Rule 24: Become his friend! Talk to him but do not become one of his boys!
Sydney plopped down on a bench in the back lobby of Children’s Hospital, her cell phone up against one ear, her other hand holding tightly to an 8x10 photo she’d had printed out last night at a copy shop.
On her first full day at the hospital, she’d seen a flyer announcing an amateur photo contest. At the time, she hadn’t given entering a second thought, but the contest had stuck with her, and the deadline to enter was today.
The photo she’d picked was one taken earlier this year of Drew’s friend Kenny running through the park, the sun shining muted rays on him. It was by far one of her favorite pictures, and she’d always wanted to share it with someone, someone who was honest and would tell her whether or not it was good.
A panel of judges on a photo contest would be honest, but did she really want to know? She liked the picture, wasn’t that enough?
“Hello? Syd?” Kelly said through the cell phone.
“Oh, sorry.” Sydney turned away from the photo and looked out the lobby windows at the people rushing left and right. Some wore business suits, others colorful hospital scrubs.
“You said you had something to talk to me about,” Kelly said. “What’s up?”
Sydney glanced again at the picture of Kenny. She’d called Kelly for encouragement because Sydney knew Kelly, out of all her friends, would push her more than anyone. Raven wouldn’t care one way or the other. “Just do whatever you want,” Raven would say.
Alexia would come up with something neutral, like, “Do what feels right to you.”
But Kelly, she’d shriek and cheer Sydney on and tell her she was being silly by not entering. And that’s what Sydney needed.
Sydney told Kelly about the contest and the picture she’d taken of Kenny.
“I just wanted your opinion,” Sydney said, “should I enter?”
“Well, yeah! Of course you should! What can it hurt, right? Besides, you’re perfect at everything. I highly doubt the judges would laugh you right out of the contest.”
Perfect? Hardly. Sydney’s love life was certainly not perfect.
Nothing about her life was perfect right now. But Kelly was right, Sydney had little to lose if she entered the contest, and she only had until seven o’clock tonight to make a submission. If she let the deadline pass and held onto her picture of Kenny, she’d always wonder, What if? Sydney hated What ifs.
“Thanks, Kelly, for listening.”
“Hey, no problem. So does that mean you’re entering?”
Sydney stood up from the bench and headed toward the front of the hospital where the photo drop box was located. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m entering right now.”
Sydney eyed the clock that hung on the wall behind the nurses’ station in West Two. One thing Sydney hadn’t figured on was working just a few floors above the contest submission box. She had an hour before the deadline, before someone swooped in and emptied the box, taking Sydney’s photo with them.
That would be it, no going back. She would be subjected to a panel of judges, her picture analyzed and scrutinized and…
“Muffin duty today, Sydney,” a heavyset nurse said, rolling a muffin cart in Sydney’s direction. “It’s tonight’s after-dinner snack. Pass one out to each child and any of the parents who are visiting. The only rooms you should skip are 403 and 408, since those children are on strict diets.”
In school, Sydney was used to being in control. She knew the work and she knew it well. Here, it was a completely different situation. She was at the mercy of the staff to help her along. One little slip and these kids would suffer because of her.
She hated feeling out of control.
After writing down the restricted room numbers, Sydney wheeled the cart away from the nurses’ station and headed toward the first room. The little boy was sleeping and his mother declined a muffin. In the next room, the little girl, clutching to her stuffed rabbit, nodded emphatically when asked if she liked chocolate chip muffins.
“Here you go, then,” Sydney said as she handed the muffin over along with a napkin. Her mother and older brother both took one, too.
So far, so good.
Sydney went back to her cart and rolled along to room 403.
Strict diet, she thought, remembering the nurse’s orders.
Sydney glanced inside the room. The little boy was on his side facing the hallway. The blanket was kicked off his legs. Tubes snaked from his hand and his mouth. The machines behind his bed beeped and whirred.
And, sitting close to the child’s bed, holding his tiny hand, was Quin. His back was to her and his black hair was untied, creating a curtain between his eyes and Sydney.
But if he’d been able to see, he’d have most definitely caught her staring.
There was something awe-inspiring about a guy Sydney’s age who sat in a Peds ICU room with a little boy who was a stranger to him, holding his hand while he slept.
Sydney finished passing out muffins just in time for her break. Plopping down at the round table, she brought out her cell phone and hit number two on speed dial. The phone rang several times before Drew’s voice mail picked up.
Sydney hit END and then number five on speed dial. Kelly answered on the third ring.
Sydney clacked open a can of Sprite. “Is Drew over there?”
“Umm…”
Sydney could hear music playing in the background. It was that new singer, Kay-J. She’d apparently gone double platinum, or whatever it was, and was on all the top billboard charts.
“Hold on a sec,” Kelly said, turning the music down. “I’m in my room. I heard a car pull up not too long ago. Maybe it was Drew.”
Sydney pulled an orange from her bag and peeled back the rind. Her day so far had been pretty uneventful except for entering the contest. She really had nothing to talk to Drew about, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to talk to him. Just hearing his voice on the phone made her happy. And she figured, the more they communicated, the stronger their relationship would be.
Like Rule 24 said, Become his friend!
Sydney figured a good relationship started there, with a friendship. She and Drew, they’d skipped that part and gotten right to the making out. If their relationship was going to survive this time, she had to be his friend and his girlfriend, someone he could trust, someone he felt he could talk to.
And most importantly, someone he could count on to listen, to be understanding.
That was the new and improved Sydney.
“Yup, he’s here,” Kelly said a minute later. “Hold on.”
The phone switched hands. Drew came on the line. “Hey. Did you get off work early or something?”
“Oh. Everything okay?”
“Fine. I just…I don’t know, I missed you.”
“Oh.” He sounded surprised. A good surprised. Maybe Sydney needed to do this sentimental thing more often. “Well, I miss you, too.”
Silence filled the line. Sydney peeled off a slice of orange and bit into it. “I guess I really don’t have anything else to say. I just called to tell you I love you.”
He laughed that easy Drew laugh. “I love you, too. And hey, Syd?”
“Yeah?”
“You can call more often like this. You know, just to tell me you miss me. I kinda like it.”
Sydney grinned wide. “I can manage that.”