=Hiccup's POV=
(Wednesday, 12/20/2017-7:00 am)
(Archian Island, Berk)
(Haddock House)
I groaned heavily as I turned over and sleepily reached for my phone to check the time. I was usually pretty good at waking up a few minutes before the alarm. Checking the time; I saw that it was 7 am. What?! Why didn't my alarm sound at 6 am like it was supposed to? I looked around the screen and found that it was set for the right time, but had clearly been stopped when it did go off. Why didn't I hear it? Did I really sleep through it? I shifted to get out of the bed, sitting up and coughing a few times.
"Son? Is that you?" I heard my father ask through the door. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah…Just got up." I replied to him while sitting on the edge of the bed. My body hurt, the joint pain I always seemed to wake up with. I coughed again into my arm and moaned a bit at how it felt.
"Are you okay, can I come in?" Spencer questioned.
"You can." I said back. The door opened as my dad walked in and up to me. "You look like you haven't slept at all."
"Complete opposite actually; I slept all night…" I sighed. "And I went to bed at 8:30 pm after finishing my homework…"
"How do you feel, laddie?" Glenn inquired from the doorframe.
"If we're being honest, like I've been hit by a truck…" I mumbled.
"I was talking more of any symptoms like last night?" Glenn clarified.
I took a moment to assess how I actually felt aside from the joint pain. "About the same as last night." I finally said. Spencer checked his forehead and cheek before sighing.
"I think you should stay home, son. You still have a fever, even if it's slight. Better to take something for it and rest so it doesn't get worse." Spencer offered.
"Dad, I have practice today…And we're not supposed to miss them, especially if it's a week we have a game…" I reminded.
"I think your coach would understand, lad. He'd would probably rather you get better now so you'll be able to attend the game." Glenn said.
That was likely true. If I pushed through this sickness instead of resting; I'd get worse and end up missing Saturday's game. And we were going against another high school that had a good track record for wins, so I really needed to be on top of my game for the game.
"I'll call you of school today," Spencer stated.
"How about a compromise instead?" I suggested as dad looked at me. "I'll take some meds and go to school; if it's not helping or I feel worse…I'll agree to come home. Well, once the nurse calls you to get verbal permission that I sign myself out and leave? I really don't want to miss school unless I absolutely can't deal with it…"
Spencer and Glenn looked at one another before Spencer sighed. "Alright, I suppose that's fair. If you develop a migraine; I don't want you driving. Leave your car at school; have one of your licensed friends bring it home or something, and call Glenn to come get you. Can you agree to those terms?"
"More than alright with me. I'm gonna go get ready; I've got maybe fifteen minutes to do so." I stood up as Glenn and Spencer exited the room.
I had to at least try and get through the day, maybe once I woke up more I'd be okay. The joint pain usually vanished after a shower and I woke up more. I headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower. Five minutes later; I stepped out with the towel around me. I did all my usual stuff, and took something for the fever, pain, and what I assumed might be a cold because of the cough. I left the bathroom to quickly get dressed then make sure I had my stuff set for school. I grabbed my phone to check the time. 7:15 am. I should just make it to the school before the bell rang. I left my room after getting my wallet and key; then I headed to get out of the house after grabbing a pack of pop-tarts from the kitchen's breakfast cupboard "Love you both, bye!" I called to my dad and Glenn. Reaching the car, I buckled in and got the car in before heading down the street towards the school.
. . .
(Thursday, 12/21/2018-11:30 am)
(Berkian Academy-Cafeteria)
Unfortunately, I didn't make it through all of Wednesday. I survived until gym, and then we played basketball; of course it had to be that. I was slow, out of it, and the medication I had taken that morning was starting to wear off. The headache was worse, I felt dizzy and nearly lost my balance until Shane caught me. The teacher was going to have me sit out until I got nauseous and I booked it to the boy's locker room restroom and tried to keep myself from throwing up. I managed it, but then I was told to go to the nurse and kept my promise to call dad for permission to leave early and sign myself out. I left just as the others were heading to lunch and ignored messages until I got home and back into bed. Glenn said he'd be checking up on me and I messaged the group skype chat to let everyone know that I was sick and wasn't sure about being in school for Thursday. I also let my coach know I wouldn't be at practice before I ended up knocking out. The rest of my Wednesday was mostly sleeping, staying on water and meds, and only leaving my bed to use the bathroom; I didn't even bother with dinner. Around 8:30; I was out for the rest of the night.
