I slowly opened my eyes. Immediately, I had to close them. Everything was
white. A much too bright white. I groaned and tried to sit up, but
something forced me back down. Where was I?
Almost as if to answer my question, someone said, "It's okay, Ellie. Just relax, okay?"
I blinked and finally was able to open my eyes again with squinting. "P- Paige?" I stuttered.
"Hun, relax. You fainted or something. You were bleeding a lot, but it stopped thank God." Paige kept looking down at me.
"Paige..leave me alone. I'm fine." I finally managed to sit up, and I stumbled to my feet, leaning on the wall.
"You are not totally fine! Look at you! God, Hazel, hun, go get a teacher or SOMETHING." Paige was shouting now, obviously freaked out. Hazel ran and did as she was told, she is such a sheep.
I shrugged her off, and regained my balance. "No, I'm fine. I'm late for class." Feeling slightly lightheaded, I walked over to the washroom door. I reached for the door knob and turned it. I felt someone grab my shoulders. "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! I don't want you getting into this!"
Paige turned me around. "What is your problem Ellie. How can you be so blind? Look at the door knob! Look at the wall! You are leaving blood everywhere you go, does that tell you that something is WRONG?"
"Yeah, Paige. Something is wrong. You." I pushed her off of me, and run into a stall. I shut and locked the door. Paige was banging it on, but I tried not to notice. I changed out of the gym uniform into my regular clothes, arm warmer included. I waited until the banging had stopped, and I walked out of the stall. Paige was there, just standing, just waiting. I glared at her and left the washroom.
I walked down the hall, ignoring the stares, the gasps, the points. The gossip, the rumors, the laughs. The shouts of "Hey, vampire whose blood did you drink?" I knew that my arm warmer was still covered in blood. It didn't matter to me. I would just change when I got home, which was somewhere I planned on going right now. I walked aimlessly for a while. Then, the bell rang. Kids starting rushing into their classes, one bumping into me. "Ow," I whispered. I stood outside of Mr. Simpson's class, frozen. He was staring at me, he wouldn't look away. His mouth was wide open and I heard him yell out something. Something about being right back. I walked past his classroom, and went to my locker. I had to get my backpack before I left school. The house keys were in it.
I lazily attempted to open the combination. I banged it out of frustration, and knew that tomorrow I would have another injury. This time, a bruise on my palm. I sighed and finally got the damn locker open. I grabbed my backpack and pulled it out of the locker. I slung it on my back and started walking towards the exit. On the way out, I passed the nurse's office. I decided I would stop by and ask for some bandages. We were all out at home, and I couldn't exactly go to the store looking like this. I hesitated briefly and then walked inside the nurse's office.
"Can I help you miss?" asked a middle aged woman, wearing an orange jacket. It reminded me of a grapefruit. Which reminded me of my dad. He had always loved grapefruits.. I sighed and snapped out of my daze.
"Um, yeah. I hurt my arm on something in the washroom," I said softly, not meeting her eyes.
She walked towards me and said, "Oh my goodness, you're bleeding! Let's see how bad it is."
I backed away and looked at my feet. "No, I'm fine. I just..um..I just need some bandages, please."
"One bandage isn't going to fix that! It looks like a serious injury, we might have to call 911 if it is as bad as it looks," said the nurse persistently.
I finally looked up at her. "No really. I'm fine. Just..a bandage please."
"Ellie, how hard is it to find you. Are you alright? What happened to your arm?" I spun around and saw Mr. Simpson. No, no, no.
I smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just hit my arm..on the sink, in the washroom. Really hard. So I'm here for a bandage. That's it."
Mr. Simpson looked at the nurse, who in turn shrugged.
"That's what she told me," said the nurse.
"That's a lot of blood for a washroom sink incident, don't you think Ellie?" It was Paige. No, no, no, no, no.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! Stop following me, Paige! You aren't my mother! I'm fine, you need to just go away," I screamed.
Paige looked at Mr. Simpson, who frowned.
"Paige, what do you mean by that? Shouldn't you be in class?" inquired the ever so nosy Mr. Simpson.
"This is more important than class, Mr. Simpson, don't you see? Ellie has been hurting herself!"
As soon as Paige said this, I started to break down. I had to leave. I wasn't going to get any bandages here, all I was going to get is accusations and nightmares. I attempted to leave the nurse's office, but Mr. Simpson stopped me. He looked directly into my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to stare back.
