The Jacket Affair

“Carmen, I can’t find your jacket anywhere. Just forget it; it’s gone.”

“Nu uh, no way. I spent forty bucks on that thing!” Carmen crossed her arms and stood between Emily and the door, just in case her friend got any funny ideas about bolting.

“Well, it’s not here,” Emily said, annoyed. “Maybe ask for an advance on your allowance.”

“Very funny.”

“You’re the one who dragged me out of History to look for your jacket,” Emily pointed out. “Are you even allowed to be in here?”

Relenting, Carmen took a seat on the bench. “Told Mrs. Oetker I was having cramps and needed stuff from my backpack.”

“Are you?”

“No! It was just an excuse. Not that I’d need a reason to want to get out of gym.”

“Well, I was having a good time in class,” said Emily with a sniff. “I’d just been paired up with Roger for partner work.”

Carmen groaned and lay back, staring up at the chipped ceiling of the locker room. “Just ask him out already, Em. You two are driving me crazy.”

“It’s not that easy!” Emily said, but she lay down across from Carmen, the back of their heads nearly touching. “Sorry about your jacket.”

“It’s okay,” Carmen said. “Sorry about your boyfriend.”

“He’s not–! Whatever. Are you gonna skip all of gym?”

“May as well if I’ve already made an excuse. Skip with me?”

“My bag’s still in class,” Emily said and sat up. “Let me text Roger and ask if he can give it to me later.”

“You’re a darling.”

Emily tapped her foot a bit while she waited for a response. “Okay, he says he’ll give it when we’re in English class before our presentation. Crap!”

Carmen sat up immediately and turned, twisting her body so intensely it almost scared Emily. “Our… oh my god. I completely forgot.”

“Me too!” Emily wrung her hands together. “We’re going second, aren’t we?”

“It’s okay,” Carmen said firmly. She broke Emily’s hands apart and settled her own on Emily’s shoulders. “We have the rest of this period to come up with an idea.”

Emily’s eyes lit up. “Or a lie.”

“What?”

“An excuse–like the one you used for this class. We can just tell Mr. Wu that both our computers broke, or, or, you fell down during gym and had to go to the nurse’s office so you’re not here.”

“I don’t know,” Carmen said and drew back; her movements were hesitant, a stark contrast to her earlier vehemence. “I don’t want to lie to him.”

“But you did just earlier to Mrs. Oetker!” said Emily, affronted.

“Yeah, but that was for gym… all I’m going to miss is a game or two of basketball. It’s different with English. What if I miss a really important topic that ends up being on a test?”

“I’ll give you my notes, duh.”

“I don’t know,” Carmen said again. “I really think we should just tell him the truth. We can ask to present tomorrow and finish it today.”

Emily threw her hands up. “Seriously, Carmen? You’re okay lying to Mrs. Oetker and skipping class, but you won’t tell one more lie?”

“It’s different! Besides, I wanna ask him for a letter of rec my senior year. I want to show I can be honest with him.”

“Or maybe he won’t write the letter cause you don’t take your classes seriously enough to remember a presentation,” Emily snapped. “And he’ll probably never let us partner up again!”

Carmen scowled. “Fine! You can fake sick and mope around while I tell Mr. Wu the truth.”

“There’s no point in playing sick if you’re just gonna out us anyway!”

“Ugh,” said Carmen. “I never should have partnered with you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emily asked in a wavering tone. “It’s not just my fault! We both forgot.”

“Yeah, and I’m the one trying to fix it while you just think of ways to escape!”

“Whatever,” Emily said, picking at her nails. “How much do you think we could finish before next period?”

“Not much,” Carmen admitted. “The computers in the library might not even be open. And even if they are, that only gives us half an hour.”

Emily sighed. “Maybe I really should go to the nurse; I feel sick to my stomach.”

“We can at least get started with an idea, since we’re together now,” Carmen said, wanting to comfort her friend but pleased that Emily was acquiescing. “We talked about discussing the theme of foreigners in Dracula earlier, right?”

“I hate that book,” Emily muttered.

Carmen rolled her eyes. “I know; you told me enough times already. But it’s that or Heart of Darkness.”

They both made a face at that.

“So, Dracula. We’ll need to find some quotes that support our position, and maybe come up with some discussion questions? We only have twenty minutes to present.”

Emily fidgeted on the bench. “I don’t have my copy in my bag—not that I even have my bag here. I just… I really think I’d work better if we had a more concrete plan.”

“What?” Carmen watched her, perplexed. “We just discussed a plan.”

“No, I mean about presenting,” said Emily, avoiding Carmen’s eyes.

“We’re not going to lie! We already agreed on that!”

“No, we didn’t! You said we should talk about an idea.”

