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Chapter 9

“Psst,” a voice whispered into my ear, “Maya.” I opened my eyes and rolled over. I half expected it to be Brandon, which caused my heart to go up into my throat, but it was only Talie. I relaxed as I saw her standing beside my bed.

“Yeah?” I whispered. She motioned for me to follow her. Reluctantly, I followed. I glanced at Brandon for a quick second. He was sprawled out on his air mattress, his blankets wrapped around him, his pillow nearly falling off the mattress.

I quickly passed Brandon and followed Talie into the hallway, carefully shutting the door behind me. She motioned for me to follow her, once again. Much to my surprise, she went into the bathroom. I shut the door carefully behind me once again. She stared at me for a few minutes. “I'm going to be sick.” She murmured.

“Why didn't you wake up Liam?” I yawned. She frowned as she sat down beside the toilet, putting her hand on her stomach. I sat down beside her.

She looked down at the floor, sweat gleaming across her forehead. She studied the floor for a while, before propping herself up on her knees, sliding closer to the toilet. I turned my head as she emptied her belly into the white porcelain.

I quickly left the room and came back with a bottle of water for her. We didn't have ginger ale, so it was the best I could do. She smiled and nodded her head at me when I returned. She took a quick swig and set the bottle down. Sandwiched between us, as we sat there side by side. She took a deep breath.

“We got into a fight.” She sighed, as she pushed back her sweaty bangs. I frowned.

“When?”

She grabbed her hair and held it in a pony tail for a second before letting it go, it fell back onto her shoulders. “About an hour or two after you and Brandon went to bed? I'm not sure. I woke up randomly, and saw that he was sitting at the end of my bed. I went to talk to him and he freaked out.”  

Another strain of vomit came and went. She groaned as she sat back on the floor, the sound of the toilet flushing, over powered her groan. She sniffled once the sound died out. I handed her the bottle of water again and she took another sip. “Why?” I questioned, as she twisted the cap back onto the bottle.

“He thinks I like Dave. Now, he's questioning everything!” She complained, throwing her hands up in the air. I studied her face. Typically, she was an open book kind of gal, even when it came to facial expressions. If you studied closely, you could find the truth.

Unfortunately, she was still kind of out of it. Her face was just painted with sickness.

“Well...” My voice trailed off. She cocked her head and gave me a look.

“Well, what!?”

I chuckled a little. “Do you?”

“What?” She replied. I picked the water bottle off the floor and chucked it at her. “Hey!”

“Don't what me!” I giggled. She scoffed.

“Ugh,” she began with a little smile, “I don't know! I mean, I like him as a friend but nothing more!”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Then don't worry about it.”

She opened her mouth – I thought to speak – but no. She crawled over to the toilet, and I immediately turned my head, letting her empty her stomach again. She flushed the toilet once again, and turned back to face me. “I feel better now.” She muttered, a small smile spreading across her face.

I smiled back at her and stood up. “Good.” She started toward the door and I followed, shutting the light off, as I exited the room. I turned toward my room and practically jumped out of my skin. Brandon was standing there, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.