Life Happens

Corki's Truth and Sun Hi's Plan

(Saylor's POV)

Jared came up to us in the hallway. "Hey," I said. "Where's Corki?"

"She isn't feeling well," Jared replied. "She wanted some peace and quiet, so I turned off the lights, made sure she was warm enough, and left her alone."

"I'm gonna go check on her," I said. "We have a study session in a few minutes, and I don't want to do it if she isn't feeling up to it."

Jared nodded, and I headed toward the dorm. I opened the door, it wasn't locked, and heard heavy breathing from Corki's bed. She was bundled under all the covers. I took one cover off. "Cork?" I asked. "You okay?"

I looked at her face, it was tear stained. "Corki?" I asked again, panicking a little. "What's wrong?"

She sat up. "I just don't feel well," she replied.

I felt her forehead. "It doesn't feel like you have a fever," I said. "But you can catch viruses without one. Do you still want to study?"

She nodded. "I actually need help in a different subject," she replied.

"Cork," I said, growing with concern. "What subject?"

"Uh, English," she replied.

"English?" I asked. "What's confusing in English?"

"Um," she replied, clearly trying to find an excuse. When she couldn't, she just came right out with it. "I can't read the stuff."

"What?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," she replied, crying. "I just can't."

"Corki, I'm going to try something," I said, writing down a simple sentence. "Read this out loud."

On a piece of paper, I wrote-

The big man digs with a shovel.

Corki pondered for a while, then came up with an answer. "The dig wan bigs mith a shovel," she replied. "Saylor, what kind of sentence was that?"

"Corki, it didn't say that," I replied. "It said: The big man digs with a shovel."

Corki began sweating. "Corki, I'm going to ask you something, and please don't take offence if I'm wrong," I replied. "Are you dyslexic?"

Corki started crying. "Yes," she replied. "I am."

"When did you learn this?" I asked.

"During Christmas Break, I started having a lot of trouble reading this book, so I went to the doctor without my dad knowing. Then I found out. That's when my science grades started dropping," she replied.

"Come here," I said, hugging her. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I was embarrassed," she replied.

"Corki, there's no reason to be embarrassed," I replied. "We all would have been there for you."

She nodded. "But don't tell anyone," she added quickly. "I want to tell them, later."

"Whenever you're ready," I said, rubbing her shoulder. "Now, I think I know how to help with this."

"Wait, how did you know I was dyslexic?" Corki asked.

"Can you promise not to tell anyone?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied. "I promise."

"Caleb has dyslexia, and I tutor him," I replied, and Corki's eyes went wide.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Seriously," I replied. "Now, let's get back to this English."

.....two hours later.....

"Did you just get a text from Sun Hi?" Corki asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "An emergency band meeting, a secret one to be exact."

The door suddenly swing open. It seemed like everyone in the entire school came into the bedroom. Sun Hi leading them all.

Everyone took a seat. "Role call," Sun Hi announced. "Boyfriends?"

"Here," Dylan, Jared, and Caleb replied.

"DJ?"

"Here," Caleb said again.

"Mini DJ?"

"Here," Ricky replied.

"Best friends?"

"Here," Sapphire, Kyler, and Ally said.

"Girls?"

"Here," Jodi, Corki, and I stated.

"Okay, we're all here!" Sun Hi announced.

"Sun Hi, why did you call an emergency secret XO-IQ meeting?" Caleb asked.

"I have a plan!" she exclaimed.

"Those, ladies and gentlemen, are the four scariest words in the English language," Corki said, gesturing towards Sun Hi.

"Let's hear her out," Ricky said.

"Okay, so, remember how Aria stole the charm bracelet?" Sun Hi asked.

"Yeah," Jodi replied, coming closer to me, to make sure I was okay.

"I'm okay," I whispered, alerting her that I wasn't gonna cry.

"Well, one of the charms had a C, S, and K pressed together, right?" Sun Hi asked.
"Yeah," Caleb replied. "So?"

"So, Aria doesn't begin with S, C, or K, and S, C, and K are your initials, for you and your siblings."

"Sun Hi!" I exclaimed. "Your a genius!"

"I know," she replied, doing her signature pose. "Now, any other XO-IQ business I didn't cover?"

Corki raised her hand. "Um, this might not be completely about XO-IQ, but, um, I have a confession," she stated.

"Corki, you don't have to do this," I told her.

"Yes, I do," she replied. "Guys, I've been lying about why I was getting bad grades all semester."

"What?!" Jared yelled.

"Hear me out," she said. "I have dyslexia, it makes things hard for me to read and write."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jare said. "So you've been lying to me this entire time?!"

"Yes," Corki replied, and now she was crying. "But I was embarrassed, I'm sorry."

Caleb gave her a hug. "I know exactly how you feel," he said. "I have dyslexia too."

Corki nodded, and Jared came back up to her. "I'm sorry I yelled," he said.

"It's okay," she replied, leaning in on him. "Now, let's go get XO-IQ back."

So, sorry, for the short chapter, and I know, the spoiler I promised wasn't in there, but I'm going to push the Jyler thing for a minute and get it in when I can, which will be soon. Also, I need you guys to tell me, should I make a book three? Let me know what you guys think. Don't forget to comment and vote!

Thank you and Lacey! :)