everglow (13rw)

Chapter 28

Clay

"Congratulations Mr. Jensen," My Chemistry teacher gave me a satisfying smile while handing me the test paper with a passing grade mark. "Keep it up."

"Thank you." I mumbled. Knowing that few weeks ago, I was worrying if I would even graduate with my friends, with Justin.

"Congrats, man." Zach clamped his hand on my back, giving me a gentle pat. I couldnt believe I even got a higher grade than Zach.

I was staring at my paper. I got an A plus, an almost perfect score. This was an achievment I couldnt wait to share to my parents, to Maria, to Justin. Especially Justin, he would feel ecstatic hearing this. I thought of giving him a text but I wanted to surprise him, show him the paper during our Lunch break.

Dr. Priya, our school guidance counselor, knocked on our room. She whispered something to my Chemistry teacher who nodded at her. I gave Zach a look, he looked at me worriedly too. Knowing the history of this school and all of the things that happened here from Hannah Baker, to Brye Walker. Seeing the guidance councelor personally walk to our room was nerve wracking.

"Clay Jensen?" Dr. Priya spoke, the whole class was now looking at me. I caught Jessica's eyes watching me, she mouthed what's wrong. I raised my shoulder, I didnt know what was wrong too. "Can you come with me?"

I slowly walked from the back of the room towards Dr. Priya. I could feel people's eyes like laser burning my back. The hallways were empty, I was afraid to ask Dr. Priya what was wrong. Am I failing more subjects? Last time I checked, I was already doing well and fine in terms of my studies.

"Did I do something wrong?" My voice was quivering, I coughed trying to hide the fear and worries that were coming out of my mouth. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. It's your brother," She was walking quickly, all I could do was follow her. Hearing her mention my brother woke every cell in my body. I felt like I got electrecuted. "Follow me."

"What happened to him?" My mind brought me back to the days I would notice Justin was having a hard time breathing. Recently, it happened again during lunch. Justin didnt want to make it a big deal, he would either tell me he was just tired or he didnt get enough sleep. But deep down I knew it was something else, something worse.

"I got a call from his P.E. teacher," Dr. Priya's voice was calming but my nerves was far from calm, my heart was beating fast. "He fainted during his class."

"Where's Justin?" If I could teleport myself beside him right now, I would do it as fast as I could. I couldnt stop thinking about Justin, wondering if he was okay and safe.

"Clay," Dr. Priya noticed that I was panicking. She stopped walking and turned to me, her aura was tranquil. But the sound of my beating hard was defeaning. "He's resting right now in the nurse's office. He asked for you, that's why I excused you from your class."

"Is he okay?" The thought of Justin crying secretly in pain crossed my mind and I wanted to punch myself for letting it happen on my watch.

"He's resting," We were now close to the Nurse's office. I wanted to break the door, the only place I had to be right now was beside Justin. "Clay, I hope you dont mind me asking but does Justin have any underlying medical condition?"

"None that I know of," He was in good health. He was now free from drugs, this was the most healthy I had seen Justin. He couldnt be sick. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Was this the first time it happened?" We stopped in front of the Nurse's office. "We dont know anything yet, our medical equipment in this school is very limited. I would suggest you guys get him checked up."

"I'll," I took a deep breath. Calm down, Clay. "I'll tell my parents."

"Best case scenario, he just experienced fatigue, extreme tiredness." Dr. Priya assured me. But my mind was obsessing over it, if that was the best case scenario. What was the worst? I shook it off of my mind. Not now, Clay. "I'll excuse the both of you for the rest of the day."

I didnt get to thank her, I opened the door not minding the coldness of the door knob touching my skin. The nurse's room was empty, except for Justin. He was lying down on one of the hospital bed. The nurse was nowhere to be found but I didnt care, I just wanted to be near Justin and make sure he was protected from any harm.

My footsteps seemed to woke him up. He looked at me, relief was forming on his face. He was about to sit up but I halted him.

"Justin," I sat on the chair beside the bed, placing my hand on his arm. He was warm. "Keep resting."

"I'm okay now," He was resting on the bed but my presence sparked a bit of energy under him. "I feel fine."

I knew Justin, he was just saying it to erase the worry off of our minds. He didnt want to be a bother, he was not a fan of being the center of attention of anything. There was a familiar fear in his eyes, the fear that I once saw back then, when my parents drove him to rehab. Justin was scared but he was acting cool about it because he didnt want to be a liability.

"What happened?" I found myself asking, Dr. Priya already told me what happened but I wanted to hear it from Justin.

"We were just playing dodge ball," I was staring at his face as he was explaining, I noticed his lips and they were dry. "I was on the same team with Alex and Tyler, then I started breathing heavily. The next thing I know, I was dizzy and my chest was heavy. I could hear Alex asking if I was okay and then my body hit the ground. It was the last thing I remembered before fainting."

"But I'm fine," Justin continued, he was talking fast and based on my observation it was something he always does when he was nervous or tense. "I just need some rest."

"Are you sure?" I couldn't let this pass, I would forever blame myself if something bad happens to Justin.

"I'm sure. Cheer up, Clay." He tapped my cheek, his palm was warm and soft. "I'm sorry if I got you pulled out from your class."

"I would rather be here than be anywhere else, Justin." I kissed his forehead. I would never let anything bad happen to you, Justin. I swear to my life.

-

I already wrote this chapter a few hours ago but I didnt get to publish because I did some important stuff.

Here you go guys. Love all of your comments, reading them always make my day.

- G