Midnight Moon

Damien apparently listened to me and stayed away. Whenever we had classes together, he would always make a point of sitting on the other side of the room, though I sometimes caught him looking at me. I hadn't talked to him since I gave him that note.

Brandon, on the other hand, had been getting closer and closer to me lately. He seemed to flirt more and more, and occasionally try to wrap his arms around me. It was beginning to freak me out, and I couldn't wait for the weekend.

Luckily for me, it was now Friday. I hadn't spoken to Damien since Monday, and I was beginning to feel bad for giving him that note. I put that thought to the back of my mind though, and waited for the bell to ring.

Kids pushed out the door, racing to get home. I stayed back a bit, not wanting to get trampled, and eventually made my way to my locker. I put my things in my locker and felt a sudden presence behind me.

I turned, only to see Brandon leaning casually on the wall opposite of me. I groaned in annoyance and walked towards the school doors, only to get pulled back by a hand on my upper arm. It stung slightly more than normal when his skin came in contact with mine, but I paid little attention to it.

I was then pushed against a wall, and Brandon pinned my arms to my sides. He began kissing up my neck, leaving me paralyzed at his sudden courage to do such things.

Apparently he got bored, because the next thing I knew, he was kissing me full on the mouth. I gasped in both pain, and surprise. He took that as a sign to continue, and stuck his tongue inside my mouth. The pain suddenly became immense, so I did the only thing I could think to do.

I punched him, hard. He stumbled back a bit, a surprised expression on his face. My surprise turned into rage, and I could almost feel steam coming out of my ears. I could have sworn that my face was deep red, as I glared daggers at him.

I then punched him again, hearing a sickening crack and his cry of pain. He now had a slowly-growing black eye, and a broken nose. I contemplated punching him again, to release more of my anger, but thought better of it. Instead, I leaned in toward his ear, still trying to contain myself from doing something rash.

"Try that again, and it might just be the last thing you ever do," I hissed.

I left him, and whoever else witnessed the little scene, and turned quickly to walk out the school doors, trying to conceal the pain I felt within. Think of eating a bag of nails, and having a thousand pins run through your bloodstream, and that's about how it felt when he kissed me.

I stumbled back to the orphanage, slightly hunched over in pain, and completely ignored Rana's request for help with the dishes and cleaning. I walked sluggishly towards my shared bedroom, and plopped down on my bed, not bothering to take off my school clothes.

I curled up under the covers, trying to ignore the pain, but having no such luck. I was a bit scared at how much a simple kiss could hurt, and concerned as to why it hurt more this time. When Lucas kissed my neck before, it didn't nearly hurt as much as when Brandon did. It was...odd.

That night I slept through dinner, and into the morning. I slept the weekend away, though not many people even noticed me locked up in my room.

I didn't hear the alarm on my clock go off on Monday, and Alicia had to wake me in the morning. I mumbled something unintelligent and rolled over.

I felt horrible, almost like I was going to throw up any second. Apparently I didn't look too good either, because Alicia gasped and stopped shaking me. She whispered something about telling Rana that I was sick, and left me to my slumber.

I fell back asleep within minutes, feeling like I went to bed just minutes ago instead of hours ago.

The next time I woke up it was around 1:00. I sulked into the bathroom down the hall, feeling like all of my energy was drained. I looked in the mirror and groaned.

I was paler than normal, and had bags under my eyes. Aside from that, I didn't look like I was sick. I had the 'just got outta bed' look (messy hair, slightly twisted clothes, etc.).

I finished my business in the bathroom and tied my hair up in a ponytail. I went back to my room and laid back down, leaving the covers off of me. I dozed on and off until Alicia came back from school.

"Alicia, how was school?" I croaked softly.

"Good, seems like everyone heard about you punching Brandon though," she replied, looking at me with concern.

I tried to laugh, but it just drained more of my energy. My eyes closed, blocking me off from the world. The last thing I felt was the blanket being pulled up to my shoulders.

The next day was even worse, I didn't have a fever, but I was sweating cats and dogs. Alicia gave me a pitying look and made an excuse to let me skip school again. That day, I didn't get out of bed once, not eating or drinking.

Alicia came back from school and asked me how I was feeling. I groaned in reply, still too weak to even speak. She sighed and told me about all the rumors that have been going on as to why I wasn't at school.

"Some people think that Brandon punched you back and put you in the hospital. Others think that someone got you pregnant and that you were starting to show. The most incredible one, though, is that they think you and Damien ran off together," Alicia laughed softly, trying to bring my spirits up.

"Damien wasn't in school today either?" I asked, just barely being able to force the words out.

"Nah, no one's seen him since Friday, someone said that he was looking a little pale at the end of the day, though," she replied cautiously.

That got my attention. I turned my head towards her and cocked an eyebrow in question, she just shrugged in reply. I sighed and nodded, accepting that she didn't know anymore about the subject.

I had to see him though, something wasn't right. What are the chances of both of us being sick at the same time? The town is one of the cleanest ones I know, people rarely ever get sick, especially me. Come to think of it, I can't remember Damien ever missing a day either.

I waited until Alicia was asleep, then crawled out of bed. I re-tied my ponytail and creeped outside without being heard.

The walk to the forest was hard, I could barely keep myself up, and others probably would have thought I was drunk, had they seen me. My legs felt like jelly, and my head spun every time I took a step.

After a long walk on the sidewalk, I eventually made it to the forest's edge. I continued on, leaning on the trees for support. The ground seemed to sway beneath my feet. After walking at least half way to where I knew their camp to be, I finally collapsed.

All of my energy had been sucked out of me, and I could barely lift a finger. My breath was coming in quick gasps, and my heart beat ferociously against my chest. I needed to talk to him, to see if he was all right.

My eyes lost their focus, everything becoming blurry. Then everything was black. The sounds faded and eventually I couldn't even feel the ground beneath my fingers. I finally lost consciousness, falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.