Stony High - Freshman Life

Chapter 26: Talk to Me

Nikki walked into her history class with a smile on her face. She refused to let yesterday's argument ruin her chances of getting a good grade on any of her exams.

Once the teacher handed out the papers, she took out her pencil and started reading through the questions. It didn't take long for her to finish the test when she practically knew all the answers without taking too long to think about it.

History was one of her best subjects and the smile she walked out the classroom wearing was one of pure triumph.

She managed to make it through the first half of the day without thinking about Rico. She decided to skip lunch and meet Sabrina on the quad to talk. She really didn't want to get the others involved when she needed to clear her head with someone who would understand what she was going through.

She walked along the quad, stepping around several students who decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny afternoon. She spotted Sabrina sitting on a bench near the school entrance, biting into what appeared to be a sandwich. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to run back to my locker to get my lunch tote." She said, taking a seat down beside her. 

Sabrina took a sip of her cola. "No worries, I just got out here about five minutes ago. I'm sure the others are wondering why we are not at lunch—anyway, how are you doing? Did you talk to Rico last night?" She asked, picking up the other half of her turkey sandwich.

She watched Nikki squeeze the packet of mayo she was holding onto her sandwich.

"Nope, not a single word and we usually talk every single night. I really don't know Brina. I think he's really upset. I guess I will catch him after school." She bit into her sandwich and stared across the quad.

"He didn't come to school today." Sabrina said, eying her friend. "I hope he's okay because today was a real important day for test and he missed them."

Nikki looked over at her friend. "Wait, he didn't show up at all—I need to call him. He would never miss a test this important." She grabbed her phone out her purse, dialed his number and held the phone to her ear. She closed her eyes until she heard his voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Hi Babe, sorry I didn't call last night. I didn't feel good and had to be taken to the emergency room." He said in a hoarse whisper.

She stood up. "What, are you okay? What did the doctors say?" She asked frantically.

"The doctor said it was food poisoning. Something I ate last night from the restaurant my mom went to must have made me ill. I will be okay and the teachers said I can re-take the exams I missed on Saturday with other students as a makeup exam." He started to cough into the phone. "I will call you later. The doctors have me hooked up to an IV because I was also dehydrated."

Nikki turned to Sabrina who was staring up at her. "Okay, well I hope you feel better. Call me when you get home." She could kick herself at that moment for thinking the worse.

"Yeah, I will talk to you later, babe." He said, before hanging up the phone.

She blinked away the tears. "I can't believe I was thinking the worse." She said, sitting back down. She looked over at Sabrina. "He's at the hospital with food poisoning—I'm such an idiot." She said pushing the rest of her sandwich back into the container.

Sabrina squeezed her friend's hand. "You didn't know Nikki. I mean how could you possibly know he would end up in the hospital? I'm just glad it's not serious and he's going to be okay." She checked her watch, rushing to put the rest of her unfinished lunch into her bag.

"We need to get back to the school before we're late for our next class." Sabrina said, coming to her feet.

Nikki cleared her throat. "Yeah, I will see you after your cheerleading practice. Don't' forget, Vinnie, scheduled our practice at Orchard studio for five-thirty." Sabrina nodded her head.