Chapter 5 Breaking Open

The hospital waiting room smelled like disinfectant and fear. I sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, still wearing my Westbridge Academy sweatshirt, my hands stained with Adrian's blood from where I'd touched his forehead at the game. Mom and Richard were talking to doctors somewhere down the hall. Sophia had arrived twenty minutes ago in a whirlwind of tears and designer perfume, demanding to see Adrian and shooting daggers at me when the nurse said "family only." "This is ridiculous," she muttered, pacing in front of the vending machines. "I'm his girlfriend.

I have more right to be here than she does." I kept my eyes on my hands, trying to block out her voice, trying not to think about the way Adrian had looked at me on that court. Like I was the only person in the world who mattered. "Maya?" I looked up to find a nurse standing in front of me-a kind-faced woman in scrubs covered with cartoon hearts. "The patient is asking for you." Sophia stopped pacing. "Excuse me? I'm his girlfriend." "I'm sorry, but he specifically asked for his sister Maya." The nurse's smile was apologetic but firm. "Concussion patients can be very insistent about who they want to see." Sister. The word should have stung, but somehow it didn't. Not when it was getting me past the barriers keeping me from Adrian. I followed the nurse down a sterile hallway to a room where Adrian lay propped up against pillows, looking pale but alert. There was a bandage over his left eyebrow, and his dark hair was mussed from the medical examination. "Hey," he said when he saw me, and his voice was stronger than it had been on the court. "Hey yourself." I hovered by the door, suddenly unsure. "How are you feeling?" "Like I got hit by a truck. Or a very large basketball player." He tried to smile, then winced. "Come here. Please." I moved closer, perching on the edge of the visitor's chair. "The doctor said you have a mild concussion. You'll be okay, but you need to rest." "Maya." His voice was serious now. "What I said on the court-" "You were hurt and confused. You don't need to-" "No." He struggled to sit up straighter. "I meant every word. What Sophia said about you, what anyone's been saying-it's not true. You're not charity, you're not nothing, and you sure as hell aren't invisible to me." My breath caught. "Adrian-" "Let me finish. I've been trying to convince myself that what I feel for you is wrong. That it's just proximity, or rebellion, or some twisted family dynamic. But it's not." His blue eyes were intense, focused completely on me. "It's you, Maya. It's the way you make me want to be better than I am. It's how you call me on my bullshit, how you don't care about any of the superficial crap that everyone else sees when they look at me." "You have a girlfriend," I whispered. "I have a habit. A comfortable routine that I've been too much of a coward to break." He reached for my hand, and I let him take it. "Sophia and I... we make sense on paper. Same social circle, same expectations, same everything. But we don't make sense here." He pressed my palm against his chest, over his heart. "Not the way you do." I could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady under my hand. "This is insane. We live in the same house. Our parents-" "Our parents fell in love and got married in six months. Who are we to judge unconventional?" "It's different and you know it." "Is it? Really?" His thumb traced across my knuckles. "My dad married your mom because he loves her. Not because it makes sense, not because she fits into his world perfectly, but because she makes him happy. Happier than I've ever seen him." "Adrian..." "I'm not asking you to figure it all out right now. I'm just asking you to stop running away from me. To stop pretending you don't feel this too." The door burst open before I could respond. "Finally!" Sophia swept into the room like an avenging angel in designer jeans. "They wouldn't let me see you because of some ridiculous family-only rule." She shot me a venomous look. "Thanks for keeping my seat warm, Maya, but I can take it from here." I started to stand, but Adrian's grip on my hand tightened. "Actually, Sophia, Maya and I were in the middle of something important." Sophia's perfectly glossed mouth fell open. "More important than your girlfriend making sure you're okay after a serious injury?" "It's a mild concussion, not brain surgery. And yes." The temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees. Sophia's eyes narrowed, flicking between our joined hands and Adrian's defiant expression. "I see." Her voice was ice-cold. "How long has this been going on?" "Nothing's going on," I said quickly. "Adrian hit his head-" "How