Eleanor Williams

Bonnie and Me
I stopped daydreaming when I saw Bonnies shirt catch on fire. What do we do
when someone catches on fire? Theres that blanket thing, but I don't know where that is
in Ms. Trumans room. The rest of the students stared me down with wide eyes. Bonnie
was running around our lab yelling at me to get the fire blanket. I gave up and just pushed
Bon under the big orange shower head and pulled the string beside it. Her curls flattened
out and her mascara ran under the cold water. The rest of the class laughed.
After the shower stopped, I walked a very wet Bonnie down the hall.
I am so sorry. I wasn't focused.
You think? What happened?
I guess I got distracted and the bunsen burner got pretty close to your shirt.
I know that, you idiot, I was on fire. I meant what distracted you?
Now was not the time to confess hed been dreaming about her.
Its not important.
She grabbed her side and winced.
Were you burned? Are you hurt?
No, Im fine.
She walked into the bathroom and I walked back to class. Ms. Truman took this
opportunity to go over all the safety equipment in the classroom.
In the event of a fire, you go to the back of the room
But I wasn't listening. I dont know if its the drone of Ms. Truman or the general
dreariness that is Woodridge High, but lately the only thing that I look forward to is

seeing Bonnie. She is sunshine in a person if thats possible. Always bright and laughing.
In Chemistry I was surrounded on all sides by white walls and posters of molecules, so
about halfway through Ms. Trumans lecture I traveled away to fine sand, cerulean water
and a hammock. Ive been told I have a problem with daydreaming. Bonnie sat back
down beside me, bringing me back from the beach. She had redone her makeup and
gotten a change of clothes, but her hair and her shoes were still soggy.
Are you mad?
Well call it payback for when I broke your arm in fourth grade.
Ill never set you on fire again, I promise.
Bonnie rolled her eyes and I went back to Hawaii, where I was sipping coconut
water and watching a vivid parrot fly across the clear sky.
...so if anything like this happens again, youll know what to do. Right, Max?
Huh? Oh. Yeah. Definitely.
Next period the math sub had obviously lost the lesson plan, because she was
asking us to discuss our spirit animals. Bonnie was describing my duck-like qualities and
I was imagined being in paradise with her, now we were on a private jet, sipping
champagne, and looking out at the glowing grid that was Chicago at night. Everything is
more beautiful from a distance. Now in London, we were riding in a horse drawn
carriage. In my mind London is still stuck in the 19th century. I was in the middle of a
hike through the amazon when Bonnie asked me which animal reminded me of her.
A rabbit.
I feel like a cat.
Nope, youre the tawny brown bunny that eats my moms plants.

Wow, I didnt realize I was so annoying.

You arent, that bunnys my favorite.
That made her smile.
The next day Bonnie wasnt at school. She isnt my only friend but I sit next to
her in most of my classes so without her my day was pretty dull. Chemistry was a blur of
puce colored liquids and godawful smells. In math, I sat a row closer to the popular girls
and realized how they chew their gum like cows. They were whispering constantly about
their nails, and their shoes, and birthday parties, and their totally annoying parents. I
didnt know it was possible for someone to be so self absorbed.
The big hand on the clock moved at a sluggish pace, as Kira explained how the
sparkly ones were better. Sparkly whats, I couldnt tell you. How has Bonnie never been
absent before? I kept glancing at her desk, expecting her to liven up the eternal prison
which was math. I mustve fallen asleep, because I dreamt I was being hunted by a
leopard. Right before the cat pounced, it said, Everything looks better at a distance.
Then I floated up, above my school, and my neighborhood, I rose and watched
Woodridge become Naperville, then I passed Chicago still floating higher. I was up in
space when I heard a chirping noise.
Max. Max, wake up.
My phone was going off and Mr. Martin didnt look pleased. Luckily the bell rang
before he could start the famous wasting precious instruction time speech, because those
were known to last forever. My phone said a Gale Wilson called, Wilson was Bonnies
last name, so I called back and her mom answered.
Max?

Mrs. Wilson?
Please dont be alarmed but Bonnies in the hospital. I was wondering if you
wanted to come pay her a visit.
Uh, yeah. Is she okay? There were words but I dont remember them. Ill be
right over, thanks for calling me.
I had a last period, but seeing your best friend in the hospital is more important
than study hall. The clouds hung low and the bus lights pierced through the fog. Across
from me, an old woman knit the longest sock Ive ever seen. I wondered where she was
going, I wondered who the sock was for. And the man in the very back of the bus looked
like he had been crying, he had nothing on the bus with him, not even a coat even though
it was almost winter. I think people on buses are the most fascinating, everyones riding
the same bus, but everyones a secret.
Bonnies mom didnt sound hysterical so maybe Bonnie was fine. But she also
didnt say she was fine, and Bonnies mom isnt one to get outwardly distraught. What if
setting her on fire awakened a deadly virus? I admit that sounds very unlikely, but she
seemed healthy yesterday afternoon. I remember her wincing. Food poisoning? Liver
Cancer? Parasites eating her guts? I imagined school without Bonnie; if every day was
like today, I dont know if I could bear it.
The bus passed a playground with rusty swings and a mustard jungle gym. I
remembered a sunny day in June when Bonnie had begged me to come with her to the
playground.
Bonnie is squealing and running across the top of the jungle gym.
Im like a monkey, watch me Max!

