I looked back awkwardly and made a peace sign with the hand that Jackson let go of since Allyson is still holding my left hand. He smiled back at me and then stared at the hand that Allyson is holding. I also did it to my friends but they raised their eyebrows as they pointed at my other hand. I suddenly pulled my hand so Allyson was caught off guard and let go. I know that my friends will make fun of me again using what they just saw.
“Ouch! Did you do that on purpose?” Allyson said when we were standing up
“What do you mean?” I asked innocently
“You are stepping on my foot.” he said making a hurt face
“Oh my gosh! I didn’t mean to. I must be out of my mind not to notice your foot.”
He only chuckled and then focused on the service while I was celebrating inside. I usually do those kinds of things to have my revenge even if it would be in small ways. There is a part of the service where we had to do a prayer at the end part and I don’t like it when we have to hold the hand of the person beside us. I wouldn’t really mind doing it with my classmates but having my seatmates beside me is a little trouble.
Allyson and Jackson started giggling as soon as we were done with the prayer. I don’t know why they are obsessed with my hands.
“Can you find Athena’s hand?” Jackson whispered to Allyson
“No. It is completely covered hehe. Maybe your hands are too big?” Allyson said while grinning
I rolled my eyes as I watched them having fun. I don’t really get hurt when they make fun of me because of my hands. They are such big boys but so childish that I can’t help thinking of them as big babies.
“Should we try pulling her fingers? It might help to make them longer.” Jackson suggested
Allyson nodded his head and they both started pulling my fingers slowly as if doing it would change the length of my fingers. I stared at them with a bored look because of their nonsense ideas. They were still holding my hand as we left the church. Jackson was leading the way and I am stuck in the middle of them. Jackson, who has long legs, is walking fast while Allyson is taking his time so they are both pulling my arms.
“Are you planning on dragging me like this?” I said
Jackson looked back and was about to say something as he let my hand go when a flock of students started pushing to get out of the gate. They are always reminding us to behave when going out but since we don’t have enough time for the break, students are rushing to get out of the church gate. This always happens but the teachers won’t always open the whole gate. The inclined path going down is slippery because of the moss growing on it and students need to be more careful since it rained the night before.
“Hey! Be careful.” I heard Allyson shout before he let go of my hand.
The sole of the black shoes I was wearing that time were slippery so I lost my balance when Allyson let go of my hand.
“Watch out!” I shouted as I lost my balance and slipped forward.
The person in front of me looked back stunned and froze when he saw me. I felt myself bump into him before both of us fell down. I felt the pain coming from my elbow that bumped into something before I fainted. I could hear a lot of commotion when I regained my consciousness.
“Are you okay?” I heard a teacher ask
I slowly nodded my head and looked around as I sat down. My friends were standing around me and looking worried. I saw Vladimir sitting beside me while groaning. I could remember that I bumped into him when I lost my balance.
“Let her recover for some time first. We don’t know the reason why she fainted.” another teacher said
“I think I bumped my elbow on something. It is still numb.” I said
Vladimir's groan caught my attention again. They are cleaning a wound from his forehead. I could see some blood running down his face as they tried to stop it. I slowly swallowed as I watched the blood move slowly down his cheeks.
“I think we need to bring Vladimir to the hospital since blood won’t stop oozing from his wound. It needs to be stitched up.” Ace said
I know that I need to look away but I can’t seem to control my eyes from looking at his face. I could feel goosebumps all over my body due to the blood then my hands started to shake. I accidentally saw the blood coming out of the wound from his forehead when they changed the handkerchief that they are using.
“Athena, look away.” Ace said when he saw me looking
I breathed deeply to calm my nerves before I shifted my eyes to Ace. I could see Ace panicking when I looked at him. There are traces of blood in hand since he was the one who assisted Vladimir before another senior student changed him.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Ace said when I opened my eyes.
“Where am I?” I asked
“You’re at the hospital. You fainted for the second time so we also decided to bring you here.” he explained
“How’s Vladimir?” I asked worriedly
I saw him point to the bed beside me using his lips which made me look. Vladimir was sleeping and there was a small bandage on his forehead.
“He is fine but the doctors suggested that he stays in here also for further observation.”
“Do I need to be here? I just fainted because of the blood that I saw.” I said
“According to the doctor, you also need to stay here so you can have your X-ray with Vladimir this afternoon since you said that you bumped your elbow. They need to make sure that both of you are okay.” he said
“Is this necessary?” I said referring to the dextrose when I noticed it
“You have low blood sugar so they have no choice but to give it to you.”
“How long do I need to be here?”
“I know that you don’t like staying in a hospital but you have to bear with it. This is for your own good. You are already excused from school for today and tomorrow.”
“What?!” I said since I hate missing lessons
“You will be given make-up classes so don’t worry about missing something. The school also wants to make sure that you’re both okay.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because I have to. You’re my responsibility even if you don’t want to. I called my Mom to come hereafter lunch since I need to attend my lessons.”
“Can’t they ask other students to stay with us?”
“Look here! Shouldn't you be thankful that I am here to look after you? Instead of saying thank you, here you are showing how ungrateful you are. I can’t believe this.”
“Ow. Shouldn’t you be thankful also that I am concerned about you missing your lessons that it might affect your model student image?” I said in a provoking voice
He crossed his arms and then stared at me like he was analyzing and reading what I was thinking. He has his signature smug look that I hate so I raised an eyebrow and stared back at him. I puffed up my cheeks and made silly faces to annoy him.
“I guess you’re feeling better now since you have a lot of courage to challenge me into an argument. As per the doctor you still have to take a rest so I will ignore your provocations.” he said before pushing my forehead slowly in order to force me to lay down.
“I’m totally fine and I don’t need to rest some more.” I said while trying to get up
“Stop being stubborn and just follow what the doctor said.”
“Have you asked if I can go home this afternoon? I don’t want to stay here for too long.” I asked while trying to get up.
He held me down by my shoulder to stop me from getting up. I can’t understand why I am feeling too weak and cannot push him back. I can see him smirking as he watches me forcing myself.
“Stop using your determination on useless things. Just lay down there and rest for goodness sake!” he said
“Then stop feeling superior over me!” I said
I heard him chuckle because of what I said. Okay, I also admit that was such an irrelevant thing to say because he is not really making me feel that he is more superior to me. I can’t believe myself for spewing nonsense.