Page 44 of Class Clown

I shook my head to clear it. The word tingle had started this entire problem and we needed to stop saying it. I stood, banging my knee on the wall across from the toilet, and stomped on the floor.

“What are you doing now?” he asked.

“Trying to see if sitting on the toilet was cutting off circulation.”

Silence.

Gasp. Did I just allude to the possibility that I’d been talking to him whileon, on the toilet? Oh heavens. I could fix this.

“I was using it as a seat, you know. Lid down, panties up.” Oh boy, why?? That was worse. It was getting worse. “Ignore that. Here’s what we know. My legs are purple and I’m acting slightly out of it. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll say this is normal behavior for me. Please feel free to go do your exercises.”

“Rubes . . .”

I slammed a palm on the door. “You cannot be calling me nicknames right now Dominic James Crawford.” I couldn’t handle the familiarity. I heard him step away from the door and I gratefully leaned my forehead against it. I sighed. I’d probably hurt his feelings. I was starting to think he had some. “I’m sorry. I’m not myself this morning.”

“You called me by my full name.”

“I mean business, and I’m confused.”

His answer was a low rumble that I barely heard. “I know how that feels.”

I turned to look in the mirror and wondered if I was finally losing my marbles, because I’d never before looked in the mirror and seen someone I didn’t recognize.

That night I called Hailey. Hailey had been raised in the world of psychiatrists and therapists and was the wisest and calmest member of the Thornback pack. I needed her to remind me that both feelings and purple legs are temporary.

I sat in Cole’s office, looking at Stalker Quinn out the window while itching at my legs. The itchiness was more concerning than the color. I hoped I wasn’t about to launch into a fit of hives. Did hives come on after two full days? I was a nurse. How did I not know this?

It was after curfew, and both Cole and Nico were back in the Funky Bunks cabin, which meant I would hopefully be uninterrupted. I was wearing my comfy, worn-out pajama pants and a silky t-shirt that did not match, but the slippers on my feet tied it all together.

Cole had called them rainbow alpacas, and Nico had asked if I was actually wearing them outside. When I’d told him that I often wore them grocery shopping, he’d looked so horrified that I’d actually wanted to hug him. Hug. Him.

Nico. The strange robot man. He was worming into my life.

“Ruby!” Hailey answered happily and I found myself smiling at the sound of her voice.

“Hi, lady.”

“I’m happy you called. What’s up?”

I could picture Hailey in her matching pajama set with her platinum blonde hair still looking like she’d recently done it, her blue eyes happy and serene. Being with Hailey was like walking into a garden spa. She exuded peace, but she had a wit that kept you on your toes.

“When did you first tingle with Ford?” I asked.

Hailey’s boyfriend, Ford, had been the parent of one of her former students and it had been anything but love at first sight – for him. Hailey, however, had nursed a small crush on him long before they actually met.

“Hmm. I tingled the first time I searched him online and saw his drop-dead gorgeous face,” she replied. “Why do you think I kept looking him up?”

I laughed. “He’s sitting there with you, isn’t he?”

She giggled. “Yeah. But my answer would be the same. I was drawn to him without knowing much at all.”

“So you’re saying it’s psychologically normal to tingle over someone you don’t actually have any kind of relationship with?”

“Sure. We’re hard wired to be attracted to people who we think are similar to us.” She paused and then her tone shifted into lightly teasing. “Proximity can play a big factor too. Please, please tell me we’re talking about Nico.”

“This feels like the right time to lie.”

She gave a little laugh. “There’s no room for lies in the Thornback group.”

---