𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬┊✓

f i f t e e n | m e r a k i

"Fucking hell," I muttered, putting my book bag, duffle bag, and violin in the backseat of my car. I got into the driver's seat and propped my head in my hands, putting my elbow on the steering wheel. A moan of pain slipped past my lips before I put on my black sunglasses and drove to school.

I got to school in thirteen minutes, surprisingly and I was praying I wouldn't get a ticket. I walked into Paradise Creek with all my stuff and there was no guard in the lobby to give me late pass. Wonderful!

I went straight to my locker and unpacked, hanging my violin on my back and taking my music folder, writing notebook, and Spanish textbook in my arm. And lastly, I took the bottle of Excedrin from my duffle and put it into my pencil case before shutting my locker and walking to orchestra.

As I walked in, the orchestra was in the middle of playing a piece for a concert and Alana was conducting. She stopped with her hands mid air to offer me a faint smile and a wave and went straight back to conducting. No one seemed to notice me except for Phoenix, Pyper, and Talon. I didn't acknowledge any of them as I went straight to my seat and put my head in my hands. The music immediately increased the throbbing in my head and my migraine only became worse. I felt Phoenix's eyes on me but I didn't feel like talking to him, and Ms. Rose seemed to notice my state of dying and spared me the extra pain to unpack and play with the rest of the class. What I did do though was pulled out my bottle of Excedrin and took three pills along with some water.

Yes, three.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Phoenix open his mouth to say something but he decided against it. And I knew exactly what he'd say.

'Adrianna, are you supposed to take three? Aren't you only supposed to take two? '

And then, me being me, I'd snap at him, and he'd go off and become a brooding bastard again. And I'd rather not even go there.

I didn't look at him, I didn't talk to him, I simply ignored him. And the tension, was very thick.

Most of the class consisted of me keeping my head in my hands in which my elbows were propped up on the textbooks in my lap. Not the most comfortable resting position, but it was better than facing the fucking bright lights y'know. The Excedrin did nothing in my favor, and I found it that towards the end of the period, my head was still pounding and throbbing, like a bitch! I was lost in myself it scared me really when someone was prying my hands away from my face gently. Ms. Rose.

Ms. Rose was in front of me, on her knees staring intently at me. Phoenix, Talon, and Pyper were all crowded around staring down at me as well.

"Adrianna, are you okay," Ms. Rose asked softly and I only groaned in response. I was completely exposed to the bright fluorescent lights and I'm pretty sure I was going to die.

"What's wrong?"

"I think the question is what's not wrong," I mumbled, "I had a sleep paralysis attack this morning, I barely slept last night, I think I'm dying because of my current migraine, and I can't sleep at night without closing my eyes and seeing images of things I've tried really hard to forget." My voice was barely audible and I was well on my way to falling asleep. That is, until the bell rang, signalling that we had three minutes to get to our next. Fuck! My eyes shot wide open and I stared down at the textbook, notebook, and folder I had in my hand along with my pencil case and book I walked around with this week to read. It was Lucky Blue Smith's autobiography, Stay Golden.

"I have to get to class," I muttered quietly. I got up and put my instrument in the closet, and then walked back out, grabbing my books and then making my way out the orchestra doors. I stopped at the threshold, turning back to face the four other beings in the room.