Halfway to Perfect (4 page)

On the way in, Dyamonde heard a scream.

“That’s Damaris!” whispered
Dyamonde, following the voice. She saw her friend kneeling on the sidewalk, bent over someone lying still on the ground. As Dyamonde got closer, she saw that the someone was Amberline.

“Get the nurse!” ordered Damaris. “Hurry!”

“Coming through!
Coming through!” called Ms. Matsuda, the school nurse.

“Annette!” said Mrs. Cordell. “Thank God you’re here.”

Ms. Matsuda nodded to Mrs. Cordell, then pushed past the gawking students to reach Amberline. Damaris moved aside but stayed
within hearing range. Dyamonde and Free were right behind her.

“Students, stand back,” ordered Ms. Matsuda. She knelt on the ground beside Amberline and rolled the girl on her side, just in case she became nauseated. Then she pricked one of Amberline’s fingers, put a plastic strip on her drop of blood and inserted it into a small machine. She read the number that appeared on the screen, then quickly wiped a spot on Amberline’s upper right arm with an alcohol swab and injected her with some medicine.

In no time, it seemed, the girl’s eyes fluttered open.

“What happened?” whispered Amberline, surprised to find half the class staring down at her.

“You fainted,” said Damaris.

Amberline tried to sit up.

“Easy,” said Ms. Matsuda, helping her. “I’m guessing you skipped breakfast this morning.” It was not a question.

Amberline nodded, looking embarrassed.

“I woke up late, and I didn’t want to miss the bell,” said Amberline.

“You know you can’t skip
meals,” said Ms. Matsuda in a low voice.

“I know,” muttered Amberline. “My mom always tells me, ‘Diabetes is nothing to fool around with.’”

Diabetes!
The word made Damaris shiver.

“Diabetes,” whispered Dyamonde. She had heard the word too.

“Man,” whispered Free. “That’s some serious stuff.”

Ms. Matsuda looked around nervously. This information was supposed to be private. If Amberline
had fainted in the classroom, all the students would have been sent out into the hall while the nurse treated Amberline. But this happened outside on the street, and there was nowhere to send the class.

“Okay, class.” Mrs. Cordell clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “The show is over. Head back to homeroom and take your seats.”

“But what about Amberline?” asked Damaris.

Mrs. Cordell gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t worry about
Amberline,” she said. “Ms. Matsuda will take good care of her. Come on. Let’s go.”

Reluctantly, Damaris joined the rest of the class and filed back into the school.

Wow,
thought Dyamonde, stepping into the classroom.
I’ll bet this is what a beehive sounds like.

Everybody in the room was buzzing.

“Man! Did you see that?”

“What’s wrong with Amberline?”

“She’s got diabetes.”

“What’s that?”

“I thought that was an old folks’ disease.”

“Don’t you have to be super fat to get that?”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

“Amberline isn’t even chubby.”

“My grandma has that, and she’s older than dirt.”

“My uncle too. Plus he’s all roly-poly.”

“All right!” said Mrs. Cordell. “That’s enough! Please take your seats.”

The buzzing died down, but only a little.

Everyone was full of questions, including Dyamonde.

How come kids can get diabetes? What if I have it? How would I know? I sure don’t want to fall over in the street one day, like Amberline.

The very thought of the possibility made Dyamonde’s heart beat faster.

“Okay, class,” said Mrs. Cordell. “Simmer down.”

Dyamonde took a deep breath. Everyone else did too.

“Obviously, you all have questions about what just happened,”
said Mrs. Cordell, “so let’s talk about it.”

Finally, the class got quiet.

“For those of you who haven’t already heard, Amberline has a condition called diabetes. Diabetes has something to do with the sugar inside your body.

“When your body is healthy, it breaks down the sugar and sends it out to all the cells so that they can use it for energy. But when you have diabetes, your body can’t break down the sugar. Instead, all the sugar stays in the plasma stream
and doesn’t get into the cells, and that causes all kinds of problems throughout the body. Does that make sense?” asked Mrs. Cordell.

“Sort of,” said Dyamonde, speaking for everyone.

“But what does that have to do with fainting?” asked Damaris.

“Yeah,” said another student.

Mrs. Cordell pursed her lips, thinking.

“Fainting is one of the things that happens when you have too much or too little sugar in your blood. That’s why a person with
diabetes has to be careful about what they eat, and they can’t skip meals.”

Dyamonde and Damaris traded glances.

That’s what the nurse said,
thought Damaris.
Amberline skipped breakfast.

