Keys of Disaster

*-Chapter 17-*

Soon, Christmas break was over and I had to go back to school. Monday morning, I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. I met Page downstairs and soon enough we were on our way to school. Before first period, I went to my locker to get my books and Johnnie approached me from behind. He was being all lovey-dovey. "Hey stop it" I say playfully as he tickles me. He starts kissing me neck, "Johnnie, not at school" I say again but he doesn't stop.

After a few giggles, I feel him stop and I hear coughs escaping from his mouth. I turn around and see that he is holding his chest while coughing wet coughs. He doesn't stop. He pauses every now and then and holds his chest in pain. I rub his back, "Are you okay" I ask not knowing what else to do. He nods and after a few more coughs, he stops.

"Don't worry; it's nothing" he says still holding his chest. "Has this happened before" I ask concerned. "A few times, yes" he says and let out one last cough before we make our way to math class. I thought back at the Christmas party when Johnnie kept interrupting our songs with his constant coughing and the time in the coffee shop.

In class, I could hear Johnnie breathing, loudly and heavily and it made me concerned. At lunch, he had a shortage of breath after jogging like 10 meters after me. He is holding his shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay" I ask while he gathers his breath. "Does your shoulder hurt?" I ask. "Just a little, I must've slept wrong" he says and smiles at me.

Today we all sat together, Johnnie and me with our friends. We talked about Ava and Christmas and New Years and what our plans are for Valentine's Day.

"Alex, you know the ballet show I'm playing for, well, it's kinda on Valentine's Day. You can come watch if you want" Johnnie says with hesitation when the bell rang for 5th period. He's obviously feeling guilty. It didn't really bother me that much. "I'd love to come watch you play" I assure him. He smiled in relief and then we got separated to go to our classes.

Time passed by slowly, like always and the stress of senior year was upon me. I saw Jason on the weekends. We'd hang out at the new apartment and we'd have little pizza parties where we'd buy a big ass pizza and lots of other junk food like Oreos, chips, fries, cereal, donuts, ext. and watch a movie and play a few board games. We tried to keep it to the minimum on the alcohol, though.

***

It's two weeks before Valentine's Day and I hardly see Johnnie anymore. He practices day and night for this show and all of his focus is on it. It's actually cute seeing him like this.

In chemistry class, I got paired up with this weird girl, Nia. I've known her for as long as I can remember and all that time I tried to avoid her. She has long black hair and wears glasses. Her face is practically flawless but she has this weird laugh that scares the living shit out of me.

Anyway, we got paired up and have to do a project together that counts a lot. It should be done by the end of the week so that leaves us with two days to complete it in our own time, together. So, this afternoon we met up at the library because I'm not letting her in Page's house and I'm not risking entering hers. I'm afraid she'll kidnap me and lock me in her basement or something. I don't trust her.

So we met at the library and finished the assignment in a couple of hours and I'm proud to say, I survived. We handed in the assignment on Friday and got an A on it. Go us!

Also, I'm going to take my driver's test next week and I've been practicing with Page's car. She loves watching me drive. She says the faces I make are priceless. I'd like to see them some time though. At first, I get nervous but once I've started the engine and press the petrol paddle a few times, I get witty and try to do impossible stunts like left turns; I struggle my ass off with left turns. Driving is fun putting aside the fact that I still suck.

I parked in Johnnie's driveway to say hi to him. We walked towards his house and knocked. Skip opened the door with a slice of pizza in his hand and his face expressionless. He's still wearing a denim, a t-shirt and a snapback. I guess that's his style. "Johnnie's on the coach" he mumbles with a sigh and we let ourselves in.

Johnnie was lying on the coach. He's face was pale, his lips dry, he's hair stuck to his face - slightly wet - and his eyelids was closed. He looked dead. I woke him and greeted him with a soft smile. His eyes were red and he looked very confused. "Oh, hey Alex" he says after a while. He sits up straight and rubs his eyes.

"Are you sick?" I ask sitting next to him. "I hope so, because if this is well, I'd rather be dead" he says serious and takes a sip from the glass of water standing on the coffee table next to the coach. "I've been to the doctor; he says is just the flu. I'd be better by next week if I take care of myself" he says when he sees that I've become very worried. I feel relieved. "Okay well, I'm here. So I'll be your slave until you get better" I say and salute him. This makes the edges of his mouth curl up into a smile and it makes me feel better.

I tucked him into his blanket on the coach and then rushed to the kitchen to make some toast (I don't know why people would eat soup when they're sick. It always makes me feel even more nauseous). He looked very relieved when he didn't see me approach him with soup. He stuffed his face with the buttered toast and honey tea I made him and then drifted off. I watched him for a little while but before it began to be creepy, I left. I think I really love Johnnie.

Hey my very few readers, I just wanna remind you to vote if you like and comment to give me some feedback. Thank you and have a nice life. Bye.