“Good morning Bradley,” Alice greeted him like she did every morning and took her seat in class.
Since going steady with Brad for about a week now, they had frequently texted and called each other. She was happy. She was...happy. She was happy? She was supposed to be happy. Something still felt missing. Nothing changed. She was still alone when she got home and it was more obvious than ever when she clung to her phone for attention from Brad or her parents. She wanted to see him in person. She wanted to hold him with her own hands and not virtual ones. She felt a tap on the back of her shoulder.
“Here…,” Bradley passed her the handout being passed around and it brought her out of her negative thoughts; she needed to focus. Boys wouldn’t affect her grades, at least not again.
“Thank you,” she said, flashing a brief smile at the thing she wanted most of all in that moment.
When class ended she sent out a text to him.
“Hey :)”
…
“Hi! How are you doing?”
She thought about how to respond for a second.
“Bad…”
…
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing…I just miss u”
“Me too, we can meet tonight if u want.”
She felt a little selfish, but holding it back wasn’t going to help her or their relationship in the long-term.
“I don’t want to meet virtually. Can we meet in person? Please?”
…There was a long pause. Why was there a long pause?
“Yea”
A feeling of hopefulness stirred inside of her.
“Where?” she replied.
…
“I’ll come to you.”
“When?”
“Don’t you have prom coming up?”
She knew where the conversation was going and the thought of being able to go to prom with him filled her heart.
Stolen story; please report.
“Yea?” she replied smiling.
…
The dots disappeared with no response back.
What happened? What happened just now?
“What about prom?” She sent another text off.
Nothing.
Why? The conversation was going well, why is it so hard to meet you? Why did you ask if you weren’t going to respond? This isn’t fair. She felt like crying, but put her phone away instead. Maybe he’s just busy, he’ll respond soon, hopefully. She took a deep breath. He’d come through. Her phone vibrated and she immediately grabbed it.
“OMG!” It was her friend Emily.
“What happened?”
“Alex just asked me to prom!”
What was this, some kind of joke?
“OMG, congrats!!! I’m happy for you :)” she listlessly responded.
She immediately put her phone away and headed to the bathroom to change her lipstick shade.
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“Sonder!!”
“Yes, Brad?”
“What am I supposed to do? I’m not ready and she wants to meet.”
“Breathe Brad, your heart rate is elevated.”
He felt like he was hyperventilating. He couldn’t breathe and began to wheeze. He needed to get out of the bathroom, he needed to get home. No, he needed to reply to Alice. A boy entered the bathroom and it made Brad self-conscious and exited the cramped bathroom lightheaded. What am I going to do? He clutched the phone in his hand and walked out of the bathroom.
“Brad, please calm down. You’re having a panic attack.” Sonder attempted to soothe him.
His face grew flush, unable to breathe with the sun now beating on his forehead. He was sweating nervously as he paced outside the bathroom clutching his phone in his hand not knowing how to respond.
“Bradley?” Alice asked as she saw him panicking and hyperventilating in front of the restroom.
Why was she here all of a sudden? Was this some kind of joke?
“Alic…” Brad couldn’t finish his sentence before fainting to the ground.
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Alice acted quickly to the boy who just fainted in front of her and caught his falling frame. He was big and felt heavy. A few onlookers started to circle them concerned and Alice sprang to action.
“You!” She pointed to a boy that looked like he could run fast, “get the school nurse or a teacher.” He nodded and ran off to find help.
Next she looked toward a girl who had just exited the restroom, “hey, can you get me a damp towel?” The girl ran back in to grab the requested item.
Alice, as gently as possible, laid Brad down and cradled his head gently down onto her bag. She brushed his long hair aside, sensing a vague familiarity from his now visible face. He was handsome she thought, he didn’t need to hide his face. He felt his forehead, it was hot, but it wasn’t a fever, she thought. The girl returned and handed the damp cloth to Alice who applied it to Brad’s forehead. She took out a notebook and gently fanned Brad.
A few minutes later the boy returned with the nurse and two robots with a stretcher. They took Brad away and the nurse asked Alice what happened. She tried her best to relay information to the nurse. The nurse thanked Alice for her quick reactions and praised her before leaving to attend to Brad who was being carried away to her office.
Alice took a moment to process what just happened. The other students gave her approving looks and some girls patted her back and told her good job as the crowd dispersed. A strange sense of fulfillment filled her stomach. What just happened? It felt uncomfortable like a pill she needed but didn’t want to swallow. The question that had been eating away at her. What do you want to be when you grow up? The question she hated to be asked, was just answered.
She snapped back to her senses and picked up her bag. Underneath it, was a cellphone. It must’ve been Bradley's, she thought. She picked it up and headed toward the nurse’s office to return it. She pulled out her own phone and held it on top of Bradley’s as she walked and checked it. 32 notifications from Emily and none from Brad. She sighed and opened their chatroom.
“Hey” she texted Brad.
Bradley’s phone underneath hers vibrated.