"Jules, there you are!" Chessie said. "Come in. We've got pizza." She gave me a good look over critically. "Why are you all wet?"

"I was just outside," I said as I let myself in their room. I grabbed a slice of pizza and shoved it in my mouth. It didn't really taste like anything which was weird.

"Outside? What were you doing out there?" Olive had a mud mask on her face.

"I was...um...with Matt," I told the truth.

"Mm, you lucky thing," Chessie commented. "You were making out with him out there, weren't you. What I wouldn't give for someone to be that romantic with me."

"Romano would probably laugh at me if I suggested that," Olive mourned.

I laughed. "Your boyfriend cries when he watches The Notebook, I hope you know that. Besides, Romano would die to kiss you any day of the week."

"But I don't get to see him often, and lately he's been calling me less," Olive said. "It just makes me sad because you get to see Matt, like, everyday."

"Matt goes to college here. It's not my fault. Maybe Romano will get accepted here. Then, you can see him everyday," I said.

"It's not fair," Chessie whined. "God, I wish I had a boyfriend. I'd make him buy me things and take me out to dinner and maybe back to his place..."

"You guys wanted me to get a boyfriend. Do you want me to break up with him?" I questioned their sanity.

"Oh, don't even joke about that. Come here," Chessie said. I hopped up and sat on Chessie's bed with her. "Braiding your hair will be easier while it's wet."

I moved minimally as I turned to cough in my elbow. Chessie's methodical tug pulled back at my head.

"Honestly, Jules, we're just happy that you're happy," Olive said. She started to peel back the mask. "You should see the way your face lights up when you're with him. No wonder he's so smitten with you."

I thought back to what Matt had said. He had called me sexy. I mean, I knew I was pretty awesome, but sexy wasn't exactly my first thought when I looked in the mirror. I didn't have classic girl prettiness that Chessie or Olive or even Katerina had. I was just...me. Me was awesome but sexy was unusual. Not that it was bad that he thought of me that way. It was really flattering.

"You feeling okay, Jules? You're kind of quiet," Olive commented.

"I'm just thinking," I said. "And maybe I'm a little tired," I said mid-yawn. Which was a bad idea 'cause I breathed in something funky that made me cough up a lung.

"Whoa, hey, are you getting sick?" Chessie asked behind me.

"I don't think so," I said once I had my breath again. "I haven't gotten sick in a long time."

"I look hideous when I get sick. Don't spread it. Drink some orange juice. I officially end this beauty night by telling you to get some beauty rest," Chessie demanded.

"But..." I protested.

"Just go," Olive said. "Get warmed up, too. Spending all that time out in the rain can't be good for you."

So, I was pushed out by two of my best friends from their room. The only thing I could do really was go to sleep. I was actually getting rather exhausted. I got into my pajamas, unbraided my, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

For all about five minutes. I spent most of the night coughing, sleeping intermittently. At one point in the night, I heard Katerina groan after one of my coughing spells.

"Sorry," I croaked out. My voice was pretty much gone at this point.

The door burst open at that point. Katerina let out a little scream. I reached down for my laptop, thinking in vain that I'd be able to defend myself.

The intruder rushed in little in means of clothes. They had a silk scarf wrapped around their head either in protection or to conceal their identity.

"Drink this and go to sleep, sweetie."

Oh, it was just Chessie. I thought that pretty lingerie looked familiar. She held in her hand a little plastic cup, which I assumed to be medicine.

"Thanks," I rasped out.

In retrospect, that probably could have been poison. Either way, I fell asleep, and wouldn't wake up for a long, long time.

I did wake up eventually. Long after my alarms went off. Katerina had gone to class, and I was practically too weak to move. Just rolling over felt like I was swimming through cinder blocks. I couldn't even reach down and grab my laptop to make a blog post about how miserable I felt. I could, however, reach my phone.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt," I texted.

"Juuuuuuuuuuuuuules."

"What is it?" He responded a minute later.

"I can't move :(" I told him.

His message came up a moment later. "Explain or I'll expect the worst."

"What's the worst?" I question.

"You got hit by a car and with your dying finger twitches you sent me an emoji."

I had to laugh at that. "No, but close. I have a bad cold and stuck in bed. I'm so bored. I can't even reach my laptop which sucks. You should pity me."

"Ok," was his simple response.

Ok? Ok?! That was all he had to say? Not even a feel better? I mean, sure, the man might still be in class, but he could at least have a little compassion.

