The Temptress

Wake up little birdie

                The bright lights shone against my eyelids as I blinked open my eyes. The smell of bleach and ammonia invaded my nose in the same instant. “Ugh” I coughed as my nose automatically scrunched up in its effort to run from the smell. I opened my eyes and took a look around the room that surrounded me. I was on a blue hospital bed. The leather was cracked and peeling off at ever corner. I began scanning the room realizing I’d been brought to the nurses’ office. I could hear muffled voices on the other side of the frosted glass door and I tried to listen in. I stood and began making my way towards the door when I heard the voices stop and footsteps hurrying my way. Before I could turn around and head back to the bed, I heard the door creak open. I stopped in an instant and glanced over my shoulder to see the school nurse staring at me with wide eyes. “Oh my! You’re up? Oh, I’m so glad! I was sure you’d end up having to go to the hospital! Here, take a seat and let me take a look at that head.” She grabbed my hand and ushered me back to the hospital bed. I could feel a set of eyes boring into me from the doorway so I c****d my head to the side and caught a glimpse of the new student staring at me before the door shut on him. The nurse pushed me closer to the bed urging me to take a seat and as I did so she began chattering once again. She reminded me of one of those little birds that tweet with every hop. “You’re lucky, it seems as though you’ve already begun healing.” She said with a slight hint of shock to her voice. “Oh great.” I mumbled in response. I hadn’t felt any pain and hardly remember anything from the event. “What happened?” I ask the nurse in a confused tone. “Well, you accidentally hit your head when you opened your locker door and you fell to the ground hitting your head a second time. When you came in, we were worried about swelling and possible bleeding from the hit. You seem to have recovered wonderfully though and I think you’ll be just in time to make last period.” I looked at her wide-eyed. “Last period? You mean I’ve been unconscious for 2 hours? Why didn’t you send me to the hospital?” I saw her fidget with her pen and knew the answer right away. It must’ve been refused by my parents. They couldn’t afford the ambulance cost. The nurse began explaining that they had called them and my suspicions were warranted only to be reinforced with her final statement. “Your parents advised us to keep you here and under watch for the time being. They said they would come pick you up once they were done at work and bring you to the hospital themselves.” I stared at her slightly dumbfounded and she further explained that her being there made it legally acceptable to do so. Without any visual injuries, tremors or any other signs there was no indication of an emergency on hand and as such, the school was not overtly required to send me to the hospital by ambulance. “So, do you think you’re able to go back to class or would you prefer to stay here longer?” She asked in a soft voice. I could tell she wanted me to go back to class but I could also see that she was worried about me. I let out a sigh, stood up and picked up my cellphone from the desk by the bed. “I’ll head back but I need a late slip. I really don’t want to deal with any misunderstandings for being late.” The nurse let out a little laugh as she opened the desk drawer and took out a slip of paper that she handed it to me. “If there’s anything please come back.” She said with a smile. I took the paper from her and headed out the office door. I emerged in the main office, a part of the school I wasn’t accustomed to yet. The secretary smiled at me from behind the desk and pointed at the office door. I guess she wants me to leave by there. I thought to myself as I gave her a small smile and slipped out of the office.

                I quickly found my way to my locker which surprised me but the halls were empty so it made it easier to walk around. As I walked to my locker, I passed the opened classrooms and could see students sitting at their desks with bored expressions. Some students had their head tilted back looking at the ceiling, other chewed bubble gum and blew bubbles when they saw me watching them and some took notes and watched the teacher at the front. Halfway to my locker I passed a class with the door closed. I glanced through the door’s small window and immediately made eye-contact with the new student. I chill crept down my spine as his green eyes bore into mine. As though electrocuted, I felt a sudden jolt and stepped away from the door. I hadn’t even realized that I had walked up to the door and was peering in through the window with such intensity. I looked at my hands trying to gain my bearing when the door swung open and a middle-aged man stood staring back at me. “May I help you miss?” He questioned me with a hint of a smile on his lips. I could feel my cheeks heating up and I knew I must have been blushing. I began to fumble with my phone and told the teacher I had gotten lost on my way back to my locker. I showed him my validated late slip and he pointed me in the right direction. Before leaving I glanced past the teacher at the new student who now sat staring out the classroom window with a distracted look.

                I glanced at my phone once I reached my locker and realized that there were only 15 minutes left before the school day ended. I decided to pack up my school bag and head to the front of the school to wait for my parents. I sent Brina a quick text letting her know I’d be in the front quad if she wanted to join me before getting on her bus. I realized something as I lay back on the grass watching the student’s mile out of the school like factory workers. I had broken out of the trance before it had even begun. Here I was, technically skipping school, lying down in front of the supervisors and teachers and nobody had even approached me about it. I felt a smile tug at my lips as this sense of rebellion suddenly began to grow within me. Hmm, I thought, I wonder what my next first will be? Suddenly, I saw Brina emerging from the crowd, quite obviously scanning the quad in search of me. She stood with a hand above her eyes, blocking the suns rays, and a hand on her hip. She had slipped into a white skirt and a visor hat so she looked like she had jumped out of the 70’s. I couldn’t help but smile at that. She spotted me and rapidly jogged over to me. Arriving before me slightly out of breath she smiled. “Hey Brina,” I said as I looked up at her. “How was your day?”