School was totally uneventful the next day, why you may ask… I was completely out of it for most of the day except when I make eye contact with Mr. Grey…..silly me Xander. He draws my attention to him like a pull of sorts, point being that in the class I had with him today let's just say I had more than my dream to worry about.
My dream was totally messing up my mind and it was so obvious, Natalie had to just confront me about it. Which explains why I'm seated doing Q&A's instead of eating during my lunch break.
"Asha seriously, I've asked you for like the third time today", Natalie said with frustration dripping off every word. "What has got your head so messed up that you can't tell the difference between an apple and a peach? That is like basic knowledge right there, and I know you're a smart ass, so spill it or I'm gonna really make you uncomfortable".
"That right there is a threat I wouldn't take lightly", Justin said with a smirk directed at Nat. She only brushed him off with a flick of her hair cos she was too damn interested in me. One after the other the boys took a seat on our table with Justin seated by my right, Keith to Nat's left, Canaan sitting right across me and Xander of course to his left, leaving just Jesse who came last.
"You see Asha, two things you need to know about Nat the bat is this", Jesse said as he placed his tray on the table before taking his seat to Canaan's right closest to Keith.
"One", he said as he lifted his apple as if indicating the number 1- "She always makes good on her every threat". Then he proceeded to take another apple out of Canaan's tray to indicate the number 2- "She hates being out of loop with info, cos she gotta know everything". "I totally blame that on her height", he finished with a sarcastic smile directed towards Natalie.
Nat on the other hand hadn't said a word since the boys came and that was scaring me, cos I know for sure, she just won't take all this jabs and smile about it.
Like a psychic prediction, she smiled right back at Jesse, who was now looking scared as she stood up and walked to him whispered something in his ear, totally distracting him while she took his orange juice off the table, and with a crazy smirk, dumped its contents on his head.
Everybody burst out laughing, even serious looking Xander smiled at the display, with Justin being the loudest of the group, gaining a little attention here and there. She made to walk back to her seat only to hit Justin on the head with the now empty juice can, which successfully silenced Justin's laughter, as he glared at Nat but couldn't say anything.
Feeling proud of herself Nat walked back to her seat, sat down with a wide smile and turned to me as she said, "Sweetheart where were we?"
"Oh yeah, we were talking about how fun it would be if we just let my fruit blindness of today go away", I replied pleadingly. I was almost sure she would keep pushing, cos hot damn gal was pretty stubborn.
"Okay I'm letting it go…", she said with a little hesitation which I didn't notice cos I was too happy that I was gonna be left alone finally, only to be heartbroken when she completed her sentence, "if you come for the cheer leading tryouts".
"Nat, come on", I pleaded tryna reason with her. "I'm the new kid in town, trust me I don't need cheer leading to help me announce that more than my mom already has, please".
"Listen sweetie everyone has been a new kid at one point or the other, only difference is I'm offering to help by providing you with the perfect outlet for you to blend in, believe it or not cheer leading is the perfect place for you to do just that".
"Nat it's like you're not understanding the words that are coming out my mouth, I don't cheer so what the hell would I wanna be doing in a cheer leading club and worst of all, my past school experiences are enough to let me know that cheer leading is the wrong place to blend in and before you ask why, the answer is pretty simple. You all stand out both in school and even in the games and let's not talk about the competitions y'all go for".
I lifted my forefinger to halt whatever she was about to say as I finished my point by saying "cheer leading just isn't for me Nat".
Canaan who had been looking at us for a while just quietly said, "I think cheer leading would be the perfect move for you". He looked as if he just thought that out loud and didn't mean for anyone to hear.
Nat jumped on that boat faster than it sailed, talking about how Canaan was right and all other things which I couldn't make out anymore because I felt a shift in the air, so strong I could almost taste it. After a few seconds, Nat picked up on the fact that I was no longer with her and she bumped my shoulder with hers while simultaneously flicking her finger in my face as if to ask "what's wrong?"
I was about to answer when I heard a loud screaming in my head, so loud it felt as if my head would explode. I looked at everyone seated by the table but it seemed I was the only one hearing the screams. It was getting louder and stronger by the second, defensively I placed my hands on my ears as if to block the sound but it wasn't working.
