Chapter 10: School Day

I walk down the school hallway, my hoodie pulled up and covering my head. The school resembles a bad quilt job. Different colors and patterns adorn each hall and classroom thanks to numerous bouts of construction. Clashes of style and color assault my eyes where the different eras of construction meet.

I feel a slight breeze where the buildings don't quite match up. Small holes and gaps let little rays of daylight through smattering the hall with little pinpricks of light. They also make the school leak even worse than the Wooden Mansion. It is very cold.

I peak into Mel’s first class, but it looks like she hasn’t shown up yet. Darn.

I share Physical Education, Lunch, and history with Mel, but the earliest—P.E.—isn’t until third period. It’s unfortunate, but I’ll just have to catch her later. The teachers don’t like students hanging around the halls and it's too cold out here anyway.

I wonder what time it is? The halls aren’t nearly as crowded as usual. I typically show up with only seconds to spare, but since Emi gave me a ride, I appear to have arrived a little early.

I walk next to the wall and hunch my shoulders as people pass. I know that they probably don’t care that I’m not wearing a backpack. But for some reason, I can’t stop tugging at my hoodie where the strap of my backpack would usually rest and fidget. My steps feel too light and bouncy without it too. It’s weird.

I reach my first class, math, and walk into the room. There’s a blackboard across from me and at the front of the room to my right there is a cracked whiteboard. At the back of the room is the teacher’s desk, still unoccupied. Drat. I was hoping to get the homework.

Ah well, I sit in my assigned seat and put my head in my arms. I’m sure she’ll get here soon.

I feel nice and toasty wrapped up in my hoodie. The math class is warmer compared to outside, the smaller space and door keeping in the heat. While I’m here I might as well try and figure out magic since I have some time. Try and see if there is an alternative way to access it, other than the usual way that is.

My head in my arms, I begin to drift off to the now-familiar memory.

As I sit in the tree, I ponder at the blue light that glows at the two-legs feet. It shows up when he runs and disappears when he stops. I don’t know why, but I could feel a connection to the blue energy. As if I was in a giant web and something was tugging faintly on one of the lines. Perhaps if I can figure out how to use the blue-thingy I could easily escape the next time I am chased.

Sitting still in my tree I start to search for where that tugging sensation had come from. It had not come from the outside, however. It was inside. Looking inside myself, I find that the tugging is almost at the center of my being. At the bottom of the abdomen. Where I breathe. The tugging continues but it is growing distant. NO! I will not let you go!

I follow the tug but soon grow confused. There are multiple tugs. All seeming to vibrate my lungs. Making a swift decision, I head to the closest tug. It is weaker, but that is good. I am tired, and big tugs in my webs are hard to deal with. The harder the tug the bigger, stronger, and more ferocious the prey. I do not know if the same logic applies to this web-that-is-not, but I trust my instincts.

Scrambling through the trees, I approach the tug. I notice that the trees begin to thin as I get nearer. My footholds growing further and further apart. How annoying. I do not want to risk walking the ground. This is the deep woods. I need to be careful.

My fears are meaningless. Before I must walk the ground, I find the source of the tug. It is a tree. An ugly tree.

In the middle of a small clearing sits a very twisted tree. Its branches have odd growths and seem to twist into themselves, creating small nests of twigs, it’s leaves hang limp and yellow, its bark twisted and knotted. It is very ugly. Not even good as a web anchor. Even spiders have standards.

I watch, trying to figure out why this sickly—is it oozing? —tree is tugging at my lungs. The lines of the twisted bark begin to glow which tugs at my lungs again, harder. Perhaps my lungs are drawn to light? The man’s feet also glowed…

The tug increases exponentially as I see the sickly tree vomit out a… small green creature.

The stinky ones!

I almost leave right there. I want nothing to do with the stinky ones. They taste awful and stink too.

However, I don’t. I almost dyed because I met a two-legs who could use this “tug-stuff”, I will not leave until I find out what it is!

I can feel the tugging slowly quieting away! It is infuriating! It is escaping!

