smug grin, I start to feel my heart beat faster , and I begin to panic. Is this what it feels like to have a mental break down? What ’ s happening to me? Without thinking , I run to my computer and WebMD comes up as my homepage. Kristin would kill me if she knew I still checked my favorite website. Searching my symptoms , I start to hyperventilate . And so I call Kristin , forgetting she’ll be up set that I’m doing this, again.
“Hello?”
“ Kristin !” I ’ m seriously loud at this point.
“ Y es?” Poor dear is afraid of me.
“I’m going crazy.” There , I said it.
“No , you ' r e not.”
“ Yes , I am !” I argue. “ I have all the symptoms. I— ”
“Amanda ,” she scolds . “Did you go on Web MD again? I thought we discussed this, no more Web MD . Remember last time you did this?”
“No,” I lie.
“Amanda.” Now she ’ s using her mom voice.
“Okay , fine , I remember.”
“Now, be a good girl , hang up the phone , and go for a run or something to expend all your energy . No coffee. Wha t ’ s gotten in to you lately ? How did it go with the measurements ? S orry for that , by the way. And you ’ re leaving in less than three days for vacation with your best friend . You need to calm down.”
She ’ s right, so I take a deep breath and hang up the phone. She isn’t just right about me needing to calm down and run , she ’ s also right about the whole WebMD thing. Last time I went online , I convinced myself that not only was I going to die from a paper cut , but also that I had some sort of flesh eating disorder that was going to shut down all of my internal organs. I spent a night in the hospital over the paper cut and freaked out not only my friends but my family that ended up driving three ho urs just to make sure I was going to survive .
It was ba d , but it was four years ago . H ow dare she hold that against me . And it wasn’t even my fault. Even if I was watching a special on Dateline about germs and how if you ’ re too clean your body can’t fight off the germs anymore leaving you exposed to fles h eating viruses. So it ’ s Datelines fault for keeping America too informed. And how was I to know that paper cuts are sometimes more painful than normal cuts becau se they slice the skins surface; s tupid nighttime television.
Sighing as I look at the clock , I see that it’s around eight pm so I still have time to make it to the gym. These next few days are going to be jam packed with work bef ore we leave for the airport. As I think about Hawaii , I cho o se to buy an extra ticket for Mrs. Butterworth. I couldn’t bare the thought of her having to have some strange p erson cat sit. It sounds creepy to have someone come in and feed you, pet you , and leave again. Well, that ’s what I get to look forward to when I die alone in a retirement home. Sigh.
This time I shall be prepared. Not for Preston, but in general. So I pack my cute work out clothes, yoga pants as well as my new hot pink racer back top . Just in case there ’ s so me new gym member that looks interesting. Heading to my car , I hop in and speed of f to the REC center.
Chapter Five
I notice that the place looks just as dead as before , and oddly enough the front door is wide open. I close it behind me and r un toward th e stairs to get to my treadmill, then I ’m attacked.
“ Ahhhhh !” I let out the loudest shriek known to man kind.
“ Get it off ! ” Screaming , I twist in a hundred different directions at once. T h ere ’ s some large black object flying around my head toward me in a menacing fashion. T he movie The Birds flashes before my eyes before I crumple into a heap on the floor.
Someone runs down the stairs in the direction of my body , which is now in the fetal position , and chases away the crazed animal before coming to my aid. My knight in shining armor! My hero! My— “Oh.” I say rather loudly.
“What do you mean ‘oh’ ?” Preston retorts as he leans down
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