“God, you’re being so annoying right now.”

“Well, you’re being a jerk,” Emily huffed, wrapping her arms around her waist. She looked paler than normal and a persistent frown tugged at her lips.

“Em? Are you okay?”

“Fine. Just nervous—you know how I get.”

“Yeah,” Carmen said gently, suddenly ashamed at her outburst. Ever since Emily was diagnosed with anxiety last year, things started making a lot more sense. Still, there were times when Carmen forgot. To her, a presentation made her stomach fluttery in a mixture of nervousness and excitement, whereas Emily nearly drowned in the ensuing anxiety. “Um, I’m pretty sure my copy is in my locker. So we can go grab that.”

“Okay,” Emily said and was quiet until they retrieved the book. “I think even the first chapter should have a quote or two, since it starts with Jonathan being abroad.”

Settling against the lockers, the two girls sat on the ground and flipped through the first three chapters. By the time the bell rang, they had amassed four quotes and zero discussion questions.

“It’s not like we even have any visuals to present these in,” Emily said ruefully.

“Maybe we could pretend we’re doing it old-school style to mimic the novel and write on the board,” Carmen said, and the two girls giggled together. After stashing the book in her backpack, she stood and held out a hand. “Ready?”

Donning a frown, Emily accepted the hand but didn’t reply.

“Are you still looking for a way out?”

Emily shifted to look elsewhere. “Maybe there’ll be a huge earthquake and we’ll all have to evacuate.”

“That’d definitely be a good excuse to reschedule,” Carmen admitted, “but I don’t think any earthquakes are expected. Come on; at least you’ll get to talk to Roger again.”

“Yeah,” Emily muttered.

***

The two girls were early to class, and they took their assigned seats; Emily sat two rows diagonally in front of Carmen, but with so few peers currently seated, they could still gesture to each other. Carmen gave two thumbs up, which Emily offered a shaky smile to. Once she took out her notebook and pen, Carmen walked over and took a seat upon Emily’s desk.

“Hey. Did you want to talk to Mr. Wu now or after the first presentation? I think it’d be easier now, so we don’t have to say it in front of everyone.”

Emily sent her a distraught look. “Are you sure your dog didn’t die last night or something? Your great Uncle? You think you feel typhoid fever coming on?”

Carmen laughed, but quickly curbed herself when Emily’s cheeks flushed in frustration. “Sorry. The typhoid thing was just—funny. Look, we’ll talk to him together, okay? It’ll be easier.”

“Yeah,” Emily said and stood, trembling a bit. Carmen’s heart ached.

“Hey, Emily!” Roger stepped through the doorway with his pack on his back and Emily’s in his hand. Handing over her things, he said, “I told Ms. Wharton you felt sick and went to go lie down at the nurse’s.”

“Thanks,” she said, fidgeting with her straps now that they were in front of her.

Roger frowned. “You do look a little pale. Are you all right?”

“Yeah!” Emily swallowed and set her backpack down by her feet. “Um, I just need to—we just need to talk to Mr. Wu real quick, sorry. And sorry about missing History, um, I’ll make up whatever work we were assigned.”

Roger shrugged, looking unbothered by the circumstances.

“Let’s go,” Carmen said, tugging on Emily’s sleeve. The class would start in three minutes, and the class was near full now.

Mr. Wu sat behind his desk. He looked up as the girls approached him and offered a warm smile. “Hello Carmen, Emily. How are you two this morning?”

“We’re okay,” Carmen said politely, and Emily nodded. “We just wanted to talk about something really fast before class, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. What can I help you with?”

Carmen pursed her lips, trying to organize an articulate explanation on the fly; they really should have practice beforehand.

Emily hiccuped and made a startled noise. Carmen looked over to her, concerned. She really really did not want Emily to start crying in the middle of this, and she knew Emily didn’t want that, either.

“About our presentation,” Carmen started, hoping to beat Emily’s tears.

“Oh, god,” Emily said and put a steadying hand on Mr. Wu’s desk.

Mr. Wu turned to her. “Emily?”

“We forgot to do it,” Emily gasped out. Her thin frame shook, then she bent over and vomited all over the floor. “Oh god, I’m sorry—we didn’t.” She gagged twice.

“Em!” Carmen cried, holding onto Emily’s shoulders and trying to smooth out the tension. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

“Peachy,” Emily said weakly, then started crying.

Mr. Wu, who had already leaped to his feet and stepped around his desk, offered Emily a few tissues. She wiped her mouth as he said, “Emily, it’s obvious you’re not feeling well. We’ll put a hold on the presentation for now until you’re better, okay?”

She nodded as Carmen coaxed her back to a standing position. “Thank you, Mr. Wu.”

