"Jane, I'm so glad to see you. Trent told me about how you couldn't drive back here from Boston" Daria greeted Jane with a hug. At that point, Jane had almost gotten used to Daria's new excitement when it came to physical contact.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't keep my promise of seeing you during lunch yesterday" Jane apologized.
"That's okay, it wasn't your fault. We can still sit together today, right?".
"Right" Jane faked enthusiasm ". I have class so, you know, I'll see you later, amiga".
"Okay. Have a nice day".
"Yeah, yeah, you too" Jane smiled awkwardly.
Surprisingly enough for Jane, she did go to class. With Mr. DeMartino. Instead of going to walk around, skip class and spend time with Charles, she preferred class. Mr. DeMartino pointed out Jane's constant absence during the previous days, but she said she hadn't been feeling well during those days. The scary, happy version of DeMartino stressed how happy he felt to have her back in class, to what she replied with a hesitant "thanks".
After the first hour of class, she had given herself time to think. Why was sleeping with Charles a big deal? She thought. The only thing keeping her from acting normal in front of him was the thought of him seeing her and then picturing her naked. She liked him and didn't want him going back to his flirty, annoying self. Hoping he wouldn't act like Upchuck, he tried to find him in the hallways while she was walking to her next class, but didn't find him. She didn't even know if he had gone to school.
There was one thing in her mind about Charles that kept her feeling uneasy, the question he had asked her. What would happen when things went back to normal? Sure, she probably would still like him, and she wouldn't mind hearing constant skeptical commentaries from Daria, but when she thought about being in a relationship that had begun under such weird and awful circumstances it seemed to scare her, reminding her how those days with Charles had been days during which she had been close to lose her mind more times than she had ever been close to lose it before. She almost felt sometimes like there would had been no way for them to even get to talk for more than five minutes if it hadn't been because her sanity had forced her to.
She moved from class to class trying to act normal until lunch period came. She had hoped it hadn't. Daria, sitting with Brittany, Andrea and other cheerleaders, called Jane to her table. With a tray full of food, Jane walked towards the table moving her gaze anxiously around the place in multiple attempts to find Charles but she couldn't see him anywhere. She gave up and sat next to Daria. Everyone greeted her with smiles as if she was a close friend. She answered to their commentaries and questions about how she hadn't been going to class much.
Meanwhile, she was thinking about Ms. Li. She wanted a chance to see her and see if she found any evidence to support her theory about Ms. Li being responsible for the behavior of all the people sitting next to Jane.
When the bell finally rang informing the students that they had to go back to class, Jane felt happy about leaving the conversation with her brainwashed classmates, to instead go to listen to another brainwashed teacher and be only surrounded by the alien replacements of Lawndale High's students without having to interact much with them. Unfortunately, her next class had Mr. O'Neill in it, among with almost every single student that insisted in interacting with her despite of her wishes of avoiding them. She thought about skipping that class saying she was sick, but she ended up deciding to go to class because it couldn't be that unbearable.
"Now, class, I thought it would be a good idea to do something a little different today to get to know each other's feelings better" Mr. O'Neill's words gave Jane a short flashback to that class the first day things had started to be weird, when instead of doing any physical activity they had done things that resembled more a Mr. O'Neill's class.
"Alright!" Kevin yelled.
"All of you seem to have improved your happiness and self esteem lately, and that is something great. So I want you to share your experience with each other. Let's begin with you, Daria. How are you feeling?".
"Well"she began with a smile that scared Jane ", I feel really happy and full of energy, Mr. O'Neill!".
The answer, Jane thought, would had sounded better with Daria's regular voice.
"I'm happy to hear that, Daria. How about..." he waited and checked the students present in the class ", you, Jane. I haven't seen you in class much lately".
"Yes, uh, I've been a little sick" Jane kept her lie.
"I'm glad to see you're healthy enough today to join us in class. Tell us about your feelings".
Something inside of her wanted to scream how stressed and confused she felt. Instead, she put on a smile as big as Daria's and said "I feel really happy".
"It surprised me a little that Daria hasn't convinced you to join the cheerleader squad or any other club. Your classmates have been very excited about doing different activities but, sadly, I hadn't seen that excitement in you. May I ask why?".
"Because... that's because I've been sick. Yeah, I've been sick so I couldn't really do much".
"Oh, but I suppose you will be joining us soon, right? I am hoping you've been feeling as enthusiastic as your friends lately".
For some reason, Mr. O'Neill's words, smile and voice tone disturbed Jane.
"I... guess so".
"Are you okay, Jane? You seem upset".
"I'm fine" she dryly stated.
"Alright then" Mr. O'Neill looked concerned and suspicious as he moved to the next student ". It's your turn, Andrea".
Jane felt strange. Mr. O'Neill almost scared her, but any enthusiasm and positivism at the moment scared her. She ignored the rest of the class but noticed a few suspicious glances from Mr. O'Neill and Daria. She couldn't wait for that night, she just wanted to get in the school, solve the Lawndale mess and move on with her normal life once she got back with her old friends and family.