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Name: Truth
Author: KyleKamei
Rating: R
Genre: General/Drama
Chapters: 5
Words: 12214
Published: 9/8/02
Updated: 9/17/03
Complete: Yes

Description: An accident changes Slash's life forever. Alcohol, younger viewers bewared and drinking kills brain cells so don't do it. I personally think alcohol should be outlawed. rating change due to added content.

Disclaimer (By Author): I don't own any of the Snowboard Kids. They
belong to those guys that created them... Um, I am doing this for
my own pleasure and I'm not making any money off this story.

Story

Chapter 1

"You'll never walk again."


The doctor's words repeated themselves over and over in my head. I didn't
really remember much about the accident, at least that is what everyone was
calling it. My doctor had said my mother had informed her that I'd fallen
backwards down the stairs. All I could remember though was running up the
stairs, everything after that was blank. The doctor was pretty sure that most
of my memory would returne to me though. So far I'd been in the hospital
for about three weeks, I had regained consiousness the day before. Since then
only my mother and Jam have come to visit.

I sighed and continued to stare at the ceiling. It was weird not being able to
feel anything below my waist and I was still trying to get used to the fact
that I'd never snowboard again.


"Slash?" I looked over at the door. A girl about sixteen, the same age as me,
with brown, shoulder length hair stood in the doorway.


"Linda? What are you doing here?" I asked, I guess it was kind of a stupid
question, after all it was pretty obvious why. She smiled at me.


"Well I have someone here who really wanted to come and see you," she paused
for a moment and looked behind her, "Unfourtunatly he fell asleep on the ride
down." She smiled brightly and made her way into the room. She had a stroller
with her, careful not to wake it's sleeping occupant she positioned
it by the bed and took a seat.

I looked down at my son, Kyle, and smiled. He hated to take naps and always
wanted to go with either Linda or I if it involved a ride in the car, but he
always fell asleep.


"How have you been? You're mother told me everything the doctor said." She
finished the sentance quietly. I sighed again.


"I'm ok, I guess, I mean I can't exactly do anything about all this so I might
as well just deal with it." Linda got a worried look on her face. I new
what she was thinking, only about six months ago I'd gotten into some big
trouble because I had decided to 'just deal with it'. "I'm fine Linda, besides
they have me talking to a counsellor about this." I told her. She relaxed
a little bit. Kyle shifted in his stroller and yawned. He opened his eyes
and looked up at me. He tried for a second to undo the strap on his stroller
before looking up at Linda. She reached over and let him out of the stroller.
Kyle then stood there for a second examining the bed, before he
could try climbing it Linda picked him up and put him beside me. He crawled
forward and hugged me.

"Hi daddy," He said. I hugged him back.

"Hey, big guy, you taking care of your mom?" Kyle nodded and rested his
head on my shoulder. "You still tired?" I asked. He gave me a look.

"No nap!" He said, I laughed a little.

"Ok, no nap." I hugged him again and pushed back his hair.


***


Later, after Linda and Kyle left, two detectives came into my room. I was
surprised when they said they wanted to know about what had happened. To my
understanding it was an accident.

"Mr. Kamei we need to know what you remember about your... accident,"
there was something about the way he said 'accident' that gave me
a funny feeling.

"Um, to tell the truth I don't remember anything. Why? It WAS only and accident
so it shouldn't be all that mysterious." The two detectives shared a look.
The one standing closest to me cleared his throat.

"One of the doctors that worked you over in the Emergancy Room called
us in right after you came in. We were told that your mother and father
both said it was an accident. The doctor also said that some of your injuries
aren't quite consistant with slipping at the top of the stairs." I blinked
a couple of times.

"Like what?" I asked, I had checked my self over as much as I could. I
had a few bruises on my back, a broken arm, and, from the look of the cast,
a broken leg too. Then there was the other injury, the one that was the most
obvious to me, but not to others. Again the two detective shared a look.

"Well for one, the doctor was a bit alarmed by the number of older bruises,"
The one farthest from me replied, I sighed.

"I snowboard, and I do it fast. If I wipe out then I'm bound to have a
few bruises." I said. The two older men looked at each other.

"We where also informed that the fracture in your wrist is a spiral
fracture. In other words you arm had to be twisted to cause that injury." I
looked down at my wrist. Because of the cast I couldn't see if there was any
bruising, which there probably was, I traced a little picture Linda had let Kyle draw, well scribble, before I came to.

"It coulda gotten caught in the railing or something..." I said,
shrugging. The younger of the two detectives sat down in the chair.

"Have either of your parents ever actually hurt you?" He asked. I shook
my head. The detective looked me right in the eye. I sighed again.

"Look, my dad stopped all that a long time ago. He hasn't hurt me since
mom made him go see that counsellor, and I know he's still going cause
she wants me there sometimes." The detective sat back in the chair.

"But he has hurt you before?" I look down at the blankets.

"Well, when I was little he did but not now. 'Sides, he knows that if
he trys it now he'd get into real trouble, and not just with my mom. But like
I said, he hasn't hurt me in, like, six years." The detective that was standing
leaned over and said something to his partner. The younger one stood up.

"I just want you to think about it, ok? We only want to help." The two left.
I sighed and let my head fall back on the pillow.

***


That night I was lying in bed, the light from the hallway came in through my open
door and gave just enough light to actually read what everyone wrote on
my cast. Some of them where pretty funny, Jam actually wrote 'I guess this
means I can't get any now.', while others where just sweet. I ran my fingure
over Kyle's scribble again, remembering the interview with the detectives.
They weren't really all suttle with any of there questions, and it
made me uneasy knowing they thought my dad did it. I was sure he hadn't after
all. I looked around and just as I was seariously considering ringing for the
nurse to see if she could get me a pizza or some thing I heard a quiet
'hello?'. I looked over at the door. A girl who was probably about two
years younger than me was standing there. The first two things I noticed
about here where, one) she was black, we don't get very many back people
around here, and two) she was leaning heavily on crutches and had a cast up
to her waist on one leg. I examined her for a second and smiled.

