Page 2 of Missed Notes (Rixon High 5)

“Yeah, well I’m done keeping your secret.”

Ice blazed in her eyes, and I knew what she was thinking—that I’d betrayed her. Chosen Aaron instead of her.

But it wasn’t that at all.

I cared about her, and it was obvious that something was wrong.

And I wasn’t going to stand around and pretend everything was fine—that Sofia was fine—when she clearly wasn’t.

Even if she hated me for it.

CHAPTERONE

Sofia

“How do you feel?”Mom asked me as we sat in the hospital waiting for Dr. Peters to call me in.

“Honestly, you guys, I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile I knew didn’t reach my eyes.

Mom and Dad didn’t buy it.

They didn’t buy it at all.

Probably thanks to my brother Aaron’s unnecessary fussing after I fainted again in front of him and all our friends a few days ago.

I’d been doing that a lot lately. Fainting. Checking out for a few brief seconds thanks to my low iron levels.

The doctor said it was anemia. But as I sat there staring at the whitewash wall while my parents watched me with worry in their eyes, I knew something was wrong. The way you could feel a storm brewing on the horizon, that slight change in the air.

Something was coming.

Something bad.

“Well, better safe than sorry,” Mom said, upbeat and full of hope.

“You know, sweetheart,” Dad added. “You should have told us sooner. We could have—”

“Ash,” Mom cut him off. “We’re here now. Dr. Peters will get our girl fixed. She might need a blood transfusion or maybe…”

I tuned them out.

Mom wasn’t a doctor, the same way I wasn’t a doctor or Google wasn’t. It had been tempting to research my symptoms, to study the lists of possible conditions, but everyone knew that usually resulted in mass panic with the amount of scary possibilities.

No, it was better to get a professional medical opinion.

Except, I already knew.

Deep down in my soul, I knew something was wrong with me.

Of course, I hadn’t told anyone. I didn’t want them to worry or fuss or suffocate me. It was senior year. I had my whole life ahead of me.

Except, what if I didn’t…?

I shook those thoughts away.

It was no use borrowing tomorrow’s problems.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I dug it out, hardly surprised to see Aaron’s name there.

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