CHAPTER 8

MYRA

Common ground

RON BEECHMAN WAS waiting for me when I got to class Wednesday. He watched while I settled into my seat and pulled out my notebook, an air of contained excitement in his manner. When I could bear the attention no more, I looked over at him and offered a hesitant smile.

"Did you have something to say to me?"

In response, he pushed his own notebook closer to me and opened it to reveal a pencil sketch of what looked like a dragon. It was rough and messy, but I could definitely see he had some talent as an artist.

"Did you just do that?" I asked, leaning over for a better look.

In response, he flipped the page to show me another drawing, then proceeded to page through several, some incomplete, others more polished than the dragon. All were of fantasy creatures. "It's kind of a hobby of mine," he replied. "I'm nowhere near as good as you, but I've been doing it since I was a kid."

I accepted the notebook from him and leafed through the sketches. "I had no idea," I murmured, looking up at him. I was surprised to see he actually blushed.

"It's no big deal," he said, taking the notebook back. "Like I said, it's just something I do when I'm messing around."

"Have you ever thought about writing a graphic novel?"

He shrugged. "I can draw the pictures, but I'm no good at writing."

"You could team up with someone to do the writing." I stopped short of offering. While I wrote stories, they were more gothic love tales. Nothing that would fit these drawings.

He closed the notebook and smiled at me. "Let's just keep this between us, okay?"

"Okay." I wasn't sure why he wouldn't want his ability known, but it wasn't up to me to advertise it. Still, the fact that he had shared it with me made me feel special.

"Did you finish the book?" he asked as Mr. Edmonds made his way into the class and looked around at the students, waiting for their attention.

"Yes," I whispered, not wanting to draw the young professor's eye.

"All right," Mr. Edmonds announced. "I'm going to assume you've all finished Madame Bovary , so pull out your pens and paper and write me a one-page essay on how this is a study in neurosis." A collective rumble of dissent went up from the class. "There are no right or wrong answers here, but whatever theory you present, I expect you to provide a valid argument to back it up."

One of the girls in the front of the class raised her hand. "Yes, Ms. Wall?"

"Is this open book?"

"I suppose I can allow that. At this point no amount of cheating is going to make up for not reading the material."

I chewed on the end of my pen for a few minutes while I considered my approach to the topic. Beside me, Ron shook his head and muttered under his breath, "I'm destined to fail this class."

When the words finally started coming, I quickly filled a page with no problem. I was just polishing off my conclusion when Mr. Edmonds called for everyone's attention. "Because I'm sure none of you have finished this, I'm giving you a reprieve, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't want to decipher your handwriting. Finish your essay and type it up and hand it in on Friday. I expect at least a page, more if that's what you need. Remember, back up your statements."

"I guess he really does have a heart," Ron said to me as we filed out of the classroom.

"How far did you get?" I asked.

"Two sentences. Guess I should finish the book, huh?"

"That would probably help."

"You wouldn't want to summarize it for me, would you?"

I laughed. "Read the book. Who knows, you might enjoy it."

"I doubt that."

We were navigating the stream in the hallway. "Why did you take this class if you don't like to read?"

"Who says I don't like to read?" He grinned at me. "Truth is, I needed a literature credit and this was better than Shakespeare. Besides, I had heard that Edmonds was a fair teacher."

"The syllabus includes eight books," I pointed out. "At some point, you're going to have to read them."

"True. But the next one is Frankenstein . That's science fiction, right?"

We had arrived at the end of the hall. "I'm upstairs from here," he announced. "Thanks for not laughing at my drawings."

"Are you kidding? They were great."

"You really think so?"

"You've got talent yourself, Ron."

"That means a lot, coming from you. I gotta go. See you later."

He dashed up the stairs, leaving me staring after him. See you later? What did he mean by that?

? ? ?

"Did you talk to Ron today?' Kristin asked.

We were seated at a table in the cafeteria with some of Kristin's friends. I had a psychology class in thirty minutes and since this was the only break in my schedule today, I had ducked into the cafeteria for a quick bite when Kristin waved me over. I recognized one of the girls, Celine, from the bar last week but the other two were unknown to me until Kristin introduced them. I noticed Lisa was absent and wondered if she had recovered from yesterday.

"We sit next to each other, so yeah," I replied to Kristin's question

"Who are you talking about?" Celine asked .

"Ron Beechman," Kristin said. "He likes her art."

"Are you an artist?" one of the other girls, Carly, asked.

"Not really. I–"

"You could do worse than Ron Beechman," Celine interrupted.

"I'm not really interested in him," I insisted.

"Why not? He's fine."

"That he is," Carly agreed. "Didn't you go out with him last year?" she asked Kristin.

"Once."

"What happened?"

I tuned the conversation out, intent on finishing my lunch and getting to class. While I was flattered that Ron had trusted me enough to show me his art, I didn't read any further meaning into the gesture. I certainly didn't see anything romantic coming out of it, though the fact that these girls even considered the possibility gave me a momentary boost in confidence. What would a guy like Ron want with someone like me? He could probably have his pick of any girl at the school.

I finished my sandwich and promised my roommate I'd catch up with her later before heading out of the cafeteria. I was taking a shortcut across the grass when I noticed a girl sitting alone on one of the benches. It wasn't until I was almost on top of her that I realized it was Lisa, though I barely recognized her. She wore no make-up and looked pale and drawn, her hair hanging uncombed around her shoulders. I had just enough time to make it to class, and started to walk past, but something in the other girl's eyes stopped me.

"Are you all right?' I asked her.

