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Jeremy was already on the verge of unconsciousness, and he thought, that surely, P.E. wouldn’t be much help. He shivered as he changed his shirt and he rubbed his nose on the back of his hand, willing the itch to go away. He pulled his shoes on and slinked through the boys’ locker room and into the gym.
He truly didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He hadn’t had a fever when he woke up that morning, so he just went to school. But now it was going into sixth period, and if the constant shivering and sweating he had fallen victim to wet anything to go by, he was running no lower than 100 degrees. Of course if he told Michael, he’d just tell him to go home. However, that didn’t seem like much of an option to Jeremy. He didn’t want to force Michael to drive him home or his dad to come pick him up. It seems irrational, and it is, but to Jeremy’s fever-fogged mind, it was perfectly reasonable.
“Heere!” Jeremy was startled out of his dazed state by his P.E. teacher shouting his name. “Get on the line, kid!” The coach shouted, with very little patience.
“Sorry, coach,” Jeremy mumbled, making his way over to the other students. Without meaning to, he found himself next to Christine. She gently poked him on the shoulder and looked at him with a tight frown.
“Jeremy? Are you okay? You look awful!” Christine fretted, noticing the flush of his cheeks, the dull glaze over his eyes, and the way he was unconciousky breathing through his mouth. Christine’s face practically bled sympathy and worry, but Jeremy was too tired and feverish to really notice or care.
“Mm. Just fine, Chris,” He mumbled, giving a halfhearted finger gun. “Fuckin’ peachy.” Christine bit her lip and furrowed her brow in disbelief, but knew Jeremy was too stubborn to say anything else, so she dropped it and hoped Jeremy wouldn’t work himself to the brink.
After some brief stretches led by the teacher, interrupted by high pitched sneezing fits from Jeremy, the teacher pulls out a CD player, attached to a very large speaker. He pressed the play button, and immediately, very loud and energetic music begins playing. It felt like a punch in the gut to everyone in the gym, and Jeremy mentally slapped himself in the face. Why didn’t he just leave? Why didn’t he tell Michael? “The FitnessGram Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity te-“ Jeremy Heere was not athletic in any sense of the word. The only reason he could make it to 30 in the test was because his legs were long enough to carry the distance. “The 20 meter paced test will begin in 30 seconds!” Shit. At this point it was too late for Jeremy to back out, so he’d just have to tough it out at this point. Before really anything had processed in Jeremy’s mind, the beep sounded, and everyone was running. Everyone will say that the first lap or two isn’t so bad. You get from one line to the next in time and have a few seconds to rest before running back across. This is exactly what Jeremy was thinking. It was easy, save for a little wheezing and coughing. Then the numbers started climbing. 10, 11, 12. There was less time between the beeps, and it was harder to make it across the gym. Breathing heavily was taking a toll on his already sore throat, and exercising made his muscles ache worse.
Jeremy made it to lap 27, just three before his usual number, before he fell into a harsh coughing fit, and was unable to continue. With slight relief, he made his way over to the side of the gym, where he sat against the wall for the remainder of class. He watched the other students run, a few dropping out every lap. He watched Christine, because holy shit does this girl ever stop? Jeremy assumed she had the endurance due to all the dancing she does in shows.
Christine did eventually fall out of the test and she made her way over to Jeremy.
“You dropped out earlier today? Are you sure you’re okay?” Christine asked, still breathing heavily. Jeremy just nodded. That’s all he really had the energy for. A large knot had settled in his stomach, and he was afraid it would turn into nausea if he tried to move. Christine day next to him, staring at him intently before looking away and remains silent for the rest of the period.
Jeremy hadn’t fallen asleep, nor had he fallen unconscious. He was just in a fever induced daze.
“Jeremy?” Christine queried.
“Yeah?”
“We’re dismissed. We can leave,” She said, gently pulling Jeremy to his feet. He gave a small wave to Christine as he made his way towards the boys’ locker room to change. He shivered violently as he changed back into his regular clothes. He muffled wet coughs into his shoulder, and winced at the pain. Everything was so tired and he felt as though he could hardly stand up.
The bell rang and he walked out of the locker room to the hall. It was crowded with people, as it usually is. Jeremy had felt the onset of a migraine and could hardly breathe through the exhaustion and amount of people running and screaming and shoving.
He habitually made it towards his next classroom, which was upstairs. His vision started to blacken at the edges as he coughed. He made it to a staircase, but as soon as he tried to walk up, his knee gave out and he fell, passing out before he could hit the ground.
“Mr. Heere!” Jeremy woke to the sound of his name being harshly shouted. He shot up to see his English teacher standing over him, a sour look on her face. “Where are you supposed to be, might I ask?” Jeremy cleared his throat before speaking in a gravelly voice.
“E-Econ, ma’am,” he said coughing weakly.
“I can’t believe students these days,” she huffed. “Thinking they can skip class, napping underneath the staircases,” She mumbled, shooting Jeremy a stern look. She sighed. She knew Jeremy. Liked him even. He was a good student, good in the class, well behaved. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “I am going to have to give you a deten-“ Before she could finish, there was shout from behind her.
“Jeremy!” Jeremy sighed in relief. Michael! The teacher whipped her head around to see him running towards them.
“What are you doing out of class?” She asked. Michael flashed a yellow bathroom pass and kneeled next to Jeremy.
“What the fu- heck, dude?” Michael said, saving himself a lecture from the teacher on obscenities. Jeremy shrugged. “I talked to Christine. She said you didn’t look good in gym. Then you didn’t come to econ and i got worried.”
“‘M sick,” Jeremy mumbled, muffling wet coughing in his shoulder.
“I can see that. Christ, you sound awful.” Michael gently placed his lips on Jeremy’s forehead. “You feel way too warm. If this isn’t the flu, I’d be surprised.” Michael picked Jeremy up bridal style and stood, looking at the teacher, who was giving them both a concerned look. “I’m going to take him to the nurse, I don’t think he can walk on his own,” Michael said, looking down at Jeremy, pathetically shivering in his arms. The teacher opened her mouth to say something, but Michael cut her off. “It’s okay. He’s my boyfriend. It’s my job,” Michael said before turning and making his way towards the nurse.
“God, how dumb can you be, Jer?” Michael asked as he sat next to Jeremy on the shitty cot in the nurse’s office. Jeremy shrugged. “You went to gym and participated! In the Pacer Test none the less! With a fever!”
“In my defense,” Jeremy started. “I didn’t know it was the flu. And I didn’t have a fever this morning.” Michael sighed.
“Whatever. Tell me next time? So you can go home and not pass out in the hallway. I may not be able to save you from detention next time,” Michael said, laughing softly. Jeremy nodded. “Okay. Let’s get you home so you can rest. I need your help on the stats homework.” Jeremy smiled softly and nodded, leaning into Michael.
“Okay. Thanks, Micha.”
“Don’t mention it. Hey, maybe after this incident they’ll stop making us do the Pacer Test in P.E.!”