Instinct tells me that the tugging is escaping my web! I try to use the logic. It is not my web, nor is it my prey.

Bait. Trap. Patience.

The instinct doesn’t listen.

It’s getting away! Catch! Wrap! Bite!

I war with myself tense on the tree, struck with indecision. I do not like this. I am a predator, I am intelligent. I should catch the “tug-stuff”. I should avoid the snare.

Bait. Catch! Patience. Wrap! Trap!

For some reason the instinct is fine with that last thought and having reached a compromise, I rush to snatch up the “tug-stuff”, reeling it in towards my lungs! I briefly hesitate as it gets closer. My eight eyes don’t see anything, but the tugging says it’s close. Too close. Maybe I should sto—

IT BURNS!!!

The “bad-tug-stuff” hits my lungs and I feel a terrifying sensation. My lungs seem to stop working, my instinct screams that we need to clean the lungs! But there is nothing to clean! They should be working! But the “tug-stuff” has broken them!

Logic! Quick Logic!

I can still breathe a little. It is merely that my lungs are not working as well. I need more. Air. I usually sit still when I need more air. But that is not working. What did the two-legs do when it needed air?

AIR! AIR! DEATH! DYING! CLEAN LUNGS!

The two-legs and other warm-blooded animals would start to heave and puff. Creating small currents in the air that would vibrate my web. So annoying. But why?

CLEAN LUNGS!

They are clean stupid instinct! Ehem, it doesn’t matter why. Only that it helped the two-legs. They had a quicker recovery. I cannot “huff and puff” but can I do something similar? My head starts to spin. The instinct quiets down. Well, that’s not good. I need to think, and quick.

Lungs. Air. Huff. Puff. Air. Breathe. Currents in the air. Wind!

I scramble up the tree, my legs not grabbing the bark like they should. The world seems to be getting darker. My movements are jerky.

Reaching the top, I flop over on my back. Stomach facing the wind as my legs spread out to keep me from crashing through the canopy. The air hits my exposed lungs, and my mind starts to clear. The numb feeling in my limbs starting to abate.

It’s cold.

I’ve found a temporary solution. I cannot stay here long, it is too cold, but I have time to think. I pulled the “tug-stuff” into my lungs and now they are hurt. But I do not see damage. What could the “tug-stuff” have done? Are the insides of the lungs hurt? Actually, where did the “tug-stuff” go?

I tense. Trying to sense where it went, feeling for the vibrations…

…the “tug-stuff” is still in my lungs. And it’s moving. *shudder*

“Look, the poor girl is sleeping! Anyone got a glass of water?”

But what is the “tug-stuff” doing? It seems to be burrowing somewhere…

*giggle* “Lady Abigail! What if the teacher sees us!”

“Relax, she doesn’t usually get here until the bell rings. We still have a few minutes.”

But where is it burrowing to? My lungs feel… strange. I feel a connection forming. Ah, no good.

“This should show the little freak!”

The “tug-stuff” connects, and I feel a barrier break! The “tug-stuff” is pouring in! It’s filling up my lungs! It’s—

COLD! COLD! COLD!

I sit up with a gasp! So, cold!

I feel icy water dripping down my head and the back of my hoodie. I arch my back to try and get away from the cold, but I feel something shove me from behind sending me into the desk table. I manage to get my left arm up in time to cushion my head, but this sends aching pain coursing through my arm. It hurts!

*Hisss*

“Look, look it hissed like a cat! I told you it wasn’t human!”

“With those red creepy eyes—”

“And that too pale skin!”

“Yes, truly it is unfortunate that such a hideous beast was let into our classroom. Whatever shall we do with it, girls?”

I recognize the voices and groan internally. I’d forgotten why I didn’t usually come to school early. It had been such a long time that I’d forgotten why I never bothered.

I glance behind me and catch a glimpse of my assailants. Behind me, I find a familiar figure with an eyepatch. Standing in front of two other girls. Long blond hair, and immaculately dressed… yep, it’s none other than Abigail leering down at me with her usual poise and grace.

