Chapter 39: The Cure is Friendship!
"ACHOO!" A grungy sneeze ricochets through the halls of the Dark household, as yet another poor soul falls victim to the winter flu.
Well, "poor" is up for interpretation.
Erin Dark certainly feels she's earned that right, as she lays in her bed, forced into the confines of her loose black and red pajamas, mucus dripping down her face.
"Awww son of a BITCH…" She bemoaned in a cracked, anguished voice.
She was stiff in the knees and her chest felt like a sewer system of mucus. She had gone to bed with her skin looking like she had covered herself in glue, and was now probably teetering on the edge of being pale and normal colored.
With a deep sniffle she turned her head and saw her mom hovering over her with two masks on, nurse delegated gloves, and a thermometer.
"Yeeep, you've still got the crud." She determined, flashing that aggravating over 100 degree temperature in her face as if she needed to have it rubbed in further.
This was a good time to throw out a "No shit" but she was so cruddy feeling that her usual punkish spunk was taking a vacation to heal up.
Instead, Erin laid her head back against her pillow and grumbled bitterly.
Her mom then sighed and wagged her finger at her, "This is what you get for staying up late at night on your phone."
Erin at least had enough energy to look at her dead in the eyes and fight back, "I-I don't do that!"
Her mom kept the same expression flourishing proudly as she pulled out Erin's phone, penetrated the lock screen in record time, and then held the message app open with the time clocks evident for her to see.
Erin widened her eyes and clammed up, with her mom clicking her tongue a few times before remarking in a tone lacking any offense taken, "Also, you should probably get a better password than your birthday…FYI."
She then put the phone down on the end table and headed out the door, "Ooookay, I'm gonna head to the store and get some more medicine."
Erin groaned, "PLEASE get something that tastes good this time…"
Her mom closed her eyes and laughed, "Oh don't be silly, you get either cherry or grape like everyone else!"
Erin pulled her face under the covers and muffled her screams.
"Now, you're going to stay in bed. If you need anything, your brother is a call away."
Erin was already plotting to get up and drag herself through Hell just to try and enjoy her normal routine.
"Oh! And just to make sure!" Her mom took off her gloves and let out a shrill whistle, causing their dog to come running under the door frame.
"I'll have Sergeant Doggo report in if you try anything funny."
It was hard to tell if her mom was being this cheerful to counter her misery, or she was REALLY having fun getting to take care of her like she was a little baby again.
Either option sucked ass, but at least the former wouldn't be as insulting.
After her mom headed out, Erin pushed off her sheets and tried to pull her legs out of bed, only for the dog to hunch down on all fours and growl at her.
She briefly lowered her guard and chuckled at his attempts to be intimidating, and then wagged the back of her fingers out and muttered, "Go on boy."
She started to stand up and the dog growled louder. And when it came down to it, Erin totally knew this was all one big bluff by her mom…but with how crappy she felt she didn't even feel like putting up a fight.
So she fell back into her bed with one loud anguished cry, which was pretty much a callsign to her brother to come in for a check up.
He picked up the dog under his arm and rubbed under its neck until he was calm. Then he let him run off with a wagging tail.
"Feeling any better?"
"NO?!" Erin shouted in disbelief.
Alex rubbed the back of his head for a bit.
Erin sat up in a hunched posture and glared, "You know what? I pin this on…on…!"
She was forced to let rip a massive sneeze that sprayed mucus onto her legs, "Awww, that's ugly!"
Alex cracked a tiny smile and then went over to one of the folded rags on the table, using it to wipe the mucus up.
Erin then picked up where she left off, "Lunalei! She gave this to me!"
"No she didn't…" Alex remarked quietly.
"Bull SHIT," Erin pushed her finger against her brother's forehead to force him to look at her, "You can't tell me that she wasn't partying like it was New Year's when I didn't show up…"
There was a brief window for Alex to hit the ground before she sneezed on him.
Alex cautiously rose and then used the other side of the rag to wipe her face off, with her looking like an angry stone the whole time, "You've really got to stop overworking your lungs, sis. I know you're pissed-"
Erin GLARED at him.
"...Really, REALLY pissed, but that's not going to get you feeling any better."
"It makes me feel better…" Erin grumbled weakly under her breath.
After a while, she flailed Alex off and laid back down on the bed.
"...No. Seriously. How smug was that silvery midget?"
Alex hung his mouth open, "Uhhh…"
Yesterday…
Alex sat in class having his attendance taken by his cousin, and when his turn had passed she then glanced across the classroom and repeatedly muttered, "Erin…Erin…"
After giving her pen a twirl she marked her down as absent, with Alex whispering, "Yeah she's…out with a flu."
