Till We Meet Again

Chapter Six

"Did you study for the AP Chemistry test today?" Mary asked me, as I plopped down at our morning table.  

"I've been studying for three days," I said, with a laugh.

"I know the information forwards and backwards."

"That's why she's Valedictorian," Jessica said, as she passed us.

"That's not official. It's only our Junior year."  

"I'm having trouble grasping the Kinetic Theory," Mary said, sliding in next to me.  

"Aubrey," Dennis said, plopping down across the table from me.  

"Good morning?"

"Is your boy coming to school today?"

"I haven't talked to him since he left my house last night."

"Trouble in paradise?" Samantha teased.  

"I don't think he's been to any of his morning classes this week," Dennis muttered, standing up.

He left and went back to the basketball jocks.

 "Is that true?" Mary asked me. 

I nodded.

"He's checked in late every day this week, except for Tuesday when he didn't come to school."  

"He has to be here on Friday," Bennett said.

"The cheerleaders already have signs and banners made for the big rival game."  

"So, the Kinetic Theory," I said, turning my attention back to AP Chemistry.

"What don't you understand?"  

"Studying for my test I see," Mr. Murphy said, stopping at our table.

"A little last minute cramming?"  

"Can you explain the Kinetic Theory to me?" Mary asked him, earnestly.  

"Sure. Come with me back to my room."

"Not that I don't love you," Mary said to me, as she gathered her stuff.

"But lover boy just pulled into the parking lot."  

"How do you know that?"  

He showed me his Twitter, where his recent tweet was complaining about finding a parking spot in the Junior lot.  

"So, spill," Kimberly said, raising her eyebrows.  

"Spill on what?"  

"You guys text like 24/7. What's going on?"

I shrugged.

"He wasn't feeling well last night, and I didn't want to bother him."  

"That does not sound like the Aubrey I know."  

I couldn't help but laugh.

"He's been sick all week. It's taken a toll on his attitude."  

I felt a kiss on my left cheek, and a Chick-Fil-A bag appeared in front of me, along with a large-sized lemonade.  

"What's the occasion?" I asked, as Collin slid in on my left.  

"Surprise!"  A smile formed across my face, and I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"You're my favorite boyfriend."  

"I'll try not to tell the others."  

"Look who showed up to school!" Justin called across the pavilion.  

"Guess I better go explain myself," Collin muttered to me.

He gave me a kiss before heading off to join his friends.

"You have the best boyfriend in the world," Bennett said, as I pulled out the mini chicken sliders and Chick-Fil-A sauce.  

"I won't argue with that," I said, taking a gulp of my lemonade.

"So has he been hard to handle lately?" Kimberly asked me, taking one of my mini hash browns.  

"He's just been distant," I said, passing my sliders off the girls. 

I looked across the pavilion while I sipped on my lemonade. He was laughing with his team, his cheeks a bit red. They must've been making fun of him.  The girls had successfully finished off my mini-sliders by the time the first bell rang, and I was finishing up the last of the hash browns.

Kimberly picked up the trash and tossed the Chick-Fil-A bag on the way to class.  

"Sorry babe," Collin said, taking my backpack for me.

He put his arm around my shoulders.

"I didn't think I'd spend the entire morning talking to them."

I stood up on my tip-toes, kissing his cheek.

"You're allowed to have friends."  

"But I like you more."

He stopped in front of my Homeroom, handing me my backpack.

"After the game on Friday would you like to go out? The team will be there, but we can pretend like they're not."  

"Sounds tempting," I said, sarcastically. 

He kissed me as the tardy bell rang.

"At least think about it?"  

"You know I'll give in, so I might as well just tell you yes now."  

He laughed, giving my shoulder a tight squeeze.

"I'll see you after Homeroom?"  

"I look forward to it."  

He waved to my Homeroom teacher before heading off to his class, whistling.  

"Is he always late to Homeroom?" Ms. Williams asked me, as I took a seat. 

I nodded, rolling my eyes.

"He insists on walking me to every class, even if it makes him late to his own."

"Well, he hasn't been to my class at all this week."  

"He hasn't been to any of his morning classes this week."

"Well, he'll surely be surprised by my Pop Quiz today."

"You have a Pop Quiz today?"  

"Surprise! Good luck guessing what it's on."

 "It couldn't be on what we've been studying for the past week?" I teased.  

"No, never!"  

The bell rang, signaling the end of Homeroom.  

"Better now keep the other half to the Golden Couple waiting."  

"We're not the Golden Couple!"  

"Not according to the yearbook."

I left Homeroom and ran into something solid. I fell to the floor, wincing as my tailbone collided with the hard, tile floor.  

"Sorry Aubrey," Hayden said, one of the basketball jocks.

He offered a hand down to me.  

"No problem," I muttered, dusting myself off. I accepted his hand, pulling myself up.  

"You alright?"  

"Yeah, I'm good," I said, rubbing my bottom.

I peered down the hallway, but Collin wasn't there.  

"If you're looking for lover boy, Coach called him down to his office," Hayden said, before heading off to his next class. 

I looked for a couple more seconds before heading to AP Chemistry. 

Mr. Murphy handed me a test as I walked in the door, informing me that the test would take me all class period.  I sat at the table by myself, again, propping my feet up on Collin's chair.  About halfway through the class period, Collin came in, flashing his pass to Mr. Murphy.  

"See me after class," Mr. Murphy said to him. 

I took my feet out of his chair as I typed the equation into my calculator.  

"What did your Coach want?" I whispered, as I started on the next problem.  

"Check on my health," Collin whispered back, his voice filled with disgust.  

"Well, you did leave practice early yesterday."  

He was silent for a few minutes.

"I've lost seven pounds in the last two weeks."  