"I haven't talked to anyone all day. At least call me when you can as it seems I won't be able to drag myself out of bed to get pancakes with you."

I waited a couple of minutes, but my phone never buzzed. Well, if I couldn't talk to Matt, I guess the next best thing was sleep.

This sleep wasn't very deep. I was probably like that for an hour, hour and a half. I'd like to blame the sunlight filtering through the window. I usually find it difficult to sleep with that much light.

There was a knock at the door, and I heard the door slowly creak open.

"Jules? Are you awake? Can I come in?" a low dreamy voice softly called out to me

"Matt?" I said. My voice was much better than it had been the night before, though it still sounded very sleepy.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" he asked as he let himself inside.

"No, no." In fact, at this point, I was quite convinced that I was still asleep. Matt being in my room was just too dazzleing. "I should have figured I'd have this kind of dream."

"Wha-"

I spread my limbs out as far as the would go on the tiny mattress. "Go on. Take me. Ravish me, pancake boy."

Matt started cracking up. "No! No, Jules, baby, this isn't a dream. Especially not that kind, however silly and flattering it may be. You're awake. I'm really here."

"Really? How'd you get up here?" I asked.

"Checked in at the front desk. I can visit as long as we keep the door open," Matt answered.

"Oh. Why?" I moved my arms closer to my body.

"I've come to pity you," Matt announced.

"Then come over and pity me then," I commanded, raising my arms.

He did come closer but not as close as I wanted. "Have you eaten anything today?"

I shook my head, still expecting him to come into my arms.

"I brought you some chicken noodle soup from the diner and water. You need to keep hydrated..."

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" I interupted.

He smiled but his lips never came any closer to mine. "Jules, you're sick. I think our kissing has done enough damage."

I pouted. "You're not seriously blaming yourself for this, are you? If you hadn't kissed me last night, I would have just been out in the rain longer trying to convince you to come outside. Besides, it was totally worth it."

He smiled a little wider at that. "It was pretty nice, but I think we should focus on getting you better."

I groaned and sat up, leaning my back against the wall. Matt pulled a takeout bowl and a plastic spoon from the paper bag he toted with him. "Careful. It should still be hot."

I glanced the bowl on my legs and lifted the lid. Matt out a bottle of water on the desk next to my bed so that it was still in reach. He sat down on my chair. I did him the courtesy of turning away while I coughed.

"Your hair looks pretty all wavy like that," Matt sent a random compliment my way.

"Chessie did that. Braided my hair." I ate a spoonful of the soup. "Unless you're talking about the bed head, then that was all me."

I suddenly remembered something as I watched Matt sit at my desk. "You should make a blog post for me while I eat."

"Really? Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell you what to put. You came to pity me, right?"

"Right," he agreed and reached for my bag. "Okay. Shoot. What do you want me to write?"

I thought for a moment. "How about..."

I'm a strong advocate for skipping classes occasionally. There's no point in going to school if you're really stressed out. If you're sick, don't even bother showing up. Take a personal day every once in a while. God knows you need it. Remember, there will always be people there to help. In fact, I have someone helping me right now. I'm not even typing this! Type monkey, type! I'm sorry, you're not a monkey. You're a wonderful and fantastic person and please don't take my soup away. Fine. Fine. I'll stop. Just remember to post everything I said.

-Jules and the best person in the whole wide world

I handed Matt my empty soup bowl. "Can you stay a while?" I asked.

"Of course. You're supposed to tell me about the places you explored," Matt said. He had closed my laptop and put it safely away.

"Right, so," I started out. "This was a reconnaissance mission to find a suitable place to kiss you."

"Oh, obviously." Matt nodded.

"Anyway, I found this little dark compartment-room under a classroom. Pretty sketchy. There was also the old news broadcasting station. I found the greenhouse on top of the science building that has an ultra mini observatory."

"Always a great place." Matt nodded along.

I smiled at his attentiveness. "Are you really not going to kiss me? I want you closer."

Matt got up. "You know, there are other ways to be closer, Jules." He sat at the edge of my bed and held my hand. "Tell you what, since you're sick, ask me anything you want. We can get to know each other better."

"Are you saying you wouldn't answer truthfully if I wasn't sick?" I implied.

"More like I won't sidestep your question." He smiled. "Go on. I want to see what you come up with."

I thought for a moment. "Fine, I'll start you off with an easy one. How was your test?"

He huffed. "I think I did okay. But I always have that sinking feeling that I did worse than I thought I did."

