Val: Fever and Goo…The Worst Dance Ever
'This is weird. Something is definitely not right." That was all that was going through my head as I sat there doing my homework that none other than Tyler had brought in for me.
"And so you just divide the final number and then add it with the equation. (AN- I don't have a clue what I'm talking about but w/e) Got it Val?" Hank's voice brought me back to the now freezing bunk. Uh-oh…I missed everything he was just saying about the math lesson. I guess it took me too long to respond because Hank launched himself into another long explanation, which without a doubt; I definitely wasn't going to get. I guess it showed too because suddenly Jamie who had looked up awhile ago screamed, "HANK!! SHUT UP!!! She's not getting this anyway." Thank you, Jamie. Whoa…Since when did Jamie start sticking up for me? This is all too weird.
"Are you alright Val?" Hank stopped and looked at me.
"Me? Y…yeah." Whoa…Am I shaking? No, I'm shivering.
"Are you cold?"
"No."
"Then why are you shivering?" Tyler asked me. Good question.
"C..Can we g-go out to Th-the common room? Th-there's heating in there." I responded. So we all picked up our stuff and headed out the door. Not two seconds after we sat down, the bell rang and they all rushed out.
I sat there…just…thinking. Even though I truly and fully believed Tyler and everything, something was terribly wrong. It just wasn't like Tyler to apologize like that. I mean, it wasn't like we'd ever been in fights before this one, but I've seen him with Hank and Hank's his BEST FRIEND. Tyler and Hank's smallest fight lasted about four days and this was a little less than one day! Knowing Tyler, he was sincerely sorry, but I was sure that something else was up. I just couldn't put a finger on it. And with a guy like Tyler, what are you supposed to do?
"Hey, Val." I looked up and it was Mike. I smiled brightly at him. At least this was one guy I could figure out…Sort of.
"Hey! What are you doing down here?" Of course, I couldn't make it through the sentence without sneezing.
"Whoa, you
ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks.
"What are you doing here? I thought Hank said that you were sick."
"Yeah, I am. I just decided to come here because I have nothing else to do."
"Oh…interesting…Where are they now?"
"They have a call. What are you doing here? I thought you had practice or something."
"Well, Hank and Tyler are on the team…"
"Yeah but they skip sometimes because of the shift…I was just wondering. Anyway what are you doing here?"
"I have to ask them something…About the football team."
"Oh…um…he should be back soon…just hang-out here or something." Whoa…awkward…this was getting really weird. Finally, after many moments of silence, the three boys came back, panting.
Hank looked startled to see Mike, "Uh, hey Mike. What's up?"
"Hey. Um, I have to ask you something…about the game on Friday." Mike said nervously.
"Uh…sure..." Tyler said eyeing him. Ok...can somebody PLEASE fill me in? The three football players walked away and Jaime looked at me, "That was weird."
"Definitely. Something's going on…but I can't figure out what."
"Probably just you're imagination. You're sick. Sleep." Jaime reassured me. I sighed. Jaime was right. I was sick and I needed my sleep. This wasn't going to help me get any better. I let my heavy eyelids droop and I drifted off into a world of dreams and nothingness.
The next thing I knew, it was time to go home. Over the course of the week, I honestly wasn't getting any better, but my mom agreed that if my temperature went down to 100, I could go to the dance with Mike, but I'd have to stay in bed for the weekend. I agreed.
So, Friday night finally came and Caitie came over after school (I didn't go that day either) and helped me pick out my outfit.
"You know, you should wear black more often. It really looks good on you." Caitie told me from my bed.
"Thanks." I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a spaghetti-strap black dress and a navy blue jacket along with black high-heeled sandals. I had to admit, I did look pretty okay and I didn't even look sick. All the same, I still felt sick. The doorbell rang and I started to get panicky, which when combined with a high fever and a headache, is NOT a good thing.
"Oh my god! Caitie! What am I supposed to do?!?!?!" I panicked.
Caitie sat up and patiently said to me, "Val, answer the door, say hi, tell your parents you're leaving then go."
I took in a deep breath and hugged Caitie, "Thanks."
"That's what I'm here for. Have fun."
"I will."
I headed down the stairs and opened the door. Mike was standing there in stone-washed dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a flannel jacket. He literally froze when he saw me. I smiled faintly at him, "H..Hey."
"Hey. You look gorgeous." He blurted.
"Thanks," I'm positive I blushed bright pink, "Uh, MOM!! I'm leaving!"
"Okay, have fun!" my mom yelled back.
On the car ride there, it was silent for a few moments before Mike started up conversation about the football team and stuff. I listened and tried to add to the conversation, but he kept rambling. Finally, I stopped him, "Mike. You're rambling."
She grinned sheepishly, "Sorry. I do that a lot when I get nervous."
"It's okay." I smiled at him. We finally reached the school where Mike opened the doors for me and everything. I saw Hank and his date and waved. Hank smiled faintly back at me, but I guess he couldn't of stayed long because she was pulling him away so fast. I approached Tyler who, of course, was with Casey, "Hey!"
Tyler looked up, startled to see me there, "V-Val! Hey! I thought you were sick!"
"I am. My mom said I could come." I told him, giving him a weird look.
"O-oh. Hey Mike…"
"Hey Tyler…Could I talk to you for a minute?" Mike asked. Tyler nodded and left with Mike. I stood there with Casey, feeling really awkward. I guess Casey didn't feel that way, "So Val, are you gonna be there tomorrow for the game?"
"Uh, probably not. My mom said I have to stay in bed all day because I'm not really 100% healthy yet."
"But you just had to come for Mike, huh?" Casey teased.
"Yeah…" I laughed nervously.
"Yeah, same here when I first started going out with Tyler. He asked me to the town dance…"
"Wait, he did?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Nothing." Tyler had told Hank, Jaime, Alex and I that he was sick and couldn't make it to the EMT station that night. None of us went to the town dance because of our shifts at the station. But Tyler did…Telling us that he was sick. I knew there was something wrong with that picture.
Mike came back at that point and smiled at me, "Val? Wanna dance?" A slow song came on. I smiled back at him, "Yeah, sure." I took his hand and went onto the dance floor, relieved that it wasn't a fast song.
"Val?" Mike asked me, looking nervous.
"Yeah?"
"I have something really important to tell you."
"What is it?"
"You really need to know that-"Before he could respond…SPLAT! A huge water-balloon filled with slimy, gooey, pink bubblegum goo hit me over the head and Mike jumped back. I looked around and all the guys of the football team were laughing their heads off. All except for Tyler and Hank. It hit me then why Tyler told me not to go with Mike to the dance. I looked at Mike, who was looking at me nervously. I gave him a cold stare.
Jaime and Caitie arrived at that moment and Caitie gasped, "VAL!!!!" Apparently, neither her nor the rest of the cheer squad thought this was funny. I saw Mandy out of the corner of my eye slapping Will, her date who was on the team, cracking up. The girls on the squad pushed through the crowd and dragged me to the bathroom.
"Oh! My! GOD!! I can't believe that they would do that!!!" And the funny thing is, he did do it. He did it despite all he had supposedly felt for me. I stood there like a tree while the squad and Caitie cleaned me up. My dress was ruined, my hair was a mess, what was supposed to be the best dance of my life was the worst and Tyler was right all along.
My vision started to blur and I couldn't see a thing all of the sudden. Everything was a blur. And soon, the ground was rushing up at me...very quickly. The next thing I knew…Everything was black.