MAEENA COOPER: NOVEMBER, 1975
Maeena was sick. It was quite unfortunate, seeing as she claimed (never outloud, only to herself) that being sick was the first sign of weakness. She wasn't the first to notice she was sick, that award would go to Carolina Osorio.
It had started in the morning, as Maeena groggily threw on her uniform. It looked quite untidy, which was the first sign to Josephine and Carolina that something was wrong. Maeena didn't allow her uniform to look untidy, not once after third year had the girl left their dorm room looking less than perfect.
"Mae, your shirt's not tucked." Carolina tried softly, earning a groan from Maeena. The girl rubbed at her forehead, then messily tucked her shirt in. "Here, I'll grab your jacket for you. When did you go to sleep last night?"
Maeena's head felt like it was going to explode. She squinted her eyes and tried to think. "Late. Laid down all night but I couldn't sleep, so I dunno."
Carolina's eyebrows furrowed and she grabbed the girl's jacket with a soft nod. "Try to come up and sleep during break, yeah?"
"Sure." Maeena answered noncommittally. They both knew that she'd be doing nothing of the sort. The girls ignored Abigail as they walked down to breakfast. Maeena was looking mildly better, which led Carolina to believe that it was the fatigue getting to her.
The girls ate next to the boys, with Leonie sitting at the Judas Society table again. Draya seemed in a piss-pour mood, so no one was talking to her. But the boys were the same as always, Caliban was being loud enough that Maeena's head felt like it was going to fall off and James was staring dopily at Dazai (who seemed utterly oblivious as she ate her toast, in a very intense debate about whether quidditch would be cool to mortals). Ronan was being very quiet and eating a lot, which Maeena assumed meant the full moon must be soon.
That was the official moment that Maeena decided her head couldn't hurt anymore. If the full moon was soon, then she had to be at her best for him. She always brought him his classwork. Always filled him in on what he missed while he was too out-of-it to pay attention. It was crucial to their friendship that she continue doing that.
So, in her first class of the day, Maeena definitely did not become so queasy that she thought she might puke on the girl in front of her. And in her second class, she did not think she was going to pass out. And in her third class, she did not take off her jacket because she was sweating buckets, despite everyone else agreeing that it was a bit chilly in the castle. Her fourth class was going par for the course, right up until she fell asleep in the middle of it. Carolina was the one to wake her up.
"Mae, you look really pale." An insult, surely. No one would imply that Maeena was sick to her face unless they were insulting her. "You should go lay down, I can bring some lunch up to you, if you'd like?"
Maeena scowled, shaking her head. "I'm gonna go to the library, bring it to me there if you want." And she was off, leaving behind a worried Carolina who went right to Dazai.
"I dunno what I'm meant to do, Addams." Carolina fussed, earning a raised eyebrow from Dazai. "I mean...It's just...She's like, sick, I think."
"Cooper doesn't get sick." Dazai dismissed the worry easily, as she did most things.
"No, I'm serious. She's looked worse for wear all day." Carolina pouted, grabbing onto Dazai's shoulders. "Her shirt was untucked this morning, Daz. And I had to make her tuck it!"
Dazai gave her a bored look, before setting her hands on Carolina's shoulders. It made them look quite odd, holding each other the way they were. "If she was sick, she wouldn't go to class."
