A/N: I don’t know what made me want to start this. I do have a kid in my English class that is going through chemo right now. We used to be good friends, but we sort of drifted apart since grade school. He’s a good guy though.
~Part 1~
~It began with dodge ball~
Sydney stared at the clock that hung above the dry-erase board. She watched the minute hand creep along through the boring hour of English she had to endure. She usually liked English class, but today was just a boring day. She’d rather be at work.
She sighed and adjusted in the uncomfortably hard chair as Mr. Carson read from Mac Beth. She already knew what was going to happen from being in drama class and it was boring for her to read it again. So instead of paying attention, her and her best friend from volleyball, Jessica, would write notes everyday during the time when they were supposed to read. But today she was tired and she quickly felt herself starting to drift asleep. Her eyes opened quickly when she felt someone poke her arm. She turned her head to see Jessica moving her eyes to the floor where there was a piece of paper. Sydney picked it up and unfolded it.
Why are you so tired today? Did something happen on your date with Todd last night?
Sydney shook her head and wrote back.
No, the date was horrible. It makes me hate guys.
What happened?
Well, it was going fine until he took me up to this deserted forest preserve.
What did he try to kiss you? lol.
I wouldn’t have cared if he did that. But he went to far. He was practically on top of me before he even put the car in park.
You’re kidding me right? Todd? I thought you said he was sweet?
And also a horny, perverted, self-centered jerk. That’s okay though, he got what he deserved.
lol. I don’t even want to know what you did to him. Anyway, you coming to practice tonight?
Yeah, I….
Just then the bell rang.
“Alright, everyone read up to Act 2, Scene 3 by tomorrow. There will be a quiz at the beginning of the period.” Everyone got up to leave.
“As I was saying.” Sydney said. “I’ll be there, but I have a dentist appointment at….”
“Ms. Bristow, can I talk to you please?” Mr. Carson asked as he sat down at his desk. Sydney rolled her eyes.
“It’s okay, you can tell me at lunch.” Jessica said. Sydney nodded and everyone cleared out of the room except her. She turned around and walked towards Mr. Carson’s desk.
“What is it?” Sydney asked.
Mr. Carson sat back in his chair slightly. “You know Michael Vaughn, right?” He asked her.
She nodded her head confused. “Yeah, I’ve known him since grade school. Why?” She asked. She never really ‘hung-out’ with Michael, but she knew him, and he lived just down the street.
“He’s been out for the past four weeks. I’m sure you’ve noticed. I don’t know a lot of the details, but I can tell you that he had some major surgery and has been recovering for the past weeks.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with me.” Sydney said confused.
“Well, I was hoping you’d be willing to help him get back into the swing of things.” He said. “I’ve been giving him some work to do at home, but he still has a lot of catching up to do. You’re a good student, Sydney, and right now he could use all the help he can get. I know you’ve tutored before and I can only help him during school. I’m willing to give you extra credit for this.”
“Mr. Carson, I’m awful busy as it is. It’s not that I don’t want too…”
“You can’t?”
“I….” Sydney paused. Her mind suddenly backtracked to an incident in grade school.
~Flashback~
Eleven-year-old Sydney Bristow stood in the corner behind two boys as they played dodge ball in gym class. She was scared, as every little girl was. The balls whipped by and before she knew it, her and another boy were the only ones left at the wall. She bit her lip as a bigger kid, who was the bully of their class, smiled evilly and picked up a ball. He pointed straight towards her and threw the ball at her, hitting her smack-dab in the side of the head.
She fell to the ground as the rest of the class yelled. Everyone seemed to forget about her as they watched the last boy run around and dodge the balls successfully. She felt tears rush to her eyes and looked towards the ground when she felt someone touch her shoulder. She quickly looked up, a bit startled.
“It’s okay.” He told her reassuringly. He bent down next to her and looked at her temple. He pushed a piece of her hair out of the way and looked at the bruise that was already forming on her soft skin. She stared into his light green eyes as he studied her.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the nurse.” He told her. He stood up and helped her to her feet. He put a hand on her back as they started walking away from the floor. Out of the corner of her eye Sydney saw a red ball flying their way, the boy quickly put his hand out and hit it away as it was about to strike her again.
Sydney looked at him, surprised by his reflex. He looked at the kid that threw the ball and without thinking, raised his right hand and flicked him off. Everyone gasped and the teacher blew his whistle.
“Michael Vaughn! You put that finger away this instant!” Their gym teacher yelled at the top of his lungs.
The boy standing next to her immediately dropped his hand. The teacher came over to him and grabbed his arm roughly. He pulled him towards the exit, leading him out of the gym and into the principles office.
