↔IMPULSE↔

↔Eventful First Day↔

Summer was over and it was the first day of sophomore year.

Archie dropped him off at school, pecking his lips before Gabe got out. Blake and Reese were already there playing hacky-sack with suckers in their mouths. Nikki and Dory were bundled up, sitting on a bench as they talked while swinging their arms around and laughing. Even the long-forgotten Ingrid showed up with a shiny and new tramp stamp.

Dory looked up and saw him and smiled half-heartedly, "hey, Gabe."

"Morning, Dory. What are you guys talking about?"

Nikki said through laughter, "we were at the movies and he accidentally laughed while taking a drink and got Coke up his nose!"

"Shut up, Nik! You choked on popcorn and started hacking like an old man with smoker lungs!"

Gabe laughed with them and felt a little more relaxed, "I put all the videos from this summer on tape and they're in my hope chest for safe-keeping. I might put one or two in our senior year time capsule."

Rolling his eyes, "so twenty years from now we can see all of us idiots around a bonfire or lighting off fireworks?"

"Uh-huh! Fun, right?"

"Yeah, fun."

Blake and Reese stopped playing to join, they all compared schedules. Gabe had Reese and Dory in history, Nikki in English and Maths, and French with Blake. He was exempt from gym class because of his leg and his electives were another history class and he was part of the school paper.

He went to English with Nikki, "you and Dory seem closer."

She blushed and suppressed a smile, "he asked me out last Friday."

Gabe broke into a grin and congratulated her, before Archie if this happened he wouldn't have meant it but he didn't hold any romantic feelings for Doria anymore. "I thought he never would, haha." 

It felt weird to be back at school with different classes, different teachers, different classmates. It was a welcome change because it felt like it would be a good year. 

After lunch, Gabe was sitting in history class with a massive headache. Dory reached over and tapped him, he sat up from hiding his face in his arms to block out the light. His teary eyes squinted and his vision was wonky from the throbbing in his head.

"What's wrong, Gabe?"

Forcing a weak smile, "just a headache." His hands were clenched into fists and he grit his teeth. Dropping his head back to his arms, he closed his eyes and that was the last thing he remembered of school.

...

Blake was in the locker room with Reese, changing with the rest of the guys for class. Reese leant over and said in a low voice, "are you spending the night tonight? I was thinking of trying something today."

"You watch too much gay porn now," Blake remarked.

"What can I say? I like learning."

"Yeah, real productive," Blake said sarcastically.

Reese bumped his hip against Blake's, "you weren't complaining about it the other night."

Blake smirked, "how are you always this horny?"

"It's because my lover is so tempting, who wouldn't want to ravish someone so sexy?"

One of the guys overheard Reese, "Dude, you got a girlfriend?"

Voices mixed in, "who has a girlfriend?"

"Vaungh."

"Eh? Really, Reese?"

"Have you banged?"

Reese grinned wolfishly, "settle down, everyone!" He held up his hands, "I, Reese Vaungh, have been off the market for over half a year! My lover is super hot and I'm crazy in love with them!"

Blake nudged him with a scolding look and Reese waggled his eyebrows and laughed, whispering in his ear, "I never told them I had a girlfriend so all of it is true." Blake looked down to hide his blush, Reese was such a brat.

They all left the locker room and were stretching when Dory came running into the gym, breathing heavily with a panicked look. "What are you doing here, Dory? Shouldn't you be in history?"

Gulping in air, "Gabe...Gabe passed out. Am-ambulance..."

Blake felt his stomach drop, he looked at Reese with wide eyes then back at Dory, "what happened? Do you know what's wrong?"

"He—he had a headache so he was laying his head on his desk, but when the bell rang he didn't move and when I shook him he didn't move... Mr Hendrick called 9-1-1 and the EMTs came and took him to the hospital."

The three went to the coach and got a pass to head to the office, "go call Archie," Blake told Reese and he nodded. Dory paced anxiously, wiping sweaty palms on his jeans. After calling a distressed Archie, Reese called his parents who came and picked up the three boys, checking them out to take them to the hospital to wait for news on Gabe.

When they arrived, Archie was standing by the window in the hospital waiting room, a soda on the windowsill as he tapped his fingers anxiously and was constantly changing his pose. "Any news?" Reese asked, hugging his brother supportively.

"He's getting an MRI, Doria, what happened? I heard he was unconscious for some time. He was conscious when he came in but kinda out of it."

Nikki came running in, holding Dory's hand as he recounted what happened in their history class. Nikki had tears in her eyes, she was nervous too. Sandy, Mr and Mrs Escott sat in the waiting room, it was hard waiting, unable to do anything.

Finally, the doctor came out to talk to Gabe's parents, leading them to another room. They came back, Mrs Escott's eyes were red and her cheeks were streaked with tears. Mr Escott was pale and trying to support both his wife and himself.

Archie was meeting them halfway, helping Mrs Escott sit down. "What's wrong with Gabriel?"

Mr Escott spoke because Mrs Escott was still in shock. "There's a mass on his brain. Ah, um, he's scheduled for a, um, biopsy tomorrow to see what it is. The doctor said it could be serious but until we know we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

Blake grabbed onto Reese's hand and they squeezed each other's hands until they lost feeling. Nikki cried into Dory's chest and Dory himself looked unsteady. Archie swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing and when he spoke his voice wavered and cracked.

"Can I— can I see him?"

Sandy was crying with her mother as Mr Escott showed Archie the way to Gabe's room and make some tea for the ladies. Reese and Blake sat down, resting their heads together, their hands locked together like welded metal.

How could I doctor say not to jump to conclusions? Blake thought of when he met Gabe when he moved to California, he was his partner for practising drills for soccer tryouts. Blake had seen him get hit by a car, stuck in the hospital, unable to play soccer again but still smiling. No matter what, Gabe always seemed to be optimistic, Blake was sure if he talked to him now, Gabe would say, "don't worry, I'll be fine, it could be worse." Or, "at least they get good channels on the TV, the pudding it good here and it's free so woo-hoo!" 

Blake's eyes watered, sniffled and tried to blink away the tears. He tried to take on some of Gabe's positivity, he'll be okay.

Gabe would be okay.