A Million Dreams

Nine

I feel like something is taking over my body. "Oh no, not again." I try to hold it back, but it keeps fighting me. I groan and lean to the side. The guy in front of me stops and stares. Then he backs up, looking uneasy. Suddenly, the library door slams open. "Ash, are you okay?" Jaylen runs and tackles the guy. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HAL?!" Jaylen pins his arms behind his back. Hal howls with pain. "GET OFF JAYLEN!" He yells. I see Jordan run in, look at the scene, and run towards me. "AGH!" I yell, bending over. Jordan holds me. "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO."Jaylen asks, putting more force on Hal's arms. "OW! WE WERE JUST TALKING!" He said. "OH YEAH? WELL, WHY DID ASH SAY SOMEONE HELP ME?!" Hal looks confused. Then angry. "How did you hear that?" "You didn't know? Ash and Jordan have been speaking in unison since lunch. So, when she said that, Jordan also said it too. And it just so happened that I was next to him." He said, looking mad. The pain stops and I lay limp. I push Jordan away and sign that I am fine. "Are you sure?" he signs. "Yes, I'm sure. We need to go so we can do this tie-breaker." "What are they saying?" Hal asks. "They need to go for their tie-breaker." Jaylen says. "Wait, you know sign language?" "Yeah, one of our cousins is deaf due to a car accident. So, we had to learn sign." I look at him. "Wait, your related?" I sign. Jaylen let's go of Hal's arms. "Yeah, he's my step-brother." he signs while rolling his eyes. "Wow did not know that. He's way taller than you." "Yeah but I'm older by 7 months. And I'm still growing!" "Okay well see you at the tie-breaker!" I sign before running out. I go change into some running clothes and head out in front of the school. When I get there, I gasp. The entire school was standing outside. When they saw me, they cheered. Then Jordan came out. They cheered for him as well, but I felt like they cheered louder for him. "What's going on?" he signs. "I have no idea." I sign back. We walk towards Coach. "What's all of this?" We ask. "Well, the principal heard and decided that the whole school should watch. So, she emailed all the teachers, and they told their students. And the students told one another until everyone knew. Now you have an audience." she says. Me and Jordan look at each other and shrug. "Now go to the starting line." Coach says. We do as were told."May the person with the most stamina win." We say. "ALRIGHT! IT'S THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! WE HAVE THE NEW STUDENT ASH VS. SHOYO! WHO WILL STAND THE LONGEST? WE'LL HAVE TO WATCH TO FIND OUT!" Coach Carri says through a mic. Then she hands it to Mrs. Harrison. "Alright racers. On your mark, get set, GO!" An airhorn blares and we take off running. We started on the same pace but then I decided to go a tad bit slower, just to conserve some stamina. When we did our first lap, everyone was sitting down. I luckily had a watch on so I could tell the time. Around our 5th lap, I could tell that everyone was getting bored, but no one left. I wonder why? About 15 minutes later, it was our 13th lap. I could tell Jordan was getting tired, but he wasn't letting up. Me on the other hand, was doing just fine. Wasn't tired or thirsty. Even thought I had a water bottle in my backpack. By our 21st lap, everyone got more focused on me. I could hear as I was passing by, "How is she not tired?" "Jordan looks just about ready to pass out." "Maybe the principal should end this. Jordan doesn't look too good." Why are they all worried about Jordan? He's still ahead of me. I look up, unaware that I had been looking down this whole time. Jordan looked terrible. I jogged up to him. "Hey, maybe you should stop. You look terrible." I sign. "No, I'm not giving up." he signs back. "Okay, it's your funeral. I'm just trying to help you." I sign before slowing my pace again. We were on our 30th lap when everyone started cheering. I look at the crowd. They were cheering for me. I was confused until I looked ahead. Jordan was laying on the ground. I ran up to him. "Are you okay?" I say. Wait, he didn't say anything with me. I flip him over. Oh god. "HE'S NOT BREATHING!" I scream. The crowd stops cheering and runs over. I start doing CPR. It's a good thing I was a junior lifeguard at the beach for 3 summers. 30 compressions, then pinch the nose, and breathe. I repeat this process until I get a pulse. I put him on my back and take off. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING? AN AMBULANCE IS ON IT'S WAY!" The principal yells. "I'M FASTER!" I yell. "Jordan, don't you die on me. You can't die! Don't do this to me!" I yell, running faster. In 5 minutes, I reached the hospital whereas an ambulance would have taken 15 because of the traffic and rude people. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" I yelled as I ran inside. A nurse got a bed for the side of the hallway. "What happened?" she asked me. "We were doing a tiebreaker, which was running around our school to see who would stop first. But on our 30th lap, he collapsed. I ran up to him, turned him over, and saw that he wasn't breathing. I immediately started compressions. I got his pulse, but it was weak. My school called an ambulance, but I took him here by myself because I knew that it wouldn't get there for a good 15 minutes, which is time that he didn't have." I said. "Well kid, your fast. I'll send another nurse to talk to you." she said, wheeling away Jordan. I took a seat and tried to relax but my mind wouldn't have it. A few minutes later, A doctor came out. "Could the young lady who brought a young boy in here a few minutes ago stand up?" she asked. I stood up and walked over. "Ah, so you're the one the nurse told me about. Thanks to you, we got pulse steady. Now, we need to know who his parents are, what his name is, all of that." "Well, his name is Jordan Mac, I don't know his parents, he doesn't have any allergies, at least that's what he told me. It's only my second day and I just met him yesterday." "Wow, it's your second day at a new school. Talk about a story for the ages. Well, we can look for his parents by using his name." she said getting up. "Can I go visit him?" I ask. "Sure, his room is on the 5th floor and the number is 854." "Okay thank you!" I walk down the hall towards the elevator. Then I get inside and press the button for the 5th floor. When I walk out, I see a sign about which way the rooms are. The rooms on the left are 850 and below so I go right. "851, 852, 853, oh, 854!" I counted. I knocked softly before entering. I walk and and grab the clipboard to see what going on with him. I gasp. Malnourishment? Dehydration? He seemed perfectly fine when he came over to my house yesterday. I put it back and sat down. I realized that I had left my backpack at school. But luckily, I had my mini one, which had my water bottle, my phone, Jordan's phone, and some card games. We planned on going to a café later that day. I grabbed my phone and started texting my mom. 

