010- Delirious

I knew something was wrong when my music started waving at me.

Sometimes, I get stomachaches. It usually occurs after I've eaten too much something. But I realized, this time, it wasn't because I'd eaten too much of something. It was because my stomach was just angry with the world. I'll admit that my eating habits had been... Well, it would be a joke to say I had eating habits in the first place. My body hates eating sometimes, and that week had been no exception. To be frank, I hadn't been hungry for an entire week, and nothing had really bothered me about it. I was busy all the time. I was a stressed student. There was too much on my mind, and food was just another one of those things I forgot about.

So when my stomach started hurting, it didn't occur to me that I was hungry. It occurred to me that I was, once again, sick with one of those awful stomachaches that didn't go away until I napped for approximately three hours. Usually, I can manage them until the end of the school day, but this particular one was very bothersome. Over and over, I felt something inside twist and stab at me. Pain spread through my torso and I felt as though my entire body was racked in agony. But I didn't let it show- as usual. It was best if the others didn't know I felt like I was about to die. I didn't want for them to worry.

There was a gap of time that I don't exactly remember. But there was a very bright light in the white, reeling halls. I noticed they seemed brighter than usual, but my main focus was on my balance, which seemed off. I looked, saw people moving past me as blurred images. I blinked. Nothing changed. No focusing of the eyes, just the same foggy pictures. I wondered why this was so. But, somewhere in my confusion, a solid concept was clearer over everything. Something was wrong inside. Something that I knew I could not fix on my own. I needed help. Badly.

Familiar face. That was what I searched for, and I'm not exactly sure how I ran into Eric. But I found him, and that panicked part of me was desperate to make sure he didn't leave me like this. I felt my knees quaking as I stood, chills running through my limbs and my vision was disoriented. He was in and out of focus...

"Hey." I tried to sound casual, "I don't feel so good." I think I chuckled.

"I'm sure you're fine."

He didn't seem to care.

"No." I was adamant. "I think there's something wrong with me."

There's a gap of time lost here. A time where, somehow, we ended up on the other side of the hall. I just wanted to lie down- that's was all I could think about. All I could focus on. The pain was spreading across my body, the weakness echoing. It took a lot to breathe. A lot to think. I'm dying... Panic flooded everything, sweeping in and collapsing the solid pieces of my mind. I'm dying, aren't I? I knew I hadn't eaten in awhile. I knew I had skipped out on breakfast this morning.

"Did you take something?"

Did I take something? I couldn't remember... Wait. Yes. Yes, I had. My father had given me these little pink circle pills. I didn't know how many I had taken. I didn't even know how many I was supposed to have taken. All I could hear in the panicked walls of my mind were breathing. Heartbeats. And faint voices from the present.

I don't even know how Ifill got there. She just appeared out of the starry, bright world around me. I think I said something to her. I don't recall.

There was another gap in time, and I ended up in another room. I was in a chair. The orchestra room...?

There are vague faces. Mrs. Mills. Camlyn. People staring at me. I didn't like all the attention. It was embarrassing.

"Have you eaten?"

"No..."

And that's when I remembered that I hadn't eaten breakfast. Hadn't eaten dinner. Skipped lunch and breakfast the previous days. Perhaps I had dinner the day before that, but it was all very hazy now.

Eric was digging through his bag now. He was looking for something. He pulled out a granola bar, and began opening the wrapper up. I stared at him blankly. That's ridiculous. Like a little granola bar is going to help this... I thought dryly, but he handed it to me anyways. I took it, clasping it as though it was life itself, and began eating.

Somehow, during all of this, I'm told I dialed my dad's number, but I handed the phone to Eric. I'm not entirely sure how the conversation went down. All I know is that I was told my father was coming to get me. They all stood around me like I was something important, sort of doing that odd 'leaning over' stance. It reminded me of the movies, or video games- where the protagonist would awaken to find people leaning over him. I guess that always happens right before they club you over the head and drag you off to the mad scientist's lab. I'm rambling now. I couldn't think straight.

All we could do was wait. I finished off the granola bars, the world wavering around me. Waving hello, I guess, just like my music had. All we could do was wait, wait... And, sometimes, I think I would forget. And the bits of the pain and confusion, I wanted to forget. Some time later, I ended up back at my house, in my room, still partially delirious. The last thing I can remember was collapsing on my bed, absolutely exhausted.