This morning, I woke up feeling a little better. I didn't have a headache, fever, or a lot of pain. I wasn't even coughing much, so I decided to go to school against my dad and uncle's advice to stay home again and make sure I was actually alright. I still felt tired and there wasn't much drive to do anything, but I didn't want to get behind on class or homework. I got lucky with Shane bringing me Wednesday's homework from my remaining classes that Nicole gave him to pass along to me. As the day has continued; the headache returned and maybe the fever too. I'm still determined to tough it out; I brought my own meds with me today. Not that I'm supposed to; it's against school rules to carry your own medication, but I didn't want to have to go to the nurse because she'd call dad and he'd make me go home. I was careful not to get caught with it; others were stupid enough to try and take pills during classes or lunch hour. Not me, I was in the bathroom during a class switch when I felt the symptoms coming back. Teachers and the floating security guards can't see, so it works.
Now, it was lunch hour. I didn't have much of an appetite still, but I wanted to try because this was the last day to get tickets to tomorrow's winter ball. I wanted to go with Nicole, and she'd already said yes. If I didn't get better, or at least look alright; I wouldn't be going. And we also had a rule about school dances too; you had to be in school the day of the dance to be able to go to the dance that night. I guess I understood it, so missing school Friday was out if I wanted to be able to go. And it was a basketball practice before a game, so I really didn't want to miss that or coach could make the call to bench me for Saturday's game because I missed two practices on a game week. My friends and I reached the table we usually sat at; those who got school lunch headed off to join the line.
"So, you're feeling better?" Heather asked me.
"Yeah, just getting over it." I replied.
"Guess you missed the worst of it," Nicole smiled. "Well, other than having to leave yesterday."
"I…Really hadn't wanted to leave, but I promised dad that if I felt worse; I'd agree to come home early and rest." I admitted. "I'm sure I'll be totally better by tomorrow morning. You…Still wanna go to the dance with me?"
"I'd love to." Nicole nodded.
"Great. I'll grab the tickets before the end of lunch for us." I smiled at her. I was looking forward to this; I hoped Nicole and I could talk about where our feelings were and maybe getting together tomorrow. If not, possibly on Saturday when she came over for our movie night.
"What do you have for lunch today?" Nicole wondered. "Doesn't look like more than a sandwich."
"That's all I brought." I chuckled. "Appetite has been off since I got sick, so I didn't want to push my luck with feeling worse if I ate a lot when I knew I wasn't that hungry."
"Wise decision," Nicole nodded. I started eating my sandwich slowly while everyone reached the table and began to talk to each other. I just wanted my meds to kick in so I wouldn't feel as bad.
At 12:30, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch and now having five minutes to grab your things and get to the next period. I hadn't said much during lunch, I focused on eating until there was about ten minutes left and then I went to go get the tickets for the winter ball. I slipped them in my wallet and returned to my spot at the lunch table. With everyone getting up, I found myself feeling weak, like my body was heavy and didn't want to move.
"Come on, Hunter," Shane told me. I backed my chair away from the table and stood up; I instantly felt lightheaded and dizzy. I tried to shake it off and step away from the table, but the room a bit fuzzy and I felt like it was spinning. I shook my head and closed my eyes a moment, the reopened them and attempted to focus.
"Yo…He doesn't look that good." Travis remarked.
"Hunter? Hey…Are you okay?" Nicole put her hand on my shoulder. I blinked a few times and things seemed to be okay again. I smiled at her.
"Yeah, totally fine." I replied.
"You sure? You didn't look alright a second ago." Heather inquired.
"It honestly looked like you were about to pass out." Ashley added in.
"I have a headache, and moved too fast; it made me lightheaded for a second. I'm good, seriously…" I told them.
"Alright…" they all said in an unsure tone. We all moved to throw our trash and exit the lunchroom; I just wanted to finish my last two classes and get home to rest a little.
. . .
=Normal POV=
(Friday, 12/22/2018-6:00 pm)
(Berkian Academy; Cafeteria)
Hunter managed to make it to Friday, and through the day of classes and then practice. It wasn't easy, but he managed and was now waiting in line with Nicole to check in for the dance. Practice had ended at 5 pm like always. This time, the dance was being held in the cafeteria instead of the gymnasium. An upgrade, as the lunchroom was bigger. Glenn had brought Hunter his suit before practice, and Hunter left it hanging in his stall for after the shower. It was an nothing crazy that he chose to wear, and he didn't feel it was a black suit event, so Hunter went with black pants and shoes, dark red shirt and black tie; he did have a brown leather jacket, though. It was still cold in December and four days until Christmas.