"Hey, you wanna come in and sit down? If you can that is..." Her eyes
followed mine to the cast, she smiled and made her way to the chair. On her
way she hooked a second chair from a nearby empty bed and dragged it to my bed
side. I gave her an odd look as she used her crutch on her good side to
drag the chair the aranged it infront of the other chair after leaning
the crutch against the wall. She sat down, picked up her leg by hand and
set it on the chair.
"It's the most comfortable this way. I learned to do that before the surgery
I had the same kind of cast as now. I hated having to ask people to do things
for me." She said, "the nurses seem to be happy about it." I chuckled to
my self, at her questioning look I replied,
"The nurses are going to be happy twice over then, when they find out you saved
them from a bord me. By the way I'm Slash, and you are..." I extended
my good hand as much as I could, it was hard since it was my left hand and
she was on my right side. I couldn't lean over that way too much because
everything below a certin point wouldn't move, not just my legs. She took it,
"I'm Carol. I did something to my knee while I was skiing, I just hope I
can ride my horse still. What are you in for?" I leaned back.
"Well everyone tells me that I fell down the stairs, I'm going to have to
believe them because I don't remember anything. And I just hope I can get
out of this bed sometime soon..." I hold up my cast and point to the scribble.
"My son even drew me a picture while I was out." I say. She smiles and looks
at it.
"How old is he?" She asked.
"Two, and not really all that terrible, well except that he's developed a
sence of modestly early and will only have a bath if he has his bathing suit
on or he's alone." She nodded, she tilted her head and examind me.
"Um, if you don't mine me asking, but how old are you?" I put my wrist down.
"I don't mind, I'm sixteen." I say. She nods slowly, I can tell what she's
thinking.
"Well then, why can't you get out of bed yet?" She asked. I'm silent for a
second. lay my good arm just above my belly button.
"Cause everything from about here down isn't working any more." I say. She's
silent for a bit. She was about to say something when someone clearing
there throat cut her off.
"Carol, you should be in bed and Slash should be asleep." I sigh and look
at the nurse.
"I'm hungry, can I have glass of water? I want my mommy, my leg hurts, can
you read me a story?" I say giving her the same look I get from Kyle when
it's 'no nap' time. Smiled.
"Breakfast is in a few hours. I'll get you a glass of water if you really
want one. Your mommy is at home. Your leg CAN'T hurt, your spinal cord
was completely severd and you kow it, and you read your self a story before
lights out." I sigh and dropped my head back on the pillow.
"So can I have the glass of water and the door closed then?" The nurse noded
and got me a glass of water, she then ushered Carol out of the room, closing
the door on the way. I lay there in the low light with the water on my
bed side table. I look over at the window and wonder if they'd put me in the
other bed so I can see out side. My thoughts don't last too long though,
as I soon fell asleep.

***


The next morning I awoke to find my mom sitting in the chair by my bed. She looked
up when I attempted to sit, forgetting about my arm and my back. I cursed
to my self when I couldn't get my head more than eight or so inches from
the pillow.
"You really should stay lying down." She said. I looked over at her, her
eyes were red and puffy.
"Mmm, I think that is kind of a given." I say lying back down. I look over at
her. "Are you ok mom?" I ask quietly. She nods.
"I've just been so worried lately. When I saw you fall I was certin I'd lost you."
I was silent for a second. I reached over and took her hand.
"I'm fine though. I'm still here." She smiled at me. She stood up and hugged me.
"Your father asked me to bring this. I didn't look inside, but he said you might
want it." Surprised, I took the shoe box from my mom. I had thought
no one even knew about it. Inside were some of my more private possions,
like my journal. The thought that me father knew about it scared me. I
wondered to my self if he had known about everything that had happened
just months prior. I put the box on my bed tray and looked over at my mom.
"Uh, thanks." I stared at the ceiling for a second. "Is he gonna come and see me?" I ask. I hear her sigh.
"You know he hates hospitals. He was here the day you fell, but I don't think
that he'll show up again. You could always call him you know." I looked
over at her.
"I could." I say quietly. My mother is silent for a second.
"I should be going. It's laundry day and your father needs his good suit
tomorrow." I nod and watch as she leaves the room. I look around and my
eyes fall on the box. I pick it up again and remove the top. I tip it so that
I can see the contents. There was and old candle that has been burned almost
down to the end and some matches. There was also a tiny flashlight and
a few pictures Jam had take of himself with his digital camera and given
me. I smiled at that memory, he had laughed so hard at my reaction to the
unique gift. There was also two journals. On was full, I pulled the other
one out and opened it the the last page. There wasn't much written on it.
Just a few short lines, in messy, nearly illegable hand writting. I closed
the book and put it back in the box and put the box back on the table
and lay back, I close my eyes and silently beat my self up for worrieing
my mother so much in such a short period of time.

