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Post by Friday on Nov 14, 2009 1:55:18 GMT -5
All of us had packed our lunches like we did most days. I had packed my lunch everyday since I could pack my own lunch. I never ate schools’ cafeteria food. And according to the rest of the people sitting at my lunch table, it was better to stay away from this cafeteria’s food anyways. We all sat in our same spots we did every day and as soon I had gotten sat down and pulled my lunch out I felt Dakota’s hand on my thigh as he rested it there. He shot a glance at me out of the corner of his eye and gave me a smile, before he took a giant bite out of his overflowing peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “Hey y’all are still planning on donating blood tomorrow at the blood drive right?” Jason asked looking over at Dakota and me. I could tell by the way he was sitting that his hand was resting on Allison’s leg beneath the table just like Dakota’s was on mine. “Yeah, our time to go in is at two. Just in time to miss sociology,” I said with a grin. I hated sociology. I would do anything in my power to miss that class and donating blood was a perfect excuse. Every year the school held a blood drive, and while this would be my first time doing it at this school, I had done it twice since my seventeenth birthday the previous December. “Ok, good, that’s what I thought you said. I tried to get mine and Allison’s time to be then too, but the closet I could get was two fifteen,” he replied munching away on his own lunch. Finally getting a chance to pull out my ham and cheese sandwich I did so, biting into it eagerly. It had been a long time since breakfast that morning. It was fairly good for a plain ham and cheese sandwich, you couldn’t go wrong with just that. “We’ll be in there together than,” Dakota said jumping into the conversation with us. “And then after that we can just leave, maybe go out for some ice cream? Call it a double,” Dakota suggested to Jason and Allison, who looked at each other and shrugged. “Sounds good to us,” Allison said in her quiet voice, answering for both of them. They, like us, were working on there first official month of being together. But they had been good friends since middle school, when Jason, Dakota, Allen, and Allison had all met. Rachel and Katie had come from the other middle school in the district but had Rachel had made friends with Dakota fast, and was soon part of the group. When Katie and Cade got into high school, they were just kind of added on. And last was me, new member going on two months. “It’s a date then,” I said happily looking forward to our double ice cream date tomorrow. It was nice to have other couple friends, because it was awkward being the only person with a significant other, just as much, if not more, than being the only one without someone to be with. Lunch, as usual seemed to pass by too quickly. That thirty minutes wasn’t long enough to eat and talk with my friends like I would like to do. But I just had three more classes to endure, and one was with Dakota so I wasn’t complaining about that. As long as I could get through government, speech and sociology, I was free to do whatever I wanted with Dakota for the rest of the night. Government went by without incident. Mr. Tador lectured just like he always did, in his nasally voice that no matter what I did just put me to sleep. It probably didn’t help that government was probably my least favorite thing and I was always full and content with it being right after lunch. Speech however, was a completely different story. We always did something fun and the teacher, Ms. Weaver, was more of a friend than an actual teacher. Everyday we did something different, and everyday was something new. I knew everyone’s name in the class, and it didn’t matter what we were doing we always found a way to have fun. Everyone added a little something different to the class. For example, Rachel was considered the mother of the class, and I was considered the super genius, even though I never thought of myself as really being that smart.
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Post by Thursday on Nov 14, 2009 9:33:09 GMT -5
((Mr. Tador? Lol)
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Post by Friday on Nov 15, 2009 22:09:52 GMT -5
((Yeah I was making up shit trying not to use real names)
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Post by Friday on Nov 16, 2009 22:19:03 GMT -5
Sociology I couldn’t say anything good about. I was barely holding on to a B in there, and compared to my almost perfect grades in biology and calculus, that B wasn’t pretty. I couldn’t even say it was a good time to nap like government was. The only good thing about sociology was Dakota. And the more I think about it, we would have met even if we hadn’t been in that class together. So we endured Sociology together, and the crazy antics of Dr. Solon, who despite being a high school teacher, insisted on being called Doctor. She was probably the weirdest teacher I’ve ever met, to me she had not concept of what it meant to be a teacher. To me it felt like a college class. We barely had any assignments, and we just had tests. I swear that’s why I’m struggling in there. She laid out crazy scenarios, one time her pretending to be Matilda the rat, and that’s when I knew she was psycho and of course, that’s when Dakota agreed with me and when we really started talking and getting to know each other. Thankfully today, sociology was relatively painless. It didn’t hurt that I got to hold Dakota’s hand the entire class. He was left handed and I was right handed which was perfect for hand holding. So I sat on his right and held his right hand with my left, the whole time. I think it annoyed Dr. Solon, so that was just another reason to hold his hand. After class, Dakota and I walked hand and hand from class to our cars. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Dakota asked me as we hit the parking lot for the second time that day. “Well I don’t have to do anything, I don’t have any homework, and my dad is doing dinner with co-workers so I don’t have to get dinner together for him,” I replied as we made our was across the black top carefully avoiding the hundreds of crazy teenage drivers that were trying to get away from the high school. “You know Kasey, you don’t have to do all that for your dad, I mean I know you feel like you do, but he’s a big boy, he can take care of himself,” Dakota said squeezing my hand. He was constantly telling me that. He thought that while it was nice of me to take care of my dad like I did, that I was his daughter and not his wife or mother. He thought that he should take care of me, and not the other way around like it was. “So you’ve told me,” I said rolling my eyes. Dakota didn’t understand the relationship me and my dad shared, which why sometimes I wish we did more together, I was fine with the way things were. “Oh come on, don’t be upset with me,” he said pulling us in between our two cars where he pulled me into a hug. I gave him one tight squeeze before I pushed him away from me. “I’m not upset, alright?” I said trying not to get annoyed with him. I really wasn’t upset with him. But he thought I was upset with him a lot, which wasn’t the case at all. He cared about how I felt, maybe a little too much. