A Performance for Ages

Visiting Hours

Voices piled onto each other as people came into Jake's room. He braced himself for something, he wasn't sure if it would be a hug, a slap, or a ton of words.

"What happened to you?!"

"Dude we heard you got bitten by a snake!"

"Did a doctor catch us?!"

"OMG!!!! What happened, explain now!"

"I don't know why they even let you in. You guys didn't even visit him until now."

"We didn't even know! Shut up freak!"

"You guys are annoying!"

"What kind of snake was it!"

"Guys! Let him talk!" Sean finally said over everyone fighting. Everyone paused as if somebody stopped time. Sean gestured to Jake, and he silently thanked him.

"Hey guys, calm down! It's all good now, I did get um-uh-bit by snake... But it's no deal now! Zander, do you know how long I have to stay here? I don't have to make a bunch of stuff up, do I?" Jake asked. Zander smiled and laughed. He pointed to his backpack, with a few papers sticking out.
"I think every teacher except Ms. Daltbe just marked "excused". She's having you catch up on a hell of a lot of work. I have it all in my backpack, two essays, 5 sheets of homework, and you have to take a test." Jake sighed dramatically.

"Man, could that woman give me a break?" Jake said. Lia tapped her foot impatiently.

"Could you explain to us what happened? " Lia asked. Now Lia had helped Jake before, but why did she have to be so annoying? He wished that sometimes she would stop thinking that she was Jake's boyfriend.

"Didn't they give you a rundown before you came?" It would've been odd if his parents didn't let Zoey, Drew, Liam, Henry, and Lia the rights to know what happened. Sure they weren't the greatest of friends, but his parents knew them a lot better than the band crew. Lia was about to launch into a bothersome conversation when Sean started to lead Daisy, who was behind everyone, to him. Jake grinned and motioned for her to come. He got out of bed and stood up, and she walked slowly to him. 'Why is she acting so weird,' he thought, 'Is there something wrong?' She slipped on a stray paper on the ground, but Sean caught her in his arms, and they were very close.

"H-h-h-how are you?" She asked quietly as she brushed Sean to the side. She squirmed like a student before an angry teacher.

"Good," Jake said, a little skeptical, "How are you?" She looked really uncomfortable there.

"I'm good. Look, Jake, I really need to go, it's really important, I hope you're feeling better, I'll see you later, bye!" She hurried out of the room, and Sean looked worried.

"Wait! Come on Daisy, do you want me to tell him?" Sean said as he hurried after Daisy. Jake wondered what that could have been about. He was a little curious about why Daisy was acting so strangely. Sean accidentally slammed the door behind him, and Jake jumped.

"Wait, what's up with Daisy?" Jake asked. Drew actually looked sympathetic, so he knew something was wrong. Lia tried to cover a smile as she turned away. A form peered through the window. The door flung open.
"Children! There should not be this amount of people in the room! Everyone but the pink-haired one get out!" A nurse yelled, spit coming from her mouth. Everyone scurried out of the room. She left Jake and Milly standing awkwardly in front of each other.

"Do you care to tell me what was the Daisy thing about?" Jake asked. Milly swore under her breath.

"I'm going to warn you, I'm not the best person to tell you this," Milly said, barely audible. Jake held his breath, what had happened? "So, I guess one day after school, Daisy went to the music room to watch practice. Sean was there cleaning like he always does, and he explained that she had missed it. She started to help him clean the room, and they talked. A lot. It kinda evolved into a stronger sort of relationship, and they have been hanging out for the last couple of weeks, maybe even a few months. Sean found out that you liked her, and he tried to play it off chill. Then, he asked her to be his girlfriend right before the performance." She explained. Jake took a moment to process this. He felt angry, and hurt, but in a sort of subdued way. Why wasn't this told to him sooner? But, all he said was,