Teach Me Something // LH44

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Gigi, will you come out with us? Pretty please!" Jenny begs with a concerned look on her face as she leans on my doorframe, her eyes cast down to where my quiet ass was still in bed at 11 am. This was exactly where I'd been all weekend, although I had good reason, I wasn't just moping around.

New kids in the class + a new term + stress = me being ill from the many different germs my class had brought back after winter. Of course, it didn't help that I was also drained from the emotional turmoil of Thursday's phone call and ignoring around 40 more calls from Lewis in the three days since. It had wiped out my last reserves and defences and this was where I'd been ever since stumbling home from work on Friday night.

"I'm ill Jenny," I tell her earnestly, blowing my nose to prove that point as she screws up her face and takes a step back in the doorway, her eyes still fixed on where I'm propped up by pillows in bed. The soup she'd brought me last night in an attempt to get me out of bed was now empty on my bedside table and I was surrounded by gross and disgusting tissues... the whole room pretty miserable. Despite her attempts to be helpful, I was just as poorly as I'd been when she brought me that food yesterday. "Have fun without me," I give her my final request, hearing how stuffy my nose was without needing anyone else to tell me.

"I'm here for another half hour so if you need anything, just holler or message me," she requests as she exits the room to go to the door which just buzzed, likely Lucas coming to pick her up. It was interesting to me that even after Lewis had stopped being here during the week, the first person that Jenny had invited around was Lucas. I'd decided to just bite my tongue on the matter, knowing it was safer to leave them to it and also respecting that the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it. That's how I felt too, my stormy face when I finally got home from work on Thursday with tear-stained cheeks made that point to Jenny. It was further hammered home by a shake of my head and helpfully ever since then, the group chat had promptly lost all interest in trying to find out details.

Once she's out of sight I lay down further in my bed, pulling the duvet covers up to my chin as I used a clean tissue to wipe away the tears that burned at my eyes each time I thought of Thursday. I was starting to get used to the tidal waves of emotion - if that is something that a person can get used to. If the rest of the events of this week hadn't been enough then my period had decided to coincide with it all, lowering my immune system and marginally heightening the emotional turmoil I was feeling. I felt like wallowing in bed was more than acceptable being that I'd done a fantastic job of dragging myself to work on Friday despite feeling like human garbage and now I was just focused on getting myself healthy enough for work tomorrow.

Which was going to be a challenge.

"Get back here-" Lucy's strangled yell pulls me out of the depressive spiral that was beginning. I just about managed to catch the words, giving some context to the sound of feet scuffling. A moment later I'm greeted by the presence of a person in my doorway. Before I've even finished wiping away the tears from my eyes, they manage to get into my room and slam the door shut before she can stop them, leaving her pounding at the door instead, really not helping with the thudding headache at the front of my head. It takes me a few moments in my slightly pathetic state to blink through my blurred eyes and realise that instead of Lucas, it is quite literally the last person I would have expected to be locked inside a room with me.

"Get out of there Lewis!" She hisses through the door, quickly joined by her hanging her palm from the other side of it, not quite balancing not being loud enough to hurt my head as she looks to save me from the last person that should be here. I watch as he looks around before his eyes settle on me pathetically lying in bed with a red nose and equally red eyes. "Lewis, get out of there! NOW!" I try to push myself up on my elbows but fail, falling back onto my pillows and watching as he completely blocks out the sound of Lucy banging on my door, apparently forgetting that she's there, and he stops pushing the door shut. Instead, he chooses to kneel at my bedside as the bedroom door swings open behind him. I don't see Lucy's shock or confusion though, my eyes are focused on him, glued to his concerned eyes.