A Collection of Short Stories

Sick Girl: Preview

 School drags on, a series of droning, drooping teachers going on for hours about Neutralization Reactions, parent functions, and other excruciating subjects. I normally love school, but on this particular Friday, I was anxious to leave. My mom had promised to take me, Alex, my older brother, and two of our friends to the movie theatre because Dad was gone on a business trip in Arizona. He was an engineer working for a big company that hired him to consult designs of architects. Mom is a fifth-grade teacher at the elementary school I used to attend that is located in a prime spot next to the cities communal park. I walk over there, sit on the old wooden bench every day after school, and read while I wait for the pickup process to finish before I head inside to my mom's classroom. I used to help get the kids into their respective cars, but a new principal was hired recently and I'm not allowed to help in the pick-up line anymore. Now, I just scan the ID card each parent has that puts their name upon an online list that all the teachers have access to if the school is short-staffed. This tells them to release the kids to the outside staff who make sure they get in the right car.

My focus snaps back to the teacher as I hear my name being called. "Ms. Johnson, are you listening?" "Yes Ms.Kirtchens, I am." I quickly chirp back. "Then you will not mind answering my question. What did the French representatives offer the American delegates in order to meet with France's government?" I only have to think for a second before I dutifully reply to the answer from the textbook passage I read a month ago, four weeks before the deadline, "The French representatives, better known as X, Y, and Z, required a bribe of $250,000 from the American delegates to meet with the French government." Ms.Kirtchen's lips twitch upward in a small smile, "Well done Ms.Johnson! Now, to continue with the Adams administration,..." I jot down a few notes about our second president and dutifully watch the clock slowly tick closer to freedom. The bell rings and the room is filled with the sound of papers and books being stuffed into bags and chairs sliding under worn desks. " Remember students, you have a worksheet on the Articles of Confederation due Tuesday at the beginning of class!" No one paid her any heed and shoved their way out the heavy classroom door. "Oh never mind you are just going to forget anyway." I hear Ms.Kirtchens mutter under her breath. I stop and flash her a winning smile and whisper back' "You're probably right". She smiles back, wrinkles forming around her eyes, and winks before turning back to her desk.

I walk out the door, tugging at the edge of my knee-length skirt. I only get two steps into the hallway before a slim figure sporting an Ariana Grande Tour T-shirt jumps up from her spot, leaning against locker #617. "Sam, you are the slowest packer of all time. Of course, I already know that from last summer's trip to the beach when you forgot shorts. We were going to the beach! How could you forget shorts! Lucky you, we are practically the same size! Hey, are we still going to the movie theatre tonight? I've been dying to se-" I quickly cut off her rambling, "Kiera. Slow down. #1, I am not! #2, yes. We will pick the movie when we get there. Ok?" "Yes! I'm so excited! Alex is allowed to take Zach right?" "Yeah, I think so," I reply. Zachary Davido has been Alex's best friend since second grade, almost a half-a-year less than when Kiera and I met. So, the four of us basically grew up together.

We walk towards the red double doors at the end of the main hallway that leads through the center of the high school which opens up to the quad of Washington High School. I can faintly hear Kiera going on about her favorite singer's, obviously Ariana Grande, new album. A sharp pain overwhelms my senses and I stop in the middle of the hallway filled with students. I take a couple of deep breaths and the pain slowly recedes. I open my eyes to see Kiera's worried features. "Are you alright Sam?" "I'm fine I swear. Just another headache. Come on let's go." We trod with linked arms down the crowded hallway and out the red doors that act as a barrier to the outside world.

Thanks for reading! This is a preview of the book I am working on Sick Girl! It follows Sam on her journey through high-school while battling a deadly disease. Please consider checking it out on my page! Thank you!