Read Online Lessons I Never Learned at Meadowbrook Academy by Liz Maccie - Free Book Online Page A

there’s number one and number three. Basically, I live in a perpetual war zone.”
    The school nurse finally came out from the back room, caring a Dixie cup and Cortisone cream. Her name was Nurse Brown, and she had rosy red cheeks, soft brown hair, and smelled like sweet apples. Her warmth and demeanor offset the sterile fluorescent lights and white-tiled floor of her office. She was so gentle that it made you want to be sick, just so she could take care of you.
    â€œOkay, Mervin, here you go. Drink this.” She handed him the cup. “And we just need to get some cream on those hives.”
    â€œNurse Brown, this is Roberta.” Mervin downed the liquid concoction.
    â€œHello, Roberta. Are you not feeling well, either?” Nurse Brown bent down and applied some thick, white cream to Mervin’s neck.
    I quickly thought of my uncomfortable toilet seat liner and entertained the idea of asking for a tampon. I mean, she was a nurse, surely she had feminine hygiene products.
    As uncomfortable as the moment was, I decided to go for it. “Do you have a tampon?”
    Mervin choked a little.
    â€œA tampon?” Nurse Brown said as she finished rubbing the cream into Mervin’s neck. “Are you menstruating?”
    Mervin loudly crinkled his Dixie cup.
    â€œYep.” I averted my gaze out of embarrassment.
    â€œThat’s no problem. Let me go grab a few,” she said as she recapped the cream and headed to the back of her office.
    It’s amazing how tortuous a mere ten seconds can feel when something as uncomfortable as “female menstruation” is on the line.
    Nurse Brown came back out and handed me five tampons. “Here you go. Do you know how to insert them?”
    Mervin cleared his throat.
    â€œYes, I got that covered. Thank you.”
    I excused myself, went to the bathroom in her office, and took care of business. As I watched my faithful toilet-seat-liner-maxi-pad flush down the toilet, I actually felt proud of my quick thinking ingenuity. I don’t know, like I could survive in the wild if I had to. On the way out, sort of by accident, I saw Mervin’s chart. Nurse Brown had written: Severe hive outbreak over gym class. Same as last year. No real allergy to no. 2 pencils.
    Nurse Brown wrote Mervin a late pass for his next class, which also happened to be gym. She gave us each a strawberry/banana hard candy and insisted that Mervin check in with her again before the end of the day. We both profusely thanked her.
    Out in the hallway, Mervin anxiously fiddled with his backpack straps. “Sorry, Roberta, I didn’t mean to get all weird in there. It’s just…your stuff…down there,” he gestured toward my crotch, “it makes me nervous.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it. Trust me, it makes me nervous, too.” I looked at him, his big glasses and small wrists, and something inside me really did want to protect him, whether I had seen Nurse Brown’s chart or not. “Hey, Mervin, can I ask you a favor?”
    â€œSure,” he said.
    â€œGod, I feel so stupid even asking you this, but would you mind hanging out with me during gym?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWell, I just get really bad anxiety over gym. I freakin’ hate it.” I took an exaggerated deep breath. “See, it’s already starting. The anxiety, I mean. I understand if you don’t want to—”
    â€œNo, no! I’d be happy to hang with you.”
    I took another deep breath. “Thanks. You’re doing me a huge favor.”
    â€œDon’t mention it.” The redness in Mervin’s neck was already going away.
    And together, side by side, we walked into gym.

Physical Education
10:26 a.m.
    Fortunately for us, a volleyball game was already well under way by the time Mervin and I made our grand entrance. The gymnasium shined with its slick, polished wood floor. In all honesty, I really did hate gym class. I