C h a p t e r 2 :

Teenagers Will Be Teenagers

Faye Foreigner

--

I expected to be awoken by my alarm, but instead I woke up to a face full of carpet and a heavy shudder of pain going through my shoulder blade.

I wheezed and scrambled around in my mess of blankets and eventually untangling myself from the gripping linen.

I staggered to my feet and breathed in and out, head washing. My stomach turned slightly and I squeezed my eyes shut and reopened them. I was facing my sky blue walls, the light reflecting the white trimming and nearly blinding me.

I turned around and rubbed my eyes, squinting. Jordan stood next to my bed, her hands on her hips. Her brown hair was up in a truly messy ponytail and she wore loose sweatpants and a black shirt.

"What the heck did ya do that for?" I complained, leaning down and snatching the blankets up and throwing them back onto my mattress. My arms and upper back groaned with protest at the movement, sore from cleaning out the stalls last night.

"I could hear your alarm all the way from my room," Jordan told me, hands sliding off her hips as she shuffled lazily passed me. I turn to watch her leave but she paused at the doorway and turned around with a smirk. "You're late, by the way."

"What?" I ask stupidly, her words not fully connecting in my head. I was staring blankly at her and she grinned, jerking her thumb to my phone before heading out.

I furrowed my eyebrows and padded towards the side table cautiously, eyeing the phone and slowly touching the button to see the lock screen. I let my eyes drift to the picture I had as my background: My Main Coon tabby Tyrone was being obedient in the picture and was rubbing his gray tabby face against mine as I snapped the picture of us. He was one of the fluffiest cats I've ever seen in my life, even as a kitten, which is why I picked him out at the fair a couple years ago. A box of kittens, one costed only fifty dollars.

My eyes drifted from the picture to the time. 7:30. Oh.

I stared at my phone for a moment, and then I felt a sudden foot kick me in the chest when I came to realization. I let out a high-pitched, very unpleasant sound and ran to my bathroom.

I swore I heard my sister laughing from upstairs.

--

I rushed into school, my bag hanging haphazardly off my shoulder. If it swung to close to someone, they faced a backpack to the stomach.

I had ten minutes until class, but I had my first hour on the third floor and my locker was on the main floor, thankfully, but on the other freaking side of the school.

I didn't stop to say hello to people. A couple of my teammates from the girl's basketball team called my name, but I waved them off and kept rushing. I couldn't be late. I was already in deep shit with Mrs. McCarthy. I'll be damned if I dig myself a deeper hole with that woman.

I fiddles with my locker combination when I reached the locker bay, biting the end of my tongue and jerking it open when I managed to get the code right (on the third try).

I replaced books and notebooks in my backpack and slammed my locker shut, darting to the stairs that led to the third floor.

Three minutes later, I stepped into the classroom. I sucked in a large gulp of breath and released it in, my head swimming.

You're a basketball player, you play soccer, and you're a horseback rider, I scolded myself as I dropped my backpack against the leg of my assigned table. Why the hell are you so breathless?

I felt a sharp, tiny sting in my arm and I whipped my head around. I felt my neck pop slightly, which felt amazing. Ken was staring at me with a raised blond eyebrow.

"Ow," I told him, my voice dry, but still deep and breathless.

He pulled his hand back and rested it on the table top a few meters away from mine. He smiled at me, and I found myself returning the smile.

"You could have just said hi," I told him playfully, rubbing my bandaged arm with a playful squint.

Honestly, I had forgotten about my arm. I could either go to the nurse again after this class or wait until after school where I could rewrap it with the gauze in my basketball locker.

Now that Ken pinched it, though, it was starting to become slightly irritated. I opened my mouth and then froze when I noticed his expression.

His eyes were now, again, locked on my arm, as if he was expecting it to do something outrageous on its own. His face held an expression that I couldn't put my finger on.

I suddenly slid my arm off my table and onto my lap just as the harsh sound of the bell blared.

Ken snapped from his daze at both actions and the smile returned to his face and he met my eyes. Any weird feeling I had seemed to instantly disappear as he met my eyes. My cheeks grew hot, and if I didn't know better I'd think they were literally on fire.