The other two are… well one’s got brown hair and the other is a kind of dirty blond. They look nervous and seem to keep glancing between Abigail, me, and the door. I can’t really remember their names, not that it’s important. Just more faces in Abigail’s usual band of cronies.

“Leave me alone, Abigail.” I say and bury my face back into my arms.

“Don’t call me—” I sneak a look from behind my sturdy walls, her face is flushed and her breathing quickening. It’s funny how her face keeps getting redder and redder. I wonder if enough blood runs to the head, will it pop?

“I am nobility. You must refer to me as My Lady, or if I allow it, Lady Abigail.” Her face is still red, but she has regained her poise.

Maybe it’s the fact that this all seems so silly after being chased by a goblin. Maybe it’s the adrenaline from my past memory of almost dying, but I just can’t seem to care about Abigail right now. I know she’ll get me back, and that I’ll probably regret this but…

“But you aren’t really nobility yet? You’re engaged to someone in the Sorrow family, right? You won’t receive your official title until then, so right now you’re just a commoner or at best minor nobility. You probably don’t even have Citizenship, yet. While I on the other hand…” I don’t like using my title or Name, but right now I really don’t care.

“I’m a noble by blood and a Citizen, so shouldn’t you be calling me Lady Wrath? Perhaps you might want to do a small curtsy before talking to me?” I give her a confused look. “Or is Lady Abigail ignorant of etiquette?”

Abigail's face starts to turn an even deeper shade of red. Her eye seems to bulge, and she is trembling with rage. My word! It’s getting hard to tell where her lipstick ends, she’s getting so bright! I can almost feel the heat from here! That is if my back weren’t so cold…

She looks so pretty too, when she isn’t fuming at the mouth. It truly is a shame.

I feel a small bit of satisfaction bloom up inside of me, but the rest of me is cringing at the confrontation. What am I saying!?

Remember, you don’t care, right?

…Oh yeah.

Abigail says something else but I’m too busy cringing inside. I thought saying that would be cool, but I basically just told a classmate to call me a lady and bow down. It’s a good thing it’s Abigail, because I think I might die if somebody called me Lady in front of my peers. It would be so embarrassing!

‘Lady Selina’ ‘Lady Wrath’ ‘My Lady’ *curtsy*

I shudder at the thought! *shudder* What was I thinking!?! If everyone really started calling me that it would be so mortifying! Ack!

I’m grateful that Abigail is too cruel and full of herself to ever humiliate me like that.

“Are you listening to me!?”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I turn to Abigail and with the utmost of sincerity say,

“Thank you, Abigail.” I give her a sincere smile. She may not know that she has done me a great favor by being prideful, arrogant, and a spoiled individual, but I should still show my appreciation. It’s the least I can do for the kindness she has given me.

*Splutter* “W-w-what are you blathering about!? You weren’t listening at all were you! I told you that I’m not—”

Somewhere amongst my musing and Abigail’s speech, the teacher had walked into the room and had set up her stuff on the small wooden desk found at the front of the room. I turn towards the front giving my whole attention to the teacher.

Poor Abigail, you should pay more attention, you know?

“Abigail!” *Crack* “Class is about to start. Since you seem to be set on wasting class time, I’ll be giving out double homework tonight. I’m sure the rest of the class appreciates how you have given them a chance to further their studies.”

“But, I—”

*Crack* The ruler strikes the desk one more time. Math teachers are scary.

“Ms. Sparth! I don’t care who your father is, one more word and you will be speaking to the ruler!”

Abigail sullenly returns to her seat. I fight to keep the smirk off my face. It’s easier when I realize the entire class is here and my back is still soaking wet. I shrink into my seat and hope nobody notices.

Math class begins and the class is pretty silent. Abigail gets a few glares from our classmates and she seems to wither in her seat. Heh.

I relax and listen to the lesson as best I can. My back is still wet and cold, but luckily Math class is one of the more insulated rooms in the school. Soon enough the chill fades and instead my head and back just feel wet and squishy. It’s very uncomfortable.

