Katie POV-
Saying I dreaded it when it rained was an understatement of what I actually felt. For the next week it rained everyday during gym class. I would just sit there and watch everyone else play volleyball and frown. I played two games cause I figured maybe I could try, but it didn't make me feel any better. Why did it have to rain so much? I wondered if Luke hated when it rained. Probably, from the clear sound of it he hates the class he's in. I took out my phone and started playing solitare on it. Might as well do something semi productive. "Katie put your phone away," I heard my teacher yell to me. I looked up and groaned. I saw her staring at me waiting impatiently for me to put it away. I put it in my pocket and watched her go back to teaching, I sighed and prayed that soon this class would be over. Once my teacher told us all to go to the locker room and change our clothes I was happy my prayers were answered. Even though I didn't participate I still had to change to get some credit. My dad always told me I should try in gym class, but even if I didn't have seizures I still wouldn't. Gym was stupid.
I changed into my normal street clothes. Skinny jeans and a tee shirt. I waited in the gym till the bell rang and started walking to my next class. The day went by slowly and I wished school didn't bore me so much. I was happy when I got to lunch though. It gave me a break from the boring classes. Even though I was alone I guess it didn't make much of a difference. Until today. While I was playing around with my phone I didn't even realize someone was sitting with me, till they cleared their throat. I looked up to see Luke Hemmings sitting across from me. I put my phone away and he smiled at me, "Hey." He said.
"Hi," I answered back and looked at the ground to see where Lucy was. She was laying down next to my seat and she looked like she was sleeping. Good, she won't make him uncomfrotable.
"So this is where you hide out during this time," he said and raised one of his eyebrows.
I nodded, "Yeah I guess." I said and looked back at him. "You have this lunch period?"
"Yeah." He answered back, "apparently you do too."
"And yet we still haven't seen each other before." I said and took a bite of my sandwhich. He let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. I usually hide in the one of the hallways, no one usually tries to look for me, so I don't think it's a big deal." He said and shrugged.
"I tried," I said and looked down at the table.
"What?" He said and made eye contact with me.
"I mean, the other day when I had the seizure. I tried to find you and apologzie, but I couldn't find you." I said and looked back down at the table. I probably shouldn't have said that. He looked at me like what I said confused him and then he shook his head, "why would you apologize?" He said.
I shrugged, "I don't know. I felt like I should. I don't know." I said getting quieter as I went. Things between us were still awkward. I knew we shouldn't be by now, but they are. I tried to not be so awkward, but I couldn't help it. I never really talked to people, not like this. Even when I was younger I didn't have a friend, but now I had this guy talking to me. One he was a guy, that instantly made it worse. Two, all I knew was that his name was Luke and he had a funny accent when he talked. "Don't apologize for something you can't control." He said calmly and cooly. I looked at him again shocked that he actually just said that to me. No one had ever said something like that to me. My whole life I've always felt bad for having to go to the hospital, or causing people to have to look at me funny. I always felt like it was my fault that this happened, and who knows. Maybe it technically could be my fault. It was my fault that day.
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I guess you could say I was caught way off guard. I felt myself pout and I didn't even eat the rest of my lunch. "Where are you from?" I asked him. "Your voice. It's funny."
"Sydney, Australia. I moved here with my mom. She's a C.E.O at a major company and she got a better job here. So I had to move with her." He said and I could tell he sounded sad. Changing countries probably wasn't easy. I don't know if I'd be able to handle moving to a whole new country.
"That must've been tough." I said and watched as he leaned his head on his hand. He nodded, "Yeah. It was. Still is. I don't understand half the things going on here. America confuses me."
"Australia would confuse me just as much," I retorted.
"Probably. I mean I don't know. I just find it weird here. It's nothing like home...." He said and trailed off like he was thinknig about what he was saying. He probably had to leave all his friends and family behind when he moved with his mom. I watched as he pulled out his phone and started scrolling through it. I watched as he quickly typed and placed it down on the table. "You're on your phone a lot." I stated and pulled my water bottle out of my backpack.
"I get bored." He said and opened it again. This time I watched as he swiped his fingers across his phone. Guess I was boring. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. Lunch would be over in ten minutes. I laid my head down on the table staring at the wall. I didn't move until I heard Luke poked my cheek. "Are you alright?" He asked me. I nodded, "Yeah. I'm just kind of tired." I said and felt myself yawn. I looked in Luke's direction and I saw a flash of worry go by his face.
