Parasite

•●Chapter2●•

I heard rustling in the back. I opened my eyes. It wasn't my room. It wasn't my bed. It was cold and noisy. I looked around, at a landscape I never saw before. It was beautiful still the streets were so empty. -Where are we? -I asked in my morning voice. I cleared my throat and repeated myself.- Somewhere around Hannover. It's beautiful, isn't it? -Kosta said looking around the streets.-Yes... it is. Hey, guys remember that school trip we had 3 years ago? - The school trip where Amir pissed himself on the side of the road? - Lala said laughing.-Ey! Fuck off, I didn't piss myself, you weren't even there. I pulled down my pants! - Amir said angrily.-On the side of the road! - We all said. -Where did we go again?-Bärental or something... somewhere in France. -Amir answered.-I remember you being locked out by your roommates and you came crying about how tired you are. - Florence told. -God might forgive you, but I won't for eating my Nutella sticks. -Oh, shut up! - I said jokingly. - We were so stupid and young.-We still are. - Kosta said. Right. I don't know who is more bitter about the memories of the school trip, him or me. We broke up a month before that.

I remember waking up that Saturday. I cried so much. I was so tired that Kosta suddenly disappeared from my life. One day he woke up and ignored me. He left me on reading, he didn't come to school for a week. There were rumors that he switched schools and moved to Stuttgart. Allegedly he cheated on me with some chick from the next street school, or at least that's what his best friend told me. On that Saturday morning, I broke up with him over text. Dry, I told him that I can't trust him or his friends, so let's just end it here and now before we both get hurt. He came to school a week later. He was sick, and Kosta was hospitalized for a test cause cancer is an inherited gene in his family. His caramel skin was pale and looked like he haven't eaten for those two weeks anything. Big dark circles around his eyes.

I had my birthday two weeks after that. IO celebrated with Florence and David, who swore to be on my side since the day I told him it was over with Kosta. He was very dedicated. Kosta promised to take me to Bodensee. David makes that dream come true. David was in love with me, although he never admitted it. He never left my side even after our friend group dispersed. He took care of me while I was sick. The nights I cried through and the times when I was at my fucking best. We had date nights and went eating, which helped me through my eating disorder. I can't call that a date. I just couldn't do that.

On the school trip, Kosta's bungalow was two rooms next, I never had the chance to just go there and tell him how sorry I was to end it like this. We spent five days in France. We went swimming in a random lake and the small river that was flowing through our camping place. We played football and grilled. Went to a cool climbing park where a classmate almost broke his neck on the trampoline. Still, no words were exchanged. I had no appetite the breakfast was always the same and the dinner was tasteless. After that schoolyear Kosta failed, he dropped a grade and had to do it again. Deep down I was still hoping for costa to come back and there he was yesterday, leaning against my couch in our living room. -There is an old hotel nearby, let's check it out -Yuan said, maybe we will be more energized if we slept in a normal bed. Yuan was onto something, the hotel was abandoned, with few mattresses, and no warm water. We all arranged ourselves in rooms that were acceptable for sleeping.

We all fell asleep and were woken by a siren. It was Yuan's monitor. He specialized one for alarms like this.-We have to get out of here a parasite wave is coming. It was common for a parasite wave, which was the easiest way to get infected. the microparasites were so tiny that the wind could easily carry them. We all gathered and left again with the van, on a long, long road trip.

It was dark again. Cold and it started to rain. That was a good sign, the parasites were slower and less active in the rain. Flesh-eating parasites. You could get infected by just breathing it in. It would crawl under your skin, eating itself through your blood vessels, and leaving small droplets of blood on your skin. -Can I eat this? -David asked, shówing me a conserved dose of fish with some premade sauce on it.-Sure.

And in silence, we continued our trip to Portugal.