Stuck out of Orbit

Chapter 7 | I've had a heart attack

"I think I have a problem."

"What's new?"

"Last night I fell asleep with my backpack." I'm walking to my locker with Nova and Indy.

"Yes. Yes, you do." They shake their heads and we open our lockers. Pulling out my books for Biology, I close my locker and turn around to see Elek. My heart jumps into my throat and I panic, but he's smiling.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing, my little feminist. I just wanted to walk you to class."

"As much as I appreciate the gesture, A we have the same class and B I'm not an invalid, I'm perfectly capable of walking somewhere on my own."

"It's called being a gentleman."

"Chivalry is dead." I scowl and walk down the hall to class, Elek trailing behind me.

"I'm going to spend the rest of the day proving you wrong." That should make me happy, but instead, a small seed of fear plants itself in my chest and unfurls its leaves. We sit down at our desks and I do my best to focus on class. It's difficult, and soon my writing hand is shaking and my notes blurring together. I put my pen down and take a deep breath. You can do this Oceanne. I pick my pen back up as Elek gives me a strange look but my hand won't stop shaking. This is it, I'm having a panic attack. I'm not equipped to deal with boys and school and university. I like Elek a lot, but he needs to not surprise me. I cannot handle surprises, if my panic attack is any indication. Great, now I can't breathe. I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water, trying to get some air flow into my lungs. Nothing. My heart is pounding and I can't breathe and - everything goes black.

"Oceanne! Oceanne you need to wake up!" Someone's voice is in my ear and I open my eyes slowly, blinking at the sudden change of light.

"Oh thank goodness!" I look to see Nova sitting next to me, her eyes wide with concern.

"Where am I?" Panic starts to creep back into my voice.

"You are on the floor in the middle of the Biology class!" Nova screeches, panicked.

"What?!" I jerk up to a sitting position.

"What do you mean, 'What?!', you scared us half to death! You have no right to be confused and upset right now! You've been in Biology, what like ten minutes, and you've had a panic attack and fainted. You are going to tell me what's going on or I swear to every single deity in the world, that I will force you to socialize with your peers!" She threatens, and I recoil in fear. "So help me Oceanne, you can't keep doing this to us, you can't keep shutting us out and pretending everything's okay!" Indy says, sadness in her eyes. Nova glares at me, fuming. I look around the room and see the faces of my classmates staring down at me in curiosity. I pull myself to my feet and Indy steps back to give me some room. I spin around, glaring at my classmates and they disperse. Nova and Indy each grab one of my arms and drag me out of the classroom.

"Hey! I have class. I can't miss class! You both have class and if you miss it then it'll stress me out! Please, we need to go back!" They ignore me and keep walking down the hall towards the stairs. My heart starts to race and I look back at the closed door of the Biology class. "Please don't make me do this! Please, I'm begging you." We walk down the stairs and I make an effort not to trip and fall on my face. They walk me down the main hall by the Principal's office and I contemplate whether or not I should yell for help. After all, I am being kidnapped. But, I realize that this would involve talking to someone, so I keep my mouth shut. We burst out the front doors and into the grass. I let out a puff of air and see my breath as a white cloud that fades into the air.