Long Time No See {On Hold}

Chapter 5- Bowling, Candy, and World War XY and dang Z

I awoke to the small room of the nurse's office on campus. I could hear the hum of the airconditioner where it poked through the window. Outisde the room, two people were conversing. I couldn't make out what they are saying, so I sit up and try to get out of the bed. Well, try is the correct word to use because I grow dizzy almost as soon as my head is lifted off the pillow underneath me. I instantly flop back down and let out a groan. A few seconds later, the door opens to reveal Jake and the campus nurse, Ms. Higgins. 

Ms. Higgins looks at me with a kind smile. She may only be in her late thirties, but she already has that calming demeanor almost all older nurses have. My body starts to relax under her calm gaze. Jake, though, is looking at me worriedly, like I might jump up and start running around again. 

Omgsh, did I seriously just do that in front of Jake? I screech in my head. This is so embarrassing! 

"Hey, Ashlynn, how are you feeling?" Ms. Higgins asks me. 

I do a mental checkover and I can confirm that I got hit by a semi. Or at least feel like it. My head is throbbing slightly and my legs hurt from the 500 yard sprint that I did out of nowhere. I think I also hurt my arm sometime in my mad dash to escape the mysterious monster that had been threatening me. 

"Not so peachy," I reply. 

Ms. Higgins laughs. "I bet, dear. You had quite a scare."

"What was that exactly? I felt like I was being chased by a mountain lion or something."

Ms. Higgins sits in the rolling chair across the room and pushes her way over to me. I notice she is holding a file that has my name written in bold letters on the outside. She's looking at it quickly. 

"It seems, Ashlynn, that you had a sever panic attack."

I nod, understanding. 

"Have you been under any stress lately? Has something happened, like do you feel you are being watched or stalked?"

Hmm, let me think, yes and YES. "I've just got a lot of stuff to worry about. I've got work as well as all my college classes to worry about."

I notice Jake give me a weird look, like he can just tell that I'm lying. Right, like I'm going to tell the nurse in front of him that my ex-boyfriend, who I loved and still love, came back from the dead and is now hauting me. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but it certainly feels like it sometimes. Why in the good green earth did Jacob have to come to my town that is two states away, mind you, from our old home. I thought that I wouldn't have to ever see him again. My life is so wrong sometimes. 

"Well," Ms. Higgins says, catching my lie, "Jake, would you mind stepping out into the lobby for a moment? I need to speak to Ashlynn alone. It won't take long."

Jake looks like that's the last thing he wants to do. Still, he nods to Ms. Higgins, sends me a look that says 'later', and then walks out the door. Once his footsteps are just distant echoes, Ms. Higgins turns to me with an eye for interrogation. 

"Now, sweetie, why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

I gulp. "Well, there's this guy..."

"Not Jake I'm guessing?"

I nod. "He's from my past. We didn't exactly end our...relationship on good terms. He made it perfectly clear he never wanted to see me again. I'm scared that if he knows it's me, he'll do something drastic."

"What do you mean if he knows it's you?" 

So, I end up spilling my entire story to Ms. Higgins. I begin crying and hiccuping sometime during it. Ms. Higgins just sits there quietly and listens to me. She nods here and there to let me know she is keeping up. I tell her everything, needing to pour my soul out to someone besides Hally. Someone who can give me a little bit of advice. When I finish telling my tale, Ms. Higgins sits in her chair for a minute, contemplating.