Liar

“Please?”

Anette’s dark blue eyes were pleading. She held out a hand to Mikey, who adjusted his jacket uncomfortably. She sighed. “Come on Mikey, you don’t even need your mom’s permission. I don’t want to do this all alone.”

“I—fine Annie,” he sighed, giving in. Anette smiled, took his hand, and pulled him into the blood donation area.

They signed in and were given water and pamphlets. Anette was calm, drinking her water peacefully. Mikey read over the pamphlet almost frantically; he had never done this before. He was about to ask Anette what to expect when a nurse pulled her away. About ten minutes later, a different nurse walked over to him.

“Michael Way?” she asked, and Mikey stood and followed her over behind a privacy screen.

A lot of things happened at once. A blood sample was taken, blood pressure was checked, tubes were labeled, and questions were asked. Questions like if he had taken medication, if he was sick, where he lived, and if he had ever had gay sex. The very last one was, “Would you feel comfortable with a plasma donation today?”

“Um, sure,” Mikey replied, unsure of what would happen during a plasma donation.

“Very good then, I think we’re ready.”

The nurse led Mikey over to the donation area. Mikey spotted Anette’s white blonde hair across the circle of beds. Mikey laid down on the one that was next to a very complicated looking machine. His arm was scrubbed clean, he was given a stress ball, and before he knew it, the needle was in his elbow and his blood was flowing down the tubes and into the machine.

Anette was directly across the circle from him. Her eyes were shut and her face was extremely pale save the pink lipstick that graced her lips. His eyes trailed down to her wrists, where he could tell her cuts had faded to a few small scars. Mikey was thankful for this; she had been such a wreck only two months ago.

A couple of minutes later, the nurse came over and pushed a few buttons on his machine. The deep red in the tubes was replaced by a pale yellow, and Mikey found himself shuddering violently as something was pumped back into him. Then it repeated.

Half an hour later, Mikey was free of the machine and was on his third juice box, waiting for Anette. He had apparently donated a lot more than she had, and had started after her, but was still finished first. He went for another couple of Oreos; he still felt extremely light-headed.

Then Anette was allowed over to the food and recovery area. Like Mikey, she had a purple bandage around her elbow, but there was an ice pack under hers. Mikey glanced at the clock. It was half-way through third period. He waited until they were both allowed to leave, and they didn’t speak until they were in the hallways going back to class together.

“Your wrists look better,” Mikey commented.

“Yeah,” Anette replied weakly. “I got help after New Years.”

“Good. Why do you have an ice pack?”

“The needle slipped out in the middle of it. I’ve got a huge bruise, a big hole in my elbow, and I feel really woozy,” she explained, stopping to rest before they climbed the stairs into the history hall.

“How the hell did that happen?”

“Well, I think it’s because I lied about my weight. The sheet said I wasn’t heavy enough for my height, but I was only like, fifteen pounds under or something.”

“You lied? You, Anette Baker, lied?” Mikey couldn’t believe it.

Anette just smiled slyly and shrugged.