When I woke up I was laying on a bench in a cluttered white room plastered with inspirational posters, including a kitten hanging on a branch saying Hang in There. The kitten had been graffitied, a mustache and an obscene word in the corner. I concluded that I couldn’t be anywhere but the school nurse’s office.
Right on que, the school nurse herself walked in. “Oh! You’re awake! I just got back from calling your mom,” she said, “She’s on her way and said you hit your head this morning so I would like to check for a concussion.”
I didn’t feel like I had a concussion, in fact I felt great. The throbbing in my head had gone and I felt full of energy. The nurse came over to check my eyes and pursed her lips. She looked down at her clipboard and asked if I had any nausea or a lingering headache. I said no. Apparently my answer didn’t satisfy her because she frowned.
“Well, I can’t find any obvious symptoms of a concussion, in fact you seem as healthy as a horse!” she said.
Well I could have told her that. The nurse left and I ran my hands through my hair. I wondered how I had ended up in here. Maybe Scott had carried me. What if the teacher had to carry me? That would have been majorly awkward. Thinking of my history class reminded me of… Alex. She had to have been the girl from my dream, but how was that even possible?! I had literally never seen her before. Can you dream of people you haven’t met? I was just in the middle of considering if I was psychic when my mom rushed into the room, still in her pajamas.
“Jack! Are you okay?!” she asked, “I heard that you passed out in class!”
“Umm, yeah Mom, I’m fine… I don’t really know what happened,” I said, “but I’m good now, so can I go back to class?” I was hopeful that I wouldn’t have to go home. That would mean a week of bed confinement and a doctor’s appointment.
“Uh uh Mr, if you passed out you either didn’t eat enough this morning or you’re sick. And based off the size of your cereal bowl I’m going to go with the second option,” she said.
I deflated. Here comes an eternity of self-isolation and boredom. Then I remembered something that perked me right back up.
“Mom? My AP Physics class has a field trip tomorrow and I already paid for the ticket, so I can’t really stay at home for too long,” I said. Now I felt bad, that was a low blow to parenting instincts. Saying no to a school trip is hard for them.
“How much was it?” she asked.
“It costs $35 to go see the Space Needle,” I said, standing up from the bench and taking a long stretch. I must have collapsed in a weird position, cause man was I sore.
My mom thought about it for a second then sighed. “Fine,” she consented, “But I’m still checking you out today and you’re going to rest. Then you’re not going to complain when we go to the doctor’s, deal?” She raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
I grinned. “Deal.”
We walked out of the room and as I turned the corner I ran into Scott again. This time he seemed less annoyed and more concerned.
“Hey Jack, you good?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m good but my mom is checking me out for the rest of the day,” I sighed.
"Ah, lucky!" he said, then paused and smiled, "but you're a nerd so bet you're so sad about leaving." He stuck out his bottom lip like he was pouting then started laughing.
I rolled my eyes. "At least you don't have to get poked and prodded." I called over my shoulder, jogging to catch up with my mom at the car. As I climbed in I accidentally slammed the door and my mom gave me the evil eye.
"Don't have an attitude with me Jack," she said, “I wouldn’t take you out of school if I didn’t have to. I’m just worried about your health.”
"I promise I'm not mad or anything. I don't know why I slammed it," I said quickly. Actually, it was kind of weird that it shut that hard. Maybe it was windy outside.
We drove along the road in silence. My foot started to beat a tune on the car mat. My brain needed some stimulation. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and looked up: Can you dream about someone before you meet them? All I got was weird hippie stuff and my daily horoscope. As a Gemini make sure to express yourself, or you may have to deal with the repercussions. I rolled my eyes. Maybe I was going crazy, but a lot of people got déjà vu right? I probably just thought I dreamt about Alex.
The car jolted to a stop, knocking me out of my thoughts. Looking up at the tall doctor’s office I groaned inwardly. This was gonna be just great. My overactive imagination had me seeing needles and blood draws. I shuddered.
“Come on lazy bum” said my mom, getting out of the car. I crawled out and trudged along after her. Sterile white walls and sick patients crowded my vision and I rubbed my arm nervously.
My mom noticed my anxiety. “I know you hate hospitals Jack, but we got to make sure there is nothing wrong. Hopefully you just locked your legs and the blood rushed to your head, but you and I know as well as anybody that health problems run in the family.”
I frowned. “Yeah,” I said, turning away from her. I didn’t want to think about it.
