It Only Takes One

I have no one to blame but myself. I wasn't going to go to class--I felt so horrible, but I thought I'd be a good little student and go to class despite being sick. BIG mistake. And it wasn't a mistake for normal reasons, either. Let me straighten something out first, before I start my saga.

I hate bees. I HATE bees. I pretty much despise insects of any kind (except the flying lizards in Florida--they're so cute!) but I have a deep fear of bees. This is kind of odd considering I've only been stung once in my life, but I do not like the little suckers at all. If I see one I pretty much scream like the girl I am and run in the other direction. I have anyone around me kill them, and if no one is home I would rather go outside and wait than stay inside with that creature.

So, anyway, being the good student that I am I went to class. It's a hour and a half class, so I'm sitting there. All of a sudden I get this itch in my throat, and I know I have to cough. However, I also know that if I start coughing I won't be able to stop. Since we were in the middle of a discussion about a rather gross novel, I didn't want to be the one to interrupt with my coughing spasms. So I'm sitting there fidgeting and stretching my head back and forth rather subtly, trying not to draw attention to myself. Luckily I sit in the back row, and the guy who usually sits next to me wasn't there.

So I'm stretching, when I feel something on the top of my head. I reach my hand up and feel something--I thought it was a crumpled up piece of paper or something. So I pull it off and look at it--and then yelled. Screamed is probably the more accurate word, but suffice it to say the entire building heard. It was a bee. A BIG bee. A bee that, given the forty-degree weather, shouldn't be alive right now. It flew out of my hand, and I started swatting. The movements caused my coughing itch to come back, and I started coughing uncontrollably.

So, there I am, the entire class staring at me like I'm a complete idiot, my teaching laughing, me swatting at the bee that's conveniently flown up into the ceiling light, and coughing so hard I can't stop. I couldn't deal with it--my face was bright red--I don't think there's a color for the shades I was turning. I left the class, and I'm sure they heard me coughing down the hall to the bathroom. Because of my embarassment I didn't return for about ten minutes.

When I finally gathered up my courage to walk back into that room, the teacher looks at me and cracks a grin: "get stung, huh?" I had to admit that, no, I didn't get stung--just got touched by one. He starts laughing again--I'm glad I could amuse him. I sat down and class continued.

So what happened for the rest of the class? Beats me--I spent it watching that bee fly around the room. Luckily it didn't come near me--it was buzzing on the left side of the room and up on the ceiling. Yup, I'm pretty sure my classmates will never talk to me again, but hey--at least I didn't get stung!

I found out later that last week, the classroom next door had been closed for a few days due to a--get this--bee infestation. Well, apparently the infestation didn't end, it just moved next door. And wouldn't you know it, I have two classes in this cursed room? Isn't it my luck? I was on the lookout in class today.

And, I have the class in which the embarassing incident occured tomorrow. Can I face them again? Everyone knows now what I'm scared of in life--I'm so glad it's almost the weekend.

I hate bees.