I was thinking of ways to kill myself...or at least ways to get myself sick so that I won't have to go to school today. Google wasn't offering much and YouTube had given me a few ideas like licking door knobs and maybe the toilet seat because germs seem to take solace in such places, with fruitful results . One thing for certain is that there's literally no way I was going to bend down to lick any toilet seat. I'm not that desperate.

Actually, I kind of was.

The impending anxiety attack I was about to suffer made me feel all nauseous , stomach churning violently in dire need of some bathroom relief in the form of explosive diarrhea. My heart rate increasing exponentially aggravating the already worsening stomach ache.

And I tossed and turned in bed like a chicken rotisserie , occasionally stealing fearful glances at my alarm clock as it draws nearer and nearer to the time of my waking. I really dreaded my morning alarms, dodged them three times before reluctantly heeding to its demands of having to face the idea of leaving my bed and into the painfully boring day's events.

Today, I not only dreaded the sound of the alarm which was scheduled to blare in the next two and half hours , but also the fact that I was going to spend half the day in the presence of Amanda. Usually, the idea of getting to see her was what motivated me to jump out of bed and ready myself for school but not after what happened yesterday. God, I screwed up!

She probably hates me.

Why did I have to blurt out to her about the private conversation she had with mom on her sex life?

Knowing how good women are when it comes to holding grudges, I'd bet big bucks on the possibility of her still mad at me. Our relationship isn't going to be the same , not after yesterday's events. She'll probably tell my father about it and maybe even throw in the fact that I was doing drugs at school. She pointed out the fact that I was high, which led to me exposing the secret of me overhearing her talking to mom about having trouble masturbating.

I should've just kept quiet. Should've clamped my motor mouth and just shrugged it off.

Which is why I dreaded the idea of waking up, especially today.

I needed a solution. Licking door knobs? That won't get me sick instantly, maybe a few days later. I had to get sick with immediate effect. Like , right now. Or maybe in the next two hours.

I can't fake it considering the glaring fact of how terrible I am at acting.

I could drink some detergents....or raw eggs...I don't know?

Another Google search brings me to a Wikipedia page or more accurately , a Quora page with the obvious discussion on How to get a fever overnight .

Bingo!

**************************************

"Oh dear! You're really burning!"

Mom had the palm of her hand resting atop of my forehead, feeling me up for a fever, which I currently had, thanks to the jobless perverts behind the walls of the Quora platform. I tried to act sickly, throwing in a few coughing fits here and there and a weak groan before sniffling back the snort that threatened to slide down my nostrils.

A thermometer was fitted inside my mouth , under my tongue. Mom was staring at me with this maternal sympathetic look, raking her fingers through my untidy hair and right there and then I knew that I was nailing this.

The thermometer dings and she reaches out to gently pull it out of my mouth before reading it.

"Wow...106F ," She lets out a devastated sigh. " I think you might need to stay home from school today, Teddy Bear."

I roll my eyes at the mention of that pathetic nick name she birthed me with.

"Let me call Amanda and inform her-"

"No!" That came out loud and strong that I had intended it to , sitting up straight in bed, causing my mom to raise her eyebrows at me, surprised.

"I meant...no..." I repeated this time in a weak sicky voice, sliding inside the covers before coughing into my fisted hand.

" But honey, you know you can't go to school with such a temperature, I have to call the school to inform them that you're unwell," She reasoned, cupping my face that was still burning with a fever.

"I know , mom, but...can't you call somebody else who isn't Amanda?"

"Why not? It only makes sense that I should call her seeing as she's your supervisor , you know, with the whole ISS thing?"

Crud! I didn't think of that!

"Why not call Principal Angerson? He's literally the school's principal," After a beat of silence where mom carefully searched my face, still boasting that motherly sympathetic look on her face, she gave a gently nod before softly agreeing with my plan to call Angerson instead of Amanda.

"Well, I'll swing by the office for just a few hours and will be back soon to check up on you okay, Teddy Bear?'

" Can't you just call me Max instead of ....that nickname , mom?" I whined.

"No!" She whined back, even pinching my cheek for emphasis." You're my Teddy Bear! Mother knows best, remember?"

"Ugh!" I groaned in disapproval before she rose from my bed, giving me another look of sympathy before strolling towards my door.

" If anything comes up, anything at all, you give me a call, okay?"

I nodded, snuggling the covers tighter against my trembling body.

" I made you some chicken noodle soup, it's in the microwave, just heat it up and you're good to go,"

" Okay, mom,"

"And," She begun, walking across my room and over to my bedroom window that was a crack open." Stay warm. Do you need me to heat up a pair of socks for you in the drier?" She shuts the window and draws the curtains , blocking any hint of light from piercing through the glass windows.

