章 7: Pain

A couple of hours later my door opens and a figure peeks into the room. She notices me on my phone and asks, "Did you fall asleep there?" I responded, "I just got up a bit early"

She looked a bit skeptical but she had no reason not to believe me so she just told me that breakfast was ready and left. Looking back to my phone I spot an install notification that has appeared and begin looking for the app. On my home screen, there is now an app with a similar picture to a generic FPS game I played once. I open the app and a familiar terminal pops up on the screen.

"Welcome back, input password to continue"

I shut off my phone and sigh. "It truly does follow me wherever I go huh."

Pulling myself together I get up and head over to my now closed door and pause before the door handle, I had already put enough oxycodone into my bag to last me through the day and had already taken the antibiotics so I wasn't worried about that. But for some reason though, I was really nervous about going to school today. I gathered my courage and told myself I would be able to make it through today and walked out of my bedroom door.

As I slowly made my way down the stairs I was greeted by the smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. My stomach grumbled after smelling this divine scent and my starving body which had long since been somewhat dormant finally awoke and I began to move as fast as my injured body could. As I neared the table, I slowed my speed once more in an attempt to seem normal and began devouring as much food as I could fit in my stomach. My mom looked at me with a somewhat worried but happy expression after seeing me enjoying the food.

After having been nourished my body finally woke up and my speed hastened. Before long the table was cleared and not a single bit of food remained. Looking up from the empty plate in front of me with a frown, I turned my head towards the clock and noticed that I would need to leave right now if I wanted to make it to school on time. With a sigh, I stood up and thanked my mom for the breakfast before turning around and heading upstairs to grab my phone. I slipped my phone into my pocket and began the arduous task of trying to put on my shoes. Each time I exerted enough force to pull on my shoes, the pain would shoot through my body. Pushing through the pain I managed to get my shoes on and went downstairs.

I said goodbye to my mother and set off and as I stepped out, I felt the cold morning air licking my wound and shivered. I pulled the collar of my shirt tighter and began walking. The walk was slow and careful but eventually, I made it to my bus stop. I approached the few students who were waiting at my stop as well and leaned up against the wall. After an uncomfortable wait, the bus finally came around the corner and I sighed with relief. Stepping onto the bus I felt the heat and rejoiced inwardly. I looked around and spotted Nathan and went to sit by him. As I approached the seat he usually sits in, I saw that he was sitting and chatting with another student, I didn't think anything of it and just went to sit by Liz who was looking out the window with a smile on her face.

Sitting down next to Liz I relaxed my shoulders and greeted her. "Hey, Liz," I said and realized my voice had come out sounding a bit pained. She seemed startled and turned to look at me. She smiled and responded, "Oh hey I didn't see you sit down, why aren't you sitting with Nathan?" I chuckled a bit and explained that he was sitting with another student. I thought I saw her show a bit of a worried expression when looking at me but she just responded with a *hm* and went back to looking out the window. The bus set off towards the school after the last student had found a seat. Later down the road, she confirmed my suspicion and turned back to me with a worried expression, she said to me "Is everything okay? You look really pale." I could feel my eyes widen and hastily tried to make something up.

"I-it's nothing really, the cold is just getting to me is all." She didn't seem convinced but replied in understanding and looked out the window with that same worried look once more. I didn't feel right so I once again assured her, "Really I'm fine, just a bit cold" I could see her facial expression soften, and I felt relieved. I had no problems with telling her but I just didn't want her to go to the police after having told her that I had burned down a store and shot the owner because some game told me too. Besides, I don't think I am ready to say that last part out loud.

The ride passed by without any further interaction between me and Liz. Once the bus had crawled to a stop at school, I saw Nathan stand up and begin talking to Liz, "Hey Liz did you see Josh get on, if his grades fall because he misses a day then he is going to get ground- Oh hey Josh I didn't see you get on haha." After finally noticing my presence he laughs and greets me, I greet him and begin slowly walking down the aisle while preparing myself mentally for an unpredictable day at school.

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I breeze through school with as little physical activity as possible and lunch finally draws near. The pain begins to set in and I begin to walk funny but I assure myself I should be fine until lunch is over, at that point, I can take my meds and breeze through the rest of today. After assuring myself, I limp towards the table I usually sit at with my lunch in hand, as I draw near, I hear my friends talking to each other and overhear Nathan saying to Liz "He is fine alright, if something was wrong, he would tell us just give it some time." After saying this Nathan looks up and sees me sitting down. He awkwardly laughs as if he had just been caught and I struggle to get into my seat without looking weird, Nathan hastily tries to explain that he was talking about a developer for one of Liz's favorite game series, and despite having some doubt I did not want to dwell on it and felt relieved once more.

After sitting down, I pull out my phone and try to challenge my friends as normally as possible. "How about it, think you can win today?" Nathan laughs and I notice that Liz is finally paying attention to something other than the clouds. "Yeah sure thi-" Nathan begins to challenge me but see's Liz taking an interest in the game and backs off. "Liz how about you take this round I'll go next." Liz looks at Nathan while pondering something but eventually decides to just play.

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A bit into my game with Liz I began to feel a sharp pain creeping into my body from my stomach. I decide not to pay attention to it and continue focusing on the game. Somewhere towards the middle of the game, I began to notice that I was losing and scratched my forehead which I had felt itching for quite a bit now. When I reach up, I feel a bit of liquid on my forehead and go to wipe it away. At this point, I began to notice my pain. There is a constant sharp pain shooting through my body and I put together in my mind that I had broken out into a cold sweat. In an attempt to hide this fact, I put my head down, despite the pain that came from my skin folding over and pushing down onto my wound I attempt to think of something else while doing so I get thrown from my thoughts by the sound of defeat being played from my phone speakers.

I look up and see both of my friends looking a bit worried. In a panic, I grab my bag and head to the bathroom. The pain has reached the point where I can barely walk and this time there is no adrenaline to carry me. After finally reaching the bathroom I take a small round pill from my bag and hastily swallow it. I chug some of the water I put in my bag and decide to sit down with my back to the wall until the medication sets in. I hear the door open just as I do so and see my friend Nathan walking towards me. He sits down next to me and sighs. "What's going on man, you aren't yourself today. Do you want to talk about it?"