+Anima the Roleplay part 2 (Because part 1 was burried alive.)

Carter smiled again, a bit sad this time.

"Don't worry; I'm not going anywhere. But I am going to do this for you." There was no way he could just sit back and watch everyday as Amanda struggled to make it through school. Somehow, in the matter of just hours, Carter saw that his life had been turned upside down by Amanda.... and Mr. Blake. He did wish that they could just have a normal, easy relationship, but that didn't seem possible.

Amanda looked away from him for a moment, before seeing his sad smile. She couldn't understand how he could do that for her. Yet again, she was grateful. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, and made another weak attempt to smile back at him. She wished everything could be normal for them, and that she hadn't dragged Carter in with this. But there was no turning back now... no way to take back what had happened... she laid her head back onto the pillow and closed her eyes for a moment, before opening again.

"Thank you," she whispered.
----
When Ramone had returned home, he'd immediately retreated to his room, completely ignoring any questions about school or general life his mom or dad threw at him. He was utterly on edge, and he could tell they were concerned. He was afraid to even turn on the TV. The news was on in the living room, down the short hallway, where his parents were in now.

He heard his mother pad down the hallway, before stepping into his room.

"A girl from your classes got hit by a car, Ramone. Do you know her, Amanda Rivvers? I think I've heard of her..."

Ramone struggled to look composed, though he felt everything within him tremble with guilt.

"I'm so sorry, Ramone. I think she's going to be alright, but I'm not sure. The storm's finally letting up, do you want to go see her?"

"N-No, that won't be necessary. I... I'll go do that some other time. I have... um, homework."

His mother looked a little surprised. Ramone knew it was surprising that he'd ever actually do his homework, and to mention it the way he did was an alarming sign.

"If you want, I can take you..."

It was on the news. They didn't even know what happened to her.

"Come on, I'll take you."

Ramone's mother saw through him, and he felt it, her radar picking up every ounce of guilt that he let on. He wasn't sure if she was acknowledging it or not. But in spite of all the years of resentment, he had to make sure Amanda was okay.... he couldn't live with something like this on his shoulders for a long time... but if he confessed... he didn't even want to think about that.

All he wanted to do was make sure he was okay. Then everything would go back to normal.

They drove toward the hospital in near silence, the radio playing in the background, telling them whether it was safe or not to go on.

And finally, they arrived at the hospital. Ramone did the best to conceal his utter nervousness.
----
The nurse from earlier stepped into Amanda's room.

"Young man," she said to Carter. "There's another visitor for Miss Rivvers right now, although we're not sure how many more she should be taking..."

At that moment, Ramone walked in, without permission. The vulnerability of knowing what he had done was entirely present on his face as he walked in.

Amanda opened her eyes again, focusing on Carter, then toward the doorway. And something clicked in her head... the lights of the truck had revealed for one moment who had struck her. It was him, in the doorway. It was Ramone.

Carter turned at the nurse's voice and saw some senior burst in the room from behind her. Carter vaguely recognized the senior, but he was more interested in the look of complete and undeniable guilt on his face. Guilt that screamed at Carter as to who hit Amanda. Suddenly, Carter knew exactly who had done it. He was staring right into the guilty eyes.

Hands clenching into fists, Carter stood in front of Amanda, ready to protect her. This guy had already run into her with his vehicle and run away, who knew what else he might do?

"I'm not leaving," Carter told the nurse, still looking at Ramone.

Amanda was trembling slightly as everything came back in perfect clarity. She couldn't believe he would do that... she knew Ramone hated her, but this? Running over her phone was a jerkish move, but this, this was so far, too far. She tried to get closer to Carter, though it hurt even to move that much.
----
Ramone's mother apologized to the nurse, who now tried to get Ramone to leave. He was still standing there. He was caught, and he knew it. That freshman was going to turn him in. No, he had no proof that Ramone had hit Amanda, but it must be written all over his face.

"Ramone, is everything alright?" his mother asked.

He stared down the freshman, regaining his composure and trying to form a threatning glare, something that demanded him not to tell anyone what had happened, in under a second. And no one could prove him guilty by a guilty look and a glare, right?

