VERA
The first thing I felt when I woke up was the pounding in my head. I held my head in my hands and almost fell back on the bed, but I managed to continue sitting up.
The mother of all headaches was having a really banger party in my head, and it looked like it invited all its most racous relatives.
Groaning, I gingerly alighted from my bed. My eyes fell on the bedside alarm clock and I gasped.
Bad idea.
Mother of all headaches didn't like it, and neither did her relatives who immediately set up a protest in my head. I grabbed my head and winced, then closed my eyes as the room spun and turned dark.
Gently, I nudged backwards till my feet hit the bed, then I let myself down gently and rode out the ferris wheel that my room had become. When the spinning stopped, I opened my eyes again and stole a glance at the clock.
Nope, the headache hadn't affected my eyes. It really was the dead of the night, or to
VERA Only it wasn't Nathan. It was my house agent. For some reason, my heart skipped a beat. "Ms. Vera," he said, glancing between Rachel and me. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, but there's something important I need to discuss with you." Rachel shot me a questioning look, but I shook my head, equally puzzled. I gestured for the agent to continue. "Apologies for the abrupt visit," he began, "but I've received a notice about your apartment. The building is undergoing renovations, and all tenants are required to vacate within a month." I blinked, processing the information through my foggy mind. "Renovations? But we just moved in." He nodded sympathetically. "I understand it's inconvenient, but these renovations have been planned for a while. I wanted to inform you as soon as possible." My headache throbbed with each word. The timing couldn't be worse. "I'll need your cooperation in finding a temporary place for you until the renovations are completed," he continued. Rachel, se
VERAThe time was a few minutes past six. I got up grudgingly from the bed. I didn't want to get up, but it was school day and I had already missed two days at the beginning of the spring term.I didn't want to miss again.And…we had physics classes today. I nearly flunked physics last term, and it was supposed to be my favourite subject.Preparing for school took almost three hours, mainly because I fell asleep on the kitchen counter after eating breakfast. By the time I got on the bus, it was already some minutes after eight.I sighed as I slipped my phone back into my backpack. I was thankful physics wasn't the first period, or that would be a bad start to the term, as bad as it was already.When I alighted in front of the school gate, it looked like everyone was in class already. No gisters on the quadrangle, no iPhone flaunters on the stairs, no lovers under Lincoln's statue.My stomach dropped. It must be a considerable time into the first period already. I wasn't familiar enoug
VERAThe sky spun all the way to the clinic. I was very grateful when we finally got there and I could rest against the wall.Things passed in a haze as Josh met the nurse and explained things to her. Not that she needed much explaining. One look at me as we came in the door and she instantly by my side, fussing all over me.Now, as Josh talked, she took my temperature and opened my jaws to look at my gums."She's going to have a bed," she said, cutting Josh off. "You can leave now. I will talke it from here," she said.Josh hesitated, then carried me to the bed area and lay me down before leaving. I wanted to say thanks, but he was too fast. He was already out of the door before I could speak.Sighing, I settled into the bed.About a second later, the nurse walked in, carrying a satchet of some clear liquid. My eyes drooped closed as she started bustl
THIRD PERSON POVAlex stepped out of his room in the clinic, his head still throbbing from the bandaging the nurse had just finished. He wanted to see Vera, to make sure she was okay, despite the nurse's insistence that he needed rest.As he made his way to Vera's room, his mind raced with questions. How had she ended up here? And why hadn't she told him she went to the same school?Pushing the questions aside for the moment, Alex approached Vera's room and gently pushed the door open. The sight that greeted him made his heart ache.Vera lay on the bed, her face pale and drawn, but even in her weakened state, she looked beautiful. The rhythmic beeping of the monitor beside her was the only sound in the room."Hey," Alex said softly, crossing the room to her side. "How are you feeling?"Vera stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. "Hey," she murmured, offering him a weak smil
VERAI woke up slowly, rising from the darkness groggily.When I opened my eyes, the fluorescent bulbs directly above me nearly blinded them. I shut my eyes, then opened them slowly and blinked.After a few blinks, my eyes had adjusted to the bright lights. Everything around me was white and dazzling, including the bedsheets that looked like ….I frowned as a thought hit me.I was in the hospital!What was I doing in the hospital? Hadn't I been in the school clinic just a moment ago?"Oh, you're awake," Rachel's voice sounded.I turned to see her sitting beside my bed, intense relief on her face."You scared us quite badly," she said, smiling tightly. "Thank God you're awake now. How do you feel?" she asked.I blinked. "How did I get here?" I replied with a question of my own.
NATHANThe worry accompanied me from dreamland to reality, weighing heavily on my mind. I knew I would never gett anything done if I didn't take care of it.So, even though my rational mind told me to wait till Vee must have come around, I decided against it. I needed to hear her voice before I set about my daily business.If I didn't, I might run mad. I needed to know she's okay. My night had been haunted by nightmarish dreams of Vee on a stake, being roasted like some game over a campfire and a lot of other scenarios I really would not like to call to mind.Picking my phone off the bedside drawer, I dialed her number. Nothing has ever sounded as annoying as the music the service provider put on to help callers wait for their call to be picked up.Especially when the short song ended and it wasn't picked.Well, I wasn't giving up just yet. Frustration gnawed at me like a rat on a rope. Another unanswered call from Vera, another voicemail box mocking my desperation.Why was she avoid
VERA The time was 6.07 in the morning.Somehow, the led light clock seemed cheerier. As did the paint on the walls. And even the small vase of flowers I kept on the bedside table.Everything suddenly seemed infinitely more cheerful and beautiful now I was out of the hospital. The dreary place, with their full white walls and sterile air and smell of antiseptics and antibiotics could have made me lose all hope in life if I stayed there another day.I have had my share of hospitals when Josh was battling his leukemia, and I don't want to ever be in one again.Even the prospect of going to collect my test results for the poison later tomorrow made my stomach lurch, but I put the thought out of my mind and concentrated on getting through the day.Which of course, always starts with checking my phone to catch the latest gist in town.A slight panic overtook me when I didn't see it on my bed. I usually leave my phone on my bed when I sleep because I always fall asleep either reading or wat
VERAFor a heart stopping moment, it looked like Rachel was seriously considering the question.She cocked her head to one side as she looked at Kate."And what, your highness, would be the consequences of that?" she asked.Having known Rachel for three days, I detected the thin layer of sarcasm beneath her voice, even though it sounded so serious.I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Phew."You ask me of the consequences?" Kate asked, looking honestly confused. "You don't know them?"My best friend shook her head. "No, I don't, milady," she said.I could tell she was trying not to laugh. Kate's face reddened once more, from anger this time. She threw back her head, causing her hair to fly back, leaned on my locker and pushed her face close to Rachel."Well, for one, you're going to lose your cheerleader position," she said pompously.Rachel gasped in mock horror, but Kate obviously misunderstood it because I see her eyes shine with satisfaction. She took a breath and