Due to how long I was gone for, my parents thought it would be best if I didn't finish the semester. I would go back in the spring. At first, I was kind of happy I wouldn't be going to school, but the past few days have been so boring. I was ready to get back to my life when I came back but it just feels like everyone is pitying me.
Gabby spends all her free time at my house. She says she just wants to hang out because she missed me, but I see her face when she thinks I'm not looking.
This also really annoyed me when she decided to take me to the end of the semester celebration at one of our friends' houses.
"You need a night out," she had said and looked at me with pitying puppy dog eyes.
I had agreed and soon we were in her car and on the way to the party. We both dressed pretty casually because while Darren was known for his end of the semester, end of the year, beginning of the year, and new years eve parties, they weren't very fancy. Mostly just a bunch of drunk people eating pizza and trying to play video games.
They were always fun though.
The second I entered the room, it was like someone scratched a recond player. Everyone looked at me with the pity puppy eyes and I just wanted it to stop.
"Mia! So glad you could make it!" Darren came over to give me a hug and he was swaying a little so I knew he had already been drinking.
"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it." Everyone slowly went back to doing what they were doing. "How have you been?"
"Good, good." He leads me over to the kitchen where all of the food and alcohol was. "I managed to get the house to myself all weekend so feel free to make a mess. I have all day tomorrow to clean it up."
"I'll remember that," I said. He nodded and went back into the living room.
"So, you having fun?" Gabby asked.
I shrugged and ate a piece of pizza. It did feel good to get out, but I felt weird. Like there was something in my gut but it wasn't nausea.
"Well, let's go watch drunk people fail at Mario Kart. We can even make a bet on who crashes the most."
She dragged me back to the living room and we sat on the couch next to the people playing. They were having a really rough time of it, but the more they crashed, the more they had to drink.
It was fun getting back into my old life for a while. Me and Gabby and Darren were keeping the players in line and catching them if they tried to cheat.
But the weird feeling in my gut kept growing stronger. And I started to get hot. I could feel the heat coming off of the lightbulbs and the tv; it was so bad I had to take off my sweater.
Gabby tried to play for a while but she wasn't good at this game sober so it wasn't long before she was plastered.
"Looks like we might have to stay here tonight," she said while handing the controller off to someone else.
"That's okay," Darren said. He never liked anyone driving home drunk so he would have couches and pillows and blankets ready for if anyone needed to stay over.
"You okay, Mia?" Gabby asked. "You look all sweaty."
I wiped my forehead and saw that I was in fact sweaty. I guess stripping down to a tank top and rolling up my jeans didn't do much to cool me down. "I'm fine. I'm just hot."
She touched the back of her hand to my forehead. "You might have a fever. Let's get you some ice."
We walked into the kitchen and she gave me some ice wrapped in a dish towel to put on my forehead.
"Better?"
"A little."
"Do you want me to stay in here with you?"
"No, I'm fine. You can go back to the living room. I'll be fine."
She gave me a weird look before pointing her finger at me and said, "I'll be watching you," before disappearing back into the living room.
I sat with the ice pack on my forehead for a few minutes before I realized it wasn't working. I could still feel the heat from the lights. I got up and tried turning them off.
The heat was gone. It was like I was out in the hot sun and I took a set into the shade. I set the ice pack down on the counter and was about to go back into the living room when I saw my arm. It was glowing. My whole body was glowing.
"What- what the - how do- stop it," I started shaking my arms in an attempt to stop the madness and saw something weird, white, and glowing shoot out of my hands and hit the floor hard enough to crack the tile.
"What in the actual hell is happening?" Is this what Vince was talking about? Weird abilities that might pop up that I have no control over? I wanted to call him but after that visit, he and Ethan gave me a few days ago, I wasn't sure I could trust them.
But one look at my glowing hands made me think I didn't have another option.
I turned the light back on in the kitchen and I stopped glowing. But it did also feel like I turned on the sun. I went back into the living room and sat down next to Gabby.
"Feeling better?" she asked.
"No, I think I need to go home. Can you give me your keys? I'll pick you up in the morning."
"Okay," she was about to hand her keys over to me when Darren stopped her. "If you're sick, you shouldn't be driving. I'll take you home." He stood up and made his way to the door and threw his jacket on. "Thayer, you are in charge because you are the soberest."
"Cool," Thayer shouted from the back of the room. He was only the soberest because he wasn't drinking, he was smoking pot and playing card games.
Luckily, I came in wearing gloves and a scarf because it's freezing outside, but I didn't know how to hide my face from Darren.
We got outside and he made his way to his car and I tried to stay behind him. I was about to open the passenger side door when I realized it would be easier to hide my face from him if I was in the backseat.
"I think I need to lay down," I told him then crawled into the backseat and laid down with my head behind his seat so he couldn't see me.
In the dark, I wasn't feeling so hot anymore, but I was still warm. I could tell by how long we had been in the car that I was almost home. I just needed to hide a little longer.
Then Darren went around a turn and swerved out of nowhere. I heard him honk and saw the headlights of another car.
"What was that?" I asked, and out of instinct sat up to look out the back window.
"Just some idi-"
I didn't know why he stopped mid-sentence until I realized that I was sitting up. And he saw my face in the rearview mirror.