SWNOVELS Chapter 13 Cooties
April 17, 2014
It was a Thursday afternoon, and I was busy counting the wood grains at the lunch table and doodling in my diary when I heard the voice of a guy behind me say, “Excuse me. Do you mind if I sit here?”
I turned around and looked up and saw a boy that I had never seen before, but then again I really kept to myself. I didn’t look at him long because he was very handsome, and that made me nervous. “Sure,” I said softly and looked back down and bit into a French fry. The boy sat down a little too close beside me, so I wiggled some space between us. I returned to my doodles but became uneasy, knowing that a cute boy was sitting beside me, one who actually acknowledged my presence.
I had gone almost the entire year without having one single conversation with another student until now. My mind sparked, and immediately I started debating whether I should get up or stay and have a conversation like a normal human being. I thought to myself, Stay, Robin. Stay, don’t be rude.
His voice cleared, and he said, “How …”
Before he could finish his sentence, I nervously got up and threw my plate in the trash, which probably looked a bit odd because it was a plastic school tray. Clenching my backpack strap, I raced out of the lunchroom and didn’t look back, cringing at what I had done.
I know this might sound stupid, but my mind would race at the idea of being with him and having a future with him. I thought to myself, I know he just asked if he could sit down, and there were other tables to sit at, but he chose to sit next to me! ... And I got up and left. ... Wait. I forgot my diary. Oh, no! If he reads it, he will think I am a freak for sure. Real smooth, Robin. Real smooth …
I stopped and peeked through the crack between the wall and the lunchroom door, but he was gone and so was my diary. With my back against the wall, I slid down to the ground and had a feeling that I had never had before. Suddenly I found no interest in the things that I normally liked to do, and the only thing I could think of was this boy—whose name I didn’t even know—and I’d already made future plans of being married to him. This was definitely not normal for me; I had prided myself on being a loner and never planned on changing—that was until he happened. When I got home, I spent the rest of the night revising my look. I mean, if he was the one for me, I wouldn’t want to scare him away looking like Morticia Addams from The Addams Family. I had even gone so far as wearing contacts, which were a pain to deal with.
April 18, 2010
The next day in history class I nervously watched the clock land on 11:45 for lunch. When I would divert myself from the clock, strangely I kept catching the boys in class gawking and smiling at me. When I grew tired of the stares, I said with frustration, “What in the freak are you staring at, pip-squeak?” I buried my head in my book, and, before I knew it, the bell finally rang. I raced for the lunchroom and sat at the same table that I always do and waited, but the boy never showed.
I thought about how he must have been a new guy from a different school and probably had been nervous on his first day. I played through different scenarios in my head, and, with each one, I was the bad guy with my cruel, unwelcome dismissal of his attempt at conversation. I had the entire weekend to beat myself up about what I had done. I was in my room, busy bouncing a soccer ball against the ceiling and driving myself crazy, when I heard a knock on my bedroom door.
“Robin, may I come in?” asked Mama.
“Sure, why not? It’s not like anyone else will ever talk to me again,” I muttered.
Mama opened the door, carrying a basketful of laundry, squeezing past my dresser. She sat at the edge of my bed, and I noticed she had been crying.
“Mama, what’s wrong?” I asked.
She turned to me and said, “It’s your grandpa Chuck. … He found out today that he’s sick. …. They say it’s cancer.”
As fast as I could, I ran out the back door and headed straight for the red barn and thought to myself, I have to know if Kenosh is real, so I can save Grandpa. In a blink of an eye, I was standing there in the red barn near the table with my heart pounding, gasping for air. With my hand trembling, I slowly stretched out my arm and snatched up the paper. I couldn’t believe my eyes, there it was. …
The Prophecy of the Solo Elite
In our dark days of the Swine in the land of Kenosh,
A young Robin washed from the waters of the sea will rise
up against the Swine, who feed off the misery and
the hopelessness of others, and destroy them with the
faith of many, and she will be known as Solo Elite.
“Oh, my God. I’m not crazy,” I whispered under my breath.
I instinctively flipped over the sheet of paper, and I thought my heart would stop after what I read next.
Robin, in case you thought you were crazy, I have left you this to confirm you’re not—well, maybe a little. I will leave you the last piece of the puzzle. I am alive and well.
With love, Teddy.
“Yes! Teddy, you’re alive! I hear you, buddy!”
I screamed while doing a spastic dance.
“OK, so where is the last piece of the puzzle?” I asked, and then a faint noise caught my attention.
I looked down at my feet, and a hospital bracelet was under my right shoe and was crinkling in the breeze. I gently pulled the bracelet free and read it to myself.
Adam Garza
Madison Cancer Research Center
401 Primrose Drive
Primrose Drive? That’s a couple miles down the road!