Crestfallen

14: Get Well Soon!

I arrived at school the next morning, cold and sick. Jeremy was at his locker with James, Chris, and Liam. My nose was kind of running so I found myself sniffling quite often. It funny to think that I was terrified of these guys a few days ago, and now I'm just casually walking over to them. I wore a warm coat to help shake off this cold, but it wasn't doing much.

"Hey, Cas—" Liam stopped mid-sentence as he took in my admittedly dishevelled appearance. "What happened?"

I looked over at Jeremy and grinned slightly. "I was walking home last night and caught this cold," I told them truthfully.

"You were walking in that deadly storm?" James asked incredulously, eyeing me with concern.

"Yup." I offered them a smile as I spoke. "Oh, and Jeremy, here." I handed him a card I'd bought on the way to school this morning that read, Get well soon!

As I handed it to him, he cracked the tiniest of smiles. I wanted to call him on it, considering I'd never seen him really smile (unless he was beating someone into a locker of course), but I refrained.

"You look like you need it more than I do," Jeremy joked, handing it back to me.

"Keep it," I told him as the rest of the boys gave us confused looks. "See you guys later then."

I walked away sniffling and sneezing, tissues falling out of every pocket. I found Macy at my locker and I could practically see the questions pouring out of her. "What did he say? Where does he live? Is he alright?" She flooded me with questions and I smiled at her.

"One at a time, please?" The bell rang just as I said it and I feigned an apologetic look. "Sorry, gotta go!"

She squinted at me but nevertheless turned in the other direction to head to class. I smiled and walked to French. Jeremy was already there, sitting in the spot he stole from Carter. I looked at my new seat in the front with disdain but sat anyway. I threw out a round of tissues before class started and made sure to refill my stock.

Carter was sitting in what used to my spot and I noticed Jeremy glaring at him as I grabbed more tissues. I let out a quiet scoff and sat down once more. Mme Breault came into the class as soon as the bell rang and welcomed us. She announced that we'd be doing an individual oral project and I frowned. I've never been that great at French.

Suddenly, my mind drifted from class and into another world.

How tall would people on Mars be? I mean, gravity is what keeps us short, isn't it? Aside from genes, it's what's stopping us from growing as tall as trees! Would Martians be like eight feet tall? Oh my gosh, that'd be so cool! Somewhat unfortunate when building doors and it would take a lot more resources to make houses, but I suppose they can always make bungalows...

"Casey!" the teacher snapped, clapping in front of me. I bounced back in my chair, sniffling. "Daydreaming again?"

"Sorry," I murmured quietly. I heard a few chuckles around the class, one of them being distinctly Jeremy's. I wanted to turn around and glare at him, but I froze under her stare. There's something about teachers that is intimidating. Whether it's the fact that they control your grades, or they can simply embarrass you in front of the entire class, I prefer to go unnoticed by them. Hence, not wanting to sit in the front.

Mme Breault gave me one more stern glance before returning to the board to explain the project.

As it turns out, she wants us to make up an inner monologue about something in our lives. It can be funny, sad, happy, anything you want. Apparently it's an easy mark, but not when you're an illiterate oaf like me. She handed out the rubric, along with a workbook —when I say workbook, I mean more like work novel— that she wanted us to start working on. I made it a surprising amount of pages into the book when the bell rang. I grabbed my stuff and headed to biology, my class with Macy.

I decided to take a shortcut, passing through a lesser-used part of the school. I was about to turn a corner when I heard Liam's angry voice. I stopped behind the wall and listened. I knew I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself.

"Look, just because you don't want to follow through with the bet, doesn't mean no one else can." I heard Jeremy say along with a scoff from what I think was Liam.

"She's a nice girl, why do you want to do this to her?" Liam questioned, sounding exasperated.

"Because I'm not a nice boy and I'm bored. Plus, I think I'm making steady progress. There's something about being a silent brooding jerk that attracts women," Jeremy said cockily while Liam scoffed once more.

"Are you serious? You're never going to get Casey like that." I froze at my name and creased my eyebrows. The bell rang, but I ignored it, desperate for more information.

"I saved her from a fucking rabid dog, I think I deserve some credit," Jeremy spat, apparently not liking what Liam was saying.

"Good for you! Is that what you wanted to hear? If you wanted some fucking validation, go get one of the cheerleaders to scream it at you." And with that, I heard angry footsteps storm away — in my direction. I was so shocked that I hardly managed to move. There was a doorway along the hall and I stood in it, hoping no one came out of the room and that Liam or Jeremy wouldn't see me.

I saw Liam stomping down the hallway angrily, moving his legs quickly. I assumed Jeremy had gone the other way so once Liam was out of sight, I turned around the corner and started walking, still somewhat shaken.

I hit something hard, not remembering a wall being there. Because I was so unable to process the information I'd received, my legs gave out from under me and I tumbled towards the floor. My butt hit the hard ground first, followed by my palms. I groaned and looked up, trying not to gape as Jeremy and I locked eyes.

"Hi," I said tentatively, getting up and wiping off my palms.

"Wanna skip with me?" The question surprised me and I frowned confusedly.

"Like, skip class?" I inquired, not able to comprehend the simplest of things at the moment.

"Duh," he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes, clearly getting fed up.

"Um, no thanks. I'm pretty sick and I have biology..." I trailed off, hoping he got the point.

"So you'd rather walk in late?" He smirked at me. I sucked in a breath and contemplated it for a moment. Ms Sutherland would probably be nice about it since I'm hardly ever late, but I was feeling anxious just thinking about it.

"Okay, but only because I can't handle social pressure." I smiled as he started to walk away. I guess that's my queue to follow.