"Hmm. I'm sure you did fine. And what did you have on your bedspread when you were a kid?"

He grinned at that. "Tractors. I really liked them. Still do."

I laughed. "Really? Never would have guessed that. Um, what...is your greatest physical insecurity?"

He balked at that one. "Oh wow, sheesh you know how to pick them..."

"You promised. No sidestepping," I reminded him. I adjusted my grip and started rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb.

"My chest hair," he gave up. "I hit puberty kind of early, and the guys in the locker room made fun of me a lot. It's not as big of a deal now, of course..."

I laughed, and Matt got really quiet. "Oh, man. I can't believe this! Am I lucky or what? Chest hair is hot as hell, man."

"Really?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Hell yeah. Just...ugh, I bet it looks fantastic on you. You have to show me sometime.

"Maybe I will some day," Matt laughed along with me. "Like I said, it was a long time ago..."

"Here," I said. I took Matt's hand and placed it on my chest. Which must have been a shock for him because his palm was just a thin layer away from my braless breast.

"Wha-" He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say or do. His hand was practically rigid.

"You're feeling up the dictator of the itty bitty titty committee. Held that position all the way through middle and high school. Even now, it's mostly pects. Let me tell you, I got my fair share of teasing in the locker room until I punched them all in the boob," I revealed. I patted his hand. "Really, Matt. It's fine. Relax, buddy."

He let out a long exhale. His hand relaxed and eased around my shape. He eased ever so gently into me and started moving in small circles. He didn't look as nervous as he did before. More like super concentrated. He pressed his lips together as if he was holding something back.

I grinned. "You really want to kiss me, don't you."

"Yes!" he exasperated. "I tell you I'm not going to kiss you, and you pull something like this. You can be so mean sometimes, Jules."

I laughed. "That feels reeeeaaally good," I drew out. I bit my lip for good measure. I could see the frustration in his eyes.

"Ugh, you drive me crazy." He removed his hand from my chest and grabbed my head. He pulled me toward him, angled my head down, and kissed the top. His lips remained up there for an exaggerated amount of time.

"You're pretty bold when you're sick," Matt said. "I like it."

"Or maybe I'm just really happy that you're here," I said. "You're exactly what I need."

He smiled as he pulled back. "Just get better soon, okay? I still want to take you to my hockey game this weekend."

"Right. Right," I agreed and nodded my head.

"Oh, hey, you must be Matt."

We both turned to see Katerina and Garrett at the door.

"I'm Garrett, one of Jules friends. I heard that Jules was sick," he introduced himself.

"Yeah, Jules mentioned you a couple of times. It's nice to finally meet you." Matt got up from my bed to shake Garrett's hand. "And it's nice to see you again, Katerina, though I don't think we've officially met."

"Pleasure," Katerina said snootily.

"See, Gary?" I grinned from my bed. "Isn't he cute?"

"That is enough out of you." Matt came back to my side and grabbed his things. "I think the drugs have left you a little loopy. Get some sleep."

"Hmm, yes, doctor," I cooed. He reached over and mussed my hair into my face. I probably deserved that.

"I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow, Jules."

"Bye, Matt." By the time I got my hair out of my face, he was gone.

"I swear, he looks so familiar..." Garrett said.

"So, what are you doing up here, Gary?" I asked.

"Just dropping Katerina off." He kissed her cheek. "And I thought I'd check on you. The way Katerina was describing you made it sound like you were dying."

"Were you two really worried about me?" I was touched.

"No. I just told him you kept me up half the night with your belligerent coughing," Katerina amended.

Okay. Not so touched anymore, but it was to be expected.

"I've got an article to finish up, so I'll see you two later," Garrett said.

"Bye," I said before he peaced out.

Almost as soon as he left, Chessie showed up in front of the door. She still had a silk scarf wrapped around her face despite the fact that she was a very safe distance away from me. "Jules, do you need anything?"

"No, but thanks. Matt came by to take care of me," I said.

"Damn, I missed him?"

I nodded.

"You look better. That medicine probably worked. They don't sell it in America. You have to get it from Europe. It'll knock some people off their feet, but it gets rid of colds fast," she said.

"Yeah, thanks for that," I said semi-sarcastically.

"No problem. Feel better tomorrow!" she commanded.

Once she was gone, Katerina closed the door. "Sounds like you had a lot of visitors today," she commented.

I smiled. "Yeah, isn't it awesome?"