Lunalei paused and then smiled, which grew wider over time and likely was still growing as she turned her head.
"That's a shame, I hope she gets better." She said, putting on a front of politeness.
Alex glared at her and began to close his fist.
Today…
"Uhhh, I don't remember, I kinda blacked out for a bit." Alex said, embarrassingly rubbing the back of his head.
Erin tilted her head up and pouted, then laid out flat and declared, "I'm going to spill coffee on her desk."
"You lost ONE day, sis. You can make that up." Alex said in confidence.
True, it was the weekend now, but she sure as shit didn't want to give that nagging midget the chance to gain one-up on her.
"...Fuck, fine, I guess I'll try and get some rest so I can fight this flu off." She crawled back under the sheets and started staring at the ceiling.
"...Uuuugh, the start of this year has sucked ass, I want a redo!"
Alex had to rain on her parade, "Sorry, I don't think even you can manage that, sis."
Erin turned her head and said, "Doesn't one of our Uncles have the ability to control time or some shit?"
Alex closed his eyes and sighed, "Yes…the one who died did."
"...Damn it." Erin punched her bed.
"Plus…that'd be a total waste of power."
"Oh yeah? What would you do with it?" Erin wondered.
Alex had his answer prepared upfront, "Probably prove that Jesus was a fraud. I bet that'd make all those diehard moralistic Catholics break down in a fit."
Erin shivered, "Oooh, that's nasty. I kinda like it."
"You?" Alex turned her way.
"...Dunno." Erin shrugged, hung up on her lack of an idea.
"Really?" Alex was surprised.
Erin turned and barked at him, "My brain feels like shit, gimme a fucking break."
She then snapped her fingers, "Gimme a pop, maybe that'll help."
Alex raised his brow, prompting Erin to roll her eyes and tell him, "Don't give me that look, I heard the fizz helps the throat or some shit."
Alex shrugged and walked to the kitchen in record time, coming back with bad news, "We're out."
Erin grabbed hold of her pillow and pressed it against her face while he covered his ears.
"Could this day get any worse?!"
"Why would you say that?" Alex wondered with a dejected sigh, "Whatever…if you need anything else sis, I'll be in the living room watching cartoons."
Erin pulled the pillow off and said, "Hey, get me a tablet so I can watch something too."
"Sure." Alex calmly headed out and came back with a tablet. Thank god, one bit of good news on this rotten day.
After getting settled in as best she could, Erin spent a bit of time watching some old movies wondering where the hell her mom had gotten off too.
"It's just some damn medicine, come ooooon…Aaaaaugh…"
She's aching, she's helpless, she's missing school, can't even rely on her family to do anything right…
It was at times like this that having a nice body didn't mean a damn thing.
…Ok that's not true.
In fact, to hell with it! If she's going to be confined to her bed, might as well be as comfortable as possible!
She sat up and started unbuttoning her pajamas only for the doorbell to ring, which did make her pause, but then she shrugged and continued on her merry way.
"I'm HOOOOME." Shouted her mom, the exclamation hitting its shrill peak as she rushed straight to her room.
The two's eyes froze towards one another, with her mom looking down and then clicking her tongue, "Oh geez, really? What did you do to Sergeant Doggo?"
She put the shopping bag down on the end table, protected herself up in a flash, and then forcibly buttoned Erin's shirt up.
Erin wore the tightest pout and said sarcastically, "Gee, thanks."
"You're welcome!" Her mom responded in kind.
"Aaaanyways, sorry for the delay. Traffic was GAWD awful. You'd think they'd fix that light on 64th by now, but noooo. Always have to favor the people going south bound."
Her mom dug into the bag and pulled out liquid medicine. Grape flavored.
Go. Fucking. Figure.
But then she flashed a bit of a sly smile and Erin got curious. Slowly, she dangled a can of soda out of the bag.
Berry flavored Sprite.
Erin's eyes lit up and the urge to bitch went silent. Her mom creased her smile and used a bit of her devilish playfulness on her, "If you take your medicine without a word, you can have this."
"Shit yeah! Gimme now!" Erin said, her throat feeling a little hoarse from earlier.
Her mom wiggled her nose and then plopped the can down on the end table, "Alright! I'll get right on that!"
The can was fortunately still cold when Erin eagerly snatched it up and popped it open.
"Ahem." Her mom crudely reminded her of the medicine bottle being wiggled in her grasp.
Erin rolled her eyes and set the can down, then took the necessary dosage. Tasted like ASS, but at least she'd be able to drown it in delicious sugary, bubbly goodness.
