I stared blearily up at startling blue eyes. There was a hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me awake.
"Dude, you alright? Wake up!"
I focused on the figure above me and was able to make a blonde boy, roughly fourteen, looking down at me with concern on his face.
"Hey, man, wake up! Seriously, you're freaking me out!"
When the boy's lips above me moved, I could tell that he was the source of the irritating American accent that was trying to wake me. I didn't recognize the voice or the face.
"Come on! Wake up!" he started to sound almost frantic, now. Why was he so concerned?
It was then that I noticed the throbbing ache at the back of my head. Bloody hell! What happened? I realized that I was lying on the sidewalk, the hard cement was cold and rough, and my whole body ached.
"W-what happened to me?" I managed to say. It was hard with the dizziness that seemed to be caused by the throbbing pain.
"Oh thank God! You can talk!" the blonde seemed incredibly relieved " I was practicing for the football game and lost control of the ball. You were walking by and it hit you in the back of the head. You blacked out for like, five minutes!"
I sat up slowly, carefully taking stock of my body. There didn't seem to be any damage other than the pain in my head that was making it hard to think. I tried to remember what I had been doing moments earlier…
"I was just on my way to class.. I'm going to be late!"
I attempted to get up, but the world seemed to swirl around me, forcing me to slump back down. The boy was still looking at me intently, clearly trying to decide whether or not he should take me to the infirmary, which he most certainly did not.
Again I tried to stand up, and this time I was able to (unsteadily) gain my footing. The boy hovered close by, ready to catch me should I fall. Slowly, I began to walk to class, being careful not to go too quickly lest I pass out. Behind me, the boy quickly followed, presumably to make sure I didn't suddenly drop dead.
I only made it about fifty meters before I fell down, just about passing out. Luckily, the boy was there to catch me. He was fairly strong, probably from being a football player.
"Seriously, dude. You should go see the nurse." With that, he scooped me up into his arms and began to walk to the nurse's office.
I struggled to get down, people were watching, and I didn't even know him! It was undignified, not to mention extremely awkward.
"You know, I don't even know your name." He said, grinning down at me.
"Arthur. Arthur Kirkland." I said with a huff. "Yours?"
"Alfred F. Jones, at your service!" he said with a big grin. Cocky bastard.
Eventually, we reached the nurse. After explaining what had happened, he set me down on the bed and told me that he had to go to class, but he would check on me later. He even asked me what class I had been going to so he could stop by to tell the teacher of my absence and get the necessary work. Really, he seemed like a generally nice boy.
