The Fear of Falling Apart | Just One Regret #2

Chapter 23 -

***** Nicole's Point of View *****

"I'm still not sure about this..." Sarah murmured. "You just spent 3 weeks in hospital bub..."

I straightened my shirt. "Please don't worry Mom, I'm going to be fine. Look, Kaitlyn's going to be there, and I've got people to talk to, and all the teachers are bloody first aid trained. You don't need to worry."

Mom forced a nervous smile and handed me my school bag. "If at any point this gets too much, just go to the office and call me. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I'm going to be fine." I assured. "Please stop worrying. You're stressing me out."

"If you're stressed then maybe..."

"I'm going!" I snapped. Then I realised and sighed. "Sorry..."

She hugged me. "It's okay Nic. It's okay."

I hugged her silently until I pulled away. "I really have to go, I don't want to be late."

Sarah forced a nod. "I'm going to speak to your principal today, too."

I cringed. "Do you need to?"

"Yes, Nicole. I really need to." She said firmly.

"B-But what if they like, take me out and say I can't go there!" I panicked. "Sarah please!"

She sighed. "They're not going to stop you from going to school Nic. They can't do that."

"No, but they can stop me from going to that school! Who knows where they'll send me?!"

"Shh. Relax Nic."

I folded my arms. "I'm not happy about this."

"I know." She sighed. "Let's just go. Go find Kaitlyn."

I walked into Kaitlyn's room. "We're leaving now."

She nodded and picked her bag up. "Did you talk Mom out of making you stay home?"

I nodded. "Of course."

She half-smiled and followed me out to the car.

Sarah drove us, mostly in silence, occasionally shooting back glances to look at me. I assumed it was to make sure that I wasn't about to have another seizure.

"I'm fine Mom."

Her eyes flicked back to the road.

I sighed and watched the window until we arrived at the school. Kaitlyn and I headed to class while Mom went to the office. I felt my hand start to twitch again, so I just shoved it in my pocket and followed Kaitlyn.

She met up with her friends, Dana and Phil. I awkwardly stood next to them in silence, not really a part of the conversation.

"We heard what happened to your house!" Dana exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

Kaitlyn nodded. "Yeah, we're fine. We've just moved into a new house, actually. It's pretty cool."

Phil grinned. "Good to hear."

Kaitlyn shrugged. "O-Oh, is it okay if Nicole stays with us today? Mom says I have to watch her."

I clenched my good hand into a fist.

"Yeah, that's awesome." Dana smiled. "Welcome to the nutcase group Nic."

I shrugged. "Cool."

The bell rang through the halls and I turned to Kaitlyn. "We should probably head to class."

She nodded. "Let's go."

We were let into the classroom and took our seats at the back of the room. We had come back to school in the middle of assessment, so everyone had their books out and were studying. Kaitlyn pulled out a sketchbook and started to draw Dad, who was seemingly her favourite subject. I just sat in silence and watched the clock tick.