Chapter Text
Page decorations include: A bandaid, stickers relating to sports, and a photo of sixth grade Juniper and Athena, outdoors with smiles brighter than the sun.
——
The first thing Athena can remember from this day is red. Specifically, a red kickball flying straight to her face. Everything that happened before red on that day is lost in her brain somewhere.
The second thing she can remember is a gentle
hand on her cheek and the dim lights of a school nurse's office.
“‘Thena?” Juniper whispered, clearly being careful not to bother Athena too much.
Athena responded with a groan, as that was pretty much all she could muster. The ball must’ve hit her hard for her to be like this, especially considering how dense (or…not dense) kickballs are.
“‘Thena, can you speak?”
She groaned again.
Juniper muttered something that Athena couldn’t quite catch. There was too much ringing.
…Where was the ringing coming from?
As soon as Juniper finished her muttering, her hand was taken off Athena’s face, and Athena assumed she left the room to do something or another. It hurt too much to consider what she was doing. It hurt too much to do anything, honestly. Ugh.
With Juniper gone, Athena found no reason to stay awake. She was barely clinging to consciousness as it was, and there was no need to expend energy on something with no payoff. She let out a final groan and slipped back into sleep.
-
When she woke up for the second time, the hand was back on her cheek and something cold sat on her forehead. Ice pack, probably. This time around, she had enough strength to speak.
“Juniper?” Her voice was hoarse, but it was there.
The hand shifted slightly — likely from surprise — but it didn’t go away. “‘Thena! Oh, thank god you can speak.”
Athena let out a weak chuckle in response. “What happened?”
“Hugh hit you in the head with a ball.”
“Oh.”
“Accidentally! Of course!” Juniper's voice raised a bit with this, rushing to clear Hugh’s name.
“Mhm.” She had the energy for words, sure, but not a lot of them.
The conversation fell into a lull for a while. Eventually, Juniper broke the silence. “Ms. Wintle said that you might have a concussion.”
A concussion? How hard did Hugh throw that damn ball?
“…How long have I been out?”
“Not long.” Juniper paused. “Two hours.”
Athena sat up quickly, but immediately fell back down. A concussion was starting to seem more likely by the minute. “Two hours? How long have you been here?”
If Juniper says ‘Two hours’, Athena was going to kill her.
“Two hours.”
“Junie,” she whined with as much annoyance as she could gather. “Why?”
Juniper stayed silent, so Athena repeated her question. “Junie, why?”
“…Because I care about you, ‘Thena.”
Athena smiled. “Awe. I care about you too, Junie.”