Chapter 2

Wiping away a tear, I watched my son. It looked just like he was sleeping. The doctors said that he should wake up with in the week. They also said that he would never walk again.
I took his good hand and brought his fingures to my lips. I lowered the hand back down and rested it on the bed.
"Mrs. Kamei," I looked up at the doctor and couldn't help but thinking again that he seemed to young to be in this profession. "Transport should be down shortly to take your son up." I nod, not really listening to him. "I just need to be sure I have everything right. You said your son fell down the stairs?" again I nod. The memory of Slash falling backwards down the stairway at home brought more tears to my eyes.
"All right," he jotted something down, smiled and left. It was silent for a few moments, nothing but the sound of a steady beep of the heart monitor. It was broken, however, when my husband entered the room. He let out a loud sigh and practiacally fell into the chair beside me.
"Haven't they come yet?" He asked, more than a little irritated.
"The doctor said they should be here soon." I replied quietly.
"'The doctor said'," He mocked in a high pitched voice, "what the doctor said was that my son would be in the ICU in his own room before the end of the hour." He stood up again, "And that was an hour and a half ago." I sighed and got up too. I stood beside him and rested my hand on his shoulder.
"Honey, I'm sure they are very busy right now. Just give it time." He turned and glared at me.
"Nanako, please. I'm tired of giving anything time. Besides this never would have happened if it weren't for you." I looked down at the floor and bit my lip. Tears filled my eyes again, this time I tried to hold them back the best I could. I would not blame myself for this, it was an accident. I was about to reply when two orderlies came into the room.
"We're here to take a..." One of the men looked at a clipboard, "Slash Kamie up to the ICU. I take it you two are the parents?" He asked. I noded and gathered up the bag of stuff the ER nurse had given me and followed my son's bed out of the room.

***

*Three Weeks later*

I quickly left my sons room. After the argument with my husband down in the ER weeks earlier I had blamed myself. After leaving, I went to my car and got in. I sat there for a few moment without turning it on, and cried. When I finally composed myself I started the car and headed for home.
When I got there my husband was on the phone talking to, what sounded like, a contractor. Now that my son couldn't walk, we had to make the house wheelchair accessable. I took a quick look at the clock and started on dinner. For the past four days my husband and I haven't spoken much. Just a quick hello or goodbye. That is why I was surprised when he hung up the phone and asked me a question,
"How is he?" I looked back at the man at the table.
"He wants you to come see him sometime, if you are up to it." He nodded.
"did you give him the box?" I started peeling the carrots.
"Yes, he said thank you." He was silent. I heard him get up from the table. He came over and gave me a quick peck on the top of my head before heading out.
"I'll be back in time for dinner." Silently I listened to him pull on his coat and leave. About five minutes after my husband left, there was knock on the door. Wiping my hands on a dish towel I went to answer it. To my surprise there where two detectives at the door.
"Mrs. Kamei, we'd like to have a word with you if that is ok," I noded and stepped back.
"I'm detective Stevston and this is my partner detective Anderson." The older of the two said, motioning to himself then to his partner.
"How may I be of help?" I asked. Detective Anderson cleared his throat.
"Well we would like to know everything that happened at the time of the accident." I motioned for the two men to sit.
"Oh, well can I get you two anything to drink first?" I asked they both shook their heads. I noded again and sat down across from them.
"Well, nothing out of the ordinary. Slash came home a little later then usual and when my husband asked him about it they got into a bit of an argument. Now Slash never liked fighting, and certinly not with his father so he headed off to his room. I'm not o sure what happened to cause him to fall, but I heard a little cry and a thump, my husband and I came out here and found Slash..." I wasn't able to finish, tears filled my eyes and started running down my cheek. One of the detectives handed me a box of tissue from the table beside him.
"Thank you." I managed, I regained my composure and dried my eyes. "He was out when he found him. Jeff called and ambulance right then." I straightened my top and balled up the tisssue in my hand. Detective Stevston finished writing down what I had said.
"Mrs. Kamei, are you sure that neither you nor your husband followed your son into the front hall here?" He asked when he was done. I noded.
"I'm posative. I was scolding my husband for being so hard on Slash, you know he just wants his son to grow up to be a good person." They noded. I smiled faintly at them.
"Well that is all for now." I stood up ans walked them to the door. "We'll drop by if we need anything else," I noded again and shut the door behind them. Once the door was closed I leaned against it and started crying again.

Chapter 3

Just after dinner that day Carol came to see me. She sat in the same
chair as last time, with leg up. I looked over at her.

"Well I guess I don't have to tell you there's no need to
knock." I said. She smiled at me.

"The door was open. How are you today?" She leans back in the
chair. I look over at the bed nearst the window.

"I want that bed but they won't move me for another month or
so... I'm not happy." I pout. She laughs.

"So why won't they move you?" She asked.

"Because they had to put pins in my back and they want to be sure
that they won't come out or anything." She noded.

"The surgeon had to put some pins up here," she pointed to just
below her hip.

"Great, we can set off the metal detector together then." I give
her a goofy smile, she laughs again.

"Sounds good to me. How long are here?" I look over at her.

"To long. I have to stay until my back is healed. Then I get to
come back three times a week for rehab. They said in a month or so
I can start moving around, but I have to have someone transfer me
from bed and stuff." I lay back on the bed and stair at the
ceiling.

"That sucks." I nod. "Do you rember what happened yet?" I shake
my head. We are both silent for a while. I was about to say
something when there was a soft knock on the door. Carol and I both
look over. Linda was there with Kyle in her arms. Kyle was looking
a little upset.

"Hey, what's wrong with him?" I ask. Linda sighed.

"Not to sure, I think he had a nightmare though." I reach out and
Linda puts him on the bed with me. I hug him.

"You gonna be ok?" I ask Kyle. He snuggles in closer to me. I
look back up at Linda. "He probably did." I notice that Carol and
Linda were glancing at each other. "Oh, Carol, this is Linda," I
point to Linda, "And this is Kyle," I push back Kyle'e bangs, he
was almost asleep again. "Linda, Carol. " The two girls shake
hands. I Look back at Linda, "How's Jam?" I ask.

