The Story of Us

Chapter 4

((I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY!))

There are days that are just plainly good, and plainly bad. Today was a day that was just plainly bad. There wasn't anything that just stood out I was just not feeling very good, and it didn't seem anything would go in my direction.

First I hit every red light on the way to the doctors and was 20 minutes late. Then I get there and have to sit around for nearly 45 minutes before I'm called back. Finally I get back there and quietly I'm faced with the issue of getting my blood drawn.

There's a few things I can't stand (and I mean I literally am in capable of standing). I hate blood. The look of it, the smell, the awful taste of iron and rust, it makes my teeth clench and my head spin and my stomach flip. So when the nurse sat me down and I was overwhelmed with the sent of alcohol and cheap perfume when she leans down to clean my arm by the vein. She doesn't bother telling me what she's doing or why, I'm used to it. In the 8th grade the doctors told me I had a severe case of anemia. Since the 8th grade I've gotten regular blood samples and iron supplements and other things to help stop the side effects from effecting me. I know basically how it works, they put me in a chair, they give me a juice box and a cookie, stab the needle into my arm and tell me to sit tight for about 10 minutes, during those ten minutes I eat my cookie and drink my juice and more than once I've passed out, but today was by far one of the worst experiences I've had.

The nurse couldn't get the needle in my vein and that happens sometimes, but she would prick me and move around the needle in my arm, and I sat my pale taught hand gripping the unoccupied side of the sticky chair with white, boney knuckles. Spots danced in my eyes as I nodded slowly along to the
song playing throughout the hospital, trying to relax. It doesn't help, my face gets hot and the lady mutters and gets up, grabs a new needle and walks to my other arm. Oh great. I lay back my hands shaking and my opposite arm throbs. She sticks in the needle with no trouble and gets me my juice and cookie, she though, being clumsy which I can't condemn, tripped and the clear blood filled plastic cord rips itself out of my arm and I shriek, my red, sticky, nasty blood is on the ground and some is coming out of my arm and images swim in my eyes right before I black out.
((I'm going to update/ complete this chapter later but I thought I should update since it's been so long, again I'm really sorry! Keep reading and keep voting! Thanks -Mel))

I wake up, my head is foggy and I blink a few times to capture what I was seeing, correctly. My mom and Ryan are standing talking to the nurse, Ryan's eating one of the cookies and looks over at me and jumps. "Oh she's awake now!" He says with a smooth grin him and my mom walking over to me. My arm is bandaged and I'm still in the blue plastic chair I was in before I zonked out. There is no more blood, only my memory of the nurse tripping and the needle coming out of my arm and my blood seemed to inhabit every space at the time I first knew, but as I look around it's no where. For a minute I speculate that it was all a weird dream, but who am I kidding, it's not.

"Why are you here Ryan?" I'm aware of the fact I'm probably pale and look worse then when I left the house, but at least I'm not throwing up on him.

My mom answers before he can,"Ryan was over to see you when the hospital called me and said that you'd passed out getting your blood drawn. Ryan offered to come." My mom smiled and I quietly scorned my genes, I wish I wasn't so... Me.

"Okay." I get up annoyed and ready to et some fresh air. I wobble a bit and Ryan stables me, I lash out at his act of kindness, "I'm okay!" I say more forcefully then I met and he just smirks and puts up his hands in a defensive position. His cool behavior bothers me, especially when my mental capacity is bouncing off of the walls. I sigh. "Thank you." I couldn't let my mom lecture me about that, that was an absolute no.

My mom thanks the nurse even though I shoot her an accusing glance on my way out. Ryan offers to drive my at back to the house and my mom agrees it would be safer if he drove. I hand him my keys and we get into my car. "Now would you please explain in in-depth detail what you doing at my house?"

"Tell me why you were at the hospital first, you don't secretly have cancer right? I don't want this to turn into a Nicholas Sparks novel." He replies joking pulling into the thick city traffic.

"No I don't. I have a severe case of anemia. Continue."

He takes a breath and tells me about how he's been trying to call me and arrange dinner, but he hasn't gotten a hold of me. (Let's pretend I wasn't ignoring his calls?) He decided to go to my house and talk to me then and that when my mom had gotten the call I had passed out. They road to the hospital and he told me about how they had decided to meet tomorrow night for dinner and they had only been at the hospital for 5 minutes before I woke up. His short account of what had happened ended and formally I apologized for missing his calls, told him I had misplaced my phone, and that's when it started ringing in my bag.

Of course Mom, thank you for that one. I took out my phone my cheeks red Ryan's mouth in a grin, but underneath I could tell he was really a bit offended. I had a short conversation with my mom about how she was going to get groceries so we would be home alone, and I think I heard her sound a little nervous at leaving two teenagers who may or may not like each other, home alone. I talk to her trying to draw out our conversation so I won't have to talk to Ryan and explain why I'd lied then why I had ignored him.

I like Ryan, a lot, and that's why I was ignoring his calls, because I'm not good with feelings and that was exactly who Ryan was, feelings. We pull into my driveway and I get out of my small, old impala and wait for him before walking inside.

We sit down in the living room, him on one side of the couch, me on the other. He takes a breath and I cut him off before he can ask. "I couldn't answer because I was worried I would sound desperate." My cheeks flush, that was not how I had expected myself to finish the sentence. He smiles though, that lopsided grin that drives me wild. I look down at our cream carpet my cheeks hot and my fingers rubbing together nervously and frustrated. It's a nervous tick I have, a tell tale when I'm upset.

"I was gonna ask if you wanted to watch a show on tv..." He says while I glance at him through the web of hair I have partially blocking his view of my face. I'm so stupid! I ruined whatever chance I ever had with him, And cursed myself for it. He cut me off though, as I handed him the remote trying to hold off the tears that threatened to escape, he said "But, can I pick you up at 7 on Saturday?" I looked at him. Was he being serious?! I nodded slowly.

"That'd be good," I say quietly. He got up and looked at me with taunting eyes. Then he turned and walked to the door.

From the front room he hollered to me an I say there soaking up every word he spoke, "I will see you tomorrow Cassie, stay beautiful." Before I could even react he left and secretly I hated him, but was also head over heals for that boy.

The way he always got the last word, and always left me on almost a cliff hanger, drove me nuts. But every time I saw him I was hooked.