Me: Hey mom. 

Mom: Hey sweetie. Why are you texting me? Shouldn't you be home? 

Me: I'm at the hospital with Jordan 

Mom: What happened?! 

Me: He passed out and stopped breathing doing a tiebreaker after school. So, I did CPR and brought him here. 

Mom: I'm grateful that you did the junior lifeguard thing for 3 summers. 

Me: Yeah, me too. I'm going to call everyone to let them know he's okay. Bye 

Mom: Okay bye

I turn off my phone and grab Jordan's. He has a password. Luckily, he also had a fingerprint recognition, so I quietly walk over to him, put his thumb on the phone and walk back to my seat. I opened his contacts and decided to call Jaylen, knowing that he'll tell everyone that Jordan's okay. He answers. "Hello?" "Hey Jaylen." "ASH! OMG IS JORDAN OKAY?!" He yells/screams into the phone so loud that I pulled the phone away from my ear. "Jeez calm down. Yes, he's okay. He's still unconsciousbut fine." I say. He sighs. "Oh, thank god. HE'S OKAY EVERYONE!" I hear sighs of relief. "Hold on, the principal wants to talk to you." I hear the phone being handed off. "Ash, what you did was..." I was ready for her to expel me, tell me what I did was reckless, but it never came. "Heroic. The ambulance showed up right before you called. We let them know that you had already took Jordan to the hospital. I am grateful for that. Thank you." Mrs. Harrison says. I try to hold back my tears. "It was nothing. I just did what any person would have done." I say. I hear a groan. "Jordan's waking up. I'll send the hospital's address to Jaylen." "Okay tell him we hope he recovers. Jaylen, Izumi, and Sam will be on their way." "Okay. Bye" I hang up and walk over to Jordan. "Ugh, what happened?" he asks. I punch him in his shoulder. "OW! What was that for?!" he asked looking at me. "Ash? Why are you cry-" I cut him off. "DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT MAN! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED EVERYONE IS RIGHT NOW?! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?!" I yell. Then I sit down. "I can't watch another person die. Not again." I say looking down. "What do you mean?" I didn't answer because the door swung open. I jumped and fell out of my seat. "What the heck guys?!" I whisper yell. "Dude, are you okay?" Sam asked. "What did they say?" Jaylen asked. "Do you remember what happened?" Izumi asked. "Can I talk to you in the hallway for a minute please?" I ask grinding my teeth. I pushed them out of the room. "Brb." I say. "What it is?" Jaylen asked, obviously annoyed. "Did you guys know that Jordan was malnourished and dehydrated?" I ask, looking all 3 of them in the eye. Izumi's eyes widened. "No, is he?" he asked. "Why would I ask if he wasn't?!" I whisper yelled. "And don't you question him because he would have said something if he wanted you to know." They nod and I open the room door. "Are you okay bro?" Jaylen asked softly. "Yeah." Jordan says. "I just woke up, so I don't know what they said yet. And I kind ofremember what happened before but it's fuzzy." I heard a soft knock. "Come in." I say. The doctor I talked to before walked in. "I see your awake." she said smiling. "Could you excuse us for a minute?" "Oh, sure. No problem." Jaylen says. We all get up. "Young lady, can you stay?" "Okay." I sit back down. Jaylen, Sam, and Izumi walk out and shut the door. "Okay. Mr. Mac, your test shows severe malnourishment and dehydration. Could you explain why?" she asks, looking concerned. Jordan's face darkens. He looks down. I get irritated. But calm down enough to ask, "Jordan, why didn't you tell me? Or the guys? We could've helped you know." He doesn't say anything. Now I'm mad. "Jordan, answer either me or the doctor. You get the choice to stay silent. This is serious." I look at the door. "And I know you guys are listening. Go get some food or something." I hear footsteps run down the hall. I turn my gaze back to Jordan. He looked surprised. I feel the hot tears roll down my cheeks. "I've only known you for 2 days, but it feels like forever. You have been the only person I've considered a best friend. I don't trust people much, but you've opened me up to new things. Then you decide to basically almost die in my hands. I can't go through that again. You are in no place to do that to me!" I'm in tears at this point. I get and say, "I'm sorry" softly and run out.

Author's Note

Yeah, a lot happens in this chapter. I just rushed everything back there. I know to take my time now and plus, my writing style has changed so there's that

-lxlcrying