The teacher drones on. Usually, I’d be animatedly listening to her discuss sine, cosine, and tangent and how they’re related to a triangle’s angles, but right now I have trouble concentrating on the lesson. Thoughts of Mel, the goblin, my spider memories…

Ah, that’s right!

It seems like the spider memories are a bit of a bust as far as learning magic goes. The “tug-stuff” was of course mana, and the spider lungs were my past self’s Origin. Even the symptoms I had experienced after pulling it in were perfectly normal. In conclusion, there wasn’t anything new that I’d learned from my past self.

To use magic, you have to have an Origin. A place where mana seeps into a person from wherever mana comes from. It doesn’t have to be the lungs. Some people have an eye for an origin, or a liver. Stomach, artery, vein, muscle. Any organ in the body can be the Origin, it just depends on the person.

But before you can access your Origin there are two major obstacles one must overcome.

The first is that mana is required to create the Origin. Just like my spider self-did, you pull mana in and it finds the organ that is your Origin, much like water running downhill. After reaching the Origin it rips through to ‘somewhere’ and allows the Organism to access magic and perform spells. The larger the mana source used to create the Origin, the easier the next part is.

The second big thing is surviving after the Origin is created. After it reaches the Origin and rips through it, the organ it passes through is greatly weakened. If it’s a muscle, the muscle would get weaker, a stomach would start to have trouble digesting, and a lung—like my spider self—would have trouble diffusing gas.

Depending on how much mana you used and where the Origin is, it can take anywhere from three months to a year to recover from the procedure. After that interval is over mana will start to strengthen the body along with the organ it damaged, but until then it is a fight for survival.

Nobles have the advantage here. They have the means to keep someone alive if their liver, stomach, or other organ stops working for a couple months. They also have access to larger sources of mana to make the process go smoother. Much easier to keep someone alive for three months rather than a year when they start to have organ failure.

For me…

*shiver* I’d just have to find some other way to activate my magic. Still, I can’t believe I survived having my lungs as an origin in my past life. Humans have two pair so it’s not uncommon to survive a Lung Origin, but most spiders only have one. How had I done it—

“Selina! How would you get this angle?”

I jolt upright as my name is called by the teacher. On the board, I see a right triangle with two numbers on the sides, probably their lengths. I try and remember what the teacher was talking about, luckily I’ve done the entire weeks’ worth of homework. I am a little ahead of the class, so,

“Um, Y-you would take the inverse cosine of the two angles? I mean the side lengths! That would be… soh, cah… adjacent over hypotenuse. So, three over five?”

“Very good, Ms. Wrath. Please do pay attention, though.”

I flush, realizing that I’d been caught daydreaming. I manage to mumble out an apology and spend the rest of the class dutifully paying attention. I mentally berate myself for my lack of attention. Just because I’d found out I was the Demon Lord and was chased by a goblin didn’t mean I could slack off. I needed to do better.

When the teacher calls for the homework, it’s with great trepidation that I venture to the front to explain that I’d lost my backpack and, with it, all the homework. The Teacher explains that there isn’t much she can do about today’s, but she’ll try to send me home with the rest of the weeks. I can feel tears of frustration build in my eyes. I did all of it already! It isn’t my fault that I was chased by a goblin!

I don’t say anything though. I take the extra homework and trudge back to my seat. Trying to not let Abigail see how red my eyes are.

*shiver*

The bell rings and I walk to my next class. Language studies. I’m not too worried about this one. My writing is decent, and I have quite a large vocab for someone my age. There isn’t even any homework.

The class passes in a blur. I read a passage. I sit down. I write something about what a passage makes me feel and what I think the author is trying to say. I hand it in. Piece of cake. The bell rings again.

Finally!

Third period! P.E.! A hateful class!

But one I share with Mel!

I dash to the lockers and change into my gym clothes as quickly as possible. It’s difficult because I’m shivering quite a bit. Shoving my legs through the holes of my gym shorts and changing my shirt I rush outside. I’m grateful to have something dry on, even if more skin is exposed.

Today we’re out on the field and the air still has a bit of a chill to it. I try to control my shivering as I scan the yard for Mel. She always manages to get out here faster than me.

