Dinner Party

Chapter 6

The next day, as soon as I woke up I had a huge headache. It was like a hangover, but worse, because I also had back cramps, neck cramps and a massive stomach ache to top it all off. Somehow I managed to make my way downstairs and pull down my last resort from the top shelf: a bottle of On Guard capsules my mother had given me when I moved into the dorms. She was big into essential oils, and even started selling them for DoTerra to get some extra cash for vacations. 

I'll have to pick something up on my way to school. It was already 9 am, but I figured I could make my afternoon classes if I got ready in a timely manner. Popping three of the capsules into my mouth without reading the label, I slowly made my way back upstairs to take a bath. The bathroom was connected to my bedroom, and had a large bathtub that I took a long time to negotiate for. When I looked for dorms, I knew I would be needing a large bathtub, and I spent about a month trying to find one before finally deciding to invest in a custom-dorm.

It was more expensive, sure, but since it had a fixed price, I was able to customize just about everything in there, and I loved it. My head pounded as I bent down to get the Epsom salts from my bottom cabinet, the roar of the running bathwater filling my ears. I poured the salts in and stripped of my clothes, dipping my toe into the ice-like water.

I read somewhere that taking cool baths when you had a fever helped reduce it, so that's what I did. At least, I assumed I had a fever but I couldn't be sure. After taking a relatively long bath for about 45 minutes, I got out and dressed myself, putting on a pair of leggings, some thick socks I'd bought in Germany, a dark grey oversized hoodie and a black beanie to cover up my messy hair that I hadn't washed, deciding to instead just pull it up during the bath. 

Now that I was all ready, I grabbed my backpack and put everything I needed in it: wallet, materials for classes, and some Saltines I found in my pantry just in case I got hungry. I left the house, keys in hand, and decided to just walk, not wanting to ride my motorcycle just in case I accidentally got sick or something. 

It wasn't a long walk to the nearest corner store, maybe about eight minutes made bearable by the use of earbuds streaming Fall Out Boy through them the whole time. I walked around the convenience store tiredly, grabbing a box of tissues, some non-drowsy cold medicine, a large bag of cough drops, a bag of mints in case I threw up, and two of the largest Gatorades I could fine, one orange and one yellow.

There was an incident when I was little involving strawberries 'n' cream oatmeal and a red Gatorade, and since then I couldn't drink red Gatorade anymore. The store clerk was a gangly looking redheaded boy about my age, his nametag covered in stickers that mostly obscured his name, although I could make out that it said, "Greg." 

"Is this all?" He asked, scanning all of my stuff.

"Yeah." I mumbled, my throat a bit hoarse. He only nodded, bagging my stuff as I swiped my debit card through, the harsh beeping making me wince. 

"Have a nice day." Greg handed me my bag and I left, stopping outside near the trashcan to shove everything into my backpack, making a mental note to take some medicine when I got to school. 

I felt a familiar buzz in my pocket as I began walking, the rhythm of it making my keys rattle. The caller ID read, GBF #2 and I knew that Isadora was calling me. "Hello?" I asked, speaking through my earbuds instead of holding it up to my ear.

"Hallie, where are you? You sound sick. I hear cars, are you on the street? I'll send Jacob to come and get you, just tell me where you are and stay there." She said in a rushed tone, the sound of the busy cafeteria nearly overpowering her quiet voice.

"I'm fine, Izzie. I'm a little sick, but I should make it back in time for afternoon classes. You don't need to send Jacob." I kicked a pebble as I walked, noting that the normally busy street was practically deserted due to it being the middle of the day, and all.