Denouement High: An Asoue AU

Twenty Two: The New Student

Two Weeks Later...

Dusk's P.O.V.

Winter break was supposed to be a fun time for my family. But ever since the incident at the Winter Ball, a dark cloud hung over top of us. Even Christmas couldn't make the cloud go away. I would spend Christmas curled up on the couch in the library reading while sipping on hot cocoa. But, because of the medications I was taking, I could barely bring myself to eat anything. Not even a piece of toast.

My parents began to treat me differently as well. Before, they used to respect my privacy, but now they can come into my room a few times an hour to check in on me. And they started doing the more difficult tasks that I used to perform. I tried to tell them that I wasn't a helpless child and that I could do those things on my own. But, they insisted that I lay down and rest.

Soon, it was time to go back to school. That morning, I couldn't bring myself to get up. It wasn't because I was in pain, because I was. But it was because ever since I was told I had Lupus, I slipped into a deep depression. I had so much I wanted to do after I graduated high school, and now I may not ever experience them if my kidneys failed. "Dusk, are you going to go back to school? Or do you want to stay home?" Father asked, walking into my bedroom.

"I'm going to go. I don't want my friends to wonder why I'm not there," I answered, throwing the sheets off my body. When I got to the table, I saw a few bottles of my medication sitting right in front of me. "Dusk, you're going to have to take these medications with you, okay? just take them a prescribed and DON'T lose them!" Mother instructed. "Okay, mom," I sighed as I put the bottles into a small brown bag before putting them in my backpack.

At school, Father told me that at 3rd period, I was going to have to give a new student a tour of school. I had a feeling it was Winston, but I had to be sure in case my mind was playing games with me. "Who's the new student?" I asked. Father grabbed a folder from one of many file cabinets and pushed it across the table from me. "His name is Winston Jones. It's the guy you were talking to at the hospital, remember?" he answered.

I couldn't believe that Winston was going to be attending Denouement High. Maybe telling him about the medical classes here paid off. "I'll send someone to excuse you from your next class. Speaking of which, here is your new schedule for the semester," He grabbed another folder from the cabinet and handed me a small slip of white paper. Inside was my schedule for the new semester. It was the same as last semester.

1st Period: History with Mr. Jacques Snicket

2nd Period: Geometry with Mrs. Bass

3rd Period: Chemistry with Mrs. Quagmire

4th Period: Lunch

5th Period: English II with Ms. Scheiska

6th Period: Drama with Count Olaf

7th Period: Creative Writing with Mrs. Anwhistle

I heard the sounds of students begin walking down the halls, and that was my cue for me to get ready for class. "Dusk, please be careful, don't do anything that will hurt you," he warned. I nodded at his words and walked to History before the bell rang. "Hey, Dusk. Are you okay?" someone asked, tapping my shoulder. I looked up, and I saw it was Klaus, who looked a little concerned. "Yeah, I'm fine. The doctors said that my legs buckled for a long time, and that's what caused me to faint," I lied.

Even though Klaus was one of the closest guy friends I had, I didn't want to startle him with my possible death sentence on the first day back, but I still had to come up with a reason why I collapsed, and that seemed the most believable. The bell rang, meaning it was time for class, and we didn't say another word to each other for the rest of the period. It was the same thing in second period. Violet and Veronica were wondering what happened to me after the dance, and I gave them the same excuse I told Klaus.

I could see in Veronica's face that she wasn't buying it and was about to ask questions, probably about the joint pain I told her about. But before she could ask questions, there was a knock on Mrs. Bass' door, and when it opened, I saw it was one of the office assistants with a small piece of paper in her hand. "Who's it for?" Mrs. Bass asked. The assistant handed her the note and left the classroom. "Dusk Denouement, they want to see you in the office," she called out.

I grabbed my stuff, and I headed to the office, and the first thing I saw when I entered my father's office was Winston, wearing the Denouement High uniform and a small smile on his face.

"Hi Dusk, how's it going?