Beyond Education [Jemily]

Preheating the Oven

tw! mentions of throwing up

February 27, 2022
— Emily's POV
Bad habit of the day: day drinking. Tara and I head over to the bar with Derek a concerning amount. Even though we're not drinking too much, I guess it's still not the best practice to hang out at a bar all day when you're bored. The three of us were shooting a game of pool while playing Never Have I Ever. Penelope introduced Derek to it the other night and now it's his new favorite activity. He picked up his cue and laughed, "Okay okay, I got a good one: Never have I ever hooked up outside? Like outdoors in public."

Tara and I scoffed, "Yeah?"

Derek gasped, "Whattt I thought I'd be original for that! Where'd y'all do it?"

Tara shrugged, "The Green."

I laughed, "You had sex with a chick on the Green?"

"Yeah, no one saw. What about you, Em?"

"Football field, next to the bleachers."

Derek nodded, "Nice. Mine was in the library."

"With Pen?"

"Mmhmm."

I scrunched my brows, "Your idea?"

"How'd you know?"

"She doesn't seem like the type to be that frisky."

He defended Penelope, "She can be frisky!"

"I don't doubt it, I just know you're more frisky, D. You're gonna tell me you've never suggested or started something and she's shot you down?"

"Mehhh. She has, you're right. Really puts a dent in my mojo."

Tara mumbled, "That's not all it puts a dent in." I laughed and fist-bumped her.

Derek scoffed, "Oh shut up!"

I chuckled and posed a question, "All right then here's one for you, Derek: Never have I ever gotten blue balls? Really bad."

He put his hands up, "I have, I have. Now cool it... Never have I ever gotten whiskey dick?"

I hit him, "Come on, man, don't call me out like that! Never have I ever almost hooked up with a guy because I thought he was a girl?"

He joked, "Shittt, fuck you!" He paused and then asked, "Never have I ever gotten a girl pregnant?"

I knocked on the wood of the table, "Hey! Don't jinx me, D! That shit's no joke." He laughed in defeat and picked up his cue again, resuming a less hostile game.

— JJ's POV
I'm really not looking forward to midterms week. It's coming up in a few days and I literally don't have the energy to even lift a pencil. For some reason, I've been unreasonably fatigued for a decent number of days; I even fell asleep for a few seconds during our Criminology class yesterday. Emily had to inconspicuously kick me in the shin to jolt me awake. I just can't stay awake. My head was currently bobbing up and down as I tried to type out an essay, drooping with the need for sleep. Garcia looked over at me and sighed, "Why don't you take a nap, Jayje? I hate seeing you like this, you need rest."

I groggily agreed, "I know but I have so much work to do. And I don't even know why I'm so tired, this is so inconvenient."

"Think you might be coming down with something?"

"I don't think so. No one we know is sick. My head has been a little achy too but it's not awful."

"Why don't you lie down for a little? Just half an hour maybe?" I nodded and slowly got up, trudging over to my bed and laying down. I got a decent 45 minutes or so of sleep before waking up. Garcia was still plopped on her bed in the same space she was in before I fell asleep. She saw I was awake and asked, "Feeling better?"

"Less tired now, but my head still hurts." I pressed my palm to my forehead and started feeling dizzy. The whole room was spinning.

Garcia warily asked, "Jayje? You good?" I shook my head and jolted up, running into the bathroom and bending into the toilet. Garcia scurried in behind me and held my hair up as I limped there, feeling like complete shit. She sighed and quietly comforted, "Oh, honey, what's goin on? Let it out, let it out. Oh, Jayje."

I lifted my head up and exhaled, "Ew."

Penelope rubbed over my back, "Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"I-It's not that bad."

"You sure?"

"I'm not sick it's... It's probably just anxiety or something." Penelope helped me up and supported me as I clamored back into bed. I didn't actually feel too bad after that. I got maybe a solid hour of peace before my head started feeling heavy again and the nausea came back. I threw my head back and groaned, "Ughh it's happening again."

Penelope asked, "So it's coming in waves?"

"Seems like it."

"Could it be your cycle? Are you on your period?" I launched my head up and my eyes nearly bulged out of my head as a startling realization crashed over me. Sheets were throw about as I rushed out of bed and slipped my slides on before hurrying out of the room.

— Emily's POV
"Haha! That throw was complete shit! Oh my god!" I cackled next to Tara in our bean bags as we played Call of Duty on the TV and she mucked up a grenade toss.

She smacked me in the shoulder, "All right, all right, you don't have to clown me for it. Just keep to your route, Em." I laughed and picked my controller back up, getting back into the game. We were only about a minute into the match before a knock banged on our door. Tara didn't tear her eyes away from the TV and just yelled, "Yeah?!"

"Hi. Is Emily there?"

I scrunched my brows, "JJ?"

"Y-Yeah, we gotta talk." Tara and I looked at each other, worried about what she had to say.

Tara whispered, "I'll head out, this sounds serious." I nodded before setting my controller and headset down. Tara slipped some shoes on and headed out of the room, letting JJ in so they swapped places. I nervously stood in the middle of the room, my hands stuffed into my pockets. JJ walked in and gingerly stood several feet in front of me.

"Is everything okay, Jayje?"

"I'm late."