Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-24352864-20141019024116

So, it's been a while since I've written anything. I don't have a title for this one yet and this is still a very rough draft.

"No good..."

The thoughts rushed in gently over my head as I put down a half-eaten apple by the bedside table, my hand collapsing on its own weight. Or was it because I was feeling very tired?

I didn't really know what I came down with. It all started with me feeling slightly feverish towards the end of my last class for the day. As I rode home, I nearly fell asleep, my head already a little heavy and the music from my headphones starting to sound distorted. I lay down, thinking it was nothing a little sleep couldn't cure. I was wrong.

I woke up feeling worse than when I went to bed. The fever and headaches remained as I suddenly found myself losing my appetite fast. It was like I couldn't taste anything that touched my mouth. To make matters worse, my throat started aching, as if something had scratched it from the inside, causing a burning sensation every time I try to eat or drink something that I could not taste anyway.

"Maybe you should see a doctor?"

I asked my mom to accompany me to the hospital, after I browsed the Internet for anything that could explain what my illness was. Seeing that my symptoms are in-line with around ten or more other illnesses, I opted not to take the risk and consult the professionals instead, even though I didn't really fancy hospitals.

The trip was not very pleasing. We had to stop occasionally just so I can regurgitate whatever acid had accumulated in my system, seeing that I hadn't eaten anything but water for the last two days. Fortunately, there weren't that many people in the hospital that day and my examination came within twenty minutes. The nurse called my mom's attention and told her the results.

"You have to be confined for a week for observation." My mom informed me. I was alright with the idea, seeing that I'll be practically doing the same thing if I stayed in the house. So, into confinement I go. The first two days were uneventful, consisting only of reading and browsing in my room. The third day of my stay, I felt better enough to eat again, as the aching in my throat had subsided. Waking up in the middle of the night, I felt my stomach reminding me to restock it with food. I glanced around the room, checking to see if any of my parents left me something. No luck.

"They might not know that you feel better enough to eat again."

I started down the hallways, looking for a vending machine or anything. I was already allowed to walk around the halls, provided that I don't do anything rash or distracting even if it was alread nine in the evening. Just my luck, there was one at the corner of the corridor, just beside the staircase. I saw another patient; a boy around the same age as me come in from the other wing. I reached the vending machine before him and proceeded to buy.

"Those chocolate cookies look rather tasty."

I bought cookies and some milk before turning around to head back into my room as the other patient took his place. He suddenly muttered something and, thanks to the silence in the corridors, I was able to hear what.

"You really like those cookies, don't you?" I heard him say.

"Excuse me?" I turned around to look at him.

"Ah, well, it's just that--I saw you buy the same cookies yesterday. And the night before that." He explained as he scratched his head. I just nodded at him and walked back to my room. I hadn't left my room until now so, I wondered who he saw during those nights.

When my confinement period was up, the doctor informed me of what they found. It seems I just caught the periodic fever that goes around, which was just amplified by stress and other factors. Good thing it wasn't too malignant. I had already lost a lot of weight by that time.

Of course, during my long leave of absence, I missed a lot of lessons, forcing me to try and catch up with the current curriculum. I had to do all the requirements I missed along with new ones, just so I can enroll in the next semester with no problems as this semester was ending. Coupled with my fragile state right now, I felt stressed. One of my professors lost my final exams and, to avoid embarrassment, went around telling me that I didn't submit that requirement, even though my classmates and his signature on my examination permit says otherwise. To be fair, he simply told me that he would have to give me an incomplete grade as I redo my final exam. I accepted, seeing as there was no other way out of this. Together with three other classmates whose exams he also lost, we stayed all night, trying to finish it all in one night. My workload was of course heavier and by seven in the evening, my classmates were finished while I still had three other requirements to accomplish. They told me that they'll play some computer games and come back for me when they were done. I allowed them to.

I finally managed to finish and submit everything I needed in time but by then, it was already nine in the evening. Seeing as how my classmates weren't back yet, I decided to wait for them. Thirty minutes have passed though, and still no show.

"Try looking around the Internet cafe."

I visited the cafe they frequent to see if they were there. They weren't. I looked around the nearby establishments they usually frequent but, they weren't there as well. Giving up, I decided to just go home for the night.

Due to the scarcity of public transportation at that time, I had to walk around three hundred meters from my university to the nearest train station. I had to pass by a lot of establishments along the way, one of which is a covered basketball court. The gates were already closed and the lights were off by the time I got there, becoming slightly more alert in case something happens. When I was already in front of the walls that covered it, I heard voices coming from the other side.

"Be quiet and try to listen."

I controlled my breathing as I pressed closer to the wall, trying to listen in on the voices coming from the other side. It seemed to be coming from a bunch of drunk men.

"So, shall we spring her? That kind of girl is enough for me!"

"No, man! Her companion may run to the cops down at the gas station if we do!"

I jolted back, glancing around to see if I was the one they were talking about. There were two medicine students walking along behind me so, I reckoned that they might be the one those men  were talking about. Nevertheless, I hurried out of there without running, thankful that the wall was there to divide me from certain harm. I got home without much incident.

I confronted my classmates about leaving me the next morning. They apologized and explained that they thought I had already gone home, since they saw me leave the school gates when they finished playing. I informed them that I was still inside the school until nine in the evening which got them confused.

"Then who did we see during that time?" They asked. I only shrugged my shoulder and thought that since it was dark, they might have mistaken someone else for me.

As the semester drew to a close, we received our transcript of records showing all our grades. Mine was mostly around average, with only two coming in at very high while one had barely passed. That earned the scorn of my other relatives, my aunts in particular.

"And I thought you'd make it to the Dean's list." I remember one of them telling me that with a disappointed look on their face. That made me very depressed. I don't know why, but, I feel very sensitive about those things. I locked myself in my room the whole day, refusing to come out until the next morning. When I woke up, no one was in the house. Still feeling a little depressed, I climbed up on our rooftop to clear my head.

We had a small railing built to keep anybody from falling off accidentally since I used to play a lot on the roof during my childhood days. Back then, it was still taller than I was. Now, it only came up to my waist. Maybe my parents didn't expect me to grow this tall.

"Be careful."

And then it happened. As I leaned my hands on that piece of steel, I failed to realized that time hadn't been kind to the concrete floor it attached to. As soon as my weight leaned in, the part of the roof gave way, almost sending me plummeting down from four floors up. Well, almost. My eyes closed as the thoughts of my body hitting the ground and blood spilling on the floor entered my mind. When I opened them, I saw myself looking down on the ground, where the railing had fallen while my body was still hanging in mid-air, my feet still touching the roof. Someone had caught me in time. I felt a moment of relief but was immediately replaced by one of anxiety.

I was alone in the house at that time. The door was locked and my parents won't be back until later in the evening. The hands that caught me dragged me back, away from that dangerous place. Now that I sat on the concrete floor, I remembered the three incidents that baffled me.

"Ah, well, it's just that--I saw you buy the same cookies yesterday. And the night before that."

"No, man! Her companion may run to the cops down at the gas station if we do!"

"Then who did we see during that time?"

All this time, I didn't look behind me. That incident with the drunk people down at the court finally made sense. They weren't talking about the girls walking behind me. They were talking about me. I had someone with me during that slow night. I froze, breaking out in cold sweat. There was no one with me in the house during that time and yet someone caught me as I fell. Someone who's been with me all this time.

"Be careful."

I heard a voice behind me, prompting me to look behind, my doubts about to be put at rest.

My hunch was correct. It was a girl who looked exactly like me. 