Mallie slammed her locker shut with unintended force. She had been feeling strange all week.

Even before she started taking her new medication, she had felt a weird, almost nervous sensation take over her body. She felt on edge, anxious. And it wasn't her anxiety order acting up.

Now, she was feeling worse for wear. Her head was aching, and she'd been feeling nauseous and fatigued all day. It was only the last lecture, but she had already decided she'd stay home the next day. Her father had given her an allotted number of days where she was allowed to take a break from school if she didn't feel well, and she was going to make use of one of them.

"Hey!" A voice piped up behind her and she almost jumped. Her head throbbed uncomfortably. Slowly, Mallie turned to face the owner of that voice. She met a pair of large brown eyes and a perfectly white set of teeth.

"Oh, hey, Pri!" Mallie said, trying to muster some strength to forget about her headache for a while. She'd met Pri, or Priyanka, as she was really called, just a day before. And while she couldn't really call her a friend yet, she did enjoy her company and the feeling was mutual.

"Are you okay? You're a bit pale," Pri noted, a touch of concern on her flawless face.

"Yeah, just a headache. Probably didn't drink enough water in this heat…" Mallie joked. They had both come from warmer climates- Pri was Indian of origin, and she laughed lightly at the joke.

"I hope you feel better soon. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend?" She asked, flicking back locks of silky black hair from her shoulders.

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun," Mallie smiled. She hadn't really been hanging out with anyone since she moved to Burgess, and she hoped the side effects of her pills wouldn't stop her from taking her first step.

"Great! There's a party at Holly's place on Saturday, and I was wondering if you'd come? You could be my date if you want," Priyanka winked and Mallie laughed. She had only talked to Holly briefly, and while Mallie had felt uncomfortable around her, it didn't necessarily mean they were on bad terms.

"If I feel better and she's fine with that, then I'd love to," Mallie replied, and Priyanka's face lit up with a grin.

"Really? Ah, great! I'll give you a call tomorrow then to check up on you and give you all the details!" Priyanka said, voice full of excitement.

"Sounds like a plan," Mallie smiled back, trying not to wince from the pain in her head. "I should be heading to class though…" She admitted and Priyanka's face fell.

"Shit! I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me. Talk to you soon then!" She said, and waved quickly before running down the overcrowded hall, books pressed against her chest.

Mallie sighed, not sure how she was going to sit through Calculus while she felt like this, but determined to try anyway. She made her way to class at a decidedly much slower pace than Priyanka had.

The last hour went by like torture. Several times, Mallie felt the room spin and she was almost certain she had fever. When the last school bell finally rang, she exhaled thankfully and made her way to her navy blue locker, throwing her math books in and grabbing her bag. She didn't bother checking if she had everything she needed. She just wanted to go home and sleep, and with those two goals in mind, she began the slow trudge home.

Bunnymund's ears perked up at the sound of Baby Tooth's buzzing wings. He'd had a bit of a problem trying to follow Maleya to school, since he'd been worried about potential 'late believers'- teenagers who still clung to their belief despite their age. Not only that, but the hallways were always crowded, and just the though of being walked through by several non believers made him shudder- being walked through once was a horrible enough experience.

Toothiana had been updated by North and felt sympathetic to his problems, so she sent Baby Tooth to help keep an eye on Maleya when she went to places he couldn't. Baby Tooth had been able to stay hidden much more efficiently than the oversized Bunny, and had followed Maleya around during her entire school day for the past two days.

Now that Baby Tooth was back, he suspected Maleya was at home, too. The pulling sensation, or 'Thesan effect', confirmed this.

With a quick tap of his foot, he hopped into his hole and appeared in her room, where she'd already put on some more comfortable clothes. Baby Tooth buzzed about him and tried to tell her all about Maleya's day and her sudden discomfort, but Bunnymund found her hard to understand.

He did, however, notice that Maleya's face was a few shades paler than normal. Her tanned skin didn't look as healthy as it had yesterday, and she seemed slightly out of it as well. Without a word, she climbed in under the covers of her queen-sized bed, rolled onto her side, and tried to fall asleep.

