Chapter 2: Sick to the stomach

The next day at school was stressing. I had to witness James-Autumn drama which basically ended in Autumn breaking up with James and stomping out of the classroom, bawling. I felt bad for her but there wasn't anything I could do to change things. Amelia and I did spend the entire day with Autumn though. We kept her company so that she won't feel lonely. Amelia let her sit next to her in class, talked with her and I even caught Autumn laughing a little which made me happy. Autumn was a sweet girl. She didn't deserve what James did to her.

Autumn Ledger was a redhead with light brown doe eyes, a small nose and full lips. Her personality was naive and bubbly, almost like a kid but today we got to see a different Autumn. Not the Autumn whose laugh echoed in the whole classroom or the Autumn that drew crazy things on the whiteboard or the Autumn that kissed James in front of the whole class and cringed us. Today's Autumn was different. She was quiet, sad, heartbroken. Her smile wasn't bright and her head stayed bowed. She kept looking at her feet most of the time. It was the first time she came up to her name, Autumn, not in a good way of course. She didn't cry after the two lectures though so I was relieved. I thought she was going to bawl out her eyes all day.

I was trying my best to accompany Autumn but the sick feeling in my stomach was making my day harder than it already was. Playing with the french fries in front of me, I tried not to think too much about yesterday's magically-glowing-butterfly event. After having a major panic attack, I had stuffed the darn brooch in the drawer and fainted, literally. I had to finish my homework in a rush before going to school in the morning and I was pissed.

I could hear Amelia telling Autumn about some movie while we sat in the cafeteria, eating. I wasn't actually eating, just staring at the food. I didn't feel hungry. I felt nauseous and sick. My head had been hurting when I woke up and I had to take medicine before coming to school. Now, I felt like throwing up and was feeling a constant stinging on my hands, as if someone was poking at them with needles.

"Aren't you going to eat, Mable?" Amelia's fruity voice caught my attention. I looked up at her. Her mouth was full of food that she swallowed in one gulp.

"Um, not really. I feel kinda sick." I said, tucking a strand of my brown hair behind my ear.

"Sick? What's wrong?" She stopped eating instantly and watched me with worried eyes.

"Just feeling a little nauseous." I told her.

"You should go to the nurses office if you feel really sick, okay?"

"Yes, we can walk you there too if you want. Maybe ditch a class or two to take care of you." Autumn chimed in. She smiled and I felt proud for giving her company on her worst day.

"Thanks a lot Autumn, but I don't feel that sick really." I returned her generous smile.

"That's good." She continued eating her lunch.

"Then can I have your fries since you're not eating?" Amelia asked with big sparkly eyes.

"Sure." I laughed and pushed the tray towards her. She gladly took it and started chewing on the fries. I bent over a little, elbows on the table as I felt a bad stomachache approach me. The subtle pain slowly turned more harsh and at one point, I wanted to curl up in a ball on the ground and watch my soul ascend from my body.

"Guys, I'll be back from the bathroom." I told Lia and Autumn in a rush and got up from my seat.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked.

I was not okay. I felt like dying.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'll be back in a minute." I lied and power walked out of the cafeteria and straight to the girl's bathroom. I entered and slammed the door behind me. To my relief, there was nobody in the bathroom. I crouched down on the floor, breathing heavily. The pain in my abdomen felt like somebody was tearing my intestines apart. My skin was burning hot. I let out a low shriek when I couldn't bear the pain.

"Please stop." I begged, not knowing who I was talking to. I just wanted the pain to go away. It hurt so much. As if accepting my request, the pain slowly faded and was completed gone in a few seconds. My body shivered. I stood up, cautiously, scared that standing up straight might trigger the pain again. I went to the mirror and stared at my reflection in disbelief. My fair complexion looked so pale that I could be easily mistaken for a corpse. The brown strands of my low ponytail were sticking to my sweaty neck.

My fingers tingled, a similar sensation as the one when I had touched the butterfly brooch. I freaked out, turned on the tap and started washing my hands, aggressively.

This was driving me nuts.

I washed my face and took deep breaths until I felt a little better. A girl with bleached blonde hair, tied up in a tight ponytail, entered the bathroom and looked at me with a frightened expression then went inside a bathroom stall.

Geez, why did everybody always look at me like that way? Was I that ugly?

I shook my head and straightened my hair with my hands. I licked my lips and tasted a metallic taste. I froze. Glancing at my reflection in the mirror, I almost screamed in horror.

My nose was bleeding and it wasn't just a slight nosebleed. Blood was dripping down my nose to my lips and chin reaching all the way to my neck. My lower face was covered in my own blood.

"What the fuck!"

<<🦋>>

Let's just say that Amelia had freaked out when she saw me and made a scene before taking me to the Nurse's office but the good thing was that the nosebleed stopped soon after. I attended the rest of the classes perfectly fine, thankfully.

I stretched my arms as the bell rang indicating our freedom from the hell hole aka school. I stuffed my books in my bag quickly and glanced at Amelia who was dozing off. I started putting her books in her bag too. My bag was purple colored while Lia's was a red one with black stripes.

"Ahem."

I heard a familiar male voice clear his throat behind me. I turned around to meet two chocolate brown eyes.

