Chapter 4: So the Drama
(chapter written by BlinknSkater)
The next morning, Quin was up early. She knew that Ron was hiding something . . . she only wished she knew what.
\\Why won’t he tell me?// she thought as she got ready for the day. \\Is it because he doesn’t really trust me?// Quin sighed as she walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs.
“Hey hon.” Quin’s mom said when she saw her. “What’s wrong?”
Quin looked up. “Huh? Oh nothing.”
“Are you sure?” Sarah asked.
Quin nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
“Okay . . .” Sarah said. “Here. Eat some breakfast.”
“That’s okay. I’m not hungry.” Quin replied.
“Okay, now I know something’s wrong. You don’t usually skip breakfast unless something’s up.” Sarah replied.
Quin sighed. “Well, to be honest, I’m not even sure what’s up.”
“What are you talking about?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t have time to explain. I gotta get to school.” Quin said as she headed for the front door. “Bye!” she called as she walked out, hearing Sarah call bye as she closed the door behind her.
Quin walked off the porch and looked around. Coming down the sidewalk was Kim. Quin walked up to her.
“Hey Kim.”
“Hey Quin.” Kim replied.
“Where’s Ron?” Quin asked as they started walking.
“All I know is that he went to the doctor again last night.” Kim replied. “I went over to his house this morning and his mom said that he wasn’t going to be in school today.”
“Ok, something’s up!” Quin exclaimed. “I mean, if something wasn’t wrong, he wouldn’t have had two doctor visits that were less than four days apart! There’s something he’s not telling us!”
“Quin! Settle down.” Kim exclaimed. “You’re getting yourself worked up. Getting upset isn’t going to help any.”
Quin took a couple of deep breaths. “You’re right, but I’m really worried about him.”
“Yeah, same here.” Kim agreed as the two walked into the crowded halls of Middleton High.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron sat at the table with his parents. Nobody said anything as they ate . . . all thinking about practically the same thing.
\\Lung cancer. How did I get lung cancer?” Ron thought as he continued to sit at the table and stare down at his plate full of food.
“Come on, honey, eat.” his mother said to him.
“I’m not hungry.” Ron replied. Those three words were rarely used together in his vocabulary.
“Ronald, you have got to eat something.” Ron’s dad said.
Ron shook his head. “Can I be excused?”
Without waiting for the answer, Ron got out of his chair and walked to his bedroom.
Once he was in his room, he shut the door and walked toward his bed. On the way there, he passed the mirror that hung in his room. He stopped and looked into the reflection he saw in it.
Ron was surprised to see how pale he looked. He put his hand up to his face, not really believing that this was all happening to him.
\\Why is this happening to me?// he asked in his head. \\This kind of stuff is supposed to happen to other people, not to me!//
Ron walked toward his bed and collapsed on it. When he landed on the bed, he erupted in a coughing fit.
He sat up and covered his mouth with his hand. After a few moments, his coughing subsided. When he moved his hand away, he noticed something all over it. He looked closer at it and saw that it was blood. He had just coughed up blood.
Ron was now even more scared.
“Mom! Dad!” he called.
“What is it Ronald?!” Ron’s dad asked as he poked his head into Ron’s room.
Ron held out his hand and tried to keep it still while he shook. “I - I just coughed this up.” he said as equally shaky as his hand was.
Ron’s mother gasped.
“Go wash your hand son.” Mr. Stoppable said.
Ron walked into the bathroom and quickly washed his hand.
Once he dried his now-clean hands off, he put his hand on his forehead.
He knew that he was going to get this cancer removed soon, but the doctor had told him that it could come back again. He looked into the mirror at his pale reflection. This was scaring him more than he’d let his parents - or anyone else for that matter- know.
He felt the urge to tell Kim coming on stronger, but he didn’t want to do that . . . no point in getting her all worked up either.
But he knew that he couldn’t keep it a secret for longer.
In the past, he had been able to tell Kim everything and anything and she’d understand and listen. Ron could even do that with Quin.