"No, I'm good, thanks mom,"

Her lips crease into a rueful smile and without warning, she rushes back to where I'm currently cocooned inside the covers and attacks me with a motherly bear hug, crooning sweet nothings into my ear , sprinkling unwanted kisses all over my cheeks.

"Mom! Enough! I'm not dying, I'm just sick!" I said, muffled by her embrace. She eventually pulls away and walks out, not before promising me that she'd be home soon to check up and how I should keep warm and not attempt to get out of the house for any reason.

"I'll have Mrs. Kalpackas swing by to check up on you at least twice before I come back,"

"Why her?" Another childish whine.

"What, she's a very nice and generous lady!"

"She smells like cats!"

"That's a very rude thing to say and yes, I'll have her check up on you ,okay?"

No need arguing with her as she left my room ,forgetting to shut the door behind her (why do parents do that?) much to my annoyance but before I could loath that rude gesture, Roxie bustled in, her perfume stinging my sinuses with its feminine toxicity. My eyes begun to water from the exposure of her cheap perfume.

"You? Sick? C' est Impossible! " She said in her butchered French accent, waves her hand in the air in a very dramatic way.

I decide to cough pretentiously into my fisted hand to enhance the mood of my sickness.

"That cough is about as fake as Kim Kardashian's butt implants,"

I reply with yet another cough, more forceful than the previous one , more exaggerated that mom burst back into the room , an alarmed look dancing on her face.

"Do you need me to bring you some cough drops, Teddy Bear?"

No, mom, I'm oka-" She doesn't give me room to finish the sentence as she rushes back out to retrieve said cough drops.

Roxie rolls her eyes at the pathetic situation, arms folded across her chest.

"You are terrible actor when it comes to faking illness, you know that?" She sneered.

"Mom seems to buy this 'terrible' acting,"

"That's because she's the most gullible woman in America,"

"I'm glad she's gullible otherwise, I wouldn't be cooped up inside my bed, with a 'burning fever' and missing school in the process," I replied with a devious smirk.

"You're so juvenile! "

Mom marches back in the room, with cough drops in her hands before popping two inside my mouth despite my protests and sets the rest next to my night stand for future use, as per her words. Her hand goes back to feeling me up for a fever and once satisfied , walks away before carefully tucking me in the covers , ensuring no part of my skin or flesh is exposed to the otherwise chilly air. Roxie silently chuckles throughout the entire charade , enjoying every second of this torture.

"An overbearing mother, am i right?" She scoffs , taking a step towards my bed before edging her butt on the foot of my bed, right next to my feet.

"I know, right?"

"So, what's this all about?"

"Whatever do you mean, dear sister of mine?" I pooched my lips in pretend innocence, playing dumb to avoid answering her question. Roxie then reached for my protruding toes through the bedding and awarded me a pinch, causing me to yelp as I shimmied my feet away from her.

"Why are you faking ?" She dove back to the issue at hand, addressing me with a stern look.

"I'm not,"

"Yeah , you are! Tell me why?"

I bit down on my bottom lip as I contemplated on whether I should let her in on my secret. We are sorta used to telling each other secrets since the beginning of our fragile existence in this floating rock called earth. I mean, aren't all siblings? Roxie was like this close confidant of mine, as much as it pains me to admit, so telling her wouldn't hurt? Much?

So I bite the bullet.

"I'm avoiding someone today," I said in a grim voice, the laughter in my voice drained out completely.

"Ex girlfriend?" She tried to liven the mood with a humorless joke knowing very well that Luna and I weren't on talking terms ever since I saw her making out with Zac on the bleachers.

"No....just someone," I refused to mention her name, my tongue heavy as the conversation we shared yesterday haunted my consciousness.

"Is it someone I know?"

"Easily,"

" Boy or girl?"

" Woman,"

"Woman?" She was pleasantly surprised by that answer, her eyebrows shooting through her hairline, mesmerized. " Is she by any chance a teacher at our school?"

"I've already said too much considering, "

"Considering what?"

" Considering you being a nosy individual, you're going to start snooping around in the name of finding answers," How long before she puts two and two together? How long before she finds out that the female teacher I'm strongly avoiding is Amanda and how long before she realizes the crush I have towards her?

I can't risk her finding out about that sensitive piece of information.

"She's a teacher , isn't she?" She chirped with excitement, beaming at her hypothesis. "Oh my God, you have a crush on a teacher? How sexy !"

"It's not sexy and please leave !Like, shouldn't you be hoping in Randy's sport car , headed for school?"

"This is so exciting! "

"Just leave, Roxie!"