Alice sat on the table in the nurse's office and tried to look healthy.

"I'm really fine," she repeated to the woman in the beige cardigan for about the tenth time in five minutes. "I'm sorry I scared everyone."

Ms. Halloway, the school nurse, shook her head. "You seem all right," she said. "No history of seizures? Migraines?"

Alice sighed internally. "No, ma'am," she said while her mind spun with a mix of anxiety and excitement.

Betty's hasty arrival, ...