Your Voice (G x G)

5 (Sarah's POV)

It took time for me to recover from the fever, not having one for nearly two years did my body real pain. As I look at my reflection on the mirror I could recognize the changes, I was thinner and paler. My throat was still a bit itchy and my body adjusting with sweat. But nevertheless, it was great to be back in school.

I had a passion for teaching although my attitude and my mean persona said otherwise. Maybe I should stop getting in my own head and rush to class, I was already running late. As I opened the classroom’s door, I tried my best to look professional as possible, not eyeing the class and went straight to my desk.

As a teacher, it was a struggle to look serious all the time. The thought of actually trying makes me chuckle. If students only knew how we want to laugh at ourselves half the time for being too somber. I’m twenty-three years old and these are my thoughts. See how crucial it is for me to put up a persona? If I haven’t, then they wouldn’t respect my authority.

My eyes finally looked at the crowd, “Good morning class, it’s refreshing to be back.” Everyone looked back at me except for one. Allie was wearing a black shirt with denim skinny jeans, her hand carrying the weight of her head, eyes busy on the floor. “Let me call on for attendance.”

-

Class went on and Allie hasn’t even looked up at me or the board even once. Maybe she’s sick, I thought, remembering how she took care of me last week. After class, I hurriedly fixed my things to catch up with her. “Collins,” I started, she was with her friend… Higgins as I recall it. Higgins turned to me but Allie didn’t.

“Allie,” the redhead whispered to her friend to bring her to my attention.

I was smiling and it was really uplifting to be back. She finally turned but with a blank face, nevertheless, I smiled. “Thanks for taking care of me last week.”

Higgins eyebrows furrowed seemingly confused of what I just said, “Don’t worry, Ms. Rivers asked me to do it so I couldn’t exactly say no.”

Confusion has struck me like lightning. Allie was acting just like she had before, but I thought we made up? I asked myself. “But still, thanks for the effort.” I said, trying to shake off what I was feeling.

Allie let out a breath, turned and walk away. “What was that?” She left Higgins and I alone, the redhead was as confused as I was.

“What is with her? She’s your friend, isn’t she, Higgins?” She had not realized that my question was directed to her, but when she did, her head turned to me.

“Yes she is. I can’t really understand it but she gets this moody when it comes to you. She’s not usually like this, believe me she’s great. After summer went by she’s changed a lot. Maybe because of James, I don’t know.” The girl caught herself, “I’m sorry, I’m babbling stuff about Allie.”

“No, no, no, it’s fine.” I assured her with a smile. She seemed to care an awful lot about Allie and I had to respect that. “I know few of the things you just said and experienced it myself, so.” I chuckled nervously, hoping that she wouldn’t make out anything from what I’ve just said.

Higgins’ eyebrows rose and with a quick excuse, she was out of sight. I had to worry about her later. I found Allie sitting in the crowded cafeteria, eating alone. I made my way to her and forcibly sat myself across her. “What did I do this time, Collins?” I asked straightforwardly, I could see she was taken aback by my boldness.

“Nothing.” She said flatly.

Sighing, I put my hand to my head. It seemed like all our conversations were more like confrontations. “Is this still about the Science fair thing? ‘Cause I am so sorry about that and I actually thought we were cool.”

She shook her head, “No, I am way past that.”

If that’s not it, then what is it? I tried racking my brain of anything I’ve done, “Did I snore in my sleep?” I groaned at myself, “I must admit I do snore in my sleep but very, very, lightly. Did my snore scare you away?”

Allie chuckled while shaking her head, “What? No, that’s stupid.” Then what? I asked her. She took her time to answer me and my patience didn’t really measure that far, then she started to speak. “I took care of you, I did.”

“Okay?” I said with a questionable tone, “I know that already.”

“That’s the point! You don’t. I took care of you. I drove you home, I carried your weight, I heated water and soup for you, I awkwardly undressed you and washed you and redressed you.” Her voice had risen up but I was too focused to care “But then I started to stroke your hair and you were starting to fall asleep but then you say Lisa then I felt stupid—“

Her words were rushed and impulsive but I zoned out just as she said Lisa. “Woah, woah, Lisa?” I said, still confused.

“Yes! Lisa! That’s why I’m upset.” She looked flustered than ever and I felt kind of bad as I started laughing at her delusion. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re mad because I said my sister’s name?”

Her lips parted slightly and after a few moments I knew embarrassment had sunk in. “Lisa’s your sister?” In a high tone, she had said.

“Yeah. My mom liked four-lettered names. So you know, Sara for me, then Lisa—my sister, then June for my baby brother.” I was making gestures so she would get it. At this point, her hands covered half of her face.

“I am so sorry.”

I started to smile brightly again, thankful for the amusement. “It’s all right. But, why exactly were you mad again?”

“Uhh,” I knew she was looking for the answer in her head but I just decided to play her even more.

“Were you jealous that I said someone else’s name?”

Allie’s eyes grew wide, shaking her head, she says “What? No? I just thought Lisa was the ex you were talking about last summer.”

“Mmmm-hmm,” I said, “so you were jealous?” I asked again as if she hadn’t explained already.

Thankfully, she smiles and laughs, making me feel at ease. “No.” She said again. “Just to turn tables around, I want to let you know that you were snotty last week and I’ve got to tell you, snot. was. everywhere.”

We laughed as hard as we could, “Are you trying to embarrass me? Come on, you can do better than that! I’m not embarrassed about my mucus being all over the place. Besides, it was you who saw it. I’m comfortable around you.” As I said my speech, Allie blushed a little bit. Her eyes told a story I couldn’t exactly decipher.