The Inheritance Games Sickfics

Jameson's Two Lies and a Truth (Pt. 1)

Summary: There's something wrong with Jameson but he won't tell anyone. At least, not upfront. He makes his brothers and Avery play to find out his secret. Hopefully they find out in time.

CW: Alcohol, prescription drugs, language, suggestive language

Word count: 1103

I woke up feeling...off. Not like my usual hangover, something worse. Well, not worse, just different. Maybe worse. I don't know. To be specific, my stomach ached with a rolling nausea and my head pounded behind my eyes and in my temples. My energy had been depleting the past couple of days so I hadn't been doing much other than going to school so the soreness in my body was weird.

Maybe I should tell Nash, he usually knows what to do. But what's the fun in that? The minute he finds out something is wrong, he's going to send me to bed. There are only three things that could be wrong with me:

1. I'm sick, which is very likely considering the time of year.

2. I'm hungover, which isn't as likely since I don't remember drinking yesterday.

3. I ate something last night that didn't agree with me.

I decide to check my temperature, that'll be the deciding factor in my game. Walking into my bathroom, I rummage through my drawers. Floss, mouthwash, razors, extra toothbrushes, combs, brushes, all these things were in my drawers but no thermometer. I open my medicine cabinet which is where I hide my most special liquors to the right and I had the fight the urge to down one. Looking past the bottles and towards the left, I see various bottles of painkillers, fever reducers, liquid cold and flu medicines, Pepto Bismol and other stomach relaxers and prescription medication that I got from who knows what and never finished. Luckily, I'm more of a drinker than a drug addict.

Amidst all of the cures and creams and whatever else, was a thermometer. Of course, it was a forehead one because why wouldn't the old man stock us with regular thermometers instead of the high tech scanning ones. I'm surprised he didn't get any that they've started using at hospitals considering the already mass amounts of facial recognition software around Hawthorne House. I put the thermometer to my forehead and listened for the beep to let me know it had a read on my temperature. I pull it away just to be greeted by a red 101.6. There's no way I'm going to school today.

I take a warm shower and change into lounge clothes for the day, drying my hair thoroughly as to not get worse. The shower made me super drowsy and a little more nauseous but I went to breakfast nonetheless. All three of my brothers were there along with Alisa and Libby and Mrs. Laughlin. And of course Nan who was ordering Xander to bring her a scone. Xander wasn't in his uniform yet which confused me since he doesn't have the track record of skipping school that I do. I sat down at the table but didn't grab any food. I didn't have an appetite and the food was already unsettling my stomach.

"Aren't you goin' to eat?" Nash asked, his plate stacked with two pancakes, bacon, eggs, and grapes.

"Mmm, not really. I'm not hungry," I shrugged, trying not to look out sound as pitiful as I felt.

Nan snorted. "That's one for the history books. A growing man who isn't hungry. Eat something, boy." There's no fighting Nan. I grab 3 strawberries and a piece of toast which doesn't satisfy my great grandma but she doesn't push.

"Avery! You were supposed to be up 12 minutes ago, we are behind schedule."

"I am not going dress shopping when I have 4 magazine catalogs worth of clothes in my shopping mall of a closet," Avery grumbles back. She picks food off of different trays, planning to eat more than I did, and sat down next to me."

"Plans today, Heiress?" I smirk, realizing my voice sounds tired.

"No, that's the thing. I have no plans and Alisa is trying to take me dress shopping. It's my first Saturday off in who knows how long, I just want to sleep."

Wait, it's Saturday? "You could sleep with me," I wriggle my eyebrows, despite my confusion.

"Jameson," Nash warns before turning to Alisa. "Let the girl have this weekend to herself, Lee-Lee. She does everything else you ask of her."

"I don't take orders from you, Nash," she says bitterly.

Avery lets the two bicker and turns to me. She looks at her plate, then mine, then at my face. I know what she's thinking and start thinking of a response. "Are you okay?" she asks me softly.

"I'm just fine, Mystery Girl," I lie. As if intrigued by our conversation, Xander stops stuffing his face with scones and squints at me.

"You're most decidedly not. You're paler than if Casper had offspring with a glass of milk."

Avery groaned and tucked her face into her hands. "Xander, I'm going to kick you out of this fucking house."

"Harsh," he grinned. "Anyway, you look bad. Don't you think Grayson."

My big brother, who had been previously lost in thought turned to look at the three of us, mainly me, and frowned. "What's wrong, Jamie?"

"I could tell you...or we could play a game."

"What kind of game?" Heiress asked.

"A simple one. Two lies and a Truth. Figure out the Truth and I'll tell you what's wrong. Guess wrong and you have to stop bugging me. Deal?"

Avery smiled at me, challenging me, something she must've picked up from staying here. "I'll play."

Xander raised his hand and almost dropped a scone. "I'll play! And I'll win!"

Grayson shook his head. "I have stuff to do for the foundation, I don't have time for a game today."

"Oh come on, Gray, only a few minutes," Xander whined. "Only a few minutes, right? I have club today."

I nod. "Only a few minutes." Grayson sighed and sat down next to Xander across from me and Avery. Nash had joined the table, too, sitting next to Libby. I wasn't sure if he was playing so I just carried on. "1. I'm hungover. 2. I'm sick. 3. Something isn't agreeing with me from last night. You guys have fun deciding, I'm going down to the track." I get up, kissing Avery's head and leaving. They could take as long as they needed, it didn't make a difference to me. "Oh, and by the way. I'm only taking one guess."