Bunny gave Baby Tooth a questioning look, but Baby Tooth simply shrugged. Somehow, Bunny had a feeling that the new pills she was on were behind this.

It was only a couple of hours later that Maleya woke up. She had been startled by the sound of the door downstairs slamming shut and she knew her brother had come back from his football lessons. She didn't feel at all rested, but she managed to crawl out of bed and walked towards her vanity desk, taking in the mess that stared back at her.

Her normally olive brown skin was a few shades lighter- both from the lack of sun she'd experienced since moving to Burgess and the fact that she wasn't feeling very well. Her dark brown eyes were slightly bloodshot and her hair was even more frizzed and tangled than normal. She sighed loudly.

Maleya had been diagnosed with Borderline and Anxiety disorder since she'd started middle school. Her mother had frequently made attempts to get her 'checked' and once Maleya had been diagnosed and medicated, she'd walked around with a smug look on her face. It was though she was telling everyone that she knew there had been something wrong with her daughter.

Moving to a new place meant that she naturally had to start seeing a new psychiatrist to check her medication. Dr. Fredriksson had been a kind enough man. He wore thick glasses and had short grey hair peppered with black. He had contacted her previous doctor and read her file beforehand, so Maleya was relieved that she didn't need to recount her entire life story for him, as she had had to do with her previous doctors.

But the change in medication meant the onset of side effects. She remembered laughing bitterly when she read the paper that followed her new pills. Nausea, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, weight loss, weight gain, suicidal thoughts, and then, at the very end, it said: personality change.

She reached for her scrunchie and tried to tie her hair back and away from her face. She then made her way downstairs and welcomed her brother home.

"How was your day?" she'd asked, after hugging David.

"It was great! I got an A- on my first quiz and I made a lot of new friends at soccer practice today!" He recounted happily. Maleya smiled as she put some leftovers in the microwave for him.

"Did you drink a lot of water?" She asked and he nodded, showing off his empty water bottle.

It was then his features changed slightly.

"Maleya, what's that?" he asked, pointing at a spot by her left shoulder. Maleya spun around but found nothing out of place.

"You mean the cutting board?" she asked, befuddled. Her forehead creased as she tried to see what it was he was looking at.

"No, that blue flying thing!" He exclaimed, running up to her to have a closer look. He stood just in front of her and tried to get up on his toes for a better glimpse. Maleya strained her neck to look at her shoulder, but saw nothing. David's eyes lit up as he took in the sight that was invisible to Maleya.

"You must be a tooth fairy!" he suddenly announced, extending a hand forward before taking it back to his chest. His palm looked like it was cradling something. Maleya's arched an eyebrow at him. He must be spending too much time with Jamie…

"You can't see her?" David looked up at his sister, his eyes almost looking a bit sad.

Maleya smiled but shook her head, not having the energy to play along. "No, I guess I'm not special enough," she laughed lightly, turning her attention back to the microwave and setting the time on. "So, what does she look like?" she inquired.

"She looks almost like a little hummingbird, but with a face," David started.

"Hummingbirds have faces," Maleya couldn't help but interject, but David just rolled his eyes.

"I meant a human face. You have really pretty feathers, you know," he said, aiming the second sentence to the imaginary thing he was holding. "It's green and blue and yellow!" he exclaimed, raising a finger and waving it slightly as though he was petting something.

"Sounds really beautiful. I haven't seen any hummingbirds in real life, but they all have such gorgeous feathers in pictures," Maleya commented, opening the microwave when it beeped.

"I really wish you could see her, Mallie!" David said, sounding almost anguished. "And she was flying right next to you, too! I think she likes you!"

Maleya's mouth twitched slightly into a miniscule smile as she put David's food on the table along with a glass of milk. "Wish I could see her, too," she said, before hunting the cupboards for some painkillers to ease the throbbing in her head.

