{ #5 } Eclipse Of The Moon (MxM || 18+)

Chapter 16 - The Birth Of The Rebel

Eclipse Of The Moon ~ Book 1 of Aaron
Chapter 16
The Birth Of The Rebel

Monday 14 October 2002

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Cox," I hear Mark say downstairs when my mother goes to open the entrance door.

"Good afternoon, Mark," she replies in a weary tone. "I guess you wanted to see Aaron? He's been unwell since Saturday evening. Some sort of stomach flu, I believe..." she explains hesitantly.

There is no stomach flu whatsoever, but I have been pretending to be sick for the past two days so as to be left alone and as a good excuse to stay in my room.

It hasn't been difficult, to be honest. In fact, faking symptoms has never been so easy. Once in a while, I rush to the restroom, lock myself in and mock horrible retching sounds while pouring water in the toilets from high enough. Each time my mother checks on me and presses on my stomach, I wince and heave as if I was going to throw up again. Fever is the only thing I can't simulate obviously, but I look so bad that it doesn't really matter, and I don't need to put on much of a show here.

I don't think I have ever felt so bad before, so it's not hard to act. The soreness in my rectum is slowly receding thanks to the medication Liz gave me, but it's still painful. I avoid as much as possible to lie on my back and go for my sides or stomach instead. However, the physical pain is not the worst. The emotional turmoil I am facing hurts me far more than the sting of a fistula. As a matter of fact, this is what makes me feel nauseous and look so sick, but my mother can't know this, and she buys it as a consequence of a stomach flu.

"Could I see him for a minute?" Mark asks, loud enough for me to hear I suppose, but my door is open in any case. No matter how often I shut it, my mother keeps reopening it each time she goes upstairs, and she was here just a few minutes ago.

"I'm afraid he's sleeping for now," she replies.

Well, I was faking sleep indeed when she showed up, so her answer is quite honest.

"Oh okay..." Mark replies with heavy disappointment. "I'll try to stop by tomorrow then and bring him more copies of the lessons he's missing. Please tell him I said hello, Mrs. Cox, and I hope he'll recover quickly."

"I will, Mark. And thank you for bringing these."

Once I have heard the door shut again, I flip to my other side and roll myself into my comforter, facing away from the door and closing my eyes. Unsurprisingly, I hear my mother walk into my bedroom to drop some things on my desk, feel her lay fresh fingers on my forehead, and then she's out again.

Damn! I wish I could have spoken with Mark!

I would have liked an update on my friends, to know how they have been doing. I bet Mark and Josh must be pulling through well enough, but I'm worrying about Cam. He looked so tense; the guilt and anger in his eyes were so deep. Our friend has become a strong teenager after the terrible childhood he endured with a violent father and an alcoholic mother, but he also has a fragile and unstable side to his personality that might yield problems.

Then, I'm wondering how things are going with Tony because he said he was going to try and discreetly investigate on my aggressors. Has he found the guy who escaped? The bastard who raped me... Though, let's face it, I'm not sure Mr. Jacobson would leak much information after what he told us on Saturday.

I also wanted to reassure Mark. Knowing the guys, they must be freaking out since I didn't show up in school today. I would have told him that I'm fine and that I'm just taking a few days off to rest.

Sure, Ron... It's not like Mark isn't perceptive and wouldn't have read through you...

True. Mark and his sharp eyesight. Mark who rarely fails to notice when something is wrong with one of us. Perhaps it's better this way, then. I don't want my friends to worry about me more than they already do, and the truth is that I'm feeling really bad. The epiphany that hit me on Saturday evening has thrown me into a spiral of overwhelming emotions that I want to sort out on my own, without anyone interfering in my judgement.