Falling Slowly

Chapter Twelve: A Twist In My Story

Sorry for the super duper late update! Hope you guys can forgive me! :) Happy Reading! ♥

Chapter Twelve: A Twist In My Story

Anya

The rest of the week went without any further unexpected road blocks. Theater practice was running smoothly every day after school with only three weeks until opening night, and I had finally decided on the piece for my Julliard audition tape. Gemma grew ecstatic as the hype for the Winter Formal spread like wildfire. On Thursday, after two hours of pleading she finally coaxed me into attending the dance. I was not in the least bit thrilled about attending this rite of passage.

I didn’t believe that being highly involved in school functions made a person have a complete high school experience. I believed that it was some sort of sell out created long ago to burn a hole in our pockets – or should I say, parent’s pockets.

When Friday morning rolled around I woke up feeling strangely weary and nauseous. It passed when I arrived at school, but the feeling of uneasiness and dizziness was surfacing once more during passing period. Gemma and I were gathering our books for Calculus, while she went on about the dance, dresses, tickets; the whole shebang.

“We should check out the Cat’s Meow later this weekend – see what they have in stock,” Gemma signed.

“Mhm…sounds good,” I said trying to sound seemingly interested. My stomach was doing acrobatics and felt like I was going to vomit my breakfast. “I’ll ask my parents. Maybe they could drive us to Mobile. We could check out their stores there,” I suggested.

Gemma beamed. “Great idea! And you said you weren’t excited for this – look at you thinking ahead,” she nudged my shoulder and grinned, sharing a secret smile with me that made her eyes sparkle.  

I smiled back, but felt that it wasn’t completely genuine; it was forced like I had to show I was strong when I felt the complete opposite. A migraine had begun to appear at the back of my head like a small jack hammer that became louder with each passing second. 

 “Anya?” Gemma said. Her voice was soft like a feather. My name sounded distant like it had long ago drifted away in the air. “Anya, are you alright?”

I looked up at the concern in her brown eyes and nodded. White, hot pain seared through my head – a blinding flash of light, followed by hazy, distorted shapes. My limbs felt of cinder, everything was stiff and heavy like I was trapped in quicksand in the middle of a burning hot desert. It took every ounce of my strength to take a step forward, but I soon regretted it as I felt the crashing sense that everything and everyone around me was fading. I felt a tight hand grasping my forearm to keep me upright as my eye sight became blurry and unfocused. My voice sounded far away even to my ears as I said, “Gemma. Get my dad fast. I think…”

The words were lost on my lips as my knees gave out beneath me. I waited for the fall, but it didn’t come. Arms wound around me before I was lost in the bottomless depths of darkness.

Liam

She didn’t look so good today.

Anya was having difficulty all throughout our morning classes to stay awake and focus. I saw her drifting off into space as she absentmindedly tapped her pencil on her desk in Government. Something was wrong, and like hell I was going to get to the bottom of it.

I shut my locker and headed down the hall where I saw Gemma’s hand tightly wound around Anya’s forearm. My steps quickened and I ran when I noticed the glaze look in her eyes as I bound closer. Her knees buckled, no longer able to support her body as she began to fall backwards. Gemma tried to hold her, but she was too small. I leaped forward, closing the gap that remained between us and caught her before she hit the floor.