"Do you want to go to the nurse?" He asked calmly. Maybe that would be a good idea, I was suddenly feeling tired and it was probably not good to be in class in case something happened. I nodded, "Yeah. I think so." I leaned my head up and rested it in my hand. "Do you want me to throw your stuff out?" He asked me. I didn't really want him to throw it out for me, but I didn't feel strong enough to do it myself. I just felt very drained. I just nodded and watched as he went over to the trash can and threw my stuff out. When he came back he held out his hand to help me out of my seat. I tugged Lucy's leash and jolted her up. Of course she hit her head on my chair before we left. Clumsy dog. I looked at Luke and he gave me a small smile. His bright blue eyes shone as he did.
Despite my efforts to tell him he really didn't need to walk me to the nurse, he walked me anyway. I thought that was very kind of him. The walk didn't take that long from the lunch room, but in those few minutes I walked with him I learned a good amount. He told me about his friends back home Michael and Calum. He said that Calum was his best friend and that he hated being here without him. I could tell by the tone he talked about him he missed him a lot. I've never had a best friend, so I wouldn't know how it feels. I only had my dad. My mom left when I was about 7. Apparently she, "Couldn't handle having a kid with seizures." Could I blame her though? I wouldn't want one that had them either....
I always wondered what having a best friend would feel like. Someone who you trust with your life and who you tell everything too. "It must be nice, having a best friend." I said looking down at the ground.
"Yeah. I guess it is." He said and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Or even a friend..." I said and walked up to the nurse's door. I had my hand on the handle and was about to go in when I heard him. "I'll be your friend." I turned around and our eyes met. I don't know what the feeling I had inside of me was. I was happy at the same time there was confusion. I didn't know why he would want to be my friend. I had a dog for crying out loud. I laughed at my thoughts, "despite the dog?" I said. He gave out a little nervous chuckle and nodded his head. "Despite the dog," he repeated softly.
"Thank you," I said. "You're not bad Luke Hemmings." I grabbed the handle of the nurse's office and walked in. I looked back and saw Luke linger for a minute, then he disappeared. I couldn't contain the smile on my face until I remembered why I was actually here. I walked over to the nurse's assistant's desk. "Oh Katie. What's up?" She said in a soft voice. I always liked her mom than the actual nurse. The actual nurse wasn't a horrible person or anything, she was just rough, and hard to get through. "I'm tired." I said and she nodded at me. She stood up and came up behind me. She put her hand on my back and led me over to one of the beds. She sat me down and gave me a gatorade she had in the fridge. "Hopefully this will help," she said. A good thing for me was when I was tired to make sure I had some sort of sugar in my body. I traded her Lucy for the bottle and drank a few sips out of it. I laid myself down and I felt my body slowly start to go to it's familiar place. Soon everything around me went dark and I felt comfort.
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"Katie, can you hear me?" I heard a voice call in the distance. I tried to say something but nothing was coming out. "Katie if you hear me, blink once." I heard the voice say again. The voice was unfamiliar to me. I followed what it said and I blinked. I tried to open my eyes, ignoring how droopy they were. Slowly light started to peer through and it came to quick. I shut my eyes again and tried to wipe them. My arms felt heavier than usual and I realized how shitty of an idea that was. "She's coming to," I heard the voice say. I attempted to open my eyes again and this time I succeeded. I looked around and looked at the familiar room. Once I realized where I was I felt myself frown. Of course. I looked around the hospital room, not phased by anything. I looked in front of me and two doctors and my dad were standing there. My dad walked over to my side and held my hand. "Hey honey," he said and pushed my hair back with his hand.
"Katie can you tell me the last thing you remember," one of the doctors said. She was a female, and I recognized that she was the one talking to me before. I tried to remember hard. At the moment everything seemed all hazy. I closed my eyes trying to remember exactly what I was doing. I was at lunch and then Luke came and sat with me. Then he brought me to the nurse. "I was at lunch, and then I felt tired. So I went to the nurse." I said and positioned myself so I was sitting upright. I heard a small whine come from the side of the bed. I peered over to see Lucy looking up at me with her big brown eyes. I reached down and gave her a small pat on the head. She wagged her tail a bit then I pulled away. "Katie. When you were in the nurse's office you passed out and had a seizure. Then about 15 minutes later you had another one. You don't remember coming to the first time?" The doctor asked and came over to me. I shook my head. She pulled out her flashlight and looked into my eyes with it. The light bothered me and I flinched a bit. "She's responsive, that's good." She said to the other doctor. "We'd like to keep her here a few more hours just in case of a reaccurance, so most likely she'll be able to go home for the night." The doctor said with a reassuring smile. I didn't understand why the other doctor was even in there with her. He did absoluetly nothing, except stare at her. I looked at my dad and he smiled at me weakly. I just wanted to go home and be in my own bed, and my own room. I sighed and the doctors left the room. "Can you put Lucy up here with me?" I asked my dad. He nodded and headed to the other side where Lucy was. He picked her up from underneath her front paws and she followed his direction. He made sure she didn't knock over the IV I was attached to.