Where is she? I’ve got something important to tell her and she isn’t even…

*clomp*

“Hey Sel, you look cold. Need me to warm you up?” a teasing voice comes next to my ear. I roll my eyes.

“Stop it Mel. I’ve got s-something important to t-tell you.”

I try to push my clingy friend away, but my arms aren’t quite working right. They keep trembling and jerking and aren't nearly strong enough to get the bigger girl off of me.

“Sel, you’re freezing! Why don’t you have your hoodie on! You can’t be outside like this!”

“M-my hoodie’s w-wet. B-but that’s n-not i-i-important! I’ve got something to t-tell you.” My words come out choppy and broken. Stupid cold. Stupid wet stuff! Stupid Abigail!

“Wait, what happened to your arm!” She grabs it, and I hiss and pull away. No touchy!

“Sorry, sorry! Wait here for a second. You can’t do gym class like this.”

Mel runs off and I’m left shivering there. Stupid Mel! I have something to tell you! You can’t just leave like that!

When Mel returns, she’s dragging the gym teacher along. A big gruff looking man whose girth makes me wonder what qualifies him to teach a class whose main focus is on fitness.

His face seems to be set in a permanent scowl. He takes one look at me and his face seems to grow even gruffer. His brows scrunching in and the corners of his lips drawing down. I try and sink into myself to avoid his gaze with only mild success.

“Your friend here says you should be excused from class today? Is that true young lady?”

A part of me preens at the fact he didn’t use the word kid. Another part freaks out at the word “lady” before realizing it’s perfectly appropriate. My shivering has shot my nerves making me jumpy.

I glare at Mel. She should have asked before grabbing the teacher. She gives me a stern look back. Hmph.

“I-I-I’m f-fine, sir. I-I’m j-just a l-l-l-little c-cold.” Nooo! That wasn’t convincing at all!!! Stupid Mel!

“Why didn’t you bring a jacket then? The weather forecast said that today's temperature would be in the forties! Why didn’t you come prepared?” His words are gruff and angry. I shiver and shiver some more.

“I’m s-sorry.” I say with my head down. I can’t meet his eyes.

*sigh* “Teach, it’s not her fault. She told me her jacket got wet. Also, her arm’s pretty hurt. Selina’s just being stubborn.” I glance up at Mel giving her a reproachful look. It’s my fault the jacket got wet. I didn’t come prepared and have to bear the consequences of my actions.

The teacher glances at my arm, which is still wrapped up from when Ophir wrapped it two days ago. It’s looking a little worse for wear since it’s been through paint, oil, and a shower. The previous white clean look now yellow and spotted. Huh, probably should have changed the dressing this morning.

“Let me see it.” He says. I reluctantly hand over my arm. I want it back when you’re done, please. I’m quite fond of it.

He starts to unwrap the bandages and his face gets uglier and uglier as the bandages fall off. Wait, what does it look like? Why is your expression getting so weird? Let me see! Let me see!

Before I can take a better look at the damage, he wraps it back up. Hey! It’s my arm! Let me look at it!

“Take her to the nurse. She’s in no condition to be exercising right now.” His voice is scary! And his face is even scarier! I do not envy the students who are staying behind. When teachers get that mad, they tend to do evil things.

Like assign more homework or extra laps.

However, I do not have long to think on the woes of my classmates. I have bigger problems.

Like what could be wrong with my arm! What does he mean by “she’s in no condition to be exercising”! Is it infected!? Perhaps the bone is showing!

Images of my poor arm, infested with crawling maggots and gangrene goes through my head. Will it require amputation! Are they going to have to dig the maggots out of my flesh! Will they let me keep one? I could put it in a jar and—

As my thoughts are consumed with the grisly fate of my arm, I am pulled in a daze by Mel off the field. Her grip on my right arm is quite strong and I must hop to keep up as she practically drags me inside. How rude! I’m an injured patient! Treat me gently!

Those thoughts stop as I catch a glimpse of Mel’s thunderous expression. Nope don’t mind me. Pull me as much as you want. Scary.