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I liked that he cared how I felt. “Ok, ok, I’m sorry,” he said, and I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was slightly upset, which I had no intention of doing at all what so ever. “Don’t be upset, and don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything, you have nothing to be sorry for,” I told him pulling him into a hug that I had just pushed away from. I felt his arms pull around me, and I knew then that it would all be ok. “So what are we doing tonight?” He asked me again, changing the subject completely. “I figured we would hang out at your place tonight if that’s ok,” I suggested wanting something different from my house since we had been there all week. “That sounds good to me,” Dakota said, “besides, my parents have been asking when you were going to come back over all week.” I smiled when I heard that. It made me happy to know that his family liked me. I really enjoyed myself when I was there. They made me feel like I was part of the family, and that they really cared about me. And that meant a lot to me. I would have still liked Dakota even if his family didn’t, but their approval still meant a lot to me. “Well I’ve missed them too,” I said smiling at him. I glanced around the parking lot and was pleased to see that most of the cars and traffic had left the parking lot. “You ready to head out?” I asked as I started digging through my backpack to find my keys. It wasn’t long before I felt the purple carabiner in my fingers. I pulled them out I could hear their distinctive jingle before I closed my hand around them cutting off the noise. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said digging deep into the front pocket of his jeans to pull out his own keys. I gave him one last kiss for the road before he got into his old beat up silver Toyota Corolla. It had a big scratch along the passenger side from where he had run into his mailbox a couple years ago, or so he told me. I obviously hadn’t been around at that point to witness it myself. He waved at me through the window and I blew him a kiss back before following him out of the parking lot and down the road towards his house. It seemed to take a little longer than usual to make the trip from school to his house. It was probably because we got caught at every single red light between here and there and had to stop. It usually took about five minutes to get to his home on a normal day, however today it took us close to ten minutes. I didn’t mind getting caught at red lights though. It just meant more time to jam out to Avril Lavigne and to be cute with Dakota. At each read light I would pull my car up next to Dakota’s car and we made funny faces or hand gestures at each other through the windows. This made all the unnecessary stops very much worth it. I know we acted like kids sometimes, but Dakota and I made our lives, at least, fun. When we reached his house I pulled my car up behind his in the driveway and leaving my school stuff in the car, got out just as he was pulling his backpack out of his car. I hooked my keys onto my belt loop and slipped my phone into my back pocket before I made my over to his car, where he was waiting with his hand stretched out to me. I readily slipped my fingers into his and he lead the way up the front steps into his house.
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Post by Friday on Nov 16, 2009 22:19:40 GMT -5
As soon as he opened the door you could hear the booming bark of his Boxer, Rudy, and the click of his claws on the tile floor as he ran across the house to meet us. In seconds, the caramel colored dog was jumping up on Dakota. Rudy was probably the prettiest Boxer I had ever seen, with his body and ears being that beautiful caramel color brown with a white chest, face, legs and the very end of his tail. As soon as he was done loving on Dakota, he came over to me and head butted my legs. I willingly bent down to greet him, scratching him behind the ears. “Hey Rudy,” I said to the dog as he licked my other hand that wasn’t petting him. I had always wanted a dog, but my dad and I never really had the time to get one, much less take care of one. It didn’t help that we were constantly moving. When I was little I once had a black poodle mix, named Teddy. But we had moved and our new apartment didn’t allow dogs so I had reluctantly left him with out pervious neighbors who had been looking for a dog. “Dakota’s home!” A voice, which I knew belonged to Dakota’s mother, shouted from the kitchen. Moments later, the woman bustled through across the entrance way to the kitchen carrying a crock pot which I knew contained dinner for the family. She looked over at us as she passed and then she exclaimed, “Oh Kasey, you’re here today too, it’s so great to see you again.” I smiled when she said that. I loved the way they all made me feel like part of the family. “It’s good to be here,” I replied, genuinely happy to see Dakota’s family again. “Kasey?” A little voice asked and then four year old, little curly blonde Emma, stepped off the stairs and lit up when she saw me. “Kasey!” she said with more enthusiasm. She ran over to me and hugged me around my legs as I bent over slightly to hug her back. “Kasey play with Emma today, not Dakota,” she stated matter of factly smiling up me with the same hazel eyes that matched Dakota’s. “Is that what you think?” Dakota asked before he scooped her up in one arm and held her off the ground while he tickled her with the other. “Kasey play with Dakota,” he said and gave me a wink. “No! Stop!” Emma squealed giggling the whole time as she struggled to get out of Dakota’s grip. It however was a lost cause. I couldn’t get out of Dakota’s grip when he had me pinned and was tickling me. There was no way Emma was going to unless Dakota wanted to let her go. “Fine, fine. I’ll let you go for now,” Dakota said giving her one last poke before he sat her down carefully on her feet. She scrambled away from him and went into the living room and sat down in front of the TV. “Come on,” he said as we both kicked off our shoes at the front door. Then he grabbed my hand and led me up the stairs to his room. “Hey,” Dakota said as we passed his thirteen year-old brother, Caleb, in the upstairs game room. “Hey, what’s up? Hey Kase,” Caleb said as he quickly glanced up from the x-box game he was playing to greet us. While having the same brown colored hair as Dakota’s it wasn’t as straight as his, as Caleb’s hair had a slight curl more like Emma’s blonde locks. However, unlike his other two siblings, he had dark blue gray eyes that no one was really sure where they came from. I would have replied to Caleb, but by now, I knew from experience that he was too involved in his game to want to talk to us. He was in the eighth grade at the middle school, so got out of school slightly before we did, and since he rode the bus most days he would beat us home. We went into Dakota’s room and I immediately flopped down onto his bed, made up with his navy blue comforter. He sat his backpack down on the floor before he jumped on the bed next to me. We hung out in his room for about an hour and a half, just talking and messing around before his mom called us down stairs for dinner. As soon as she yelled up the stairwell, I heard Caleb scramble to turn off his x-box, and Emma drop her toys in her room and run down the stairs. Dakota and I followed more slowly as he pulled me up off his chair and took my hand leading me downstairs.
