Project: Socialize (Chapters 198-Continued) [Hiatus]

295. Power and Sacrifices

I opened my eyes, feeling a dull and suffocating feeling within my head as the headache continued to rage on. I experienced some degree of difficulty breathing as well, and combined that with the feeling of constant cold further confirmed to me that I was sick.

I do have vague impressions of waking up in my previous comma and then falling back asleep, which led me to start wondering as to how long I have been out from this sickness.

With a cough, I stared at the familiar ceiling and the familiar hum of the central air conditioning unit running.

"You're awake?" A familiar voice said to me from the right of my bed.

Looking over, I saw Mura as she sat atop a chair as she was on her phone. Upon seeing her, I was immediately reminded of that incident with Mother and that burning sense of disdain started to burn once again in my chest. But...my sickness prevented that fire from gathering strength and quickly dissipated as rational thinking confirmed to me that...my private affairs with Mother has nothing to do with Mura and Muria.

"Why are you here?" I muttered.

"Loriana asked me to come take care of you," Mura explained. "A favor for a neighbor."

"What day is it?" I asked.

"Monday," she responded. 

Monday... I thought to myself. Today is the day that college entrance exams should be taking place. And since it's a Monday...Loriana must be at work right now...

"I heard Muria say you went home that day in the storm... Did you walk in the rain?"

"..." I didn't answer this question and opted to change the subject. "Is the...entrance exams going on right now?"

"Yeah," Mura answered. "It's been going on for about an hour now. There's no point in trying to go with how sick you are right now."

Once again, I chose to remained silent. I thought back on my goal that has now been burned brightly into my mind, and I thought about my options. I considered every single path that I have that lay in front of me, thinking about every single possible outcome until I finally decided on one. This is the only path that will work for me, this is the only option...

"Don't worry," Mura said in a reassuring manner. "There's a makeup date this Wednesday."

"I...I don't think I'll go to college," I whispered.

My answer seemed to shock Mura, as she lowered her phone and simply stared at me. Her eyes were widened in shock, and her lips were somewhat parted, as if she did not expect that response from me.

I turned onto my side, facing the wall that the left side of my bed was pressed up against so as to avoid looking at her. I'm sure that as a teacher, she must be rather disappointed with my decision, so...there was a sense of guilt within me that led to me trying to avoid confrontation with her.

"Is that so," Mura sighed and locked the screen on her phone. "If that is your decision, then I won't say much to persuade you otherwise."

Upon hearing her words, I turned slightly, looking over at her.

"You're old enough and mature enough to make decisions like this on your own," she said, leaning forward in her seat as she placed a gentle and cool hand on my face. Slowly, she moved her face closer until her eyes were merely centimeters from mine as she peered into them. "I'm sure you have your reasons, so I won't stop you."

My heart began to race when I realized how close her face was to mine. If I weren't suffering from this fever, then I am certain my face must be blatantly red right now.