We pass through the empty halls and start working our way through the maze of doors and hallways towards the nurse’s office. Mel still hasn’t said anything. By now the silence is making me quite nervous. Mel is usually quite chatty but if she isn’t then…

We stop and Mel turns to look at me. Her expression angry.

“Selina.” *sigh* Her expression becomes exasperated. “No, you’re not dying, or anything. Your wound just looks a little infected.”

So, no maggot in a jar then? Still, I do feel relieved that it’s not getting amputated or anything. Even if lefty isn’t as talented as righty, I am still quite fond of her.

“Sel, you need to take better care of yourself. You have to keep your wound clean! You! You…! How did you even get the bandage this dirty anyway! You didn’t have this on Saturday!”

“W-w-well I was in the b-barn and—” *yank*

She turns around and starts tugging me towards the nurse’s office again. Luckily, she’s pulling me by my right arm instead of my left.

“Never mind! I’ll ask when we get to the nurse’s office! I can hardly understand you with all your stuttering!”

Well, she does have a point. Speaking was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’d been ignoring how cold I’d been feeling, but it seems it was worse than I thought. My arm too. I’d hardly noticed when the pain transformed from an ache to a throb.

Still… does she have to walk so fast!

It isn’t long before we arrive in front of the nurse’s office. Inside is two beds with a white drape around them, currently pulled back, and a door in the back leading into what I presumed was an office. I don’t really frequent this place often. Unlike Mel who is in here often thanks to her extracurricular activities.

“Sammy! You in?” Mel yells out beside me, making me jump.

Out of the office stumbles a tall skinny woman. A pair of glasses precariously clinging to her nose. She seems to blink at the light a confused expression popping up on her face as she takes in me and Mel.

“Ah, Mel, it’s been a while since you sent someone in here. What did you do this time?” The nurse, who I presume is Sammy, walks towards one of the curtained off beds her arms gesturing wildly as she talks.

“Sammy! It’s not always my fault.”

Sammy looks at Mel her eyes grown to enormous sizes with the thick lenses she’s wearing as she pears at Mel in a look of disbelief.

“It isn’t?”

“No! Sel did this to herself! I’m helping her!”

“Ah, I got my days mixed up. Your swords practice isn’t today.”

I give Mel a scared look. What kind of best friend do I have? To be on a first name basis and so friendly with the school’s nurse…

I make a mental note to investigate this more thoroughly before joining the swordmanship club. I don’t want to die young after all.

The nurse turns her gaze to me and blinks in surprise. Taking in my gym clad shivering figure with a contemplative look. I shiver.

“Well bring her over. What seems to be the problem?”

I sit on the bed and open my mouth to tell her that I’m perfectly fine and that Mel is overreacting, but someone beats me to the punchline.

“She’s really cold, and her left arm needs to be rewrapped.”

Mel pauses for a couple seconds thinking. Well looks like she got all the symptoms.

“She’s also an idiot.”

Hey! I resent that! There’s a lot of people with that, not just me! I’ll get you for that Mel!

I shiver in silence. Brooding over my revenge.

“We get a lot of people with that in here.” The nurse says while chuckling. I feel something fall over my shoulders. I look and see that the nurse has produced a jacket from somewhere. What the! Where?

Something tugs on my arm and when I look, I see that she’s already got half of my injured arm unwrapped! What kind of ninja nurse is this!

I watch with anticipation as the dirty folds of the gauze are stripped away to reveal the three long scratch marks. They are red, inflamed, and there’s a yellow pus at the edges of the wound. Eww! Gross! For some reason just looking at my arm makes me feel dizzy and unwell. It hurts!

“Oh, dear. Well, this is a problem.” The nurse says while moving my arm back and forth as she takes a better look at it. Then she seems to produce a washcloth from thin air--how is she doing that?--and begins to vigorously scrub my wound.

AHHHH!

“You’ll need to keep this clean from now on. Apply an antibiotic ointment and change it daily too. Or else I’ll have to scrub it again.” Evil EVIL EVIL!!!

