Beep! Beep!
Hygieia' eyes shot wide open. Her alarm was going crazy again. Hygieia swiftly got up and looked out the window. The sun was already up, meaning that her parents left for work early again and the silence meant that her brother hadn't returned home yet from his university. She was home alone again. She checked her clock. 7:50am. The bus was going to leave in 10 minutes!
She shot up from her bed and bolted to her bathroom. Her uniform was already ironed hung up, waiting to be put on. Hgyieia smiled; no doubt her mother had ironed her clothes for her once again while she was asleep. She wore her uniform as quickly as possible before grabbing her bag and running to the kitchen. Her lunchbox was already packed and ready to go. She made a mental note to thank her father. Packing her lunch in, she raced outside, fumbling with the keys to lock the door before running out to the bus stop.
Fortunately for her, the bus had just arrived, so she hoped on and took a seat near the window. The bus was packed and she felt sorry for anyone that had to stand.
"Hey!" Someone flicked her forehead. Hard. Hygieia winced and looked up.
"Hello Ares." She forced herself to sound calm, however a small whimper had laced itself on her words. "Did you want something?" Ares struck a blow to her head.
"Don't act dumb! You know what I want.." Ares' eyes made their way to Hygieia's bag. He darted his eyes back to her face. "Don't make me have to push it into your thick skull!" Hygieia noticed where his eyes trailed and sighed, taking her lunchbox out and giving it to him. Ares smiled evilly. "Thanks Hygieia! Glad you're not that dumb. Looks like I let you free without a scratch." He walked off triumphantly. Hygieia looked behind her, noticing the side-eyes the passengers gave her. She clenched her fists. They watched the whole ordeal and not one of them decided to help her.
How pathetic.
———
Hygieia walked out of her class, staring at the maths paper before her. A 71% wasn't so bad. But it wasn't fair. She was sick during the time they took the test. It felt like something her stomach. Maybe her stomach was stabbing itself. Either way, she couldn't focus on her math formulas when her stomach felt like it was dying. She gripped the paper harshly and stuffed it back into her bag angrily.
"Gia, there you are!" Hygieia turned around to see her friend Philotes running towards her, two paper bags in both of her hands. Hygieia smiled at the sight of her friend.
"Hey Tes." Hygieia smiled. Philotes handed Hygieia the paper bag which she took gratefully. "Thank you so much." She gushed, opening the bag. The smell of freshly baked goods was about to make her mouth water. "You over did it this time!" Hygieia fished inside the bag and grabbed a big chocolate-chip muffin. Philotes just giggled in response.
"You're my friend! Of course I'd do anything for you." Philotes grabbed Hygieia's hand and ran upstairs to the rooftop. They both sat down on a bench. "Anyways, want some sprinkles on your muffin?" Philotes held up a small container of sprinkles.
"Who even puts sprinkles on muffins?" Hygieia rolled her eyes yet she took the container of sprinkles. She placed a few on her muffin before giving it back to her friend. Placing the now decorated muffin next to her, she took out a small box containing some tablets. "It's just some medication for some of my stomach pain my doctor gave me." Philotes nodded understandingly. Hygieia swallowed her pill before taking a sip of water. She then took a bite of her muffin.
"Is it good?" Philotes looked at her friend hopefully. Hygieia smiled and gave her friend a thumbs up.
"It's gre-!" Violent coughs drowned out her next words. Philotes let a look of surprise and hurt appear on her face. However Hygieia didn't notice and just kept on coughing violently. Philotes passed her a bottle which Hygieia devoured in a couple of seconds, some water spilling onto her uniform. "Sorry." Hygieia looked at Philotes apologetically. "It's really salty." Hygieia said rushingly as she got up, took her bag and ran. Philotes looked her friend's disappearing figure before returning her gaze to the sandwich her friend left behind.
———
"Hygieia! You're back!" Hygieia blushed lightly, smiled and waved at Dr. Dolos. The doctor waved back happily. "How are you today?" He sat Hygieia down opposite to him. "People bullying you again?" He pointed at her bruises. Hygieia looked away shyly and didn't answer his question. "Look, I think your problem is getting out of hand. The school doesn't care what I say." Hygieia finally looked up and shook her head.
"N-no! It's fine, Doctor. Really." She looked at him gratefully. "Thank you for worrying though Doctor. You're like a second dad to me." The doctor was actually in his late 20's, more younger than her father who was in his mid 30's. The doctor smiled nervously.
"Dad?! No way, I'm way too young to have kids! How about your brother instead?" Dr. Dolos smiled. "Anyways, what brings you here?"
~~~
Song of the chapter: Heart Attack by CHUU
Honestly, if I could describe my life in one word, I'd just say the MV of Heart Attack. It's so cute and gay: my cup of tea uwu
Anyways I think I'll split this up into around 3 parts because it makes it cooler that way and also because my friend suggested it. This whole short series is inspired by the webtoon Ghost Teller which I highly recommend you read because it is very good owo
Anyways bye.
