Stumbling Over Love | ✓

Chapter 5

_Chapter 5~ Eavesdropping_

"Reina, what do you mean you got assaulted on the bus?"

I was a bundle of nerves (and pain) as the school nurse gently tapped at my arm.

"It wasn't an assault, per se, but I was definitely put into an awkward situation." I paused, grappling for more words only to be met with nothing but a prickling fear. "Can I leave now?"

Dad sent me a look of displeasure. "Why must you always get yourself tangled in something dangerous? By the time I got home yesterday your mother told me she received a call about you being brought in for an investigation."

I trained my gaze onto the white curtain encasing us then over my shoulder to the window leading into the courtyard. Blocking out the hollers and screeches occurring right outside was impossible.

"Dad," I pleaded.

"Keep still." He wrapped my arm in bandages and held it firm below my chest. "Honestly," he sighed, "this wouldn't happen if you stopped being stubborn and tagged along in the car with me every morning."

"And come here an hour earlier every day?" I exclaimed.

Dad recoiled. Wincing, he placed a finger to his ear. A mixture of trepidation and embarrassment ran through me. I awkwardly dropped my gaze.

Even if he and I were related by blood, I couldn't understand him. You would literally have to be insane to attend this high school, let alone waltz in early to boot. I could barely keep my sanity straight during the regular eight hours I was trapped here for, let alone an extra hour added on top of that. The last time I came remotely early was on my first day and it was a memory I'd already buried deep inside my heart. I didn't want to remember what those boys and girls were handing off and smoking in the main courtyard, and the piles of bodies strewn around them like Halloween decor.

I'd heard countless rumours of how notorious Akelius Academy was growing up and had already dismissed the possibility of enrolling. I mean, I lived pretty far off from here and there were closer schools. But of course, Dad, being Dad, had to come strolling into the doors of our household to declare he'd finally found a job after getting the boot from his previous one months prior. A school nurse, of all occupations, here at fight-central, Akelius Academy.

I insisted plenty for him to reconsider but Dad was stubborn—nearly as stubborn as me. And although I'd been attending for a while now, currently midway through my second year, things hadn't changed.

"Reina," he called me out of my daze, securing the last of the splint around my arm. "Just keep it elevated and don't touch it."

I raked over his work. "That's it?"

"It is only a light sprain, so as long as you remember to ice it it'll heal in a week or so."

"Seriously?"

"Sounds to me like you wanted to hear something else."

"Well, no. I'm glad it's all right."

He retreated at that, adjusting the thick-rimmed glasses that hung loosely on the bridge of his nose. "Now, get going," he said, spinning around to fiddle with some supplies at his desk. "You saw the crazy line-up."

Yeah, and stood in it, I wanted to say but held it back. Despite it not being as packed as it generally was, the blood I spotted on their bodies was messed up. It was times like these I was grateful for my short height. Slipping through without those big guys noticing me was a perk, but that didn't erase my distaste for coming here.

Considering the delinquent number in this school, injuries or broken bones needing to get patched up was a regular occurrence. And what better person to do so than the school nurse himself?