Merrily We Fall

II

The rest of the day passed by slowly.

I drove back to school and attended the rest of my classes, I stopped by my locker. There, I saw Laurence waiting for me by my locker.

"Off to hit on Thymo-girl?" He grinned. Geez, what a dick.

"Grow up, Laurence." This guy could be so annoying. Sometimes I wonder why I'm friends with him.

"Ow ow owwie! you hurt my feelings!" He faked a tear, "Ah, whatever. Well, just make sure you always have time for me, Cal-Cal bear. I wuv you."

"Oh man, screw off will ya." As I walked away, I could hear Laurence's hysterical laughter all the way to the end of the hall.

I headed to Mr.Cox's classroom. Already I could see him reading a book titled Shakespeare's Quotes and Meanings. Poor old man, he needs a girlfriend pronto.

"Hello Callum." He looked up, a tad bit suprised.

"Hey, I'm here to pick up the packages for Clementine."

"Ah yes, thank you again. Please give your mom this as a token of my appreciation for always taking care of my little Maria."

He handed me a little box filled with a wide selection of tea bags. My mom was never a tea person.

"Thanks, I'm sure she'll enjoy these." I lied through my teeth. Sometimes I wonder if the loneliness has made him desperate. I'm no relationship expert, but I'm pretty sure I've caught my English teacher hitting on my mom a few times. Man, he's out of her league.

He handed me a thick package and a gold trimmed novel called "Tying Daisies." Huh, what a cliché name.

"Make sure you let Clementine know that she has to finish the novel and write an essay report on what she thinks the main theme of the novel is."

"Alright."

I grabbed everything and prepared to leave, when Mr.Cox called my name from behind.

"Oh, one more thing Callum," he said.

"I'm going to have to ask you to check up on her as much as you can, atleast weekly."

I froze.

"I don't know if you've heard the other kids... but they call her a 'freak' or something along the lines of that, so she really doesn't have any friends. Teenagers can be so harsh sometimes, you know? so I really hope you don't mind."

~*~

Before going to the hospital, I had a couple of things to do first. I went over to a quiet field at the back of the school that was usually empty. My coach, (he prefered to be called boss) ordered me to dedicate atleast one hour everyday to training for track. Honestly, I don't know why I do it. Maybe it's because I could run for what seemed like hours just because everytime I run, I think about something else. It's weird, and I'm not sure if I'm the only one who does that. It's like my physical body is running laps, while my soul was off chasing whatever thoughts I had in the back of my head.

"You're a talented one, Cal." Boss stated, while tossing me a towel. "What's your secret?"

"I don't know, honestly. I just... run. I don't really think about it."

"Well, you're the best on the team for long run. Keep doing what you're doing, I'm sure if you trained hard enough your stamina could well reach beyond what any human could do."

"Thanks boss." I tossed the towel back at him.

After training, I decided to make a short stop home and shower. I threw on a plain white t-shirt and some dark washed jeans, ruffled my deep auburn hair into place and stared back in the mirror at the boy with deep blue eyes.

Mr.Cox, you owe me big time. Well, let's get this over with. I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door.

I arrived at St. Clair's Hospital shortly after I left. I saw my mom's car parked in the lot, and before I even went into the building I could smell the scent of old people, medicine and sterilized tools.

Gross. I thought to myself.

"Hello Callum, here to visit your mother?" The receptionist, Lucy, asked me. She was a sweet lady in her mid-thirties. I think her husband was in the army or something.

"No, not today Lucy," I said. "I'm here to drop off homework for a girl, Clementine."

"Oh, Clementine Joy? she's in room 208. Just go to the left of the corridor and take the elevator to the second floor. You should see her room on your right."

"Okay, thanks Lucy."

"Oh, and make sure you take good care of your ma, alright?" She added. "She works hard, ya know."

It didn't take me long to find her room. First one on the right. I looked down at the pile of papers i had in my hands. To top it all off, Tying Daisies was the cherry on the cake.

Should I knock first? she might be sleeping. Maybe I should just give her homework to a nurse so she could deliver it instead of me. I mean, I don't even know this girl.

Before I could make up my mind, the door opens and a middle aged woman with honey blonde hair walks out. Her face had stressed written all over her.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you out here, are you here to see Clementine?" She flashed a bright, toothy smile. Whoa, déjà vu.

"Uhh... yeah I'm just here to deliver some homework for Clementine's English class. I heard she wasn't coming til later in the year?"

"Yes, unfortunately she's still a bit too weak to get around by herself. Thank you so much, what's your name?" The lady asked me. "it's so refreshing to see a new face around here."

"Callum. Callum Hunt," I can't shake this reminiscent feeling away from the back of my head...

"Nice to meet you, Callum. Please, call me Sherry." She looked over for a second. "Well, I'll let you get too it then. Thanks again, I'm sure Clementine will enjoy the company. She doesn't get many visitors, you know." She paused for a moment. "I feel so relieved to know that Clementine has atleast one friend, it's just so hard for her to make friends while popping in and out of the hospital, you know?"

"Oh, well I heard she's a very nice girl." Actually, the only word I've ever heard associated with Clementine was freak.

"That's lovely to hear, she's a sweetheart. You seem like a very nice young man,"

And with that, Sherry walks away. I stared at the beige coloured door infront of me. I knocked twice on the door, hesitating only for a moment. 

"Who is it?" a tired voice calls out. Hmm, I know that voice from somewhere...

I turned the gold knob and went in,

"Hey, I'm just here to-"

I paused. The first thing I noticed was the orange pill bottle on the table, my eyes wandered to the grey hospital bed in the middle. I think I was starring for awhile, because I noticed all these details... there she was: the big daisy in her hair, face like a freckled canvas, and dull hazel-green eyes hiding behind a pair of black rimmed glasses. Laying in her hospital bed with a cup of coffee in her hand, which was painted an almost obnoxious shade of bright orange that was chipping. 

I smirked and felt myself chuckle.

"Oh, it's the guy with a million diamonds in his eyes." She responded, her dull eyes lit up. I could see a sly smile forming on her lips.

"And it's the girl that I owe a cup of coffee too." I replied, walking towards her.