"Collin and Aubrey!" Mr. Murphy called back.

"Silence."

I finished and turned in my test with five minutes left in the class.  

"Seven pounds?" I asked, sitting back down at our table.  

"He told me that if I don't start taking care of myself, he's going to have to replace me as shooting guard."

He drummed his fingers on the table with a sigh.

"Maybe you were right."

"About what?"

"Maybe I should see a real doctor."  

I squeezed his hand.

"I'll go with you if you want."  

He rolled his eyes.

"I don't need a babysitter."  

"I didn't say you did. I was just offering to go with you."  

The bell rang, and Collin abruptly grabbed his stuff and stormed out of the classroom.  

"I just don't understand," I said, falling into step with Mary.

"Was offering to go to the doctor with him wrong?"  

"No, I just don't think he's ready to find out the answers," Mary answered, honestly.

She paused for a moment.  

"What?"  

"Didn't Mr. Murphy ask him to stay after class?"

"Not my problem."

I parted ways with Mary, heading to Anatomy. Collin was waiting outside the classroom.

"I'm sorry," he said, as I reached the classroom.

"You didn't deserve that."

I kissed him.

"You're stressed. I understand."  

"You shouldn't have to. That wasn't fair of me."  

"But I do."  

"Get to class Mr. Langford," Mr. Clarke said, not too kindly.

"And Aubrey, get into my classroom."  

"You were supposed to see Mr. Murphy after class," I reminded him. 

He closed his eyes for a moment.

"Shit."  

I smiled at him before heading into Mr. Clarke's class, brushing off Mr. Clarke's glare.  

"Where's Collin?" I asked Dennis, as the boys came filing out into the parking lot.  

"He hit the weight room with a couple of the guys during conditioning," Dennis informed me.

"He'll be out in a minute or two."  

"The weight room?"  

"He had a sore shoulder after Monday's practice, so he joined a few of the guys for a workout to build up."  

"Was he feeling better today?"  

"Look," Dennis said, leaning against his car.

"I know you two are in love or whatever, and you're trying to get him to go to a doctor, but the team needs him right now. He's a Division One shooting guard, and he could get us places. So just back off."  

"His health is much more important than basketball."

"He had a d**g problem. Have you even looked into the side effects of withdrawal?"

"Yeah, I have actually. And headaches aren't listed on there."  

"But nausea and vomiting are."

 "But headaches aren't Dennis."  

"They could very well be. It's different from person to person."

"Look," I said, dropping my voice, "I know you're in Collin's support group, and you feel like you know everything there is to know about d**g addictions since you've been sober two years. But let me tell you something, there's something wrong with him. And nobody knows him better than I do."  

"Headaches, nausea, and vomiting are common symptoms in a former d**g addict."  

"Hey guys," Collin said, approaching us.  

"Hey," I said, with a strained smile.  

"Hey man," Collin said to Dennis, bumping fists with him.

"So, I hear you're joining us after the game on Friday," Dennis said, with a smile.  

"We'll be there," Collin said, as he threw his stuff into the trunk of my car.

"Don't forget to go home and ice. We can't afford to have you sore for the game on Friday."  

"Got it."

I slid into the driver's seat as they wrapped up their conversation, and Collin happily plopped down in my passenger seat, giving me a kiss.  

"How was practice?" I asked with a smile.

His good mood was contagious.

"Every hoop I made was a score. It was perfect."  

"Well, everyone's talking about the game Friday."  

"I know. It's a lot of pressure."  

I smiled at him.

"You'll do great babe."

He slipped on his sunglasses.

"My mom talk to you at all?"  

"She just asked me to come and pick you up. What happened to your car?"  

"She called my therapist; told him I was still suffering from headaches. He told her it probably wasn't safe for me to drive until they subsided."  

"You've been well today though, right? No headaches."

"None so far."

He looked over at his left arm with a frown.  

"What's wrong?" I asked, pulling into my driveway.  

"I think my arm fell asleep," he muttered, shaking it out as he stepped out of the car.  

"I hate that."

 I took his right hand in mine as we walked inside.  

"What are you doing?" dad asked Collin, as we walked into the kitchen.  

"His arm fell asleep," I informed dad, laughing as I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade out of the refrigerator.

"Is it not waking back up?"  

"Not even a prickly feeling," he muttered, massaging his left arm with his right hand.  

"Can you move it?" dad asked.  

"Yeah, I can move it just fine. It's just numb."

"You probably did something to it in the weight room," I said, kissing his arm for him.

"Probably," he agreed, taking a swig of my Gatorade.

 "Where's mom?" I asked dad.  

"She and Melissa went out for dinner. So that leaves the three of us to figure something out."  

"I'll be right back," Collin whispered to me, before leaving the kitchen.

"He looks thinner," dad commented, once Collin was out of earshot.

"And I noticed he hasn't been eating."  

"I think I convinced him to go to a doctor."  

"Good. Because I don't care what some damn therapist said. That boy needs real help."  

"So, about dinner," I said, changing the subject before Collin could come back.

"I was thinking the new sports bar down the street."  

"Fine by me. Give me ten minutes to get ready."

I stopped by the bathroom on my way to my room. As I placed my door on the handle, I heard noises coming from inside the bathroom.  I furrowed my eyebrows, straining to listen. I jumped back in horror as I realized what was happening.

 Someone, more than likely Collin, was in there throwing up.  I considered confronting him, forcing him to go to the doctor tomorrow. But before I could make up my mind, I heard the flush of the toilet.

I quickly went back to my room, my heart pounding in my chest. 

Dennis had told me that Collin was throwing up yesterday, but it didn't really register until now.

We were dealing with something much serious than a few headaches.