This scene would have taken place shortly after the "Amphibian Autopsy" or "Our Turn At Bat" chapters in Curtain Call. Probably sometime before "Five Dollars and a Seed."

—-

Somewhere to Haley's left, Aaron pinched a rusty orange maple leaf between his fingers and flipped it over. "Look at this one."

Haley brushed aside low-hanging branches and came to his side. She leaned close and frowned at the burnt-colored leaf in Aaron's hand. "Um, no. I don't think so."

She moved away and crouched to look at some leaves on a low-growing bush where she hoped Aaron wouldn't notice her attitude so much. He probably already knew she was in a bad mood today. She had failed her first audition in five years, and now she had to watch all her fellow drama club members prepare for a school play without her. It wasn't enough that Haley got to be Assistant Make-Up Artist; if anything, that was an added insult. Now she felt betrayed by the department that was like a second home to her. She rarely ever let Aaron see her so moody.

Now their biology class scoured the woods near the school in search of leaf samples for their project. The teacher and the rest of the class had gone deeper into the forest, far out of sight. Aaron and Haley lagged behind unenthusiastically. They had only agreed on three samples so far, and they needed seven more within a half hour. The tedious activity wasn't enough to take the sore feelings off Haley's mind.

Aaron obviously tried to be understanding. Giving up theater had been easy for him, he told her, because 1) he'd more than gotten what he wanted out of it, and 2) his acting skills would almost qualify for the most insipid soap opera ever to agonize television viewers. Acting would never be his passion, so he couldn't entirely relate to Haley on this matter. She wished he understood better, but that might never be the case.

Aaron tried in vain to cheer her up every chance he got. He told jokes and continually reminded her of her stellar performance as Mabel. He had no way of knowing the "Pirates of Penzance" was one of her least favorite personal performances, and the chance to meet him was the only good thing to come out of that play for her. Haley hated being grumpy at Aaron, but right now, she couldn't help it. Nothing could seem to snap her out of her cloudy mood.

"Do you like this one?" Aaron held out an aspen leaf with a little spot of yellow.

"Nice. We already have one."

"How about this?" A long, green leaf with a large chunk missing.

"No."

"Or this?" A scrap of notebook paper with a smiling, five-point leaf pencilled on it.

Haley almost smiled. Aaron's drawing looked ridiculous, and the idea of using it for a biology project would have made her laugh out loud on any other day. Today she just snorted through her nose and shook her head. "Very amusing. Come on, Aaron, I want to get this day over with."

Aaron didn't look hurt, but he did look a touch annoyed. He turned a page in the textbook he had lugged into the woods with them, but his eyes did not move to follow the print.

Haley sighed. "Aaron, I'm sorry I'm in such a bad mood, but I wish you knew how I felt."

"I can't," muttered Aaron. "Can't you just help with this play and then audition for the next one?"

"Of course I can, but that's beside the point. I failed an audition! For the first time in ages! It's humiliating and I don't know how I'll come back from it."

Aaron frowned. "You'll be in another play. It's not a huge deal."

"It is, Aaron! You don't get it."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Aaron shrugged. "I just don't like seeing you get so upset over something so—"

He caught himself and stood there staring as if into a headlight glare.

Haley arched her brow. "So... what?"

His face blanched slightly. "I didn't mean—"

"So trivial? Is that what you were going to say? So unimportant?" Haley tried to contain herself. "The theater is my life! I know it's not the end of the world, I know there's more important things on the planet. But it's important to me, and I don't like what happened!"

Aaron nodded, seemingly wishing to retract his statement. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Haley sighed. "Okay. So am I."

Aaron stood there looking very out of place. He clearly didn't know what to say.

Haley beckoned him and turned away. "Come on, let's find those leaves we need."

She walked ahead of him, feeling even worse than before. Listening to the soft sound of dead leaves and twigs munching under her feet, she tried to think of what she could possibly do to improve her situation.

She reached a short slope above a damp gully and came to the base of a tall tree that they had yet to collect samples from. A long branch hung low over the ravine, and Haley reached for the dangling leaves at the end. One leaf closer to being done with this miserable day.

Haley leaned too far and lost her balance when the soil shifted under her feet. Pebbles and leaves cascaded down the short slope, and Haley skidded with them. She reached out to catch herself on something — a passing vine or tree root, anything — but her hands flailed uselessly. Her foot caught on a mossy rock and from there she tumbled over into a tangled heap of fallen tree trunk and broken branches at the bottom of the ditch. Just as suddenly as she had slipped, Haley came to a rest and let out a very sharp "OW!"

