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2 | Healing Hearts
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TUESDAY, FIVE MINUTES before my alarm clock even rung, I woke up and went to the shower. The water jolted me awake. Afterwards, I wore my uniform. One thing I forgot to mention about our uniform was that it was bloody irritating to wear. Everyone could tell you go to Lakeside because of the over the top blazer for both men and women. It had some red lining on the edge representing the school colors. Although, it was only proper to wear it correctly, most students don't and I, sometimes, take part in that too because it looked too pretentious. I ate my breakfast before taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor. Usually my breakfast would contain hot chocolate and any random fruit I could grab in our pantry, but today, mom made the effort to cook eggs and sausages because I couldn't eat the medicine on an empty stomach.

It felt weird how suddenly mom was so involved with my life again, at least dad was still normal. Normal meaning, late nights and early mornings to the office. Mom insisted he worked from home because of my condition and thank God, she didn't press him on it.

Mom dropped me at the school's main entrance. "Be safe," she said as she drove off. "Dude!" Asher called as we did a bro hug. "You didn't show up yesterday," he remarked. "What are you talking about?" I laughed as Will patted me at the back.

"You weren't here yesterday? We were like looking for you the whole morning and after class," Asher said, in a matter of fact. "I even left you a message."

"Oh, I went in late and I had to tutor somebody after class," I said realizing the misunderstanding. "And my phone died."

I took my phone out and realized that I haven't used it since yesterday morning in the hospital. There were numerous notifications and I scrolled through to find Asher's. True enough, I saw his and showed it to him. "See, look! Didn't even respond to me," Asher said, pouting and nodding his head, his black hair bouncing—I think he needs a haircut.

Then a girl bumped me at my back. "Shit," I lowkey whispered as I turned around to see a girl with brown hair. She looked familiar. "Sorry," she said, rubbing her eyes before continuing off. She didn't bother looking up.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to think when was the last time I saw her. She was someone familiar, I could tell because I've seen that honey brown hair from somewhere. I'm sure she couldn't be new, but can't seem to figure it out. I shrugged, giving up and continued to listen to Will and Asher's senseless arguments again, this time about some basketball socks.

The bell rang and we headed off to class. I had chemistry during Tuesday mornings, which I wasn't really in the mood, at least for today. The only thing great about chemistry was the fact that Will and Asher is there talking nonsense. It reminded me that I'm still, in fact, here and alive. I entered the classroom and saw the usual group hanging at the back. I gave them a quick glance and noticed the girl who bumped me was the same girl from yesterday. I shrugged at the realization. Sitting down at my usual seat, I rubbed the temples of my head, it was going to be a long day ahead, I hope this slight headache wouldn't get in the way.

. . .

"Thanks," I said to the nurse, passing back the bottle of Advil she gave me.

Just like what I had expected, it was a long day. Too long, that I just needed some Advil. Maybe it was the stress of knowing that the doctors found nothing. It was killing me that I didn't know what was wrong with me. I took the pill with some water, before shaking my head, in attempt to clear my thoughts. "Chase, are you okay?" the nurse asked, clearly concerned.

"Yea, I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile.

She was probably concerned because if something happened to me, I would be a liability and if things turned out worse than expected, it wouldn't look good on her next job. I shrugged at the thought. The bell just rang, signaling the end of class. I had badminton training to attend to, but it seemed like it would be best to call it a day already.

My head was still pounding, although I have to admit that the Advil did work. Some of the pain subsided but, I could still feel a little throbbing. I sighed, overthinking and overanalyzing were my weakest links.

I went to the badminton court to see coach. Some were already starting to warm-up. I waved to some of them. Rhett came up to me and did a bro hug. "Hey man, are you going to train?" Rhett asked, clearly confused because I was still in my blazer and not my training clothes. Rhett was the one who has a notorious reputation for throwing parties. We became close through badminton and that's why I was always invited, although I rarely even go to these parties.

"No man, I can't today," I replied.

"Oh, that sucks! But, you're coming to mine on Friday right? Don't tell me you're going to be studying again," Rhett chuckled.

