The Mostly Sane Squad

1. The Flu

Chapter One 'The Flu'

Tears welled up in a pair of dark brown eyes as a tissue squeezed the life out of a nose leaving behind red flaring nostrils of Annika Bedi who apparently fell victim to the Great Fresher's Flu or maybe some allergen, the cause was yet to be known.

According to a legend of the Angelwood University, the Fresher's Flu was a bad omen which had fallen on Jaclyn Mors' new flatmate and must immediately be purified by a ritual as suggested by her seniors.

"Trust me you don't have to do anything for the ceremony, the second year students told me all we had to do was pay fifty bucks and they would take care of the rest. It is important Annika, it's about your future, my future, our future. I must make sure you are purified. I cannot play with my perfectly planned college life, I am too young to be tainted and marred with living in the same space as of the Great Fresher's Flu Victim." Jac frantically paced around.

She did not understand why Ann was being so stubborn. Her senior had explicitly told her what happened to the people who remained in contact with the unpurified spirit of the Flu. They were cursed with blemishes and pimples, that too with white goo! Thinking about that made Jac shudder with disgust.

"Shut up, they are playing with your too-stupid-for-college-brain. It is their way of earning without doing anything. If you got a problem, better move out and..." the sentence was left hanging in a mystery as the cursed spirit of Ann sneezed violently throwing off her eyeballs from the socket.

This had hurt Jac's sore spot. She didn't want to be unpopular but she also couldn't afford to move out. As the university's hostel was already brimming with satanic souls of students who had committed suicide and of course, students who were alive.

This two-bedroom flat was the only place which had female candidates, close proximity and twenty-four-hour running water. Her father had refused to let her share a flat with the male human species which would have made for a good college story. And not to forget, Angelwood had the best course for fashion designing, once graduated, Jac was positive she that she had the ability to make wonders.

Annika was getting annoyed, though grateful for the flu as she got the opportunity to have an entire room for herself, which was comparatively smaller than the other one yet she didn't have to share it with the superstitious fuss-ball. She couldn't have met a naïver person that finally left her room to attend the doorbell with insanely irritating chirping sound.

"How are you feeling Ann?" A set bushy eyebrows furred in together to form a unibrow on the long, flawless face of Becky Cooper who had apparently left to buy medicines for her sick flatmate but ended up bringing more than just medicines.

"Mrs. Landlady sent some ill-people-food for you. Believe me when I say it smells worse than her dried fish stalks." Becky replied as she quickly dropped off the packet radiating odour enough to suffocate her to death and started her hunt for air fresheners and deodorants to tackle down the enemy.

"Be more polite B! Mrs. Fritz meant well, it must not be that bad and don't make me shout back." Ann answered back in a higher tone as she walked out of her room to see her dinner for the night since none of her flatmates would be kind enough to bring some food to the sick.

She trudged towards the kitchen counter where apparently her ill-people food was, it probably was better than get-well-soon burnt cookies made by Becky, which, she couldn't say out loud, gave her a toothache while attempting to chew it.

The smell wasn't that bad, not that Annika's blocked nose could be trusted but she did see Jac running towards washroom and puke as soon as she opened the polythene, inside it was a lunch box with a teddy bear print which she struggled to open.

The sight in front of her was too good to be true. A simmering fish soup which belonged nowhere but outside the window, it was evidently made from dried fishes which her landlady is fond of.

Now that the eccentric, inedible disgusting cat food was nowhere in the vicinity, Jac could take a break. The foul odour still lingered around but it wasn't as bad as before. "Ann, just make sure you give a warning before opening up anything of Mrs. Fritz's," Jac commented while brushing to remove the sourness of the bile and half-digested fried chicken she had for the evening.

"Alright, since Ann's dinner is now successfully out. I can make you a get well soon dinner." Becky picked up the knife to chop off some tomatoes, strangely Jac and Ann looked tensed.

Ann really wanted to avoid it and clearly, Jac also was searching for an excuse to prevent Becky from cooking the dinner or anything in the future.

"My appetite just died." Ann quickly answered with a 'me too' from Jac following it.

"Understandable. But I could just toss in something light." Becky seemed too enthusiastic to back down. After all, she had her mother's genes. She brought out her mother's recipe book and skimmed through the pages.

Ann tiredly slumped down on the couch with aching joints. There was no escaping B this time, she thought.

Jac copied Ann and sat close to her, trying to again persuade her to pay fifty bucks so the ritual can happen. She didn't care what Ann called her, but she will not sacrifice her perfect future for some stubborn buttocks who isn't ready to understand. Jac had also agreed to swap her hard-earned room with the sick Ann, so couldn't she just once compromise with her sky-high ego.

She had made up her mind to demand reparations in case anything went wrong because of the obstinate determination of Annika Bedi, the Indian Goddess. Jac was aware how easy life would be for Ann even if she didn't end up having a career, but Jac's story was different.

She didn't want to risk it, even if it was stupid.

"Please, Ann. I know I am being irrational. But if it is going to do something to make my life easier than please." Ann hesitated this time. It was unusual for somebody to be hung up on a clearly suspicious orthodox demand. Trying not to get easily melted by those puppy green eyes and pouty lips of Jaclyn Mors, Ann decided to strike a deal.

She leaned in close towards Jac and whispered, "If you eat my dinner, I will hand you over the fifty bucks you have been asking for, then you can do whatever you want to do with it. But don't mistake it that I am agreeing with you because you made that ridiculous face and blinked thrice."

A smile of triumph spread on the Jac's heart-shaped face, she flipped back her strawberry blonde hair out of a new habit which was recognized as sass by the popular chicks at her school. But that smile didn't last long when Beck announced her meal as ready.

"B, I am very sorry but I really don't feel like eating anything. Don't worry 'bout me, Jac's going finish up everything, she anyways enjoys your food." Ann said without missing the death glare from Jac and a confused look from Becky who realised that she had missed a conversation about fifty bucks apparently.

"Umm... Okay, I guess. If you still don't feel good, we can visit the doctor tomorrow." Becky replied with concern.

Ann left the ladies with a burned stew and went back into her unorganized sanctuary with a DSLR and MacBook on the study table, bras on the floor, books pushed towards one side of the single bed to make enough space for a one sixty centimetres tall, eighteen-year-old girl.

She gently laid down on the bed trying not to mess up the already messed up bed. With a promise to organize it once she recovers, she drifted off to sleep.

***********************
Hello Everlanders!

Thank you for reading. Clearly, this chapter just barely touched the main storyline and hopefully introduced my three main protagonists around whom the story would actually develop. Though not much happened in this chapter and it was fairly short because one had to sleep, I assure by chapter three I will introduce you to the first arc of this story. And maybe, along the way I will try to edit it.