All I Wanted Was the Truth

Here I am again, sitting in my always-enthralling Biology II class. As always, I'm sitting at the back. As always, I'm alone. And, as always, nobody is listening to the teacher.

Mr. Banner was, at the moment, droning on about some lab we were doing today. He was gesturing toward a microscope while brandishing a small glass slide, so I assumed we'd be using a microscope and analyzing slides.

Ignoring him as per usual, I let my mind wander around on its' own. I did this quite often in Biology; in fact, I did it every Biology class.

I became so entranced with counting the ceiling tiles that I jumped when the teacher placed a microscope on my desk. "Since you don't have a partner, you'll have to do this alone."

I shrugged.

"Double marks," he said, frowning down at me. "Since you have to do twice the work as anybody else." And he walked away.

I shrugged to myself once again. I always got double marks for these partner assignments - I'd never had a partner.

I looked down at the tabletop. There was a set of slides there, too, next to the microscope. I pulled up the contraption and placed a slide on it, peering into the lens.

"Oh," I muttered absentmindedly. "Mitosis." I began the mind numbing ritual of placing a slide onto the stage, looking at it briefly, taking it out, scribbling the phase of mitosis it was in. Start over. Very soon, I was bored.

The room was buzzing with the low chatter of students, which I was used to. Once I was done with my lab, I put everything back in place in the cupboards, and handed my sheet in to Mr. Banner.

"Well done," he muttered, as usual. I walked away without responding.

Once I got back to my seat, I permitted myself a little eavesdropping. I turned slightly towards Mike Newton and his partner, whoever that was. I had no clue.

"... the store, so business is slow, but I think I can worm some money out of my Dad if I need to..." Mike was saying hopefully. I gave up on that conversation at once, looking around the room for something more occupying.

I blinked in surprise. Was that Edward Cullen, talking to Bella Swan? Perish the thought. But he was - and he didn't even seem to be telling her off. I tried to listen in a bit more closely.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward was asking. I saw that they, too, were done the lab.

"Not really," she replied. I almost yelped in shock.

"You don't like the cold."

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live."

I was struggling to get over this last bit of information - she had moved to Forks, one of the gloomiest and wettest places on Earth, and yet she didn't like snow or rain? What was she thinking?

As a result of my jaw dropping to the floor, I missed some of the talk.

"I think I can keep up." Edward was saying.

"My mother got remarried."

Oh, was that it? She moved in with Chief Swan in reaction to her new step father?

I had to stop listening at that point, because I was working hard not to throw up.

No, it wasn't Bella Swan that made me so violently sick to the stomach - although she did come close, for some reason - it was the sudden and piercing stab in my head that did it to me. It had felt as though somebody shoved a white hot knife into my frontal lobe, twisted it, and then poured salt all over the gaping hole it left.

Despite this inexplicable pain, I managed to keep a fairly straight face for the rest of the class. I whimpered once or twice, but always when somebody was talking loudly, and I wouldn't be heard.

The bell went, allowing me to bolt out of class and head for the washroom as fast as my feet would carry me.

The pain hadn't stopped, not in the least. Actually, the stabbing had gotten fiercer, and I had severe double vision and vertigo.

Not for the first time, I ran headlong into a now familiarly solid somebody.

"Kaya!" Emmett exclaimed, sounding shocked and - no, it couldn't be - concerned. I stumbled, forcing myself to stay upright. "Kaya, what's wrong? What is it?" I felt his hands fly to my arms, holding me steady. I couldn't see him properly; he was nothing but a big, dark haired blur standing in front of me. "What happened to you?" he pressed.

I decided against shaking my head, and replied weakly, "Headache."

"You look like you're about to pass out!" I could hear curious murmuring all around me, but disregarded it. I really needed to get out of here, and fast. Something was burning in my gut. "Come on," Emmett said suddenly. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

I tried to protest, but the attempt was pathetic. "It's not that bad... just need some aspirin... or vicodin..."

But it was too late; he had scooped me up into his arms and hurried out of the school.

What would Dad say when he found out I had ended up in the ER... again?