"Busy and worried. He said to tell you that he'll come see you as
soon as he can." I nod. Carol stands up positioning her crutches
under her arms.

"I should be going anyway, my dad is going to stop by to night."
Linda and I both say good bye. We sit talking for a while before
she had to take Kyle home. At about seven that night my doctor came
in. watched him do all the things that he usually does. He stoppes
and sits by my bed.

"Tomorrow I want to take out the foley cathiter." I give him an
odd look. He smiles, "when you first came in the doctor who was
taking care of you put in a small tube to prevent urine
retention." I was silent for a second. There was only one pace I could
think of where they'd put something like that, I promptly looked
under the covers.

"Um, ok, so how am I supposed to go?" I ask.

"For the first while a nurse will come in regularly to help you
with that, once you're allowed to start moving around you will
learn to do it yourself." I'm silent again.

"So why now?" I say finally.

"Because techincally you have to retrain your self to know when
you have to go and this will help. I should warn you though, this
is when you are prone to accidents." I guess I got a weird look on
my face because the doctor laughed.

"That is why a nurse will come in every four hours or so. To
prevent it from happening." I nod. After explaining a few more things
to me the doctor got up and left.

I layed on my bed staring at the ceiling. It didn't take long
for me to start feeling depressed. I looked over at the clock. It
was almost eight, the councilor the doctor had me talking to
usually came around this time.

"Well at least I don't have to feel depressed alone," I say aloud
to myself. I recieved a bit of a shock when a voice answered.

"Why are you feeling depressed?" I looked over at the door. Miss.
Marie Lopez was standing there. She was my coucellor. She wasn't
too tall, maybe about the same hight as me, 5'5. The south american
in her was quite obvious and she always said that her and I share a
special bond because, just like I was half japanese, she was half
spanish. In our first meeting she also said that the doctor didn't
send an actual psychiatrist because that would have been
intimidating.

She took the seat beside me, the one that everyone seems to
be taking. She noticed the other chair positioned in front of it.

"You've had a busy day?" She asked. I shrugged.

"I guess, everyone seems to want to come see me when I'm feeling
the worst. The other chair was for Carol though." She was silent
for a second.

"The girl down the hall?" She asked. I nod, "How do you feel
about her visit?" I look up at her.

"Well it's nice to know someone who's stuck in this place like
me. She actually came by last night, that was when I met her. She
stopped by again just after dinner." Marie shifted and crossed one
leg over the other.

"So, mind telling me why you are depressed?" I look over at her.

"Why do you think, over the past year and a half I have, ruined
my life, screwed up my relationship with my son's mother, had the
worst falling out possible with my boyfriend and to top it all off
I can't walk because of and accident I can't remember." She did
pretty well hiding her joy over the fact that I was finally willing
to say something about, well anything, but I still picked up on it.

"Well talking might help you feel better about life in general."
I sighed and looked over at her.

"You just want to here my life story." I said. She folded her
hands.

"I do, that's why I took this job." I rolled my eyes and shook my
head.

"Fine, you want to here about my stupidity then just tell me
where to start." She leaned back.

"How about the begining." I look over at her and shrug.

"Ok, well it was a dark and stormy nigh sixteen years ago, I
wasn't quite born yet but I sure wanted to be..." I trail off at her
soft laugh. I smile at her.

"Ok, try fast forwarding to a year and a half ago." I lay back,
silent for a second. Finally I start to speak...

*Flashback (ok I know these are annoying but it beats having to write a
whole nother story)*

... I stared at my self in the mirror, dressed in a red button down
shirt and my best jeans, I looked ready for anything. Jam and I had
decided to go down to a party his cousin was having. I wasn't much
in the mood, but I had promised Jam I'd go and I never go back on a
promise. I sighed and flopped back on the bed. I had been feeling
pretty down, my dad had been on my back about everything. My mom
had said he was just having a stressful time at work, but felt to
me as if he just wanted a good punching bag again. I looked over at
the clock, six thirty, Jam would be arriving soon. I pushed my self
up and headed for the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and my hair and
headed down stairs. My dad was in the living room, he took one look
at me and started up again.

"Where the hell are you going?" He asked. I glared at him.

"Out with Jam," I answered. He glared at me.

"Your staing home!" He staded. I gave him a surprised look, both
him and my mom had said that I could go, weeks ago.

"You all ready said I could go." I said. He put down the paper.

"I don't care, I don't want you out tonight." I glare at him.

"Well you can't exactly stop me." I said, I was starting to get
angry. My dad beat me to it though. He stood up.

"Slash, I can stop you. And if your not careful, I will." I took
a step back. my anger suddenly took over my body.

"No, you can't and if you do try you'll be in trouble and you
know it." I yelled, with that I turned and ran out the front door
slamming it in the process. I walk over to Jam's house. I could see
his bedroom light on. His parents were on a trip so he had the
house to himself. I realised that I'd forgetten my shoes when I stepped
in a puddle and practically froze my foot off. I made my way up to
Jam's front door. I was about to knock when I figured, what the
hell, and pushed open the door. I stepped inside and removed my
socks to save the carpet from being ruined. I slowly headed up
stairs. Jam's door was ajar. I pushed it open to find him in his
boxers, going through his dresser. I stood there watching him dance to
music that was playing softly on his CD player. He must have felt
my eyes, because he turned around and smiled at me.

"Hey Slash," I tried to smile but fail completely. Jam quickly
crossed the room and pulled me into a hug.

"What wrong?" He asked, holding me. I wrap my arms around his
waist.

"I'm cold, my socks are wet and my dad hates me." I feel him
smile into my head.