I could feel my consciousness slipping gradually, from experience I could tell I was about to pass out. Immediately I stood up, ignoring the questions and protest everyone on the table had, I dashed straight outta the cafeteria, running like my life depended on it.
I was a few steps away from entering the ladies when black spots just covered my eyes, and the last thing I saw before I was completely out of it were grey eyes.
***
I tried opening my eyes, but to no avail. It was as if there was something stopping me from doing so. I kept going at it for minutes which I'm guessing is only seconds before finally I was able to open my eyes.
Point to note my head was no longer pounding like it had some minutes ago. Good, now ���where the hell am I?' I thought to myself as I turned my head to survey my surroundings.
White walls with pale blue stripes lined the walls, a little library containing books and shelves upon shelves of containers ranging from very small to big ones and the table by the corner with an office chair behind it.
"Wait what is that smell?", I said out loud to myself only to nearly jump out of my skin when I got a reply of, "that's bleach and welcome back to reality".
I turned my head towards the voice so fast I felt my eyes do a little spin in my head, which it doubled when I realized who had answered my question.
You're correct if you guessed Mr. Grey. He was looking so relieved, sitting next to my bed on a small stool blocking the only exit to the door. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought he really was afraid for me.
"What happened and how did I get here?", I asked him skeptically already dreading the answer.
He just shrugged and said, "You passed out and I brought you here. Any more questions?".
"Nope none whatsoever", I say quickly. "Thanks for bringing me here and staying but I think I'm fine now so if you'll be kind enough to adjust your chair, I'd like to take my leave".
"I'll be kind enough to keep you here until the nurse gets back, so she can confirm your state before I let you leave", he said matter of fact, with a weird smile on his face, as if that was supposed to make me comfortable with what he just said.
"Thanks, really I appreciate it but there's nothing to check. I really need to leave this place now", I said apprehensively. I was getting uncomfortable and queasy very fast and it didn't take a doctor or nurse to help me understand that the weird feeling had to do with being in an unknown place and that stupid bleach smell.
"Why what's wrong", he asked sitting up on his chair. "Nothing, nothing at all", I replied getting off the bed. "I just can't stand that horrid smell and I'm claustrophobic, to worsen that this place just shrunk in size pretty fast in my head".
"Okay if you're sure then we can leave and come back later when the nurse is around", he said standing up and removing the stool to allow me pass, which I almost did except he pulled me back just in time to prevent me from colliding into the nurse and a teacher that just wheeled someone into the clinic.
The nurse was dare I say a beauty to behold, she was petite with a five foot four height, black curls tied in a high ponytail and obsidian eyes that right now was filled with tears. She was shouting at the teacher about the patient and trying hard not to bawl her eyes out.
We just stood there transfixed on the whole scene playing out in front of us, I'm not even sure they realized we were in the room at all. Well that is until someone decided to make us known.
Xander who had been holding my arm since he pulled me back, let go and walked forward going to the secluded area where the teacher was trying to gather some supplies to help the nurse. I just stood there motionless, I didn't know what to do and what not to do so I stayed right where I was afraid that I might make things worse.
I hadn't seen the patient that was wheeled in, cos Xander had turned me to his chest when he pulled me back but I knew it had to be a student, right?
When the two returned with their arms full of supplies ranging from bandages to gauze, cotton wool, some cleaning alcohol, a stitching kit and some other things I didn't recognize, I realized that the situation might actually be very critical cos that was too many things to be used on one patient.
Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to just ignore the small warning my mind was giving me and go see what was going on. I took five steps left with two more to get to the place where the patient was, when I heard a loud scream coming from the patient in front of me.
I froze right there on the spot, my mind doing a double take. It was the same screams I heard inside my head during lunch today. My heartbeat doubled to the point that I could hear it loud and clear without needing a stethoscope.
I took shaky steps towards the patient, making it four steps instead of two, before I pulled back the curtain covering the area.
'Big mistake' was all I could think when I laid eyes on the girl. It was an image that would haunt my dreams forever.