"Young man I am a nurse, not a love Doctor. But if you have lost a love one and found them again, I might just have the piece of advice which will save your neck." She paused, took a deep sigh and stared hard at me, as if she was wondering whether or not to divulge this piece of information that was so close to her heart. She reconsidered this for half a second before letting out her breath. "You must listen to me, and listen closely. Make this girl remember. Whatever you do, she has to realise that you were a past love, and not some stalker trying to reconnect for no reason. Girls are like deer, you have to be cautious or they run, startled. Find the old connection, you need to reconnect again."
"Like a favourite jigsaw, you just rediscovered? Fragile and has to be looked after."
"That sounds about right. Well now I realise you're not concussed, I'll just write up your slip and you can go to your next class. You may be a little late by the time the traffic has slowed and you go past the office to drop off your slip."
At that moment the bell rings and out of the jar door I can see buses of people pushing and shoving as they walk in gaggles and trains to get to their next class. The amount of shoving and shouting causes me to take my face further away from the door. I can see now why Nurse didn't want me going out in that.
As the crowds thin I turn to ask the nurse whether or not I should go yet, but she'd vanished! I couldn't see her anywhere, I didn't hear her on the phone and there was no way that old thing could have snuck past me. I was alone, and maybe that was where I deserved to be. Alone, alone as trial for all those broken hearts and expectations I never lived up to.
I sigh, decide to chance my luck and walk into the corridors where very few people are still wondering, either dragging their feet or rushing to and fro. As soon as my left foot crosses over the line where the door would be if it hadn't been vandalized and stolen, the nurse reappears.
"You take care, young man. Come to me if you need any help with anything. My door is always open, well it would be if I had a door."
I smile at her then walk through the deserted corridors. After a stop past the office with my slip I wander up to Chemistry, frowning slightly at missing one of the better classes in my day until I remember, Tia is in this class. She said earlier she'd been moved in all of my science classes which would mean that I could go in and … I dunno. I can't exactly put the charm on her when I could be half – concussed. And also I'm not allowed to put charm on her by the nurses rule because I don't want to scare her and also not look like I'm needy or too out there, too flirty or too desperate. I had to hit things just right with this girl. If she was who I thought she was, then I had to have a carefully planned approach. I couldn't afford one little slip up as I could risk losing her; again. And emotionally I'm not sure I was able to, or if I ever would be. I stomped up the stairs making the most plans I had ever made in my whole life in about the space of 3 minutes and 29 steps. I trudged along the corridor, then stopped U –turned and walked about 2 doors back. I had been so caught up in my thoughts I had walked straight past the classroom, I hoped no one had noticed, especially not Tia or Ms Duet. She was pretty cool, well as cool as science teachers go. I knocked on the door once and then I opened it and walked in.
"Sorry I'm Late Ms Duet, I was in the nurse's office." I hand her my slip and walked over to my usual seat, right next to where Tia's new one was coincidence. She looked at me sympathetically as I took out my books and sat on the spindly stool.
"Well I hope you are quite alright now and will be up to your ship – shape best in due course, but for now class we will continue to look at chemical reactions, how two or more elements come together and the changes that occur during this process and the effects that are visible afterward." She smiled roundly at us. She was quite jovial but dead serious, and boy! She could probably shout down the whole school, she'd scare away thunder if you really got her going. I gathered she must have a new boyfriend, because her hair and make-up looked the same and she was in a 'fabulous mood' as she would put it. "Now please turn to P165 in the red textbooks, which you will find at the back of the class in the folder nearest the left window. Yes that one. I want you to answer the questions on P166, and then read over 167. I'll decide later if we mark as a class or whether I'll just mark them all. Now get going! Spit, Spot!"
Wow, Mary Poppins now, she was really going today. Our class always went along with her mood, and if it was a good one, we'd work it to our advantage. We all swiftly work through the questions, all rather solidly but with occasional laughs and few drifts of chatter. We skim and scan over the page in what we define as reading something that we would learn later. I looked over and Tia had her nose literally buried in the book, I took it that she must be concentrating because she couldn't be near-sighted, she was fine earlier and there was no way she could enjoy reading a TEXTBOOK!
She looks up suddenly, winks at me, and reads the whole page, all over again. She is so cute in the way that she actually tries so hard in everything she does, and as I think this a small cleft appears on her head as she tries to sink in the information. Then I realise, she's already read the required text and is deciphering Italian cookery books behind the textbooks. Guess I know her real passion isn't art then. It's just being creative, and cute.
I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see Gregor mouthing, "answer the question, 1a." Stupid me! Falling asleep; or close enough to taking a nap, a nap in class while Ms Duet is in such a great mood? I set my thoughts in order and scan over the question again as I form my answer in my head. I glance at Tia out of the corner of my eye and realise she's still in Italia. I look up at Ms Duet and answer hesitantly and the smile reappears on her face. She turns to write something on the board, telling us to copy and work out the formula. I quickly kick Tia, well not kick but I tap her shin with my foot and she gives me a grateful smile for my efforts. She puts the textbook/pasta cookbook and picks up her pencil and writes down every word off the board in her own neat style.
The bell went off, I really need to stop getting lost in lessons; I was never distracted before today. As the class scrambled to put their textbooks away to go to lunch, my hand brushed against Tia's as we put the textbooks into the box. She turns blushes slightly, then looks embarrassed and turns away. She grabs her bag and walks out before I can even hand her little jotter back.
I groan in annoyance. I have to do something but my mind is stumped. I have no idea at all what to do. I really need something along the lines of a crack team – a whole unit of people who could guide me in every aspect of what goes on in a girl's life.
I'm an idiot! I practically have the solution right in front of my eyes and yet it has taken me this long to work it out. The one constant girl in my life, I mean one who's a friend and not an annoying sister. One who is super close and to whom I would tell everything! Well she is kind of like a sister but she's not even family! She's only the girlfriend of my best friend and I knew she would help me find an answer to this puzzle. Maybe Donna was the missing piece that could help fix my jigsaw. I walk off to English – bearing in mind that as soon as English was finished I would grab Donna and I would ask her to help. I'd fess up to Gregor later but for now I had to get through to My Little Teapot – before I was stuck as a frog permanently.
