Stuck in The Moment with You [Niall Horan]

Chapter Six

“Hello?” I said. As soon as I had walked in my room my phone started singing. “Have you taken your pills?” My Mom asked before I barely finished. “Ye… No… I haven’t… I’ve been asleep all day,” I said. I sat down on my bed and reached into my bag, pulling out my bottle of Antidepressants. “Take them now.” She said sternly. I grabbed my bottle of water off the bedside table and swallowed a dose. “You should’ve called me earlier,” my Mom said finally. “I told you I was asleep,” I said as I put the pills back at the bottom of my bag. “Well at least text me telling me you’re gonna sleep!” She said. “Mom, I would if I had a choice! This stupid medication gives me random sleep spells. One minute I’m wide awake and the next I’m passed out! I haven’t sleep a full nights sleep in three weeks!” I hollered, dropping the water bottle as water soaked the carpet under my feet. “I gotta go.” I said as I hanged up. I sat there, staring at my wet toes. When my vision went blurry, I reached up and wiped the tears out of my eyes. My Mother and I hadn’t been able to have a civil conversation for over a year. We always end up yelling. Either both or just one of us. I un-tucked my shirt and wiped my eyes on its hem. I didn’t bother cleaning up the water, I figured it’d dry sooner or later. Instead I sat there staring up at the ceiling, wishing I could go back to sleep. But I would have to wait for the medicine to kick in before I could do that.

“So, the boys have a rehearsal for the KCA’s today. I’m so excited to get pictures of Harry!” Sarah said the next morning. She and Em had been talking for half an hour. I had pretended I was asleep last night when they came in from the pool. The medicine made me sleepless all night. I wasn’t really tired though. But I didn’t want to get up and go to the KCA’s rehearsal. I was still pretending to be asleep when Em shook me, trying to wake me. “Michaela, we’ve gotta go downstairs for breakfast,” she said. I opened my eyes, acting groggy, and nodded.

They left early, leaving me to get dressed. I took my time. Since I didn’t get a shower the night before, I took a 20 minute one, then slowly dressed, and finger combed my damp hair. When I got downstairs, Marie didn’t look very happy at my being late. “I see you took your time getting dressed for breakfast,” she said. You looked me up and down, but I just stared her in the eye. “Go eat,” she said dismissively. The boys and Eleanor and Nicole were seated at one of the larger table, the girls were seated at the one next to them, they were all talking to each other, passing food. I grabbed a sausage biscuit, I had lost my appetite after talking with my Mom last but I still wasn’t hungry. I mentally counted in my head. I had only drink a full bottle of water in a little over 24 hours, no wonder I felt dizzy. Em saw me standing there, I wasn’t even paying attention, I was still counting the hours since I had last ate, but when I looked up she waved me over. I sat down on the end of bench beside her. The other girls were giggling at something one of the boys had said while Sarah and Em were carrying on a conversation. I took a bite of my biscuit, barely listening to them talk about different things. After a few minutes, I had zoned out, I had only taken one bite of my biscuit, and the only reason I noticed that was because I heard Niall laughing at the other table.

I took the biggest bite of my biscuit as I could and tried not to barf if back up. I knew I needed to take my medication again, but I didn’t want to. “Michaela?” I looked up to see Hallie standing over me. “Yes?” I asked, my voice sounding hoarse. “Can I talk to you?” she asked. I nodded, standing up and leaving my biscuit on the table. “What is it?” I asked once she led me into the hallway. “I know you take medication. Antidepressants?” She said. I nodded again. “Your Mother asked me to make sure you take them every 6 hours. When was the last one you took one?” She asked. I counted on my hand. “Twelve hours ago…” I said. Her eyes widened. “Go take your dose, then come back and finish your breakfast,” she said. I nodded as she walked off. Then I headed back to the elevator. Back to my room. I hadn’t gotten a call from my Mom yet. I guessed that she had called Hallie last night, so she didn’t bother calling me. I took the pills and went to the bathroom. I was finishing washing my hands when I heard Em and Sarah return. I stepped back into the room. “Hey! What did Hallie want?” Em asked sitting down on her bed. I shrugged, “Told me not to be late for breakfast anymore,” I lied. She nodded. “Marie said we have till 2pm to do whatever. I think I’m gonna go for a swim. What about you guys?” Sarah asked looking at me and Em. “Sure!” Em said, then she looked at me. “Sure..” I said. “Great! We’ve already got out suits on, you can come down whenever you like.” Laura said heading for the door. Em grabbed her sunglasses and followed.

I stuffed my bag under the edge of my bed, having no need for it at the moment. I didn’t bother changing into a bathing suit, I didn’t want to swim. I was gonna settle for sitting in one of the chairs. After about an hour, I hadn’t even realized I had taken so long to force down my breakfast, but I stepped onto the path to the pool deck, when I could hear the girls talking. “She seems kind of rude..” One of them said. “She’s not… She’s just… Different..” Someone else said. “Different, how, exactly, Em?” The first one asked. “Well.. I mean.. She’s not mean or anything… She doesn’t really like people, I think. Like Anna and Laura, they like being around people and making them laugh, whereas Michaela, just generally doesn’t like being around people, but she doesn’t hate them.” I had stopped in my tracks seconds ago, but now I was frozen. “Yeah… But.. Did you see the pills?” Sarah asked. I could now place the voices. Emma was the first one, Em was the second, Sarah had just spoken. 

“What pills?” Anna asked, her voice curious. “I don’t know what they were, they could’ve been Advil, but it was a pretty big bottle. I saw it sticking out of her bag before we came down, I didn’t have time to see what they were before she came out of the bathroom,” Sarah said. “So… She’s ill?” Laura asked. “Like I said: it could’ve just been Advil, or something of that sort…” Sarah repeated. “What if she’s, like… Mental or something?” Anna asked. “She’s not mental, Anna!” Emma said. “I’m not saying she is… But sending a mentally ill person on this kind of trip is just sick….and not just for Michaela, but for all of us..” I was expecting Em to say something but was, instead, surprised at the next voice that spoke. “You know, Anna, maybe you should get to know a person before you start judging them. I happen to like Michaela a lot more than I like any of you, and I barely know her!” Did Nicole West just defend me? I didn’t hear what Nicole said after that, then she was coming around the corner of the building, almost running into me, Eleanor behind her. They both stopped, seeing me. Eleanor’s mouth was slightly open in surprise, but Nicole just looked apologetic.