𝑩𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒚 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 | 𝘼 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙀𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙘

Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ ３

𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟓
𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥
𝟏:𝟐𝟕 𝐩𝐦

Laura

   Mrs. Snyder elevated the tip of my nose with her gloved fingertip and examined the interior of my nostrils with her pen light. When she was done, she backed away and placed her pen light back in her pocket. Turning around, she picked up a folded of paper off of her desk and held it out to me. "Here, sniff this."

    I took it from her, and as I brought it up to my nostrils, I gagged upon smelling it. I recoiled, turning my head away. "What kind of perfume sample is this? It smells like... Nevermind, I rather not think about it."

    The school nurse chuckled at my reaction. "At least your sense of smell is still intact, Laura."

    Without hesitation, I threw away the piece of paper into a nearby trash can. "Well, there are many downsides that come with having a strong sense of smell."

    Mrs. Snyder tilted my head to the side, examining the newly formed bruises on my nose and left cheek. "Can you inhale through your nose for me?" I complied and breathed in through my nostrils. "Now exhale." I breathed out as instructed. "Any difficulty breathing?"

    I shook my head. "No, none at all."

    "Good." She pulled off her latex gloves and tossed them into the trash can.

    Piers leaned his shoulder against the doorway, waiting patiently. "What's the prognosis?"

    Mrs. Snyder glanced over at him. "As far as I can tell, her nose isn't broken. The only thing she'll have is nasty bruising on her right cheek for a couple weeks. Nothing too serious."

    I uncrossed my legs, swinging them back and forth. "Does this mean I'm free to go now?"

    She shifted her gaze back to me. "Yes, Laura. You can go now."

    I eagerly hopped off the examination table as the school nurse walked over and sat down at her desk. "Thanks again, Mrs. Snyder."

    The elder woman glanced over in my direction and smiled. "Anytime, missy. Take care now." She turned back to her computer to resume her work, and I made my way over towards the doorway.

    Piers handed me back my belongings as the two of us exited the nurse's office. Before we could part ways again, my fingers instinctively latched onto the sleeve of his shirt to get his attention. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. "You okay?"

    "Yeah, I—I'm fine." Feeling embarrassed, I let go of his shirt. "Can I talk to you please? If you have some time to spare?"

    He nodded his head. "Yeah, of course."