"Well I'm pretty sure I can warm you up if you let me, you can
borrow a pair of my socks and I doubt your dad really hates you."
He said, leading my over to the bed. He sits me down and sits
beside me. He wraps his arms around me agian and kisses me on the lips.
When we part I lay my head on his shoulder.

"I just wanna get out of here and forget everything." I say.

"Well, you can forget everything at the party." He stands up and
heads to his dresser. He pulls out a pair of socks and tosses them
to me. I catch them and put them on.

"Thanks, now do you have any shoes I can borrow?" I ask. He
laughs at that and points to the closet. I get up and as I'm walking it
hits me that since we started going out his room has actuall
started becoming cleaner and cleaner, as a matter of fact it looks
pretty close to being as clean as mine. I pull open the closet and
start looking for an old pair of shoes. Any of the newer pairs would
never fit me, he grew out of my shoe size when we were ten.
Finally finding a pair that would fit and look good I go back to the
bed and lay down. I watch him get dressed. Finally the two of us
are ready. He grabs the key's to his mom's old car and we head out.
It was always a little depressing when one of my friends drove me
somewhere. Out of the lot of us, I'm the youngest. I still had
almost five months before I was sixteen, Jam, Linda and Tommy where all
ready there.

Jam looked over at me from the drivers seat.

"You sure you wanna go?" He asked. I look back.

"Yeah I'm sure." It takes about an hour and a half to get there
but we are only the fourth and fifth the arrive. Jam's cousine
greets us at the door.

"Hey, Jammy, how you doing? And this must be lover boy." I raise
and eye brow at him, he'd just moved up from Richmond, I was still
surprised that he had enough friends to even have a get to gether.
When I first moved here it took over a year before anyone other
than Nancy would even look at me. Of course back in my home town
most people ignored me too. I look around at the three people
there. I know none of them. Jam's cousin, Steve, introduced everyone
and then headed to the kitchen. Jam followed and I was left alone
with Gary, Dave and Gina. I stood there for a second before taking
a tentative seat on the couch beside Dave. The other three watch me
for a minute. Dave reached over into a box by his feet and offered
me a bottle. I look around for a second and take the beer. I stare
at the cap for a moment, I hear the other three laugh a little.
Dave leans over and took the bottle.

"Here," he removed the cap and handed it back to me, "I'm
guessing we should limit you to one tonight?" He asked. I blushed. "You
don't talk much do you." I look up at him and find that he is
exceptionally close. Before I could say anything Gary butts in.

"Hey, Dave this isn't a queer party, keep it clean." The other
guy look at me, "I'd watch him if I were you, he doesn't like
girls." I stare back at him. I could tell his comments had affected
Dave.

"Who would? There confusing, moody, and and like to blame you for
everything." I reply. Gary blinks a couple of times, Dave starts
chuckling and is soon laughing. Gina giggled and tossed a pillow at
me. I did my best to block while not spilling my drink. Feeling a
little more comfortable I sit back on the couch. Dave looks over at
me.

"You gonna actually drink that? Cause if you just holding it to
look cool, you can have this one it's empty." I look down at the
bottle and take a sip. The beer tasted sort of like wine, but not
as sour.

"Well?" I look over at Dave.

"I think I'll keep it thank you very much." Dave nods. He puts
his arm around my shoulders and whispers in my ear.

"If I get you druk enough can I get laid." He sits back and
raises and eyebrow. I lean over and whisper to him.

"Only if you can deck Jam first." He takes his arm back.

"Damn!" I smile at him and take a slightly bigger sip this time.
Jam returnes when his cousine went to answer the door. He sits on
the couch beside me and looks at the beer.

"Don't expect me to stop on the ride home." He said. I shrug.

"Not my problem, it's your car." I hear the other guys laugh at
that, Jam chuckles. He sits a little closer and puts his arm around
me.

"Just don't drink too much." I nod, "Are you having fun so far?"
He asked. I look from him to Dave and Back.

"I got hit on all ready and I just got here." I see Jam glare at
Dave over my head. I roll my eyes. "Please, the only way a line
will work on me is if it's from your mouth." Dave got up and
whispered something to Jam. Jam was silent for a minute, finally he
turned to me.

"So if I get you drunk enough can I get laid?" He asked. I
blinked a couple of times.

"Honey, you could get laid right now if you wanted to." Jam
kisses me on the cheek.

"Really?" He asked. I nod.

"Yup, Dave looks like he might be pretty wasted already, you
could try him." Jam dropped his head back and looked at the ceiling.
The others laugh.

"I don't want him." He said. He looked over at Dave, "No offence
or anything." Dave shook his head.
Jam and I stayed well in to the night, I am not to sure how late
it was when we left. I had only had three beers, the rest of the
night I drank water, but I still felt like everything was spinning
when I moved and I couldn't seem to walk quite right. Dave and Jam
came with me to the car. I climbed in the passenger side and Jam
got in the driver seat. I looked over at him,

"You sure you can do it? 'Cause I sure as hell wouldn't beable
too." I said. He looked over at me.

"Well for one you don'te ven have a licence remember?" I think
for a second and nod, "and second, I stuck to non-alcoholic
beverages tonight." I stare at him for a scond.

"Why?" I ask. He just rolled his eyes and started the car. It
took us a little longer to get up the mountain than it did to get
down, it was dark and Jam was going slower than usual so as to not
drive of the road since there where no street lights. It seemed
like a life time before we pulled into his driveway. I got out of
the car and started across the lawn to my house. I was stopped by
Jam.

"If you go home like that your parents are going to kill me." He
said. I looked down at my self.

"Like what?" I asked. He just sighed and led me to his front
door. He unlocked it and let us in. I stood there for a second before
removing my, well ok Jam's shoes. I started up the stairs, I moved
slow enough so that I didn't fall on my way up. I made my way to
Jam's bed room. Once there I removed my shirt, dropped it, my
pants, dropped them, and my socks, and dropped them. I climbed onto the
bed and passed out.