"Sorry about that," Ken murmured, his dimples showing through his smile. "I sort of got lost in my train of thought."

"It's okay," I responded immediately, eyeing his dimples and letting out a breath. Adorable.

"Alright, everyone. Sit down." Mrs. McCarthy walked in, her heels clicking against the white tiled floor. Her brown-green eyes locked on Ken and I and she sneered. "In your right seats."

Ken huffed and ripped his eyes from mine, which caused me to snap from my fascination. He smiled at me and stood up, gathering his things and walking two tables behind.

--

I slid my chemistry binder into my backpack and zipped it up, tucking strands of my blonde hair behind my ear.

I suddenly stopped when a wave of nausea washed through me. The bell, thankfully, wasn't going off yet. We had five minutes, which meant I had five minutes to collect myself.

There's a high chance my nausea could have been a result of our lab, but all we did was mix different types of liquids together to see if it would foam over or stay flat.

Mrs. McCarthy never mentioned anything to us about side affects. If we had a lab where there could be, she always told us if so.

I slowly straightened up, staring at the clock above Mrs. McCarthy's desk as my head swam. I blinked my eyes shut tightly and then reopened them, but now the image was blurred.

What the hell?

I blindly reached down for my bag, managing to get it after a brief moment of grabbing at air. I lifted it to my shoulder and quickly hurried up to Mrs. McCarthy. I knew I was treading on dangerous waters with her right now, but I seriously needed to get to the nurse.

As I approached, my ears seemed to grow sensitive to the tiniest things. I could hear the faint ticking noise of the clock, which hurt my ears. I placed my palms on top of her desk, causing her to look up at me.

At first she looked irritated, but it quickly changed to surprise and shock. "Faye?"

"C-can I go to the nurse?" I asked in a faint voice, trembling. It suddenly felt very hot, and my tummy was rolling.

"You don't -- Faye." The woman quickly stood up and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Hanna, go get the nurse! Quickly! The rest of you,  stay back," she ordered.

I lifted my eyes to Ken, watching his face blur in and out of vision. He stayed the farthest back, and I swore that his face held guilt.

The rest happened without me remembering much. I wasn't rushed to the hospital, but only because I protested. I was awake enough to at least go against that. So the nurse had me rest while she contacted my parents' personal cell phones. She also contacted Jordan and my cousin, Jennifer.

Jordan and Jennifer arrived at the school with anxious faces. I was already sitting up on the makeshift bed while the nurse unwrapped my arm in order to check for infection.

"Oh dear." Her eyes widened. The bandages were covered with dry blood, and the skin .. The skin looked terrible. It was filled with puss bubbles, it was rashy skin. Not only that, but it somehow had spread across my entire arm and shoulder overnight.

I never noticed it. I was to busy getting ready for school in a rush .. I was wearing a long sleeved shirt with my PJs, and I was wearing one to school. How I didn't feel the new addition to my arm, I did not know.

Jordan let out a tiny gasp when she saw the red, swollen, leaking, and bubbled skin. "Faye .. How did this happen?"

I opened my mouth, but Nurse Brandy spoke first, "She came to me yesterday with red skin. I thought it was a rash, so I told her to keep it wrapped."

Jennifer turned to me, her icy blue eyes studying me carefully, as if scanning for anything I could be hiding. "Yesterday? How long did you have the rash before that."

"It started as an inch Monday and got worse," I admitted. "I showed Lucy at lunch, and it was like this only ten times smaller."

Jennifer and Jordan looked shocked. "Since Monday?" Jordan demanded, her green eyes starting to become filled with a worried flame. "Faye, why didn't you say something sooner?"

"Uh, well, you weren't home Monday and I thought it was just a rash. How would I know my arm would become red and leaky?" I retorted, refusing to look at my damaged skin. I knew I would only make myself sick to my stomach.

Jordan sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in silence, then turned to Nurse Brandy. "Okay, doc, what do we do?"

Despite the situation, Nurse Brandy smile a little in amusement. She wasn't just your average school nurse; she was married, had two kids, and recently announced she had another on the way. She was a sweet, kind, and cheery woman who always went above and beyond to make her patients feel better as best she could.

