Chapter Ten
Chloe
I changed quickly, not wanting to make Jordan wait, and was back out in the hallway in record time. Jordan and I made our way down the stairs and toward the patio door when I noticed Allison standing in the kitchen doorway.
“Your mother just tore out of here like she was on fire.”
“That’s probably for the best, give her some time to cool down,” Jordan said as we walked by her.
Allison gave me a sympathetic smile, “It went that bad huh?”
“Pretty much.”
I smiled as Jordan and I walked to the pool; Kadi was sitting in one of the chairs, sound asleep. I moved quietly to one of the chairs next to her, afraid I would wake her. Jordan laughed as I tripped over one of her shoes and nearly fell on top of her. I turned to glare at him and held a finger up to my lips. I glanced back at her to see that she was still sleeping, despite the racket I had just made.
“You’re an idiot Chloe,” Jordan mock whispered.
“Shut up! She looks so peaceful and I don’t want to disturb her.”
“Whatever,” he muttered as he flopped down into the chair next to me. I sighed at the creaking sound it made and he shot me a grin.
He tried to talk to me several times, but I cut him off with a look as I relaxed back into my chair and let the sun warm my skin. Within minutes, I felt myself growing drowsy. I finally stopped fighting it and closed my eyes, letting sleep overtake me.
Somebody was poking me on the cheek. I groaned and swatted them away, refusing to open my eyes. I heard someone giggling close by.
“Man, she’s really out of it.”
“Knock her out of the chair.”
That was Jordan. And I had no doubt he really would push me out of my chair. I opened my eyes to see both him and Kadi standing over me.
“She’s alive!” Kadi shouted.
“I can’t even take a nap around here!” I grumbled.
“Well, you’ve been out here for over two hours. If you don’t roll over you’re going to burn,” Kadi pointed out.
I glanced down to see that I was starting to burn, and I was sweaty. “Ugh, I’m all sweaty and gross.”
Jordan gave me a wicked smile. “I can fix that.”
My eyes widened as he bent down and scooped me out of my chair. “Wait! What are you doing?” I shrieked as he threw me into the pool.
The cool water was a shock to my overly hot body. I came to the surface coughing and sputtering. “You a*shole!”
He was sitting next to the pool laughing like an idiot. I swam over to the side and pretended to get out before falling back in.
“Need some help? He asked.
“Not from you!”
He stood and held out his hand for me. “Oh come on, I’m sorry.”
“I bet you are,” I said as I took his hand.
Just as he started to lift me from the water, I tugged with all my strength and pulled him in with me, clothes and all. The look of shock on his face before he went under was priceless and I had to grip the side of the pool because I was laughing too hard to stay afloat. He surfaced beside me and pulled me away from the pool to dunk me.
Kadi was laughing hysterically and grabbed her phone to record us. We spent the next several minutes taking turns chasing each other around the pool and dunking each other. Or more like, I spent the next few minutes trying to get away from him as he dunked me over and over again. When I’d had enough, I launched myself at him when he turned away from me for a split second. It was all the time I needed though; I landed on his back and he slipped under.
He resurfaced with me somehow still clinging to his back and walked over to the edge of the pool. I hopped off of him and stood beside Kadi as he pulled himself out. She shut off the video on her phone and fell into her seat laughing.
“You two are like two little kids together, you know that right?” She asked.
“Yeah, and she does a hell of a job playing the annoying little sister,” Jordan said as he pulled his soaked shirt off.
I stuck my tongue out at him as I sat down beside Kadi.
“See what I mean?” He asked.
“Oh whatever, you love me and you know it,” I said as I looked at his bare chest. A thought struck me and I smiled, “Hey Jordan, can you do me a favor?”
He eyed me suspiciously, “Depends on what it is.”
“Nothing major, Drake asked to me to send him a picture with some skin in it. He didn’t specify if it had to be my skin.”
He glanced down at himself before grinning. “You know you’re going to piss him off.”
“Nah, he’ll laugh. Hopefully,” I said as I grabbed my phone and held it up to take the picture.
“Should I strike a pose or something?”
“You’re taking a picture, not modeling.” I said as I snapped a couple of pictures.
“Fine, you ruin all the fun.”
I sent a few of the pictures as I smiled to myself. Drake was on the road right now so I was sure he would see them soon. Sure enough, he texted back a minute later.
Drake: Not. Even. Funny.
Me: Hey, you said you wanted to see some skin. I was only doing what you told me.
Drake: I’m not sure what bothers me more – the fact that you’re taking pictures of Jordan shirtless and wet or that you thought I would enjoy them.
Me: LOL Sorry, I had to.
Drake: I’m sure you did. At least Jade got some enjoyment from them. What are you doing?
Me: Sitting by the pool. Everything went ok at the reading today, mom stormed out.
I decided it would be better if I left the part out about her threatening me. He would freak out and I didn’t want to add any more stress to his life.
Drake: I’m glad. We’re about to stop for some food so I’ll talk to you later.
Me: Ok, love you.
Drake: Love you too.
I set my phone back down and smiled at my own joke. I glanced up to see Jordan and Kadi watching me closely. “What?”
“Was he mad?” Kadi asked.
“Nope. He didn’t appreciate them, but Jade certainly did.”
Jordan gave me a smug smile. “Who wouldn’t? I mean look at me. My abs have abs.”
