Still

Chapter Fourteen

Whatever was in my system came and went in a day, and I was back to normal by dinnertime. Mom was supposedly still at work, and I dined alone with my dad. I hadn't yet washed off the makeup from earlier, and I was hoping Dad just wouldn't ask about it. I felt pretty, afterall.

"You're in a good mood for having been sick," said Dad, giving off a tired half-smile.

I couldn't help but beam. I felt like I was glowing, even with my stuffy nose and sore throat. I couldn't taste any of the food Dad made, but I thanked him anyway, and hummed to myself as I got ready for bed. In the bathroom, I let myself stare at my reflection. I untied my hair, and rebraided it with the ribbon Noah had given me.

I actually got sleep that night, waking up just as happy as I was the night before. It was a brand new morning, and I quickly got ready to take on the world. No one could stop me now.

Before leaving the house, I gave a little knock on my window. Noah noticed, and gave me a little wave. I waved back and quickly met my dad in the car. We followed behind Noah's ride, but I lost him when I went inside the school building.

The halls were still crowded, but my classrooms were empty. Noah was right; almost everyone had gotten sick, and were out for the week because of it. Lydia, thank goodness, was still at school with me, and I had to apologize for missing the day before during lunch.

"It's fine, I totally get it," said Lydia, waving it off.  "Do you know who else is sick?"

"I don't know, half of the school's population?"

"Yeah, I guess," Lydia replied, laughing. "But I was talking about the witches: Sara May and Brianna. Top Peak High has been cleansed of those evil spirits for two days now, Alice! And how thankful I am for it."

"Seriously?" I asked. 

"Seriously."

I tried to whistle in appreciation, but it only resulted in a dry cough. I took a long sip of apple juice, but it did nothing for my throat. The juice was probably only one day off from being called cider, and its warm taste was unpleasant. I made a face, and Lydia laughed.

"Not good?" she asked.

"Not at all. I need water now."

Lydia foraged through her bag, and pulled out a couple of silver coins. She exchanged four of the largest into her left hand, and dropped the rest back into her bag. 

"Here," she said, handing them to me. "That should be enough for a water bottle. Mom says she heard from a friend that the water fountains here might be the reason this strand of flu has been doing so well."

"Thanks." I momentarily left her for the vending machines, trading the money in for a cheap plastic water bottle. I opened the lid as I walked back to my seat, and immediately began drinking it down.

"Dude, don't drink it all. You're gonna have to pee, and–"

The school bell rang, finishing her sentence for her. I probably should have listened, but my first sip of water made me realize just how thirsty I was. I grabbed my bag, and finished the whole bottle on the walk towards history class. I couldn't tell if Lydia was impressed, or was just marveling at my supposed future suffering. Little did she know that I had a strong bladder.

"Good afternoon, Alice," said Mr. Tsu, greeting me at the door.

I followed my daily routine, turning in homework, grabbing new sheets of paper from the front, and sitting at my desk. Even if I had still been terribly sick, I do think I would have sucked it up just for this class. History was exciting, and Mr. Tsu actually seemed to like me in his class. It gave me something to look forward to.