Lisa looked up at me as though I was a stranger. She nodded and continued to stare straight ahead .

"Do you need me to call anyone?" I didn't know who I would call, but I felt compelled to ask.

"No. I'm fine."

"Okay." I glanced at my watch; I didn't want to be late for class. On the way I pulled out my phone and texted Kristin.

Myra: Lisa is sitting alone in the quad. Looks upset.

That was as much as I could do. Hopefully Kristin would be able to find out what was wrong with her. The demands of class pushed the encounter out of my mind until I got back to the dorm that afternoon and ran into Kristin, who was just leaving.

"Where are you off to?"

"The clinic."

I looked her over. "Are you sick?"

"No, it's Lisa. After you texted me I went outside to find her. She was practically passed out on the bench. When I couldn't get her up I called campus security and they took her to the clinic."

"Oh my god. Is she all right?"

"Not sure. The nurse said her blood pressure is dangerously low. They're talking about transferring her to the hospital in town. I'm on my way back over there to see how she is."

"I'll come with you," I said, dropping my books on my bed and following Kristin out the door. I felt bad now about not stopping to help the other girl, though I was glad I'd at least texted Kristin.

We made our way across campus to the Administration building where the small clinic was located. When we got there Celine was standing outside alongside Renee, the other girl from the bar Friday night.

"How is she?" Kristin asked.

"They called the doctor in," Celine replied. "He's examining her right now." She looked up at me. "What was she doing when you found her?"

"She was just sitting there staring off into space. I asked her if she was all right and she said yes, but I didn't like the way she looked. That's why I texted Kristin."

"It's a good thing you did," Renee said. "The nurse said she looks like she's lost a lot of blood, but other than a bug bite on her neck she couldn't find any wounds and Lisa didn't remember getting hurt, though she's kind of out of it. The nurse was concerned she may be bleeding internally, which is why she called the doctor."

I recalled Lisa's reaction in the library and how she had grabbed for her neck. "You say a bug bite?"

"That's what it looked like," Renee shrugged. "Nothing special. Certainly nothing to cause this."

"There are some dangerous bugs," I allowed. "Like some spiders that bite."

Celine visibly shuddered. "That just creeps me out. You think there are spiders like that here?"

"I'm sure whatever it is the doctor will figure it out," I was quick to assure her.

We waited in silence after that until the door finally opened and the doctor appeared, talking to the nurse. "I'll have a bed prepared for when she gets there." He looked up at us and gave a sober nod before heading off down the hall. Everyone turned to the nurse.

"How is she?" Kristin asked .

"They're sending an ambulance to take her to the hospital for treatment."

"What kind of treatment? How long will she be in there?"

"It depends on how she responds. The doctor wants to keep an eye on her right now."

"Does he know what caused it?" Celine asked.

"He has to run some tests. She'll be in good hands, girls."

"Can we see her?" Renee asked.

The nurse glanced back inside the examining room and sighed. "Just for a minute. The doctor wants her to rest."

We crowded into the small room and looked down at Lisa lying on the cot, her complexion nearly as white as the sheet. She was barely conscious, but she managed a half-hearted smile at us.

"If you need anything, we're right here," Kristin assured her.

She nodded and sighed before her eyelids fluttered shut.

"Okay, girls, that's enough," the nurse said. "I'll get all the information on her room number and condition from the hospital so you can visit her there."

"Thanks, Ms. Adkins," Kristin said as we all filed out of the room.

We were just leaving the Administration building when Ron ran up with two other guys I recognized as part of Kristin's friend circle. The blond one I knew as Jack, and thought the brown-haired one with the amazing gray-green eyes was Toby. I had seen him with Lisa around campus and wondered if they were an item.

"We just heard," Toby said. "Is she all right? "

Kristin repeated what the nurse had told us, including the part about getting the hospital information. "There's really nothing we can do until Ms. Adkins hears back."

As we were standing there the ambulance arrived and two attendants got out with a stretcher and headed past us back into the building. Toby watched them worriedly until Kristin stepped up and put a hand on his arm.

"She'll be all right."

He looked down at her and nodded. "I hope so. She…she means a lot to me."

We waited outside until the attendants reappeared wheeling an unconscious Lisa on the stretcher and loaded her in the ambulance.

"I'm going to the hospital," Toby announced, pulling out his keys.

"I'll go with you," Jack offered.

"That's okay. They probably don't want a bunch of us hanging around there. I'll call you when I know something."

He trotted off across campus toward the parking lot while the rest of us watched. Someone mentioned food and it was decided we would go to the cafeteria to grab dinner.

Ron fell into step beside me, surprising me. "I heard you found her."

I wondered how he knew that. Had Kristin called everyone? "I saw her sitting on the bench and texted Kristin. She didn't look right."

"Lisa is usually so…vivacious. She's the last person I'd expect to see in the clinic."

I didn't know what to say to that so I merely nodded and followed the others to the cafeteria, where we ate a subdued dinner before wandering back to our dorms. Everyone promised to keep each other informed if they heard anything else about Lisa.

"I think Ron likes you," Kristin remarked when we got back to our room.

I snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"He sat next to you and didn't take his eyes off you all through dinner."

While it was true he had sat next to me at the table, I didn't think anything of it. I certainly hadn't noticed him watching me.

"I think you're reading too much into things," I said as I pulled out my books and prepared to dig into my psychology homework.

Kristin grinned. "I don't know. He sure seemed attentive to you."

No, that was impossible, I told myself. He was just being nice because he'd shown me his art.