Bunnymund heard the entire exchange from Maleya's bedroom, not really wanting to go downstairs and causing a scene with David. He smiled sadly, thinking about how great it would be to get her to believe. The power that the Guardians got when an older child or adolescent believed was incredible, but those believers were few, with their belief already stemming from a young age. Maleya had stopped believing a long time ago- or maybe she never had- and getting her to do so (again?) would be quite difficult.

Bunnymund was brought out of his thoughts by an obnoxious tapping at the window. Turning around, he saw the all-too-familiar face of the Winter Spirit, who waved at him when he got his attention. Rolling his eyes at Jack's overly excited expression, Bunnymund made his way to the sliding doors of Maleya's terrace and unlocked them for Jack. Frost formed and lingered on the glass as Jack made his way into Maleya's room.

"Hope I'm not late!" Jack announced, making a show to dust off his hooded sweater and fix his hair- no doubt messed up from his "joyride". Flying, with the help of the Wind, seemed to be one of Jack's favourite past times and he sometimes got caught up with it so much that he lost track of time.

"You just about made it, mate," Bunny replied gruffly. "Baby Tooth is down with the lass. Her brother seems to have spotted 'er," he commented, before tapping his feet. A wide hole formed beside him. "Keep your eyes on her, kid. She's not feeling too dainty at the moment," he warned, before jumping into the rabbit hole. His 'eggplants' needed looking after and he wanted to reach them as soon as he could.

Jack sighed in relief when Bunny was gone and took a moment to absorb his surroundings. He'd never been in her room before.

It was… plain and not all that interesting to him, but he hadn't really expected anything else. Her desk was cluttered with papers and books and her vanity desk was no better. The walls were plain apart from a few posters with scientific illustrations of plants and animals. She also had a few frames with taxidermy butterflies, beetles, and a few bats. A wardrobe stood in one corner of the room, made from some dark, polished wood.

Her floor was carpeted, which was an obstacle for Jack. His footprints left frost, so he had to hover and make sure not to stray too close to anything.

He could hear some muffled talk downstairs. He couldn't make out a word, however.

How could Bunny…? His thought began, but then he remembered the always twitching pair of perked up ears his fellow Guardian possessed and chuckled to himself.

Making his way to the corridor outside Maleya's room and then down the stairs, the voices became a bit louder. He didn't dare to make his presence known yet, especially with a Believer there, so he stayed by the steps and listened.

"…and then the ball went 'whoosh' and Alex tried to catch it, but it was SO fast. He didn't have a chance!" came a young boy's enthusiastic retelling of his soccer match. Jack hadn't met him before, but he knew this was David, the girl's younger brother.

"And then your team won?" came Maleya's almost lazy reply. Jack frowned a bit at the contrast. She seemed almost bored with his story. Couldn't she muster some effort and humour the kid? Jack had to refrain from rolling his eyes.

"Yeah!" David cheered. "Goaaaal!"

Maleya managed a weak laugh, but then said, "Come on, you've barely touched your broccoli," she noted, and David groaned audibly.

"I don't like broccoli…" he complained, and Jack could almost hear him spearing his plate with his fork in protest.

"Doesn't matter, you still have to eat it," Maleya replied.

Jack couldn't help but feel some sort of animosity towards the girl. He tried to push those feelings away, but they kept coming back to him. He supposed it was the fact that she was more or less a grown-up- someone he wouldn't normally bother with. But now, he was being forced to. And the impending boredom that would no doubt follow the next few days added to his irritation. She enjoyed things he didn't and he would have to put up with that just because she could be "valuable" to the Guardians in the long run.

How on earth they were going to make that happen, he had no idea. But right now, he left North to his scheming and focused on making his allotted number of days fly by as quickly as possible before Bunnymund could relieve him of his shift.

Thank goodness Baby Tooth was there to help things a bit. He already planned a surprise visit to Jamie as soon as he could.

"Mallie, are you okay?" the boy's concerned question suddenly broke through a few seconds of silence.

"I'm a bit ill," Jack heard Maleya admit. "But I took some aspirin. I'll feel better in no time." She tried to manage a cheery front, but it was weak. Jack remembered Bunnymund's earlier warnings.

"Can we watch a movie when I'm done?" David asked cautiously.

