Chapter 36

Chapter 5 I never knew why I still took biology, after I told my mom I never wanted to be a doctor. I hated dissecting things and that was exactly what we were going to do on Monday morning. To make things worse, Tony never warned me about it. According to him, he wasn't going to tell me anything in advance to be fair. Grayson still had a hard time sleeping, but he told me it was just a side effect of the anti-depressant. "Babe, can you get my water bottle from my bag?" Grayson asked, his head resting on his desk. "Please?" I reached into his backpack and pulled out his water bottle. "Here," I said, placing his water bottle on his desk. "How are you feeling?" "Horrible," he said, sitting up to drink from his water bottle. After he took a very long sip, he closed it and rested his head back on the desk. "I feel sick but I can't go home. I already missed too much school." Mine and Grayson's desks were put side by side, so I didn't have to reach far to begin rubbing his back. Recently, he had been feeling very nauseous, one of another side effects of the anti-depressant. The bell to start class finally rang and at that moment, a girl I hadn't seen before walked in and went to Tony. They talked for a bit before Tony stood up and cleared his throat. "Class, we have a new student. This is Thalia Scott. Thalia, you can sit in any empty seat. We don't have a seating chart." Thalia nodded before sitting down in the front row. "Alright, so we will be heading to the lab today to begin dissecting. You're lab partners are the ones I assigned to you on Friday. Belle and Mindy, Thalia will be joining you two." Tony looked at Grayson, whose head was still resting on his desk. "Can everyone head over to the lab? I'll be there soon? And Poppy, I'll need you to stay. Same with your lab partner." Everyone got up from the desk and went out of the class as Tony made his way over to Grayson and I. "Grayson," Tony said. "Are you feeling okay?" "Just dandy," Grayson said in a sarcastic tone. He raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and bags under them. I felt bad that he hadn't been able to sleep. "Do you need to go home?" Tony asked. Grayson shook his head. "Can't. I already missed too many days. I'll be fine." "If you say so," Tony said. "Let's go to the lab now." The three of us headed to the lab where the rest of the class was waiting. When Tony unlocked it, Grayson and I headed over to our regular lab table. Immediately, Grayson rested his head on the table with a groan. Poor guy. Unfortunately for us, we were going to dissect a frog. Grayson and I were supposed to do it last ear, but he got us kicked out of class so we wouldn't have to do it. However, since my brother was now the teacher, I knew he wouldn't kick us out. When Tony placed the frog we would be dissecting in front of us, Grayson gagged. "God, that smells disgusting." "Just wear nose plugs," I told him. "I'm not going to wear nose plugs," Grayson snapped. "I'll look like a damn idiot." "Since when did you care about how you look?" I asked. "There should only be one girl's opinion that you care about and trust me when I tell you that she doesn't care. Besides, everyone will look ridiculous once we put on our gloves and goggles." Tony finished handing out the frogs to everyone and went to the teacher's lab table, which had a projector screen so we could see closely what they did. "Alright, class," he said. "Just follow my instructions carefully. We don't want any mishaps." We started off simple by examining the outside of the frog. Then, we went into more depth. Since Grayson looked too tired to concentrate on dissecting the frog, I did everything, even though I was squeamish. When the frog was cut opened, I felt sick to my stomach. However, I wasn't was sick as Grayson. He covered his mouth before hurrying over to a nearby trashcan and throwing up inside. Most of the class said, "Ooh!" as a response. "Class, just drop what you're doing," Tony said, taking off his gloves and goggles. I did the same and followed Tony to Grayson, who was clutching the rims of the trashcan. "You said you'll be fine." "I am fine," Grayson said with a shaky breath. "Poppy, can you please take him to the nurse's office?" Tony asked, ignoring what Grayson said. I nodded before going back to the table to grab mine and Grayson's backpacks. I went back to Grayson, gesturing for him to follow me. "Poppy, I'm fine," Grayson said, though he followed me down the hallway. I reached into his backpack and handed him a water bottle. "You see, I have a method to know if you're lying or not. You are not fine." "And how exactly do you know that?" Grayson asked before taking a long sip from his water. "I would tell you, but you would then use it against me in the future," I said. It really was simple. If he never called me Flower or Babe or any other nickname, I knew he was lying. That, or he was mad, but he definitely wasn't mad right now. "Can we not go to the nurse?" Grayson asked. "I promise that I'm fine. It's just a side effect from the pill." I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Throwing up is a side effect from the pill?" "No, feeling nauseous is," Grayson told me. "But the smell from the frog, plus watching you cut it open caused me to throw up. But I'm fine, Poppy." There it was again. Poppy. He rarely called me by my first name. It was usual Flower, or babe once in a while. Never Poppy. "No, you're not," I said. "You are going to see the nurse whether you like it or not. I know she won't be able to do anything for the side effects, but..." "Poppy," Grayson interrupted. "I'll be honest. No, I'm not fine but I don't want to see the nurse. I don't want anyone else knowing about my depression, alright? Not even the school nurse. I want to handle it alone." I sighed. I couldn't stop him. It was his choice, not mine. If he didn't want to go to the nurse, then I couldn't force him. "Fine," I said. "We'll go back. I'll just tell Tony that you have to stay outside of the lab." "Thanks, Flower," he said before leaning down. However, before our lips could touch, I held up my hand to block him. "Take a breath mint," I told him before kissing his cheek. I turned around and headed back to the lab with Grayson following behind me. When I got back to the lab, I went to Tony and said quietly, "Grayson's fine. He just can't handle the smell in here so he's going to stay outside." Tony nodded. "That's fine. But you have to get back to dissecting." "But I'm squeamish," I said. "You know that." "I can't play favorites," Tony said. "Back to work." I frowned and headed over to my table. I hated dissecting things and I was pretty sure Tony knew it since he was the one who picked me up last year after I got kicked out of class. I made a mental note