I slumped back down onto the bench with a sigh. Had school always been so tiring? I didn't want to seem so dramatic, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't lying to Amber either. I DIDN'T feel well. My head pounded, and my eyes ached, like they do after you cry for a long time. Geez, I am such a complainer. Ahh well, I'd be Miss 'Glass is half full' another day. Right now I just felt like going home and curling up in bed. Preferably with a slab of chocolate the size of my head. It was then I noticed Amber's critical eyes raking me over. I probably looked a little weird, but there was no need to stare like I was a circus freak. Then again, subtlety has never been Amber's thing.
'You look like a vampire.' She informed me with a grave face. I snorted. Why is she so impressionable? I told her not to jump on the 'vampire everything' bandwagon, and what does she do? For future reference I think I'll refrain from seeing Amber when I feel under the weather, lest she compare me to another mythical creature. A werewolf, perhaps.
'You've been reading that stupid book waaaay too much. If vampire's WERE real, they'd be scary and killers and stuff.' I explained, using a voice appropriate for a moody toddler. I gave her a sympathetic smile. People really do need to learn that vampires aren't sparkly pretty boys. Great, now I'm talking about them as if they're real. Someone needs to draw the line!
Amber, mature little being that she is, blobbed her tongue out at me. I wasn't sure what an appropriate reply to that would be, so I kept quiet.
'No, but seriously. I'm taking you to the nursie-wursie. Come on Holly-wolly.' Amber took my arm in hers, and pulled my towards the nurses office. I tried to object, but she wouldn't hear of it. She is such a bossy bee. Yes, I did use the phrase 'bossy bee', and I'd do it again.
'She won't even send me home; we have one lesson left anyway.' I tried one last feeble protest. Truth is, she was right. I didn't feel like lesson. Not that I ever feel like lesson, but I couldn't listen to Miss Kelly drone on without suffering some sort of mental break down, or throwing an explosive in her face.
'I don't care. Maybe you can miss lesson. Hmm, maybe I can miss lesson.' Amber replied. What a selfless creature she is.
We came to a stop in the nurse's cue, standing a little apart from the others. My headache was getting worse. Maybe...No. I was not thinking about that. I tried to change my thought track to something a little happier. Cake. Cake is good. I like cake.
It was as I was thinking these highly intelligent thoughts (the likes of which Einstein himself would be impressed to hear); Emily, Jared and Alex rounded the corner. I sighed, trying to avoid catching Alex's eye. I couldn't tell if he was looking at me, but the other two were.
'Wait here,' Amber muttered, and hurried over to meet them. I sent a silent prayer of thanks to Amber. I was so lucky to have her, even if she was a bossy bee (told you I'd say it again). I heard them mumbling quietly to each other, but their voices blurred into a constant stream of noise. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. Not that this helped in the slightest, it's just what my Mum and Dad do when they have a headache. I might as well give it a try.
'Hope you feel better Holly!' Emily yelled, my eyes snapped open in time to see her give me a smile and a wave before she rounded the corner. Alex followed, giving us a quick wave before he left. He still looked wrong. Something about him was off. His usually sharp eyes were distracted and fuzzy. As though he were looking at the world through a thick veil. I watched him go with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I seemed to be getting a lot of those lately.
I tuned back towards Amber, who was muttering something to Jared in a low voice. He seemed to accept whatever she told him, as he nodded, and with a quick smile to me he departed the same way the others had. Amber watched him go. The girl was practically drooling right there. Sometimes you didn't need to be a mind reader to know exactly what someone was thinking. I tried to arrange my features so my knowing smirk wouldn't be noticeable to her. I failed.
'What?' She asked, a pink flush rising in her cheeks as she made her way back over to me. She threw the other people in the cue a disdainful look, as though they had personally offended her by being there.
'I don't believe I said anything,' I answered, sounding horrifically smug. She made a face at me.
'So, you doing ok? We could cue jump. I'm sure half of these are fakers.' Her narrowed eyes darted around to the others in the cue. Although I was tempted by her offer, I took a closer look at the kid in front who was suffering from some sort of nose bleed, and decided against it.
'Nah. They all look in dire need of medical assistance.' I replied. An answer which I immediately regretted, as at least three girls in the cue turned to fix us with their most terrifying glares. They weren't that scary in all honesty. Considering one of them had gum stuck in her hair, and another's trousers had split. I tried to keep my laughter as quiet as I could. They looked like they were already having a bad day.
Amber waited with me until the bell went, and I persuaded her to go to her lesson. I had a feeling the nurse wouldn't be too pleased with either of us if Amber tried to accompany me into her office. She resisted a little but I wore her down eventually and with a defeated sigh she headed off to her next class, leaving me with the invalids.
The cue went down pretty quickly after she left. I guess the fakers were being sorted from the genuinely ill. This left the corridor practically empty, aside from the poor girl with the nose bleed. I fished in my pocket for a tissue, and handed it to her, returning her grateful smile. My random act of kindness for the day complete, I settled on one of the chairs outside the nurse's office waiting for my turn. Finally, the door opened and the next victim was beckoned in. It was like a death sentence. That corridor is so darn creepy.
I spent most of my final hour sat in the nurses office with a damp cloth stuck to my head. Honestly, that nurse gives no consideration to the effort I had put into my hair that morning. I hoped my next headache during school time didn't result in me ending up with my fringe plastered to my head. I made a silent promise to myself that I would never visit the nurse again. Unless there was an emergency of course. When the bell signalling the end of the day finally rolled around I practically threw the, now dry, cloth at the nurse and left without even a 'thank you'. How rude of me.
I knew what I should do. Find Alex. Ask him what was going on. Better yet I should march right on home and tell my Dad. I didn't do either. I was getting pretty good at ignoring what I should do. With that worrying thought I met Amber at the school gates, and trudged home, while images of soft inviting beds, and mugs of tomato soup (cliché, I know) floated through my mind, trying to blot out the image of Alex's emotionless face.
Thanks for reading!! Feedback and comments are of course, always appreciated! I hope you like this chapter, if you didn't already read at the top, and haven't guessed yet (somehow..?) it is Chapter 6 from Holly's P.O.V!
Cheers :)
Chapter 6- Amber (Part 2) REWIND.
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