Bonnie, that isnt safe. Youll fall.

She trips and hangs onto the monkey bars with her left hand. Her face turns pale
and I see her eyes starting to tear up.
Help! Max Im slipping!
Grab it with your other hand.
Catch me!
POP. I try to hold in my tears but it feels like my arm is going to fall off.
It had been 29 minutes, the sky was starting to look like sherbert and the bus was
still a mile from the hospital. Three more people had gotten on the bus, and I wondered if
they could be going to the hospital too.
At this point the bus was at a complete stop, surrounded by cars. I asked the driver
how long he thought it would take and he grunted. It had been an hour since Ms. Wilson
called and I needed to make sure Bonnie was going to be okay. I asked if I could get off
the bus and he grunted again. The fog had only gotten thicker. I made out the neon
McDonalds sign through the cloudy air which meant I was only a few blocks from the
hospital. I started at a fast walk but with every moment of panic I picked up the pace. By
the time I turned the last corner I was at a sprint.
The white doors slid open. I spotted Ms. Wilson from across the waiting room and
walked over, panting.
Hows Bonnie? Can I see her?
Im sorry, sweetheart, she just went into surgery. Youre welcome to wait here
with me.
Surgery? Whats wrong? Is she going to be OK?

She needs her appendix out, so she was in a lot of pain but she should be fine.
When does she get out of surgery?
The doctor said it was only going to take about an hour.
After a half an hour of sitting in silence watching people come in and out of the
sliding doors, I walked down the hallway to get a snack. A florescent light flickered
above the vending machine and I heard a faint beep coming from a patients room.
Nurses in pale blue scrubs rushed past me into the intensive care unit. I stepped through
the sliding doors behind of of the nurses. They hurried into a room near the doors. I heard
one counting and realized they were giving a patient CPR. Someone just flatlined in their
room. I froze near the open door and listened as the patient gasped.
Wells, get Doctor Rhodes. Eva needs the transplant as soon as possible.
I had just heard someone die and be brought back to life. I peered into the room.
She was younger than me with light hair. Every breath she took was hoarse.
Everything is going to be OK, Eva. Youre going to feel better real soon.
The first nurse stroked Evas blonde hair and the second nurse rushed back out of
the room, mumbling something about how I shouldnt be blocking doors.
I walked back down the hall, grabbed my pretzels from the vending machine, and
found my way back to the waiting room. I sat down next to Ms. Wilson who smiled
weakly at me.
It had been almost an hour and a half. All I could think about was Evas heart
stopping. Finally, a doctor with thick glasses walked over to us. His shoes were white
with pink and yellow paint spatters. I suddenly remembered the time I got a new
backpack in the first grade.

Max whyd you choose white?

I dont know, Bonnie, my grandma picked it out
I hang up my backpack in the cubby and sit criss cross applesauce on the carpet.
Bonnie asks to go to the bathroom. When we line up for lunch I look over to my
backpack, which is boasting a yellow-orange sun on the side, a blue ocean over the
pocket, and a flock of birds flying over two stick figures. I look over at Bonnie and she
smiles.
The doctor stopped in front of Ms. Wilson.
Bonnies appendix ruptured during surgery so shes just now getting to recovery.
But shes doing great.
I breathed a sigh of relief, and Bonnies mother hugged me.
I went back to the machine for a drink, and snuck back into intensive care,
walking slowly by Evas doorway. The sheets were tucked in and the pillows had been
rearranged. I noticed three helium balloons in the corner of her room reading GET WELL
SOON. One was drooping down, touching the sunflower on her bedside table. She must
have already been in surgery.
It had been two hours when the doctor finally came to tell us we could see
Bonnie. While Ms. Wilson talked to the doctor about recovery time and pain meds, I
stepped into Bonnies room. She turned on her side, her eyes were glassy but she smiled
when she saw me.
Why are you lurking in the corner?
Bon, how do you feel?
Like I was sliced open.

I sat on the bed and gave her a hug.

School sucks without you.
Yeah I know
Then, finally, I kissed her.