Nurse Brandy had soft, doe brown eyes with long, matching hair she mostly kept up in a ponytail. She was plump, but she was never insecure about it. Seeing as I was a frequent patient of hers my freshman year (I always got my ass kicked at sports practice),  she told me how she felt about her body. She would say, "I like being not-skinny. It's not a matter of your weight. They are simple numbers that like to bring you down. Be yourself and you can rule the world."

"I'm not a doctor," she started, her eyes moving from my arm and to Jordan's face, though her hands still held my arm gently, "so I am not allowed to diagnose this. I think it's inflamed and infected because of something that got into a cut."

"A cut?" Three pairs of eyes snapped to me and I understood what they were thinking.

"No, no," I spoke quickly, shaking my head. "No! I'm not depressed. I don't hurt myself."

Jennifer glanced sideways at Jordan, whose lips were pursed slightly in regard.

"Jordan are you serious right now?" I demanded, making her look me in the eye by sharpening the tone of my voice. "Do I look like that type of person? Depressed?"

"Anyone can be depressed, Faye," Jordan said tiredly, her arms dropping. "It's all a matter of hiding behind a mask."

I bit my lower lip in order to keep from lashing out at her. Jordan's the one person I would have hoped would believe me.

"Jor-"

"Faye, I'm not saying you are hurting yourself," Jordan continues, avoiding my gaze. "Okay, look. Do you remember accidentally cutting yourself while working out in the barn?"

I shook my head.

"It could have been she simply doesn't remember because she didn't feel the cut. It happens," Jennifer added hopefully, a hand on my uninjured shoulder. I felt myself relax slightly, knowing that she was believing me.

"Hm, yes that is possible. Whatever it is, you must be allergic. It's not very .. Common .. to see the whole arm and shoulder swollen. I'm surprised your hand is fine. You didn't notice anything like bloating or extra weight on that arm?" Nurse Brandy asked.

I frowned and shook my head. "That's what's weird. I still don't feel any swelling or heaviness. It burns and stings a lot, but not bloated."

"Okay." Nurse Brandy nodded slowly, looking confused. "Well, here's what I think needs to happen. You go to the doctor, and then go home for the day. I think you should wait until Monday to return to school, and depending on how your arm is, you shouldn't be playing sports."

I nearly had a heart attack. "I can't do that!" I practically yelled. "I have two basketball games next week, and a soccer game tomorrow night! I can't miss this-"

"I don't care about your sports, honestly," Nurse Brandy stated bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning on her hip. "I care about your health."

Jordan pulled my sleeve down without rewrapping the bandages and helped me to my feet while grabbing my bag. "We'll go by your advice. Thanks, Brandy."

Nurse Brandy nodded and walked us out of her office. "I'm not kidding, Faye," she said, tapping my temple as I passed her. "If you so much as touch your game shoes, I'll have your coaches do twenty hundred sit-ups."

"Harhar," I replied dryly, but was smiling, as I walked out behind Jen and Jordan.

--

"Put your stuff down and follow me," Jordan ordered as I walked inside after and Jennifer.

We went to the doctor's office, as promised, and the doctor basically said that what I had would require surgery if the medicine he prescribed me wouldn't work within the next week and a half.

I let my bag slide off my shoulder and fall onto the ground next to me as I stride after my sister.

Jennifer gave me a look when the bag hit the one of the side tables next to a couch, causing the lamp to shake.

"Faye," she warned, shoving the bag away from the table with her foot as she passed.

"Jennifer," I replied in the same voice, turning my head to narrow my eyes at her.

She sighed and gestured for me to keep walking. "Go."

I rolled my eyes. Usually I was never this rude to Jennifer, but I was still pissed that I would be missing my games. I kept walking, only going at a faster rate, to avoid the awkward air that filled the silence.

I entered the kitchen, where Jordan was opening the orange and white medicine bottle. She shook out one, hideous speckled gray pill, onto her palm and set it on top of the countertop before getting me a glass of water.

She set down the glass and slid both objects toward me and said, "Take it." Based on her stony expression and pursed lips, she was final on her word. She would be expecting me to do as told without protest.

Fighting the urge to yell at her for the conversation back at school, I slowly walked closer and glared at her. She stared back, unrelenting, and waited in expectant silence.

