Andromeda

Chapter Four

Several weeks had gone by since the first day of the new school year in Meadowvale, and Anna believed she was settling in well. Much of the stress and anxiety she brought with her that first day had been all but relieved, and her parents were proud to see her excelling so well in her classes. She struggled a little in her humanities classes, but she proved impeccable in courses such as biology and especially Algebra; in fact, she was performing so exceptionally in Algebra that she was promptly moved up to Calculus, but not even that was able to slow her down. She was learning almost as fast as her instructors could teach, and it was not long before she became something of a hero among her classmates who suffered a bit more at the subject and were constantly asking her for help. She had to admit that it was getting annoying to have the other kids approaching her the minute they did not understand something, but if there was one upside to it all, it had to be that she was in the same Calculus class as Tamara Summers and Jason Zimmerman, and it was killing Tamara to see Anna getting so much praise and attention, especially from Jason.

Today, Anna was taking her first Calculus test. The classroom was silent, except for the constant scratching of pencils on paper. She dove right into her test the second it was dropped on her desk. She did not know what it was, but something about staring down at those complex equations of letters and numbers was so enticing. She could almost see them rearranging themselves in her mind’s eye, as if guiding her to the answers, which she scribbled non-stop throughout the test.

After ten minutes, Anna stood up to turn in her test, instantly drawing the attention of her classmates who were not even halfway through theirs. She handed her test to the teacher, Mrs. Rowe, a kind, round-faced woman midway through her fifties who beamed at her as she took the paper. Once Anna turned to head back to her desk, Mrs. Rowe shook her head and mouthed, “Wow.”

As she returned to her desk, Tamara wasted no time in casting a scowl up at her, which Anna returned with a sly grin and a wink. During the next half hour before the last students finally turned in their tests, she took the opportunity to start going over assignments from her other classes.

“Don’t you ever stop doing schoolwork?” Jason leaned over and muttered to her.

Anna shrugged her shoulders. “It just feels natural.”

“Clearly,” Jason said with a grin. “I wish I was half as good at this stuff as you. If I fail any more assignments, I'll end up kicked off the lacrosse team.”

“You won't fail,” Anna replied. “You did just fine when I helped you the other day.”

“I hope you're right,” Jason said with a laugh.

Anna lowered her head, trying to conceal the blush that was coming over her face. Wanting to move the conversation along, she found herself randomly asking, “How do you play anyway?”

“Play what?”

Anna was hardly paying attention when she asked the question. “Lacrosse,” she felt obligated to clarify.

Jason looked at her somewhat quizzically. “Haven't you ever played before?”

Anna shook her head. “I can't remember playing any sports.”

“Right, keep forgetting about that,” Jason said sheepishly. “Can I ask how that happened exactly? Or does that bother you?”

Anna lowered herself in her seat as the stress of her amnesia swarmed around in her head once again. “I mean yeah, a little bit.”

Jason's eyes lit up with guilt for asking. “I'm sorry. Forget I said anything.”

This left an awkward pause between them. Anna looked back down at her homework, tempted to return to it before Jason spoke up again.

“So what are you doing after class?”

Anna shrugged. “Waiting for my mom to pick me up, I guess. Why?”

“Well, if you want,” Jason began, “I'm going right to lacrosse practice. Maybe you could come down to the field and I could give you a few lessons of my own.”

“Really?” Anna giggled. “That sounds f-” Her voice immediately dropped when she detected a sudden muscle spasm in her right arm. Anna's head shot down to her arm, where she noticed that her hand was clenched into a tight fist. She tried to open her hand, channeling every muscle in her body to force it but to no avail. It was as if an electric current was running through her arm and locking her hand closed.

“Are you alright?” Jason asked.

“Yes!” Anna gasped under her breath. Great, she thought to herself, he's noticing. Part of her wanted to ignore it, but the stress was rapidly compounding with the embarrassment of having another seizure at the worst possible time.

“Are you sure?” Jason persisted. “You look like you're in pain.”

“No! Not at all!”

It seemed that the more she struggled, the tighter her fist clenched. A sharp pain was beginning to shoot up and down her arm. Anna jumped to her feet, scattering her papers onto the floor. She stumbled back and Jason had to put his hands up to catch her.

“Whoa! What’s going on with you?” Jason exclaimed. Something was clearly wrong.

The entire classroom’s attention was on her. Anna tried to suppress her breathing but there was no masking the panic in her voice. Her face was going hot from the painful sensation in her arm combined with the sheer humiliation of the scene she was making.

“Is everything alright?” Mrs. Rowe asked, confused by what was going on.

Anna’s vision was going blurry as she drifted in and out of consciousness of the situation. Her arm was shaking and was beginning to go numb. Without saying another word or daring to raise her eyes to look at anyone, she made a desperate scramble for the classroom door, nearly stumbling over her own two feet. Mrs. Rowe called after her, but it only registered in her head as a distant ringing.

Anna slipped out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind her, unintentionally slamming it. The second she was out in the quiet hallway, her breathing escalated into hyperventilating as she continued to fight with her arm, but the pressure was only getting worse. Anna staggered down the hall, not sure where she was going. She pushed her way through the door to the stairwell, oblivious to the fact that she was already on the lower level. She collapsed to her knees, hissing in pain. Her fingernails were digging deep into her palm and her knuckles were going ghostly white. Unsure of what to do, she reached for the cell phone in her right pocket with her left hand, struggling to claw it out.

