Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jared
I walk up to Mr. Samson’s desk to turn in Felicity and my worksheet. Juliet is sweating. Her skin is paler than the piece of paper I’m laying into the basket. I ask her if she’s okay, but suddenly, she sways.
I bolt around the desk and catch her from falling. She’s sucking in air like a fish out of water. Shit! Is she asthmatic? I don’t remember her ever having an inhaler but maybe she never has to use it. Whatever the case I lift her in my arms and carry her down to the nurses’ station.
Mr. Samson tries to have me pass her off to another student, but I refuse to hand her over. I have her in my arms and I’m not letting her go. Her delicious citrus scent consumes me as I try to talk to her.
She mumbles but I need her to conserve her energy. I dare to brush my lips against her forehead. I shouldn’t be kissing her, but I need to. She needs to know how much I care about her.
“Baby, we’re almost there.” I don’t know why I keep calling her this, but I like how it sounds.
Nurse Hoxen observes me and then she examines Juliet cradled in my arms. “Set her on the table.”
I don’t exactly follow the order. I perch myself on the table while still holding onto Juliet. She’s breathing a little calmer now, but her eyes are closed.
Miss Hoxen shakes her head. “All right Mr. Black we will do it your way then. What happened to her?” she asks as she listens to her heartbeat through a stethoscope.
“She started sweating. Her skin paled then she began breathing hard like she couldn’t get any air in her lungs. She passed out immediately. I caught her before she took a dive to the floor.”
“What was she doing to cause this kind of episode?”
“We were in chemistry. She was working on the assignment by herself. She looked like she completed the experiment. I think she was working on the worksheet before she freaked out.”
The nurse made a noise. “This is Juliet, isn’t it?”
I nod.
“She’ll be okay. I just need to get her a little bit of oxygen, but she should be all right.”
“What happened to her?”
“My guess? She probably had an anxiety attack. It happens to overachievers. Sometimes it’s a big test. Sometimes a huge match. Some get it while they fill out a college application. Pressure builds, and they have an attack.”
“But … Juliet’s never had one in class before.”
She shrugs. “Like I said it can happen anytime even at random moments. Maybe this is the first time she had an episode. Maybe you never witnessed any of her others.” She places a mask around Juliet’s face.
Suddenly her eyes flutter open and she claws the mask off her mouth. “Where am I?” she rasps.
“The nurse’s office. You passed out in class,” I whisper to her. Then I stupidly brush my mouth against her forehead.
She tries peeling herself from me, but I hold onto her. She narrows her eyes, “Let me go.”
“No. You’re supposed to stay put so she can examine you. Now that you’re awake.”
Her stubbornness appears in her current expression, and usually, it’s adorable when she has that deep scowl of defiance going on. Right this instance though, it’s ticking me off. Why does she need to get away from me that bad?
She struggles against me and I glare at her. “Settle down. I’m not going to hurt you,” I tell her.
“Not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday you will,” she mutters back.
I laugh because it’s better than arguing with her. “Oh baby, you have no idea.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Nope.”
Nurse Hoxen comes over and listens to Juliet’s heartbeat, possibly her breathing too. She examines her eyes and makes sure she didn’t sustain any head injuries in the last couple of days. Once Juliet informs her that she hasn’t we’re both dismissed. The bell to change classes sounds off as we’re heading back to the Chemistry room.
“Juliet, hold up a second,” I say.
She pauses but she looks antsy. “What? We’re going to be late.”
“Two minutes late to class isn’t going to kill either of our GPA’s.”
“No.” She frowns. “But me never having a chemistry partner might kill mine.”
“Is that why you freaked out?” I ask.
She nods. “I saw that egg timer ticking away and I just panicked. I thought Mr. Samson set that thing to go off earlier than usual to prove a point. Then the room started to cave in and I felt as if everyone was staring at me. Talking about what a failure I was and then you came over and asked me something, but the room spun.”
“Have you done that before?”
She nods again. “A few times. Never in school. Just um … first time I was drafted to play with the older girls for a soccer game. The second time was before SAT.”
I pull her into a hug and whisper in her heavenly scented hair. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
She leans away from me and glances up as students move past us in all different directions. “You can’t promise something like that, Jared.”
“Yes, I can.”
She shakes her head and moves down the hall.
When I enter the class, Mr. Samson hands me a couple of love-grams. I hope to Jesus these aren’t from Rachel.
I read the first card on my way to my second-period class. “I miss you.” signed, Anonymously Yours. Did Kimber send this?
The second reads. “I’m glad you see me. I see you too.” Again, with the same signature.
The guys must be screwing with me or this really is from Kimber. If this is from Kimber, I need to tell her we’re on two different pages. She obviously feels more for me than I do her. Which isn’t fair to her. Only an asshole would keep stringing her along.
Juliet takes her seat in our next class and I really wish I didn’t switch. I wish she was beside me instead of Chase. As I’m glowering in my own stupid choices, the door to our room opens.