Ethereal

Chapter 8

I yawned loudly, trying to stifle it with my hand as my cheeks blushed red in embarrassment. The ball rang loudly at that exact moment, and soon a flood of students swept through the halls. 

They no longer seemed to avoid me like the plague in the halls, and I was jostled about in the hallways as much as anyone else was. Already being late to class having had to excuse myself to the bathroom, it was made more difficult having to push my way through the halls. 

I elbowed my way through the masses, struggling to keep my eyes open and alert. 

"Ow!" A boy called out as my elbow connected with his arm, I turned around muttering an apology as he rubbed at his arm, scowling at me. Though his expression dropped when he saw me looking and he smiled at me instead, reaching forward to put a hand around my arm as though he were about to say something. "Hey do you-"

I pulled out of his grip, not wanting to be too late for class, and besides, it was impossible to even hear what someone was saying to you in those hallways. 

I had been so tired recently, even though I was sleeping far longer than usual. On top of that, I'd been eating way more than I used to, yet my stomach still rumbled in the middle of silent classes, and I'd been eating food that had lots of energy in it. Maybe I was getting ill? I had noticed that I'd lost some weight... 

In fact I was sure I must be ill, given I'd been excused from my spanish class to go throw up in the bathroom. I still felt weary and my stomach wasn't sitting quite right, but I didn't want to waste time staying home when we needed to be out searching for the one. 

By the time I reached my classroom, most of the crowds had cleared and there were only a couple of students lounging around against the walls. One of whom was Travis. 

"Travis?" I called out as I neared him, smiling. Just being in his presence made me feel energetic, and the sick feeling in my stomach immediately went away. 

"Class is cancelled." He told me, putting his arm across my shoulders and gently led me away. "We figured since its last class we'd leave early to prepare for watching Jonathan." 

I nodded, "Okay. Where's Jasmine and Noah?" 

"Getting the car." He replied, "You know how to get to Jonathan's house?" 

"I think so." I confirmed, the town was only small and everyone knew where everyone else lived. There were no secrets about wealth in this place. 

Outside, Jasmine had pulled up and Noah stood besides the car watching us approach him. For a moment I thought I saw him frown at Travis' arm around me, but I must have imagined it because it was gone almost immediately. 

"Hey." I greeted them, and in unison the two nodded in greeting. I looked away quickly. Nodding in unison wasn't necessarily a strange thing... but I got the feeling that anything that the three of them did was probably a strange thing. 

Following their lead, I climbed into the back of the car. Noah was in the front passenger seat, and Travis was besides me in the back. 

"Head left out of the school and keep following the road." I instructed as Jasmine began to drive. I noticed a crease had formed between her eyebrows, and wondered what had caused it. 

"So what did you guys get up to today?" I asked, trying to start up a conversation. 

"Not as much as you I suspect." Travis said, sounding uninterested. 

"Huh?" I frowned, I hadn't gotten up to much... all I'd been doing all day was sitting in classes taking notes. 

"You were sick?" He prompted me, his eyes narrowed as though he were confused.