Chapter 4

When I wake up the next morning I take a look at the clock and see that it is only about six. I groan and roll over. I find myself pushed up against a body. Jam shifted a bit but stayed sleeping, I wrapped my arms around him and stayed like that for another half hour or so. Finally my stomach told me it was time to get up. I rolled over and got up, I took one look at my cloths on the floor and squinched my face up at the memory of just dropping them there.

"I guess thats why most teens are so messy. I mean they all talk about going out and getting drunk." Beside me Jam groaned and opened one eye.

"What the hell are you doing up?" He mummbled. I lean over and kiss him.

"Cleaning your room." He rolls onto his stomach.

"Good, you left a mess." He replies before going back to sleep. I pick up my close and toss them in the hamper, Jam's mom wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them on laundry day. I spent so much time here that it is a common occurance for her. I go into Jam's closet and pull out and old pair of jeans and a black shirt. I get dressed and head down stairs. Just as I reach the bottom the door bell rings. I look at it for a second.

"Must be some kind of demented salesman or something..." I say quietly. We never do get any salesmen, or Jehovah's witnesses here. Nobody wants to go this far out of their way. I peek through the peephole and see my mom standing on the doorstep. Surprised, I open the door. She takes one look at me and smiles.

"There you are. Your father said you stormed out last night. I figured you had just gone to the little gathering," My mom was odd that way; to her, Woodstock was a little gathering. "I got a little worried when you weren't in your room this morning." I smile at her.

"Sorry, I crashed here." She nods and smiles at me.

"All right, I'll see when you get home then." I nod and watch as she heads back across the law to home. I just closed the door when I feel Jam's arms wrap around my waist.

"How are you feeling this morning?" He asks quietly in my ear. I turn around and slip my arms around his neck.

"More rested than I've felt this early in the morning in my life." I say. He raises an eyebrow.

"No headach? Nausea? Dry mouth?" he asks. I shake my head.

"Nope, a hangover is cause by dehydration, I drank enough water last night to prevent that." I said. He shakes his head.

"Right, so how about breakfast? Then you can come for a run with me." I squinch up my face again.

"Breakfast, good. Run, bad, very bad." He laughs. For the past four years or so Jam has been going for a morning jog. I usually see him coming home just as I wake up. I slip out of his arms and head for the kitchen.

***

About a week later I was heading from the library to the bus stop to get home. I was about halfway there when I heard someone call my name. I looked back, Dave was standing out in front of an apartment building, keys in hand.

"Hey, Slash, what are you doing all the way down here?" He asked. I smile and head towards him.

"Just picking up some books at the library." He looks at the pile of books in my hand.

"So I see. If you want I could give you a ride up the mountain, I just need to go up and feed my cat." He looked up at one of the balconies. I thought about it for a second, finally I replied,

"Sure, why not." He smiled and held the door open for me. I entered the building. It wasn't the nicest of apartment complexes but I had seen worse. I follow him to the elevator and we ride up four floors in silence. Finally we are standing in front of a door with 3b on it. When we get inside I take a quick look around, there isn't much in the way of furniture, a couch, a chair and a coffee table in the living room and just a table and chairs in the kitchen.

"I know there's not much in the way of furniture, but I'm still working on a good job." I look around again and say absently.

"A college education might help." He laughs as I peek in the bathroom.

"You're probably right, but that also takes work." I turn around and smile at him.

"Well if you want to be living like this for the rest of your life then I guess hard work is a bad idea." He stares at me for a second then smiles.

"I guess so." He opens a cupboard and pulls out a small can of cat food. I put my books on the kitchen table and watch as he opens the can and dumps it's contents into a small bowl. He then leaves the bowl sitting on the counter by the balcony door.

"Just need to wait for Mimi to come and find her food, then we can go." He takes the seat across from me. I nod, the two of us are silent for a few moments before Dave brakes the silence.

"So, um, how old are you acctually?" He asks, I give him a surprised look. He shrugs. "I just want to know it I'd have gotten in trouble had you answered yes to my question at the party." He said. I look down at my books.

"Fifteen," I say, "So you're safe." I smile at him. He smiles back.

"Good, I'd hate to get in trouble for falling for such a beauty." He winked at me. I felt myself blush. Suddenly he jumps up.

"Hey, how are you for trying new things?" He asked. I blink a couple of time.

"Ok, I guess, I mean I do do it." He smiles and runs off. When he returnes he leans over my shoulder.

"I was just think, I got something that might help you relax a little. Help you forget thing for a while." I look at him and study his face. He looks me in the eyes, I'm not sure why but I nod. The feeling I was getting about this whole situation was making me uneasy. He slid a small mirror onto the table in front of me, there was a small line of white powder on it. I stare at it for a second. I look back at Dave,

"I don't know, I mean I don't even know what it is... Let alone if it's safe. And I'm pretty sure that it is illegal..." I trail off and look up at him. He had taken up the seat beside me now. He takes my hand and presses a small straw into it.

"It's perfectly safe, I know it is. As for what it is... I don't think you really need to know that just yet..." He smiled and gave me an urging look. I look back down at the substance in front of me. Something in the back of my head was telling my I was going to regret this, and what scared me was that it was probably right. I looked back at Dave one last time. I put the straw to my nose and inhaled. I promptly pulled back and sneezed. Dave urged me to continue, so I did. When I was done I took put the straw in the table and took deep breaths. I sneezed again, when I opened my eyes everything looked the same, but different too. I blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out what it was that was different. I looked over at Dave, he was sniffleing as he pushed the straw and mirror to the center of the table. I heard a meow behind me, I looked back and saw a black and white cat jump onto the counter. I stood up, but found it a little hard to keep my balance. Dave slipped his arm around me and started leading me somewhere. I soon found my self in a bedroom, I looked up at Dave and he bent down and kissed me. I pulled back slightly. He urged me on to the bed and soon I found myself under him. All thought of Jam vanished as I gave into the older man.

