In Disguise

Chapter 10

I woke up and rolled slowly out of bed, groaning as I did so. It was my first day back to class since the accident, and my period must have come during the night. I kneeled down while making sure Zander was asleep and tucked a pad and tampon into my chest strap. I made my way to the locker rooms and took a quick shower before using the bathroom and getting dressed. Then I walked back to my room and woke up sleeping beauty. 

"Wake the fuck up Zander I'm not in the mood for this right now." 

"Damn you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, "  he muttered under his breath. 

I grabbed my Advil and popped 5 pills into my mouth. 

"Are you okay?" Zander looked worried as I took the pills.

"Yeah, I'm just sore from the bite still." My cramps were going to be ten times worse considering the fact that I was already in pain to begin with. 

Zander nodded and quickly got ready so that we could grab breakfast. He took showers late at night like a lot of other guys, but I preferred taking them in the morning when there were less people. 

We entered the cafeteria Zander started filling his plate to the top of the ceiling like normal. I just stared at the unappetizing food and settled on a muffin and some strawberries. I just couldn't eat on my period, it made me feel sick. 

We sat in our usual spot and I began picking off crumbs of the muffin and putting them in my mouth. I practically had to force my food down.

Zander's eyebrows formed a frown, "are you sure you're okay?" 

"Thanks for worrying but yes, I'm fine." I tried my best to give him a reassuring smile. 

When he was done with all of his food, we made our way to the combat room. Today we would be doing archery which I was actually good at. 

As we entered the room my eyes immediately landed on the person I was hoping to see. I waved slightly and then turned to listen to the coaches. 

Coach Damon began to speak,"as you already know, we are doing archery today. Grab a partner and get practicing." I turned to see Zander already talking with someone else so I walked over to Alex slowly, trying to avoid causing myself more pain. 

"Why do you look so... dead?" Wow he was so sweet. Way to sweep a girl off her feet.

"I'm just sore and tired. It's nothing. Wanna be partners?" He looked at me as he questioned what I said, but eventually he just sighed and nodded. 

"The unstoppable duo. Not even a hundred sharks could take us down." He said it with a proud smile. It almost made me feel better. Almost.

"The unstoppable duo, I like the sound of that." I laughed a little as we picked up our arrows and bows. 

I took a shot at the target and hit the bulls-eye. I had great aim. I turned to look at Alex who for a second was surprised until his shock was replaced with a smirk. He took a shot that split my arrow in two. Wow. 

"You're better than I thought you'd be." He said it with a hint of humor and gave me a slight punch in the stomach on the opposite side of my bite. It was extremely gentle but it ruined the peace. I sucked in as the pain came rushing back. Honestly, I feel like when I think about my cramps they get worse. 

Alex looked worriedly at me and asked if I was okay. I nodded slowly with my eyes closed as I took slow deep breaths. It hurt like hell to the point where I was about the cry or throw up, or both. I took a seat and put my hand on my stomach making circles subtly. I made sure to put my hand near the bite mark to at least have an excuse later for why I was doing this. 

As I sat there, the pain didn't get any better. In fact, it got worse. I began to feel nauseous and got up, running out of the bathroom to the nurse's office. She would be able to comfort me better than any one else at this school. I entered her office and ignored her voice as I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I sat next to the toilet and cried out in pain as she came in and gave me an understanding look. She left the room without a word and came back two minutes later with a heating pad. It immediately helped. I let out a sigh as I rocked back and forth, humming and letting the pain fade. 

"You can stay in here for a while but then you should go back to class or everyone will be suspicious. I have these tiny heating pads that can stick onto your skin if you want a few?" 

I nodded and thanked her. 

I sat on the floor for another 10 minutes before slowly getting up and looking in the mirror. I wiped away the tear marks and made it look unnoticeable. I left the bathroom and put one of Nurse Snow's heating pads on before thanking her again and leaving. 

As I entered the combat room again, all eyes were on me. I tried to make it seem like I didn't care, and made my way back to Alex. 

As he got ready to speak, I quickly beat him to it and said, "I'm fine." 

Instead of asking questions he just nodded before picking up his bow and arrow and taking another shot. I watched as his muscles flexed. The arrow hit right in the center of our new target. I copied his earlier actions and split his arrow. I stuck out my tongue at him before going to switch out the target and pushing it even farther back. 

Until the end of class, we continued hitting perfect shots and competing to one up each other. We talked about little things like the fact that we both surfed. It was like a first date except only I knew it. 

As we walked out of class, I asked the question that had been eating me alive the whole time I was here. 

"Do you have a girlfriend?" I assumed the answer was no but I had to make sure. 

"Nope, I don't date. I'm more of a fuck and go person. Girls are too... prissy and bitchy, like your friend." I could tell he was joking so I just smiled and shook my head. 

"Not all girls are prissy and bitchy. Some are really nice. Maybe you've met the right girl and have no idea that she's standing right in front of you." He looked at me like I was crazy. 

"Is your girlfriend 'really nice'?" He used air quotes and made a silly face. 

"She sure is!" 

"Oh I bet. Really nice... in the sheets." He bursted out laughing and I rolled my eyes feeling the heat raise to my cheeks. 

"Wait, don't tell me you're a virgin. You're girlfriends a goddess get in there man. What are you waiting for?" His compliment did not go unnoticed. 

"Would you wait? I mean like if your girlfriend wasn't ready. Would you?"

He paused and thought it over. Now he was actually serious. "If, and I mean if, I happened to find someone worth waiting for, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I would wait as long as she needed." His answer was exactly what I was looking for. 

I smiled, "well that's me right now with my girlfriend. She's just not ready yet and I love her enough to wait. Hell, I'd wait for a hundred years!" 

Alex's slight smile turned to a frown, "woah, woah, woah. Nope not a hundred years. No way." 

I laughed and nodded, "yeah I guess that's a little too long but you get the point." 

As we entered our next class, I couldn't help but smile. 'I would wait as long as she needed.' It was exactly what I hoped to hear and my heart was so full. The cramps were replaced by the feeling of butterflies and I knew then and there that I had already jumped. I jumped the second I saw him and I had the feeling he would catch me.