Kadi and I started giggling like idiots. “I still don’t think that’s enough to make Drake bat for the other team. Sorry about your luck,” I wheezed out between giggles.
“Whatever,” Jordan mumbled, “I need to run inside and make a quick call to my coach, will you be ok here by yourself for a couple minutes? You’re mom still isn’t home.”
I waved him away. “I’ll be fine, go do what you need to do.”
He walked to the patio doors and slid them open. “I’ll only be gone a few minutes.”
I rolled my eyes as he closed them behind him. “He worries too much. I think I can survive sitting by the pool for five minutes.”
“He just worries about you,” Kadi said as she stood, “I need to head home, so I’ll see you later.”
“Ok, later.” I waved goodbye as she grabbed her clothes and left.
I decided to go for a quick swim while I had some alone time. It was nice to have Jordan around, but I wasn’t much of a people person and I enjoyed being by myself more often than not. I climbed the ladder to the diving board and did a cool little spin dive into the water. I surfaced and started leisurely swimming back and forth from one side of the pool to the other. I felt the muscles in my arms and legs start burning as I killed some of the nervous pent up energy inside of me.
I did a few more laps until my arms felt too heavy to move. Deciding I had pushed myself enough, I swam to the steps and stepped out of the pool. The swim had the intended effect; I was worn out, but my mind was calmer.
I walked over to grab my phone, but before I reached it, I felt a pair of hands circle my neck. I shrieked as I was thrown to the ground and someone kicked me in the ribs. I groaned as I tried to roll over, pain slicing through my ribs.
My mother was standing above me with a look of pure rage on her face. “You little bitch, you’re going to pay.”
Before I could utter a word, she kicked me in the ribs again and bent down to grab me by my hair. I tried to free myself, but she must have been on something because my strength was nothing compared to hers. She lifted my head and slammed it down onto the ground in front of me repeatedly. I felt blood running from my nose and I could taste it in my mouth. The taste alone made me gag.
She pulled me to the edge of the pool and held my head an inch from the surface of the water. “Maybe next time you’ll think about crossing me. If there is a next time.”
With that, she pushed my head under the water. I struggled to free myself as she held me there. I don’t know how long she kept me like that, but I knew it was longer than I could hold my breath. Without thinking, I opened my mouth to take a breath and the water flooded my mouth. My lungs instantly started to burn as it filled them.
I felt myself losing consciousness when suddenly I was free. Strong hands grabbed me and pulled me from the water. I rolled onto my stomach and started coughing, trying to get all of the water out of my lungs. I felt it leaving my mouth and nose in streams and I panicked because I still couldn’t breathe.
“Jesus Christ, breathe Chloe! Breathe!” Jordan shouted as he hit me on the back.
I laid my head on the ground when I was finally able to take a breath. My lungs and throat felt like they were on fire.
“Jordan,” I croaked, “Mom.”
“Shhh, you’re safe. She ran when I pulled her off of you,” he said as he gathered me into his arms and cradled me there. The movement caused pain to shoot through my ribs and I cried out.
“What is it Chloe?” He asked, sounding frantic.
“My ribs.”
“Holy shit!” He shouted as he finally took a good look at me. I knew I had to look a mess from the beating she had given me. “You’re face is f*cking bleeding from everywhere! We need to get you help!”
He started shouting at the top of his lungs, trying to get someone to hear him and get help. Within a few seconds, Allison came running out of the house with Danny right behind her.
“Oh my God!” Allison shrieked as she saw me.
“What happened?” Danny demanded.
“I left her alone for a couple of minutes because I thought her mom wasn’t home. Call 911, it looks like she’s going to need an ambulance as well as the cops.”
Allison was gone in a flash as Danny leaned down in front us to inspect me closer. “Where does it hurt Chloe?”
Sobs were overtaking my body, causing my ribs to hurt worse and I couldn’t bring myself to speak through the pain.
“She cried out and said her ribs hurt when I picked her up. It looks like the bitch kicked the shit out of her before she tried to drown her.”
I felt cool fingers gently press against my ribs and I cried out again.
“I’m going to bet they’re broke, or at least cracked. Jesus.” Danny growled.
“This is all my f*cking fault!” Jordan shouted, “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, you said you left for just a couple of minutes. Even with the way Andrea reacted earlier, I never thought she would do something like this,” Danny said quietly.
“How can I not beat myself up? Look at her! If I had been there this wouldn’t have happened. She nearly killed her, all because I needed to make a f*cking call!”
“Not your fault,” I wheezed.
“Don’t try to talk Chloe Bear, just stay still.”
I heard the patio door slide open and then footsteps approaching. I tensed, afraid my mother was coming after me again.
“I called 911, they said not to move her until they get here in case her back is injured,” Allison said as she approached.
Danny and Allison sat with us as Jordan continued to hold me until we heard sirens in the distance. I felt myself drifting in and out of consciousness as the pain increased. My eyes flew open when someone started to pull me from Jordan’s grasp.
“No!” I managed to get out as I clung to him for dear life.
“It’s alright, my name is Aaron and I’m a paramedic. I’m not going to hurt you, but I need to take a closer look at your injuries.”
I looked up to see a middle aged man crouching in front of us. He gave me a small smile as his eyes went down my body, searching for injuries.
“It’s alright Chloe, you need to let him check you over.” Jordan said as he looked down at me.
I was lifted from Jordan’s arms and placed on a stretcher next to him. My body screamed in protest at the pain as everything went black.