Nicole, surprisingly, didn't wear black; she chose a high-low lace up red and black gothic cocktail dress. Maybe it didn't scream holiday ball like some of the other girls who were going all out in ballgowns that clearly represented Christmas, but Nicole; she could wear anything in her style and make it look good for anything. Besides, Nicole's hair was dawning a long black braid that hung over her left shoulder and had little snowflake bobby pins through out it. The nose ring on the right was green, and the eyebrow piercing was mistletoe. Nicole had done up her makeup too; she had black eyeliner, but the eye shadow was a mix of silver, white, and green. So, in Hunter's eyes; Nicole might not look like one of the princesses everyone other girl was trying to be, but she still pulled off a beautiful look in her own style. It made her unique and what Hunter loved more is that Nicole wasn't afraid to be different.
Looks or comments, Nicole didn't care. She'd just press on and never once consider saying something back to get even. Nicole always left with a shrug, smile, and believing that everyone was entitled to their own opinion. Nicole wasn't trying to impress anyone or fit in; she was being herself and trusted that her real friends wouldn't judge her. And this was just one of the many things he loved about Nicole.
"I'm glad you're well enough that we could still come tonight." Nicole said as they moved up another place in the line.
"I told you I'd be good as new by Friday." Hunter chuckled. When Hunter got home from school on Thursday; he actually didn't feel good at all. It seemed that the medicine he took right before lunch just wasn't working; Hunter got through one subject of homework before the nausea hit him on top of everything else. Hunter didn't end up puking, but he put his things away and went to lay down, falling asleep until 5 pm when the sound of his father being home managed to wake him. And to avoid getting the I told you that you were too sick to go lecture; Hunter got himself out of bed to use the bathroom and sit back down at his desk to make it seem like he was doing homework when his father came knocking on the door to check on him.
For today, the symptoms weren't bad, but they lingered until practice. That was the hard part to get through, but Hunter did it with water and forcing himself not to let how he was feeling interfere with practice. Hunter popped two aspirins and a Dayquil right before he showered after the practice, so they'd be hopefully working when the dance started. Hunter didn't want Nicole or his friends worrying about him; it was just a little sickness. It happened to everyone, and Hunter just chose not to let it keep him down.
"Well, you gave us a scare on Thursday. You really did look like you were about to drop," Nicole said softly.
"I didn't think I'd get lightheaded, but I guess standing too fast when you already have a headache causes such. I'll be sure to remember that from now on." Hunter smiled.
"I find it funny that when I met all of you; I was told you didn't do school events like this, but we've ended up here for two of them." Nicole giggled a bit.
"To be entirely honest here, Heather thought it might be a good idea to let you experience more of the high school stuff since you've always been in private school. She said they didn't do stuff like this, so we thought you might like it." Hunter admitted.
Nicole sort of held onto Hunter's arm with hers and leaned against his. "I kind of appreciate that you'd all bore yourselves to death for my sake." She joked and Hunter laughed too.
"The Halloween Dance wasn't so bad…I mean, you and I had a good night out of it." Hunter shrugged. "In the sense that we admitted our feelings to one another and discussed the whole getting to know one another on a more…Personal level for the possibility of seeing if our feelings stayed the same, faded, or grew."
"I know what you mean, don't worry." Nicole nodded as they continued moving when the line did; they weren't too far from the check-in table now. "It's been about, what? Two months since then. Maybe its time we sit down and talk about where things are now for us? I feel like I know where I'm at. Do you? I don't mind waiting if you aren't."
Hunter was glad she brought it up; he'd been a little nervous to. "No, no. I'm okay with talking about things. Uh, should duck out of here early and go for dinner again? Or perhaps wait until tomorrow before we start the movie?"
"We ditched our friends last time; I think we should stay for this one," Nicole suggested. "We'll have more time tomorrow, so let's do it then."
"Works for me." Hunter responded lightly. The two finally got to the table as Hunter turned in the tickets and got their hands stamped. Hunter and Nicole strolled into the cafeteria, taking in all the festivity of the room before locating any of their friends. However, it looked like they were there first, so it would be up to them to secure a place for themselves and the group for the night. Tomorrow would determine where they were at with their feelings for one another, and if things were still good; then it was a good chance they end up dating. Hunter was very much looking forward to tonight, and tomorrow.
