Chapter Nine: Under The Weather
"Ruthie where are you? We were supposed to meet to have lunch an hour ago?" Matt asked. Ruthie had agreed to go to lunch with him occasionally as part of the deal that he wouldn't tell their parents about her job.
"I can't I'm sick!" Ruthie coughed.
"Are you okay?" Matt asked sounding concerned.
"I'll be fine…I just can't have lunch with you today." Ruthie rolled over facing Megan who was getting dressed for class. Ruthie rolled her eyes and Megan smiled. "Matt I'll call you later. Bye." Ruthie hung up and looked at Megan. Megan was sitting at her desk with a needle to her arm. "Is it a good idea to do that before class?" Ruthie asked meekly.
"Look don't lecture me!" Megan snapped. She put the empty needle down and got up. She turned and looked at Ruthie who looked hurt. "I'm sorry…It's a short class…I gotta go!" Megan tied up her hair and left. Ruthie folded her arms and pouted.
"I hate being sick!" She whined. Ruthie rolled over and drifted off to sleep.
Ruthie was startled by a loud bang on the door. She jerked up and looked around, her room was empty and the light from outside was slowly disappearing. She lay back down and their was another knock on the door.
"Ruthie open up, it's Matt." Ruthie looked around in a daze.
"Matt?" She called.
"Ruthie? Open up!" Matt yelled.
"Okay…okay…hold on." Ruthie rolled out of bed and stumbled across the room. She tossed some stuff in the trash and picked up some clothes before opening the door. Matt stepped in and looked at her. Her hair was a mess and her face was riddled with sweat.
"You really don't look good. Can I take you to the hospital?" Matt said taking her arm and gently leading her over to her bed.
"No…no…its okay. I'll be fine." Ruthie said lying back. She put an hand to her forehead and closed her eyes.
"Are you sure? You should see a doctor." Matt said. Ruthie opened her eyes halfway and gave him a half smile.
"I am seeing a doctor." She giggled softly.
"Very funny." Matt smiled. He looked around the room. "Where's your roommate?" he asked.
"Class. Or she was…I think she might have gone to work…" Ruthie looked nervously up at Matt.
"So have you found a new job?" Matt asked.
"Matt!" Ruthie whined. "I don't want another job!"
"Ruthie you promised." Matt said sternly.
"Fine I'll look for another job!" She sighed. Ruthie closed her eyes again. "I'm tired, I need to rest—"
"What is that?" Matt asked getting up and heading for Megan's desk. Ruthie looked and saw the needle. She quickly rolled off the bed.
"Ow." She said as she hit the floor. Matt turned around and helped her up.
"Are you okay?" Matt asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. You need to go though." Ruthie pushed him out the door. "I'm really tired."
"But what was—"
"Bye." Ruthie said as she got him through the door. "I'll call if I need anything." She closed the door and locked it. "Phew." She whispered. Matt stood on the other side thinking about what he'd just seen. There was no way it was what he thought it was…was it?
Ruthie headed back to her bed and plopped back down, she couldn't believe Megan had just left it lying there how could she have been so stupid. Ruthie sighed; she should have been more thorough when she checked the room before letting Matt in. It wasn't Megan's fault, and besides she really didn't want to fight with Megan.
Ruthie jerked up, she hadn't realized she'd drifted off but something in her bed was vibrating. She moved her hand around searching for it and she finally found her phone. Absentmindedly she flipped it open.
"Hello?" She answered groggily.
"Ruthie? It's mom." Annie said cheerfully. "I wanted to catch you hopefully before you went to work."
"What time is it?" Ruthie said looking around, her room was now pitch-black and Megan was still not home.
"It's eight. I wasn't sure what time you went to work. I know you have late shifts. Are you okay?" Annie asked sounding worried.
"Yeah. I'm not feeling great." Ruthie said lying her head back down.
"Oh…Matt didn't mention that when he called." Annie said.
"What?" Ruthie said sharply.
"Matt called and said he talked to you and that you said you decided to fly home for spring break with him and Sarah." Ruthie narrowed her eyes and stared at the door.
"Oh I can't believe…I mean yeah I guess I am." Ruthie said. Annie hesitated looking at the phone momentarily.
"Ok. Well, I'm glad. We'll see you then." Annie said. "Bye.
"Bye." Ruthie hung up. "I can't believe him!" Ruthie growled. There was no way out now. In two months she'd be going home.
Authors Note: At first this chapter was just going to be a filler but then I decided I could use it to advance the plot so I snuck in some hints into the future hee hee hee! Anyway I hope everyone liked this chapter now I am off to try to figure out what comes next. There is still two months before Ruthie heads home so we'll see what happens.
I will try to have the next chapter up soon, its so hard to stick on schedule and focus cause I have so many ideas but I know that if I start too many that I won't finish any...which is why I'm sticking with 8 stories I 'm working on now. Sorry for rambling I do that a lot.
Katie
