The Thing That Happened

Chapter Eight

A little over a week passed since the snow storm and semester finals were coming up before winter break, which was in another week and a half. In the mornings, to avoid Vivian, I started going to the band room. After school, to continue avoiding Vivian, I went to Torrance's locker.

Today, Thursday, was just the same. I went to check the time to see if we should start going to the bus, when Vivan walks up behind Torrance. She was not dressed like Vivian at all. She always wore exotic colors and kind of weird outfits, but she is wearing a hoodie and she has on tennis shoes. Tennis shoes at school? Not even converse or flats.

Instead of her smile she has a frown on her face, a frown doesn't look right on her face. Even her bright red hair looks off, as if she brushed it and only brushed it. No dry shampoo, no mousse, nothing.

"Ade, I feel like shit," she says, and I hear it in her voice.

"You look like shit," I say, and stand in front of her.

"I miss you. God, it's been a horrible week. I miss you. I thought I could go without but- God I can't."

"Vivian, I-" I look down at our feet. "I miss you, too."

The next thing I know her arms around me, and I wasn't normally a very affectionate person. "I always like our awkward friend hugs," I hear her sat, her tone a bit lighter.

I don't hug back, because I almost never do. That's why it's an awkward hug. I look for Torrance, but he seems to have left. I bite my lip and lift my arms around Vivian, hugging her back, which seems to surprise her.

Just then, Torrance comes around the corner, with his arms spread wide. "Since we're all in the mood for hugging..."

I yank away from Vivian in the opposite direction of him. Behind me, I run into his locker, which was left open, and I try to grab onto the door to lean against it but it closes, making me fall over.

"Do you have something against my locker?" He asks, but he's laughing at me.

I stand up and look at him. "No. If anything, I think your locker has a thing against me."

"Really? You keep beating it up and shoving it," he says, still laughing.

"Don't laugh at me. It's rude," and I meant to stay serious, but I ended up smiling, and because I didn't want him to see that he's won, I look at Vivian.

I see what her eyes say to me, since I know Vivian; you two are so cute. I ship it. But out loud, she says, "I have to go, my mom is gonna be mad for keeping her waiting this long."

I give a quick nod at her, say "see you tomorrow", and then look at myself still seated on the floor.

"Do you need help up?" Torrance says, his hand on his locker.

"Nope. I like it down here. It's very nice To see everything at a different point of view."

"Yeah, well, you have to go home eventually, and the bus isn't gonna wait forever. And, unfortunately for us, we only have one minute."

At those words, I was on my feet. "Then we do what we do best. Run!" And I was sprinting down the hallway. At this time of day, all of the teachers were in meetings and none of the janitors cared what the students did.

"Ade, slow down! You're gonna hurt yourself," I hear Torrance say behind me, kind of a distance away. "The floors are wet!"

As if on cue, my foot slid suddenly, and my head hit the floor, hard, and everything went dark.

~~~

My head pounded with every little sound. The school lights were blinding to me, even though they weren't bright at all. I was actually slightly confused at the moment as to why I am still at school.

Why am I moving? I wasn't even standing up or moving, but yet the tiles of the ceiling and the lights went by at an odd angle.

Then I see Torrance's face, and I realize he's carrying me. And the first thing I think is God, I must be heavy. I try to lift my head up a little bit, but it feels like it's a thousand pounds. Torrance doesn't seem to notice.

I suddenly hear voices, and I realize now we entered a room. The voices make my head pound, but I listen to them anyway.

"What happened?!" I hear an older ladies voice.

"She slipped in the hallway," Torrance says.

"Just lay her down right here, please," the lady says, and I close my eyes as I feel Torrance lay me down onto one of those really uncomfortable beds in the nurses office, and I realize then, too, that that's where I must be.

"She'll be okay, right?"

"Of course. You go on home, don't worry about her too much."

I peek an eye open in time to see Torrance leave the room, looking down at his feet. How could he just leave me here with the nurse all by myself? I've heard stories about how horrible the nurse is, and I didn't want to experience it.

~~~

"I'm going to have to call your mom," she says.

"Please, don't. She's still at work. I'll be okay, I promise. I'll be very careful."

"You need to go to the doctor. I can't just let a student walk around with a concussion without meds or a doctor's note or anything."

"What would I need a doctor's note for? I don't have gym."

"I'm calling your mother."

"Fine..." I lay down with the ice pack over my head.

We're completely silent, except for the click of her putting in my mom's phone number. Then the room is completely silent.

"Miss Smithe? Hello, this is Mrs. Ballard, the nurse. I'm calling because your daughter is here. She's alright. From my understanding, she slipped in the hallway and hit her head. Please don't freak out, Miss Smithe. She's perfectly okay. Would you like to talk to her?"

And of course, the phone was being handed over to me. "Mom?"

"Oh my goodness!" She yells, and I pull the phone away from my ear, my head hurting from the sudden noise.

"Can you come get me?"

"I'm already on my way."