The Senior Project

Chapter Ten | Sick Bay

CHAPTER TEN~

SICK BAY

James was sick.

His mother called me early in the morning, telling me that he wouldn't be able to meet me today. Seeing it as an opportunity to embarrass him, I insisted that I should go over to help take care of him. His mother argued, not wanting me to get sick, but I argued back. Ultimately, she gave in.

So now, I was standing in front of the doors of his house, with my camera at the ready. Reaching out, I pressed the doorbell and waited.

Eventually, I heard some shuffling from the other side. There were a few coughs then, the door cracked open slowly to reveal James. I couldn't help but laugh loudly at his appearance because, honestly, he looked like Death on steroids.

Unlike his usual self, his short brown hair managed to stick out in odd angles, his white undershirt was partially tucked in on one side, giving him a lopsided look, and his sweatpants were on backwards. But his unnaturally pale face was the best. Callie must have done something while he was asleep because dark streaks of makeup were everywhere. Some was layered under his eyes, making their redness pop even more. A moustache was clumsily drawn over his top lip and some of the colour dragged onto his lips and cheeks. A tissue was sticking out his nose, which was really gross, but in this case, made him look deranged in a hilarious way.

The camera shook wildly in my hand as I laughed until I was crying. James was leaning against the doorsill with a tired expression on his face and an amused smile playing on his lips. I don't think he was aware of his situation.

"James..." I gasped out. "Mirror... now."

James looked puzzled but obediently opened the door for me to enter. I took off my shoes and I followed him inside. Without any discretion, I held the camera steady as he walked to the mirror that lay stretched across one wall in the passageway.

When he saw his reflection, he didn't quite register what he was seeing. He blinked, clueless, once. Twice. And then, he let out a loud shout of anger, amusement, and embarrassment all rolled into one.

"I'm going to kill Callie when she gets back from school," James muttered murderously.

"I'm going to destroy her."

<<∞>>

"Take your medicine!" I snapped, holding out the pills to him.

"NO!" James shrieked girlishly.

The thing I learned about James today was his fear of pills. He couldn't swallow pills whenever he got sick. He couldn't even swallow the puny Advil pills.

When I asked him what he usually took, he told me that his mother let him take the kids' chewable pills. But since Callie was sick recently, they ran out of kiddie pills and had yet to buy more. Besides, a medication designed for kids was far less effective on adults.

"Dammit James! Eat the freaking pill!" I hissed, taking another menacing step towards him.

James, who still had remnants of dark makeup on his face, cowered fearfully against one of Callie's giant, pink, stuffed animals.

"No! I don't like it."

"I will shove it down your throat if you don't eat it," I threatened, taking another step forward.

James buried his face in the toy and whimpered.

I was barely holding onto my laughter. I never expected him to be afraid of something like this. I glanced back to check the camera. We were still in view. I pulled out my phone and selected the camera app.