8th step…Coup
de Théâtre
Alex’s
nineteenth birthday was a sad joke. It
started poorly and seemed determined to end with a flourish. By nightfall she was alone in her room, lying
in her bed in the dark, nursing a stomach ache, and all she could think was why
she had to choose that specific day to be sick.
The flu
wasn’t her only problem though. The
night before had been plagued with awful dreams. She heard strange voices calling out to her
in the dark. When she first woke it was
in a fright. Then the nausea set
in. Classes that day only made it worse.
Carolyne,
who should have been a high point, was instead the killing blow. For a while they lounged in Carolyne’s room,
in Carolyne’s bed, doing and talking about nothing. Uncharacteristically, Carolyne petted Alex’s
hair and almost seemed to worry over her.
Then it
hit. Alex sat up, stumbled forward, and
narrowly made it out of the room and into the bathroom before she spewed. What came out of her mouth didn’t look
natural and only made her feel worse.
She watched it swirl in the toilet as it drained away and then rested
against the stall to steady her feet.
After that
Carolyne refused to open the door.
Apparently, she had a fear of vomiting, and so she would have nothing to
do with it. Thus, Alex was turned away
from the last hope of a happy birthday and relegated to a night spent alone and
in pain.
After a few
minutes she fell asleep, and she woke to the light coming on. She thought to say something but was quickly
silenced by Shana bounding into the room.
“Alex is going to be so surprised,” Ellen said as she closed the
door. “She hasn’t seen you for weeks.”
Shana
smiled and set her things on the floor.
“I’ve missed her.” She glanced
around the room. “Think I should hide
somewhere before you go get her? That
way it can be an even bigger surprised.”
Though
tickled by the situation, Alex couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
“That’s a
great idea. You could probably squeeze
in between the dressers beneath the bed,” Ellen said. She grunted and yanked one to the side to
create an opening. “Right in here. Okay, while you do that, I’ll go get Alex.”
“Where do
you think she is,” Shana asked. She was
already halfway into hiding.
“With
Carolyne, I assume. You get comfortable,
and I’ll be right back.”
Ellen left
the room with the light on, and Shana got situated. Once the room had settled Alex found herself
listening to Shana’s breathing. A few
seconds passed before Alex’s guilt got the better of her and she said, “Shana?” Her guilt doubled when Shana hit her head on
the bottom bunk.
“…Alex? You were here the entire time, weren’t you?”
“Yeah…”
Shana
sighed heavily, and Alex could almost feel her frowning. “Well, that sucks.”
“No,” Alex
said. “No, seeing you is still a
wonderful gift.”
In that
moment Alex knew Shana’s frown had immediately turned into a smile. “Then, awesome!”
The door
opened and Ellen stepped back into the room. “Okay, I’m not going to lie, I
couldn’t find her. Carolyne said she
left, and no one else has seen her.”
Shana broke
out into a fit of boisterous laughter, and even Alex managed a smile.
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