Kim had always replied with her line: ‘so not the drama’.
But this time it was different.
It was so the drama.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quin was watching the clock as the minutes of her last class of the day ticked by so agonizingly slow.
“Senorita Separable!” called a voice.
“Huh?” Quin asked as she snapped out of her “trance” to see her Spanish teacher standing over her desk.
“¿Que necesitas hacer?” the Spanish teacher asked.
“Huh?” Quin repeated.
“She’s asking you what you need to do.” a girl next to her whispered.
“Thanks.” Quin whispered back.
“I think Senorita Separable needs to figure out what I asked on her own.” the Spanish teacher scolded.
“Sorry.” the girl replied.
“That’s ok.” the Spanish teacher replied. Her gaze went from the girl back to Quin.
“Uh, necesito organizar mi cuarto.” Quin answered, even though she really didn’t need to organize her room . . . but her Spanish teacher didn’t know that!
Then the bell rang.
“Remember that you have a test on Monday!” the Spanish teacher called as her students left the class. Quin groaned as she walked out of her class and met up with Kim.
“Hey.” Quin said.
“Hi.” Kim replied. “So, how was Spanish?” Kim asked as the two walked toward their lockers.
“Ugh! I totally zoned out while Mrs. Schryer was talking so I didn’t even hear it when she called on me.” Quin replied. “So, really I don’t know what went on. I was thinking a lot.”
“About what?” Kim asked as they reached their lockers.
“3 guesses.” Quin said as she opened her locker.
“Ron?” Kim guessed.
“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.” Quin replied in monotone, then looked at the closed locker that separated Quin’s from Kim’s. Ron’s locker.
“Yeah. Same here.” Kim replied as she opened her locker. Just then Josh Makey walked up to her.
“Hey Kim.” he said.
“H-hey Josh. What up?” Kim studdered. Quin rolled her eyes.
“Do you want to go to the dance with me tonight?” Josh asked.
“Well, I - I would but a *nervous chuckle* you see, uh, something’s up with Ron and Quin doesn’t have someone to go with and -,” Kim was interrupted by Quin.
“She’d love to go with you Josh.” Quin said.
“Great. Pick you up at seven?” Josh asked.
“Okay.” Kim replied.
“Bye Kim.”
“Bye!” Kim looked at Quin.
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” Quin said.
“But what about Ron?” Kim asked.
“Hey, I’m sure he wouldn’t want you to worry about him and miss you’re big date with Josh.” Quin replied somehow managing a small smile.
Kim smiled back. “Thanks.” she said as she put her books into her locker. As she was getting ready to shut it, Wade appeared on the monitor in her locker.
“Hey Kim.” he greeted.
“Hey Wade. What’s the sitch?” Kim asked, ready for Wade to tell her that a villain was trying to take over the world . . . or that someone needed a babysitter.
“Oh, all quiet on the Western Front.” Wade replied. “Oh, hey Quin.”
“Hey Wade.” Quin replied.
“So, where’s Ron? Did he go to Bueno Nacho without you two?” Wade asked.
“No.” Kim replied. “He wasn’t in school today.”
“Why not?” Wade asked.
Kim shrugged. “I don’t know. All that we know is that he went back to the hospital last night.”
“Did he just have a doctor’s appointment?” Wade asked.
“Yeah.” Quin replied. “There’s something he’s not telling us.”
“Well, I could hack into the hospital’s medical files and see if what the reason is that he keeps going there.” Wade suggested.
“I don’t know.” Quin said uncertainly. “I mean, I want to know what’s up, but if he doesn’t want to tell us, then he’s got a good reason. Besides, I don’t like the fact of snooping around in other people’s business. I did that enough when I was working for Drakken.”
“Quin,” Kim started. “We’re not doing it to be nosy . . . we just want to know if there’s a problem and see if we can help.”
Quin sighed. “All right. Fine.”
Kim turned back toward the monitor. “Okay Wade. Let me know if you get something.”
“Sure thing Kim.” Wade replied as the monitor flicked off.
|
