Band-aid's on bruises

Short story about how events can change even strong relationships

Jack watched Summer in the car. She's been so incredibly flawless the whole time he'd known her, from kindergarten to now, his sophomore year in college. He remembered admiring from afar, watching her pick daises during recess in 2nd grade, and in doing so receiving quite the injury from a dodge ball to the face, knocking him out. Upon awakening it was her face he saw looking down on him. "Is he dead?" he heard the other students yelling. "No, just sleeping" she yelled, and pulled his head onto her lap, fanning him with her hand. The gym teacher came over, and carried him to a bench for the rest of recess. Summer sat with him so he wasn't alone. It was the first time they'd ever talk to each other.
    "My name is Summer. But my favorite season is Autumn."
    "My name is Jack. But my favorite season is Winter."
    "Your arm is bleeding."
Jack looked down. His arm was bleeding. Summer stood up. "Dinosaurs or firetrucks?" She asked. "uhh.....Dinosaurs...." Summer walked away. Jack could only think of her face, looking down on him when he came to. How lovely her blue eyes were, twinkling, sparkling as if sown under her eyes were a million sequins from the craft suply room in Mrs. Kronk's art room. Summer come back with a band aid. Jack extended his arm for Summer. She put it on his arm and he winced. They sat in silence until the bell rang. Summer picked up her daises and walked to class alone. A group of students from the dodge ball game ran up to Jack. Jack walked to class surrounded, taunted by the little boys, but greeted with sympathy from the girls, everything came at him in blobs. Jack wasn't paying attention to his surroundings; only to his mental images. Though against his most sincerest wishes, Jack wouldn't encounter Summer again like that for years.
    Now Jack sat with Summer driving home to his apartment. The car ride was silent, the kind of purposeful silence, which could be avoided but is used to make a point; the kind which could have the radio playing but didn't feel right. There had been a fight between the two. No, there hadn't yet, the fight had only so far taken place in Jack's mind. "You wanted this, that's how it happened. Your negative energy caused this! I was in perfect condition, the chances were so unlikely" she'd yell at him. Her yell was distinctive, hardly breaking a whisper, as if she were so fragile she didn't have the strength to put energy into sound. She whispered screams sounding as if she had been standing in the cold for hours, and her vocal cords resembled frozen power lines.
    Jack was always powerless against summer. Although in school he'd been popular and well-liked, he was not much more than ordinary. He was exceptional at soccer, but going to a school that was ranked #1 in the state, so were many other students. He was cute, but didn't have the money to dress the part. He had a secret fascination with underground music and poetry, and didn't let anyone know. Jack didn't let most people know anything about him. On the surface he was a good friend, with strong morals; not the funniest, not the cutest, not the best at anything. He fit in with everyone, but felt he didn't belong with anyone. Until Summer.  
    Summer had always been quite, an introvert, and a little off the beaten path. She rarely attempted to make friends, as she found anyone with the same interests as her usually stumbled to her, or had been born in previous centuries. Jack knew her for 8 years before becoming friends, by a twist of fate, and coincidental absence of both their lab partners on the day their chemistry partners were assigned for a 2 month long project.
    Summer was known to be smart, thought to be cold, and seemed to be weird. Summer was different, that's for sure, but weird was not a proper way to describe her. Summer was extraordinary, with substance that most people did not understand. This is why she kept quite. That is why she seemed cold. Summer was intelligent beyond her years; however not in math.
Jack was naive of most things; however he was a math genius.
    This is how Summer and Jack ended up having their first kiss. During one of their chemistry classes in which they were partnered, summer began to complain about how much trouble she was having with math.
    "No matter how hard I try, I just can't simplify. I've been explained it so many times, with different teachers, but I can't do it." Jack found this so poetic, such a complex girl who couldn't even simplify a mathematical equation. It only seemed fitting for her. "I'm really good at math." She seemed uninterested. He tried again "I could...uh....teach you sometime..." She looked up startled, but said nothing. Unsure if she was waiting for him to fill the silence he went for it "you could come over if you wanted."
    She thought for a moment. Jack thought that she must be thinking of a polite way to tell him, "get lost, creep".
    "Okay. Except, I'd prefer my house, my parents will want to meet you first, plus I only study well in my room. The colors speak to me. Today, after school."
Jack was amazed. She'd agreed to spend time with him, let him into her secret life, and even into a place as sacred as a bedroom. Even as a 7th grader, this seemed near scandalous.  After getting permission and exchanging parents numbers, Summer's mother picked the two up from school. Her house was quaint, very modern, but also cozy. On Summer's bed room door were stickers; lots and lots of stickers. 100 if not more. "How did you get this many stickers?" Jack asked.
    "The doctor's office."
    "All of these from the doctor's office?"
    "I get sick a lot."
This only puzzled Jack more. Summer seemed like perfectly healthy girl, but something had to be wrong if she had acquired this many stickers. He'd decided against asking any more follow up questions. Summer's room was  decked in purple and pink. The walls were covered with Polaroids, magazine cut outs, sketches, and what looked like torn pages from books. He scanned the room and saw Summer sitting on her bed. Was this really where they were going to do homework?
    Jack sat across from her while she placed her math binder and text book in-between them.
    "Simplifying....well...to simplify, you look at an equation and look for things that the variables have in common." Jack tried to find the words to help her, but could hardly concentrate being this close to Summer.
    "Like...how you and I both like Bukoski?"
    The fact that this was not quite anything like simplification flew right over Jack's head. "Wait, how do you know that?"
    "I saw you check out his books from the library, hidden under some comic books. You still haven't returned them, but the comic books were back within a week."
    The fact that Summer had seen him without him seeing her astonished him, even more so when he realized she'd watched him for an extended period of time. For a moment they shared their favorite quotes, books and poems, giggling at the crude words from the author. Then, the awkward silence which either meant "I want to kiss you", or "I used to kiss you". Before either of them realized what was going on, Jack leaned in to kiss  Summer and she returned the motion.  On that day, over a algebra text book, Summer finally understood simplifying, and would never need assistance again.
    Jack and Summer arrived with out saying a single word. The scene from the doctor now haunted him..."I'm sorry...but you've lost him...." the words of the gynecologist rang in his mind. Pained with sadness, joy, and guilt at the same time, he couldn't think straight. He knew Summer would blame him; he didn't want her to keep it. Summer always believed in karmic energy. Summer cried silently, the same way she yelled.
    Nothing of the matter was said that night. The next morning however, Jack saw a request for a personal in the news paper; "For sale; babies shoes, never worn." Jack recognized this as a quote from Ernest Hemingway, probably the most famous piece of flash fiction. Jack recognized this as a direct attack towards him. In the same way Jack and Summer had started their love with quotes, Summer was signaling an end.
    Jack knew, that sometimes things out of anyone's control changed life completely.
    They'd need something much stronger than a dinosaur band-aid to fix this.
    

Author's Note

I sat down and decided to write some of the ideas in my head, and made sure I had a whole story. And so, I got a bit antsy in the end and I tried to elude to a specific ending, but I don't know if I hinted to it enough.
I haven't red through it sense.
Does it make sense?