I Sent My Best Friend to The Hospital. Whoops!
Everyone could agree that St. Mary’s was boring. It "was" because a few months ago, random things started happening, and suddenly, St. Mary’s Primary School for Girls became more…interesting.
Once Olivia Archer, Ori’s best friend, was teasing Ori and wouldn’t stop even though Ori was crying, and someone threw a book at her but when they turned around to see who threw it, no one was there. Nobody believed her and the teachers couldn’t find out who it was.
Another time, while it was raining, the new student from the Temple family sneezed and the hair of everyone in the room stood up for a minute. They thought lightning was about to strike but nothing happened.
Interesting…but most of the time, St. Mary’s was still boring, especially class. Once in a while, Ori would look across the room on their right, and glance at another kid, Temple. He caught them looking, luckily, he just smiled before looking back at the teacher.
Eventually, the bell rang, and a bunch of year 6 ran out. Ori stayed behind so that they wouldn't be squished and put away their glasses. "Hey, Ori!" The kid who they were looking at a few moments prior called over to Ori.
"Uh Hi?" Ori looked nervously out the window for a moment, rubbing their left arm, before looking back at Temple.
"Hey," Temple smiled at them, "Are you busy after school?"
"Um not really, why?" Ori glanced at the window, again.
"I just wanted to invite you to my birthday party."
"Oh, I didn't know it was your birthday, Happy Birthday." They smiled.
"Oh uh, thank you,” Temple rubbed their neck, “So can you go?"
"Uhm maybe? I'll have to ask my parents."
"Please, promise me you'll go! I want you to be there." Temple smiled, holding out his hand. Ori thought about it, they did want to go, but Olivia told them not to talk to Temple anymore...but Ori looked at Temple, at his smile. Ori smiled back.
"Okay! I promise I'll go!" Ori shook Temple's hand, and they both left the classroom, finally.
***
It was playtime for Ori and their classmates, and they were walking with their best friend, Olivia. "So, Ori, do you wanna come over to my house after school?"
Ori stopped. "Uh..." Olivia looked back.
"What's wrong?" She asked, sounding very concerned for her friend. Olivia grabbed their hand and brought them to a more private place, the back of the school, where students weren't allowed. "So, what's wrong? Was it something I said?"
"Oh, it's nothing serious Olivia, I'm just busy…" Olivia put her hand on their shoulder and squeezed. Ori winced and sighed. "It's just that I already promised Temple to go to her birthday party later...sorry," they said, getting progressively slower and quieter.
"Oh...Temple?" Olivia's eyes narrowed, and her upper lip curled. They nodded slowly, "Why do you even talk to her?" Olivia crossed her arms,
"I don't know, she talks to me! Plus, she's nice, so..." Ori said, staring at the ground or their hands.
"So? She's nice! Am I not nice enough for you!" Olivia waved her arms around, and Ori flinched.
"No! I'm just saying that I don't understand why you hate her so much," They tried to explain, but it was clear to them that Olivia was already upset.
"I just do! Okay?" Olivia cornered Ori between the fence and herself. "So, just tell her to leave you alone!" She poked Ori's chest.
"...No. I want to be friends with Temple. You can't tell me who I can and cannot be friends with!" Ori said, getting closer to Olivia, making her back up, "You are NOT MY ONLY Friend!" Ori yelled at her.
This part is a blur, all Ori remembers is Olivia screaming then...a sharp pain shot through Ori's body, Olivia had punched Ori. They groaned and their legs gave in, they collapsed. Ori lifted their hand to touch their face, and they saw something red on their fingers. All of a sudden, it's all they can see, the dark red blood on their fingers. They're bleeding. They're bleeding. Then, their heartbeat starts racing, and their breathing becomes rapid. They stood up but immediately doubled over, clutching their stomach and covering their mouth.
They stumbled over to a nearby table, they didn't sit down, they knew they wouldn't be able to stand up if they did. Ori leaned on their hands, which were on the table. They swallowed the thought of vomiting and took several sharp breaths. They took off their hair clips and let their bangs cover their face. The light was too much. Their head was pounding. Their vision was even more of a blur.
It goes silent, that doesn't sound right. Ori looks over to Olivia, she's in shock. She's staring at her trembling hands, terrified. Crying, but it doesn't seem like she knows. She's also mumbling something. Olivia twitched, blinked then stared at where Ori used to be, confused. She then looked around for them until they made eye contact. Ori widens their eyes and then involuntarily lets out a shaky breath. "I'm s-" Ori sped-walks away with Olivia following behind them, apologising every second.
Ori stopped and turned around, "You punched me, what did you expect!" They yelled at her.
"I didn't mean to punch you! I promise I only meant to slap you!" Olivia yelled back.