“And also stop playing in the dirt until this wound is fully cleaned. I won’t have your arm falling off on my watch too.” The demon stops scrubbing at my arm and instead smears it with a ointment and then starts to wrap it. I feel exhausted.

“Your friend is in no condition for gym. You can head back now Mel.”

“Ah, w-wait! Mel, I had something to tell you.” I blurt out before she has the chance to escape. My teeth no longer chattering as hard.

Mel glances over my way and then gives Sammy an expectant look. Sammy glances between the two of us, before giving a quiet sigh and walking into her office. “Make it quick. The girl needs rest and to warm up.”

The door shuts and Mel sits on the corner of the bed, eyes on me. I’m nervous now. I open my mouth to speak. Then close it, and open it again. What if Mel doesn’t believe me? What if she thinks I’m just making things up? What if…

No. Mel is my friend. She’ll believe me.

I steel myself.

“Iwaschasedbyagoblin!” My voice comes out in a torrent ending in a little squeak. I feel myself flush with embarrassment, but I can’t stop now.

“It chased me, and then it grabbed me, and there was a dog, but I thought it was a dear at first but then it wasn’t a deer and then I thought it was a dog, but it wasn’t that either and, and… the barn! I set up a trap for it and I wanted to tell you, but I was worried because I didn’t think you’d believe me but you’re my best friend so I should have trusted you, but I was scared, and, and…” Huh, the room is spinning.

“Sel! Calm down! It’s okay, it’s okay. You need to talk slower; I can’t understand you.”

No! She needs to understand! She has to believe me! *shiver*

Taking a deep breath, I say the next part very slowly. So she can understand.

“I-I was c-chased by a g-goblin. It g-grabbed me, my a-arm.” I raise my now bandaged arm to make sure she understands. So, she can see. So, she can believe me.

I gaze into her eyes. Trying to see if she understands what I’m saying this time. She bites her lip and looks concerned. Glancing between me and the office door where Sammy left. I don’t see what I’m looking for in her eyes. She doesn’t understand.

Should I say it again? Was I not clear enough? *shiver*

Mel seems to come to a decision and walks over to the nurse’s office. She knocks and then trades some words with Sammy that I can’t hear. I clench my hands frustrated. Why isn’t she listening to me?

“Sel, the nurse gave me your Dad’s phone number and told me I could call to let them know how you’re doing. You rest here and get warm. We’ll talk again after school, okay?”

“W-wait! Mel you have to believe me! P-please?” I can’t look at her.

“Of course, I believe you Sel. But you’re really cold right now and I think we should talk again once you’re warmed up, okay?” Mel’s voice is full of concern. I can feel the anxious look she’s giving me. It feels like a slap.

An overwhelming feeling of loneliness falls over me. A small part of me acknowledges that Mel thinks I’m hallucinating from the cold. That maybe, if we talk later, she’ll believe me. The rest of me, however, is still reeling from realizing that she doesn’t trust me. I feel like I’m back at the Wooden Mansion. Alone. Nobody to depend on but myself.

All day I’d been hoping to talk to Mel about the goblin. In my mind, I’d imagined wowing her with the tale of my gallant escape from a monster. Then I’d tell her about my trap, and Mel would tell me how to do it better, and then we’d brainstorm about how we’d take on all the goblins together. It would be an adventure.

But now I felt hollow and cold. In more ways than one. *shiver*

Mel leaves the room to return to the gym. I curl up on the bed, wrapping the jacket and pillow around myself.

Sammy comes out of the office carrying a mug. She hands it to me and tells me to sip it slowly. It’s only warm water. She goes on to say how she’s going to watch me for a little, and that someone will pick up lunch for me, but I hardly pay attention.

Inside a small flame of anger is igniting.

Fine! If Mel won’t help me then I’ll just get the goblins myself! She’ll be so jealous that I killed all the goblins without her!

That’ll show her! *sniff* Next time she'll think twice before doubting me!

*shiver*

I sit on the bed shivering from the cold, but my eyes feel hot and wet.

Stupid Mel!