After All, I'm Your Secret Admirer~!!

Ch4 - Of Nurses and Cats

The next period must be half over by the time Paige's aunt makes her way through the Nurse office's doors.

"Mijo, ¿estás bien?" Carmen cries, running up to him and grabbing his face with her hands. "What's wrong, what happened?"

"Got hit by a dodgeball," Paige mumbles, cheeks thoroughly squished. "This kinda hurts..."

"Oh! I'm so sorry, baby!" Like she had touched a hot stove, she pulls her hands back and flaps them. "Where does it hurt?" She flutters her hands around Paige's whole head, like she's unable to stand with her hands still but still unwilling to touch him and hurt him again.

"Here..." Paige points to his forehead, still a little damp from the ice pack. It still feels like it's throbbing.

"Aah, honey..." Carmen continues moving her hands around, more to herself this time though. "I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"He'll live," Ms. Tiseu smiles softly. "Just be sure to keep an eye on it for the rest of the day." She gives the aunt a small stack of papers. "I'll just need you to sign these for the early leave, alright?"

"Of course, of course." Looking like she's happy to finally have something to do with her hands, Carmen swiftly reads through the forms.

Paige, still a little out of it, takes a moment to think. If he's gonna leave now, he wouldn't have time to reply to the note...

"I-I have to use the bathroom," he says suddenly.

"Oh, go ahead, mijo," Carmen waves. "Come back here when you're done, okay?"

"Okay!" Paige grabs his bag and skedaddles before either of the adults can say anything to him.

Instead of going to the bathroom like he said he was, Paige makes a beeline towards his locker. On the way there, he thinks really hard about his answer.

There were a lot of flowers to pick from, but... there was only one he could really call his favorite for sure.

At his locker, he tugs out a piece of scrap paper and writes:

"My favorite flowers are lilies of the valley! I hear they're very nice flowers that have very nice meanings. :)

(P.S. to you too,

Can I get a hint as to who you are? The curiosity is killing me!)"

With that, he stuffs it overtop his locker and makes his way back to the office.

As he walks, he thinks back to earlier in the day, before he got smacked upside the head. What was he thinking about again?

...Oh! OJ!

He slips his bag off really quickly to retrieve his phone. He inputs his password as he walks, smiles at his background and quickly goes to OJ's contact.

paige: Hey OJ!

paige: It's been a while since we talked. I wanted to wave your way!

paige: 👋

paige: (Thats me waving!)

Paige smiles at his message. As he pockets the phone, he hopes OJ will answer today.

"Oh, there you are sweetie!" Carmen smiles. "That was quick."

"My head was hurting too much," Paige half lies. "I just came back before I went."

"That's alright, the trip home's not too long. C'mon," she holds out her hand for Paige to take, and take it he does.

"Goodbye, Ms. Tiseu!" Paige calls behind him. She pokes her head out of the office and waves.

"Feel better, hun!"

+++

Paige ends up falling asleep on the ride home. He wakes up to his aunt shaking him awake.

"Honey, we're home," she sing-songs quietly.

"'M up..." Paige mumbles. For a moment, he's forgotten where he was, what he was doing, why his Aunt Carmen was waking him up...

But then his head starts pounding again and it all comes flooding back.

"Oww..." Paige mumbles, holding his head.

"Aww, I know, sweetheart," Carmen coos, scooping up her nephew and his bag in both arms. "C'mon." Somehow, even with her short stature, she's able to hold both him and his bag, kick the car door closed and lock it with the keys she still had in one fell swoop. Paige would clap if his head didn't still hurt.

Instead of going to his house, Paige is quick to notice the outside of his aunt's and Brandon's house. It made sense, but... really, Paige wanted to be in his own bed.

Still, the Aguja's couch was plenty comfortable, he guessed.

Carmen places him right where he expects her to, dropping his back gently next to him on the floor. "You rest up, okay honey?" she pouts. "I'll... I'll make you some soup, okay? Auntie's Homemade."

Paige was going to say he wasn't actually hungry, but the announcement of what it was shuts him up. There's no way in heck he'd be giving up a chance for his Auntie's Homemade.

"Thank you, Aunt Carmen," he says quietly. "I'm gonna... take another nap." The world was starting to spin a little bit. Had he still gotten a bout of motion sickness while being out like a light?

"Okay, sweetie!" Carmen says. He can hear the smile in it. "Sleep well!"

Paige settles onto the couch, pulling his bookbag on top of him. He found the weight comforting for whatever reason as he lets his eyes slip closed and sighs.

What a day...

Paige's phone pings in his pocket. To his credit, he only startles a little bit.

squeezed to meet you: Hello Paige! It has been quite the while, has it not? Apologies to the deepest degrees, things got away from me. But! I'm sure we can get some time to hang out and pal around again soon, yes?

squeezed to meet you: By the by, I heard you got hurt today. To help, I thought I'd show you this cat I saw earlier today. It was cute and reminded me of you, so I thought I'd send it your way. Smiley face.

squeezed to meet you: [IMG]

Paige blinks as the picture loads.

It's a meme of an orange cat chasing its tail. In big, outlined impact font above and below the cat it says:

"I AM UR KING!

WHY DO U RUN FROM ME?!"

Paige giggles. How sweet!

paige: Heehee!

paige: I love it! Thank you!

Paige pockets his phone once he's done sending his message. This time when he closes his eyes, he's smiling. He hopes he and OJ can meet up again soon like he said they could!

Paige chuckles. He wonders if OJ knew his favorite types of cats were orange ones?

- A/N 2 -

heyy guys... i just wanted to say im sorry if everyone seems a little ooc... i kinda let this get away from me LOL! i hope you guys r having just as much fun as me tho!! :P