"Is..is that true? Have you been hurting yourself, Ellie?"
I felt one single tear slip down my cheek. Mr. Simpson put his hand on my shoulder, he was being gentle and caring, but it hurt anyway.
I couldn't help it; I winced loudly.
"Sorry." Mr. Simpson took his hand off of my shoulder immediately. "Ellie, it will be okay. But we have to know for sure. Have..have you been hurting yourself? Intentionally?"
"I'm fine. I'm going to be late for my co-op job." I wasn't going to let him take this away from me. I wasn't going to let anyone take this away from me. My control, my outlet, not to mention my dream job. If he found out, if I admitted it..besides, I wasn't hurting myself. I was just..making myself feel better. That's all.
"Ellie, get over that stupid job okay? You're hurting yourself! You passed out in the washroom, your arm thing is covered in blood! I thought you were getting help from the counselor!" screamed Paige, trying to defend Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson looked shocked. "Is that true, Ellie? Did you pass out in the washroom?"
"No, I just got a little lightheaded. Must be the flu."
"ELLIE!" shouted Paige.
"Paige, just stay out of this okay?" I was starting to get angry.
Mr. Simpson wouldn't stop asking me. "Ellie, you're bleeding a lot. That's why you passed out isn't it? If you're hurting yourself, it's okay, Ellie. We'll get you some help."
"I'm fine, Mr. Simpson. Really." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ms. Sauve.
No.
No, no, NO.
Paige called out to her, and Ms. Sauve soon was in the nurse's office with Mr. Simpson, Paige, the nurse, and I. I sat down in the nearest chair, feeling more lightheaded every second.
"Hello, Paige. Hi, Ellie. What can I help you with?" asked Ms. Sauve.
Mr. Simpson said, "Well, I don't know how to say this. Ellie came in here looking for a bandage. Her arm is bleeding very heavily. She says she just hit it on the sink accidently. Paige says Ellie has been hurting herself, and that she hasn't stopped. Paige said that Ellie passed out in the washroom, but Ellie denied it."
Ms. Sauve gasped. She walked over to the chair I was sitting in and kneeled down. "Ellie. I thought you had stopped doing this to yourself."
Mr. Simpson shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. He knew it was true now. Great.
Almost as if to answer my question, someone said, "It's okay, Ellie. Just relax, okay?"
I blinked and finally was able to open my eyes again with squinting. "P- Paige?" I stuttered.
"Hun, relax. You fainted or something. You were bleeding a lot, but it stopped thank God." Paige kept looking down at me.
"Paige..leave me alone. I'm fine." I finally managed to sit up, and I stumbled to my feet, leaning on the wall.
"You are not totally fine! Look at you! God, Hazel, hun, go get a teacher or SOMETHING." Paige was shouting now, obviously freaked out. Hazel ran and did as she was told, she is such a sheep.
I shrugged her off, and regained my balance. "No, I'm fine. I'm late for class." Feeling slightly lightheaded, I walked over to the washroom door. I reached for the door knob and turned it. I felt someone grab my shoulders. "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! I don't want you getting into this!"
Paige turned me around. "What is your problem Ellie. How can you be so blind? Look at the door knob! Look at the wall! You are leaving blood everywhere you go, does that tell you that something is WRONG?"
"Yeah, Paige. Something is wrong. You." I pushed her off of me, and run into a stall. I shut and locked the door. Paige was banging it on, but I tried not to notice. I changed out of the gym uniform into my regular clothes, arm warmer included. I waited until the banging had stopped, and I walked out of the stall. Paige was there, just standing, just waiting. I glared at her and left the washroom.
I walked down the hall, ignoring the stares, the gasps, the points. The gossip, the rumors, the laughs. The shouts of "Hey, vampire whose blood did you drink?" I knew that my arm warmer was still covered in blood. It didn't matter to me. I would just change when I got home, which was somewhere I planned on going right now. I walked aimlessly for a while. Then, the bell rang. Kids starting rushing into their classes, one bumping into me. "Ow," I whispered. I stood outside of Mr. Simpson's class, frozen. He was staring at me, he wouldn't look away. His mouth was wide open and I heard him yell out something. Something about being right back. I walked past his classroom, and went to my locker. I had to get my backpack before I left school. The house keys were in it.