to start being nicer to my brother and see if that will change anything. Class seemed to be hours of me gagging and trying not to throw up. Curse my weak stomach. When class finally ended, we had to dispose of the frogs before we could leave. Once everything was cleaned up, I hurried out of the lab so I could get away from the smell. Grayson was waiting there, sitting on the floor with his head rested against his knees. Seeing him like that was breaking my heart so much. I had never seen him like that before. I crouched down beside him, resting my hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to go home?" I asked. "And don't say you can't because you missed too much school already. This is the fourth week of school and you didn't even miss that much." "I'm not going home," he muttered. Tony walked out of the lab, sighing when he saw Grayson. He knelt down on the other side of Grayson. "Grayson, I'm worried about you," he said. "As both your teacher and your girlfriend's brother, but mostly the latter. If you're feeling sick, you need to go home." "I'm not contagious," he pointed out, lifting his head up to look at my brother. "It's not like I'm going to get anyone else sick." "I don't care if you get anyone else sick or not," Tony said. "Well, I do care, but I care more about your health. Obviously, something's wrong. You shouldn't be at school and add stress on top of everything." "Grayson, please listen to him," I begged. "I don't care if you go home or to the nurse's office," Tony continued. "I don't want you going to class when you're like this." Grayson scoffed. "I don't know what the two of are talking about. I am perfectly fine." Grayson was being so unbearable right now. He was countering everything he told me earlier as if he forgot what he said. "You told me earlier that you weren't fine. Please, just go home." "I'm not going home," he said. "I am fine and I don't need anyone controlling my life." He stood up and stormed away, looking very pissed off. I sighed and stood up, as did Tony. "Poppy, do you know what's going on? I know something is bothering him." "I can't say," I said. "I want to tell you, but I don't want to lose his trust." "You need to talk to him," Tony told me. "Do anything. I hate seeing him like this." "I know," I said. "I should be going to class. I'll try talking to him, trust me." I walked towards my locker, putting my biology supplies away before grabbing my English supplies. I was a few minutes late to class, but I told my teacher to call 'Mr. McCormick' since he was talking to me for a bit. "Oh, Poppy is actually a bad girl for showing up late," Henry said as I sat down. "That turns me on." I scoffed and rolled my eyes at what he just said. He was such a pig and I was so close to kicking him where it hurt. Halfway through the class, the phone inside the classroom rang. My teacher answered it with a serious look. "Mrs. Vans speaking... The nurse's office? Why...? Oh, I see. I'll tell her, then." She hung up and walked over to me. "You're needed at the nurse's office. Apparently, Grayson passed out in class." I nodded before quickly packing up my things and heading to the nurse's office. Grayson was laying down on the bed, unconscious at the moment. The nurse, Carol, allowed me to come in. "He had gym class and he passed out," she told me. "I know how close the two of you are and I want to know if you know anything. It isn't normal for students to pass out, unless they get hit in the head or something. He was just standing near the door when it happened." I was really starting to worry even more about Grayson. He wasn't taking his condition seriously and it was hurting his health. However, Grayson's trust was important to me. He didn't want the nurse knowing and I had to respect it, even if telling her would help him. "I can't say," I said. "If it's serious, especially a health condition, I should know," she said. "I'm here to help students." "I know," I said, "but it is his choice if I tell someone. Even if telling you would be what's best for him, I can't say." Carol nodded, understanding what I was saying. "Okay. I'll just have to make a phone call. Feel free to stay here. He should be awake soon." She left the nurse's office, closing the door behind her. I sat down beside the bed Grayson was on, reaching towards him and holding one of his hands. "Grayson?" I asked, hoping he was actually conscious. "Hmm?" Grayson muttered, his eyes closing tighter. "Can you please go home and rest?" I asked. Grayson opened his eyes and looked at me. "No. I don't need to go home because I'm fine." "You're fine?" I asked, my calmness flying out the window. I was getting so irritated by Grayson. "You're fine?! My teacher got a call to get me to come here because you passed out in class and all you were doing was standing! You threw up in biology because we had to disect a frog, yet last year you physically picked one up. You are not fine!" "I think I know my own body," Grayson objected, sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Don't yell at me telling me I'm not fine when I know I am." "You know what?" I asked, standing up. "I'm done here. I'm done trying to care for you when obviously you're not appreciating it enough. Just watch me not give a damn about what you're going through because I sure as hell won't be caring anymore!" I turned around, about to leave the nurse's office when Grayson hopped up from the bed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me to face him. "Did you seriously say that?" he asked. "You don't care that I have depression? You're not going to support me through it?!" "How can I support you when you are being stubborn?!" I asked. "You keep saying you're fine when I know you're not! Even my brother knows something is up and he doesn't know what you have. Everyone you care about is worried about you, especially me!" "But you don't know what I'm going through!" Grayson said. "Every day, I have thoughts. Dark thoughts and nothing can be done about it. I feel horrible and useless. I just want to give up. I tried twice, but someone was always there to stop me. I am sick and tired of feeling this way, Poppy, so I'm playing it off as being fine!" Of course, I didn't know what he was feeling, but he never told me anyway, so there was nothing I could have done about it. "People are here to help," I told him. "I'm here, your mom is here, Carol is here, even my brother is here. If you don't want to tell anyone, fine. But at least, at least, tell the people who are worried about it. Tell the people who will help you." Before Grayson could even reply, the door opened and Carol walked in. "How are you feeling, Grayson?" Grayson looked at me, and I raised an eyebrow in reply. "Actually, there's something I have to tell you."