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Post by Friday on Nov 16, 2009 22:19:57 GMT -5
His dad was home now and sitting at the head of the table, with Caleb and Emma sitting on the right side of the table. Dakota sat at the other end of the table and I sat on the left side next to him, leaving a spot for his mom between me and his dad. “Hello Kasey,” his dad said, “It’s good to see you again.” “It’s nice to see you too,” I said with a smile. Just then his mom came into the room carrying a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs. She sat it in the middle of the table before she took her seat next to mine. “Ok, Mark, will you say the grace?” she asked, as she reached out to take one of his hands and then held the other out to me. I took it as Dakota grabbed my other hand, and I looked around the table at everyone holding hands. And in that moment I missed my mother more than I had in the sixteen years since she had been gone. We always prayed with her, and seeing the five of them all around me holding hands with eyes closed and head bowed it hit me hard. I stared hard at the white plate in front of me trying to fight the tears that were threatening to overwhelm me. I felt Dakota squeeze my hand and I glanced over at him, to see him looking back at me. “You ok?” he mouthed at me silently not making a sound. I swallowed and gave him a quick nod, but he still looked at me with his brow furrowed. He knew better than to think I was just fine. It had taken him maybe a week to really be able to read me like a book, and he knew my emotions like no one else did. “Oh heavenly Father...” I heard Dakota's dad start in the background and I shut my eyes, trying to block out one of the few memories of my mother. I didn't want to ruin dinner by turning into a leaky water faucet. It took work, but by the time he was done saying grace, I had myself under control and was able to open my eyes without fear of tears spilling over. “... Amen,” he finished. And everyone around the table, including myself echoed it together. Dakota squeezed my hand again and looked at me with a concerned expression still on his face. “Later,” I said quietly so that only he could hear my hushed voice. I smiled politely at Dakota's mom as she passed me the garlic bread, and salad bag before I helped myself to the proffered items. It was a nice dinner, and I enjoyed it throughly. Much more so than I ever enjoyed my own cooking. This was the first meal I had had in a while that I hadn't cooked myself, and it was nice to enjoy food without first having to make it. And not only did I not have to make it, but Dakota's mom was a good cook, so it was good food. They all talked over dinner, shared pleasantries, and how everyone's day had gone. I, for the most part, stayed quiet still contemplating what had brought about the sudden feeling of longing for my mother that I had barely known. I spoke when spoken to, but nothing beyond that. I was too distracted with my thoughts to really add to the dinner conversation. Maybe it was sitting next to Dakota's mom who always treated me like her own daughter. Or just the way they always ate as a family together. Or how they prayed, blessing there food so easily just as my mom had done before she left. After that day, my dad never said another prayer at dinner, never really found the emotion to care much. It had been so hard those first few years without her. And I honestly didn't know why she left, she hadn't told me that she was leaving, and my dad would never tel me if she had given him a reason or not. I had asked, but after a while of never getting an answer I just stopped, and gave up on ever knowing. Despite my wondering thoughts, I was able to hold it all in during dinner and not let anything out of my mind. I would be able to hold in until later when I knew Dakota would bug me about it, until I lost it and broke down in tears to tell him everything. That was how things seemed to work when something upset me. Sure enough, as soon as everyone had finished dinner Dakota and I helped clean off the table and put away the leftovers. But as soon as we were done with that, he pulled me upstairs to his room and shut the door behind us. “Hey what's wrong?” He asked as he sat down on the side of the bed and pulled me down to sit next him. I willingly sat next to him, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Nothing,” I told him leaning into him as I gathered his hand and held it in my lap in both f my hands. “Kasey.” “I'm fine now,” I said telling the truth. Because I was fine then, I hadn't been fine at the very beginning of dinner, but I was fine now. “Yeah, now,” he said giving me a look that said I know better than that. “What was wrong earlier? At dinner? Right before we started eating, you got that look on your face like something was wrong, almost like you were about to cry,” he said trying to pry whatever was bothering me out of me. “It's nothing,” I said trying not to outright lie to him. He knew that I didn't have a mom, but he didn't know that she left, I had never really felt the need to tell him, it was something I hadn't talked about with anyone except DeeAnn. “Kasey, it's obviously something. Please tell me,” he said looking at me with those pleading hazel eyes. “Look, Dakota, I'd really rather not talk about it. Alright?” I finally said after thinking about it for a minute. I wasn't ready to talk about her yet. I was hoping Dakota would understand that. He looked at me for a minute and then pursed his lips together and gave a tight nod. “Alright,” he finally said, “But I'm here for you Kasey. You can tell me anything, I hope you know that.” “I do know that Dakota, I do. I trust you,” I said trying to reassure him that that wasn't the reason why I didn't want to talk. He laid back on his bed so that he was resting on his back, and then he pulled me down on top of him so that my head was resting on his chest. