A/N: I'm here, I'm here, NOT dead, just floating in my own world singing in Japanese :) This one, my dears, is pure truth. Names have been changed, but the event is truth—as a matter of fact, I wasn't a witness, I was the PARTICIPANT! Don't make fun of me for doing this though; it was an honest mistake XD Oh, and if you want to get a better grasp on who Mr. T is, check out my story "Negotiations". Yeah. That's right. Self-promotion. XD—Bloo :D

"You're joking, right?"

-Wifey

Joking

Jackie stopped walking and leaned against a post, trying hard to breathe without laughing. Her stomach hurt too much already.

Nadia had already given up, sitting on the concrete sidewalk of their school, cackling madly.

Jessica was holding on to the tissue that covered Jackie's eyebrow, trying to contain her giggles.

'How did we end up this way?' Jackie thought tiredly, finally under control—for the moment anyway.

The answer to that was long and it all began an hour earlier, at lunch, in Mr. T's room…

~…One hour earlier, at lunch, in Mr. T's room…~

"You're joking, right?"

Jackie looked at Jessica, shaking her head. "Nope. No lie. Honest to God," she swore, making a cross over her heart.

Nadia didn't bother to even look or move from her lotus position on one of the tables to tell Jackie: "You're crossing the wrong side of your chest."

Jackie quickly made the adjustment while Jessica rolled her eyes and giggled. Jackie leaned against the TV stand in the corner and flipped Jessica off. She turned her attention back to Nadia.

"Seriously though, how the heck do you choke on a grain of rice, Nadia?" Jessica asked before Jackie could open her mouth.

Nadia glared at Jessica. "Wasn't my—"

"Fault? Of course it wasn't. You just happened to probably think of Jason at the same time
you swallowed the rice," Jackie said, picking at her nails.

"Jackie—"

"Mind you, if you don't stop choking on the rice grains, you won't be able to swallow anything of Jason's."

"Ewwwwww! What the heck!?"

"Am I right or am I wrong?"

"I can't believe this…"

"Believe it, Jessica. You need to learn it too."

"Huh?"

"Needs to learn it? What does Jess need to learn?"

"She needs to learn not to pull a "you" when she swallows. In other words, Jessica, don't choke as easily as Nadia!"

"What!? I don't do that and you know it! NEITHER of us do!"

"Exactly, Jackie."

"Such is the amazingness of not having a boyfriend for your friends to tease you with!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, Jessica is right. I don't have a boyfriend. And I was the first one you went after."

"…"

"So who are you practicing swallowing for, Jackie?"

"That's a good question, Nadia."

"Uhh…well…Psh! I don't need to practice! I have it down pat already!"

"Oh yeah? Who'd you practice on, Luke?"

While Jessica cackled, Jackie rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Nadia."

"Yeah, well, you had that one comin—"

A jerk caught Jackie's eye and she turned to face Jessica, about to ask what was wrong. Which is why she saw Jessica's phone slip out of her hand and slide over to her side of the room…

*Present*

And that was why Jackie was in her current predicament.

She had bent to pick up the phone when her shoelace decided to make an appearance and trip her.

She went down…and brought the TV stand she forgot she was leaning against with her.

She hadn't even realized that she had split her eyebrow open until Jessica told her.

Jessica and Nadia had done their best to bandage her up (she didn't think that it was serious enough to warrant the nurse and neither did Mr. T) , but as they walked past various students the looks on their faces made Jackie want to see just what the bandage had looked like. Jessica took a picture of it (with the phone that had gotten her into this mess in the first place) and it was then that Jackie saw what others were seeing.

It was more a block than a bandage.

The wad of paper towel taped to her face did its job…but not all that well. All the tape they had put on her face wasn't keeping the bandage on. A few feet from Mrs. Johnson's room (their next class) the bandage had almost fallen off and Jessica had almost knocked Nadia down trying to reach Jackie in time to catch it.

Looking at each other, the situation seemed to crash down on them and, soon, Jackie and Jessica were laughing hysterically, Nadia following soon after.

"Um…guys?"

Jackie looked up to see Mrs. Johnson standing over them.

"Yes, Mrs. Johnson?"

It was Nadia who answered her and it was Nadia the next question was directed towards.

"Maybe you guys should go to the nurse?"

The look on Mrs. Johnson's face clearly said that she didn't understand why Jackie and Jessica burst out laughing again.

Nadia just shook her head. "Quite frankly, Mrs. Johnson, all the nurses in the world wouldn't be able to fix Jackie's brain."