Something tickled Nadia's nose and she sneezed. She turned to the other side and continued to sleep. The same thing tickled her nose again and she sneezed harshly this time. Her eyes flew open to the sight of her friends standing around her bed. Faryal sitting beside her with a feather in her hand.
She rubbed her eyes. “What are you guys doing here?”
Mia sat down on the bed. “We came to check up on you. You know after the fight?”
Faryal asked. “So how are you feeling?”
Nadia smiled, her mind going back to yesterday night. “I feel better actually. What time is it?”
She glanced at the clock 12:45 pm. “Oh no! I've missed my classes,” she turned to Mia, “Why didn't you wake me up?”
Makena reassured her, “No. You are off school today. Nurse Anya told you not to go to school for a day and you disobeyed. So you will be staying in today.”
Nadia stared at her, open-mouthed. “But I'm fine,” she protested.
Makena gave her a look and gently pressed a finger to her stomach. Nadia sucked in a sharp breath from the pain the contact caused.
Mia placed a small container on her lap. “Nurse Anya said you should apply this on your bruises that aren't covered and you should go later today to get your bandages changed.”
Nadia fiddled with the container wearing a grim look. “Now that I didn't go to school today. Everyone will think I'm weak, especially after what happened with those boys.”
“Ow!” Nadia exclaimed when Faryal flicked her forehead. She rubbed the spot with a pout.
Faryal scolded, “Will you stop thinking about others and start thinking about yourself.”
Joanne smacked her shoulder. “Where did you go last night? I waited for you for so long till I could no more. You ruined my beauty sleep.”
“Sorry. I just took in the woods to clear my head,” she said then smiled at the thought of Jace bringing her back home.
“It's alright and...” Joanne reached into her bag and brought out different varieties of snacks, throwing them on Nadia's lap. “We brought you snacks.”
“Thank you.”
Mia sighed. “Don't say thank you, it's annoying. What are friends for?” she said making Nadia smile.
“Scoot over,” Joanne told Nadia and she did, sitting up Indian style. Soon all the girls joined her on the bed.
“Freya!” Joanne called and Nadia looked at Freya's bed to see her hunched over many books.
Freya looked up at the mention of her name and caught the popcorn thrown at her. Without saying thank you, she breathed fire over the packet, cooking the popcorn in it before ripping the packet open. She continued to ignore them as she ate the popcorn and continued with her schoolwork.
Nadia shook her head and help herself and helped herself to a bag of chips. She didn't notice when Joanne stood up from the bed until;
“Hey Nadia, what's this?”
Nadia looked up to see Joanne holding the stuffed lioness Jace gave up. She quickly sat up properly. “Where did you get that?”
YOU ARE READING
ForestLands Institution
FantasySeventeen-year-old Alexandra Crawford's life takes a whole new turn when she's thrown out of her aunt's house one night. Powers are revealed and she's taken to an institution that houses supernatural creatures which were believed to be myths. At lea...
