Chapter 3

Seeds and Questions

General POV

Aeris is walking down the hall and wondering about Leo: What happened to him? I wonder if it has to do with when he grabbed his stomach at lunch.

As she enters the nurses office the gym teacher walks be. He asks what she is doing and she explains that she isn't feeling well. The teacher leaves with a sigh.

Nurse: "Can I help you miss?"

Aeris: "Yes, I was just in my gym class and now… "She pauses for a brief second, trying to think of an excuse. She remembers when Leo looked like he was in pain during lunch. "Now my stomach is hurting."

Nurse: "Another one? Let me guess, you had the cafeteria chicken today, didn't you?"

Aeris: "umm… Yes, I did. My stomach started to hurt a little while after I ate."

Nurse: "Yes, I think that something was wrong with the sauce on it. A couple of other kids came in with stomach pain and they all had that. Why don't you lie down on the cot over there next to Mr. Leonardo and I'll be over in a minute."

Aeris thanks her and goes over the small bed next to Leo. He turns around and gives a look of surprise when he sees her.

Leo: "You... you too?"

Aeris: "Yea… Apparently there was something wrong with the chicken at lunch today. The nurse says that a few people aren't feeling well."

Leo: "But didn't you bring your lunch? I saw you holding your bag. Not that I was loo… looking at you. And I didn't get the chicken."

Aeris: "Do you think I'm lying?"

Leo: "No, why would you? I'm just saying that if everyone else is here because of the chicken, why are you and I here?"

Aeris didn't say anything for a moment. She was confident the nurse would believe that she wasn't feeling well but Leo knew that she didn't buy lunch…

Aeris: "I don't know. Maybe there is a flu or something starting to go around?"

Nurse: "Ok miss…Cole? I'm just going to check your temperature real fast and make sure you're not running a fever." About fifteen seconds pass and the electric thermometer beeps. "That's strange, everyone else is running a slight fever. I guess you may just have a stomach ache. You can rest in here until you feel better. How about you Leo, now that you finally woke up are you feeling ok? I've already had to write up a report about you and I'd rather not have to send you to a hospital."

Leo: "My stomach hurts and I started seeing double before I fell. I don't know what's wrong though."

Nurse: "That doesn't sound good. When I checked earlier you had a fever and now that I think about it you were worse than the others. I'm going to call your parents and have you brought to the hospital."

Leo: "Do I get to ride in an ambulance?"

Nurse: (With a slight laugh) "Unfortunately no, I'll have your parent drive you and call the hospital to tell them what the story is. They'll look you over and make sure it's nothing to serious."

Leo: "Thank you. (To Aeris) Great way to start the year at a new school, huh. First day and I'm already going to the hospital."

Aeris: "I'm so sorry. I hope you feel better."

Leo: "Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong. And I'll be fine as long as they don't give me any shots. I hate needles."

Aeris: "Ok, I guess I'm just a little worried."

Leo: "You're worried… about me?"

Nurse: "Ok Leo, your father is here. He will take you straight to the hospital and they will have a doctor ready for you. I'm sure you will be ok, it's just that they pay me to be paranoid and act on the safe side."

After a little while of driving.

Leo's POV

Leo's Dad: "Who was that girl son?"

Leo: "You mean the nurse? I don't know her name. Why, do you like her or something?"

Leo's Dad: "While I will admit the nurse was rather good looking, I was talking about the pink girl."

Leo: "Her? Her name is Aeris. I bumped into her while leaving the house. She is the only person to even talk to me today. Why?"

Leo's Dad: "Well to put it bluntly, she was staring right at you. When you were leaving she didn't take her eyes off of you once. And I must admit, she is quite cute, isn't she. But the pink hair is a little different, not really my thing."

Leo didn't say anything. Now he was just confused. His dad says that Aeris was staring at him and she said that she was worried. Was she worried about him? Was she just being nice? Leo knew that his mom would have been a lot more help. He missed her a lot. His dad was a bit of a pervert and would never provide much helpful advice until he was ready for… well, you know. *sigh* Now he was starting to get a headache.

Meanwhile…

Aeris' POV

The school day is almost over and Aeris is still in the nurse's. She feels perfectly fine but just can't bring herself to get up. She can only think about that gray cat that called her pink hair beautiful: I hope he will be ok. He was so shy and quiet. He even stuttered a little while talking to me. I guess he was nervous. That was kind of cute.

(Ringing in the distance)

Nurse: "Ok guys. Don't push yourself too hard but if you feel all right then you can go take your bus. Otherwise, just wait here and we'll see if we can reach your parents to pick you up. None of you have a serious case of food poisoning so just rest for the night and only try and eat a little. You should feel better tomorrow or the next day."

Aeris decides she might as well just take the bus. Then she can talk to Tamara and Kenny. She meets them in their usual place, a light pole near where the buses park.

Tamara: "Hey Aeris. How was your friend?"

Aeris: "I went to the nurse because I wasn't feeling well. There were a lot of people there. Apparently there was something wrong with chicken at lunch today."

Kenny: "Is that what was wrong with your buddy, ummm… Leo?"

Aeris: "The nurse didn't think so. He went to the hospital. And he isn't my buddy. I just talked to him because he was sitting alone in the back of the bus, that's all."

Kenny: "Oh, the hospital. That sucks. I told you there was something wrong with him."

Aeris: "Shut it Kenny and get on the damn bus."

Tamara: "Smooth Kenny, real smooth."

They rode the bus home and after saying goodbye to her friends Aeris went straight to her house.

When she got home her dad was waiting with some food already being cooked. It smelled amazing.

Aeris' Dad: "Welcome home honey. How was your day? And what happened to your arm?"

Aeris hadn't even noticed that when she bumped into Leo she scraped up her arm. It wasn't bad, but it was a little noticeable.

Aeris: "I ran into a new kid at school, literally. I must have scraped my arm on the sidewalk. It doesn't hurt though. I did have to stay in the nurse's all day after lunch. My stomach was bothering me. The nurse said that a lot of people were sick form the school lunch."

She quietly hoped her father wouldn't pick up on the fact that she had brought a lunch and not bought.

Aeris' Dad: "Well I hope you feel better. Go ahead and lay down for a while. And try not to stay up playing video games too late. "