Passing Through

Chapter 4: Understatements

   Reese was going through a ton of crap. You didn't even have to ask; all you had to do was look at her puffy red face. I knew how harshly she had broken down, just from spending five minutes with her in my arms. I felt horrible, somehow feeling as if her terrible state was my fault. On the other hand, I felt extremely flattered. I "die" and my best friend actually has a mental breakdown and goes through crap!! WOW! Didn't know it happened out of the movies. Well, okay, I wasn't that stupid. But still, I felt loved. The feeling is wonderful, trust me.

Yup, you guessed it: *Understatement alert*

   Anyway, after the Headmistress decided to lock herself with us in the dreary sick room, we had a long conversation. A long, long conversation. A long, long, long, conversation. It was....interesting.

Ahem. *Understatement alert*

In truth, it was crazy. And not that type of drunk-on-soda-high-on-candy-late-night-sleepover crazy, either. It was absurd. It was strange. It was hilarious.

Yeah, that's right. Hilarious. Why? Because it was so unnatural, my brain didn't know what to do with it. So it decided to press my 'OMG-tha's-so-freaking-hilarious' button. Beeep!

  "Hahahahahahahah, oh my goodness, that's the funniest thing--ahahahahahahah--are you, like on something," I said, barely containing my laughter, "because like, that's hilarious! AAHAAHAHAHA!"

   Unfortunately, my Headmistress has the ability to stare sharp, pointy, gleaming daggers. Also unfortunate was the fact that I had to deal with it the hard way: by stopping my guffaws and trying to keep my mouth from twitching while I mumbled, "Sorry. Just...nervous. Please, continue."

 She cleared her throat as Gwen snickered quietly. Apparently, my laugh was very contagious. Heh heh.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Mrs. Locke glared at me, "the belief that Ms. McKnight somehow has the ability to return from the deceased is something so incredibly queer, that it seems absurd. However, I believe there must be something extraordinary about the cells in her body, because this type of behavior has never been seen before. I am not saying this is official, though. It is merely a hypothesis."

 And what, I'm a science experiment? I didn't like the experiment idea. However, the idea of having something different about my cells was interesting. Except, these people wanted to know all about that as much as I did. Except, this wasn't any of their business. Because, you know, I'm not so great at being a good little experiment. I nodded slowly as an evil plan formulated in my mind, just in case. My secret weapon. For later. Cue maniacal laugh.

 Am I doing this villain thing right?

   It took me a couple seconds to realize that one of the nurses had started speaking. The one I had visited earlier, Kay.

"-and I'll send it in for testing ASAP, once I get it. If that's fine with you, Skylar?"

"Wha?"

Mrs. Locke sighed loudly. Nicolette leaned over and whispered to me, "She's talking about your skin tissue. They want to test it." I reeled back, surprised at how quickly they were stamping me as a science project. "Um, NO way," I declared. The other nurse, Pam, seemed surprised. "Why not? We could find out what enabled you to...do what you did. Taking the sample won't hurt at all, I promise. It's just a cotton swab. We could even take some blood. That'll only be a tiny pinch." What is it with adults always thinking you're scared to be stuck with a needle or swiped with a cotton swab? Gosh!  I stamped down my thoughts and tried to look at the situation logically. Too bad I wasn't always logical. I took a deep breath.

"Well, I'm as curious as you guys are about this, but I don't wanna be tested like a lab rat. I need time.  I need to think, to see what's going on. I just woke up, for God's sake. Let me cool off, okay? I can just contact you when I'm ready." Liar, liar, pants on fire. They think I'll contact them? Muhahahahaha. Sorry, Headmistress, but the joke's on you.