Chapter 26

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 I gave in. A small part of this chapter is of Jesse's point of view. It's spotty and more of a deleted scene than a whole analysis on his thoughts - but it's supposed to show something - or better yet, hype up something. Happy Thursday. :P

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    Unsurprisingly, I found myself lying down in the nurse's office just seven minutes later.

    The nurse kept me throughout the rest of P.E. and my last class with Katrina, instructing me in an annoyed tone to keep the ice pack she gave me at my head, and to remain lying down on the uncomfortable exam table beside her desk.

    When the bell signaled the end of the school day, she dismissed the other students who were fake coughing in the chairs by the door and turned to me. "It wasn't as bad as I expected," she said, extending out a hand for the ice pack. I handed it to her wordlessly. "At most you'll feel aches, but you're fine. If you feel dizzy, you're free to call your parents to come for you."

    She gestured to the desk phone beside her desktop, but I shook my head at her offer and stood up instead. "I'm fine now, but thank you."

    She nodded, eying me for a second before she swiveled around in her desk chair to face her monitor. "You can head off now. I'd suggest Tylenol if your head starts to hurt."

    I smiled weakly even though she wasn't looking at me anymore, and walked past her to the door leading out to the hallway. As soon as I was out, I paused to glance around at the people moving by me. To my surprise, I realized I'd been looking for Jesse within the crowd—and as strange as it seemed, not finding him in it hit me with confusion. Of all the people in this school, and judging mainly on his actions since I met him, I would have at least expected him to be waiting for me until I was released from the nurse—and that's not even including the fact that it was his fault that I turned up in it in the first place. Another person missing was Katrina, but the bell had just rung and I didn't really expect her to—

    "Carson!" My gaze snapped up to the girl running to me. "They said you were dead! Are you okay?"

    I waited until she was close enough to respond. Once she stood in front of me, I nodded my head toward the nurse's office and said, "She said I was alright. But it doesn't change the fact that the person refusing to leave me alone hit me with a football, and to top it off,"—I glanced around again—"I don't even know where he is."

    Katrina's eyes widened. "Who? Jesse? He hit you?"

    "Yeah. I mean, I don't know—it didn't look like he meant to, but I don't see him here trying to prove it." It was a sign of guilt. He ran off so that I won't retaliate by shoving him through a window. As I rubbed my head with the back of my hand, I glanced around Katrina to peer through the students departing from their classes. "I wonder where Kale is though...he was behind me when Jesse threw it."

    I noticed Katrina pause, turning over her shoulder to join in my search. "Uh...who's Kale?"

    "My brother's friend." One look at her face and it was clear she didn't remember. Not that I could blame her with the amount of friends my brother had while he had attended school here before he left for college. "The one who came up to us when I was wearing my 'special outfit'," I elaborated.

    "Oh," she snickered, and then shifted on her feet and brought out something that I instantly sighed in relief at. "I remembered your locker combination from when you told me, so I went into the locker room and brought this. Our class is right by the gym anyway, and I figured with what happened you didn't have time to get your stuff..."

    I reached out to grab my bag from her hands, reaching inside of it and pulling out my car keys with a smile. "Thanks, Kat."

    She followed me as I made my way to the main doors of the school. After a short second, she turned to me and asked, "So what was Kale doing there? Does he have class with you guys?"

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