Riding on the back of a motorcycle in the middle of the night seemed like a good idea until Natalie had to wake up the next morning to the dull pain of a headache and blocked nose.
She rolled over in her bed, pressing her face deeper into her pillows.
Of course, she had to get sick.
She gave into temptations and now this was her punishment—losing the ability to breathe through her nose.
Her mother sighed from the doorway. "This is what happens when you sleep with that window of yours open."
Natalie said nothing. There was no point, her throat hurt too much anyway, and any noise made her head throb even worse. At least her mum hadn't realised the truth behind her sudden cold.
"Stay warm and rest up. There's congee for you in the microwave." She heard the sound of a mug hitting her bedside table, and the squeak of a plastic water bottle. "You have to stay hydrated, okay?"
Natalie groaned in response. Her mum leaned down to brush the hair off her sticky forehead and pressed a light kiss to her eyebrow.
"Get better soon and call me if you need anything," she said. Before she pulled away, her mum slipped something cold against her hand. Natalie blinked to find the telltale white plastic covering of her favourite Chinese ginger candies. "From your dad."
And with that, her mum left, closing the door quietly behind her.
Sighing, Natalie flipped onto her back.
She held the ginger candy in a closed fist, feeling a sort of existential dread begin to build up in her. She couldn't afford to be sick. She would have so much work to catch up on. And who would she copy notes from anyway? Nyra was barely in half of her classes.
And yet, she was kind of glad. She would never admit it out loud, but she needed a break. Or, she needed an excuse to have a break, and being sick was the perfect excuse to lie in bed all day.
And now it seemed like her dad was starting to get over his whole Leon complex.
She smiled, unwrapping the candy, and biting the end off. It was sticky and got all up in her teeth, but the spiciness cleared her nose and throat, and the sweetness stamped that existential dread down a bit.
She turned onto her side, planning to fall back asleep, only to find a whole box of ginger candies waiting for her on her bedside table. She smiled, shoving the rest of the sticky piece into her mouth, and letting herself relax into the mattress.
As mad as she was at her dad, he knew exactly what could make her feel better sometimes.
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By noon, Natalie was feeling well enough to sit up in her bed and re-read her favourite chapters of Ophelia.
Really, she just wanted some mind-numbing romance to think about instead of all the homework she'd probably have to catch up on tomorrow.
And when she read those mind-numbing romance scenes, her mind took her back to last night—to Leon's arms around her, to watching him fight, to watching him fight for her.
Another burst of butterflies erupted in her stomach, and she wanted to squeal and giggle like a little kid on Christmas day. Her throat was too sore to give in to the urge, and she had no energy anyway, but she still kicked her feet a little under the blanket.
She wanted to relive last night over and over again. The hopeless romantic inside of her had been stirred awake, and she wasn't sure if she could ever stamp it down again.
YOU ARE READING
Bruised
Teen Fiction"Natalie," he repeated, her name like velvet on his tongue. He seemed to like the sound of it because he repeated it again, his voice turning low. "Natalie." Leon Hughes was a mystery masked by bruised cheeks and bleeding knuckles. He was a wraith...
