Until July *COMPLETED*

Chapter XI

Weeks passed, October came and went.

It was Friday, the final day before Halloween break commenced. It was also a non-uniform day, so all the students and teachers could have dressed up in any costume they liked.

A sneeze woke Briella up. She sniffled her runny nose.

Briella has been sick for a few days and last night was when her sickness got a tight grip upon her, consequently, leading her to the decision of staying at home.

"It's because of the cold weather..." she scoffed under her breath.

A sigh is heard from her as she turned around and onto her side, pulling the duvet over her shoulders.

She sniffled a few more times before being forced to breathe through her mouth.

Her eyes closed as she desperately tried to catch back her sleep.

Just as she felt herself drift back into her world of dreams, her phone chimes, causing her to open her eyes back up. She received a message.

'Who could that be at this time?...'.

Rolling to her other shoulder, she fetched her phone from her bedside table. Turning it on, her eyes widened in slight surprise when she saw the message was from Ryan.

Tapping onto the notification, it brought her to view his message.

"Hey, Briella. I just wanted to thank you for last night. Your drawings were amazing. The helped me a lot. Btw, going for anything fancy for Halloween today? Or will you keep it as a surprise for when you come in?" she read his message out through her blocked nose and croaky voice.

She kept her eyes on the message, a sympathetic look grew in her gaze.

Seconds later, she began typing in a reply.

'Sadly, I am not coming in today. I don't really feel the best.'.

Not even a full minute passed when she saw Ryan constructing a reply.

'Oh? Is everything okay? Are you okay?'. A small smile grew on her lips as a result of his concern.

'I'm fine. Just have a small cold or something like that. But it's nothing to be worried about.'. Just as she sent the message, a cough erupted right out of her and straight into her elbow.

Seen. Ryan has seen her message.

A minute passed and seeing that Ryan wasn't typing, she turned off her phone before placing it down onto her bedside table. With that, she laid back down prior to tucking herself to bed.

Closing her eyes once more, she tried to chase her sleep.

Breathing through her mouth, a small sniffle or two would have been heard from time to time, before...

ACHOO!

Grumbling under her breath, she rose herself back up. 'Looks like there'll be no more sleep, for now at least...'.

Uncovering herself from her duvet, she stood up onto her feet. Slipping her feet into her slippers, she made her way into the kitchen.

Filling up a kettle, see turned it on.

While waiting for the water to boil for her tea, she got herself a napkin before blowing her nose into it. Immediately, she tossed it into the bin. Walking over to her dining table, she took a seat on one of the chairs available, straight away beginning to massage her forehead. Keeping her hand on her forehead, she noticed how her fever is back.

She couldn't remember the last time a sickness has gotten such a tight hold upon her.

It was at that thought that her breathing quickened right before taking in a deep breath and letting it all out in another powerful sneeze. ACHOO!