"Hey Mable! I heard you got sick, are you better now?" Jake asked, scratching his head. Jake was my classmate and the one who had been hitting on me since a month now. Even though I had turned him down so many times, he just didn't know when to give up. It wasn't that Jake was a bad guy, he just wasn't my type. Plus I'd decided to not date until I got into my desired college.

"Oh. hi Jake, yeah I'm good now." I politely smiled at him as I zipped Lia's bag.

"That's great! Then do you wanna hang out with me? Taking a walk in the park might make you feel better." He suggested and for the first time ever, I was glad I was actually sick so I didn't had to make up a lie to avoid him. That always left me feeling guilty.

"Oh, um, no I'm not actually feeling that well. I'd like to go home and rest." I told him with a guilty smile.

"Oh. Alright." He looked disappointed but I could tell he tried his best to not show it.

"See you tomorrow then. Get well soon." He said, touching his brown hair awkwardly, and went away.

"Thanks! See you."

"See who?" Amelia's raspy voice spoke beside me. She'd woke up finally.

"It was Jake, he just left." I told her as I grabbed my bag and dusted off some invisible dust particles.

"Oh gosh, was he hitting on you again?" She straightened up, wiping the drool off the corner of her mouth.

"Just asked me to hang out with him." I said, briefly and stood up, wearing my bag around my shoulders.

"Poor guy. He just won't stop trying."

"Let's go home." I decided to not press on the matter. I didn't like talking about Jake as it made me feel guilty. It was clear he liked me a lot but I couldn't reciprocate his feelings so that was that.

"Mhm." Amelia hummed in response and grabbed her bag.

<<🦋>>

New York city was as bright as ever. The day was clear and cool breeze was blowing. The arrival of fall was obvious by the dead leaves on the ground.

After school was over, Amelia and I were walking home together. Our houses were in opposite directions but she'd told me she didn't want me to go alone in case I might get sick again so she was walking me home.

"Your face looked like a freaking murder scene." Lia exclaimed, still not able to get over it.

"Thanks." I deadpanned.

"I was so scared, Mable. What the hell were you thinking? You should have gone straight to the nurses office, not the bathroom." She rebuked, shooting me a glare.

"I'll be careful. Sorry." I rolled my eyes. I knew she was right.

"What even happened?" She inquired.

"I don't know. I just know I feel so exhausted." I let out a exasperated sigh.

"Rest when you get home, okay? You should take a nap. Should I stay over?" Her hazel eyes softened.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Aren't you going to your dad's place today?" I asked.

"I am, But you're more important right now." She said and my heart almost broke. I felt so weak that I wanted to cry into her neck and tell her to stay. I wanted to rant about how scared I was about my health, how scared I was when I saw blood oozing out of my nose like a freaking waterfall. I wanted to tell her I kept feeling this weird feeling in my gut and it was frustrating me.

"Thanks a lot Lia but I think I'll be fine on my own. Aunt Perry's coming home early too so she'll take care of me." I decided to say otherwise. All of that rant could wait. It wasn't like I was about to die. She needed to see her father.

"Aw, okay. If you say so." She bit her lip and looked away.

After Amelia's parents got divorced, she spent 4 days of the week with her mother and 3 days with her father. It was time to stay with her father and I didn't want the little time she got to spend with her dad away from her. I knew she loved him a lot. He loved his daughter dearly too. Since her father worked most of the day, they only got to spend time together at night but he would often call Lia from work when he got breaks in between. Mr. Harper was a nice person. I'd met him a lot of times. He always bought me small gifts and made sure I ate properly whenever I went over. He reminded me of my own dad and it felt nice.

We stopped at the doorstep of my house. The porch light was turned on. Aunt Perry always forgot to turn it off.

What a waste of electricity!

"I'll get going now. Don't get sick." Amelia said as her eyes caught the porch light on too but she didn't say anything about it. It was normal now.

"Bye. I'll text you." I smiled at her and stepped onto the porch.

"I love you." Lia hugged me all of a sudden, startling me. I giggled and hugged her back, nuzzling into her perfect ombre hair.

"Love you more!" I giggled and hugged her back. We broke apart after a moment and she walked away, waving at me one last time.

"Love you most!" She yelled at me from afar and I stood at the porch, watching her until she turned round the block and was out of sight.

I entered the house with a smile and locked the door after turning the porch light off. I let out a sigh of relief as I sluggishly climbed up the stairs and went to my room. The same old purple walls rose a wave of nostalgia in me. The memories of my childhood in this room were my comfort. They were precious.

I threw my bag onto the study table and grabbed some comfortable clothes from the closet. After a long, warm bath that made me feel much better, I decided to take a nap. I texted Amelia, updating her about my health and made myself comfortable under the sheets. I was about to close my eyes when I caught a glimpse of blue. I opened my eyes and glared at the butterfly brooch that was on my nightstand. I sighed and turned around, facing the other direction so that the brooch wasn't in my range of vision.

Soon after, I dozed off.

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A/N: I CAN'T WAIT FOR WINTER, IT'S SO HOT HERE UGH. 😭

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Take care. Xoxo.

- Miracle ♡