A Sick Day To Remember

Trust me, this gets better

Gaz Membrane woke up one morning feeling a bit under the weather. She could tell because she had a sore throat and felt generally weak. She also found herself coughing more than usual, which meant something was wrong. But what? What could cause these symptoms?

"Gaz, are you alright?" Dib, her older brother asked, noticing the way she coughed and sniffled. He put down his breakfast and walked over to her, concerned about her health. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm fine," Gaz answered curtly before grabbing a cup of coffee off of the table. It was too early for her to deal with any sort of conversation with her brother, especially since their dad was already out working.

"Okay, but if you need anything—"

"I said I'm fine, Dib," Gaz cut him off, taking another sip of her hot beverage. She didn't feel like dealing with her brother today, especially since she knew he wouldn't leave her alone until she got better. And it wasn't just Dib she needed to worry about; their dad was always trying to take care of them whenever they fell ill. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she didn't want to spend all day getting poked and prodded while having a fever.

"Alright, but if you need help with your homework—"

"I don't need help, Dib," she snapped. "I'm going to go finish my breakfast now so stop bothering me.""Sorry," Dib replied sheepishly. He picked back up his own food and continued eating in silence.

Gaz rolled her eyes and finished her meal, then went upstairs to get ready for school. She really hoped that whatever bug she had caught would be gone soon, otherwise she might not make it through the day.

* * *

As predicted, Gaz ended up falling asleep during class later that afternoon. Luckily, Ms. Bitters hardly noticed since she spent most of her time teaching the class how to build bombs. It was a subject that seemed to bore everyone else, but somehow the lesson still managed to keep her interest.

When lunchtime arrived, she sat next to Mandy at the cafeteria table. The two girls had become friends recently after spending some time together in detention last year, and they had been hanging out ever since. They weren't close enough to consider themselves BFFs yet, but they enjoyed each other's company.

Gaz felt awful. Her head hurt and she felt dizzy. She wished she could just stay home instead of coming to school today, but she knew that both Dib and her dad would give her crap if she called out sick again. So here she was, sitting at the cafeteria table with her friend, feeling miserable and wishing that someone would save her from her pain.

"So what's new, Gaz?" Mandy asked, breaking her train of thought. "Anything exciting happen lately?"

"Nothing much," she replied, trying not to let her voice crack. "Just the usual stuff, y'know."

"Oh yeah?" Mandy chuckled. "That's cool. Hey, do you want to hang out tonight? My mom invited us over to watch a movie or something."

"Sure," Gaz agreed, smiling slightly. "What kind of movie is it?"

"It's a horror flick, actually." Mandy grinned. "My favorite genre."

"Cool," she nodded, looking forward to seeing the film. "Who's gonna be watching it besides us?"

"Well, we're supposed to invite a couple of friends along, right? So maybe Irwin and that kid with the glasses? You know who I mean."

"Yeah, sure," Gaz shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

The two girls chatted idly for several minutes before deciding that they should probably head back inside to eat their lunches. After all, they still had half an hour left before classes started again.

They walked towards the entrance hall where they saw Dib arguing with Zim over some stupid thing.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Dib yelled. "YOU STUPID ALIEN SCUM! YOU WILL NOT WIN! THE EARTH BELONGS TO ME!"

"Shut up, Dib!" Zim retorted, glaring at him menacingly. "You're nothing compared to me!"

"I am too!" Dib insisted. "I'll destroy you once and for all! Just wait until tomorrow night when I unleash my secret weapon upon the world! Then you'll see who's boss around here!"

"You won't even touch me, meatbag," Zim sneered. "You can try all you want, but you'll never beat me!"

"We'll see about that!" Dib shouted, picking up a piece of paper lying nearby and throwing it into Zim's face.

Zim glared at him furiously before turning to walk away without saying anything further."Good riddance!" Dib muttered under his breath. "Now where's my sister?"

~~

A few hours later, in the night, Mandy and Gaz were at the movies, watching a movie starring Mandy's favorite actress, Brittany Murphy. The two girls had decided to skip dinner and go straight to the cinema instead. They didn't want to waste any time waiting around for the movie to start. Plus, neither of them wanted to deal with their families either. So they opted to simply meet up beforehand and go straight to the theater.

The movie began shortly thereafter. Both of them enjoyed themselves immensely throughout the duration of the film. Even though it wasn't very long, it kept them entertained nonetheless.

Once the credits rolled, they headed back outside and waited for their rides to come pick them up. While waiting, they discussed various topics such as boys and schoolwork. Eventually, they came across the topic of dating.

"So, uh," Mandy hesitated nervously, unsure of how to ask the question. "Have you ever kissed anyone?"

"Kissed? No, never." Gaz shook her head emphatically.

"Really?" Mandy frowned skeptically. She flirtatiously touched her lips with the tips of her fingers. "Don't lie. Tell me the truth."

"Uh, well," she paused awkwardly, struggling to find words. "Actually, yes. Sorta. Maybe. Kinda. A little bit. Once."

"Wow," Mandy gasped, impressed. "I didn't think you would admit it. That takes guts, you know."

"Thanks," Gaz blushed, embarrassed by her friend's compliment. "But seriously, it wasn't like that. We were just kids. It happened once and then we never spoke about it afterwards. Besides, I barely remember what happened anyways."

"Huh, interesting," Mandy mused thoughtfully. "Then why haven't you done it again?"

"Because I've never met anyone worth kissing," Gaz sighed, sounding defeated. "And honestly, I don't really care about boys. I mean, they're cute and all, but they aren't exactly my type."

"I see," Mandy nodded understandingly. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Still, it sounds kinda lame. Are you sure you haven't met anybody special yet?"

"Nope," she replied firmly. "Not even remotely interested in guys."

"Hmm, okay," Mandy smiled sympathetically. "That must suck. Well, if you ever change your mind, let me know."

Gaz laughed weakly. "Thanks. But I doubt that'll happen anytime soon."

They managed a four-second kiss before Gaz felt her nose itching. "Oh, no.." Gaz thought. She knew that this would only make her condition worse, and it was true. She sneezed multiple times, and tears sprang out of her eyes. Mandy quickly rubbed the tears away.

"Hey, you alright?" Mandy asked, worried about her friend's sudden reaction.

Gaz then felt her world go dark. The last thing she saw was Mandy's face as she passed out.

* * *