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but I was comfortable and there wasn't a need to say anything at all. It was amazing to me that we could just sit there without saying a word, without ever needing to say a word. I think it said something about the way we could be together without having an awkward silence, that said we were meant to be. I couldn't tell you how long we stayed like that with my head on his chest, with his hands running through my hair. But it wasn't too long before his brother came knocking on the door. He pushed the door open without waiting for a reply, and just invited himself in. “Mom wants to know if you guys want to go play Rummikub with us,” Caleb said, standing next to the bed looking down at us. “You want to play?” Dakota asked looking down at me on his chest. I could tell by the way he asked I could tell he wanted to go down and play with them. “Yeah, we can go play,” I said actually slightly looking forward to playing a game with his family. We both got up and I followed the two boys down the stairs into the living room where his parents were already setting the game up. They greeted us happily and scooted around the coffee table we were going to play on. It wasn't long before I was completely involved in the game and I totally forgot about earlier, and missing my own mother. We played four games, and miraculously, I won all four rounds. It was a first for me, I almost never won anything. They all gave me a hard time, and his dad told me if I ever did that again I wasn't going to be allowed to come over. I knew they were all just joking though. When I left they all hugged me goodbye, and Dakota walked me out to do more than just give me a hug. When I got home close to eleven, my dad's car still was not in it's usual spot in the garage, and it didn't concern me too much. He usually stayed out late when he went to dinner with his co-workers. I didn't dilly dally around, I just went to bed, but didn't go to sleep. I laid awake staring at the ceiling thinking about memories that I hadn't tried to remember in a long time. Memories of a time when I had my family, and didn't just wish for one. I don't remember when I actually fell asleep, but my last thought was of my mother, tucking me in that last night, praying like she always did.
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Post by Friday on Nov 16, 2009 22:20:29 GMT -5
Chapter 4: The Blood of Life... Or Not
The next day went by in a blur. I was still in a strained mood from the night before, and even though I went to all my classes, I still couldn't find the attention, or the energy, to focus. I had tossed and turned all night, and I had waited forever to fall asleep. That wasn't like me, usually when I slept, I was out and nothing could wake me up. But as strange as last night was, I couldn't ever get comfortable, and I always felt like someone was watching me. I hadn't heard my dad come home, and when I got up and there was no sign of him even being there, I wondered if had come home at all. There was no breakfast dishes in the sink, the dishwasher hadn't been gotten into, his bed was still made up and looked like it hadn't been disturbed. I called his cell phone, but it went straight to his voicemail, which told me he hadn't charged it the night before. I had just sighed in frustration, and then left for school, telling myself to worry about it later.
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Post by Friday on Nov 17, 2009 2:25:57 GMT -5
he day went by in a blur. I spent the morning in the parking lot with Dakota as was are habit, and went to all my classes, but struggled to pay attention. Had lunch with the normal crowd, but just like all my morning classes, I really wasn't all the way there. Fortunately, Dakota, seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk, and left me alone about my mood for the most part. He only asked me once every time he saw if I was doing alright. Which was fairly good for him. My mind just wasn't with it on this Friday though. Maybe it was the emotional night before, or because it was the end of the week, I wasn't really sure. It was most probably a combination of both, mixed in with my lack of sleep the night before. For once I was actually happy when sociology came around though. Dakota and I walked in together, and handed Dr. Solon our passes saying we were going to give blood during her class. She frowned at us, pursing her lips together, making her all together, unattractiveness, just that much more unattractive. However, being her passive self, she let us go without saying anything. Just getting out of sociology for a day lifted my mood from the depressed state I had been in the entire day. Not only did I get to miss sociology though, I was being a hero. I was going to save someone's life by donating my blood. At least that was the theory anyways. Every time I went to donate blood I had to joke around and say that. I had the rarest blood type you could have, which was AB-. The only people that could use my blood were other people that had AB- blood. That was only five percent, of the world's population. So out of six billion people of the world's population, I could only save three hundred million people, as long as one of them needed it within forty two days, or six weeks, of me donating my blood. In any case, I would have blood saved up for me. That is if I needed in within six weeks. Which hopefully, I never would. “You doing alright?” I asked Dakota, as we sat in the line to get our blood drawn. There was three people in front of us, and Jason and Allison were in line right behind us. I did know, however, that Dakota was nervous when it came to needles. He wasn't afraid of them, but he certainly didn't like them. “Yeah, I'm fine,” he said looking over at me with a little smile and a wink. “Good,” I said beaming at him, and as soon as my face lit up his did too. All it took was a smile from me and he was smiling with his big grin. “You nervous? At all?” he asked resting his hand on my knee. I gave one small laugh before I answered him with a laugh still in my voice, “Nope, not one bit.” I was a blood donating veteran, while this was only Dakota's second time. “This doesn't bother me, not even a little bit,” I told him truthfully. I could watch them stick me and it didn't bother me even a little bit. I wasn't a squeamish person, and it took a lot to unsettle me even a little bit. “I don't understand how you can watch that,” Dakota said referring to what I had just been thinking. We had discussed the topic before when we had originally decided to give blood. “It fascinates me,” I said tracing his blue veins up his arm with my forefinger. You could see every line of his whether or not he had a tourniquet on his arm, and as I had pointed out to him several times, he had good veins. Looking at my own arm, you could hardly see the blue lines, much less actually feel them like you could his. I loved the way I could feel the pressure of the blood against my finger when I pressed on his veins. “I know,” he told me, as he watched me play with the veins on his hand and arms.
