Twenty one
Once Tee was in bed and the clock struck nine, Liam leaned in closer to Summer and kissed her lips. She kissed him back. Sapphire walked in to get to the computer and saw the two mid-kiss and said "Uhh, do you two mind?" Summer pulled away and shook her head.
"hey, if you don't like it then go away," Liam retorted. Carmen sat on the end of the chair. She looked happy. Mike walked in and rolled his eyes.
"Great," he cried. "Summer where did you put the guitar?" Summer stood up and got it out of the kitchen.
"there. Have fun Elektra," she told the girl smiling. Elektra winked.
"you too, Summer," she replied. Summer shrugged and snuggled back up to Liam and they resumed their kissing. Carmen walked out the room claiming she was feeling ill. When they next broke apart it was because Liam was feeling ill. He ran out and into the boy's bathroom. Summer sat back and wondered what was happening. When Sapphire, Toby, Johnny and Frank claimed they were ill. Summer went into the kitchen to look at what they had all been given for dinner. She couldn't see anything but knew something must be wrong with it when Tee, Harry and Gus were all sick. Summer found a magnifying glass and looked closer at the food. Unbeknown to everyone there was a fine layer of mould on the top of the food which everyone had eaten. Gina and Mike also felt sick. Summer felt fine and went to her room. She wondered why she was any different to the others.
Then it clicked. At Burnywood most of the food had been mouldy and you just got used to it and immune to the bacteria.
When Liam came in to tell her goodnight he was ghostly pale and she could see he wasn't alright. This was confirmed when he threw up into the bucket he was carrying. Summer tried to sleep but couldn't. She knew that she had to do something to help. She got out of bed and went downstairs. She made twelve glasses of water and found the same tablets she had been given the first time she'd been ill from mould. She put twelve on a tray and took them up to everyone. She went to Mike first. He was awake but looked slightly delirious, his eyes too bright, his skin pale. He looked up at her when she came in.
"Summer," he croaked. She handed him a tablet and a glass of water.
"Drink and take, you'll feel better," she replied. She went round the rest of the house doing the same for each person.
The clock struck one in the morning. Summer was sitting at the kitchen table when mike came down. "Summer. Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded.
"Just tired. Been up all night making sure you are all alright. Harry was sick again and Tee had a headache but since I gave them the tablets they've been better. Less sick and headachy anyway. You feeling better?" she replied sleepily. He nodded.
"Yeah. But how come you didn't get ill?" Mike asked. "I mean you ate the same food as us."
"Yeah I know. But what you didn't know is that there was a fine layer of mould on the soup and you ate it and got ill. At Burnywood," Summer started to explain, self consciously putting a hand up to her eye, "all the food was mouldy and you ended up being immune to it. The tablets I gave you were the same ones I was given the first night I was in care and I was sick because of mould." Mike looked shocked.
"that's horrible," he muttered under his breath. She nodded. "Well, go to bed and I'll take it from here. You might be the only one going to school tomorrow though." She smiled and dragged her feet up the stairs to her attic bedroom.