Malcolm lay in bed for several minutes unwilling to do anything other than listen to his thoughts which had by now become increasingly more panicked by the second.
It was clear that what was happening to him was no longer a dream nor could it be classified as anything resembling deja vu.
Malcolm barely registered Reese and Dewey leaving the bedroom until he saw Lois entering the room with an annoyed expression on her face. When she saw that Malcolm was still in bed with no apparent inclination that he was getting up anytime soon, she immediately marched over to him and yanked his pillow out from under him.
Malcolm jumped up. "Mom! What the hell?!"
"It's time for you to get up," Lois snapped. "You have school today and there is absolutely no way you can stay at home unless you're bleeding profusely or dying."
Malcolm sighed. I can't go to school today. I wouldn't be able to face everyone without complete freaking out. I have to figure out a way to convince Mom to let me stay home from school. He decided the best thing to do would to simply pretend he was sick. He did feel particularly listless that morning after all.
He began coughing loudly and sniffed loudly to give the impression that he was severely ill. "Mom- I really don't feel well," he said trying to sound tired, and sick(which truth be told wasn't all that hard.) He put a hand on his head. "My stomach's been killing me."
His mother glared at him suspiciously. "Yeah right. I know you better than that Malcolm. You're going to school today and that's final."
"Mom please," Malcolm begged her desperately. "I can't go to school today. I feel like I may throw up."
Lois felt his forehead with a sigh of exasperation before she pulled her hand back frowning. "You do feel rather clammy," she said with a hint of what could have been concern. She was silent for several moments until she said, "Fine you can stay home from school today. But! There will be no TV, no sneaking out of the house, no doing anything stupid and that includes trying to burn the house down. And you have to keep an eye out for your little brother when he comes home from school is that clear?"
Malcolm nodded. Truth be told he had no interest in doing any of those things that his mother had banned him from doing anyway. He only wanted to figure out what was happening to him and why.
Lois stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds before she began to leave the room. Before she left however she said, "I'll have Reese tell Stevie or one of your other friends to send over the homework you'll have to do."
Malcolm nodded again. His mom left the room again and Malcolm was planning on trying to fall back asleep when Reese burst in.
"Is the Big Stain too scared to go to school?" Reese said in a mocking manner.
"Shut up Reese," Malcolm growled.
"Oh I'm sorry did I offend the Great Stainmaster?" Reese grinned at him nastily. Malcolm sat up and tried to punch him from where he was sitting on his bed, but his older brother moved out of the way before Malcolm reach him.
He gave Malcolm the middle finger which the younger boy immediately returned, before he left the room. As soon as Reese was gone though Malcolm buried his face in his pillow and let out a loud groan of frustration that could have been heard by anyone had they chosen to be in his bedroom at the moment.
Why was this happening to him?! It made absolutely no sense. Today a technically should've been Sunday by all counts after all. Malcolm waited until he was sure that his parents and brothers had left the house before he finally left his bedroom.
Malcolm stumbled towards the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of orange juice and stared at the glass for several minutes. He could barely muster enough energy to lift the glass to his lips and take a sip. It felt like it took hours for Malcolm to finish half the glass and by the time he did that, he simply poured the rest of it out.
Was he going crazy? Was that what was happening to him? Malcolm also knew that he couldn't tell anyone in his family what was happening to him. After all nobody would believe it.
Lois would think he was a liar and end up grounding him, Hal would think he had gone crazy and try to send him to some sort of doctor, Reese would punch him, and Dewey-well Malcolm wasn't completely positive what Dewey would do, but he likely would be just as unbelieving if Malcolm decided to try and confide in him.
Francis? No that wouldn't work either. His oldest brother still wouldn't believe him and even if he did, he was at the ranch for Piama and therefore he wouldn't be able to spare the hours long drive to the Wilkerson's house.
Malcolm let out another groan of frustration and hid his face in his hands. He was just glad that nobody else was around to see him, because the more he dwelled on what was happening to him, the stronger the urge to cry became. At one point his eyes began burning rather suspiciously and he quickly tried to distract himself.
Do not start crying Malcolm. You're a high schooler and a genius for god's sake. Crying won't help you out of your situation. There has to be something that could help you.
It was at that moment that Malcolm was struck with a memory of a movie he hadn't seen in years. A movie that was very similar to his own life at the moment. What was it called again? Malcolm puzzled over it for several minutes until the answer suddenly came to him.
Groundhog Day! The main character in that movie had the exact same problem that Malcolm was having. Sure it was just a movie, but perhaps something in there would be able to help him.
And here's chapter 3! I'm really sorry that it took so long for me to post it. Real Life has been crazy to be honest. I'll try to update soon but I honestly can't promise anything. Please leave a review/comment though as those really do help me stay motivated!
