Thursday was dragging by so slowly. I can no longer stand the freezing heat I was feeling on my skin. So cold it burns. It was like I was starting to get a fever. 

   That's when it happened...

    It was just an ordinary day mostly. But I felt stoned with a hint of the flu or something. My teacher looked at me funny when I kept dropping my pencil. He muttered something under his breath about my kind. 

   Okay, okay. I will admit. My high school years were not innocent. I was always that one loner girl. The one that hung out with the stoners. Skateboarding to school on my rad board. I looked like a female version of Bob Marley. And I skipped school a lot because of the nightly chases. 

   But back to boring Thursday at Cedarville High....

The nasty taste of blood was in my throat. I don't know why. When I finally gained control of my pencil to write my paper the fire alarm went off. The shrill disturbance ripped my brain apart and my body fell to the ground. I had no control. Was this a seizure? 

    I couldn't speak either which was scary as hell, because everyone was rushing out. No one saw me. Or heard me. I reached out as I felt every cell in my body grow hot and cold at the same time. All that escaped my mouth was a moan and I couldn't help but drool blood on the white floors. My teacher finally saw my writhing body and that's it. He just saw it and ran. 

  Why? 

  Let me tell you a little story. It sounds insane and a bit disturbed. But it happened. 

    My favorite feeling in the world was the winds that raced me on my skateboard when I flew down hills outside the city. This particular night, however, it was much more free feeling. I was with my buddies, Otis and Jacob. And we were, well,...not exactly free. 

   A small group of stray flea bags were chasing us. I think one was a pit bull. Their snarls were hot on our heels, but the city's lights were getting closer. 

   It was Jacob's fault this time. Tripping over a metal trashcan before escaping our raid on an abandoned building. The dogs came out of no where. 

   I was feeling a bit trippy and the guys laughed at my panic. Typical girl they may think.

   They weren't laughing after it happened.

   My wheels rolled over some rubbish in our path, and my skateboard flipped as my knee roughly skidded the ground. Otis yelled at Jacob to wait for me but he was too far off. 

   I jumped back on and swept off the dirt as I pushed against the gravel. I ignored the pain in my knee because the dogs were gaining on me. The one with the matted fur was closest. I motioned to Otis to go indicating I would catch up with him. But I wasn't fast enough. 

   I felt tiny daggers in my ankle and yelped. I kicked the mutt away and it fell limply behind. I let my board take control and take me straight into a parked car. The dogs backed off as its alarm blared. Otis and Jacob rushed to help me up from under the front of the car. 

   Blood was dripping off my converse sneakers as I hugged Otis's neck when he lifted me up. 

   I tried to convince them that I could walk but they were too focused on   getting me out of there before the cops came. Jacob retrieved my skateboard and we fled to an alley next to that one expensive clothing store that I had no interest in.

   Jacob wanted us to check into the hospital, but I refused for the sake of them. Cops would be on our tails soon, and if they knew Otis and Jacob was responsible for the disturbance, they'd be taken away. They both had run from the law since they were nine or ten. They dropped out of high school when I was a sophomore; I have known them since then. If it weren't for my parents I'd be just like them. And I'd be fine with that. With not a care in the world except for running from the police. 

    Back to the story of how it happened...

    We ended up hiding behind dumpsters till morning. My foot was in pain, but I still didn't want to go to the hospital. I didn't like that idea. But I had allowed Otis to wrap it in something. It stopped bleeding but I needed to clean it as soon as possible. It was disgusting. But I thought I'd be fine as long as I didn't limp in front of my parents. It would heal soon. It is just a bite. When Jacob examined it he scoffed that it was a pretty bad coming from a pup. But I didn't care. I would just have to keep it wrapped.

We got got to my house and the cops were in the driveway. I shooed Jacob and Otis away before anyone caught them. I softly limped to the porch where my parents rushed out to me. Here comes both the sympathy of mom and wrath of dad. I stood there like a statue and waited for the wave to hit me. I saw the classic stance of Dad- crossing his arms-  and Mom's frantic squabbling.Where have you been? We were so worried about you. Are you hurt? You're grounded from television unless you tell me what you have done! 

   But I remained silent until the ranting stopped. I didn't feel free then. I felt trapped. And the only thing I did was roll up my pant leg. Then I pointed to it. There was a large scrape embedded in a bruise on my knee.

   I got hit by a car. But I'm fine. 

  The police officers got done asking me questions of where I have been. Thank God. They believed my lies without a doubt. Just a normal teenager out with her friends after dark. Sitting still, however, was the hard part. My foot was still hurting. Obviously. It won't heal in a day.

   So why couldn't I go to the hospital? Or at least tell my parents about the bite?

   I really didn't have a clear answer, I guess. Naturally, I didn't wanna get in trouble. But I am sure I could have lied my way out of that situation, just like I did with the police.

   I sat on my bed, resting  my foot on my computer chair. I slowly unwrapped the reddish brown stained cloth and made a face at the crater in my foot. Not that bad...

   Did I mention that my middle name is Stupid-Head? Roxane Stupid-Head Harper. Has a ring to it.

  I leaned back against the wall that my bed aligned. I stared at my foot, not exactly knowing what to do. Health care was not my area of expertise. But I did remember that mom had a cabinet containing the first aid kit; I stood up to search it and see what I could find in there to help. It did not hurt much to walk, but the bite stung me and it was oozy. I mean, ignoring pain in my life was easy as I did it often.