Masked love

Chapter two

Joseph stood in the student lounge dumbfounded. He had just let the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, leave with hurt feelings. After a moment he tried to run after her. He entered the tenth hall, looking to each end of the hall. She was no where in sight. He walked down the hall wondering where she might have gone. Was he ever gonna see her again, he thought to himself. He jogged swiftly down the hall, toward the central corridor. He slowed down, when he got close to the restrooms. He listened silently for the sounds of sadness. All he heard was silence, and the storm was coming. The bell rang.
Students poured into the hall. The hall became crowded with chaos. Joseph forced his way through toward the end of the hall. He began to hear some teachers yelling at the end of the hall. "Get down from there! That's dangerous!" Joseph began to think the worst. He hurried toward the end of the hall, however the crowd hindered his speed. None of the students were moving; they all stood still with fear and shock. He got close to the end of the hall, when he heard a teacher shout, "don't jump!" His heart stopped. He pushed aside the students in his way, and hurled himself to end of the hall. His body froze with fear and shock at the sight unveiled before him.
There she stood, the girl he had a crush on since six grade. Joseph could hardly believe his eyes. To others she may be unrecognizable, but to Joseph she's unforgettable. How could he not recognize her unnaturally long black braid? He tried to get closer, but the teachers kept him back. Some of the teachers remain silent, while the others continued to shout at her. She stepped closer towards the edge. Joseph felt his terror and shock through out his whole body. He then said, only loud enough for the girl to hear, "Nikita don't." His voice was quiet, yet it held the strength he could not. This was like his sister's death all over again. Joseph pushed past the teachers, and ran over to the half wall. He stood right below Niki. "You don't have to do this." Joseph saw Niki turn her head toward him. He saw through her mask, into her pain filled eyes.  "I'll admit, I have no idea what you're going through. You have a choice right now. You can either live for the better, or you can jump and end everything. I have always believed that there is something worth living through the pain. I'll help you find that one thing worth living for." He stared into her eyes, trying to read her thoughts. Joseph saw Niki look back toward the hole to students below. She took a step back, there was fear in her eyes. She tried to take another step, toward Joseph. Then her foot slipped, and she fell backwards. She closed her eyes.
Joseph quickly caught Niki in his arms, and lowered her limped body to the ground. The teachers continued to hold the students back. Suddenly Joseph heard footsteps running towards him. He looked up to see nurse Nell breaking through the wall of teachers. Then Nurse Nell sat down beside Niki. She placed her hand on Niki's head, without removing her mask. Joseph's face was filled with worry. "Is she..." His voice cut off.
"Oh heavens no. In fact son, you may have just saved her. She's just fainted, probably from the shock. Could you help me get her down to my office?" She asked.
Joseph nodded, "shouldn't we remove her mask?" He asked, he prepared to lift Niki.
"Not here, we'll remove it once we get to my office." Nurse Nell whispered softly. Joseph lifted Niki's limp body, and followed nurse Nell downstairs to her office.  Many of the students tried to see what was going on, but the teachers held them back. 
Once in Nell's office, Joseph laid Niki on to one of the beds. Before sitting down beside Niki she closed the door and locked it. "What's your name?" Nurse Nell asked causally.
"Joseph, mam." He said, his voice was shaking for some reason.
  Nurse Nell sat beside Niki's bed and removed her mask from her face. "Could you tell me what happened in the events that led up to this?" She asked Joseph.
Joseph looked down, fiddling with his fingers. He didn't know the whole story, but he knew what he saw. He glanced at Niki's pale and soft face. 'Would she want me to tell the nurse what happened, or should I keep quiet' he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and told the nurse what happened. However he couldn't bring himself to tell her his suspicions, and he left out the parts about Zeak and Stella.  Nurse Nell listen to his story quietly.