"Sure," came her reply, and Jack could almost feel David's excitement. "And you can pick this time," she said. "As long as it's not Power Rangers," she added.

She enjoyed watching animated shows and other TV series aimed for kids, but even that one was a bit too cheesy for her.

David rushed to hurry his meal and then dutifully put his plate and cutlery in the dishwasher. He finished his glass of milk with one go and then put it away in the dishwasher as well. Maleya thought about offering herself to do it, but she was too tired to.

David made his way to the living room, and Jack had to climb a few stairs to avoid being seen. Maleya followed, though her pace was more sluggish while David's were energetic and excited. She couldn't understand how he had so much energy after a long day at school and practice. She wished she had the same vivaciousness in her.

David looked through the assortment of DVDs that were neatly stacked in a bookcase nearby, before deciding on Kung Fu Panda and inserting it into the DVD player.

Jack took the time to stroll around the upper part of the house. He visited the different rooms that weren't Maleya's. He guessed the blue one with rocketships, dinosaurs, fake swords and the like belonged to David. There was a second room that was decorated with deep, warm colours of orange and red. It was a study, with a dark brown mahogany desk and black leather swivel chair. There were bookshelves filled with books and a printer. The only other door led to a bathroom.

Despite only having been inside for less than a few minutes, he could tell that money wasn't an issue in this household.

He wanted to hang out downstairs, and the potential of meeting another believer was teasing him, but he didn't want to create a scene just yet. He would wait until another time to introduce himself to David; a time when they were in private and away from non-believing eyes like Maleya. For now, he trusted that Baby Tooth would do a good job watching over Maleya and warning him if something was amiss.

"Baby Tooth! I'm going to visit Jamie!" He declared, and he heard the familiar buzzing of fast wings pause for a second before continuing. A brief chirp came in reply, and with that, he made his way to Maleya's room and took off out of a window that was situated beside her sliding doors. He couldn't shut it completely on his way out, but at least it let him get back inside later.

Maleya sighed as she sank down the comfortable material of the couch. There was a blanket neatly folded by the armrest, and she didn't hesitate it to drape it over herself after asking David if he wanted it. The house had gotten colder all of a sudden.

"Want to watch it with us, little tooth fairy?" David had asked an invisible fluttering thing that was apparently beside her. She saw his face light up in what she guessed was a yes.

David was sitting on the other end of the couch, fumbling with the remote control as he tried to put the movie on. It didn't take long before the two of them- or three, with the 'tooth fairy'-were greeted with the menu and its accompanying song.

Maleya looked at her brother amicably. He was genuinely excited about a movie he must have already seen four times, and she didn't mind one bit. The situation was good in her favour, allowing her to take it easy by lying down and focusing on getting rid of the throbbing in her head. She hoped the painkillers would take effect soon.

"Want some popcorn or something?" she asked out of habit, but was relieved when he shook his head. She didn't really feel like moving. Maleya tried to turn her attention to the movie. There was a scene with a giant panda working at some noodle shop or something. She couldn't really fathom what was going on, and soon enough, she felt her drowsiness take a stronger hold on her. Without really intending to, she drifted off into a comfortable continuation of her afternoon nap.

A/N: Finished this chapter at 4:33 am. (And I have to wake up at 9. Sigh) Anyway! I hope you liked it! Please review!

I intended to briefly introduce Maleya's 'situation'. It will be explained more in the future, of course. I find it very easy to reflect myself or the experience of my friends in my main characters. I have similar (and more) disorders as Maleya does and am also battling medication change. It's not fun. I hope it doesn't trigger anything for any of you lovely readers! Let me know if I need to put out a warning or something.

Furthermore, I wanted to show a bit of how Jack is still prioritizing 'fun' over duty, as well as expand his impression and feelings about Maleya.

Also, I'm afraid I've switched from 'football' to 'soccer' somewhere in this chapter, but since I've been taught British English growing up, it's a hard habit to shake off. I mean the same thing though!

Anyway! Going to spend some time with my puppy before attempting to hit the hay! Sweet dreams!