The room seemed to close in around me as I approached her, suffocating me. As I reached her, she gave me a glare that could cut through steel. I forced a weak smile, determined not to let her see how much she affected me."Hi, Angela. I didn't expect to see you here," I said, my voice trembling slightly. I hoped she couldn’t tell.Angela's thin lips curled upward into a wry little smirk. "Well… Surprise, surprise. Looks like we'll be spending some quality time together,” she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized me from head to toe. “Follow me, Luna."I felt my heart start to pound, but there was no turning back now.Reluctantly, I trailed behind Angela, feeling as though my stomach would drop at any moment and send me crashing through the earth.

“What’s your problem, Angela?!” I almost shouted, curling my hands up into fists as I stood before her. She was taller than me, but I didn’t care. I was tired of being made to feel small.Angela looked a bit surprised by my sudden outburst. “Calm down, Olivia,” she said with a wry chuckle. “Should I call security? Do you need some antipsychotic meds or something?”I could feel anger bubbling up inside of me, and a low growl almost rumbled in my throat.“Don’t play dumb, Angela,” I snarled, pointing my finger at her. “You were nasty at the hunt for no reason. We haven’t even spoken since, what, middle school? What is your problem with me?Angela's judgmental sneer cut through my body like a knife. Her words dripped with malice and hatred. "You're just a dirty cheater who stole Nathan away from a girl who would have been the perfect Luna," she spat, her eyes filled with contempt.Even more anger bubbled up within me, threatening to overflow, but I clenched my fists, determined to mainta

My childhood friend’s face was pale and his eyes were wide."Olivia," he said, his annoyed voice melting into concern, "who said those horrible things to you?"Instantly, I felt myself soften beneath his worried gaze. I wished all of a sudden that I hadn’t said anything at all about what Angela said to me during my appointment, as now I realized that all I accomplished was making Nathan worried for me."Um… Forget it," I said, taking a step back. "It’s nothing. I think I’m just tired, and blowing things out of proportion."Nathan’s frown deepened. "Tell me the truth, Olivia," he replied as he closed the gap between us again. "Who said that to you? I want to speak to them."I swallowed. Nathan’s face was too intense for me to ignore it, and so I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep the truth from him any longer."It was… Angela," I replied, staring embarrassingly down at the floor. "She was the nurse at my appointment this morning. She said some really awful things, and made me take se

As I stumbled out of the bathroom, my head was still spinning from the overwhelming wave of nausea caused by the pungent smell and horrid taste of Maria’s soup.At least it’s over, I thought to myself as I clutched my stomach. She’ll go home now.I just wanted to go up to my room and lie down on my bed for the rest of the day after that whole ordeal. But when I walked out into the hallway and met Maria there with yet another bowl of steaming hot soup in her hands, I felt my stomach drop.“There you are,” she said, sounding annoyed and completely oblivious to my obvious sickness. “I’ve been waiting for you.”I blinked, completely taken aback by her brusque tone. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Ford,” I said, feeling ill already just from being in the vicinity of the wretched soup. “I wasn’t feeling well.”“Hm.” Maria eyed me up and down with a disbelieving look on her face, then thrust the bowl of soup closer to me. I nearly gagged just from that, and instantly felt my eyes begin to water. “Here. Hav

I was lying in my bed in the dim light. I had been dozing on and off all day, but this time I was fast asleep.Suddenly, a creak caught my attention. I stirred from my nap, my eyes blinking away the remnants of sleep. The room felt hazy, and as my vision cleared, I noticed Nathan standing in the doorway.His face flushed a deep shade of red, and he quickly concealed his lower half behind the door.Confusion clouded my mind as I sat up, pulling the covers closer to me."What are you doing, Nathan?" I asked, my voice laced with both curiosity and concern.Nathan’s face somehow turned an even deeper shade of red as he stammered out a response. “I… I… Um…” He cleared his throat. “How did everything go with my mom this morning?”At the mention of Nathan’s mother and her horrible soup, I practically felt nauseous just thinking about it. I shook my head and laid back down with a shrug. “It was fine.”Nathan shot me a puzzled look. He hovered there for a few moments, still with his lower half