An Abundance of White Blood Cells // [WATTYS 2017]

FOUR

Above is Nate

I woke up the next morning to a light tapping on my door. I opened my eyes lazily and glanced at my alarm clock. It was 8:55. It was sooooo early! My eyes found their way to the door and saw Mom tip toeing in. She placed her hand on my shoulder and kissed my forehead. "Honey, Gramma's having her furnace checked out by professionals, so she's gonna stay here a few days. I'm going to go get her, I'll be back before dinner. I love you." She said,

"Iloveyoutoo." I mumbled sleepily.

I stayed in bed for awhile, trying to fall back asleep. I had no luck. I begrudgingly rolled out of bed a half hour later and walked downstairs to eat breakfast. It was the same old thing every morning, Cocoa Puffs. As I ate, I glanced at the time. Mom must have dropped Dad off at work, because he usually leaves around nine. I finished my breakfast and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and my hair. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and slipped my slippers to go outside to the She-Shed.

What is the She-Shed you ask.

Back when my parents first bought the house there was this rickety old shed that looked like it could fall at the slightest touch. So, Mom and Dad worked on it to make it kinda like a tree house...minus the tree. Dad mostly did stuff with the structure of the building to make sure it wouldn't cave in on anyone. Once he finished with all that it was Moms turn.

I'm pretty sure she could have been an interior designer if she wasn't convinced her calling was baked goods. The outside of the shed looked well, like a shed. There was a little sign above the door that read She-Shed in fancy handwriting. But when you stepped inside, it was a different story. If you were to stand in the door way the left wall was covered with book shelves with books that Mom didn't want me stacking on my floor, which was a lot. There was a chair by the book shelves that Mom had put there incase I had friends over. Of course, I never really had friends in the She-Shed.

On the right wall was a bed pushed up against it with a quilt that Gramma had made. You know how the head board is usually on the shorter side of the bed? Well not this bed, it was on the long side and made of white metal. At the foot of the bed was a barstool chair and a desk with an area for my lap top. I always did my online school in the She-Shed. It was my sanctuary.

There was an oval shaped rug in the center of the floor that was really scratchy. Across from the door was one window on the wall, it was rectangular and had a line going through the middle vertically and horizontally. Any space that didn't have a book or a CD on it was covered with blackout poetry I used to do when I was stuck at the hospital. Every day Mom would come to the hospital and visit. When she would leave, we'd swap papers. I would get a page from a book that was just waiting for me to black it out and Mom would take home the page I'd just finished. I never knew exactly what she'd been doing until I got home and the revealed the She-Shed to me.

I grabbed my phone and lap top from the kitchen counter before padding outside to the She-Shed. I took the little rock pathway to it and opened the door. It didn't have hinges, it just slid open like a mini van door. I closed it behind me and sat down on the bed. I slid my foot under the quilt and logged into my online school, but not before I started some music, specifically Colton Steele, one of my favorite singers. It wasn't that much different than what I remember public school to be like. I did my lesson for one class and took a ten minute break before moving onto the next class.

Around lunch time, when I had finished with my first seven classes, I set my lap top aside and went inside to make myself a sandwich. I went old school and made a Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich. I know, I'm awesome. Just as I smeared the peanut butter on my bread, my phone started ringing. I set the knife in the jar and looked at the caller ID. It wasn't a number I had in my phone. I shrugged and answered.