Carter stared right back at Ramon. He wasn't at all intimidated by Ramon and the glare accompanying him. He turned away slightly when he heard Amanda shift. She was trying to get closer to him, probably trying to get him away from Ramon. Carter held his hand out to her as if to silently tell Amanda that he was handling it. She could call him out on sexism some other time.

Carter's gaze shifted from Amanda to Ramon to Ramon's mother. "Hello," he said, trying to sound composed, "Um... I would prefer to stay in here while your son talks to Amanda. I'm a little protective. But you can go get coffee or something. All of this is probably just... riling Amanda up, for lack of a better word." Carter smiled slightly, but it was a tight smile. He wanted the nurse and Ramon's mom to leave so he could beat the crap out of Ramon.

((Leah, technically, you didn't even spell his name right there... because the "o" doesn't have an accent. ))

The nurse was called into another room, though she didn't want to leave this one because of the mood. She would return as soon as possible.
---
Ramon's mother glanced back at the boy in Amanda's room, and then her son. She considered the boy's presence, and wondered if it would be safe to leave. This was Ramon's classmate who he'd wanted to see, though, after all. Perhaps it would make things less awkward if she left.

And coffee suddenly sounded like a great idea.

"Alright... well, I will be back soon," she said, and cautiously traveled out the door.
---
Amanda did not like the challenge tainting the back of Carter's tone, and the way he was trying to put her off. She knew Carter was already injured. Another fight could quite possibly do him in. And now the boys were alone in her room, and she couldn't even stop them from fighting.

Most of her wanted Carter to beat the crap out of Ramon, but he was in no position to fight again.
---
Ramon knew he was in a huge amount of crap right now. If the kid wanted a fight, he would give it to him. And he was pretty sure he would win. No one could know about this...

((It's better than with an 'e' on the end.))

Carter smirked just slightly as the nurse left the room. However, when Ramon's mom left the room, he full out grinned. With the adults gone, he couldn't be held back. Amanda could try, but Carter knew that she wouldn't make it far with how injured she was from being run over by Ramon... well... hit by him.

Carter completely ignored the fact that he had been in two other fights that day. Sure, he had almost lost to Aidan, and gotten beaten by Mr. Blake, but this was just one more measly fight. If the outcome was bad, it couldn't be too terrible, could it? But, Carter was also about to fight someone who hit a girl with a car and then managed to just drive away.

Fists tensed, Carter stood there, waiting. He figured if he had the patience to wait long enough, Ramon would punch first and could therefore be blamed for starting it.

((Es verano. :3))

Ramon stared down Carter, refusing to begin a fight with him. He had enough to deal with already.

Amanda grabbed Carter's fist, and winced at doing so.

"C-Carter... y-you... you shouldn't... b-be... doing this. You don't... you don't need to," she whispered.

Ramon took a deep breath. He didn't want to leave the room and reject the idea for the fight; it would be like giving in. Mentally, he weighed the pros and cons of staying in the room and leaving. If he left, Carter might follow him out. Their fight would be much more public, and if he really won by a landslide, then everyone would know something was up.

But if it was just in here, and he left as soon as possible afterward...

He leaned up against the wall, nonchalantly.

"But I'm going to do it, anyway," Carter replied, glaring at Ramon. He didn't look back at Amanda when he answered her. His glare never left Ramon. As much as Carter wanted Ramon to throw the first punch-- to be the one that people could blame first-- he simply wasn't patient enough to wait. And there was no way that Carter was going to let Ramon leave the room. If he left the room, he could easily get out of the hospital, and Carter preferred to not chase him all over town. Besides, a fight in a hospital room caused less of a riot than one at school, on the street, or somewhere else in the hospital.

Carter walked over to Ramon, copying his nonchalance. He mimicked leaning against the wall, but quickly punched, aiming for Ramon's face.

Amanda tried to catch him again, and gasped, unsuccessful. She didn't want him to do this, but she knew there was no way to stop Carter, especially in a situation like this.
---
Ramon felt a brief surge of nervousness as Carter walked over to him and leaned against the wall. He prepared to block, and caught Carter's fist as it aimed for his face. He twisted his arm behind his back and punched him in the chest.