We sat there, waiting for what felt like forever. Both of my feet fell asleep while I watched little kids run around spreading all of their little germs. I stared at the fish tank. The suckerfish was giving me a weird look and I was pretty sure the blue tang was dead. None of the kids seemed to notice it. I had almost nodded off when the nurse called my name. I got up, rubbing the pins and needles out of my legs, and I hurried after the nurse. She gestured us into a room plastered with fairy tale princess pictures and I took a seat on the bench.
My mom picked up her phone and started texting someone. I assumed it was my dad. Great, now everyone is going to be worried about me. I shifted uncomfortably and the wax paper crinkled under my weight. I cringed. That sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard.
My head snapped up at the doctor walking in, a big smile plastered on his face. He was a short middle aged man with a receding hairline and small beady eyes. He glanced judgmentally at my mom’s pajamas and I instantly mistrusted him. I gave my mom a pleading look. Get me out of here! She ignored me and greeted him. He shook her hand then turned to me.
"And you must be Jack!" He said enthusiastically.
“Yep.” I said.
“I see here that you’ve been experiencing headaches and dizziness today?” he said as he checked his computer.
“I-”
“Yes that is correct,” my mom cut me off. “Sorry this was such last minute.”
“You’re all good. I wasn’t scheduled for anything today anyways,” he said. “Okay, so based off of your family history,” he started, squinting at his notes, “I would like to run a blood panel, just to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary. It says here that this is how Grace’s symptoms started, right?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I was startled at the mention of Grace then I looked at my mom in panic. Blood panel?? Was that, like, a blood draw? I opened my mouth in protest and her look quieted me, but inside I was still freaking out.
“That’s right,” my mom said, “and a blood draw sounds great.”
“Okay, I’ll set that up and get the results back to you.”
“Thanks doctor,” said my mom, rising from her chair to shake his hand again.
“Anytime.”
I sighed in defeat.
***
Three needle pricks and a bruised arm later, my mom and I finally made it back home.
“That traffic was terrible,” I laughed as I walked in the house. I dropped my backpack on the floor and found myself being tackled to the ground. Giant black claws and a pink slobbering tongue filled my vision. I gasped for air.
“Murphy! Get off!” I said, my voice muffled underneath the mountain of fur. My mom pulled Murphy, our giant spotted bernedoodle, off of my trapped body. I staggered up and laughed.
“Who’s a good boy? Yes you are the bestest boy,” I said, patting his head. Tail wagging, Murphy responded with loud bark.
“Guess he missed you,” said my mom.
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing a granola bar from our pantry. I noticed how quiet the house was. No random humming or whistling, only Murphy’s quiet panting while he stared at my food.
“Hey Mom? Where is Finn at?” I asked.
“I actually don’t know… He’s probably hanging out at Scott’s house,” she said as she plopped down on the couch. I smiled, Finn was spending a lot more time lately with Kate, Scott’s little sister. They liked to roam the neighborhood pulling pranks like gluing pennies to the ground, dressing mailboxes, and stuff like that.
I grabbed my homework and headed up to my room to spend the next few hours killing my brain. Sure I love to learn, but the way school does it makes it torture. My brain kept zoning in and out and it was impossible to get anything done. By the time I got a paragraph done for my English essay it was completely dark and my paper was barely legible with all the doodles on it. Time to call it a night. I sighed and collapsed on my bed.
I was just about to fall asleep when my mom peeked her head in.
“Jack?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Are you asleep?”
I smiled. “Obviously not.”
She came over to the side of my bed and I sat up.
“Look, I know you’re probably mad at me,” she started, “for taking you back to a hospital so soon where there are so many bad memories, but I can’t lose you like how I lost Grace.”
I stayed silent.
“You’ve been so strong Jack, and I just want to let you know that it’s alright to grieve. It’s alright to cry and break down every once and a while. I know I do.” She laughed. “ No one can be a superhuman all of the time.”
“Yeah I know Mom,” I said with a small smile.
My mom smiled back and touched my cheek.
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
She stood up and left, shutting the door behind her. I layed back down and pulled my blankets up. In the cover of darkness I silently thanked that my mom had left so that she couldn’t see the stream of tears that trickled down my face.
***
The next morning I woke up well rested. Well, as well rested as you can be on a school day am I right? At least I didn’t have any dreams so it was better than yesterday. This time I left before anybody was awake and I made it on time for the bus. That felt good. In fact, the whole morning was pretty great! My favorite shirt was finally clean, I didn’t forget any binders or notebooks, and my socks matched for the first time in a week. I thought that today would be a much better day than yesterday, just a normal day without anything strange happening. Boy was I wrong.
I only went to first period class because all the physics students were getting checked out early for the Space Needle. I didn’t really fully get what it had to do with physics but I think the teachers came up with an after assignment to make it “educational”. Something about velocity and watermelons. I didn’t care much for it, I was just happy I somehow managed to get Scott to come along.