***

I wasn't to sure how long I'd been out when I woke up, a look at the clock told me it was five thirty. I swore under my breath and sat up. My head spun and my movement was met with a familiar pain in the backside. I breathed deeply in looked around the room. I was alone, Dave was not beside me so I figured he was the person using the shower. I sat there for a few moments trying to remember all that had happened, I could only vaguely remember a few small things. A black and white cat jumped onto the bed and curled up in my lap.

"You must be Mimi, did you find your food?" I asked, the cat purred in responce. I heard the bedroom door open, I looked over and saw Dave in nothing but a towel.

"You can go have a shower if you want, there lots of hot water left." I stared at him for a second. Finally I managed to get my self to respond to something. I moved the cat and tossed my legs over the side of the bed.

"I can't I have less than an hour to get home and the bus takes forever." I pulled on my boxer shorts and started to gather the rest of my cloths, pulling them on as I found them.

"I'll still drive you home, I'm sure I can get you up the mountain in an hour." He said. I looked at him for a second.

"You know what, I think it would be best if I just took the bus." I went for my jeans, Dave grabed them before I could.

"I'll drive you save you the bus fair." He said. I sighed.

"Dave give me my pants." I said, I reached for them in his one hand but he held them out of my reach.

"Let me drive you home and you can have them." He said. I glared at him.

"I'll just take the bus in my boxers then." I said angerly, I turned to the door and walked out. My books where still on the table. I grabed them and started for the front door.

"It'll be hard to pay your way without this," I heard Dave say I turned around and saw that he was holding my wallet. I crossed my arms and glared at him. He moved so that he was between the door and me.

"I'll give you a rid home, alright?" He asked, finally I gave in. Besides they probably wouldn't let me on the bus without my pants. As I pulled on my pants and counted everything in my wallet, Dave went and got his keys. He pulled open the door for me.

"You don't actually think I'd take anything do you?" he asked.
"I'm not sure what I think any more," I said quietly. I followed him down to his car. We drove up the mountain in silence. When we pulled up in front of my house I gathered my books and started opening the door. Dave took hold of my arm and I looked at him.

"What?" I asked. He handed me a small piece of paper.

"Call me sometime," He said, he leaned in for a kiss. I pushed him away.

"Right," I opened the door and headed up my driveway. When I got inside my dad greeted me with a glare.

"Your late!" He said. I sighed and pushed past him.

"I'm not in a good mood right now, so leave me alone." I ran up the stairs and into my room. I closed the door and the curtians. I curled up on my bed and started crying. When I finally headed back down stairs it was late, about eleven forty. I was certin both my parents where in bed. When I entered the kitchen my dad was seated at the table reading some papers from work. He looked up when I came in.

"You feeling better?" He asked. I glared at him.

"Since when do you care?" I shot back. He put the papers down.

"I guess not." He said. I pulled a plate out of the fridge that had my dinner on it and put it in the microwave.

"I'm sorry I was late, I got distracted at the library." He nodded.

"Right, Jam called while you were out. He said that the two of you were supposed to go to the diner together." I picked at my meal. Normally I'd eat pretty much anything, but for some reason I wasn't very hungry at the moment.

"I'll call him tomorrow," I said quietly. I heard him sigh and get up. He sat beside me at the counter.

"Did something happen at the library?" He asked. I look at him.

"No," I say shortly. He was silent for a second.

"All right, obviously you don't want to talk about what made you cry for over and hour until you fell asleep. Personally, though, I have a feeling it would help you deal with it." With that he stood up and headed off to bed. I sat there staring after him for a few minutes before picking up my plate, dumping it's contents in the garbage and dropping it in the sink. I headed up to my room and crawled into bed and fell asleep for the third time in less than twelve hours.

***

When I woke up the next morning I looked at the clock and saw that it was almost noon. I lay there for a second before sitting up and swearing. I was supposed to pick Kyle up over an hour ago. I jump out of bed and got dressed in no time. I head down stairs to find the house empty. I sigh and pull on my shoes. Just as I was about to leave the doorbell rang. I Opened the front door to find a very, very angry Linda. I swallow.

"Linda, I'm really sorry, my alarm didn't go off and...." She cut me off.

"Save it, I'm already late and if you want to be a lazy ass then DON'T bring me into it." She handed Kyle over to me, droped his bag at my feet and left without another word. I stare after her until she's gone and then look down at Kyle. The boy looked like he was about to start crying. I sighed and headed into the kitchen. I put Kyle in his highchair and stared making myself breakfast. I poured a bowl of cheerios for Kyle. When I put it in front of him he instantly reached out, grabbed a handful and threw it at me. I look down at the mess at my feet.

"Ya know, you really need to start talking. Cause I'm not sure if your just in a bad mood, mad at me or just feel like throwing your cerial around." He looked at me with large eyes and smiled. I sighed again and sat down. I was just about to take a bite out of my breakfast there was a knock on the back door. I look up at the door. Jam was standing at there. I sighed and got up to let him in.

"We were supposed to have dinner last night," were the first words out of his mouth. I sighed.
"Fine, yell at me, that does seem to be the theme of the day." I go back to the table and sit down. Jam stood at the door staring at me.

"Where were you?" He asked. I looked up at Jam and looked back down at my food. I really didn't feel like telling him. "Slash?"