Carter had a feeling that he had a total Shane moment coming on with all of his rib injuries tried to twist out of Ramon's grip, but only got his arm into a more awkward position. He tried to ignore the pain in his chest as he used his free arm to elbow Ramon in the gut. Hopefully, this would work and put Ramon out for a few moments.

He tried glancing around behind his back, and caught sight of Amanda's face. She looked torn between pain and misery at seeing him fight. Carter wanted to tell her that he was sorry, but his twisted arm was causing a little too much pain for talking.

Ramon winced at the blow to the stomach, but tightened his grip on Carter's arm subconciously, before letting go to punch Carter in the chest again. He shoved him toward the wall. He had to get this over with fast so he could get out...
----
Amanda strained to call back the nurse. She felt tears well up as she reached it. The situation was known now. She tried to catch her breath, and squeezed her eyes shut, blinking back the tears and trying not to watch as Carter and Ramon fought. Every hit Carter took made her own feel worse.

"Stop!" she rasped, attempting to shout as best as she could. "P-Please... s-stop fighting..."

Carter wondered how many more times he was going to be pushed into a wall in that day. He didn't even want to calculate how many times it had been total total. His chest splintered with pain as Ramon punched him again. If at least one of his ribs was not officially broken by now, Carter would be very surprised.

"Stop! P-Please... s-stop fighting...."

Carter only vaguely heard Amanda rap those words, trying to be heard. He wanted to stop, wanted to melt into the floor and forget about his pain, but Carter couldn't let the guy who had run into her just walk away.

He threw one last, feeble punch at Ramon before sinking to the floor, breathing hard. Let Ramon kick him, Carter decided that he didn't care anymore.

Ramon easily and unnecessarily caught the punch, and let Carter slip to the floor. He heard footsteps tapping quickly down the hall, and internally panicked. He clutched his bruised gut and scrambled to open the door. He was greeted by a nurse, and his eyes widened. He pushed past and sprinted down the hall... he had to get out of here... he had to.

Ramon's mother stared at her son as he sped down the hall, and immediately turned and began to chase after him, bewildered.
----
Amanda slowly opened her eyes again, and tried to see where Carter was. The nurse immediately called for help and knelt down next to Carter. She gave him a once over, evaluating his condition quickly. There was an extra bed in the room. A doctor entered the room and another assisted to bring him onto the bed.

Carter groaned as he felt himself being shifted from the floor onto something that was much softer. He willed his eyes to open, but they were glued shut. Carter weakly ran a hand over the soft surface and realized that he was on a hospital bed. Trying to roll over, Carter gasped, realizing that his ribs definitely were broken. Or severely bruised. Three fights in one day could do that to you. Especially when he had been the youngest opponent in every fight.

Carter wanted to find Amanda and tell her that he was sorry, but he was so tired. He closed his eyes and fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Amanda stared over at Carter now, not able to hold back the tears as she observed Carter's pain. They began treating him and she closed her eyes again. Exhaustion finally began to overtake her again, and the pain began to subside in unconciousness.

The doctors began to assess and treat Carter, and the nurse was left to watch the sleeping patients.
---
Ramon was caught in brought into a room, and soon to be asked several questions that he did not want to answer.

Carter tried to get the doctors and nurses to stop fussing over him, but he knew that it was useless. It was their job to poke and prod and figure out the problem, no matter what the patient wanted. Which randomly reminded Carter that his parents were probably going to be alerted about him being there. Of course, that would first mean that the doctors would have to figure out his name. Although that probably wouldn't be difficult with his fire engine hair. Still... it's not like he was the only ginger redhead to exist.

Carter wondered if the nurses were going to dig in his pockets for some form of identification. They didn't know that he didn't have his permit of school ID with him. But Carter wasn't in the mood to tell them. He just wanted to go to sleep and escape the pain.

