𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴-𝘙𝘶𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘴

twenty six

Another restless night, James tossed and turned until he felt his head wanna explode. He leaned into his pillows as he sighed deeply, he could hear the sound of birds outside his window when he sat up. He grumbled to himself in annoyance as he ran his hands over his face. He knew Ruby would be over soon and he'd have to face another day of school.

Part of him was tempted to sink back into his bed and rot away from the world. It's not like anyone would miss his company anyways, the loudness of a knock on his front door made him climb out of bed. He rubbed at his eyes as he pulled the door open, Ruby smiled at him as she walked inside.

"So you'll never believe it, apparently riding a bike isn't even that bad. I thought for sure I'd fall off on the way here to get you. Why on earth aren't you ready yet? Did you turn your alarm off again?". James looked down at his pajama pants and his bright yellow socks and shrugged. "I'll just go like this, I doubt they'll even care what I wear, I'll just fetch a shirt from the laundry room and call it good".

"You are at least putting on proper pants, I'll make you coffee" James blinked slightly "fine I'll put on pants, I'll just grab them from the laundry room". He walked off and Ruby sighed slightly at the state of the kitchen, for the most part it was spotless and clean.

The only issue was, so many coffee cups lingered on the counter and inside the sink. She walked towards his sink grabbing his medication that rested on the window seal. She turned when James walked back into the kitchen as he put his backpack over his shoulder. "You've dumped them all out, these things cost a fortune to even get refills for".

"They were making my head hurt, so I handled it by just getting rid of them. I'm sure a few are still hanging around inside the garbage disposal". He opened the cupboard reaching for a mug when Ruby looked at him "you need to take these if you want to feel better, the doctor said it's important".

James set the mug down onto the counter almost immediately "I'll be fine without them, I don't know why he even gave me them in the first place". He reached for the coffee pot but Ruby grabbed it first "no coffee until you promise you'll take your medication, after we try to get more for you".

"Ruby I don't want to take them, why can't you just let it go, besides I'll just see the doctor if anything happens". Ruby sighed "he'd only tell you the same thing, you need your medication. I can't have you getting sick or hurt because you're stubborn".

"So what, I'll get a little cold and maybe just be in bed for a few days. It happens and it'll pass, I mean I've been sick before and it went away after a few days". He reached for the coffee pot again but Ruby moved it back "not fair at all, you're threatening my morning coffee, I need that to function today".

"You need your medication more, you can always have coffee later. I'm sure if we're fast enough we can get a refill before we head off to school".

"You want me to ride my bike into town for a refill? I haven't ridden my bike since last form, and I nearly ran into a tree because my chain broke". Ruby chuckled slightly "well this time it won't break, and if it does then you can just use mine and I'll walk".

"Like I'd let you walk for miles in those high heels, if my bike breaks I'll be the one walking. But I better get coffee out of it, then we'll have a deal".

—

"Why is everyone always so happy looking in this place, it's extremely depressing to watch" James pushed his bike beside Ruby's as he pulled his helmet off. "You could be happy if you gave this place a chance, did you at least finish setting up your tablet last night? It'll help you not get lost".