The Laws of Emotion

Chapter Seventeen

Against my better judgement, I missed three days of school. The third day, I felt so much better, but Mom made me stay home. I told her that I was missing so much of calculus and my AP classes, but she was hearing none of it. She told me that I had to stay home or I was losing my car. I immediately said I was staying home. 

However, there was nothing to do here. I had gone through all of my magazines and books, and now I had to watch TV all day. At least my friends had brought my homework to me, but I already finished all of my assignments. It didn't take me long to understand what I was missing at school.

I lounged on the couch downstairs, propping my feet up on some pillows. Dad sat in the chair next to the couch, and he flipped through the newspaper. I didn't know we still got the newspaper; I usually accessed it on my phone, but it didn't look like he used his phone for the newspaper.

"Cat, you should eat something," he said, his eyes flicking over the newspaper. "You haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

"You should be glad that I'm eating," I replied grumpily. My stomach still rolled when I saw food, but I hadn't vomited since Monday. 

"If you don't eat something, you won't go back to school tomorrow," he said. I groaned, burying my head into the pillows. "I'll go get you something, okay?"

"Fine."

Dad got up from the chair and headed into the kitchen, his slippers making a soft scraping noise on the hardwood floor. He hadn't gone to work since yesterday, and I didn't know why. He usually worked every single day, but lately, he had been off more than usual. It was nice having him wait on me hand and foot, but I was very confused. 

A knock on the door tore me away from the flashing colors of the TV. My feet hit the floor, and I slowly stood up. I had gotten a little weaker since I couldn't keep anything down for almost two days, so it took me a little while to get to the door. I pulled it open to find Ethan and Chris standing there, wearing similar smiles.

"Hey, Cat!" Chris said happily. His arms shot out and pulled me against him. 

"Dude, do you want to make her hurl on you?" Ethan asked, his voice sounding farther away. I peered over Chris's shoulder to see Ethan standing close to his car. "Hi, Cat," he called out, waving at me. "I'm just taking a precaution here."

"Nice to see you, too," I said, smiling softly. I pulled away from Chris and leaned against the door. 

"We came to check on you," Chris said, holding onto my arm and leading me toward the couch. I sat down on top of my pillows with a sigh. "How are you doing?"

"I could be better," I answered, shrugging. Ethan sat farther away from me, keeping his distance. "Ethan, I'm not going to vomit on you. I'm past that stage."

"Oh, good." He scooted closer to Chris and me. "I was afraid that you would vomit on me."

"I could tell."

Dad entered the family room, holding a plate in his hands. I took it from him. He said a quick hello to Chris and Ethan before going upstairs. He gave me a look and said, "If you need anything, call for me."

"Okay, Dad."

I stared down at the plate and sighed. I didn't really want to eat the toast Dad made for me, but I forced myself to. Nibbling on the toast, Ethan and Chris explained everything I had missed at school. They described all of the fights in detail and told me everything about the softball game I missed. 

"Did you know that Harvey has a girlfriend?" Ethan suddenly asked.

I frowned and shook my head. "No. He didn't mention it on Sunday when he took care of me."