long, Maya?" Sophia stepped closer, and I could smell her expensive perfume mixed with something sharper-anger, maybe, or desperation. "How long have you been trying to steal my boyfriend?" "She's not stealing anything," Adrian said, his voice dangerously quiet. "Because there's nothing to steal." "What's that supposed to mean?" Adrian looked directly at Sophia, and I saw something shift in his expression-a decision being made in real time. "It means we're done, Sophia. We've been done for a while, we just never admitted it." The silence that followed was deafening. Sophia stared at Adrian like he'd grown a second head, then turned that furious gaze on me. "This is your fault," she hissed. "You manipulative little-" "That's enough." Adrian's voice cut across hers like a blade. "Don't blame Maya for something that was inevitable. You and I both know we've been going through the motions for months." "Going through the motions?" Sophia's voice cracked. "I love you!" "No, you don't. You love the idea of me. You love what dating me does for your social status, how we look together in photos, the way everyone expects us to be together. But you don't love me." "And she does?" Sophia's laugh was bitter. "Your little charity case stepsister? She's been here five minutes, Adrian. I've been in your life for two years." "Length of time doesn't equal depth of feeling." "Oh, please. You think this is love? This is rebellion, Adrian. You're acting out because Daddy got remarried and you feel displaced. Don't confuse a psychological reaction with romance." For a moment, doubt flickered across Adrian's face, and my heart sank. Maybe Sophia was right. Maybe this was all just some twisted family drama playing out in the worst possible way. Then Adrian looked at me-really looked at me-and his expression cleared. "You know what, Sophia? Maybe you're right. Maybe this is rebellion. Maybe I am acting out." He squeezed my hand tighter. "But I'd rather rebel with someone who sees me as a person instead of a trophy than stay comfortable with someone who thinks love is a two-year contract." Sophia's face went white, then red. "Fine. FINE. But don't come crawling back to me when reality hits and you realize what a mistake you're making. And don't expect anyone at school to welcome your new little relationship with open arms. You think the whispers are bad now? Wait until everyone finds out you're sleeping with your stepsister." "We're not-" I started to protest, but Sophia was already at the door. "Enjoy your forbidden romance," she said, her voice dripping with venom. "I hope it's worth destroying both your reputations." She slammed the door behind her, leaving Adrian and me alone in the sudden quiet. "Well," Adrian said after a moment. "That went better than expected." I stared at him. "Better? Adrian, she's going to tell everyone at school that we're... that we're together." "Aren't we?" The question hung in the air between us. I looked at our joined hands, at the way he was watching me with those intense blue eyes, at the hospital room that had somehow become the place where everything changed. "I don't know," I said honestly. "Are we?" "I'd like to be." His voice was soft, vulnerable in a way I'd never heard before. "If you'll have me. Concussion and all." Outside the room, I could hear the hospital's evening bustle-nurses making rounds, families visiting patients, the ordinary business of healing. But in here, it felt like the entire world had narrowed to this moment, this choice, this boy who was looking at me like I held his heart in my hands. Maybe I did. "This is going to be complicated," I said. "The best things usually are." "People are going to talk." "Let them." "Our parents-" "Will want us to be happy." He brought my hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles. "Maya, I'm not asking you to have all the answers right now. I'm just asking you not to run away anymore. Can you do that?" I thought about Sophia's threats, about the whispers that would follow us through the halls of Westbridge Academy, about the impossible situation we were walking into. Then I thought about the way Adrian had looked at me on the basketball court, the way he'd defended me to Sophia, the way my heart felt like it might explode every time he said my name. "Okay," I whispered. "No more running away." His smile was brilliant, even with the bandage and the hospital gown and the lingering effects of his concussion. "Good," he said. "Because I have plans for us." "What kind of plans?" "The kind that are definitely going to get us in trouble." I laughed despite everything. "I should have known." "Too late to back out now, Maya Chen. You're stuck with me." As if I'd want to be anywhere else.