I Have To Protect Them - Cleofis Drisen

Chapter Eight: I Can't Do This Part 2

On the day we were supposed to go home, I woke up and had some breakfast that consisted of cereal, toast, and juice. Greg was sitting beside me. eating the same breakfast. The dinging of my phone interrupted our silence. It was Cassandra texting me, saying, "we're going to check out what's happening at the Green, apparently some cult like worshipping is going on. If you wanted to come." I smiled at her trying to include me. We've bonded over similar situations. It's been nice to have someone to talk to that really understands how I feel. Greg is great and he tries to understand what I'm going through, only he'll never know. Cassandra may feel differently than me, but she reassures me that if I feel like what I'm doing is best for me, than 'fuck everyone else.' "What's up?" Greg wondered beside me, glancing at my phone. "Cassandra's going to the Green and she offered for us to join them." I chuckled and he questioned, "what for?" "Apparently there's some 'worshipping' going on" I explained, earning a laugh from him. "Do you want to go?" he pondered, and I responded, "sure, nothing else to do." We shared another laugh, finished eating, put our dishes away, and got ready. I texted Cassandra back as I came down the stairs, 'thanks, we're on our way. Sounds indeed interesting.' We walked to the Green because we are trying to save gas, just in case.

After arriving to the Green, we saw people were scattered around and there was a prayer group sitting a circle around a rock formation. Cassandra, Allie, Helena, and Gordie were standing in front of the gazebo, while Gordie was sitting inside the gazebo reading a book. We walked over to join them and before we could greet them, some guy in the prayer circle begged, "if it's something we did, tell us", while looking at the sky. Lexi added, "or if there's something we need to do, give us some sort of sign." "Useless" Helena claimed from my right. "Never would have pegged Lexi as a conduit to the heavens" inputted Cassandra, and Allie pointed out, "you have to admit, they're fair questions given the circumstances." Allie went into the gazebo and leaned along a rail. I nodded, "but really, looking to someone that doesn't care about us for answers, so stupid." I could feel everyone looking at me as it got dark. I realized it's an eclipse as I was looking at the darken sun and covered my eyes quickly. Everyone started expressing panic, when a girl shouted, "hey guys, check it out!" Lexi misguided, "we asked for a sign", making a guy ponder, "what does it mean?" I laughed sarcastically as Gordie explained, "it doesn't mean anything. It's a fucking solar eclipse. It's not a sign, it's a predictable astronomical event. Just don't stare at it and we'll be fine." Slowly everyone calmed down, only I couldn't stop staring at the eclipse. "Cleo? Cleo?" Greg's voice pulled me back from the sky. I looked at him and he wondered, "do you wanna go to the hospital? Do some research?" "Sure, but uhm I thought the next solar eclipse wasn't until 2023 or something" I answered, earning a shrug from Greg. I noticed everyone else had left us or gone back to what they were doing. We began walking to the hospital and on the way we heard some people yelling from the football field. We went over to take a look, finding Grizz, Luke, Clark, and Jason playing football. We'll it looked more like they were fucking around. "Alright, alright. CENTURIANS ON THREE, CENTURIANS ON ME. CENTURIANS ON THREE" Grizz yelled, while they were in a huddle with their fists in the air and touching. They all howled, "CENTURIANS!" I laughed a little bit. At least they were enjoying themselves. We started walking again and I took one more look at the guys on the football field. They were all watching us walk away and Luke said something that made Grizz upset. I turned away to selfishly save myself the pain. A few seconds later, I heard Grizz yell, "DON'T CALL HER THAT!" When we looked back, we saw Grizz on top of Jason and he appeared to be punching him. Luke pulled Grizz off and Clark was bent over laughing. "Come on" Greg encouraged, walking away. I slowly followed. For the rest  of the day, I wondered about what Luke had said. I had a hunch what Jason said, definitely something bad against me. I couldn't be mad at Jason for how he felt because it was exactly what I wanted. Too bad Grizz, Luke, and Helena didn't feel the same.

Greg and I spent a few hours looking through files and many books on my condition, learning nothing we didn't already know. As we were looking, Gordie came down the hall and stopped in the doorway of the room we were in. "What are you guys doing?" he questioned, causing both of us to look up at him. Greg and I shared a quick glance before looking back at Gordie. "Research, you?" I answered, and Gordie nodded, "me too." "For Cassandra? Is she alright?" I worried, but Gordie shook his head. "Oh yeah, she's fine. Just in case. Finding a way to help. More knowledge the better, right?" Gordie shrugged. Greg added a "true", while I partially yelled, "oh hang on!" I hot up a little to fast and shook my head from the dizziness as I walked over to a shelf. I pulled a thick leather book from it. "I came across this, might help" I admitted, handing the book to Gordie, "Cardiovascular System: Clinical Concepts and Physiology" Gordie read out loud, then he looked at me with a smile. "Thanks Cleofis. This is great" he thanked. I nodded, "your welcome. If I come across anything more, I'll let you know." Gordie thanked me again and he left us to continue our search. I sat back down in my spit. "See if you let people see this side of yo-" Greg started, but I cut him off, "never, I must remain a bitch for the rest of my life." I smiled at him, except he didn't smile back. "You know it doesn't have to be this way. You can tel-" Greg began the same argument we've had a hundred times, only I got angry, "no, we've talked about this. I'm sick and tired of being told what's best for me." I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the room. I left the hospital hastily and I huffed the entire way. If I was a cartoon, you'd be able to see my anger by the squiggly black line above my head.