'That's weird' I said to my best friend Casey, nodding towards the Red Cross van.
She stopped picking at her nail varnish and looked towards the van as well before returning her attention to the varnish.
'What's weird about that?' she asked casually, clearly not interested.
'Err, Red Cross Van? Here? Outside our school?' I said to her
'The blood donation age is over sixteen's only. Now consider how many of them would be willing to have a needle shoved in their arm and blood removed. We're hardly a generous generation. ' I added, pulling wrapping a scarf around my neck. It was currently December and the days were exceptionally dark and chilly by four o'clock in the afternoons
'Maybe they're just desperate' she replied, hitching her bag further up her shoulder
'Yeah. Maybe' I agreed absent mindedly
'then, should we donate blood?' I asked
I was all for saving lives n' shit
Casey just snorted in response, giving me a you must be kidding look
'Fine, if you don't want to' I shrugged 'but I think I will. Wait for me?' I said before steering myself towards the white van.
I knocked on the heavy white door peering inside to see if there was someone around to serve me
'Err...hellooooo?' I called out 'I want to donate some blood here!'
A man's head suddenly popped up from behind a small cabinet, holding a needle.
'Uhh...' Was all I managed out as he grinned manically from above the forms and cabinet.
'Donator huh? Is this your first time coming to a Red Cross van?' He asked cheerily as he beckoned me inside
'Yup' I replied, scrating at my elbow whilst sitting myself down on a metallic stall and removing a couple of layers of clothing
'Well, there are a couple of things you need to fill out for me' He said, handing over a form and black biro
I was just about to start jotting down my details when I heard sniffing coming from my left
'Do you....' I started 'do you want a tissue' I finished, looking over at the young man,
'Nope' He grinned at me, tossing some of mousey brown hair from his green eyes 'Was just admiring the smell'
Okkayy then I said mentally, giving a faint smile to stop things from being awkward
I scribbled down all that the form required before handing it back to the man.
'Abigail huh?' he said 'Nice to meet you. I'm Todd'
I nodded in response before asking 'Left arm or right arm?'
'Right please' Todd replied as he opened up a new needle and grabbed a wad of cotton wall
I rolled up the sleeve on my right arm and watched him as he put some antiseptic on my arm to clean away any germs
'This'll numb the skin a little bit' he narrated before looking into my eyes ' it's best to look away and count to ten if your nervous'
I smiled lightly 'S'alright. I'm not worried about needles. Had tonnes of injections over the years. It really hardly hurts. Some people make too much fuss over these things' I shook my head slightly, remembering about all the girls in my school year who had cried when given the cancer jab last summer.
'You bet they do' he agreed
'Right, are you ready?' he asked, getting me to clench my fist so that the right vein would become prominent against my skin
'Yup' I replied
He slipped the needle into my arm and attached the tube on the end to an air tight packet, and I watched as it slowly filled up with my blood
'It's best that you sit still. Some people grow quite faint when losing a large quantity of blood. I'm only going to be able to remove half a pint seeing as this is a donator van rather than a hospital. When you're done, make sure you take things slowly – no running or anything that will get your heart rate going. You'd be surprised how weak the body can become – even if it's not a huge quantity'
I nodded understandingly
'My friend is waiting outside. She'll make sure I get home okay' I added
'Oh? A friend? I'm guessing if she's outside, she doesn't want to donate blood?' Todd asked
'Yeah...She's not keen on this stuff' I said smiling
He sealed the packet up and gently removed the needle from my arm
'You may be more vulnerable to viruses such as colds right now, so it may be a couple of days until you body replaces the blood you've lost'
He handed me a plaster and I stuck it over the needle wound before pulling on my coat and scarf
'Thanks very much for your service Abigail' he smiled, extending a hand
I took it and shook gently
'No problem. Uh...bye then' I called, turning to once again brace the harsh winds outside
'God! There you are!' cried Casey.
She jumped up from the wall she was sitting on and jogged over
'I was torn between leaving and storming in there to make sure they weren't bleeding you dry! Bloody ages! Do you know how cold it is out here?' she said, linking her arm through mine and pulling me towards the direction of our houses
'Sorry. Didn't realise I was that long. Can we slow down a little bit? The guy said to take things easy – I just donated blood remember?!'
'Oohh guy?' she asked
'what did he look like? Was he fit? If he's fit I wouldn't mind donating some blood' Casey giggled, looking over her shoulder back at the Red Cross van
'I didn't really think about it actually. He was cute, I guess – floppy brown hair, green eyes, pale but not in a sickly way'
I thought about it for a second 'quite fit. But he did have a bit of a dodgy smile...which reminds me...He did this weird sniffing thing around me' I replied
'Sniffing?' Casey said, puzzled.
She leant into my neck and took a couple of sniffs
'Get off you wack job!' I laughed, pushing her face away
'What!' she cried, trying to dignify herself
'You said he was sniffing you! I was just making sure it wasn't because you smelt bad'
I rolled my eyes at her 'No. I don't know if he was sniffing me exactly...when I asked he said he was just enjoying the smell' I shook my head
'Bit weird right?
She nodded in agreement 'definitely odd. Which is a shame because you said he was cute' she sighed before slipping her arm back through mine again
'Just letting you know...you smell fine to me anyway' she said meekly
'Nice perfume. What is it?'
I laughed slightly 'Ceruti 1889. My dad got it for me last Christmas.'
'cool, your dad has good taste' she replied ' anyway, you wanna stay round mine this Friday? I'll get my mum to make rocky road brownies' she ginned
'Sure. It's a date' I winked at her stupidly
We walked through Cator Park, a shortcut to get to our home roads
'Well, this is where we split chika' she said
'Alrighty then~ see you tomorrow Case' I replied giving her a side hug and walking round the corner to my street.