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Post by Friday on Nov 17, 2009 2:26:50 GMT -5
“Dakota Woods?” One of the technicians called from one of the tables that had been partitioned off to serve as the questioning area. Dakota stood up and gave me a kiss before he walked over to the lady, who very efficiently and professionally started asking him questions. “Kasey Parker?” Another voice, this one male called, from another partitioned table. I stood up and went over to him. “Kasey?” he asked again and when I nodded he continued, “My name is Anthony, I'll be helping get you all ready today. If you could have a seat here that would be great.” I obeyed and took the offered chair and was surprised to see another guy come up and sit next to Anthony and I. Anthony went through all the questions quickly in a bored voice, that told me he was tired of doing this like he had been all day. The other guy, who I later learned was named Dan, just watched and listened as we went through all the ridiculous questions, about diseases, and other countries I had been too, as well as whether or not I had had sex with a man, who had sex with another man before 1977. All were fairly ridiculous and I failed to see the relevance for most of them, that one most of all. Finally it was over, and they started taking my vital signs. I say they because Anthony and Dan both did everything on me. So I sat there with my arms outstretched in both directions as each one took my pulse. This puzzled me at first but they soon explained that Anthony was returning to a position he had filled years ago, and Dan was just there to watch him and make sure he did everything like he was supposed. I was glad to find that I was all good, and ready to give blood. My iron was high enough, my blood pressure spot on, my pulse good, and my temperature was fine as well. “Well, looks like you're all set to go,” Anthony said after he had finished explaining all the rules about after the donation and handed me over the paper with all my information. “If you'll go give you're paper to the lady standing right over there in the blue shirt, she will take care of you,” he said giving me a nod and a smile. “Thank you so much,” I said smiling back at him, before I went walked across the room to where the lady was standing. She was standing in between two of the six benches they had set up to have people lying on when they gave blood. She took my paper from my hand, and said, “Go ahead and lay down here, can we do your right arm?” “I've had it done from both,” I said looking down at both my arms where faint scars were visible from the previous times I had given blood. I knew from having it taken before that people generally preferred my left arm but I wasn't going to speak up. I looked over at Dakota who was still getting his vital signs taken. He gave all the smile he could with a thermometer in his mouth when he saw me looking at him. “Lay down here then,” the lady said pulling my attention away from Dakota. I did as I was told and pulled myself up onto the table. She handed me a blue ball to squeeze in my hand before she tightened the tourniquet around my right arm. She felt for my vein and marked it with a green sharpie and told me to lay down. As I started laying back onto the table, they brought Dakota over and put him on the table right next to mine. I couldn't talk to him though because we were facing away from each other, and with all the people moving around it would have made it hard to talk anyways. I watched as she swabbed the iodine across my arm where she was planning to stick me. She pulled the huge needle out of it's sterile pack, and I knew from talking to my dad that it was more than just a huge needle, the tip was actually a razor blade to help cut through the outer layer of skin. That was one problem with having a super medical parent. You picked up all these useless random facts that would get you no where in life. Or as my sophomore chemistry teacher always said, you could use them to impress people at a cocktail party. I had never been to one to try it out. “Can you look away please?” the lady asked, obviously impatient to get me over with. “Can I watch?” I asked in return, just to be nice, I was going to watch whether she said I could or not. The lady rolled her eyes at me and said, “Don't flinch.” She laid the needle against my arm and lined it up with her sharpie marks from earlier. Then she easily pushed it into my arm, causing only a slight sting. As soon as she unclamped the tubing leading from the needle to the blood bag blood rushed out of my arm. I watched in fascination as my dark red blood filled the tubing, and I could feel the warmth of the blood on my arm where tubing was resting on my skin.
