𝑨 𝑫𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑴 𝑰𝑺 𝑨 𝑾𝑰𝑺𝑯 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑺

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝟐𝟕

Getting to start her day by threatening the girl she hated gave Delphina an extreme mood boost. There was something about the pure terror in Mal's eyes that made the amount of serotonin in her brain triple.

She had left Mal and her friends alone in that empty hallway, easily tracking down Audrey and Chad, who were waiting for her by the entrance of the dining hall like they always did. She couldn't get a single word in before Chad was thrusting the basket of books and her backpack toward her.

"Audrey made me hold these and they're heavy." He complained, dumping the items into Delphina's arms. She grunted lightly, barely catching the weight in time before the basket and her bag crushed her foot as Chad rolled his shoulders in relief. "God, you know the internet is a thing you have access to now, right?" He huffed, shooting Delphina a bewildered look.

Delphina mimicked him childishly, only for him to do it back in a higher-pitched voice as Audrey shook her head in amusement.

"Go find a table, you children." She ordered, moving to join the lunch line to retrieve a plate of monkey bread. Chad and Delphina easily located their usual table and Delphina was moving to set her things down when her heart sputtered, like an engine low on fuel. Delphina grunted, stumbling as everything in and around her seemed to slow down drastically. Her head began to ache and it felt like a vampire had drained her of any energy she could've had. The basket and her backpack slipped from her hands and crashed to the floor as her body went almost-completely limp. Her eyesight dimmed almost to the point of complete darkness and she felt herself swaying heavily.

"Fina?" Chad's voice seemed to echo in her ears, as if he were a million miles away. "Delphina, what's wrong? Delphina!" Her knees seemed to finally cave in beneath her and she barely registered a pair of arms catching her before she hit the ground. Around her, Delphina could faintly hear gasps and murmurs of worry, but she was more occupied with her heart, which felt like it was 10 beats behind.

"Delphina, hey! Come on, talk to me." Her brain seemed to be operating at half speed, so everytime Chad shook her, it felt like it was happening in slow motion.

"Delphina? Oh, my god! Chad, what the hell happened?" Audrey's voice rang through Delphina's head like a gunshot and she groaned, still trying to regain her bearings and get her body to function properly.

"I don't know! She was fine and then she just fell!" The slow motion shake happened again. "Fina, come on! Mom and Dad will kill me if you die."

"I'm getting Fairy Godmother." Just as Audrey's footsteps could be heard rushing off, everything in Delphina's body seemed to surge again. Her brain catapulted back to speed and then some, her heart became functional once more, and her vision finally cleared up.

Delphina shot up with a harsh gasp as every vital system and organ in her body began functioning again. Hundreds of eyes across the dining hall were locked on her as she blindly felt around for something to grab onto to stabilize herself.

"Fina! Hey, hey, I'm right here. You're OK. You're OK." Chad assured, gently grabbing Delphina's arms to stop her flailing. Delphina's eyes finally landed on her cousin and the familiar sight managed to fully bring her back to reality as everything in her body finally stabilized again.

The doors to the dining hall burst open and Audrey came rushing back in with a very concerned Fairy Godmother following behind her. "I don't know what happened. I went to go get breakfast and then I heard Chad yelling and then I turned around and she was unconscious and–" Audrey stumbled to a harsh stop when she saw Delphina sitting upright as Chad checked her over for any visible injuries. "And now she's fine..." Audrey murmured, visibly confused.