“Carmen, would you please take Emily to the main office? I think it’s best if she goes home for the day to rest.”

“Of course,” Carmen said with a fervent nod. “Here, Em, I’ll carry your backpack, and you can lean on me.”

Mr. Wu turned to call the janitor as Carmen helped Emily out of the room and toward the main office. Roger sent a concerned glance their way, but Emily did her best to avoid everyone’s eyes.

As they walked down the halls, Emily sniffled.

“I’m really sorry,” Carmen said and felt tears prickle at her own eyes; she had always been a reactive crier. “I didn’t know you were that nervous.”

Emily shook her head. “It feels different.”

Frowning, Carmen began to question the claim but had to put it aside to help rush Emily to the bathroom to throw up again.

“I feel so gross,” Emily said as Carmen used her hair-tie to pull Emily’s hair into a loose ponytail. “Thanks.”

“Least I could do,” Carmen said.

Fortunately, they managed to make it to the office without further complications. Emily sat in one chair with her feet propped up on the other, Carmen having opted to stand so her friend could rest. After calling Emily’s mother, the secretary turned and said, “It seems your mother is ill, too, and isn’t able to pick you up. Is there someone else we can call for you?”

Emily frowned. “Mom’s sick, too? She wasn’t when I left for school. Um…”

“Call my mom,” Carmen interrupted. “She’s at home with my little brother.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re practically family,” Carmen insisted. She recited her home phone number, and a few minutes later the secretary confirmed Carmen’s mom was coming to collect Emily.

Emily tucked her head into her shoulder, embarrassed. “Thanks.”

Mrs. Reed arrived twenty minutes later, pulling her scarf from her neck. “Sorry for the delay, girls; I had to drop Jason off at preschool. Emily, dear, how are you feeling?”

“Gross,” she said, then blushed. “Thank you for picking me up.”

Wrapping her scarf around Emily’s shoulders, Mrs. Reed helped her stand, then turned to sign Emily out. “I called your mother; it sounds like she has food poisoning, and you likely do as well.”

“Takeout last night,” Emily said with a grimace. She clutched the scarf like a lifeline.

Carmen looked worried. “But then who will take care of Em?”

“With Jason at school, I can spend some time at the Montgomery’s.” Mrs. Reed cut off Emily’s beginning protests with a hand to her head. “You’re ill, dear; let someone take care of you. I’m sure you’ll want to take a nap after we get some fluids in you, anyway.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Reed,” Emily said softly. “Um, thanks for bringing me here, Carmen. Text me at lunch?”

Carmen nodded. “Feel better. Thanks, mom.”

Mrs. Reed smiled and guided Emily out the front door.

Carmen released a breath, glancing to the secretary. “I’ll, uh, go back to class.”

English was already half over, but it was one of Carmen’s favorite classes, so she took her seat and half-heartedly took notes. After class, Roger approached her with a determined look.

“Is Emily okay?”

“Food poisoning,” Carmen said, and they shared a sympathetic glance. “My mom’s looking after her and her mom, though. Was it bad? Did everyone talk?”

“A bit,” Roger admitted. “They mostly felt bad for her, though.”

“It was awful,” Carmen said. “She looked so sad.”

“Oh, and here,” Roger said, unzipping his backpack and pulling out a jacket. “Marsha found it in the girls’ bathroom near the Art wing.”

“My jacket!” Carmen hugged the fabric to her chest. “I was looking for this everywhere, thanks.”

“Carmen?” Mr. Wu called. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

Carmen sent Roger an apologetic look. “I’ll see you at break?”

He nodded and left the classroom with a wave.

“Mr. Wu?” Carmen asked as she stood before him.

“I just wanted to make sure Emily made it home safely.”

“Yeah, my mom picked her up because her mom had food poisoning, too. She, um, wanted to apologize to you, too, but I told her that it wasn’t her fault.”

“You’re right, though her concern is appreciated. I wanted to thank you and her for being honest with me, too. I don’t like that you didn’t finish the assignment, but I’d rather you tell me than try to hide it, so thank you.”

Carmen shrugged her jacket on so her silence didn’t seem as weird. She was just glad she was taking the brunt of the discussion rather than Emily, who, in such a position, would have made herself sick had she not already been so.

“I’ll give you two an extra day after Emily recovers. I’d prefer if you present before the end of the month, too.”

“We can do that,” Carmen said. “Thank you, Mr. Wu.”

Further cementing himself as her favorite teacher, he signed a late slip lest their conversation make her tardy. Carmen slipped her backpack over her shoulders and thanked him again.

She stepped out of the room and stuck her hands in her jacket’s pocket, then hummed all the way to her next class.