A Maze in My Mind

Chapter One

I sighed, plopping my lunch tray down on the cafeteria table. There weren't enough tables in the cafeteria to sit alone, and I wasn't going to sit in the bathroom like a stereotypical high school movie kid, because this was not a movie. So, I was forced to sit with whoever had an open spot at their table. Today, it was a few kids that were in the marching band. Tomorrow, it could be some druggies. You just never know.

I guess you could call me a loner. I do fit the description. But I'm not a complete loner. I do have friends. I have a bunch of friends on Xbox, and a bunch of them go to my school! The only problem is that they have other friends they like more.

I used to have a bunch of friends in grade school and early freshman year, but I don't know what happened to them. We kind of dissolved. Every once in a while someone will try to get us back together again, but it usually doesn't work out right.

Speaking of old friends, I spotted Ally and Ein across the lunchroom. Ein was feeding Ally a fry as they both laughed their heads off. When Ally spotted me, she waved for me to come over. I just waved back and turned back to my food.

Today was corndog day. I should have been more excited because we had fries, but for some reason, I was just feeling down today. By the time lunch was over, I had barely eaten anything. I dumped my food into the trashcan, feeling wasteful, but not caring.

I headed to my next class quickly, because it was halfway across the building from the lunchroom and we only had five minutes of passing time. I ran to my locker quickly and yanked it open. I shoved my calculus textbook inside and grabbed my chemistry one. Then, I shoved the door shut tightly, with three of my fingers inside.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, pulling out my fingers gently. They were purple and swollen, but my chemistry teacher probably wouldn't care. He would still give me detention if I were late. So, I just shifted my stuff to my other hand and ran off to my next class.

I got to class just on time and sat in one of the only open seats in the back of the class. I was next to a pretty girl that I knew was named Rachel from a group project earlier that month. "Hey Rachel," I greeted her briefly, waving to her with my free hand. I had forgotten that my free hand was also my injured hand.

"Oh my God your hand!" she exclaimed a little too loudly, grabbing my hand and examining it. The teacher glared at us sternly, and several students snickered.

"What happened?" she whispered when the teacher turned away.

"Nothing," I whispered back, gently pulling my hand away. I almost blacked out from pain. Rachel noticed.

"It must really hurt huh?" she sympathetically said, rummaging through her backpack.

I nodded slowly, not sure why she was being so nice to me.

"Aha!" she whisper-exclaimed, pulling out an Ace bandage triumphantly. She brandished it like a weapon and started wrapping my hand.

"Hey!" I protested quietly, attempting to jerk my hand away. Spots danced before my eyes.

Concern danced in her eyes. "You don't look so good." Then, to the teacher, she said, "Mr. Meyers?"

"Yes?" he asked, obviously annoyed she'd interrupted his lesson.

"Aaron's fingers are swollen and purple. I think they could be broken. Can I walk him to the nurse?"

The teacher grumbled something inaudible about kids being so disrespectful before saying aloud, "Yes."

"Thank you!" she said, already whisking me out the door.

We walked in silence to the nurse. When we got there, she took one look of alarm at my fingers and immediately told me to call someone to take me to the doctors. "Can I just drive there myself?" I asked her sheepishly, not wanting to go through all the hassle of calling someone.

She waved me away. "Yes fine," she said, "Just get there soon! The swelling will continue and things won't turn out good if you don't. And take this!" She gestured to an ice pack on the table before hurrying back to her work.

Rachel and I stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds before she piped up, "Why don't I rewrap your fingers with this inside? I'll be gentle, I promise."

I snickered lowly. She just faced me with the death stare before peeling off the Ace bandage gently and rewrapping my fingers with the ice pack. "Good as new!" she chirped cheerfully, before waving goodbye and heading back to class.

I waved back with my good hand before heading to the office to check out of school. The office ladies didn't question me as I signed out. They knew I was a good kid, and they saw my swollen fingers. "Have a nice day," I told them before walking to my car.

It was a little hard to drive with three disabled fingers, but they were on my left hand so it wasn't too hard. When I got to the doctor's office, he confirmed what Rachel had told me: my fingers were broken. "Next time," he said jokingly, "be a little more gentle."

Then, he checked out the wrap that Rachel had done. "Not bad," he appraised it. "You can keep this one on. Do you know how to rewrap them?"

I told that I did, in fact, know how to rewrap them, and gave him his pay. "I broke a finger in middle school," I added on, just for conversation. "Have a nice day!"

"You too!" he said back, ushering me out.

"Waste of money," I muttered on my way out. The nurse had told me exactly what he had, and Rachel before her!

As I was driving home that night, Rachel texted me.

'Hey. You forgot your stuff. Want to meet up at the park? Then I can give you it.'

I realized that I did leave my stuff there.

'Sure.'

I texted back.

'See you there.'