Chapter 6: Sick Day

The peer tutoring program is starting up today. I'll need to look my best to teach the freshmen about being a model citizen. Being alone on top is hard. It would be nice to have someone to share my glories with. If Maria Arby didn't become a woman and move away, maybe we'd still be friends.

Sweat rises to my pours like water gushing its way toward a waterfall. Everything aches from my head down to my toenails. As I take a deep breath, I feel the weight of mucus moving around like a motorboat. I sound like the broken wheezy toy from Toy Story 2.

Mom steps into the room. With one look of concern, she declares me sick. I never get sick. I take all my vitamins and exercise as my doctor instructs me to do—only people who are stressed and worried become sick.

It sucks that I am one of these people. Ever since mom took that embarrassing photo of me and the KAT trio ripped my book in half, the worrying sunk in. I've never been a worrywart before, but when everything around me is spiraling, of course, I will make myself sick.

"Lily-kins, you're hot. I am keeping you home today. I noticed you blocked me on all your social media accounts unless you deleted them. We can talk about that when you're well, of course. I'll call the school and tell them you're sick."

I stand up and attempt to get an outfit on. Mom takes my clothes out of my hands.

"Mom, staying home isn't necessary. I can take Tylenol. I need to be there today. It's the first day of the peer tutoring program, and they are picking our partners for the semester."

"Oh, Lily-kins nonsense. You're the president of the club. You can tell them tomorrow who you want as your partner. You aren't going anywhere."

I grab a different outfit and start to put it on.

"Lily Green, you are staying home today. Don't argue with your mother. I'll go to the store and pick up your favorite foods if you'd like. Want chocolate pudding and chicken noodle soup? I'm sure you do. Be right back."

I don't argue with mom. When someone is sick, she goes into super mom nurse mode. It's one of the few times I can stand her presence. It's not that I don't care for my mom. She always expects something from me. Her lack of social skills shows, especially when showcasing my embarrassment in front of my peers.

She is always making a spectacle of herself in front of everyone. It's exhausting to keep up with her facades and theatrics. Mom wears so many drama masks. I hardly know who she is underneath. Except when I am sick, all the drama goes away, and she becomes a mom again. Maybe I should stay home so that I can enjoy my real mother on this rare occasion.

If Mr. Chaucer observed my family, he would write a story called the Wife of Mr. Green. She could sport her own soap opera if the world presented her with a chance to star in a reality show.

Being sick is the last thing I want right now. It's the last thing anyone wants right now. It's not like I need a break; I just had three months of summer to read romance books by the pool. So why does my body have to give me the day off three weeks into the school year?

The detention students are like their own club. They have their leaders and rejects. Matthew Harrison would be the best student to peer tutor. Dundee Messer is the second in command of the detention rejects. He's like me, a victim of braces. Because he's a bad boy and steals lunch money, the KAT trio and posse wouldn't be caught dead calling Dundee, Train Tracks. So, they stay the hell away from him instead. Smart decision.

Gerald McLaren, another top bad boy on the peer tutoring list. He's a decent basketball player but has the brains of a sheep. He was never an academic genius. I've tutored him the last two years in a row. He was kind and didn't smoke a joint around me like Matthew Harrison did. Tutoring is not my passion, but it certainly looks good on college transcripts.

Out of all the peer tutoring partners, I can pick the one I don't want is the Green Knight, Mr. Jeremy Davis himself. He'd made me feel even worse than I do now.

I reactivate my social media accounts and change my profile picture to an anime character. At least looking like a Pokémon is better than being made fun of. If I get one more Train Tracks this or Train Tracks that comment online, I will become a single cat lady and skip college altogether.

My fever increases and makes me dizzy. The room spins in every direction. It makes me seasick; my stomach rises and falls with the waves. If an illness is like a current, then I'm fighting it with every ounce of energy I possess.

Eventually, a fighter will break and be forced to rest. The illness is winning the fight, and our struggle is pointless. I surrender to my head cold and fall asleep. The last thing I see is the thermometer reading a high temperature of 102.3 Fahrenheit.

Four hours later, I wake to a table full of jello, pudding, schoolwork, and mom waiting patiently for me to wake up.

"Why do I feel like this," I ask?

"Well, maybe you just got sick. It happens to all of us. Are you stressed out?"

Is mom trying to force me to talk about why I blocked her on my social media platforms?

"If you're wondering why I blocked you on I*******m and everything else. It's because you embarrassed me. I'm already a freak show at that school. Posting a picture of me with the bus driver, are you insane in the brain? What were you thinking? We all know I will never have friends. So yeah, mother dearest, I am stressed. Can you just leave me alone? Thanks for the food."

Mother gets up. She knows I am mad. And nothing she says or does will change the fact that her actions online were uncalled for. She knows I am right. It's one thing to be embarrassed in person, but online is eternal. Being embarrassed online leaves traces. Even if I delete it, some part of its code will digitally remain forever on the dark corners of the web.

"I'll go, Lily-kins. Sorry I embarrass you so much. One last thing. The school called your peer tutoring partner is Jeremy Davis."

Mom closes and the door, and as she does, I feel even worse. Not only did she make me feel like an asshole for telling her the truth. But now I have to be partnered with the school's biggest detention reject, the very asshat who burned down the Vineyard Church, or so he claims, Mr. Jeremy Davis, my biggest rival.