Aaron, dropped his book, rushed to the top of the slope, and looked down, eyes wide. "Haley?"

She held her arm, looked at the blood on her fingers, and began hyperventilating. "I think I'm bleeding. Yes, I'm bleeding!"

"Hold on. I'm coming."

"Careful, there's loose soil!"

Aaron moved his feet sideways and steadied himself with his hands on the dirt as he descended the slope. More dirt and pebbles showered down beneath his feet, making Haley cringe. Pain shot through her arm and knee, and she couldn't be sure where the blood was coming from.

"Did you break anything?" Aaron called down as he neared her.

"I wouldn't know what that feels like, but it really does hurt!"

"There's usually a snap or crunch, and then this intense pressure. There's sharp pain all around the crack, and sometimes you can't feel your fingers anymore."

Haley caught her breath and looked away from him. She suddenly felt sick at his detailed description. "It's... well, it's not that bad. It can't be... broken."

She moaned as Aaron came to her side and helped her sit up. "That... really... hurts," she panted.

Aaron calmly took her arm, not appearing at all fazed. "It's not too bad. Just a scrape. Let me stop the bleeding."

He then pressed on her elbow with one hand and used the other to hold her wrist aloft.

Haley flinched. "Oh! Ow-ow-ow-ow—"

"Shh, I got you. Hold still so I can clean it."

He leaned close, studying the cut, and carefully picked out the dirt and splinters. Haley held her breath, wondering how deep the wound really was. The sight of bloody soil on Aaron's fingertips only made her stomach dive.

"Where's your water bottle?" asked Aaron.

"I dropped it... Over there, I think." Haley nodded back toward the branches.

Aaron picked up the small green canteen and unscrewed the top. He poured a slow, steady trickle of water over Haley's elbow and wiped it with his sleeve.

Her arm throbbed, but the pain wasn't so bad now that the shock had worn off. Haley watched quietly as Aaron expertly cleaned her cut. The bleeding seemed to have almost stopped completely.

"Keep your arm up," said Aaron. He then began untying his left shoe.

"What... what are you doing?"

Aaron yanked his shoe off. "Don't be grossed out, okay? Please?"

Haley's eyebrows went up.

Aaron slipped off his light blue cotton sock with a hole in the heel. "Trust me. Not only is cotton very absorbent, but sweat can actually benefit wound care."

Is he making this up? Haley made a face as Aaron wrapped her wound with his sock and knotted it around her elbow. If she didn't think about it, it didn't seem gross.

Instead she thought about the total ease with which Aaron had assessed and tended to her wound. He knew exactly what to do, and he didn't hesitate for an instant. Now, it hardly hurt anymore. Now, Haley felt silly and a little ashamed. Treating a nasty scrape like her's came far too naturally to Aaron, and she realized that her friend had had too much practice at home.

"Did you hurt anything else?" asked Aaron.

Haley wiped her nose. "Um, my knee got scraped a bit, but it's not bad. I can walk."

"We should head right back to the school. You can see the nurse, and I can tell Mr. Arnold what happened."

"It's alright," said Haley softly. "We can finish our project. I don't need to hold you back."

Aaron said nothing. Haley used the fallen tree trunk for support to get to her feet. Almost immediately, her knee caved and she seized it with a gasp. A spot of red had appeared on the knee of her jeans.

Aaron steadied her, and Haley straightened her leg. "Okay, that really hurts too," she muttered.

"Come on. We'll head back." Aaron picked up her canteen and his shoe. "Can you make it up this slope?"

As Haley scanned the slope where she had tumbled, she knew the short climb would hurt. A lot. But she also knew she had been acting like a baby long enough and she didn't need Aaron to carry her. He carried enough weight already.

She exhaled. "I can make it."

Aaron smiled faintly, waiting for her to go first. "Seems that biology class always draws out the drama in you," he said cautiously.

Haley let out a natural laugh and felt her face flush a little. "Yes, and you're always there to see it."

"Front row," he chuckled.

Haley was smiling again, though a couple tears of pain and chagrin stuck to her eyelashes. She scrambled up the slope on all fours. Her hands and knees stung the whole way, and by the top, everything hurt again.

Aaron must have seen her wince. "Sure you're okay?"

She nodded, biting back a cry of pain. Her scrapes were nothing. Standing next to Aaron, she didn't know the first thing about pain.

Haley put a hand to her eyes. "I'm a horrible person."

Aaron's hand rested on her shoulder. "No, you're not. Now be quiet and keep walking."

"I am so sorry, Aaron."

"Don't be. Lean on me."

As Haley gave in and let her friend support her, she didn't think she could ever complain about her life again.