I Don't Really Know...

Chapter 34: A Fall.

“Zoie!” I hear from another end of the hall.  I turn to see Mila, with her hair swishing from side to side as momentum picks it up and tosses it while she runs.  I smile and stand still so she can catch up, and by the time she’s at my side, she’s breathless.  

“Hi!  Sorry, I came in late.” She apologizes and I shake my head, smiling.

“Don’t apologize for that!  Why were you late?  If you don’t mind me asking?” I quickly add as I look at her.  She’s wearing her hair in a ponytail and pink jeans, but her eyes are….clouded?  She blinks and the cloudiness vanishes.  She grins hesitantly.

“Something….” She trails off.  “Happened.  It doesn’t matter, though!  I’m here now!” Her smile reaches her cheeks, growing bigger.  

“Ok… Well, where are you going now?” She shrugs.  

“I don’t know…” She makes a weird face.  “I’m going to science.  I’m going with you!”

“Oh yeah!” We both laugh at our moment of stupidity as we walk together.  Miss. Greywood greets us at the door as we walk to our seats.

“Ok, get with partners!”  As the words leave her mouth, a weight settles in my stomach.  I look over at Mila and Preston, who are also looking worried.  I raise my hand, and Miss. Greywood nods in my general direction.

“Can we have a three-way?” I ask, and she shrugs her shoulders.

“It shouldn’t matter if there’s a third person.  Go to it, now!” She waves her hand and returns back to her desk, as I grin at my two friends.  All three of us convene towards one lab table, which is all set with a computer and note packets for us to complete.

“Hey guys,” I start to reboot the computer, firmly pressing the power button.  The computers at school always crash.  My point is proven, as I look around, seeing everyone pressing their power buttons as well.  “Preston, how’s Malex doing with that broken arm of hers?”

He shrugs.  He has his second class, social studies, with her, luckily for all of us.  Thank goodness Malex doesn’t realize we’re friends of his-she would have a field day.

“Honestly, I wish it could have been permanent.  It fills my heart with happiness to see her struggling.”  Mila and I giggle loudly, earning strange looks from others.  

“It must be so satisfying,” I say wistfully, though I am glad that neither Mila or I have any classes with her.  

The computer beeps and a bright blue login screen pops up.  

“We can use mine,” Mila pipes in, pushing me aside and slowly typing.  Why was she so willing?  I shrug my shoulders, not minding, but she had already pulled up her browser to the internet, quickly typing the link to a website we needed.

We were off, myself reading off the text from the website, Preston noting when we had to fill in a fragment of the sentence, all of us scribbling quickly.  We didn’t dawdle, and soon, we were the first done.  Tapping our pencils and drumming our fingers against the lab table, we decided to tell our teacher if there was anything we could help with.

“Oh, well….I need to take some boxes full of lab equipment to a storage area.  There’s three boxes….” She pointed to the corner of the room, with boxes piled on top of one another.  “I think you guys could handle it.”

We nodded eagerly.

“Where’s the storage room?” Mila’s sweet voice asked as Preston and I went to retrieve the boxes.

“In the front of the school….I know it’s a long way, but we have 20 more minutes left, so you guys should make it back in time.”

Mila thanks her, treading over to us and grabbing the last box, joining us down the hallway.

“Where did she say it was?” Preston asks, struggling to hold the box.  

“Near the main office.”

“You guys are gonna have to guide me,” I admit, shifting my hands on the box I was carrying.  I still didn’t know my way very well around the school, and yes, that included the main office.  Most areas of the school were still a jumble of puzzle pieces to me.

“It’s this way,” Mila was able to point with her free hand, with the lightest box she was cradling.  Preston and I were staggering, not able to take any of our strength away from holding the boxes.  We continue our way down a series of hallways, passing students who were skipping class and hanging out in the hallways.

“We’re here to deliver these boxes to the science department,” Preston said in an authoritative voice.  The lady at the desk smiled, allowing us to place the boxes next to the door.  We dump them on the ground, relieved of the stress of carrying them.  

“Let’s go, we only have 10 minutes of class left to get back!” I say abruptly, glancing at my watch.  

“I didn’t realize the time!” Mila shouted, and all three of us dashed out the door, running down the hallway.  

Something weird happened.

“I can’t…” Mila pants, more than usual.  She slows, almost to a complete stop.  Her feet are trying to walk, but awkwardly.

She falls.  

“Mila!” Preston gasps, kneeling beside her.  I move next to him, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

She’s not responding.  Her eyes are closed, mouth open, legs sprawled on the ground, knees bent at strange angles.  Something's wrong.

“Preston, you’re-” I start to scramble for words, but he’s already read my mind.  He picks her up and runs back into the main office.  I hear a man yelp.  I can’t move.  

What’s happening, oh my god, is she dead?  I shake my head at my ridiculous thoughts.  She’s not dead.  I run towards the door and open it, coming in contact with Preston.

“Zoie!  She’s in the nurse’s office.” He grabbed my shoulders to steady me.  I push him to the side and see her being placed on a bed in the nurse’s office carefully.

“Is she ok?”  I cry, and a man gives me a sympathetic look.

“We’ll get to her.  You need to go back to class.”

They push me out of the room and shut the door.  As I feel the gush of wind connecting with my face, I imagine a last breath.

Of who, I do not know.