“They also have to remember to take their insulin.”

Several hands shot up around the room. It seemed everybody had more questions.

“That’s it for now,” announced Mrs. Cordell.

Free groaned, and he wasn’t the only one.

“I need you to open your readers. If you have any more questions about diabetes, see me after school. Okay? Readers open.”

Dyamonde wanted to know more, and so did Damaris. They looked at each other and mouthed the word
library.

After school that day, they waved good-bye to Free, who jogged home alone.

“Let me know what you find,” he said before taking off. “I have to get home and help my gram with the laundry. My mom said she was going to call and check.”

The girls headed for the public library. As soon as they got there, they went straight to the information desk.

“We need to read about diabetes,” said Dyamonde.

“It’s important,” said Damaris. “Can you help us?”

The librarian gave them a serious nod. “Yes, I can. But there are different types of diabetes, so it would help if I knew what made you interested.”

Dyamonde nodded to her friend.

“Okay,” said Damaris. “Well, it all started this morning…”

The next
day, Amberline came back to school.

Dyamonde noticed that she wasn’t walking as tall and straight as she usually did. In fact, Amberline sort of shuffled into the room, staring down at the floor. When she reached her seat, she slumped
down into it, her eyes still on the floor.

I’ll bet she’s embarrassed,
thought Dyamonde.
I would be.

Mrs. Cordell began taking attendance. When she got to Amberline’s name, she stopped and looked up from the attendance sheet.

“Welcome back, Amberline,” said Mrs. Cordell. The minute she said it, all eyes turned on Amberline, who slid down in her seat even farther. Mrs. Cordell immediately realized her mistake.

“Eyes front,” she ordered. Then she rushed on to the next names on the roll.

“Malik Simmons.”

“Here.”

“Gerald Thompson.”

“Here!”

The entire time Mrs. Cordell took attendance, Damaris stared in Amberline’s direction. Amberline must have felt her staring, but she never looked back at Damaris.

After lunch, Damaris went looking for Amberline in the school yard and Dyamonde tagged along.
They found the girl sitting on a bench, kicking the pebbles beneath her feet.

“Hello,” said Damaris.

“Hey,” said Dyamonde.

“Hey,” said Amberline without looking up. Damaris waited and waited for Amberline to say something else.

Dyamonde couldn’t stand the silence. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.

“Yeah,” said Damaris. “That was pretty scary yesterday.”

Amberline shrugged. “I’m fine now,” she said.

“Good,” said Damaris. Again, Damaris waited for Amberline to say more. She didn’t.

Okay,
thought Dyamonde.
Let’s get out of here.

She poked Damaris to give her a hint. Instead of turning to leave, Damaris cleared her throat and sat down.

“I was reading about diabetes last night,” said Damaris. Amberline stopped kicking the dirt and raised her head. Damaris went on. “The book said when you have diabetes, you have to watch what you eat.”

“I know,” whispered Amberline.

“Actually, Mrs. Cordell said that too. And the book said you can’t eat too many sweets,” said Damaris.

“I know,” said Amberline, a little louder.

“And it’s really not a good thing to skip meals,” Damaris continued.

“I know!” snapped Amberline.

Damaris flinched as if someone had slapped her in the face.

Amberline jumped up from the bench. “I know all that stuff already! You think I don’t? I’ve known it half my life!” she yelled.

Damaris was red in the face
now. Still, she shot right back, “But you fainted, Amberline! And all because you didn’t eat breakfast! Why would you do that if you knew?”

“You don’t understand,” said Amberline. “I get tired, Damaris. I get tired of always having to think about what I can eat and drink, and what I can’t. I get tired of testing my blood sugar four times a day, and trying to remember to drink enough water, and making sure I eat on time. I get tired of all of it! You know what I wish?” asked Amberline. “I wish I could
be a normal kid—so sometimes I act like one. That’s all.”

Amberline seemed to run out of words and out of air. She fell back onto the bench and sighed heavily.

In the silence, Damaris whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Amberline turned to Damaris and stared deep into her eyes for a moment. “You have no idea how lucky you are,” she said. “No idea. Now, just leave me alone.” There were tears in Amberline’s eyes.

Dyamonde stood up first and pulled Damaris after her. Damaris shuffled along, her feet as heavy as
her heart. Dyamonde felt bad for her friend.

I wish I knew what to say,
thought Dyamonde. But she didn’t, so she just put her arm around Damaris’s shoulders and walked her back to class.