When Joseph finished talking, nurse Nell sighed. "Poor girl, she holds so many secrets and is so alone." She spoke softly and mostly to herself.  Joseph looked at Nell's sadden face. He wanted to tell her more, but he didn't want Niki to be mad at him.  Nurse Nell felt Niki's head. "She should wake up soon enough. You should head to lunch, I'll write you a pass that will excuse from part of class, so you can have enough time to eat." Nell grabbed a sticky note and jotted down some words.  She handed the note over to Joseph. He was reluctant to leave after what happened. 
"Will she get to eat lunch," Joseph asked trying to stall for time.
"Most likely. When she wakes up I'll have to decide whether or not I should send her home. Either way I'll give her some crackers and juice. It won't be much, but if I send her home she'll be able to have lunch."
"There's a possibility that she'll be able to go back to class though?"
"Yes, but that's only if there's no one home to keep an eye on her."
Joseph rose from his seat, "Well I guess I should head  to lunch. But can I come back to check on her on my way to class?"
"That's fine. I'm glad to see someone who wishes to be friends with Niki," Nurse Nell said walking Joseph out the door.
+++
Joseph walked through the commons towards the cafeteria. Most of the students had already entered their designated places. four grades were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch. Joseph entered the enormous lunch area. It could be compared to the size of three basketball courts. he entered the nearest lunch line, knowing it always served home-cooked hamburgers or cheeseburgers. The other lines served either pizza or salad. While he waited in line, Joseph rampaged through his wallet seeing how much money he had. he got free lunches, but he wanted to see if he had enough to get Niki a lunch. He arrived at the serving tray and grabbed two lunch bags. "Hungry today, aren't we," the lunch lady asked, ringing up his card. "That'll be $15.60." Joseph handed the money to her and walked off. At first he was heading towards the cafeteria tables, but he didn't feel right. He then walked towards the door to the commons.
A teacher then stopped him, "Where are you heading? Food should stay in the cafeteria."
"I'm going to the nurse's office." Joseph said.
"With two bagged lunches? Hmm. What's your name," the teacher asked questionably.
"Joseph."
"Alright Joseph," she pulled out a clipboard and looked down at it. "You're not on the list. But you seem like a good boy. I'll let you go, but only this time. Next time make sure you get a pass, or have the nurse add your name to the list." She said. Joseph nodded and walked out the door.
While he walked through the commons, Joseph kept hearing footsteps from behind. These footsteps mimicked his, following him. He stopped still in his tracks. The footsteps continued getting closer and closer to him. He felt a strong hand grip his shoulder and he looked beside him. There Zeak stood. He seemed to be staring off in the direction of the nurses office.    Joseph stepped away from steadily, but Zeak didn't seem like he wanted to hurt him. "I shouldn't be surprised that people are scared of me. But I wish they weren't," he said solemnly. "Joseph right?" Zeak turned and looked at Joseph. Zeak was calm and seemed strangely weak. Joseph nodded at his words. Zeak smiled kindly, "Keep an eye on Nikita." He turned beginning to walk away, with a last few words. "And keep her away from Stella. If only I had stood by her instead of against her." That last sentence was spoken barely above a whisper.
Joseph stood still in shock. Zeaks words lingered in his mind and surprised his heart. he then quickly walked to the nurse's office. He entered the office, and the nurse heard his footsteps. She arrived quickly at the front desk, "Joseph? You came back quickly. Niki hasn't woken up yet, but she probably needs the rest."
Joseph nodded, "I bought her a lunch bag from the cafeteria, could you give it to her?" His voice was quivering with nervousness.
Nell smiled, "of course, but perhaps you should write little note to go with it. Something that will lift her heart."
"Ok I'll try," he said. He turned and took a seat in the waiting room. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He jotted down the first things that came to his mind. They were simple words, but they held the voice of his heart. He then slipped the paper into the bag, and handed it to the nurse.
"I'll make sure she gets this, but you need to head to class." Nell said sternly. Joseph nodded and headed out the door.

End of chapter two