Her first crush

8

Pascal walked into the class with his hands in his pockets. Leona packed her books carefully and stood up. Pascal came to their seat and sat down. He plugged in his earphones and placed his head on the table. Students we're moving out of the class with their books.

   Leona looked at where Pascal was and noticed that he hadn't packed any of his books. She walked towards him and stopped beside him. She cleared her throat but  he didn't flinch.
   "Pascal, I was wondering if you would.......... "She then noticed that he wasn't listening because of the earphones.
She wanted to tap him, but she stopped herself from doing so because he wouldn't take it lightly with her. She walked towards the door. Is he in pains? She walked back to him and tapped him. She noticed that his arm was really hot. She moved her hand to his neck and quickly withdrew it. He had fever.
"Pascal", she tapped him again.
"Get lost!"he slapped her hand away.
"But you have fever".
"Shut up and leave me alone".
"I won't leave you alone".
  Pascal stood up and removed his earphones. He moved closer to her, but she didn't move back. She stared at him instead.
"Don't you understand a simple sentence? I DONT WANT YOU ANYWHERE NEAR ME! "he roared.
Leona was adamant, "you need medication right now".
"Why should I listen to you? You don't even know a thing".
She was hurt, but she didn't show it.
"I don't know a thing but  I know that you need to go to the hospital". She was angry. "Yeah, I don't know a thing but I'm better than you right now. You know you need to go to the hospital now, but you're so stupid that you prefer to die".

      He held her chin roughly. She hit his hand but he tightened his grip. "Never talk to me that way again".
She nodded quickly and he left her alone.
"Now leave me alone"
She left the class for the library. She couldn't go to class anymore because she would be late for lecture and the teacher would be furious.

   Leona saw him driving out of the school premises and she shrugged. She was going to let him be.
  

                      *    *    *

Nelly got home after he heard of Pascal's fever. He went to his room and changed his clothes. He then headed to his brother's room. Pascal was lying on the bed and his mom sat at the edge of the bed. She turned to see who came in and Nelly noticed that she was still in her office wear.
"How's Pascal"
"He's resting for now. The doc just left"
Nelly nodded.
"You're hungry? "
"No! Not now", he replied. "I'll be fine".
"Leona pestered him to take some medications ".
Nelly was dumbfounded, "Leona? You mean the girl upstairs? "
"Yeah. But he came home instead. "
"OK".

           Leona was arranging her clothes when Nelly poked his head into her room.
"Can I come in? "
She was a bit surprised that he spoke politely to her. "Yeah". She nodded.
He sat on her bed and she turned to face him.
He remained quiet for a while before speaking up. "Thanks for today".
"I didn't see you before now"
"I mean for bringing Pascal home"
"I didn't bring him home".
"I know, you forced him to come and I'm grateful"
"Its okay".
"I'm sorry for being rude to you all these while too".
   This time, she was forced to voice out her opinion. "Is that coming from you? "
"Yeah, I'm really sorry ", he said without a hint of deceit. "I know you might be surprised, but I mean what I'm saying right now".
  Leona wasn't convinced. "Is this a prank? "
Nelly shook his head.
"Did you hit your head? "
"Nope"
"Are you drunk? "
"Nah"
Leona smiled and nodded.
"Pascal is sick today because his girlfriend died on the fourteenth of January, which is today".
Her smile faded away and reality hit her. Now she realized why he didn't like girls. Nelly stood up and headed for the door.
"He mustn't know I told you".
She nodded and watched him leave the room. I'm not going to forget him anymore... He has his reasons after all. I'll make him change his attitude towards me.
She decided to design a card for him.

      Jane walked into Pascal's room with a tray and a bowl of cereals on it. He always took cereals whenever he was sick. She stared at him for a moment, then dropped the tray on his reading table. He only fell sick on rare occasions and she felt pity for him. She re arranged his scattered table and a picture fell from his textbook. She stared at the familiar face that stared back at her. She was Charlisse. Pascal's first love and first girlfriend. She had been hit by a vehicle the day Pascal took her out on a snowy day. She had fallen into a ditch full of snow while he looked for her. She was found cold and dead two days after.
   Jane returned the picture to the textbook and left the room.
   

     Pascal stood up, rubbing his temples. He made his bed and headed to his bathroom. He brushed his teeth and went back to his room. Looking at his reading table, he saw a note and took it.
     With your positive outlook and mind,
Your sick days will soon be left behind.
I know, I can tell,
You will soon get well.
There was no name on the card and he guessed that it was Jane that brought it. He liked the note and he decided to keep it in his drawer.
He shut the drawer and proceeded to his reading table to eat. He dropped the empty bowl  after eating and sat down. He brought out his laptop and started copying the note that was copied the day he fell sick. He listened to music at the same  time.
Mrs Brown popped her head in and seeing he was busy, she shut the door.

  "I've got lots of note to copy? "Leona asked in disbelief. She had only missed class the day Pascal was sick.
"Yeah"
"Oh my God!"
"Never mind, I'll send them to you"
"Really? "
"Sure"
"Thanks , Arthur".
"Anytime ".
   Leona hung up and sighed. She vowed never to miss class in her life again. Her mom called her and she hung up. She didn't want to speak with her. She left her with the Browns and didn't bother to call or pay a visit.
Arthur sent her the notes and she started copying them. Before she could finish the notes, it took her a very long time. After she was done, she sneaked into Pascal's room and took his note for mathematics lessons and she helped him to copy it. She sneaked it back into his room and was glad she had helped.
She glanced at where she had left the card and noticed that it was GONE.