The Foxfire Chronicles- Comrades and Classmates

Chapter 27-- The Walnut Fiasco

         Sophie bit into the crunchy nut, and was taken aback by the new, unexpected flavor that flooded her mouth. Surprisingly, it was pretty good!

          Sophie's friend Dex, had brought a bag of assorted nuts to school, including almonds, peanuts, and hazelnuts, but she had also noticed a type of nut that she had never seen before. It was large, bumpy, and honestly looked kind of weird.

         Sophie had swallowed down the sandwich she was chewing on, and asked, "What's that?" while pointing to the nut. Dex blinked.

         "Walnuts?" He'd asked, bewilderedly. "You don't know what walnuts are?"

           Sophie had shrugged. "My mom is usually the one that cooks, and she hates nuts in her food, so I usually don't eat stuff besides peanuts and almonds. I mean, I've heard about walnuts, but I've never actually eaten them." That had earned a laugh from Biana.

           Dex had slid a walnut towards her, along with his self-built mini-nutcracker. Sophie had cracked the nut and popped it in her mouth, and was now considering its taste. Biana, Tam, Linh and Dex looked at her expectedly, awaiting her reaction. Sophie swallowed, and smiled, giving two thumbs-up.

          "They're pretty good!" She reflected.

           "I know, right?" Dex agreed, popping another walnut into his own mouth.  Biana, bold as ever, reached over and grabbed a walnut for herself, and promptly cracked it open and ate it. Soon enough, Linh was eating some of the crunchy food, and eventually even Tam gave in, munching on a peanut. Sophie loved how lax her friends were!

           As the conversations at Sophie's table slowly veered away from walnuts, Sophie caught sight of Fitz walking over to say hi. Sophie blushed furiously and smiled, greeting him before he had the chance. 

          "Hi, Fitz!" she said. Gosh. Her face felt so flushed. Usually she didn't blush just saying hello, but this  . . .  predicament seemed to be getting worse and worse. 

           "Hey, Sophie." He smiled good-naturedly. "How's being stage manager going?" Sophie's throat actually felt constricted as she managed to spit out some words. This crush was going too far, she could barley even breathe when he was around her!

              "Good." she said feebly. Fitz stared at her, and her knees started shaking. Okay, something was seriously wrong. 

               Fitz's eyes bulged. "Um, Sophie?" He said. "Your face is swelling up."

                Sophie realized with a pang that she was having even more difficulty breathing, and when she held her hand in front of her face it was slightly puffy, red, and very blotchy. Sophie managed out a few more words as her other friends started staring.

                "I-I can't breathe." she rasped, panic coursing through her. Without another word, Fitz grabbed her hand and started sprinting, but Sophie was a lot slower, especially being all shaky. Fitz ended up grabbing her arm and half-carrying-half-dragging her, through the office, past an alarmed Ms. Lexx, and to an office filled with medical equipment. 

                 Sophie recognized the spectacled, brown-haired man inside as the school doctor. Fitz, out of breath from practically carrying her across the school panted, "She's having an allergic reaction!" Elwin, the school doctor, understood immediately. He dashed over to a drawer, and yanked out an epi-pen. The school doctor ran towards her quickly.

               Sophie was too disoriented to even fear the needle, and that was when she passed out.

                                                                                       ********************

                Sophie rubbed her eyes and sat up. The first thing she noticed was that she was on a bed. It had starched white sheets, and surrounding her was an assortment of medical equipment. Panic surged through her as she realized she was at the hospital.  She sat up, and a nurse was quick to reassure her.

              "Don't worry, Sophie!" she said. "You're just here to rest for another few minutes, and we were able to take a blood sample when you were passed out. You had an allergic reaction! Luckily, your friend and school doctor were quick to call an ambulance."

            Sophie sat back, taking in all the information. Then she remembered what Fitz had said before she had passed out . . . . The walnuts!! Sophie mentally took back everything good she had thought about those evil nuts. A doctor briefly stepped in, and informed Sophie that she should probably stay away from walnuts, and surprisingly something else called macadamia nuts. 

           Sophie thanked the doctor, and then, one of the people who Sophie really wanted to see, rushed in. Edaline! Her mom dashed in, and squeezed her in a suffocating hug. 

           "Mom?" Sophie asked, smiling teasingly. "I've had enough lung constriction lately, but I am glad to see you."

           Edaline just shook her head, and Sophie knew that her joke had fallen flat on its face. "You scared me, Sophie!" she said, while keeping a tight grip on her daughter. "I was at the hospital as soon as I heard, and Grady would've been here to if he wasn't on a trip to the next state over, helping a stuck fox."

            Sophie nodded, relief flooding over her. "Yeah, I don't think I like walnuts very much. Dex gave me one at lunch."

           Edaline shook her head, laughing. "Sophie, you really are a magnet for disaster. I can't believe you threw up as you were passing out, my poor girl!"

            Sophie started to laugh, and then stopped. If she was in a cartoon, there would've been a loud record scratch as she halted. "I threw up?!"  She exclaimed.

             Edaline nodded sympathetically, and Sophie could feel her face heating up. Thankfully not swelling this time. She had thrown up. Right in front of Fitz. Then, in spite of this whole, crazy, dangerous, embarrassing mess, Sophie laughed. Only she, was capable of such a ridiculous, walnut fiasco.

Did you like this chapter??-->> 

 It was based off of the allergic reaction scene in the books, but with a cra-cra AU twist! :) Thanks sooo much for reading, 

                    <3/ keefegilbertty