I swallowed the pill with a large gulp of water and then slammed the glass down. I didn't do it at the force I wanted to, or I would have broken the glass (which would have gotten me in trouble and Jordan in a worse mood).

I folded my arms when she took the glass and dumped the remaining water in the sink and placed it on the counter. She kept her back to me for a minute, her hands tightened around the counter's edge. Her head was lowered, as though she were exhausted.

Finally, she pushed herself up and sighed, turning to face me. "Go to bed."

That's it? I felt my jaw clench and I scowled at her. "Before I do that, care to explain why the hell you and Jennifer thought I cut myself?"

Jennifer put a hand on my shoulder again, and this time I shook it off. I didn't want comfort. "No, seriously," I snapped, glaring at the both of them. "What the hell was that?"

"We don't think you hurt yourself on purpose, Faye," Jordan responded, which took me by surprise. I had a whole rant ready, and now I don't know what to say.

"You .. Don't?" I spluttered, feeling both relief and disbelief flash through me. "But at the nurse's office.."

"At first, I thought it could have been a possibility," Jordan admitted, looking apologetic but still hard-faced. "But your expression was enough to tell me you were telling the truth. Plus, you had a point. It was you we were talking to."

I couldn't help the smile that split my face. I wanted so badly to stay pissed off, but it felt great to know that they believed me. "Okay," I breathed out.

"That doesn't mean we aren't going to let you off the hook, though," my sister continued. My eyebrows raised at her at her choice of words.

"I didn't know I was on the hook!" I protest, my smile twitching. "What did I do?"

"Why didn't you tell me about your arm yesterday?" Jordan asked, raking her fingers through her wavy brown hair. "If it was like this-"

"It wasn't, Jordan," I told her, shaking my head and pressing my thumbs to my aching temples. "Like I said earlier, it was only a small part of my arm. When I showed it to Lucy-"

"You showed it to Lucy, but not me?" She demanded.

"Oh, my God," I said in a heavily irritated voice. "Jordan, I didn't even know you were coming home! Your arrival completely caught me off guard, so I forgot about it! Besides, I thought it would feet better on its own-"

"Obviously that worked out well, huh?" she replied, glancing at the swollen arm that was hidden beneath my long sleeve.

"Why are you acting like I just committed some sort of crime?" I seethed, gritting my teeth. "For God's sake. So I have to keep repeating it? I. Didn't. Know. How. Bad. It. Would. Get!"

"Stop, both of you!" My sister and I turned our heads to Jennifer, who had her hands on her hips. She looked both irritated and concerned as she stared us down.

When she was sure we weren't going to start up another match of yelling, she pointed a finger at me. "Don't yell at your sister. She's worried about you, which is completely allowed."

Jordan seemed to be trying her hardest to keep a smirk from her face, but she no longer looked to be struggling when Jennifer turned her finger to her. "And you. Faye does have a point: you weren't home when this thing started, so you can't chastise her for not telling you. If she says she doesn't truly know how it started, or what it is, then we have to take her word for it."

Jordan let out a heavy breath, tilting her head back slightly and closing her eyes before reopening them. "Okay, okay," she relented. "I'm sorry, Faye."

"Me too," I muttered stubbornly, my pride both wounded and slightly lifted. "I guess."

"Jen!" Jordan waved her arms at me. "See? She's not sorry!"

"Jordan, you're not ten years old," Jennifer snaps, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You know quite well that that's the best you're going to get out of her."

"Take it or leave it," I stupidly quipped.

My mouth slammed shut tight when Jen gave me a burning glare.

"Faye go downstairs. Email your teachers, tell them you're not going to be at school until next Monday," Jennifer ordered, her hands on the counter.

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

I bit my tongue and whipped around, storming out of the kitchen. I was completely aware of the hushed conversation that started the second I was out of view, but I was to angry to stick around and eavesdrop.

--

A/N:

Caitlin Stasey as Jordan in the image above.

To anyone who has read the original book, you noticed that this a brand new scene, didn't you?

This new version is going to contain about 60 chapters, and it will include bonus information + scenes that weren't available in the first book. You'll be pleased with the changes, I hope.