Chapter Twenty-Eight

                                    

                                          
Chapter Twenty-Eight
                          
The silence of the morning was deafening. I wasn't used to lonely mornings like this. It didn't feel right. Or maybe it was just because I was worried sick that Dom was to be on MC for a month. Just yesterday Thursday morning we were kissing and whispering 'I love yous', and then it all came crumbling down in the afternoon. Speaking to him yesterday using Shaun's phone, it nearly broke my heart, hearing him so upset and afraid and regretful. It hurt more knowing I couldn't do anything. How could I tell him I knew how he felt when I didn't? I had no idea what it was like to jump off the top step, break my heel bone, miss concert and my performances and my other partner? Okay, I'm exaggerating, but it's more or less true.
                          
I groaned, nearly pulling out my hair. The operation was on Monday. I couldn't be there for him, couldn't go to see him and visit, tell him everything's alright and that he'll be fine. And his darling Stephanie will see him through this.
                          
Tears nearly ran the way they did yesterday at that thought. Me, his actual girlfriend, not there for him while someone else could. I'm doing all I can, Dom...I thought helplessly. I'm doing all I can.
                          
Friends found me balled up in a corner near the minicourt, and gently pried me away. My mornings and breaks I spent with Shaun, Danny, Sara, Summer, Alyssa (who I've made up to), Daniella, Ally and Zee. The latter four didn't really know exactly what I was going through, and I spent my time with them more for the sake of laughs from people who wouldn't be able to mention what I was enduring.
                          
Mornings were lonely, breaks felt empty, school didn't feel right without him there. Especially when all I could do was call him in the mornings, and that was with Shaun's phone. Even when he made it through his operation, the feelings remained, knowing I was drifting away and he was egging Stephanie on. Smiles and laughs felt miles away. I felt useless and pathetic, even with constant attempts to bring me back to life.
                          
Imagine my situation. Wouldn't you feel the same?
                          
Concert passed by without a hiccup. Well, except one.
                          
Lee was a close friend in Dom's year, who was constantly being accused of crushing on me by the idiot stage manager to made the suicidal jump. When he heard about the accident he was there for me instantly. He was nice, sweet, dependable, reliable...I could trust him. His performance at concert was pure mindblowing and epic, so good that the sound/light-tech pros we hired to help make the concert more exciting asked for his number and promised to call for future performances.
                          
The first time I saw it was on concert day one, at the last practice. I was in the choir and set to go on immediately after him, but since we were lax and relaxing I stayed put to watch him perform. And damn, was it worth it.
                          
On his way out I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a hug - which was not easy when you're my height and he's that tall - and practically shrieked into his ear, "THAT WAS AMAZING!"
                          
That was when he did the unexpected. Initially thrown off by my sudden reaction, he responded by wrapping his arms around my petite body and lifting me off my feet into a bone-crushing hug. "Thanks, Adrianne, I'll meet you in the car!" he answered gleefully, and left me standing unbalanced and confused.
                          
When Dom found out all hell broke loose. He went on a rampage that I unsuccessfully tried to calm, especially when he was supposed to be resting and recuperating, making me feel guilty with his silence and short, sarcastic remarks. "We agreed to tell each other everything, didn't we?" was my argument. "Well, I'm telling you now and being perfectly honest with you. I've already told you that it was unexpected and due to the adrenaline rush, so what's the big fuss about?"
                          
It seemed to knock some sense into him, but I made the mistake of bitterly bringing up something I shouldn't have. "And what about you and Stephanie? At least there's nothing going on between me and Lee."