I watched as he ran a hand through his hair. I could tell he was stressed out by this. I couldn't help it, if I could control it I would, but that was the problem. I couldn't. "Are you hungry or anything?" He asked me. "Just thirsty." I said and he nodded and disappear out of the room. I laid back and rubbed my hand against Lucy's body. She was practically a big teddy bear for me. While some people slept with teddy bears and pet them, I had my dog. She was more of a security blanket than anything. Even though I had her for medical reasons, she was still a therapy tool. I think that's why most people have dogs. They always have someone there even if it wasn't a real person. I just stayed petting her until my dad returned. He ended up bringing me a coke and a bag of chips. I drank the soda and just left the chips on the table. My appetite wasn't really there at the moment. I couldn't stop thinking about how much we've been through because of my seizures. My great grandkids would probably be paying off all my hospital bills. I hated having to always be in the hospital or not being able to enjoy myself without the fear of having a seizure. Having seizures drew people away, far away. They didn't want to be anywhere near me.
I spent the rest of my time sitting in silence. My dad ended up going to the cafe to eat something cause he hadn't eaten since lunch. By then I had eaten my bag of chips and was pretty content. Excpet for the fact I was still in the hospital. A few more hours....more like 20. Ok maybe not 20. Around 6:00 the doctor came in and said I was discharged and was free to go. I was relieved. I just wanted to be home in my own bed, my own room, my own house. The nurse undid my IV and I got changed back into my normal clothes. Once I was ready we headed to the car and I fell asleep. Car rides were pretty soothing.
When I got home I went straight to my room and attempted to finish my homework. That was the worst part of it all. I kept missing classes and I always fell behind because of my seizures. My dad tried to convince me to get a tutor, but I think I had to much pride for that. In my mind it made sense even though I clearly knew it was idiotic. Again, too much pride. Once I finally got through it, I headed to the shower and tried to wash away my thoughts of today. I just had to get over it and hope it would get better. That's what they gave me the anti-seizure meds for right? I didn't even realize how long I stayed in the shower for. It was to comforting to want to get out, but I knew I would have to if I had to go to school. School. Classes. Learning. I got out and wrapped myself in a towel. I sat on top of the toilet seat and rested my arm on my leg. I was praying I could make it through the rest of the year without having to get a tutor. If not then next year my dad would be forced to get me one. He wouldn't have any other choice. I didn't want some person telling me how to do my school work. There goes my pride talking again....
I went into my room and put on my pajamas. I laid down on my bed and just stared up at the wall. Lucy jumped up and sprawled herself out across my abdomen. I swear she thought she was a lapdog sometimes. I just petted her until I felt myself drift off into sleep.
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"Katie," I heard a voice call out from behind me as I headed to my locker in the morning. Only one person would be even considering talking to me. I turned around and saw Luke wave an arm at me and run towards me. I waited until he caught up before I started walking again. He stopped to catch his breath and then said, "hey."
"Hi," I answered back and started walking. He followed me as we went down the hallway towards where my locker was. I could tell he was still nervous around Lucy. He had this habit of staring at her and then he would shake a bit. I decided that I would never call him out on it, I thought he might be embarrassed about it. He always made sure he was on the opposite side of me then her, and that he wasn't standing directly next to me.
"What happened yesterday? I saw an ambulance here." He said nervously. I ended up in front of my locker and I opened it. "Apparently I had two seizures while I was in the nurses office. I didn't even know about it until I got to the hospital." I said and sighed. I knew Luke was just curious about it, but I really hated talking about it.
"Oh wow. Well are you feeling better today?" He asked me as I finished switching out my books and closed my locker.
"Yes. Thanks." I said and started walking again. Again he didn't say I'm sorry...I expected him to, but he didn't. This experience was weird for me. I wasn't used to walking with people in the morning. Usually I would just go sit in the cafe and wait for the bell to ring, but today I could already tell was different. At least if I walked around, I wasn't alone. We didn't say much else, I tried making small conversation by asking questions. That was another thing about Luke. I always asked him questions, and he always just gave me straight answers. He didn't seem to mind my constent baggering. I was just a naturally curious person and that didn't seem to bother him in the slightest way. The bell rang signaling us that we had to go to first period. "You know it's a nice day out." Luke said. "You know what that means?"
"What?" I asked, although I think I knew the answer.
"I'll see you during study hall." He said then strutted off down the hallway. Yes you will Luke I said to myself then walked to first period.