Geek on the Side!

Vanessa's Happy Place

"Wake up, honey!" Mom said as she nudged me out of bed. "Breakfast is ready!"

I groggily get up, stretch, and yawn. This is my bedroom; my walls have pink butterfly wallpaper, I have pictures of horses on my east wall, and my closet is on my west wall. I have a white mahogany desk with a personal computer right next to my door. My bed is right beneath my window.

I get dressed, brush my teeth and hair, and head back down for breakfast. My father has his face buried in the newspaper, but he still says good morning to me. I sit opposite of him. Mom serves me my breakfast: blueberry pancakes with milk.

"This is good!" I say. My voice sounds significantly younger; I am, in fact, around ten to eleven years old. Mom laughs and ruffles my hair a bit.

"Mornin'," I could hear my older sister from upstairs. She ran down to the table to eat her breakfast. "Wassup, kiddo?"

"Morning, _____," said Mom as she served my sister pancakes. "Will you take Vanessa to school today?"

"Sure, Mom," she replied, finishing up her breakfast. "C'mon, Nessie, we gotta jet!"

My sister and I got up and headed toward her car, a 1977 Oldsmobile. We got in, rolled down the windows, and drove to school.

"So whatcha gonna do at school today?" She asked. "Anything special?"

"Not really," I said as I looked out the window. "You?"

"My friends and I are gonna see a movie after school," she replied. "Since it's Friday and all."

"Can I come, too?" I asked.

"Depends if Mom and Dad allow it," she said. "But I'm not opposed to taking you. Remember, though, you need Mom and Dad's permission to go!"

"OK!" I said as I got out of the car. I ran towards my school, ready to start my day...

I woke up in a hospital bed. Of course it was a dream; it's always a dream. Wait, why am I in a hospital bed? Last I remember was...

...oh. I told Kevin about me and Arthur, his friend's dad. Well, I screwed the pooch, and now Kevin won't want anything to do with me. Not that I blame him or anything; I wouldn't want anything to do with me either.

"Hello?" I called out. "Is there a doctor out there, or a nurse?"

"Hey," said the patient in the bed next to mine, an old woman who looked to be around eighty. "Keep it quiet, please?"

"Sorry," I said, and I laid back in bed. I honestly feel healthy, though; I should be given leave so that an actually sick person can use this bed.

A whole twenty minutes later, a doctor walked in.

"Miss Russo?" He said. "We've run some tests on you, and I can safely say you can leave now. You're perfectly fine."

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"From what I can understand, you suffered a shock and fainted," he said with a shrug. "But you're OK now. Go home."

"Well, OK, if you say so," I said, not wanting to debate the dude. I got up and felt a draft on my butt.

"Man, I used to have a butt like that when I was younger," said the old lady who shared a room with me. "I had all the boys chasing me back in the day!"

"I can relate," I said, chuckling, as I bid her goodbye and good luck. My clothes were...

"These aren't my clothes," I said as I took the clothing at the end of the bed I was using.

"The clothes you came in with were full of puke," said the doctor. "So the young man who brought you in got these items of clothing for you."

"Wait, Kevin?" I asked. "Is he here?"

"Yeah, we had him wait in the waiting room," said the doctor. "Get dressed, and you can see him."

And so I put the clothes on: it was jeans and a T-shirt with no design or anything on it. Plain as can be. I wish I could check myself in a mirror, maybe put some makeup on. God, I hate being in public looking so plain...

I walked up to the waiting room, fully expecting Kevin to have gone home. Instead, he's there waiting for me, alongside his parents. They must be here for their son.

"Hey," I said, meekly it must be admitted. "Sorry..."

"How you feeling?" Asked Kevin as he walked up to me.

"Fine, thanks," I said, avoiding eye contact. "Sorry about all this; I'll go home now."

"No way!" Kevin shouted. "Dude, you puked so much you ended up in the HOSPITAL!"

"Yeah, but-"

"Hey," said Kevin's dad, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let me take over from here, son."

"OK, Dad," Kevin replied, backing off.

"So, you scared Kevin, Daisy, and Paige," Kevin's dad said, and I noticed he kinda fidgeted a little. "What happened?"

"I dunno," I said, looking away for a bit. "I-I guess I just kinda hit a boiling point or whatever..."

"Well, you don't have to talk to me about it," he said, sighing, before lifting his hand, only to then put it back in his pocket.

"Good," I said, pressing my lips. "I just wanna go home..."

"Waaaiiit!" I heard a nurse call from the hallway. She came to me, all out of breath. "That stupid doctor went and acted without all the facts again! Miss, you shouldn't have been dismissed; we found evidence of undernourishment in you!"

"Well," I gulped. "I, uh, did have a rough week..."

"Well, you can't go home!" Said the nurse.

"But I'm not sick!" I protested. "I just didn't eat right for five days, that's all!"

Aaaand I said too much.

"Nurse, is it OK if I take her in?" Asked Kevin's dad. "My wife and I, we can take care of her."

"What relation is she to you?" Asked the nurse.

"She's," he hesitated for a second. "My son's good friend."

"Eh, let her go, nurse," said the doctor. "We've done what we could here! Now come on, we've got more patients to attend to!"

"Crap like this is why so many people whine about the healthcare system!" Yelled the nurse. Then she turned to us and said "Know what? I'm OK with this. Just take good care, and I'll have a case worker or something check on you."

"Thank you," said Kevin's dad, as Kevin's mom sighed and looked very pensive.

"Soooo," Kevin began. "Vanessa's gonna stay at home?"

"Guess so," I answered. "I should grab my stuff from Daisy's..."

"I'll call her," said Kevin's mom as she took out her phone.

"Shoot," I said, sighing. "What a pain of a week."

"Yeah, I know," said Kevin's dad, looking a bit glum, averting his gaze.

"You look like you've been through the ringer," I said to Kevin's dad, trying to make a rapport with him.

"So do you," he said, still looking glum. "If you wanna talk about it, I'm willing to listen."

"Thanks, man," I said. "And, uh, you too. I mean, if you wanna talk about it, and all that..."

"You're a nice girl," he said, smiling a bit, turning to look at me. "I, uh, hope that your parents, you know, are proud of how you turned out."

Ouch, dude.