The First Fight [1]

(Kyle)

The school nurse sits at her desk, mindlessly spraying her computer screen with some sort of cleansing liquid in a spray bottle before wiping it with a piece of cloth. I don’t want to tell her what she’s doing wrong. Malory is lying on a bed right behind a blind board, and I’m sitting just where her feet are, observing how her chest inflates and deflates as the oxygen mask over her face works its magic. She’s asleep, but her eyes ever so often twitch. She’s asleep, but her fingers still tremble with anxiety. She’s asleep, but she’s not at ease. She’s not at peace.

I frown.

Olivia and Ron appear from the auditorium. Rehearsals have ended. Olivia stops short of a breath as she spots her best friend lying helplessly. “What happened?” she asks, worriedly.

“She blacked out after running,” I explain, unable to look anywhere but down at my own two hands.

“After you?” Ron asks.

I nod once and drop my head to stare at my feet.

“Oh no... She hasn’t had an asthma attack in ages...” Olivia trails off.

And I’m the reason she got this one. My vision blurs.

“I didn’t even know she had asthma,” I say. “I didn’t expect her to run after me, either.”

“Do you want me to stay with her?” Olivia asks, turning to me. “You and Ron can both head home... I know Ron’s mom would be concerned about him.” She turns to Ron. He shrugs. She turns back to Malory. “Should I let her mother know?”

Her mother...

“No,” I say, almost cutting her off.

“No?” She asks, taken aback.

I remain calm as I look at her. “Don’t tell her. She’s not here anyway. It’s no use making her worry. She’ll do everything in her power to rush all the way back here.” I turn to observe Malory. “Nurse Kelly already said she’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know...” Olivia says with uncertainty. A moment of silence passes before she continues. “Actually,” she goes into her bag to pull out her phone, “I’ll call my mom and tell her to come now. We should take Malory home. I’ll ask my mom if I can stay with her for a while. She’s got the medicine that she needs there –pills, inhalers, syrups, whatever. I know she does. It’s been stocked away for a while but I think they should still be good. If not, I’ll ask mom to stop off at a pharmacy and get new ones.”

I can’t believe I was so stupid. If something worse had happened to Malory –whether we’re cooperating or not, whether we’re friends or not -I wouldn’t be able to live with myself... and I’ve done much worse than cause someone to have an asthma attack.

Why do you worry me, Malory Lloyd?

God, it always comes back to this, doesn’t it?

“I did this,” I mutter to myself.

“No you didn’t. Don’t even think about it,” Ron scolds me.

“She’s lying on a bed with an oxygen mask unable to breathe, Ron,” I say, my voice raising before falling low. “Because of me. Because I didn’t want to stop...”

“Hi, mom...” Olivia says over the phone, “there’s been an incident.”

I suddenly process what she’s said. She’ll be going over to Malory’s place.

Will she stay with her for the night?

Will Malory be okay?

Maybe I should stay with them.

Just until she’s better.

Just until I know for sure that she’s okay.

But she might be mad at me...

I should go…

Or maybe I’d make things worse…

But I want to.

I want to go.

What do I have to lose, anyway? Ace isn’t here right now.

He’s not here.

“Wait,” I say to Olivia. She turns to me. “Can I... come too?”

She goes back to her conversation without replying as she explains the situation to her mom. She waits for a reply before giving me a thumbs-up.

I nod and squeeze my lips together, turning back to Malory.

It’s funny, somehow, that I’ve never looked at Malory for what she is– simply a girl. She’s always been tough and strong-willed. She’s always been outgoing. She’s always been a fighter.

Looking at her now I don’t see the same person. I don’t see the Malory Lloyd I know.

And maybe it’s my fault that I never looked at what laid behind the surface; her anxiety and the reasons she always keeps herself busy. Maybe it’s my fault I never really cared about those things.

There’s also the fact that we’d never really gotten along. Not from the start. I’d tried to make up for the first time I’d ever done her wrong –but she always pushed my apology away. Things just escalated from there.

Ron puts a hand on my shoulder. His phone rings. He answers it and stays on the line for a few moments before hanging up.

“I gotta go,” he says, glancing between Olivia and I. “Keep me updated?”

Olivia nods. “Okay. Get home safely.”