The New English Teacher Sucks (GxG)

Chapter Three

The door to my bedroom creaked open slowly and a thread of silver hair peeked through.

"Rory?" The figure called out to me gently, moving further into the room. A look of concern contorted their facial features and within the blink of an eye, they were at my side. "Holy shit! When your mom said you weren't feeling well I didn't expect to come in here and see you looking practically half-dead."

"Don't be so dramatic, Jayda." I coughed out to my best friend, shielding my mouth with the crease of my elbow. "I really want to believe it's food poisoning," I admitted with false hope, forcing myself to sit up against the headboard of my bed, leaving some space for her. She got up from the floor and sat next to me, a frown resting uncomfortably on her lips.

"You say that like it's something worse." The albino worried.

"I don't know the reason for it yet but I have a gut feeling it's something a bit more complicated than simple food poisoning."

"And you're wasting your life away in bed instead of getting a checkup at the hospital because...?" She seemed to have mentally answered her own question by the time the words had left her lips and simply waved a hand dismissively. "Right. Forget I asked that."

Just then, the door creaked open again and this time my mother came in with a bowl of something steaming hot in her hands. She rested it down in a tray-table across my lap with a spoon along with a pair of chopsticks.

"Think you can handle feeding yourself?" She asked, barely sparing a glance at Jayda as she patted down the front of her apron.

"Yeah. It's fine." I reassured her. I glanced between the two noticing an uneasy look on Jayda's face and the trademark scowl on my mother's. I sighed as the two stared each other down, unspoken words building up in their throats that neither of them dared to release. "Did something happen downstairs?" I decided to ask, breaking the suffocating silence.

"No." They both answered in unison, tones stiff.

My mom finally focused her attention on me and smiled tightly, "I'll be downstairs if you need anything." And with that, she spun on her heels and left.

"Okay, spill," I ordered, turning to face the albino beside me just as the door slammed shut behind my mother's retreating frame.

"There's nothing to spill." She squeaked out and lifted from the bed, slowly making her way around me and towards the direction of the bathroom where she soon disappeared. I knew she was lying just by her jerky movements and her sudden dislike towards making eye contact. I heard the faucet turn on from the bathroom, her silent way of dismissing any further questions from me.

I decided to try and eat the bowl of hot soup presented in front of me until she came back. It felt like forever by the time I saw her exit the bathroom again. Her mint green gaze locked on me for a long moment before she allowed a smile to spread across her lips. "Aren't you feeling hot, babe?" She moved to pick up the AC remote on the table next to me and turned the unit on.

I purposely ignored her question and continued to devour my soup in small sips. It tasted really good too, considering the fact that it was my mom's first time making it. The dumplings were soft and easy to swallow as well even though I had a sore throat. I'm sure my dad would be proud of her when he got home and had a taste for himself.

The cool breeze from the AC felt refreshing on my hot skin and for a moment I felt like I could actually breathe. By the time I had nearly finished, Jayda still hadn't moved from her standing position against my bedroom door. She was biting her fingernails anxiously and seemed to be deep in thought about something. I wish she would just talk to me already. I know that my mother and she didn't have the best relationship, but it never bothered her this much if that was even the reason for her weird behavior.