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Post by Friday on Nov 17, 2009 2:28:08 GMT -5
She quickly took the required four test tubes needed of my blood to run tests on before she left me there on my own, squeezing the blue ball in my hand every five to ten seconds. I didn't know where she went as she walked away out of my line of sight behind me. “You doing alright?” Dakota asked, and while I couldn't see him I could hear his voice behind me. “Yeah, I'm doing good,” I replied, and as soon as I said that the machine that my blood was being weighed on started beeping, and it wouldn't stop. The only person I could see that was with the donation center, kept looking around and then would look back at me with a disgusted look on her face. I turned my head as much as I could without moving my arm, trying to look for the lady that had stuck me with no success. “Are you squeezing your hand?” the second lady that I could see asked, with a tone in her voice that told me she thought I wasn't doing what I had been told. Which was not the case, I was squeezing the ball more often than what I had been told. I also knew that it really didn't matter if you squeezed it more often than what they said. “Yes,” I said, trying to keep my patience, and just to prove a point I squeezed the ball in my hand still watching the lady, who I could already tell was going to be rude to me. She waited a few more seconds as the machine kept beeping. Finally, she sighed in disgust and came over and pressed a button on my machine. She stood over me and watched me for a few seconds, and then turned back to the person she had been working on before my machine had interrupted her. As soon as she had picked up the paperwork for the girl she had been working on my machine started beeping again. I stared down at the machine and then back at my arm, trying to figure out what was going on. The rude lady sighed in frustration again and sat the paper back down before she came back over to me. Without a warning she grabbed the needle and moved it in my arm, and it was all I could do to keep from pulling away from her. I clenched both hands and closed my eyes shut tight. However it didn't take away the feeling of the the needle moving in my arm like it still was. She stopped moving the needle, and the machine stopped being. She watched it for a few more seconds, and just like before the machine started beeping with more intensity this time it seemed. Just like before she pulled at the needle adjusting where it sat in my arm. I kept my eye shut tight and my fists balled up while she moved the needle again. It hurt and it was just a weird feeling, having the needle move under my skin. Finally she gave up, for which I was very thankful for. I gave a sigh of relief when she placed a piece of gauze over the needle. She grasped the needle, and slid the protective covering over it and the needle out of my arm. When she pulled the blue cap away I saw blood on the end, and that's when I felt the blood trickle down my arm. I quickly pressed the gauze over the spot and raised my arm straight into the air. I heard Dakota take in a breathe behind me, and that's when I looked over at the lab aid, who was wiping blood, that could only have been mine, off the floor and and edge of the table. “Wow,” I said to myself impressed with how much blood had gone everywhere. She however was not impressed as I could easily tell as she cleaned it up and took what little blood they had gotten from me away. She came back to me and hen impatience was clear on her face and in her voice as she talked. “You're blood was starting to clot, and there was skin in the needle tip when I pulled it out, so you're blood wasn't flowing fast enough. But we didn't get enough blood to say we can't try again, if you wanted to try on the other arm,” she said reluctantly as she wrapped my arm in gauze and tape, and I could tell by the tone in her voice that she really had no interest in trying to get my blood, but I wanted to try again. “Can we try again?” I asked, trying not to sound like an annoying kid. “Yeah, move over to this side though,” she said as she moved my paper work to a different table. I hopped off the table easily, and walked over to the other one she had indicated. From this one I could see Dakota and talk to him easily. “Are you ok, Kasey?” he asked and I could hear the concern in his voice as he watched me with his hazel eyes. “Yeah, I'm ok,” I said making a face at him. It really had not been comfortable with her digging around in my arm with the needle but it hadn't been too bad. “Blood went every where,” he said with a tone that said he had been impressed just like I had been. “I know,” I said actually smiling, and before I could add anything else, the rude lady came back and strapped the tourniquet on my left arm, and I automatically started squeezing the ball that I had moved into that hand. She felt along the crook of my elbow for the veins, and she shook her head in a disapproving manner. “Why didn't we use this one in the first place,” she said with an annoyed tone stating it rather the phrasing it as a question. I just shrugged knowing she really wasn't looking for an answer.
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Post by Friday on Nov 17, 2009 2:28:43 GMT -5
Once again I was prepped to be stuck, and I hoped that this time that I wouldn't have to feel like a human pin cushion. She aimed her needle along my vein and pushed it through my skin. Then she reached down and unclamped the tubing, and I waited for the feel of the warm blood running through it down my arm. But it never came. I looked at the empty tubing with dread, and just like before, without saying a word, the lady grabbed the needle and started digging it around. I looked away again, trying to wait for the feeling of warmth down my arm, that would mean she had found one of my many veins. She stopped and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Kathy, can you come find her vein?” I heard her ask, before I could say anything to stop her. Another lady came over, and fortunately, she looked less frustrated and annoyed than the lady who had just stuck me did. Kathy came over, and I read on her name badge that she was the supervisor of the donation. I felt her cool fingers on my arm, finding the needle which was still inside me, and looking for my veins. And then again without warning, the needle started moving around again, and I took in a deep breathe of air. I could help but look at the needle that was being manipulated beneath my skin and when I did I instantly regretted it seeing the whole almost three inches needle disappear into my arm. “I can see where they stuck you before,” Kathy was saying, “but I just can't get my needle up there. And I knew why, it was because my stick that day was far away from where I had been ever stuck before. I gritted my teeth and held my breath until she let go of the needle, and let the rude lady come back and take over. “I'm sorry, but I can't get it,” Kathy said before she left my side and returned to another student. The rude lady pulled the second needle out and this time I didn't bleed so much. She quickly wrapped my left arm up to match my right and then she handed me my post-donation form and sent me on my way. I could tell though by how my arms ached that they would both be bruised tomorrow. I looked over to Dakota, who had just been stuck. His bag was filling up quickly, and I envied him. “I'll wait for you in the hall,” I said quickly just wanting to get out of here and away from these people. He nodded, and as soon as I got that acknowledgment, I grabbed my bag and walked out the doors.