"Just leave me alone!" Ori covered their ears and ran to the nurse's office but bumped and fell into Temple.
"Sorry," Ori mumbled as Temple helped Ori stand back up, Ori looked away from them.
"It's alright...wait," Temple held Ori's face and looked carefully, their nose was bleeding, and their eye was swelling up. "...H-how did this happen? Did Olivia do this to you?" Temple spoke in a gentle and caring manner. It made Ori want to cry again; they probably were but they couldn't tell from their face being numb. Temple pulled out a small packet of tissues and helped Ori with their injuries, clearing the blood and tears away.
"Thank you, and uh Olivia and I got into...an argument." They said, avoiding a specific word.
"Again?" Temple said, wiping the blood off Ori's lips.
Olivia caught up to them, yelling apologies until she saw them together, "I'm so sorr- what's SHE doing here." Olivia grabbed Ori by the shoulder.
"I'm helping Ori, after what you did." Temple brushed Olivia's hand away and pulled Ori towards himself.
"Ori's fine, just go away." Ori got out of their way so that they wouldn't be grabbed anymore.
"I am NOT leaving Ori alone with you."
"Why not? This isn't your business."
"It is now. Ori is my friend, and you hurt her! So, I'm not leaving until she tells me to,"
Olivia grunted in frustration, "Ori is not your friend, leave us alone!"
"Why? So, you can hit her, again?" Olivia clenched her hands and stomped towards Temple, Ori acted quickly and stood between them, arms stretched out, their back facing Olivia.
"Temple leave, please." Ori said loud and clearly as if they were mad. Temple's eyes went wide, and tears were starting to form. Temple's mouth closed and he gulped down his protest. Ori motioned for him to lean down, Temple did and Ori whispered, "Get the nurse, I feel like I'm going to pass out." Temple blinked his tears away and let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Temple touched Ori's shoulder, "Okay, I'll be right back." Temple slowly let go of Ori's shoulder and ran to find the nurse.
There was a nearby bench, and Ori went to sit on it. Now, with Temple coming back with the nurse, they couldn't care any less if they can't stand up anymore. Olivia went over to Ori, and cornered them, putting their hands on both of their shoulders. "I'm sorry..."
"Leave me alone," Ori mumbled, feeling too exhausted to fight with Olivia any longer.
"I'm not leaving until you forgive me,"
"Please stop,"
"Not until you accept my apology." Olivia kept pestering Ori, ordering them to forgive her, and they couldn't take it anymore.
They quickly stood up, "Olivia, I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" They tried to push Olivia but they were weak, missed, and passed out.
***
"Uh-huh...yes...okay, thank you, Mr. Brown," The school nurse said, although Ori barely heard it.
"Huh?" Ori said, rubbing their eyes, realising that they were at the nurse's office.
"Your dad is coming to pick you up, but you should check your blood sugar before that." The nurse gave Ori their glucose monitor.
Their glucose monitor came in a small black pouch, and with shaky hands, Ori unzipped it and pricked their finger, they groaned as they realised that they didn't put the strip on the monitor, but once they did and wiped the blood, "Uh-oh," their blood sugar was 60.
"What?" the nurse said leaning over, "Uh-oh indeed," The nurse walked towards the small fridge and grabbed a juice box, "Drink this."
She handed the juice box to Ori, who took it gratefully.
"Okay." As Ori drank the juice box, the bell rang
"Do you want your lunch?" Ori nodded, and the nurse left, soon after Temple sneaked in.
"Ori! You're awake!" He said softly and quietly, and he sat next to them. "How are you feeling?"
"light-headed."
"Oh no, why?" Temple leaned in closer.
"Low blood sugar." Ori blushed.
"Oh alright." Temple noticed how close he was to Ori, and backed away. Neither of them spoke, and this whole situation was confusing to both of them but for different reasons. Temple looked down at his lap, he was fidgeting. "I'm sorry..."
Ori tilted their head and blinked a few times before responding, "Why are you apologising?"
"I heard most of your argu- fight with Olivia," He took a deep breath, "and I'm so sorry for not getting help sooner, for eavesdropping, or for causing the problem in the first place. I'm just so sorry." Temple said guiltily as if he was on trial for manslaughter.
"...Temple, you didn't cause the problem, just because we were arguing about you, doesn't mean you were the problem. The problem was that we were arguing about a birthday party invitation!" Ori
Temple smiled sweetly, "I still regret not getting help sooner, how about I get you something and you don't have to get me a present for my birthday."
Ori giggled, "That'll be great…Wait. Where's Olivia?"
Temple's smile quickly faded, "Oh, right. Um, Olivia's at the hospital."