Carter's parents were contacted as soon as he could be identified. They recognized him from earlier in the day. They were on their way through the fluctuating storm to see him.
----
Ramon's mother watched as her son evaded confessing anything to the hospital personel. And to her deep dismay, she could tell that he had done it. She didn't want to believe that her son could possibly do such a thing, but the evidence was all there. He was acting so guilty... and he was obviously the one who had beat the already-injured previous visitor, perhaps to keep him quiet.

((fiiiiiiiiiiiiilllerrrrrrrrrrr.))

Cecilia: feels like she's been neglected for like a month.
Cecilia
"What... What do you mean that I'm adopted!?? I've been your daughter my whole life!" Cecilia exclaimed.
"You were adopted when you were three, your parents had neglected you and we felt it was better to just start anew. So we waited a few years until starting you in school and let you believe that your birthday was the day you were adopted."
"I need some time to think." Cecilia was in shock. She had no idea that she had been adopted, nor that she was actually eighteen rather than fifteen.

Cara
(Continues?) Eating pizza. Nothing else. Not even breathing.

Damien: "My not-quite-pedo senses are tingling. In a good way."

((XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD))

Aidan was hoping that Cara was breathing... so they could enjoy each other in 12 years...
Damien decided to creep on over to Cecilia's house to comfort her in her "I-just-sueishly-found-out-I-was-adopted" state.


Mr. and Mrs. Landon soon arrived after their delayed drive during the storm. Mrs. Landon ran to Carter's room the moment she was told where he was and burst in with little to no permission. Mr. Landon followed, meekly. She was sad and surprised by the presence of the girl who had recently been in their home, but mostly focused on Carter.

She rushed over to him and took his hand, nearly to tears already.

"Oh my goodness, Carter, what happened? Are you alright?"

After Cara finished stuffing her oversized piehole with pizza, she decided to walk off the food-coma state that came with eating so much food. She felt extremely lucky to be able to take advantage of the lull in the storm in such a productive way. She changed into a turtleneck and began her stroll.

Cecilia was using logic to think her way through her situation. She slowly came to grips with her state and age and began thinking of ways to use it to her advantage. A slow smile came over her face as she realized that she was 'of age'. She could legally do lots of new things now.

Like older men...

((Oh, Cecilia...))

Unfortunately, Damien had a job to do...

Damien walked out of the hospital, adjusting his completely inconspicuous bag of stolen medical and surgical supplies as he stepped outside. Two certain people inexiplicably invaded his mind, though he had a task he needed to complete. The second person confused him, someone he had only just "met", and now he was already thinking of her? And Amanda was...

He shoved the thoughts from his mind. He had to find someone to bring to Brian. The storm continued to rage in some places of town, calmer in others. As he headed for Brian's "secret lair", he spotted a girl walking in the rain. Yet another one of the students...

And recognition came to him. She was the other hospital volunteer. Cara, was it?

Again, he set himself up for the third awkward "ride-offering" of the day. Except this time, his intentions weren't so innocent andfortunately,notpervybecausehe'salreadysuchamanho.... He rolled down his window.

"Hello, Miss Wayne. Do you need a ride somewhere?"

Cara had been continuing her walk, even though she was already at least five blocks away from her home. She just didn't feel like turning back. Then she heard one of the teachers that she did not have, but generally knew of, call out to her.

Cara turned to the man in the car.

"Oh, well... I have gotten kind of far from home... I suppose a ride back would be nice. Thank you for your offer!" She had been watching TV when her parents told her not to trust strangers. She moved toward the car with the intent of entering.

(But Cara was with Antha. Poor Antha. She just got abandoned by Cara)

Antha watched as the girl disappeared. She was just glad no one else was home. But now she was alone. She tapped a finger against her counter and wondered what to do next. She wasn't a very social person and so she couldn't think of anyone to call.

She opened a small book of phone numbers and names that she had randomly gotten over the years. She ran a finger down the list and stopped on a number.

((We're sorry, Toko. D: Who is Antha calling? ))

"It's no problem," Damien replied, unlocking his door. He glanced in the backseat, to make sure that his bag of "supplies" was within reach. Swiftly, he grabbed and concealed something from the bag, just in case. He opened the passenger's seat door to allow the girl inside.