This chapter is dedicated to Liz, who guessed what was wrong with Brittany correctly. Shout to her! She's awesome! Now, the trickier one: what's wrong with Sam? this one's tough, so I'll be asking for chapters to come. And next chapter will have the rest of the Host Club in it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Tamaki or his father.
"When does the plane take off again?" Emily asked, groaning from how sleep deprived she was.
I threw myself down on to the couch next to her. "In about three hours, just like five minutes ago," I answered. "Please stop asking, Em. I'm just as tired and impatient as you."
Brittany smiled, sitting down between us. She poked my shoulder, causing me to sway. We all looked up as Mackenzie walked closer with four steaming cups.
"Tea or hot chocolate?" I asked as my friend handed me a cup.
"Tea," she replied. I grinned brightly, snuggling up against the arm of the couch with my cup of hot tea. Mackenzie handed out the rest of the cups, announcing them all to contain hot tea.
"So, to recap for the millionth time, we're flying coach, and Tamaki and his dad are flying class," I said, giving Kenz a sly grin. She rolled her eyes, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.
"Yep, just for Mackenzie's knowledge, right?" Brittany asked. I nodded, bumping shoulders with Mackenzie. "So, you date ended badly?"
I frowned. "What? No. It was….. okay, I guess you could say. We went to Barnes & Nobles, I got a book, and then we went to Wendy's."
"Oh that's why he asked who Wendy was! I forgot you mentioned that part," Emily exclaimed, giggling a little. I snorted, remembering his confusion when I mentioned the restaurant.
"He actually asked that?" Mackenzie asked, surprised. I nodded, and we all broke out into peals of laughter.
"And, he seemed appalled when I ate more than him. I got him chicken nuggets and fries, and I got myself two double cheeseburgers and a large drink," I told him. "Plus, I ended up eating his fries."
"What were you, starving?" Brittany asked.
"Well, the night before, someone stole all the popcorn," I replied. She blushed, and fell silent, shame crossing her face. I bit my lip as everyone else fell silent, and suddenly, we were surrounded by a noisy airport with adults and a few vacationing families swarming around.
I picked at the gold mail polish leftover from the ball, frowning as I concentrated on chipping it away. My mom had informed me early this morning that the academy had a dress code, and every girl must wear an ugly, yellow-colored dress that was modest, but showed off you curves anyways. It was the one thing I hated most. Maybe I could convince the headmaster to allow me to wear the boy's uniform.
I took a deep breath in, making a face and rubbing at my chest. The pain had been constant for a day or two now, and got worse every time I breathed deeply.
My stomach distracted us all from our separate thoughts, erupting noisily and growling like a bunch of lions. I held my grumbling, rumbling tummy, smiling sheepishly as I looked at my friends.
"You really are hungry," Mackenzie stated. "Did you eat some breakfast before meeting us here, Sam?"
I shook my head. "You know I like to sleep in as much as possible, and besides, I wasn't hungry."
"I thought you woke up at six this morning," Brittany commented.
I nodded, than shrugged. "Like I said before, I wasn't hungry."
"You're not doing something similar to Brit, are you?" Emily asked me.
"No, I just wasn't hungry this morning. You know, every once and awhile, you just aren't in the mood for eating, or you just feel too lazy to eat, or something?" My friends nodded. I snapped my fingers, "It's like that. Just a one time thing. No need for concern."
Mackenzie raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Brittany shifted around in her spot on the couch. We were coming as close to her problem as any of us dared. To say it out loud would just confirmed that something was seriously wrong. She had promised to keep it to a minimum (whatever that meant, I have no idea), but her word wasn't enough, so at least one of us supervised her during all meals, and after meals.
Emily stared at the coffee mug in her hands, fiddling with the cover to keep herself entertained for a couple of seconds. I stood up, gaining everyone's attention.
"Well, if on one else is hungry, I'll just be getting some food," I stated. I took several steps forward, and then half turned back to my friends. "You sure you don't want to come with?"
Mackenzie saw my hesitation first, gesturing for our other two friends to wait with the bags. I smiled gratefully, telling Mackenzie what I wanted as we walked to nearest Taco Bell.
(######)
The plane ride turned out fine. If you could say that at all.
I sat by myself, next to the window, with an empty seat on my left and a business man to the left of that.
The man had fallen asleep after they served lunch, and I was currently watching all the bathrooms for any sign of Brittany. There was no sign, so I searched for her instead.
