TTW [OLD - HAS BEEN MOVED TO NEW ACCOUNT]

Chapter Five

My head pounds with every step I take toward the cafeteria, slouching under the weight of a few textbooks that weren’t there earlier in the morning. The combination of 3 drills and more than a few loud crackling and nasal voices coming from the P.A all in the short period of an hour was seriously catching up to me now.

“That was terrible and such a waste of time!” I hear Mackenzie shriek from down the hallway to her friend, Brianna, and it’s quickly followed by a few giggles.

Ugh, not really helping my head out.

I slouched against the wall for a second, light golden brown hair contrasting lightly against the white walls of the sterile hallways.

Once my headaches started, they quickly grew into migraines – it was a pain, literally and metaphorically, so I always tried to stay away from loud noises or anything else that could give me that thumping, pounding pressure that was torturing me right now.

“Hey, you okay?” I startle at the sound of a familiar male voice and almost slam my head against the wall.

“Tony! Aren’t you supposed to be in class now?” I sneak a peek at my watch, and saw that I should also be getting to lunch. We only had so much time to eat, and I still had to wait in the ridiculously long line to go and get my lunch.

“Yea, but you’re also supposed to be at lunch by now.” His sardonic tone of voice doesn’t escape me, but I really didn’t have the energy right now to chide him.

“My head doesn’t feel good. You know how I am with really long noises, and it’s been drills and whiny girls all morning.” I feel really weak and tired suddenly, and I just want to go to sleep, but it’s only halfway through the school day.

“Migraine?”

“What else, idiot?” I sigh, and shoulder my backpack again. “Maybe I’ll go up to the nurse and get some Tylenol or something and then try to eat some lunch before the bell rings."

“Want me to go with you?”

I don’t know why I snap, but I do. “No! Just go to class, Tony! I can take care of myself!”

I storm off, not even bothering to look at his face. I know him well enough that I know there must be concern and hurt. But right now, my head hurts too much for me to care anymore.

Usually, on days like this, I’m usually at home, and I treat myself to some ice cream and hot chocolate, and I feel a lot better. But I can’t exactly call my mom or dad to pick me up and take me home. They’re both at work, and I don’t want to make them take off just for me.

I don’t have a car; I’m supposed to get my permit next year, but until then, I would be stranded wherever I was.

I wander out into the school courtyard, and find people milling all over, buzzing with excitement. The smell of food fills the air, and my stomach growls, temporarily overloading the headache.

“Sloppy joe today, yea!” I hear the crow somewhere from the far end of the courtyard.

“Calm down, man. Net Lady’s sloppy joes are always the worst. You need to get those from the one next to her.”

“The hot one?”

The conversation finds its way into some distant part of my mind, and I listen without interest as I make my way to the nurse.

“You think she’s hot? Dude, my sister has bigger boobs than her!”

“Incest much, man?”

I don’t hear the other guy’s reply, as I open the office door and a whoosh of cool air greets me.

No one pays much attention to me – they’re all too focused on their computer screens, and tap away, sending one email after another, maybe important, maybe not.

The only other noise in the whole place is the clink of the charms and bits and bobs that I hang from my backpack zippers. The almost silence is welcome to my throbbing head.

The door to the nurse’s office opens with a soft click, and I’m in, watching the two nurses lounging in beanbags, just as much as they stare at me, lazily, like a cat opening its eyes during a nap.

The one in the red beanbag gets up, and even bothers to stretches before asking me, “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“I was wondering if you had any Tylenol or something for headaches.”

“Is it bad?”

“Migraine- bad.”

She nods and I feel like she just lost interest in me. She rummages slowly in the multiple drawers, and yawns a few times before she resumes looking.

Meanwhile, the pain is getting toward an unbearable point. I feel my eyes water, and I feel like crying so badly. Couldn’t she hurry and get me the medicine already? I could be dying, for all she cared!

“I’m sorry, we don’t have anything for headaches, but you could lie down for a while, and when you feel better, you can go.” She returns after five minutes of looking (really only two – she yawned for the other three).

I press her for anything else she can use. I have a big test in Math and Science today, and I really need the grade from them to raise my already bad GPA. “You don’t have any aspirin or anything?”

She tries to look sympathetic, but fails, and only ends up looking lethargic. Can’t she forget about her tiredness and help me out?

I’m positive my crabbiness shows on my face (Tony always said I wore my heart on my sleeve), and she tries to soothe me. “I’ll make sure to get you up before you miss any classes, if that’s what you’re worried about, and we have some crackers here if you’re hungry.”

Seeing no other choice, I grumble and sit down at the edge of the bed that looks like a gurney. She hands me a few packages of crackers and some tuna, then goes back to her red, comfortable beanbag.

I sigh, and place my backpack in the corner where I can see it, and lie back, staring at the ceiling, leaving the crackers untouched. I don’t really feel too hungry, and I’ve gone without eating some days, so it doesn’t bother me. My mom doesn’t care – she’s either at work or napping or too busy finding my faults. Just another usual day at home.

After a few minutes, I feel myself starting to drift off, and I welcome the impending darkness, bringing me quiet and peace for the first time today.

I feel reality pulling me back when I hear a rustle from next to me. I don’t want to open my eyes, I just want to lie here and sleep for a little longer, but something tells me I should get up.

I blink and find myself staring into two very startling hazel eyes. “Agh!” I yelp, but am quickly silenced but a slight calloused hand, smelling of lavender soap and pine trees at the same time.

“Shh, sorry if I startled you, beautiful.”

Well, that totally woke me up – it’s not often (and by this, I mean never) that someone will use that term so easily and strangely. I’m feeling a little freaked out, but sit up, and find myself staring into the eyes or Jake, my long time crush, sitting on the edge of the white cot, looking at me with interest.

“Wha – Jake, wha –“

He smirks, and before I can blabber anymore, says, “Be quiet, Ally. I’m here to ask you a favor. And I’m almost positive you’ll say yes.”

Yes, it's finally out! Woohoo!

I originally had no idea what I was really going to write, but I like the way this chapter turned out.

I'm almost positive it's going to get better in the next one! ;)

If you've read up til this chapter, thank you so much, and I love you! *hugs*

It's so amazing that I already have 233 reads, that's just amazing to me, and *freaks out* you have no idea how happy I am to be getting so much feedback!

And...well...I might be getting a LEETLE ambitious...^^ but, can we make it to 50 reads for this chapter?