~End Flashback~
“Sydney?” Mr. Carson asked. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. She blinked a few times and looked back at her teacher.
“Yeah?” She asked.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “Um…actually, I think I can find some time in my schedule to help him if he needs it.” She said.
Mr. Carson smiled. “That’s good to hear. Would you mind dropping a few things off to him?” He asked.
“No, I can do it before I go to practice.” She said.
“Great.” He said. He pulled out a folder and an extra copy of Mac Beth. “I already wrote him a note explaining what we’re doing in class right now. So all you have to do is drop this off for him. I want him to at least read a little bit of Mac Beth, I don’t want to see him fall behind.” Mr. Carson said. He handed the folder and book to Sydney and she set it on top of her things.
“Is that it?” Sydney asked.
“Yep, you can go.” Mr. Carson said. Sydney smiled softly and walked out of the room.
She stopped at her locker and put his stuff in her volleyball bag so she wouldn’t forget it. She put her books away and headed off to lunch, her thoughts now running ramped, wondering what kind of ‘major’ surgery he had.
She sat down at her usual table and was greeted by her friends. Jessica and her other friend Will immediately sensed something was on her mind.
“Syd? You okay?” Will asked. “You look like you just found out you got a C on a paper or something.”
“Very funny.” She said glaring at him. She shook her head and stole one of his fries.
“So what did Mr. Carson want?” Jess asked as she took a sip of her Pepsi.
“Um…he wants me to help Michael with some catch up work.” Sydney said.
“Michael? Michael from english?” Jess asked. Sydney nodded. Will looked at Sydney, he was about to eat a fry but froze.
“He’s coming back?” Will asked surprised.
“Yeah, why?” Sydney asked. “Do you know what happened to him?” Sydney asked.
“Yeah, he was on basketball. The coach told us he had to have some surgery on his back, that they found some type of tumor on his spinal cord or something. But I haven’t heard anything about him in weeks.” Will said.
Sydney looked down at the table.
“So you agreed to help him?” Jessica asked. Sydney nodded slightly. “Well that was nice of you. I always thought he was a hottie.” She said as she took a bite of her pizza.
As the day went on she found herself having trouble concentrating. Her mind was still stuck on the fact that he was sick. She couldn’t begin to imagine what the rest of the school year was going to be like, for her, and especially for him.
~Part 1~
~It began with dodge ball~
Sydney stared at the clock that hung above the dry-erase board. She watched the minute hand creep along through the boring hour of English she had to endure. She usually liked English class, but today was just a boring day. She’d rather be at work.
She sighed and adjusted in the uncomfortably hard chair as Mr. Carson read from Mac Beth. She already knew what was going to happen from being in drama class and it was boring for her to read it again. So instead of paying attention, her and her best friend from volleyball, Jessica, would write notes everyday during the time when they were supposed to read. But today she was tired and she quickly felt herself starting to drift asleep. Her eyes opened quickly when she felt someone poke her arm. She turned her head to see Jessica moving her eyes to the floor where there was a piece of paper. Sydney picked it up and unfolded it.
Why are you so tired today? Did something happen on your date with Todd last night?
Sydney shook her head and wrote back.
No, the date was horrible. It makes me hate guys.
What happened?
Well, it was going fine until he took me up to this deserted forest preserve.
What did he try to kiss you? lol.
I wouldn’t have cared if he did that. But he went to far. He was practically on top of me before he even put the car in park.
You’re kidding me right? Todd? I thought you said he was sweet?
And also a horny, perverted, self-centered jerk. That’s okay though, he got what he deserved.
lol. I don’t even want to know what you did to him. Anyway, you coming to practice tonight?
Yeah, I….
Just then the bell rang.
“Alright, everyone read up to Act 2, Scene 3 by tomorrow. There will be a quiz at the beginning of the period.” Everyone got up to leave.
“As I was saying.” Sydney said. “I’ll be there, but I have a dentist appointment at….”
“Ms. Bristow, can I talk to you please?” Mr. Carson asked as he sat down at his desk. Sydney rolled her eyes.
“It’s okay, you can tell me at lunch.” Jessica said. Sydney nodded and everyone cleared out of the room except her. She turned around and walked towards Mr. Carson’s desk.
“What is it?” Sydney asked.
Mr. Carson sat back in his chair slightly. “You know Michael Vaughn, right?” He asked her.
She nodded her head confused. “Yeah, I’ve known him since grade school. Why?” She asked. She never really ‘hung-out’ with Michael, but she knew him, and he lived just down the street.
