"Nina?  Nina?  Hey!"
	"Hzmm?"  I opened one eye against my better judgement and saw 
Jaime standing there, pencil in one hand and notebook in the other, 
glaring at me.
	"Dude, if you don't get this assignment done your grade is 
toast."
	"Oh."  I closed my eye.  "Fuck it then."
	"Oh no you DON'T," she growled, poking at me with the 
pencil.  "I gave up band practice for this.  You owe me, big time."
	I sat up, feeling my brain rattling loosely in my skull.  It 
wasn't pleasant.  "Fine.  Two more questions, then I go back to 
sleep."
	"No.  Finish the whole assignment, then sleep."
	"That's..."  I counted the lines, lost track halfway through, 
and counted again.  "That's 15 questions!"
	She folded her arms across her chest.  "If I can do it, you 
can."
	"Fuuuck..."
	"Quit stalling and get to work."
	"Yes, mother..."
	"Dude?  Nina?  Dammit!"
	"Oww!  Crap, what the hell was that?"
	"That was me smacking you upside the head with a spiral 
notebook.  You fell asleep again."
	"Oww.  Shit."
	"There's only 3 questions left, man.  Can't you stay awake 
just a little longer?"
	I rubbed my head and sighed.  "I'll try.  No guarantees."
	She set the notebook down, leaned over the table, and laid 
the back of her hand against my forehead.  "Are you feeling okay?"
	"I thought that was obvious.  No, I'm not feeling okay.  I 
haven't felt anything NEAR okay for years.  You know that."
	"I meant do you feel physically sick."
	"Constantly."
	"What did the doctor say last time you were in the hospital?"
	I turned away.  "Nothing important."
	"What's that supposed to mean?"
	What does it mean?  It means nothing at all.  It's just 
another stalling tactic.  I don't want to talk about that, dammit, 
not even with Jamie.  I want to fucking forget it all.  Unconsciously 
I tug at the bandages on my hand.  Yeah, if only it were that easy.  
People off-handedly say things like, Oh, I'm scarred for life!, but I 
don't think many of them know quite what that means.
	"Dude?  You didn't answer."
	"Yeah.  No, he didn't say anything.  Just fixed me up and 
sent me out, same as always."  I shrugged.  "Not that it matters 
any.  Let's finish this assignment, alright?"
	She looked at me warily.  I keep forgetting how much she 
sees.  Nobody else seems to be able to read me like that.  Sometimes 
it's comforting; sometimes it scares me.  Right at that moment, I 
wasn't sure what to think.
	"...  Okay.  Back to the assignment then."
	Sometimes I think I'm losing everything I know...