The Art of Drowning

Chapter Seven

Song for this chapter - Take Care of Yourself by Maisie Peters

I lay in my bed the next morning unmoving, the sun streaming through the blinds, announcing its presence in the most conspicuous way. My back was aching from a sleepless night and my brain was burning with only one question; how could one boy, even a rather brash and arrogant one, have angered me this much? Generally, I was quite easy-going. I wasn't a particularly angry person and in hindsight he hadn't said anything that I would've found too offensive - if it were coming from anyone else, that is.

So why was I bothered?

After pondering the subject for I don't even know how long, I decided it was because the entire situation was unfair. Mine and Henry's standoff in the kitchen was always going to be meaningless as it had been biased towards him from the start. I concluded it simply wasn't fair that someone could be so good-looking, yet so exceptionally annoying. Clearly, he's doing something right though because everyone seems to actually like him, and he doesn't even try. Miss Warren, who I had pinned to be someone who didn't accept rule-breaking in any form, had a soft spot for him. Even Charlie, from what I had seen so far didn't particularly like anyone, seemed to have been quite fond of him.

At least my mother didn't like him. Although, I suppose that's not exactly comforting because as far as I can tell she doesn't even really like me.

Some yoghurt and a bowl of cereal, which was now soggy, stood untouched on the over-bed table beside me. A nurse must've brought it in while I was asleep, probably Jackie, she was generally around in the mornings from what I could remember. I sat up and wheeled the table towards me.

Unsurprisingly, soggy cornflakes were far from appealing and so instead I settled on the yoghurt. It didn't really taste of anything and it left a thick coating on my throat, making it somewhat difficult to breathe through my mouth. I only finished half of it before ultimately needing a big swig of water from my water bottle, (courtesy of St. Mary's Hospital).

After typing into my notes the 90 calories I assumed the pot of yoghurt would have contained, I checked the time: 10.58am. In the outside world, I was typically an early riser. Not because I enjoyed getting hardly any sleep or needing copious amounts of coffee to be able to function for the remainder of the day, but because the only time I could find to run without drawing any unnecessary attention to myself was at the crack of dawn. Eventually, my mum caught on, of course. I told her that it was fun but she didn't seem believe me. To be fair, it wasn't exactly the highlight of my day.

Everyone says that after a while the 'runner's high' kicks in, but I quickly learned that the 'runner's high' was complete bullshit. For me at least, it just gets more and more painful the longer it goes on; if I didn't have a severe headache from the lack oxygen to my brain, then I most definitely had a stitch or cramps somewhere on my body.

I guess it wasn't all bad. The streets were almost completely devoid of any cars, and there was usually a sweet-scented mist that hung over the entire town. I remember how the birds used to sing, like they were singing their special song just for me. Sometimes I tried to whistle it back to them, although I can't whistle very well and so it was probably more of a tuneless blow.

In the end, I had to stop running. After not eating for so long, even just standing up can sometimes seem like a physical challenge. I took up a more peaceful stroll, mainly around my garden, and although I didn't enjoy running at the best of times, I did miss it.

My thoughts were interrupted by Jackie, as she bustled into my room with a piece of paper in her hands, presumably to collect my mostly uneaten breakfast. She took a look at the over-bed table, rewarding me a, "well done, Enya!" before ticking a few boxes on what was apparently my food log. After a quick catchup and a chastening talk about my ending up back in hospital, she collected my tray and left the room just as swiftly as she had entered it.