Whitehall High School had many holiday traditions. One of the most beloved of these traditions was the annual Holiday Dance Show, which was performed by the school's dance team every year after the last full day of classes before winter break. Among the students involved with the 2008 Holiday Dance Show were Cat, Annie, Jane, Freckles, Kitty, Amalia, Maggie and Mary Beaufort, Lizzie, JP, and Felipe. They were all extremely excited to take part in it, and they always practiced intensely during rehearsals to make sure this show would be spectacular.

Unfortunately, on Monday, December 15, 2008, Kitty began to feel chills all over her 4'11"-tall body during her mid-morning study hall despite being dressed in jeans, a green form-fitting sweater, and brown thigh-high boots. Additionally, she was developing a headache and her throat was starting to feel sore. She had woken up earlier that morning with a runny nose and a cough, but she assumed it was just her usual post-nasal drip she often suffered with during the wintertime and felt no need to be alarmed by those symptoms. However, when she began to feel the chills, a sore throat, and a headache in addition to her runny nose and cough, she knew right off the bat that what she was feeling was not just post-nasal drip.

Kitty asked the study hall monitor, who happened to be her 9th grade English teacher, Mr. Ethan Hughes, "May I have a hall pass to see Nurse McMahon, please?"

Noticing how hoarse Kitty's voice sounded, Mr. Hughes replied, "Of course, Kitty. I would even suggest that you go home for the day."

Horrified by how her own voice sounded, Kitty had a bad feeling that her former teacher was right. The hoarseness of her voice was yet another clear sign that she was under the weather.

"Thank you, Mr. Hughes," Kitty responded as Mr. Hughes filled out the hall pass.

"No problem, Kitty. I hope you take care of yourself," Mr. Hughes replied sympathetically as he handed over the hall pass to her.

"Thanks again. I appreciate it," said Kitty as she took the hall pass and walked out of the room with her books in tow.

When Kitty arrived at Nurse Patty McMahon's office, her temperature was taken, and the thermometer read 100.6° F. Kitty winced as the Nurse McMahon told her the temperature reading.

"This is definitely a case of the flu. You should take the rest of the day and this entire week to get well, Kitty," Nurse McMahon said.

Kitty's heart sunk as she heard Nurse McMahon's words. There were two big reasons why she felt devastated upon hearing the news that she had the flu. One, she would have a lot of homework and quizzes and tests to make up after she recovered. And two, she would have to opt out of performing at the Holiday Dance Show, which was only three days away. Despite all she would miss out on because of the flu, she knew that she had to listen to Nurse McMahon's orders because the last thing she wanted to do was to get anyone she cared about sick. Second of all, she had all of winter break to make up her homework, quizzes, and tests. Nurse McMahon filled out a nurse's note for her, Kitty made her way to Mrs. Beaufort's office to inform her that she would be taking the rest of the day off due to illness.

When Kitty told Mrs. Beaufort that she was heading home for the day, Mrs. Beaufort accepted the nurse's note as she could tell Kitty was sick just by hearing her voice. Kitty then promptly waved goodbye to Mrs. Beaufort and her secretary, Ms. Ruth Flynn, and made her way to her beige 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. As Kitty got into her car, she texted Tom and all of her closest friends, "I have the flu :'( Will b house-bound 4 the rest of the week." After she sent her texts, she started the car and drove straight home.

The instant Kitty arrived home around noon, she grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and some aspirin from the medicine cabinet, slowly walked straight to her room, changed into her warmest fleece pajamas and bathrobe, and climbed into bed. Since both of her parents were still at work, she called both of them to let them know that Nurse McMahon diagnosed her with the flu and that she was to stay home from school for the rest of the week. After she finished with her phone calls, Kitty took a few sips of water and then went to sleep for the afternoon as she was extremely tired.

When Kitty woke up at about 5:30, she saw her mom sitting at the foot of her bed.

"Ugh…hi, Mom," Kitty said miserably as she grabbed a tissue from her night stand to blow her nose.

Mrs. Howard then replied, "Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling right now?"

"I feel like absolute crap," said Kitty in a sad tone of voice, which was then followed by a loud cough.

"I know. The flu is the pits! I remember being in your shoes when I was a high school senior. I had gotten the flu on a Saturday, and I was home sick for the entire week. I missed out on cheerleading for the homecoming football game, so I understand how you feel about being sidelined from performing at the Holiday Dance Show. It isn't fun missing out on so much because of the flu," Mrs. Howard recalled.

"Oh, damn! I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you, Mom," Kitty replied empathetically as she felt bad that her mother was in the same position as she was at that moment.

In response, Mrs. Howard said, "It's just the way life works sometimes. It throws us curveballs whenever it feels like it. But these curveballs also make us stronger in the end."

"Mom, you're the best," Kitty said.

Mrs. Howard then answered, "Thanks, darling. I'll prepare some chicken noodle soup if you would like."

"I would love that. Thanks, Mom," Kitty exclaimed with a smile on her face.

Kitty always loved her mother's homemade chicken noodle soup. It was a recipe that went back many generations on Mrs. Howard's side of the family, and Kitty planned on sharing it with her children in the future.

After Kitty had eaten her soup, she began to answer the many texts she had received from her friends and her boyfriend, and she ended each text saying, "I will keep u updated 2morrow. Luv u!"

When Kitty put the soup bowl and spoon in the dishwasher, Mr. Howard entered the kitchen and said, "Honey, Home Alone is on TV if you want to watch with us."

"Sweet! Thanks for letting me know, Dad," Kitty replied joyfully.

Home Alone was always one of Kitty's favorite movies, and she was quite glad that her father told her it was on. She sat on the loveseat just to ensure that her parents, who were sitting on the sofa, did not catch the flu from her. When the movie was over, Kitty blew both of her parents a kiss and wished them good night before heading to bed for the rest of the night.