Chapter 4 Major Disaster

"Exactly what happened at P.E class?" Sean asked after reading the information the nurse sent him.

That was exactly was Amy feared that Sean would react like this, and unfortunately for her it became true. Sean was acting overprotective again. She appreciated his concern but sometimes she felt he overreacted too much. She sometimes felt like telling him to take a chill pill, but that would make anger him more.

"We were playing volleyball and i got hit, that's all. It's no big deal." She said shrinking her shoulders.

"The school nurse doesn't seem to think that way if she sent me this information. " Sean said raising an eyebrow.

"She's just doing her job, common Sean. Please don't make a scandal of this, it's over. "

"If someone is bullying, you would tell me right?" He crossed his arms.

"Where is this coming from?" She asked confused.

"If this girl that hit you today is bullying you, I have all right to know. Is she bugging you?"

Amy sighed. There was no point in lying to Sean. When she was in fifth grade a boy called Kevin Adler once pushed her into a mud puddle and mocked her until he made her cry. The school called her aunt Beth but since Kevin insisted it was all an accident and apologized, he was not punished.

Amy had more "accidents" related to this boy for the following week, coming home with bruises in her legs and arms. And since their aunt would not care enough just like the school authorities Sean decided to handle it himself. He went to the school one day and grabbed the boy by his shirt warning him not to mess with his little sister again. Sean warned him that if he kept bullying Amy he would break his arm, also threatening that he would have more trouble if he told someone what happened. Before leaving he punched Kevin in the stomach. Kevin Adler never messed with her after that day.

This time was not different, Sean would never stop until he found the truth. Only that this time he wouldn't hit Jenna as it was a girl this time. Either way he would find out by asking at school, so she decided to tell him about Jenna Stone. She sometimes joked telling him he should have been a private investigator instead of an English teacher.

"Her name is Jenna Stone, she's pretty and popular. She's obnoxious but i have had no previous incidents with her before today. "

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Sean, I'm being totally honest here. "

Sean stared at her for a long while before answering.

"Fine, I believe you. But if something happens you have to talk to me, okay?"

"Sure, I will. " She nodded her head.

"I'll cook dinner today. Want lemon chicken piccata tonight?" He asked.

Sean was a great cook, he learned watching videos in YouTube when he was younger. He loved watching shows like "Hell's Kitchen", "Top Chef", and "Junior Master Chef" since he would always learn new recipes. With time he had become better and better.

"Of course, anything you want to prepare is fine for me." Amy answered with a huge smile on her face.

"That's the attitude. I'll call you when I'm done " Sean answered walking to the kitchen.

"Need some help? I can at least prepare the salad." She answered walking behind him.

Friday finally arrived and Amy waited with Dana and their other classmates their turn to get in the bus .When they grabbed their seat and Dana took out her earphones plugging them in her cellphone. The two of them were devoted fans of a singer called Ethan Larson, the winner from a tv show called " New Rising Star", it was their favorite contestant since the competition started. Dana had most of their songs in her phone since she was a bit more of a fan. After some minutes Dana spoke to her friend.

"Ethan has an upcoming tour, have you heard?" Dana asked.

"No, let's hope he comes here. " Amy said crossing her fingers.

"Same, we have to start saving since now. That way i will meet him and we'll fall in love." Dana answered in a dreamy voice.

" I love how positive you are. "

"Someday I'll be Mrs. Ethan Larson, you'll see. Just that he still doesn't knows it. "

"Be sure to invite me to the wedding. "Amy joked.

"Of course, you'll be my maid of honor. And Jonah will be your plus one, right? "

Amy felt her face blushing when listening to Jonah's name. She hated how every time she heard his name that happened to her. She covered her face with her hands hoping that effect happened soon. Jonah was seated in the back with his friends, so she felt relieved he couldn't see her face, or she would feel even more embarrassed from what she already felt.

"You didn't deny it, so I'll take that as a yes." Dana smiled.

"Lower your voice." Amy whispered.

"Ok."

Few minutes later all of were getting down the bus and getting to the Amphibians And Reptiles Laboratory. They were greeted by a blonde woman wearing a white robe  in her mid twenties.

"Hello, my name is Mary Anne and i shall be your guide today. You may follow me to where we have our animals used for testing."

" Can we enter to a lab?" a boy called Steven asked.

" Not enter but you may observe from a safe position how we do our experiments." She answered waving her hair.

Amy remembered reading how cruel were animal laboratories, and regretted coming.Maybe she should have watched the documentary instead. All the animals she saw were locked behind a glass, and all she could imagine was living that way all her life, and how sad it must be. She was against all animal cruelty.

All her other classmates seemed to be more comfortable watching the snakes, frogs, and the lizards, however there was another that catched her eye. On a side of the room, she saw chameleons and her feet moved her in that direction.

"Have you seen Mary Anne? I need to pee." Dana asked.

"You didn't go the bathroom at school?" Amy asked her.

"No, i had no need there. And i drank two cups of coffee before. "

" You really need to moderate yourself with caffeine."

"You know how moody I get when i don't have my coffee doses. I'll be right back." she said disappearing.

Amy kept admiring the chameleons. She learned that they had the ability to camouflage themselves, according to their feelings or due to psychological conditions like finding mate or encountering a rival. She remembered herself blushing at the bus and laughed a bit thinking she might as well be a chameleon too. She found them fascinating. Her thoughts were interrupted by someone unexpected.

"Hey Wilkes, I wanted to know how you are feeling after the PE incident the other day. " Jonah asked whispering in her ear.

She was a bit startled by him but decided to hide it. She had no wish to blush in front of him. It would be too obvious why her face was changing color. 

"I'm much better, thanks." She said with a shy smile.

"Good to know. Head injuries are not to be taken lightly. You know, it's a miracle I have not had a concussion hitting balls with my head."

"Are you not afraid of getting one during practices or a game?"

"I try not to headbutt a lot, sometimes i do it but more because of habit. It's hard not to do it. Can i ask you something?"

Before Jonah could ask all her classmates started screaming. She couldn't hear properly but she understood something about a scientist dropping some test tubes to the floor and causing a cloud of smoke.

Everyone started running outside scared. Jonah grabbed Amy's hand and rushed to the exit. In all that chaos she got pushed and fell to the floor, making her hand get separated with Jonah's. She tried to stand up but she couldn't because of all the people hitting her as they ran. Amy felt the smell of the gas, it smelled like bleach combined with detergent. She started feeling dizzy and tired, and tried to keep her eyes open, but she couldn't.

Before she passed out, she saw Jonah covering his nose with his t-shirt bending next to her calling her name and telling her to wake up. She made an effort to stay awake but as hard as she tried, she couldn't and closed her eyes.