“He’s been out for the past four weeks. I’m sure you’ve noticed. I don’t know a lot of the details, but I can tell you that he had some major surgery and has been recovering for the past weeks.”
“I don’t see what this has to do with me.” Sydney said confused.
“Well, I was hoping you’d be willing to help him get back into the swing of things.” He said. “I’ve been giving him some work to do at home, but he still has a lot of catching up to do. You’re a good student, Sydney, and right now he could use all the help he can get. I know you’ve tutored before and I can only help him during school. I’m willing to give you extra credit for this.”
“Mr. Carson, I’m awful busy as it is. It’s not that I don’t want too…”
“You can’t?”
“I….” Sydney paused. Her mind suddenly backtracked to an incident in grade school.
~Flashback~
Eleven-year-old Sydney Bristow stood in the corner behind two boys as they played dodge ball in gym class. She was scared, as every little girl was. The balls whipped by and before she knew it, her and another boy were the only ones left at the wall. She bit her lip as a bigger kid, who was the bully of their class, smiled evilly and picked up a ball. He pointed straight towards her and threw the ball at her, hitting her smack-dab in the side of the head.
She fell to the ground as the rest of the class yelled. Everyone seemed to forget about her as they watched the last boy run around and dodge the balls successfully. She felt tears rush to her eyes and looked towards the ground when she felt someone touch her shoulder. She quickly looked up, a bit startled.
“It’s okay.” He told her reassuringly. He bent down next to her and looked at her temple. He pushed a piece of her hair out of the way and looked at the bruise that was already forming on her soft skin. She stared into his light green eyes as he studied her.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the nurse.” He told her. He stood up and helped her to her feet. He put a hand on her back as they started walking away from the floor. Out of the corner of her eye Sydney saw a red ball flying their way, the boy quickly put his hand out and hit it away as it was about to strike her again.
Sydney looked at him, surprised by his reflex. He looked at the kid that threw the ball and without thinking, raised his right hand and flicked him off. Everyone gasped and the teacher blew his whistle.
“Michael Vaughn! You put that finger away this instant!” Their gym teacher yelled at the top of his lungs.
The boy standing next to her immediately dropped his hand. The teacher came over to him and grabbed his arm roughly. He pulled him towards the exit, leading him out of the gym and into the principles office.
~End Flashback~
“Sydney?” Mr. Carson asked. He snapped his fingers in front of her face. She blinked a few times and looked back at her teacher.
“Yeah?” She asked.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “Um…actually, I think I can find some time in my schedule to help him if he needs it.” She said.
Mr. Carson smiled. “That’s good to hear. Would you mind dropping a few things off to him?” He asked.
“No, I can do it before I go to practice.” She said.
“Great.” He said. He pulled out a folder and an extra copy of Mac Beth. “I already wrote him a note explaining what we’re doing in class right now. So all you have to do is drop this off for him. I want him to at least read a little bit of Mac Beth, I don’t want to see him fall behind.” Mr. Carson said. He handed the folder and book to Sydney and she set it on top of her things.
“Is that it?” Sydney asked.
“Yep, you can go.” Mr. Carson said. Sydney smiled softly and walked out of the room.
She stopped at her locker and put his stuff in her volleyball bag so she wouldn’t forget it. She put her books away and headed off to lunch, her thoughts now running ramped, wondering what kind of ‘major’ surgery he had.
She sat down at her usual table and was greeted by her friends. Jessica and her other friend Will immediately sensed something was on her mind.
“Syd? You okay?” Will asked. “You look like you just found out you got a C on a paper or something.”
“Very funny.” She said glaring at him. She shook her head and stole one of his fries.
“So what did Mr. Carson want?” Jess asked as she took a sip of her Pepsi.
“Um…he wants me to help Michael with some catch up work.” Sydney said.
“Michael? Michael from english?” Jess asked. Sydney nodded. Will looked at Sydney, he was about to eat a fry but froze.
“He’s coming back?” Will asked surprised.
“Yeah, why?” Sydney asked. “Do you know what happened to him?” Sydney asked.
“Yeah, he was on basketball. The coach told us he had to have some surgery on his back, that they found some type of tumor on his spinal cord or something. But I haven’t heard anything about him in weeks.” Will said.
Sydney looked down at the table.
“So you agreed to help him?” Jessica asked. Sydney nodded slightly. “Well that was nice of you. I always thought he was a hottie.” She said as she took a bite of her pizza.
As the day went on she found herself having trouble concentrating. Her mind was still stuck on the fact that he was sick. She couldn’t begin to imagine what the rest of the school year was going to be like, for her, and especially for him.