She glugged that shit down like it was her last drink and felt especially happy.
"HEY PAL-IN!"
Then came the cheerful cry that reminded her she's still in Hell.
"BLBLLBLBLBLBL!" She spat up most of her drink on the bed and made a sharp turn to the door to see Serra standing there in a winter jacket and a thermos in her hands, her tanned cheeks extra rosy and sweaty.
Erin IMMEDIATELY pinned her mom down with a glare. She stopped whistling and remarked on the matter as though this was a straightforward affair, "Oh yeah, guess who I ran into while I was pulling in?"
Serra grinned, "Yep! It's me! Here for a do-better check up!"
Erin said in a deep, vile tone, "I KNEW there was a catch!"
"Well, I'll leave you two together!" Her mom fanned her fingers before her mouth and giggled her way out of the room.
"MOM! YOU GET BACK HERE!" Erin threw a fit so vengeful that she forgot about her flu and ended up dry coughing onto her bed for a while.
She then plopped back onto her pillow and poured the rest of her soda into her mouth with the energy of a sloth, and the anger of a tiger.
And aggravatingly, Serra was still hanging around when she was finished.
Trying to avoid contact with her persistently perky expression, Erin glanced at the thermos and muttered, "What's in there?"
"Soup!" Serra gestured the thermos out with a bit of pride in her smile, "Heh heh, I made it myself!"
Erin's eyes widened so much it was like they looked ready to crack like glass, "Oooooh no, I know where this is going! I am NOT drinking that!"
Serra gave her that dumb ol' blank stare, "How come?"
"I can think of at least five good reasons…" Erin muttered scornfully, too scratchy in the throat to want to start listing them off.
She then glared at her and wondered, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Serra shook her head, "Sure, but none of it's as important as helping my best buddy get better!"
"...You know that grape medicine is looking a hell of a lot better right about now." Erin was about to reach for the bottle when her mom suddenly popped out around the corner.
"Just drink the soup, dear." She said, asserting some of that motherly force that's usually buried under layers of fooling around.
She then retreated before Erin could get out a "Gah!", forced to look at Serra gesturing the thermos out eagerly.
"I'll get a bowl and spoon! You wait right there, Pal-in!"
"Wait!" Erin pulled her hand out and failed to get her attention, "Uuuuugh…"
She slammed her head against her pillow and stared up at the ceiling wondering just how long she was going to suffer through this.
"I can't even escape her when I'm SICK! Why why WHY does she keep coming back into my life?!"
After wallowing in self-pity for a while, she watched Serra nearly trip on the carpet running back into her room, a bowl of steaming fresh soup in her hands.
"Here you are! A Serra Soupy Special! With Spices!"
The moment Erin put that in her hands, she would be locked into a state of misery.
"J-Just…put it on the table."
Serra did so and then decided she had free reign to walk around her room, causing Erin to flare her eyes open and grumble, "H-Hey, who said-"
Serra's smile was like sunshine, "Heh heh! You really spruced your room up, Pal-in! I like all the red!"
"Hmph, mom did all of that…"
Serra then stopped in front of the bookcase and gasped excitedly as she plucked one of the books out, "You still read books?!"
Erin squinted at her like she was crazy, "O-Of course I do, why would I STOP?"
Serra hung the book at her stomach and blinked a few times, "Uhhhh, I dunno, you just seemed like you were more focused on exercise nowadays!"
"People can have multiple interests, cuz." Erin felt belittled having to explain that to her.
"Oooooh, yeah, heh heh! Well I'm glad! You always got so sparkly eyed whenever you had a book in your hands!"
Erin slapped her face and grumbled, "C-Could you NOT talk about how stupid I used to look…?"
"Whaddya mean, 'stupid'?" Serra said with genuine confusion.
Quickly growing tired of this routine of brains vs. no brains, Erin glared at her and demanded, "Are you going to be here long?"
"Just until you're feeling better, Pal-in!" Serra decreed.
"Pffft, I'm going to be sick all weekend at this rate." Erin said in a dejected tone.
Serra grinned, "Hey, that's not so bad! We could have a sleepover!"
A chill crawled down Erin's spine, and thus her response to that information was to flop her head down and mutter, "I'm going to kill myself."
"Don't be so melodramatic! It'd be just like old times!" Serra then put the book back and ran over to the closet.
Erin then widened her eyes as somehow, Serra peeled apart all the goth and punk clothing to find her dreaded secret…
That her mom kept a secret rack of colorful, more kiddy-like clothing for her in the back.
"Sonofa-!" Erin pulled herself out of bed by sheer hateful willpower but was too late to stop Serra from pulling out a pink shirt and turning around to present it to her.