"I'll see," I laughed with him, then coach came and yelled at him to join the others in the warm-up.

"Coach, hey-" I started, but he gave me a hug immediately. I did not expect this. I awkwardly patted his back in return. He then looked at me straight in the eye and I didn't know if I was I trouble or..?

"How are you? The school informed me about your seizures and how you're seeking help," he said.

Ahhh, of course...

"Ohh yea, about that-" I said, but he cut me off again.

"Don't worry Laurents," he said using my last name. "You can get a two weeks rest, since season just ended, I think it was great timing."

I just found myself nodding. He patted me at the back before leaving to yell at the others. I stood there, still quite surprised. I gave out a short bitter laugh realizing how pathetic I must have looked like for coach to show such sympathy.

I went to the school's main entrance and started to text to mom, when Cynthia, my study buddy from yesterday showed up. "Hey, Chase, right?" Cynthia asked, smiling. "Yup," I said, as cheerful as I can. But, all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep the pain away.

"I thought you have some sort of varsity today," she said.

"Yea, coach gave me a two weeks rest," I replied. Then realized, "That means our schedule can change for this two weeks."

She nodded. A comfortable silence went in between. Then a car drove by, "Get in loser," a feminine voice said. She had sunglasses on, even if it was partly cloudy. She was the girl who looked so familiar. Tardy girl! 

"Alissa! Are you even allowed to drive?" Cynthia laughed.

Alissa. So that's her name.

Alissa got off the driver seat. "You're driving," she said, tossing the keys to Cynthia. I continued to watch the two make sarcastic comments and such, until Alissa noticed I was there. "Umm... hey?" she said like she was asking a question. With the look on her face, I could tell she either thinks I'm a creep or some sort of stalker, which was also a creep, but anyways.

"Oh, yea! Alissa, this is Chase, he's my study buddy," Cynthia said, cutting the thick air in between us.

I could feel the slight tension hanging in the air. I was always known as that observant guy who took way too much notes on everything. But I couldn't help it.

"Nice to meet you," Alissa said, giving me a tight lipped smile and pushing her brown hair behind her ears.

I unconsciously nodded my head for some weird unknown reason before I found the words, "Me too" escape my mouth. They hopped in the car and just in time, I saw my mom's car roll up in the drive away. She called my name and I gave a slight wave to Alissa and Cynthia before walking as fast as I can into mom's car.

"How's your day?" mom asks. I gave her a shrug before replying, "Good, I guess?"

On the way home, I made a mental check list for myself. I forgot to ask Will and Asher for notes and what exactly I missed during first period on Monday, which also happened to be Chemistry. So, first, ask Will and Asher for chem notes. Second, condition or at least do some simple warm up. I might be on rest, but I couldn't be behind the other players. Third, take some damn Advil since my head seemed to be throbbing like shit.

Sighing irritatedly, I hated the feeling of a headache. It seemed like you want to doze off, but you couldn't. Like something was stopping you from just sleeping it off or maybe it was just me. "We're here," mom's voice had slightly waken me up. I groaned inwardly. "You okay?" she asked, turning towards me. "It's just my head, I just need Advil," I said.

The moment I stepped inside the house, I rummaged through the cabinets at the kitchen to find some Advil. "Chase, it's here," my mom's voice seemed to echo. I felt really dizzy. The world seemed to blur and un-blur itself, multiple times over and over again. "Thanks," I said grabbing a glass from the dish washer and filling it with water before I took the pill from mom's hands and swallowed it.

I wasn't sure how many Advil mom handed me. But, I knew it wasn't just a single piece. The rest of the night seemed to be a blur. One thing was for sure, I didn't bother doing anything on that mental checklist I made on the way home. I just remembered waking up at 2am, realizing my stomach was screaming for food. I guess skipping dinner was part of the routine now.

. . .

to be continued

[ 1717 words ]

a/n :
yay. i have like three chapters pre written that are going to be published every other day. afterwards, it's going to be a slow update :((

your thoughts and feedback would be much appreciated!!

all the love,
nina <3