Remember; You Have the Universe

[ 14 ]

Winning a
football game
for once
sends the whole school
into a flurry.
Student Council
has a surge of
posters to make,
congratulating our
JV team for
their win.
Cadence and I
are tasked with
decorating
the athletics
hallway.
She's up on
a chair,
trying to twist
streamers over
the entrance,
but mostly
she's just
teetering on
the flimsy
metal chair,
which is
highly amusing
for me,
but I have
to hold in my laughter
so it doesn't spread
to her.
I wouldn't want her
to fall off.
I know from experience
that tile floors
are not actually
that comfortable
to fall on.

Finally,
I can't take it
anymore and I
tell her to
get off
the chair
and let me
do it.
Rolling her eyes,
Cadence hops down,
tight curls
bobbing around
her face.

I climb up,
still trying not
to laugh.
I successfully
don the doorway
with our school
colors
as Cadence begins
to slap
green and yellow
letters spelling,
"Congratulations,"
on the football lockers.
Our school begins
to drown in
the feeling of
a 2 Liter
lemon-lime soda.

I don't know
who to curse
for the terrible choice
in school colors,
but I ignore it
and immerse
myself
in the school spirit.

As I reach over,
trying to tape
the last streamer
without moving
the chair over,
my cough
gets a little
stronger,
and I try to
swallow it
so Cadence
won't notice.
I hold my breath,
chest heaving
a little,
trying to expel
the tight air
weighing on my
tender lungs.
I wobble,
still stretching,
ignoring the
dizzy feeling,
ignoring the panic
building in my
stomach
that will lead to
ticking,
ignoring the tickle
in my throat
from holding in
a cough.
I reach just
a little
bit
farther,
fingers
outstretched,
feet
slippery against
the
metal
chair.

The next thing I know,
I feel
a short fall.
Coughs erupt,
but they're trapped,
because I've fallen
on my stomach,
which isn't
the best
for deep breathing.
Cadence rushes over,
and since the
athletic hallway
opens up
right by
the Attendance Office,
she calls for Monique.