"Ha ha! You'd look great in this!"
Erin paused and glared at the shirt with scorn hot enough to burn a hole through the sun…but after a little while, had a laugh at it.
"This old thing?" She took it and held it up to her chest, "I outgrew it years ago. It'd barely cover my chest."
She tossed it onto the floor just for Serra to pull out another one with a teddy bear pattern. Erin's face turned bright red as she was suddenly assaulted by a happy sleepover memory where she wore that exact shirt.
With one arm under her chest and steam coming off her face, she turned the other way and muttered, "W-Will you stop being so…so…you…?"
"Pal-in, I don't think I can BE anyone else, silly!"
"Why do I keep falling into this nonsense?!" It was getting to the point where she almost preferred suffering through the soup than playing along with her irritating personality.
She weakly crawled back into bed and saw her mom's hair poking out from around the corner.
"Mom…" She growled.
Her mom popped out like it was nothing and said, "Hey Serra, would you like to help me with a favor real quick? My back's sore, sooo…"
"Sure thing, Rosey!" Serra pumped her fists and ran to her aide.
Erin's mom stuck behind for a moment to point a few times at the soup, mouth the word "soup" and then audibly repeat the word "soup" like there was an echo in the room.
"ALRIGHT I GET IT!" Erin shouted, her mom leaving with a wily smirk as Erin accepted her fate and grabbed the bowl and spoon, scooping some of it into her mouth post-haste just to get it over with finally.
Her eyes widened sharply as her tongue was hit with like ten different spices, a warm broth, and a decent serving of shredded chicken and angel hair noodles.
"Th-This is…good…" Her mind shunted out of her mouth on reflex.
She shook her head violently and turned to the door to shout, "ALEX! Get in here!"
He was there in three seconds flat and almost tripped over the carpet in the process, "W-What what?!"
She waved him over and then pointed for him to get on his knees next to the bed. She then scooped another bit of soup up and forced it into his mouth, "Here, try this."
He was initially flummoxed but after a couple fits of gagging he swallowed the soup and his normally docile face lit up with childlike delight, "This is…good?"
Erin could no longer hide behind the excuse of her taste buds being funky…so she resorted to something else!
"Gimme my phone…" She commanded, and Alex executed.
But once it was in her hand, she stared blankly at the call screen and tilted her head towards her brother, "Uhhh, what was uncle's phone number again?"
"Ummm…1-360-748-1993?" Alex scratched the side of his head, "At least…I hope it still is."
Erin curled her bottom lip and slowly dialed the number up, and after a few rings got an answer, "Hello, who is this?"
That chipper, laid-back tone was definitely him.
"H-Hey Uncle…" Erin said with forced embarrassment, "It's Erin."
"Oh ho! This is a surprise, but a pleasant one. I heard you weren't feeling too well. Did Serra get the soup to you on-"
"Y-Yeah yeah she did, look Uncle…"
"Hmmm?"
"There's NO way she made it. You helped her or…fuck, Leo did."
"...Ha ha ha! That's what you think? Yeah, you caught me red handed!"
Erin breathed a slight sigh of relief until Mew revealed…
"I picked up the spices from the store since we were out of some. But she put it all together herself."
Erin's eyes widened, "Y-You're kidding me…"
"Enjoy the soup, niece. And hey, just to remind you. I'm no substitute for your dad, but you can always talk to me if your mom's being a pain."
"I heard that, Mew!" Erin's mom shouted around the corner.
"...Shit, you had the speaker on?!"
Erin quickly turned the phone off and threw her arms down in defeat, with Alex catching the phone after it slid out of her grasp.
"..." Erin stared at the ceiling muttering, "How…?"
Alex closed his eyes and sighed, "Don't make a big deal out of this, sis, it's just soup."
"Just soup…yeah…" Erin turned her head the other way and grumbled in protest, "Bet she never made soup before in her life…"
Alex rubbed the back of his head, "Sooo, do you need anything else, or…?"
"No thanks, I'm just going to drink from the reminder of my own damn inferiority…"
"It's JUST soup…" Alex groaned, but then tried to put a politer spin on it, "Seriously, you're WAY cooler than her in so many ways, sis."
He then left the room, as Erin clenched her bottom sheet and felt sick to her stomach.
She eventually turned back around and continued taking the soup. It was doing wonders for her throat, but damaged her confidence.
It was barely over a month ago when she went on that shopping trip and didn't know what the hell she was doing.
And then there's all the moments where Serra beat her in competitions.
She's put in all this hard work to be the best. She had the looks, the brains, the confidence, but she STILL paled in comparison to Serra.
