Guess what?

I hallucinated in school yesterday.

Guess what else?

It was in a classroom with him.

And can you guess what happened after that?

He rode on the ambulance with me back to the stupid hospital.

Guess what?

I HOPED that none of it would happen.

Do you see the far right corner of the room you are sitting in right now?

The one that is in front and to the right of you?

Do you see that gray clump sagging over there?

That's my last shred of dignity.

It's very small.

(Part 2)

My hands are shaking.

"Nina-?"

Is she talking to me?

"Nina?"

Oh no.

"Wha- Sorry, what was the question?"

"I said, are you feeling okay?"

Stay naive Nina. Stay naive.

"I'm fine." I lie.

"Glad to hear that." she replies, though she still expresses a look of concern on her face.

I tuck my shaking hands underneath my thighs, trying to hide the physical reactions.

An attractive guy sitting in the chair in front of me turns around and does that chin lift, and winks as he says; "What's up, beautiful?"

I smirk, quirkily; "Who paid you?"

He frowns, and turns back around. 

An attractive guy sitting in the chair in front of me turns around and does that chin lift, and winks as he says; "What's up, beautiful?"

I smirk, quirkily; "Who paid you?"

He frowns, and turns back around.

Ten seconds later he turns back around with his phone out.

"Do you have facebook?"

I don't even have a phone.

"No."

I'll play along.

"Do you have twitter?"

"No."

"Snapchat?"

"No."

"Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest?"

I hear Conor snort beside me.

I roll my neck out.

"No, no, and no."

"What do you have?"

"A life."

Conor snorts again.

"Oh. Can I have it for candy crush?"

Conor scoots his desk up; "Dude, fuck off, she doesn't want you."

The guy scoffs; "What? And she wants you?"

I shift uncomfortably. My hands are still shaking.

The guy turns around again with a frustrated huff.

Conor looks at me, then at my hands which I have I have brought out from beneath my thighs. 

I still have no idea why Conor chose to stick his nose in my personal business, but the whole point is that he did, and that's what prevented me from going completely insane.

I also have no idea what had triggered this specific hallucination. It could have been any number of things such as one of my fears (none of my fears were near me when my hallucination was triggered), or it could have just been stress. Probably just stress. It makes the most sense.

I hear a soft but male voice to my left ask me; "Nini? Are you alright?"

"My name is Nina, and I am fine."

I am met with silence.

Great.

Now I feel bad.

"Sorry," I say. "I am just-"

"No. Don't apologize to me. I can tell you are having your own problems and I will take great care to not get involved in any of them."

Wow.

"I'm Conor, by the way."

"I know."

"Oh, you do?"

I probably shouldn't. But I do.

"Yeah, I do."

I look over at him, and he smiles at me.

I smile back.

The stars are aligned.

The stars are unaligned.

I fall off of my chair and am crumpled on the floor, and my entire body is shaking.

Please don't let this be happening. Please don't let this be happening.

Suck it up, Nina. This is happening. You are hallucinating.

In class.

On the floor.

Next to Conor Keiran Carter.

It feels more like I am having a seizure than having a hallucination.

I am not seeing anything out of the ordinary, but I definitely do feel like I am sensing something wrong.

When really, nothing is wrong.

I now notice that everybody is gawking at me, and I am horrified to see that several students have whipped out their phones and are now aiming them at me!

Mrs. Greenwall is scrambling to me. Meaning struggling to shove people aside and maneuvering her way in between chairs and desks.

I see Conor staring at me. His face is blank though, so I can't tell what he is thinking. Probably that I am an idiotic girl who doesn't deserve anyone. Probably that I can't handle my own medical problems.

I must have been wrong.

Because he does the unthinkable.

He bolts into a standing position, knocking his chair behind him which slams into the desk behind his, which was luckily empty.

He gives me a final glance and my gaze connects with his.

He winks and goes into action.

He puts on a game face and starts blocking my convulsing body from the views of the other students. He also begins to try and disable the phones from students hands which lead to several cries of protest and sniggering.

Mrs. Greenwall finally reaches me, sputtering "thank you" to Conor who is still looking quite flustered with his guarding job.

I can tell that Mrs. Greenwall understands what's going on with me but has no idea what to do about it.

So she does the only thing she can do.

She dials 911.

Conor continues his hassle of closing me off from the crowd of students.

The ambulance arrived with the two nurses who accompanied us on our trip to the diner.

I am happy to be with two people that I know.

Then they ask if there is anyone in the class who would like to ride in the ambulance with me as a "supportive peer".

I was about to interrupt and say; "Actually, Kathy would be a better fit for me," when none other than Conor raises his hand as a volunteer.

He has no idea what he is volunteering himself as a tribute for.

Mrs. Greenwall immediately starts to nod and smile enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes," she says. "Conor was a great help to me in this situation, and I believe that if it is alright with Nina then it's up to Conor," she adds and looks at me with pleading eyes.

I don't even attempt to not roll my eyes, and huff out a "fine."

"Conor?" Mrs. Greenwall asks and eyes him accusingly.

"Sounds awesome. I'd be honored to serve at the feet of Miss Montez," he replies, throwing me a huge grin like we are going to become best friends. How does he know my last name?

"Great!" Rebecca and Jennifer say at the same time.

That's when the convulsions begin again.

Rebecca and Jennifer see this and start to rush the process. Jennifer announces; ""Lets get her loaded onto the stretcher and into the vehicle!"

Mrs. Greenwall calls the office and the health clinic which she probably should have already done, and the principal calls the Code Yellow.

Rebecca has wheeled the oh so familiar, but probably completely different six-foot long stretcher, covered with a white linen cloth into the hallway outside of Mrs. Greenwall's classroom.

Rebecca asks Conor to gently lift my writhing body onto the stretcher.

And my "knight in shining armor" does just that. He curls his left arm underneath the indent behind my kneecaps and wraps his right arm underneath my shoulders and hefts me upward and lays my still thrashing body onto the stretcher.

Jenifer and Rebecca both thank him as he jogs behind them when they are wheeling me outside of the High School and into the stupid ambulance.

They hook me up to the calming medicine, but this time I cannot control my body even when the fluids seep into my throbbing veins.

They slam the doors shut and connect me to the sleeping medicine.

Jennifer takes her place in the driver's seat and Rebecca takes the bench to my left and Conor takes the bench to my right.

Jennifer starts the engine, switches on the sirens and flashing lights for a reason I have no knowledge of. Surley, I can't be sick. Not enough at least for the emergency ambulance "traffic powers".

We drive off and I begin to feel the effects of the prescribed drugs take over me.

I hear Rebecca whisper something to Conor and I see him nod.

I feel him take my shivering hand in his warm one and feel him lightly squeeze it.

I summon all of the strength I have left before my eyes start to flutter and squeeze back.

I catch his gaze in mine before I succumb to the drugs and croak out; "Stay with me."

Before I fall from the world, I hear him say; "Always."