Thunder and Storm

The Sickness

SALLY

Today was my sick day. In all my sixteen years of life, I'd never gotten as much as a cold. Well, except for those few times I had to get vaccinated. Today also happened to be my sixteenth birthday and the first thing I'd noticed when I'd woken up this morning was my stuffy nose. Bummer!

I turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower, drying myself as I walked to my closet. As I opened the closet, my alarm began blaring. My parents groan from down below brought a smile to my face.

"We're up already!" My mom said.

Chuckling, I hit the snooze button. I picked out a knee-length periwinkle dress that was adorned with daisies and slipped it on. I moved to the mirror hanging by the side of the closet and packed my wet hair, laying it down in braids. The dress looked a bit on the big side but it did well to hide my slightly bulging stomach and overly plump ass. My nose was slightly red, it was glaringly obvious on my dark skin. It looked like I had something stuck up in my nose and it hurt real bad. I sniffed.

I looked sick enough to stay home today. I sniffed again, shrugged it off and put on my converse. I picked up my backpack and walked out of my room, going down the stairs. I walked into the kitchen to find my mom by the stove making some omelet.

"Good morning, Mom." I kissed her on the cheek and she yawned.

"Good morning, Sweetie."

"Rough night?" I picked up a red apple from the fruit bowl on the dining table and bit into it. I dropped my backpack on the floor beside me, then sat down. I glanced at my dad who had half his body stuck in the fridge. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

"Nothing, Sweetie. Just grabbing a jar of milk," he replied.

There was a jar of milk already on the table and judging by the pool of water at its base, he had brought it out a while ago. I frowned. That didn't seem weird at all, I thought sarcastically.

My mom chuckled and served me a plate of omelettes and bacon. I loved bacon.

"Not a rough night, but a bad morning," she replied, kissing my cheek. "I know I should be used to it by now but I still don't understand why you set your alarm when you always wake up before 6 am. You don't need it."

I picked up a piece of bacon, bit into it and grimaced. The taste was odd. However, I chose not to comment on it. Instead, I pushed the plate aside.

"I set the alarm to wake you up so you'd make me breakfast on time. I wouldn't want to break my stellar record of being punctual to school." I winked at her and she rolled her eyes at me, making me laugh.

"Overachiever," she whispered but I wasn't sure it was meant to be one. "Can you not do it anymore? Some of us love our beauty sleep."

I took another bite out of my apple and shrugged. "I make no promises." I wiggled my brows at her and she smiled.

Suddenly, my dad turned and voila, there was a cake in his hands. It was the same trick every year on my birthday. I wondered if he thought I didn't know he was hiding the cake.

"Happy birthday, my love." He placed the cake in front of me and kissed my cheek.

My mom smiled. "Happy birthday, baby." She bent to my level and gave me a half hug squishing my face in the process.

She gasped. "Oh, my word! What's wrong with you, Sally? Are you sick? You look sick."

I sniffed. "I'm fine, Mom. It's just a stuffy nose."