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Post by Friday on Nov 17, 2009 2:29:18 GMT -5
I didn't go far down the hallway, before I leaned against the wall and slid down it so that I was sitting on the floor. It was awkward having both my arms bandaged around my elbow, and they both hurt. My previous donations had never been this bad, and I could of told you right then that was the first, and last, time I would ever go through that company to give blood. I looked down at my arms and frowned. I could already see a bruise start to show up on my right arm above where the bandage covered. Five minutes later, Dakota walked out of the doors, and I saw him look around for me, and smile when he spotted me waiting on the floor. He walked over to me, with his one bandaged arm and instead of sitting down next to me, he easily picked me up and placed me on my feet. “Are you ok Kasey? I felt so bad when I saw them moving that needle around like that,” Dakota said as he bent down and placed a kiss over both bandages. “I'm alright now,” I said with a slight shrug as I gently pressed my fingers against my left arm. I winced when I felt the tenderness of it. “Everyone in there was impressed with me, I filled my bag in four minutes,” Dakota said with a note of pride in his voice and I could see him noticeably change his stance so that his chest puffed out slightly. “Although, it hurt a lot when she pulled it out, I almost wanted to scream,” he admitted taking one of my hands and heading down the hallway. “At least they didn't dig around in your arm with a needle,” I said rolling my eyes slightly, at the nonsense of it all. “It's ok, I'll take care of you Kasey,” he said and gave me a big hug. “Kiss it make it better?” I asked in a childish voice stopping in my tracks to hold my tow arms out to him. He smiled before he gently grabbed my arms and then pressed his lips to my bandages, one at a time. “Always, angel, is that better?” “Much,” I replied, then I nodded and smiled his kisses actually banishing some of the ache in my arms. I knew it was just a mental thing, but it did the trick. After that brief stop, when continued down the hallway and out the doors of the school, walking hand in hand with out matching bandages arms.
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Post by Friday on Nov 18, 2009 0:10:14 GMT -5
Chapter 5: The New Woman
When I pulled into the driveway, with Dakota pulling in behind me, I was shocked to see my dad’s navy blue Jeep Cherokee in the garage. I was slow getting my stuff out of the car, as I stared at the vehicle with confusion. My dad was never home this early. I was still staring at the Jeep when Dakota came up behind me. “Looks like your dad is home,” he said wrapping an arm around my waist. “Yeah, I know,” I said not taking my eyes off the car, still really not believing that it was there. It was only four o’clock. The earliest he ever got home after work was around six. “Well, let’s go in and see the old man, not just stand out here staring at the car,” Dakota said with a grin, letting me that he was just being funny and not really being serious. I kind of shook my head, and then with a shrug, I headed inside the house through the front door. Sure enough my dad was home, and I found him standing in the kitchen frowning slightly at a box of some type of food. He looked up when he heard us, and smiled, and I could almost see the relief on his face. “Hey kids, how are you both doing?” He asked as he sat the box down on the charcoal gray granite counter, of what I could now see was preprepared mashed potatoes. “Doing good,” I said as I took my backpack off my shoulder and step it on the bottom step. I still found it amusing that despite the fact that I was almost eighteen my dad still called me a kid. “What are you doing home so early?” I asked, and when I did I realized this was the first time this week that I had seen him actually. Dakota placed his bag with mine, and stood by my side holding my hand but not adding anything to the conversation. “Well actually, Kasey, come sit with me, we need to talk,” he said as he moved to the dining room table. “Dakota, you are welcome to come hear this too,” he added as he pulled out a chair for himself and took a seat. Dakota and I moved to the table and he pulled me out a chair across from my dad, before he took a seat next to me. “What did you want to talk about?” I asked slightly nervous to hear what the answer would be. My dad never wanted to sit down and have a real heart to heart conversation with me. “Actually, we will be having someone coming over tonight,” my dad said as he reached a hand up to scratch the back of his head. His eyes looked every which way, but didn't meet my eyes. “Company?” I asked narrowing my eyes at him, suspicious about the way he wouldn't look at me, and how he was avoiding talking about whatever it was he was trying to say. “Yeah, it's just a person I met a work,” he said now fiddling with the table cloth, and concentrating very hard on his hands that were smoothing out nonexistent wrinkles in the red fabric. “Person?” I asked, probing more with my one word answers. Dakota squeezed my hand, and I looked over at him, and he gave me that look that said be nice. We both knew what my dad was talking about. “Yes,” my dad said and I could see him straighten up in his chair as he found the resolve to actually tell me. “Kasey, I've met a woman. I ran into her at the hospital one day, and well, frankly, we are a bit more than just friends. I asked her over to dinner tonight so that you could finally meet her. I want to know what you think, you and Dakota both,” he said, finally acknowledging the two of us. I just looked at him for a minute slightly surprised. I had known it was coming but knowing it and hearing it are two very different things. I've known for years, that my dad had to be going out on dates and seeing other women. But in all the almost fourteen years since my mom had left, he had never introduced me to one, and he had certainly never brought one home. “Wow,” I said, not being able to find the words to say anything else. This mystery lady had obviously been around for a while, and was also, apparently, extremely close to my father. “I know,” my dad said letting out a breath now that he had gotten it out. “I know I haven't done this before, but I think you'll like her. I'm sorry this is so sudden sweetheart,” he apologized looking at me with his light brown eyes. I could tell this was a serious matter to him. “No, no, I understand, just surprised is all,” I said truthfully, I took my own steadying breath as I tried to absorb it all.
