For Every Missing Shade

Entry 4

I stood in incredulous confusion. "Do you really think that's going to work out for you?" I asked.

"Well, it might and it might not. The important part is that I'm not gonna be at school long enough to help them find out." She must have seen the shocked look on my face because she added, "And either way, my mom works so much that she wouldn't let the school ask her about it if they tried."

I started laughing, "Sounds genius."

She let out a laugh and kept talking with a half-smile. "Have you ever skipped school?"

I mean, I hadn't really thought of it before. I might as well skip school every day, the way I pay attention while I'm in it. I listen to music during class, I draw or write on any piece of paper I can find, and I've ruined more than a couple of notebooks because I decided it was better used as my personal sketch pad. That being said, I wasn't going to let the most beautiful girl in a 1000-mile radius know I had never skipped.

"Yeah I do it all the time. Faking sick is one of my favorite pastimes," I said.

"Well then let's do it. Go fake sick!" She seemed excited. My heart stopped, but I couldn't let her call my bluff

Before I could stop her, she took my hand and led me down the hall. I wanted to pump the brakes, but it would be like stopping my dreams from coming true just because it was happening too quickly. Like someone was offering me ten million dollars and a great sex life and I needed more time to contemplate whether I really wanted to stop being a broke virgin.

We rounded up on the nurse's office and she patted me on the back before I went in. "Now remember, you just threw up, and if you ever feel like you're not being convincing enough, just think of something disgusting. Here, rub some cold water on your face," she said as she unscrewed my water bottle.

Little did she know, I was already clamming up just at the thought of this plan. But, I did it anyway.

I stepped into the office, my knees a bit wobbly, and went up to the nurse, Mrs. Reynolds. "I'm sorry, ma'am... it's just... well, I got sick in the bathroom earlier."

She raised her pencil to her chin and looked me in the face for a couple of seconds. "Well honey you look pale. Here, come into the back where you can sit yourself down." She led me to the back of her office as I clenched my stomach and worsened my posture.

We went into a stark white room with a small couch next to the far wall. She gestured towards the couch while she looked through her cabinets for some gloves.

She turned around, stretching the glove over her palm. "What are your symptoms?"

I looked up from my legs and answered, "I have a stomachache, headache, and I'm a little bit light-headed." I was so nervous that most of that was true.

She checked my temperature, looked in the back of my mouth, and gave me one final glance over. As she was taking off her gloves, she looked back at me. "You are going to have to call a parent while I get you entered into the absence sheet.

I knew it would come to this. I didn't care much, my mom always worked and my dad was too busy on the phone to even care. I dialed my mom's number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Hey mom, I'm... um... sick. I threw up in the bathroom."

"Oh dear," she sounded scared.

"Yeah... so I, um, I think I'm gonna go home instead of staying at school."

"Okay, let me just call dad so he can work from home the rest of the day."