"Hey Jack over here!" Scott called from the back of the bus.
I grinned. This was going to be fun.
I took the seat next to Scott and he elbowed me.
"Guess who's coming along," he said slyly.
Oh no. My stomach dropped "Who?" I asked hesitantly.
Scott pointed to the front of the bus where Alex was just walking in. Her smile flashed as she laughed with a group of girls. Please please please do not come back here, I begged to myself. I didn't know why, but it seemed that as soon as Alex came in, the hairs on the back of my neck and arms seemed to stand straight on edge. What was wrong with me?! I didn't even know the girl. I breathed out a sigh of relief when she took one of the front seats.
Scott didn't notice my tension. "She must have joined one of the AP science classes," he said. "Smart AND pretty. That's a deadly combination."
I just nodded and took out the homework that I didn't finish last night. Scott gave me a look but didn't say anything. The rest of the bus ride passed with us in silence.
***
A short time later all of the students clambered out of the bus. I stretched my legs while I watched Scott leave me and go over to talk to Alex and her friends. Man was he brave. He started walking back to me, with Alex by his side. Whatever feeling of fear that came across me when Alex was around intensified times ten as she got closer. Every part of my being was saying RUN. But I held my ground and gritted my teeth.
"Alex," Scott started with a smile, "this is my friend Jack. Jack, Alex."
"Nice to meet you Jack," Alex said cheerfully.
I looked at her for a second then said, "Yeah, nice to meet you too." I forced a smile.
"It's pretty tall," she said, pointing up at the tower. "I can't wait to go up there."
"It's 605 feet tall," said Scott as he pocketed a brochure. “And it can withstand a 9.0 earthquake.”
"Wow, really!?" Her eyes widened.
I raised an eyebrow. Now she's just playing dumb. Wait… was she actually flirting with him? Scott seemed not to notice her attempts but it fueled him on. He started cracking jokes, trying to impress her and I walked off, following the teacher to the Needle.
We went into the lobby and waited there for a bit, watching our teacher fumble around for the tickets. He finally found them and we all crowded into the clear elevator. The room went dark, and for a moment I panicked. The dream came to my memory and I shivered, my breath catching in my throat. But then we started moving and the room filled with bright light and I forgot about the darkness. After our eyes had adjusted we watched as our familiar city shrank far beneath us. I heard a lot of people say “Woah.” Woah was pretty accurate. It kind of felt disorienting with the see through glass and the ground shrinking. A few people stumbled. But I loved it. It felt to me that I was flying, like I was a bird watching all the people of the city.
My daydreaming was cut short when the elevator jolted to a stop. Everyone got out and milled about the observation deck, Alex and Scott going with a group of girls. I walked over to the edge of the room and looked down. Now that I wasn’t moving the height kind of freaked me out. I took a step back and caught a glimpse of my reflection. A lanky kid with big green eyes and short, messy hair stared back at me and I looked away sadly. I reminded myself too much of Grace.
I went to go and talk to Scott, but decided against it. Guess I was just feeling antisocial today. Or maybe it was that he was surrounded by girls. Well, anyway I filled up my water bottle and realized I needed to go to the bathroom. I should have gone before I left, now I was going to have to pay $7. I sighed with annoyance and went to go and pay for it.
As I was washing my hands I heard the door to the restroom open. I turned around and it was… Alex? Ummm…
“Hey, uh, Alex. This is, you know, the guy’s bathroom,” I said. She stayed silent. Her back was turned towards me as she shut the door and I started to feel that same strange fear whenever she was around.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked. I reached my hand to her shoulder but before I could touch her she spoke.
“We’ve been looking for you, Jack Hemming.”
Alex’s voice had taken on an eerie quality, like multiple people were speaking at the same time. I edged away from her. She slowly turned around and I was startled to see that her eyes had become inky black. No whites at all. It was like staring into an empty void. They reminded me of the dream.
“Okay,” I said, “That’s… sort of creepy.” Who was I kidding? I was terrified.
She stepped closer and- Wait, what did she just pull out of her pocket? Was that a knife?! I backed away until my back felt the cold hard wall. Then it dawned on me that I was trapped. I watched helplessly as she advanced and the silver knife in her hand glowed bright red then burst into flames. What the heck was happening!?
I laughed nervously and said, “Horror movie much?” Why did I say that?! This girl is trying to kill me! Don’t aggravate her! You don’t want your last moments to be in a bathroom! I said a short prayer to myself as I saw her legs tense. There was no room for me to move. I closed my eyes. She hissed, then sprang.