betty's arms and began to kiss her bare head as she smelled the scented baby powder. "I should've been there with you-" she whispered.

By the time night came, James offered Lena and her family to drop them off back at their house. Lena initially wanted to politely refuse his offer but without a chance to, Mr. Foster intervened and took the offer with all his pleasure. James took this as a compliment, and he was deeply pleased with the approval.

When they finally reached the house, Mr. Foster thanked James and offered him in return to eat dinner with them inside. In all honesty, he was reluctant to join because he supposed that it would interrupt the family. But he knew for a fact that he couldn't be impolite especially in the presence of Lena's father, so he approved of this generous invitation anyway.

They spent their time talking together in the dining room, while Lena was carefully preparing for dinner. Here she was, dutifully setting the table and lighting the candle. The aroma scent sailed everywhere in the room as she placed the few slices of roasted turkey, green beans, and mashed potatoes on their empty plates.

"Now this is my daughter I am talking about," her father proudly stated.

"Seems like we are having a feast of thanksgiving."

During the hour of their dinner, James and her father got along quite well. It was as if they knew each other long ago and now they became so close as if they had shared a lifetime together.

Was it because her father was a loner now? Ever since his wife passed away, he didn't seem to be the jolly father Lena once knew. He seemed to be if he was not alone and it never seemed to bother him if he would throw smiles at anyone. No doubt, her father was a kind-hearted man even until now. But those eyes of his transformed into something else.

Deep down, she knew as his daughter, the look of grief and pain still mingled in his eyes. He hardly ever mentioned his wife, but there was always a look that he could never hide.

"Last time I saw him," Mr. Foster began, gulping down his drink. "We had a fight because of a baseball game in high school. Our team had won which means his team lost. I can still recall the mad look in his eyes, how furious he was, he just bottled it all in," Mr. Foster continued.

"Not to mention how bulky he was then."

"I guess he couldn't accept the fact that he was a loser-" James remarked frankly.

"Yes indeed, the young lad was too obstinate. He expects to have what he wants right in front of him. I guess that's what the trouble is all about when parents spoil you too much. They'll think you are entitled to everything you do in this world. But I say, it's certainly not how the world works." He mused afterward,

"I wonder what he accomplished now."

"Your father seems to be a good guy," James said when they were both out at the gate after dinner ended.

"He is." Lena smiled and said no more.

"You look cute when you are all tuckered out did you know that?" James teased her.

"Am I?"

She was well aware of what happened last night, considering that she had been staying awake in the middle of the night lacking her usual bedtime. But being called cute while she was bushed...

Her face was wholly bewildered.

Is he flirting with me?

Lena thought as her curiosity flared up.

"I thought it was the other way around." Lena retorted.

James shook his head in disbelief.

"Nope, you are. But most girls won't take that as a compliment, right? For the sake of playing the game and all. Are you that kind of girl Lena?" he was close to her by now. His look was irresistibly handsome when his silver eyes gazed into hers, and his voice was much deeper than it was before.

He is flirting with me.

It was enough of a surprise for her. Considering that she was aware of it, but she never really knew how to move along with it.

"I ask you then." Lena lobbed at his absurd question.

"Huh. You are different," James folded his arms across his chest.

"I think somehow I am growing to like you."

"In what way of liking me?" she inquired incredulously.

"I have no idea. You do interest me, and I am sure I am not the only young fella here who said this in your life," he assumed then scratched the back of his neck after repeating those words in the back of his mind."Um-yeah you get what I mean."

"Yes. I get it. But really, I am not so far different as you all are," Lena responded, half defensively. "I am just the same, you know. I am rather old fashioned. Probably because of the way I am brought up in. But I make mistakes just as much as you all do," she said and expected his blunt remark would inevitably happen.

"I hear you. I am implying that you're different in a good way, that's all," he then kissed her gently upon her round cheek and giving her a final goodbye.

"Goodnight, my Lena." and out he went with a farewell wave.