Hanging With The Boys

18.

TUESDAY MORNING MY alarm clock goes off. I slam my hand down on the clock, shutting it up almost immediately, but I can't will myself to get up from my comfortable place lying down. My head is pounding and I can't breathe through my nose. I wrinkle my nose, trying to see if that will help the congestion but instead it leads me to let out around 5 sneezes in a row and then cough a bit.

After a few minutes of laying in bed feeling miserable, I finally force myself to get up and make my way downstairs. "You look terrible." My mom says as way of greeting when I enter the kitchen. "Thanks, mom. I know." I say, sneezing a couple more times before I can even roll my eyes. "You know what I mean." She says, waving off her previous comment. "Are you sick?" she presses. "I think I have a cold." I confirm. Probably from getting stuck in the rain with Luke yesterday. A small smile comes to my face at the memory but then I'm sent into a coughing fit and the smile is gone.

"Honey you should stay home today. There's probably something going around. You don't want to go to school and spread it around some more. You need your rest if you want to get better as soon as possible." She instructs. I don't want to miss school, but I don't argue with her on the matter because I know it won't get me anywhere. Instead, I situate myself on the couch with blankets, a box of tissues and other cold fighting necessities.

I alternate between sleeping and watching movies all day, sipping on honey lemon tea to soothe my throat and getting up occasionally to get a small snack but other than that I don't have much of an appetite.

My phone rings at one point, waking me up from my latest nap. I pick it up from the small table I have set up beside me and answer it. "Hey Luke." I say groggily, still somewhat half-asleep. "Hey. Am I bothering you?" he asks. "No, not at all." I say, hoping my voice doesn't sound as nasally as I think it sounds. "Cool. Where were you today?" he asks. "I'm sick. I think I caught a cold from being caught in the rain yesterday. So I had to stay home." I laugh. "Wait, why aren't you sick?" I ask, knowing that he was stuck in the rain for the same amount of time that I was. "Strong immune system, I guess." He says, and I can picture him shrugging his shoulders as he says it.

We talk for a bit, him telling me about the events of the day and me briefly telling him about my uneventful day. But then he lets me get back to resting and we both hang up.

I resume watching the movie I had started earlier and when it finishes, the doorbell rings. I reluctantly get up to check who it is and find Luke standing outside. I hesitate at first, looking down at myself in my ratty old sweatshirt and plaid pajama pants, looking terrible with my red nose and dark circles under my eyes. He knows I'm home so it's not like I'm going to ignore him. Him seeing me like this isn't that big of a deal anyways. It's not like I'm trying to impress him. What kind of friend doesn't see you at your worst at one point or another? I open the door.

"Hi. Sorry for looking like a total trash heap." I say.

"Don't apologize. You look fine to me. I should be apologizing for showing up unannounced."

"It's totally fine. I haven't had any human interaction all day, other than being on the phone with you earlier. So, the company is very much welcomed." I say, opening the door further so he can come inside.

"I brought you some chicken noodle soup, the key to fighting any sickness." He says, handing me a container filled with soup.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that."

"It's not that big of a deal. My mom made a pot of it yesterday and there was some left over." He says, shrugging.

I've now come to deem his shrugging as his signature shrug, a slight nonchalant raise of the shoulders.