Social Experiment

29 | Fake Boyfriend

I'm on a writing spree, so here's another update for ya. Enjoy!
__________

After two whole days of sleeping and watching movies while overdosing on ginger ale and chicken noodle soup, I walk into school on Monday feeling much better than I had Saturday morning. My mood heightened considerably once I was able to laugh without coughing or sit without constantly rotating a blanket on or off.

Needless to say, I walked into first period with a revived demeanor and effectively ignore all the usual stares and rumors following me through the halls. "Morning Coco," I greet Cole when I sit down beside him. "How is your morning going?"

Cole looks at me in amusement. "I woke up an hour ago but so far so good. I'm guessing you feel better?"

I nod happily. "I'm no longer bed ridden, thank god. I hate being sick."

"Luke said you had extra company on Saturday," Cole attempts to say conversationally, but I hear the mild protective undertone in his voice.

I'm saved by the bell and don't have to answer Cole as I'm fighting the blush off of my cheeks at the mention of Nathan. We had watched movies practically all day on Saturday, not to mention cuddled on the couch for a good portion of it. It was weird, how comfortable I was in his arms, despite how uncomfortably fast my mind was racing while I was near him.

Luckily, all my classes came and went fairly quickly, and I managed to coast through all of them without paying much attention to the class at all. My good mood prevailed and encouraged me to even smile at the strangers who greeted me in the halls instead of scowling at them. I even managed to ignore Sasha's disgusted expression when she saw me in Calculus.

By the time the final bell rang for lunch, I was happily on my way to my locker. As I approached, I saw Lisa and Brandon making out- a usual occurrence- but took a smug kind of pride when I realized they were nowhere near my locker. Lisa even opened her eyes when I approached and inched over the other way to make sure they were nowhere near invading my space.

A smug smirk tugged at my lips from my newfound unspoken power as I moved my books around to collect the ones I needed for my next classes. The hallways thinned considerably by the time I shut my locker door, and I turned around to see Lisa and Brandon gone with the rest of the students loitering the halls.

As I began walking toward the cafeteria, I hear a familiar voice call behind me, "Hey Collins."

I turned around to see Nathan walking lazily toward me and stopped to let him catch up. "Hey Rhodes."

We begin walking to the cafeteria again and he asks, "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," I grin at him to prove my words. "I think all the movies and soup worked wonders."

His lips tugged up into a small smile as he nods, "Good."

I give him a sideways glance and notice for the first time how exhausted he looked. There were bags under his eyes and his eyes themselves were hooded instead of bright and awake. "How are you? I didn't get you sick, did I?"

"No," Nathan straightens up a little as we turn at the end of the hallway. "Bennett is sick. I've been taking care of him but he keeps me up all night. I thought he just had a cold, but it might be the flu. I'm bringing him to the doctor after school today."