Once she managed to get ahold of her phone, she unlocked it with a sweaty and shaking hand and scrolled through her contacts. There were barely a handful of numbers in her list, but the stress made it difficult to select the one she wanted. Anna sat down on the floor and planted her back against the wall as she called Lynn. Her right arm was shaking uncontrollably at her side.

“Come on!” Anna hissed through her teeth. “Please pick up!” Seconds later, she heard a voice speak up from the other side. “Mom!” Anna cried as soon as she heard it, but her heart sank when she realized it was just Lynn’s voicemail. Her arm collapsed to her side, dropping her phone onto the floor. She cradled her seizing arm over her lap and leaned her head back against the wall. She closed her eyes tight, feeling that there was nothing else to do but sit here and endure the pain.

“Mom,” she uttered in a quivering voice. “Please help me. I don’t know what to do.”

Her vision was black behind her eyelids. The pain in her arm was the only thing she could feel, and her ears were filled with a loud whirring like a rapidly beating heart. From behind it all, she thought she heard a soft voice trying to speak to her. Anna remembered her mother’s words the last time she had an episode that was anywhere near this bad. The memory of that day was beginning to appear before her eyes.

It was during the wake of summer. Anna remembered helping her mother feed the chickens at the house and collecting the eggs they had been laying. It had been a regular, uneventful day. Only a week before, they learned of Anna’s acceptance to start school in the coming August, and she and Lynn were discussing it as they worked.

“Are you looking forward to it?” Lynn asked as she scattered feed onto the ground.

“I think so,” Anna replied from inside the coop where she was gathering eggs and placing them in a small burlap bag.

“We’ll have to go out this weekend and shop for some new clothes and anything else you might need. How have your spasms been lately?”

Anna stretched out her arm and twisted it around. It had been over a month now since her last incident, and she had taken that as a sign that it might be passing for good. “Much better than they were,” she answered.

“That’s good to hear,” Lynn said. “We’ll be sure to give the school nurse your information so they know how to handle it if it happens again.”

“Mom, is that really necessary?” Anna protested.

“Better safe than sorry. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing what’s causing them in the first place. The doctors can’t seem to figure it out, so we need to take precautions. If anything happened to you and we weren’t prepared-”

“I know, I know!” Anna cut her off. “It’s just scary to know that it can happen at any time. All I want is to be able to move on from it.”

“I know you do, honey,” Lynn responded sweetly. “It’ll pass in time. I’m sure it already is, and once you start school, you’ll be able to focus your mind on other things; your future, homework, boys.”

“Mom!” Anna laughed, getting the sense that she was teasing her. Just then, a sudden twitch shot through her arm and she felt a warm, viscous liquid enveloping her hand. Anna looked over to see the pale yellow yolk of the egg she had been holding now running down her hand, mixed with tiny shards of the shell. “Uh oh.”

“What is it?” Lynn said from outside.

Anna hesitated for a second, not wanting to believe it. Before she could think any more about it, a sudden painful shock streaked down her arm, causing it to jolt so violently that she tripped and fell against the wall. Several chickens inside the coop jumped and scattered at the sudden commotion.

“Anna?” Lynn called as she hurried to the entrance. Anna sat haphazardly on the floor, holding her arm in front of her. It trembled persistently as though it was being fed a constant stream of electricity. She looked over at Lynn as she peaked inside. Her face was going red with pain and a look of fear was growing in her eyes.

“It’s happening,” she uttered weakly.

“Okay, okay,” Lynn responded, trying to keep them both calm. She stepped inside the coop and knelt by her side. “Listen to what I say, Anna. Just breathe and listen to the sound of my voice.

Anna shut her eyes and gripped her arm tighter. “I’m trying!”

“You’re doing fine. Just relax.” Lynn took several deep breaths, trying to guide Anna along with it. Anna struggled at first. Her breathing was erratic and inconsistent, but eventually she was able to get it under control.

“That’s it,” Lynn continued. “Breathe. Focus your mind. Think about everything that makes you happy.”

That was not much to go on and Anna knew it, but she also knew that Lynn was right. Even in the past year alone, she had more than enough to make her happy. She visualized the family that brought her into their home when she had nowhere else to go. James, Lynn, Daisy, even Abigail, she loved them all more than anything. She remembered the day they brought her home. She was scared and tired, unable to remember what it was like to have a proper bed that didn’t keep her awake at night. She remembered the first dinner she had with the Tuckers; so warm and filling, and she ate as though she had been starved for months. Everything about this home was perfect, and she would not have traded it for anything.

Anna opened her eyes. She was back in the hallway at school. Her arm had gone numb from all the pain, but otherwise it had all but passed. She leaned her head back against the wall, breathing deeply as she continued to dwell on these happy thoughts, and for a moment, her mind fell on the boy sitting next to her in class. He was the one who treated her the friendliest since she arrived. It made her heart race just thinking about it, but in a very different way than it had been only moments before.

Anna pulled herself to her feet. Her legs were weak like jelly, but her arm was beginning to feel much better. The numbness was wearing off and she was able to move her fingers freely. A frail smile spread across her face. She had done it by herself this time. That was by far the most intense spasm she had ever endured, and she could only hope that that was the end of it. She was afraid to imagine what might happen if it ever became more severe.