The Many Emotions of the Emotionless Olsen

Graduation

A Few Facts About Andrew Olsen

He has Moebius syndrome.

There is something wrong with his heart.

He has grey eyes, which I think is pretty cool.

Andrew Olsen wakes up on the day of his graduation feeling no different than he had before he had fallen asleep. His eyes felt a bit dry, but that is easy to fix with a few eye drops. He brushes his teeth, fixes his hair, and doesn't eat breakfast. He never does. His sister Maya offers him food, which he rejects. "Where's dad?" He asks, his voice breaking a bit in the frozen northern air. "He's been at work since four."

Andrew looks at the wall clock. Between the intricate carvings of angels, demons, and strangely lizards, it reads 8:00 am. Mr. Olsen would be at his second job by now. As he walks out of the small pink house, for possibly the last time, Maya calls from behind him, "Don't trip on your way to the stage!"

Andrew lives in a quiet town. It's not too small, but not too large. Just the right size to have a few popular businesses, a hospital, and way too many strip malls. There's some snow on the ground, but not too much to be uncomfortable. Andrew fiddles with a hairpin in his pocket as he walks. He doesn't know why, but it's been harder for him to breathe recently, and his breath comes heavily. He doesn't walk slowly, but not too fast, and reaches the bus stop at exactly 8:30 am. He always arrives at this time. There's a man across the street passed out, so while he waits for the bus, he drags the man over to the stop and sets him on a creaky wood bench. At least he won't wake up in the snow.

The bright yellow bus comes, Andrew hands in the fare of $3.00, sits in the back row of sleek leather seats, and the bus is off. They stop at a few more stops. Three passengers leave, three arrive, replacing the others. The fifth stop is Andrew's. Another person stands up, but Andrew doesn't pay attention to him. When they get off, they are walking in the same direction.

They walk awkwardly in sync, and Andrew is glad when the other person ducks into a small café, leaving him to walk alone. His destination arrives in the form of a large theater. He shows his Id to a police officer standing outside, and trots in, grateful for the warmth of inside. His chest hurts a bit, and he blames it on the cold.

There's a crowd of people inside, huddled in groups, hugging each other and crying. Andrew would laugh if he could. They're so overdramatic. There's only one college within distance of all of them, they'll definitely see each other there. There's a redhead in the corner of the room, next to a brunette. Both are pacing nervously, and Andrew approaches them. "Why so scared?" He teases, and the redhead giggles, "McWhirter here thinks he's going to bite the dust on the way up."

Emmanuel (Manu for short) McWhirter squints at him, "Didn't you just tell me you were going to do that?" He then turns to Andrew, "You know by now not to trust anything Ilie says, right Olsen?" Andrew shrugs, "Maya seems to think I'll be the one to die today, so catch me if I fall, okay?"

His chest is hurting a lot, but he ignores it in favor of talking with his friends. Andrei Ilie guffaws, clapping him on the shoulder somehow, despite his extremely shorter size, "Don't worry mate, I will! Anyways, we have five minutes until the ceremony starts, and we should have found our seats fifteen minutes before."

The trio were able to find the seats in three minutes, and the ceremony starts. It goes quiet smoothly, although Manu did happen to trip on a leg on his way up. When Andrew's name is called, his chest is in so much pain that he felt like he could not stand. The man calling them up for their certificates looks at him in almost distress as he hobbles up wincing with each step, then proceeds to help him back down after handing him it. Both Andrei and Manu are concerned, and once Andrei is handed his form, they are dragging Andrew out of the door. Once they break free of the stuffy award room, Manu is all over him, "Are you okay? Are you sick? You shouldn't have come if you were sick."

Andrei is more of a gentle presence, rubbing his back and asking him if he needs to sit down and rest. Andrew shakes his head, "I'm sorry, it's just my chest. It hurts sometimes." Manu frowns, "Have you been to the doctor about it?" Andrew shakes his head again. "What the hell Olsen, something could be seriously wrong with you!" Manu looks furious. Andrew looks over to Andrei for help, but Andrei looks just as mad, "We're going now."

Andrew opens his mouth to say no, but is interrupted by excruciating pain, and he almost falls. He can't hear through all the blood rushing through his head, but he must have made some sort of noise to show the pain, as Manu grabs him and carries him through the door. Andrei follows from behind, and when Andrew looks back, Andrei reaches up to pat his head. He can see his mouth moving, "You're going to be okay", but his hands are shaking when he pulls them back. Andrew feels worse than he's ever felt before. What kind of friend is he, to make them feel this way? They walk for a while, in the direction of the hospital. Andrei spots a bus pulling away from a stop and runs after it, stopping the driver so they could get on. His heart begins to slow down, and his chest hurts a bit less. He tugs at Manu's shirt, "Put me down, I can walk."

"Are you sure?"

Andrew nods, and Manu carefully sets him down, but keeps an arm around him as support. They finally catch up with Andrei and the bus, and board carefully. The steps are slippery with ice.

When they finally sit down, both Andrei and Manu sigh with relief. Andrei turns to him, "How do you feel?"

"A bit better than before. My chest doesn't hurt as much."

"Good."

Manu joins in, "Is there something wrong with your lungs or heart?"

"I don't know. I think the only disease that runs in the family is Mobius, so I wouldn't have gotten some sort of inherited problem."

They fall silent. The bus goes over a sharp bump, and Andrew can feel his heart skip a beat. The pain becomes worse than before, and he feels, for the first time in a while, tears. His vision is blurry now, and he feels light headed. The bus pulls into the hospital lot, Manu and Andrei stand up. Manu is walking in front of Andrew, Andrei is behind.

Andrew takes one, two, three, four steps.

He makes it out of the bus, but now the pain has become unbearable. Manu looks far off, and black dots are in his vision. He can feel himself falling, Manu turns around, arms are holding him from behind.

Everything goes dark.