𝖷1 𝖨𝗆𝖺𝗀𝗂𝗇𝖾𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖲𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗍 𝖲𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌

Two

Ellie marched through the school hallway with purpose, undistracted by the other kids packing up their things and eagerly chatting about their after school plans. She was breathing heavily. Others barely noticed her as she walked by.

Inside the gym, Jackie attempted to keep up with her friends in doing drills but was foiled by her constant sneezing. After a while she just sat down on the ground and watched the others. "You doing alright?" Kat asked her. The girl frowned.

"I really can't do anything right now," Jackie said in a congested voice. She wiped her nose. "Maybe it's best if I went home." The other girls milled around the open space.

"Well," Kat began sitting down next to her, "as your captain I would tell you to suck it up. It's just a little cold. However, as your best friend I'm going to tell you that I agree. I think some rest will do you some good." The two girls smiled to one another.

The gym door swings open. Most girls turned their heads to see who it was. In walked Ellie, quickly approaching her sister. Jackie took note of her sister's frantic expression. She sat up straighter.

"I need to talk to you," Ellie says definitively. "Preferably alone."

Jackie turned to Kat, giving her look as if asking if she could go. "Go right ahead." The girl nodded her head.

Jackie got up and walked her sister to the girls' locker room. The other girl moving at a much more rapid pace. "I can't do it," Ellie says, the second the door shuts. She shook her head hectically.

"Do what?" Jackie asked, eyebrows scrunched together. Her head felt cloudy.

"Go out there and take the test." Ellie paces the floor anxiously.

"Oh, you're still worried about that? You'll do fine."

"'Worried' is quite an understatement." She scowled at her sister. "I don't know what to do. Hangyul is literally waiting for me out in the parking lot and I'm here feeling like I'm gonna puke."

"Okay, don't do that." Jackie really observed her sister for the first time since she walked into the gym. Her hair thrown up with a clip, face flushed, dark circles under her eyes, and she kept wringing her hands with each step she took. "Okay, just sit down and breath for a second."

The girl followed her order and sat on one of the benches.

"I'm sure everything will be fine. You can't be that bad," the girl attempts to soothe her sister. She slid the hair tie from her wrist and tied back her hair to keep it off her shoulders.

"I'm not a bad driver, he's a bad instructor!" Ellie clarifies.

"Sure, blame the instructor. Totally unlike the time you blamed the teacher for giving you an 'inadequate' grade." Jackie remarked with a slight eye roll.

"I didn't deserve that 'C'. Mrs. Pudlowski just didn't like the fact that I knew the word was 'vandals' not 'vandalizers' and that I felt the need to correct her."

"Right," Jackie dragged the word out, looking away. She glanced one second at the mirror on the wall in front of them. "Well, at least you're not doing drills while sick."

"Please, I much rather do that than deal with Mr. drill sergeant the driving instructor." Ellie shivered feeling a cool gust of air coming from the vent. "Do you have a jacket I can borrow?"

"Sure over by my bag." Jackie replied, fixing up her hair in the mirror from where she sat. Fortunately for Ellie, Jackie didn't need her jacket since she had nabbed Kat's earlier. Ellie sat back down with the jacket on. Jackie absentmindedly tied her hair in a bun. Her eyes peered over at her sister for a second then back to her. Suddenly she did a double take.