Spotting an empty seat next to the brunette, I headed over and plopped down. She looked up from picking at her food, coming face to face with my motherly glare.
"Are you going to eat, or not?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"I'm getting there. Don't rush me," she snapped. I huffed, ignoring the pain shooting up my throat. It must have visible on my face, for she asked, "What's wrong?"
Damn, she noticed, I thought. I shifted in the seat, suddenly feeling sick and hot at the same time.
"Sam, you look green. Are you going to throw up?" Brittany asked, concerned and forgoing her food for me. I tried to wave her off, blindly smacking her hand away. "Mackenzie? Emily? Something's wrong with Sam. She looks sick."
Mackenzie and Emily turned (their seats were in front of Brittany's), immediately worried about me too. I ignored them all, finding it difficult to breathe all of sudden.
I stood quickly, grasping at my shirt collar, and staggered toward the back. A stewardess came towards me like a concerned parent, asking all kind of questions, but I couldn't seem to hear them. Pushing past them, I finally made it to the bathroom.
By this time, my chest was burning pain, my vision was turning blue and fuzzy, and I'm pretty sure I was beginning to turn purple. Worst of all, I still couldn't breathe; not even a small breath of air. It's almost like my throat had closed up.
I locked the door, and hunched over the sink, listening to my friends plead that I let them in.
"Sam!" There was banging on the door, but it was distant, and so, I ignored it. After that, everything turned slowly to black.
The next thing I remember, was sitting on the floor finally being able to breathe. There was a bloody mess in the sink and on the floor. I shrunk away from it, the acidic smell burning my nostrils.
It looked like vomit, but had blood mixed in, and I shakily stood to make sure there was none on me.
Once I was sure there was not a speck on me, I set to work cleaning up the mess. The banging on the door had subsided, though I didn't recall ever hearing anything. It wasn't long before I was done, and though the floor had an extremely faint red mark now, I disregarded it, knowing that was as good as I was able to clean it without proper tools.
I slipped out of the bathroom, not seeing any of my friends surrounding the door. Quickly, and as quietly as a mouse, I crept back to my seat. I got settled in, pretending to fall asleep so none of my friends could ask what had happened.
(######)
I managed to avoid confrontation all throughout the search for our luggage at the baggage claim, and the awkward limo ride with Tamaki and his father to their house.
Mainly because my friends knew I always felt exposed when confronted about things in front of anybody. I thanked whoever's up there, that I got more time to sort everything I remembered out.
I expected them to come in before unpacking their things, and I turned out to be right. All three of them came barreling in, Brittany slamming the door behind her. I was seated on a plush bed, holding the pillow I brought along.
"Explain. Now," Brittany commanded. I shrugged.
"There's not much to explain," I said. "I don't know what came over me, and I fainted after I locked myself in the bathroom."
"Did anything unusual happen?" Brittany questioned.
"No. I woke up to find the floor covered in throw up, cleaned it up, and then took a nap for the rest of the plane ride," I told them all. "Why are you so suspicious?" I asked as innocently as I could.
"Well, before we got on the plane, you were wheezing pretty hard from all the running we did," Emily pointed out.
"Then maybe I have asthma. I don't know!" I sighed, burying my head in the pillow for a minute or two. "I guess I could go to the doctor and get it checked."
"Do you want us to come with you?" Mackenzie asked.
I shook my head after pretending to think about. "I promise to tell you what's wrong, but I think it would be best if I go alone. I doubt it'll take long anyways," I explained. They looked reluctant, but let it slide, probably saving it for later.
"Now, out," I told them. "We all have unpacking to do. We only get one day to ourselves before school starts."
We groaned, overlapping complainants about school, the work, meeting new people, and made a few wonderings about the teachers and possible clubs they'd have at Ouran Academy. At this point, I mentioned the Host Club Tamaki had told me about, and we all laughed at the thought.
Instead of unpacking, we spent the next few hours talking and joking around. At one point, we got so bored, I began to play music from my phone and we were dancing in no time. Several servants came to check on us, and others came to see what all the commotion was, but we were too busy to acknowledge that other people were concerned about us.
We ended up crashing on my bed and the floor from exhaustion, missing dinner. The music still played as we snoozed.
None of us thought that things would ultimately take a dive into the river of Bad Luck, for this was the last time we spent together, before it all fell to ruins.
Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Read & Review, please! I'd love to hear what you all have to say about this story. I'll even take flames. Until next chapter!
-Poison Ivy