"I just got held up at the library, that's all. I'm sorry I shold have called you, my parents too." I look up at him and force a smile. I can tell by his change in deminor that he doesn't believe me.

"Slash, I really wish you would tell me the truth, when you don't it makes me wonder. If you don't want to though, then I can't force you." With that he turns and leaves the house. I can tell I hurt him.

***

I didn't talk to anyone about what had happened after I had left the library, as a result I became more withdrawn. My parents were worried, and so were my friends, especially Jam. I just didn't feel like talking about it. I was pretty certin that it was my fault and I didn't want to have to deal with everyone blaming me instead of just myself doing it.

Not only that, but Dave didn't seem to want to leave me alone. He would be standing in front of the school when I got out. I would do my best to ignore him, but more than once he came up to me and tried to get me home with him again. Everytime I refused and everytime I could tell he was getting even less patient with me. One day he was again attempting to get me to go with him when he finally actually said it. It was about a month and a half after the original visit to his place.

"I told you I am not going, now leave me alone for once." I stared him right in the eyes when I said it. He glared at me.

"You know Slash, you can't change what happened. Nor can you change the fact that you enjoyed it. Besides, it never would have happened if you weren't such a flirt with everyone. You should be careful, one of these days it's all going to blow up in your face." I watched as he walked away. I managed to keep everything I felt in check until I made it up to my room. But once I was there I just started bawling. I cried until my pillow was soaked and I was to exausted to do anything besides sleep.

The next few months where hell, I spent every minute looking behind me. I had picked up on the threat in Dave's words and it scared me. I was too scared to go anywhere alone, and I was too scared to stay home alone too. Jam picked up on this more than the others, he was usually the one that I had go with places. I knew it worried him, but I didn't know how much until my dad approched me. I was in my room reading when he knocked on the door.

"Come in," I stared at the door to my room as it opened and my dad entered. He was silent for a while, like he usually is when he wants to talk about something important. I just watched him as he inspected my room. Finally he sat down on the bed and asked the inevitable question.

"What is with the mess?" I looked around my room. I had been so wrapped up in everything that had been happening that I hadn't been able to keep my room as clean as I usually do. I had a shirt from a few days ago on my bed, which was not made. I had books on my desk when they should be in the book shelf and the hamper that was usually hidden away in the closet was in front of it and the cloths weren't all in their either.

I shrugged at my dad and looked down. I knew he was getting ready to ask me why I had been acting the way I had.

"Slash, I am here because Jam is worried about you, and frankly so are your mother and I. Something is bothering you and it has been for a while. We want to know if any of us can help." I looked my dad in the eye, I seriously considered telling him right then and there. But an image of him blaming it all on me kept me from doing so. I just shrugged again.

"It's nothing, just been. thinking about stuff." I trailed off. I new my dad didn't buy it. I heard him sigh as I examined the carpet in my room.

"Slash, something are easier to handle if you don't do it alone. I know something more is happening to you. You won't even consider doing the things you usually do. I can tell it's something big and something like that just builds in your and grows until you can't handle it anymore and you end up doing something drastic. I don't want that to happen, neither does anyone else." I stared at my dad. I felt the tear start forming and my bottom lip start to quiver. I knew I was about to start crying again, I hadn't cried in front of my dad in a long time, that would give everything away. I tried to look out the window but his eyes held mine. I felt the first tear slip down my cheek. I wiped it away but another one took its place and in no time I was crying. I looked away from my dad but he moved and crouched infront of me. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to pull away from him, but he still managed to pull me into a hug.

"We just want to help Slash." He said to me.

"I know." I whispered. When I finally managed to stop crying I pulled back. It was then, sitting there on the floor of my room with my dad, the man I hadn't told any kind of secret to since I was five, that I finally revealed the whole story. I started crying again as I talked, but I was still able to finish.

I don't know how I had expected my dad to react, but I didn't expect what I did get. He was mad to say the least. He swore for a few minutes, while I sat there trying to dry my tears. He managed to calm down enough to talk to get my mom in the room. But it wasn't long before he was pacing back and forth plotting the painful death of Dave. My mom on the other hand was doatting on me. She was doing all the things she does on a normal day and more. Unlike most times though, I didn't find it anoying, it was comforting wich is pretty much why she was doing it in the first place.

***

Once everyone had managed to calm down my dad insisted on getting the cops involved. I didn't want to tell them everything, so I just told the police about the threat. They took notes and asked questions and kept asking if that was everything. By the time they left it was late and I was pretty tired. My parents where talking to themselves when I told them I was going to bed. And so I left the kitchen.

*End Flashback*

"..And that is the last thing I remember." Marie watched me. I stared back at her, half hoping she would just get up and leave even though I knew it would never happen. She sat their writing notes in her little note book, I could tell she was thinking about what to say. I sighed and stared down at my broken wrist waiting.

"Did you see anyone about what happened after that?" I looked at her and slowly shook my head. I didn't talk to anyone after mainly because I had never felt ready to talk about it with a stranger. "Well I know it's not really part of my official job, but talking about what happened can help you come to terms with your new life. So I would like to bring it in to the sessions if you don't mind." I looked down at my blankets again. On one hand, it was still all too fresh. On the other, telling the story had made me feel like I wasn't trying to purposly hide something any more.

"Can I think about it?" I asked. She smiled at me and nodded.

"Of course, I have to get to another appointment anyway. You can give me your answer tomorrow." I smiled back at her a little. We said our 'see ya's' and she left me to my thoughts. The clock said that it was only nine, which surprised me since I thought it had taken me longer to tell the story. I stared out the window until a nurse came in and turned out the light. After that it didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

Click Here For Part 2