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Post by Friday on Nov 18, 2009 0:10:32 GMT -5
“Kasey?” he said and I could hear the question in his voice. “Can you do something else for me?” “What is is?” I asked raising my eyebrow, slightly curious as to what he wanted me to do. “Can you make dinner?” he asked, and I could see the helpless look on his face. My dad was completely lost when it came to doing anything in the kitchen beyond the most basic of things. I laughed a little at that. “Of course,” I said with a smile, slightly relieved that he had given me control of dinner. “What did you want me to make?” The very air in the room lightened as the tension was released with the change of subject. I welcomed the more comfortable feeling, and I was looking forward to be getting into the kitchen where I could actually work, and think the whole situation through. “Well I thought maybe steaks, mashed potatoes, some other vegetable maybe, and brownies for desert?” He said phrasing it as a question, but I could tell by the way he said it and the way he knew exactly what he wanted that there was not going to be any changing of the menu. I thought about it for a minute before I answered. I could make real mashed potatoes. I wouldn't used the fake boxed crap he was obviously planning on making. Another vegetable was easy, I could use canned corn or green beans. I know we had brownie mix in the pantry, and while I didn't know how to cook a steak, I know Dakota did. “Yes, we can do that,” I said getting slightly excited about making a nice dinner. My dad sighed in relief as when I confirmed that I was going to be able to put together everything that he had planned. That was obviously worrying him more than actually bringing this mysterious women home with him. “What time is she going to be here?” I asked already starting to formulate just how I was going to get dinner made for four. “Around eight,” he said checking his own watch. “Since you have dinner under control, I'm going to run to the store. Is that alright with you Kasey May?” he asked as he started to push away from the table. “Yes, that's perfectly fine,” I said agreeing eagerly. If he was out of the house, that meant he was out of the way, and wouldn't bother me in the kitchen. I stood up out of my own chair, and Dakota followed suit. “Good,” he let out with a sigh, and I knew he was just as eager to be away from the kitchen as I was to have him out. He immediately went to the key rack and pulled off his keys as he opened the door leading to the garage. “Thank you, Kasey. You kids be good,” he said as he pulled the door shut behind him. I heard his Jeep start up in the garage and heard the brakes squeal as he backed out. I turned to Dakota and looked at him and said, “Come on, we've got work to do.” Dakota looked at me with wide eyes, he had obviously not been planning that he was going to be helping me. But I had other plans for him.
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Post by Friday on Nov 20, 2009 0:06:07 GMT -5
By seven thirty everything was almost done. Dakota was finishing cooking the steaks on the grill and I was waiting on the brownies in the oven to finish. My dad had returned to the store with a bouquet of red roses which he put in a vase in the center of the dining room table. After that he went to shower and shave before his girlfriend got there. I had changed into a pair of jeans that wasn't torn up at the knees and a nicer looking blue shirt than the t-shirt I had on. I sat down at the kitchen table and took a deep breath. We had worked hard to get dinner ready in time. The steaks are what was worrying me. Yes my dad had them thawed out, but he hadn't bothered to marinade them or anything else. So they got a quick marinade for as long as I could let them and still have them ready for dinner. Not only did I have to worry about the food though, the house wasn't guest material either. While it hadn't been dirty, it did need some work so I had cleared off counters and washed all the dishes used to make dinner as I was done using them. And now looking around at the living room and kitchen from where I was sitting at the dining room table, I hadn't done that bad with just three hours that I had. Before I could sit down too long, and have a break though, Dakota came in through the back door juggling the cooked steaks in one hand and the door, and bag still of marinade in the other. “Oh!” I exclaimed jumping up to help him. “You should have come and got me I would have helped,” I said as I took the steaks out of him and carried them to the kitchen where I sat them on the counter. “Nah,” Dakota replied as he dumped out the extra marinade and threw the bag into the trash. “You looked like you needed a break, I had it under control.” he said and then flashed me a smile. He knew how much work I had done, mainly because I had made him do a lot too. I gave him a grateful smile of relief thankful that he had been there to help me get everything ready. “Thank you, love,” I said and gave him a hug and relaxed into his arms around me. “No problem, Kasey. Now come on, the brownies have fifteen minutes left, and you need to sit down and rest for a few minutes,” he said as he locked his fingers into mine and pulled me into the living room and sat me down next to him on the couch. I curled up under his arm and laid my head on his chest, fitting perfectly next to him. “What would I do without you?” I asked already relaxed and less stressed just being able to sit down and be with him. “Well, you probably wouldn't have had steaks tonight,” he confessed with a chuckle that I could feel rumble deep in his chest. “Probably,” I said through a yawn. I wasn't tired, but I was worn out, and just needed to relax for a bit. A strand of hair fell into my face and I reached up and pushed it out of the way. I hadn't been sitting with Dakota too long when the front door bell rang. As soon as the bell rang, my dad, who had been upstairs since he had gotten back home, appeared at the top of the stairs. “I've got it,” he called to me as he trotted down the stairs quickly. I sighed as he reached the door and stood up. I smoothed out my shirt and followed my dad to the door just as he was opening it.
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