Dysphoria

Chapter Nineteen

Maddy was not doing well. Her usual shine was dull, she wasn't full of her energy and sass. And it was all Nate's fault.

It was obvious when Kat and I bumped into her on the way to class. She was wearing all dark clothing, a turtle neck and a hoody, no makeup, no hair style, none of her usual glam.

Kat looked at her and scoffed, "What are you the Unabomber?

"What are you, a dominatrix?" Maddy snapped back. I tried not to laugh, I was the only one who new about Kat's side hustle.

"But really? Are you okay?" Kat asked, I stayed quiet because Kat hadn't seen Nate choke her at the Carnival and now wasn't the time to explain it all.

"Yeah, I'm just on my period." Maddy replied glancing quickly at me. Kat breezed off to class without a backward glance which I thought was a little shitty of her. Kat had really been in her own world lately.

Our first class was Intro to Calculus, I was sitting beside the window which was making me sweat a little. But Maddy was in the next row to me and she was boiling, she had perspiration all over her forehead. She even asked the teacher about the air conditioning, but the she just told her to take off her hoody instead.

I looked at her like she was crazy when she didn't remove it, she just sat there sweating the whole time.

Just before the bell rang Maddy slumped back into her seat, her arms were limp.

"Maddy, Maddy!" I held her head before she fell off her chair. "Wake up Maddy."

The teacher called for an ambulance, when the paramedics loaded her onto the stretcher they asked me what happened.

"I think she fainted, she said this morning she had her period and then she was overheating in class." I said nervously as they put an oxygen mask over her face and began removing her excess layers, I noticed weird concealer stains on the neck of her sweater.

I watched anxiously as they wheeled her into the back of the ambulance to check her vital signs. Then the teacher brought me with her to tell the principal Hayes what happened.

Thankfully Maddy was brought back into the office a little while later, looking tired but less unwell. They had given her an I.V. bag of fluids and a large Gatorade to drink. It seemed like her blood sugar and serotonin levels had a massive drop in combination with the heat causing her to pass out.

"I'm fine! Why is everyone like so dramatic?" She was hostile immediately to Mr. Hayes. "This doesn't concern you."

"My concern is the large hand shaped bruising on your neck Madeline." He said calmly. "The paramedics saw it."

Oh fuck.

Ohhhhhh fuck.

"Yeah we'll they're lying." She retorted, but the more she lied the less convincing she seemed.

"Madeleine, I understand you might be afraid to say who did this to you, but you are seventeen. And it is my responsibility to report it if I think you are being abused." Hayes calmly outlines.

This was about to get really fucking bad.

"What do you know about this Ms. Gordon? You said you were with Ms. Perez at the carnival this weekend." He turns to me, my heart beat is sky rocketing but I try to stay cool. "Was it Nate Jacobs?"

"Um yes I was with her-

"She didn't see anything. She got ready with me at my house but then she was volunteering at the Jacobs chilli stand all night." Maddy said with emphasis. "I don't care what else you say to me, I'm not talking to you and neither is she. Let's go Nia."