sign that says “Nurse” and an
arrow below it pointing into the hall. Now I recognize the place. The hall is
actually just a corridor that leads to a shared sitting area for both the
school nurse and the school counselor. The counselor has been justifiably
absent this week, but I'm surprised that they haven't hired a substitute for
her.
In the sitting area I see four students. Two of the students
look just like me, another looks like he might be struggling with asthma, and
the fourth looks just fine; he’s probably just shamming. I decide that since I
already know that the nurse can't do much about my nosebleed anyway, I'll just
go patch it up myself. I leave the hall before anyone takes more than one good
look at me and head down toward the restrooms. I get inside and can almost
forgive Ms. Alder's adamancy. Blood is all over my hand and the lower part of
my face. You'd think I have a raging case of hemophilia combined with a broken
nose or something.
I think my body is reacting to the illness worse than the
others. That makes sense given my poor immune system. I'm surprised it has
taken me this long to catch it. I throw the soaked tissue away and begin
rinsing my face with water. I watch as the blood dyes the water falling off my
face. Once the water disappears down the drain, the sink shows only small signs
of blood, I take a paper towel and plug my nose with it facing the ceiling.
This usually hasn't worked for these nosebleeds so I guess I'm just doing this
to feel like I'm doing something to combat the nosebleed at all. I feel a
little bit of blood drain down the back of my throat and have to force myself
to not cough and get blood all over the bathroom.
I hear the door open. I don't like the idea of people
watching me handling a nosebleed or runny nose- or well, anything to do with my
nose. Since tilting my head back isn’t helping anyway, I decide I might as well
go ahead and use the bathroom. I walk into the stall as the other person enters
the restroom. I hear that the other person is in fact two people and
they're talking to each other. I recognize the first voice as Lindsay Willow.
“...Yeah I was tardy today too. Mom wanted to work on my
teeth. It's getting on my nerves because you're really only supposed to see the
dentist like twice a year, but I already got my first check-up two months ago, and
this is my second time. I think she's just bored 'cause she doesn't have many
clients,” she says.
“Yeah well my Mom didn't even want me to come today. You
know another girl went missing? Well she says all of the missing people went
crazy before disappearing, and she thinks I'm going crazy,” says the other
girl. I don't recognize her voice.
“Why would she think that?” asks Lindsay.
“Well I've been seeing things. Like I keep seeing this
shadow out of the corner of my eye, and I keep having these real vivid
nightmares about not being able to move and stuff like that. Hell, even I think
I'm going crazy,” laughs the girl. This is no laughing matter though.
I finish and leave the stall quickly.
“Do you see the static- the shadow in your nightmares?” I
ask. Lindsay looks at me with a surprised look in her eye. Lindsay is Jason's
age but she's in the grade above me. She has long black hair with blue streaks
in it, and a small amount of bluish eyeliner around her blue eyes. You can tell
her favorite color is blue. The other girl has a similar style except her hair
is short and with orange streaks, and with her tan complexion looks like she's
Filipino or Hawaiian. She's giving me a surprised look as well, as if I've
startled her, but that surprise glides into a glare.
Lindsay speaks first. “You've got a little uh,” she says,
scratching under her nose. Oh right, my nosebleed.
“It's rude to listen into other people's conversations you
know?” says the island girl. Great, instead of openly discussing it she just resorts
to some snobby etiquette defense-mechanism. I roll my eyes and hold
arrow below it pointing into the hall. Now I recognize the place. The hall is
actually just a corridor that leads to a shared sitting area for both the
school nurse and the school counselor. The counselor has been justifiably
absent this week, but I'm surprised that they haven't hired a substitute for
her.
In the sitting area I see four students. Two of the students
look just like me, another looks like he might be struggling with asthma, and
the fourth looks just fine; he’s probably just shamming. I decide that since I
already know that the nurse can't do much about my nosebleed anyway, I'll just
go patch it up myself. I leave the hall before anyone takes more than one good
look at me and head down toward the restrooms. I get inside and can almost
forgive Ms. Alder's adamancy. Blood is all over my hand and the lower part of
my face. You'd think I have a raging case of hemophilia combined with a broken
nose or something.
I think my body is reacting to the illness worse than the
others. That makes sense given my poor immune system. I'm surprised it has
taken me this long to catch it. I throw the soaked tissue away and begin
rinsing my face with water. I watch as the blood dyes the water falling off my
face. Once the water disappears down the drain, the sink shows only small signs
of blood, I take a paper towel and plug my nose with it facing the ceiling.
This usually hasn't worked for these nosebleeds so I guess I'm just doing this
to feel like I'm doing something to combat the nosebleed at all. I feel a
little bit of blood drain down the back of my throat and have to force myself
to not cough and get blood all over the bathroom.
I hear the door open. I don't like the idea of people
watching me handling a nosebleed or runny nose- or well, anything to do with my
nose. Since tilting my head back isn’t helping anyway, I decide I might as well
go ahead and use the bathroom. I walk into the stall as the other person enters
the restroom. I hear that the other person is in fact two people and
they're talking to each other. I recognize the first voice as Lindsay Willow.
“...Yeah I was tardy today too. Mom wanted to work on my
teeth. It's getting on my nerves because you're really only supposed to see the
dentist like twice a year, but I already got my first check-up two months ago, and
this is my second time. I think she's just bored 'cause she doesn't have many
clients,” she says.
“Yeah well my Mom didn't even want me to come today. You
know another girl went missing? Well she says all of the missing people went
crazy before disappearing, and she thinks I'm going crazy,” says the other
girl. I don't recognize her voice.
“Why would she think that?” asks Lindsay.
“Well I've been seeing things. Like I keep seeing this
shadow out of the corner of my eye, and I keep having these real vivid
nightmares about not being able to move and stuff like that. Hell, even I think
I'm going crazy,” laughs the girl. This is no laughing matter though.
I finish and leave the stall quickly.
“Do you see the static- the shadow in your nightmares?” I
ask. Lindsay looks at me with a surprised look in her eye. Lindsay is Jason's
age but she's in the grade above me. She has long black hair with blue streaks
in it, and a small amount of bluish eyeliner around her blue eyes. You can tell
her favorite color is blue. The other girl has a similar style except her hair
is short and with orange streaks, and with her tan complexion looks like she's
Filipino or Hawaiian. She's giving me a surprised look as well, as if I've
startled her, but that surprise glides into a glare.
Lindsay speaks first. “You've got a little uh,” she says,
scratching under her nose. Oh right, my nosebleed.
“It's rude to listen into other people's conversations you
know?” says the island girl. Great, instead of openly discussing it she just resorts
to some snobby etiquette defense-mechanism. I roll my eyes and hold
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