I lazily attempted to open the combination. I banged it out of frustration, and knew that tomorrow I would have another injury. This time, a bruise on my palm. I sighed and finally got the damn locker open. I grabbed my backpack and pulled it out of the locker. I slung it on my back and started walking towards the exit. On the way out, I passed the nurse's office. I decided I would stop by and ask for some bandages. We were all out at home, and I couldn't exactly go to the store looking like this. I hesitated briefly and then walked inside the nurse's office.
"Can I help you miss?" asked a middle aged woman, wearing an orange jacket. It reminded me of a grapefruit. Which reminded me of my dad. He had always loved grapefruits.. I sighed and snapped out of my daze.
"Um, yeah. I hurt my arm on something in the washroom," I said softly, not meeting her eyes.
She walked towards me and said, "Oh my goodness, you're bleeding! Let's see how bad it is."
I backed away and looked at my feet. "No, I'm fine. I just..um..I just need some bandages, please."
"One bandage isn't going to fix that! It looks like a serious injury, we might have to call 911 if it is as bad as it looks," said the nurse persistently.
I finally looked up at her. "No really. I'm fine. Just..a bandage please."
"Ellie, how hard is it to find you. Are you alright? What happened to your arm?" I spun around and saw Mr. Simpson. No, no, no.
I smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just hit my arm..on the sink, in the washroom. Really hard. So I'm here for a bandage. That's it."
Mr. Simpson looked at the nurse, who in turn shrugged.
"That's what she told me," said the nurse.
"That's a lot of blood for a washroom sink incident, don't you think Ellie?" It was Paige. No, no, no, no, no.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! Stop following me, Paige! You aren't my mother! I'm fine, you need to just go away," I screamed.
Paige looked at Mr. Simpson, who frowned.
"Paige, what do you mean by that? Shouldn't you be in class?" inquired the ever so nosy Mr. Simpson.
"This is more important than class, Mr. Simpson, don't you see? Ellie has been hurting herself!"
As soon as Paige said this, I started to break down. I had to leave. I wasn't going to get any bandages here, all I was going to get is accusations and nightmares. I attempted to leave the nurse's office, but Mr. Simpson stopped me. He looked directly into my eyes, but I couldn't bring myself to stare back.
"Is..is that true? Have you been hurting yourself, Ellie?"
I felt one single tear slip down my cheek. Mr. Simpson put his hand on my shoulder, he was being gentle and caring, but it hurt anyway.
I couldn't help it; I winced loudly.
"Sorry." Mr. Simpson took his hand off of my shoulder immediately. "Ellie, it will be okay. But we have to know for sure. Have..have you been hurting yourself? Intentionally?"
"I'm fine. I'm going to be late for my co-op job." I wasn't going to let him take this away from me. I wasn't going to let anyone take this away from me. My control, my outlet, not to mention my dream job. If he found out, if I admitted it..besides, I wasn't hurting myself. I was just..making myself feel better. That's all.
"Ellie, get over that stupid job okay? You're hurting yourself! You passed out in the washroom, your arm thing is covered in blood! I thought you were getting help from the counselor!" screamed Paige, trying to defend Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson looked shocked. "Is that true, Ellie? Did you pass out in the washroom?"
"No, I just got a little lightheaded. Must be the flu."
"ELLIE!" shouted Paige.
"Paige, just stay out of this okay?" I was starting to get angry.
Mr. Simpson wouldn't stop asking me. "Ellie, you're bleeding a lot. That's why you passed out isn't it? If you're hurting yourself, it's okay, Ellie. We'll get you some help."
"I'm fine, Mr. Simpson. Really." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ms. Sauve.
No.
No, no, NO.
Paige called out to her, and Ms. Sauve soon was in the nurse's office with Mr. Simpson, Paige, the nurse, and I. I sat down in the nearest chair, feeling more lightheaded every second.
"Hello, Paige. Hi, Ellie. What can I help you with?" asked Ms. Sauve.
Mr. Simpson said, "Well, I don't know how to say this. Ellie came in here looking for a bandage. Her arm is bleeding very heavily. She says she just hit it on the sink accidently. Paige says Ellie has been hurting herself, and that she hasn't stopped. Paige said that Ellie passed out in the washroom, but Ellie denied it."
Ms. Sauve gasped. She walked over to the chair I was sitting in and kneeled down. "Ellie. I thought you had stopped doing this to yourself."
Mr. Simpson shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. He knew it was true now. Great.