"It's unfair…"
As she rattled the spoon in her grasp against the bowl, Serra walked back into the room with her cheerful smile, "Heeey, I'm back! Boy, your mom sure did build up a lotta garbage bags!"
Serra's eyes lit up upon seeing the bowl was empty, "You drank it all! Great! How do you feel now?"
Erin turned her head the other way to hide her watering eyes and blushing cheeks, a squeak of timidness escaping her lips, "Like shit…"
"Eh?" Serra stared blankly in confusion.
Erin flung the bowl onto the end table and then flopped her head down on the pillow, "I want to sleep now…"
Serra hung around and poked her on the back, "Alright, Pal-in, something's up!"
It took three pokes for Erin to furrow her brows and sit back up to glare at her.
There was a 20 page long rant brewing in Erin's head telling her to just leave her the Hell alone already, but on top of her throat, lungs and nose collaborating to mess her up she felt something else the longer she stared at her cousin's face…
Guilt.
With a deep, pained swallow and a red, flustered face, she turned the other way and muttered, "How can I be so much worse off than someone so ignorant and-and…stupid?!"
"I dunno whatcha mean by that, because…" Serra pumped up her fists and smiled, "You seem awesome to me, Pal-in!"
Erin looked at her and fanned her hands over her chest, "Look at me! I'm pale, I'm snotty, I look like shit!"
Serra tilted her head, "Yeah, buuuut, everyone gets sick!"
Erin glared at her blunt obliviousness, "Boasts the one exception…"
"I think…you need some positive reinforcement to help take your mind off the ick!" Serra then ran straight for the bookshelf and started thumbing through the books.
"H-Hey!" Erin blurted out.
Serra tilted her head back and laughed awkwardly, "Sorry, I forgot what your favorite book was."
"..." Erin gave up and brushed the back of her hand out, "Second shelf, third from the right…"
Surprisingly, Serra did get the right book first try, but had trouble pulling it out.
After giving it a few tugs, she caused the bookshelf to shake and a framed picture to fall from the top.
She snatched it up easily and shouted, "Whoops!"
When she lifted it up it was pretty dusty, so she used her sleeve to clean it off, and then smiled at it, "Ha ha, hey look what I found!"
Erin raised a brow, she sure as hell didn't remember there being a picture on top of the shelves.
Serra brought it over and it was a slap to the face Erin didn't want. Cause it was her younger self in that frame, with one braided ponytail, a few pimples, glasses, and a book shyly held under her arm.
Serra was holding her from behind and trying to get her to jump at the camera, her smile missing a couple teeth.
Damian accidentally got kicked in the back during that.
Her brother, Leo and Zelene were somewhere in the back playing a board game.
And Lunalei, still as short then as she is now, was running in ready to intervene.
…Her dad had taken the picture.
With fury swelling within her embarrassment, Erin snatched the picture up and slammed it on top of the bed, "Give me that!"
After a fevered fit of panting, she pulled the frame up slightly and bit her lip.
Serra then took the picture back and stared at it warmly.
"Hehe!" She looked at her and asked, "Why'd you stop wearing glasses anyways?"
Erin raised her brow, "Uhhh…my eyesight got better?"
"I think you should try wearing some again! They looked nice!"
"Pffft, no way. I ain't gonna look like a loser again."
"How would that make you a loser when you can do so much awesome stuff?"
Erin scoffed, "Serra, you don't even understand half of the shit I'm capable of."
Serra backed up and laughed, "Maybe, but I know you must've put in a lotta effort to get good!"
Erin stepped back and bobbed her head, "Heh, you're damn right."
She then slowly realized that her body didn't feel like it was in as much pain as it was moments ago.
"..." With deep red cheeks, she looked at the picture one more time and then asked Serra, "Do you seriously still think we're friends?"
"Absolutely!" No hesitation.
Erin smirked, "Weirdo."
There was really no escaping her energy, so might as well make like her and roll with the punches.
"Haaa. Wanna watch a game? I bet there's basketball on right now." She pulled the tablet up and propped it.
"Sounds fun!" Serra proclaimed.
However, Erin pointed at her and firmly said, "This changes nothing though cuz, I'm still going to smoke you once we're back in school."
"Heh heh, I'm ready for a competition anytime, Pal-in!" Serra put her fist up and Erin scoffed.
"Just get a chair and sit down…"
So that was how they chose to spend this day.
And as they sat together, Erin slipped into her memories, remembering barely staying awake in a tent to watch a movie with Serra…
Maybe it was ok to be a loser...once in a while.
Next Time: Maria Tries Again