Ericka's POV. September 13th
It was finally Friday. I don't know how I made it through the first week, but I did. I was still going through with Kenzie's plan, because I don't think my friends would want to be my friends if they ever found out that there was something wrong with me. I've barely gotten anything out of Jordan, mainly because I haven't tried. I just let him reveal himself to me at his own consent rather than mine.
I was in biology, Sean and I were working on a microscope lab. Literally he was doing most of the work while I recorded both our notes. He knew how to work the microscope better, so I didn't mind taking the notes.
"Woah!" he said, stumbling back. "That green blob thing just moved." Sean said. I chuckled, and looked into the microscope. For a few moments, nothing moved. Then it happened. The blob moved, and I jumped, screaming. Everyone turned in our direction, including Mrs. Coin.
"I'm really sorry! It's just that thing kind of moved and.." Mrs. Coin laughed at me, and looked into the microscope.
"So it does move. Great work, you two." and she walked away. Sean and I both smiled at each other.
"You're really good at this." I told him, admiring his work with microscopes. I sucked at microscopes, I couldn't work mind for my life.
"Thanks, Ericka." he said, smiling at the ground. I was just noticing this, but it kind of bothered me how he was a Freshman and was still taller than me. Getting that off my mind, I decided to practice my social skills. It was going to bother me, a lot. But if I wanted to do Kenzie's stupid work I might as well get used to strangers.
"So uh... What's your favorite candy?" I asked him. I didn't know what to ask, honestly. I already felt my palms get all sweaty.
"I like Kit Kats, you?" oh God, I started to forget my favorite candies. Biting my lip, I blurted out 'candy' and Sean laughed at me.
"You're kind of funny." he smirked. I smiled, looking him in the eyes for the first time.
"I like Crunch bars." I said, finally. Wait, I actually said something right! I smiled to myself, feeling proud that I was able to speak without having to think about it. Specifically a stranger.
Bio soon ended, and Sean and I walked together to our next classes, which were close to each other. I went to guitar, he went to lunch. We soon went our separate ways, and I walked into the guitar room to find Jordan already playing our piece. I sat next to him, mentally prepping myself to ask some of the questions Kenzie told me to ask. I took a deep breath. trying to cut out the bad memories from replaying in my mind.
"Hey." I said, my hands shaking.
Jordan's POV
I looked up at Ericka, who was pale and shaky. This wasn't her, she wasn't the person to say hi first.
"Are you alright? You look pale." I asked her. She nodded her head, not even looking in my direction.
"Fine, I'm fine." she paused. "Hey so uh... Do you like horses?"
Horses? I chuckled. "Yeah, they're cool. I've never rode one before, though." Ericka was looking at her feet more, twiddling her thumbs.
"Okay." she bit her lip, still shaking harder than before.
"Do you want to go to the nurse?" I was getting a bit worried. She looked like she was going to vomit. I think Mr. Chambers noticed, too. Because he walked up to us.
"Ericka, are you okay?" he asked the same thing I've been asking.
"I don't want to be touched, don't touch me!" she shouted, loud enough for us to hear but barely audible got the rest of the class. Mr. Chambers asked Ericka to stand up, and he took her outside. He soon returned.
"Where'd she go?"
"I took her to the nurses office." he replied.
Ericka's POV
Mr. Chambers took me to the nurses office, because I started to have a panic attack. I got them a lot, specifically in a social place. I couldn't handle the pressure of asking Jordan all these questions.
I was sitting with the school physiologist in a secluded room, I was beginning to calm down. She gave me water and did what Lorraine usually did if I had one. Tell me that it's okay, I was safe, and asked me if I had felt like vomiting and all that. I still felt shaky, but I was happy it ended quicker than most attacks I had.
"Ericka, what led to the panic attack?" the lady questioned me. She's dealt with me before, so she knows I'm scared of crowds and strangers.
"Well I was kind of trying to socialize and it didn't really work out, did it." I told her. She wrote some stuff down, then looked back up at me.
"I know socializing seems like the best way to get over your fears. But I really think in your condition, you should stick to what makes you comfortable." she told me. She was right. I can't just force myself into a panic attack because Kenzie is a selfish bitch. I really needed to stand up for myself.
"Who was the person you were trying to talk to?"
"This guy in my guitar class named Jordan. I met him on Monday, Mr. Chambers paired us together to play this piece." I informed her.
"Are you comfortable conversing with him?"
"Yeah, he's cool. He kind of just accepts the fact that I'm socially awkward. I'm fine taking to him normally, but I just can't like... Get to know him, you know? There's just like this barrier that won't let me past answering questions and small talk. Does that make sense?" she nodded her head as a response.
"It does. I think what's happening is that you've had some kind of trauma with social events, and its just kind of lingering in your mind. Does it stress you out?" I nodded. She was asking me this like I had no idea what was wrong with me. I know what's wrong with me. Taking about it sometimes helped, but right now I felt like I was a bug under a microscope. The lady wrote down more notes, then looked back up.
"Ericka, I want you to come here every other Tuesday during lunch. Does that sound good?"
I was about to question her, but ended up nodding once again. She wrote me a pass, and I went to lunch. My friends greeted me. I glanced over at Jordan, who ended up walking over to me.
"So, I was going to give this to you before, but here's my number." be said, handing me a piece of islet
paper with his number. I grinned, and he went back to his seat. I now had Jordan's number.
