bathroom stalls » mileven

sept

el shivered in her bed. she didn't want to go to school today. that would mean facing mike and troy and no friends. she coughed suddenly, her body shaking.

joyce knocked on the door and entered. "are you okay, el?"

"not good," el whispered.

"mm, you may have a fever. stay home today," joyce murmured, pressing her cool hand against el's heated forehead.

"fever?"

"it's where your body temperature is higher than it should be, and you get sick."

"no school?"

"yeah, just to make sure you are okay. i'll tell mike to bring your homework for the day."

"can you- he gets this?" el asked, reaching on her bedstand for a pen and piece of scrap paper. it was an science pop quiz that she had done badly on. she had gotten 2/5 correct, but in all fairness, she had no idea what newton's laws were or anything involving inertia. she scribbled on the paper and folded it, handing it to joyce. "my classes and what mike needs to get for me," she said. joyce nodded and patted el's shoulder.

"rest," joyce added, standing and leaving el's room with the slip of paper.

in reality, el had written a quote for mike.

"it hurts because it matters."

tears pooled in her eyes. she didn't mean to threaten or hurt mike in any way, it just came out. she had lashed out because she felt trapped like she was still at the lab. she could feel the cold and dampness as they forced her to run on treadmills. at night, her feet were always so cold. everything in that place radiated an icy feeling.

mike was home. mike was the warmth that one felt when they were bundled under so many blankets. it was the warmth felt when one drank hot cocoa and they could feel it going into their body, slowly warming them up. el decided she liked that warmth and snuggled under her blankets. she coughed again, touching her lip. blood had trickled down from her nose, but she wasn't using her powers.

someone was channeling her. someone was using her body as a conduit. she remembered that much from the lab. they were trying to see if two experiments could be even stronger together, if they could feed off of each other.

it didn't work. it only pushed one to the limit of death. her eyes narrowed as the upside down flashed before her eyes. someone was either trying to do something very powerful, or they were trying to kill her.