~My Teacher Hits Me~ (Book 1) [Rewritten]

Chapter 23: Pop! Goes the Weasel

Rylan trudges to school on Friday, dreading the end of the day. The pit of her stomach hurts from nervousness and her eyelids droop every few minutes as a result of no sleep. Her nerves kept her awake and tossing and turning all night. Rylan performs her regular school routine like a zombie; she's sluggish and doesn't process any of the lessons. She can't even say "thank God it's friday" because she still has to deal with an actual nightmare.

By fifth period, Rylan can't take it anymore and retreats to the nurse's office. The small headache that began this morning has now grown into a massive one and she knows it's useless to try focusing on anything. The nurse gives her some Motrin and tells her to lie down.

I'm sick. I'm dying, Rylan thinks. At some point, she loses consciousness.

The nurse wakes her after sixth period ends.

"The day is over. You should go home and get some more rest." She suggests.

"Thank you." Rylan mumbles on her way out.

She locates her friends huddled around her locker, waiting. Rylan feels like crying and sleeping and dying all at the same time. She presses on her temples in an effort to get the pain to go away.

"You look awful." Cas comments.

"I didn't get any sleep last night so I took a couple hours in the nurse's office." Rylan says.

"I think we have to cancel." Cas says.

"What, why?" Dani asks.

"Look at her! She's a walking ghost! This doesn't feel right. I don't think we should do this."

Rylan shakes her head. "No. I don't want to cancel."

Dani shoots Cas a look.

"Rylan, I'm sure Blake would understand if you were sick." Cas pauses. "Let's just go turn him in right now." He urges.

"You know I can't; not yet."

"This is ridiculous!" Cas grumbles.

"Cas, calm down." Tuck says.

"I'll be fine. I just need to go home and sleep for a few hours."

"That sounds like a good idea." Dani agrees.

"Fine, but remember what you told me."

Rylan smiles. "I promise we'll leave together. Sound good?"

She glances at all three of their faces.

"We'll be there." Cas promises. Dani and Tuck nod in agreement.

................................................

Rylan dresses in a violet colored dress with spaghetti straps that stops just above her knees. She refuses to wear heels and settles for black flats instead. They will be much more comfortable and, right now, she needs all the comfort she can get. She puts on a little makeup to complement the dress and admires the stitches across her forehead one last time. Rylan is finally used to looking at herself in the mirror. It's still painful, but it reminds her that she's still alive; she still exists in the world.

Rylan is ready right on time and suddenly wishes she had dragged out her getting-ready process so Blake would have to wait on her instead of the other way around. Tyler didn't say when he will be by to pick her up, but she assumes an hour before the dance is sufficient.

The doorbell rings at thirty minutes til and Rylan lets Mr. Winchester get it.

"Rylan, he's here." He calls.