Phacelia

Chapter 3

I wake up feeling good. I send a text to Miya to tell her that I'm getting ready. It's raining outside so I put on a black band hoodie that Skye brought me from a show before and red skinny jeans.

After I get ready, I make my way downstairs to have breakfast before Miya arrives. I make it to the top of the stairs where I'm greeted by the sight of Axton standing in our doorway with his fiancé clinging to his arm like a boa. My nausea begins to form. The sight of Addy is literally about to make me puke. I internally laugh as I run back to my bathroom to throw up. Soon after, my brothers, Axton, and even Addy are in my bedroom.

"What did you do to my sister, Addy?" Skye asks with a laugh. Saber runs his hand up and down my back in comfort. Without breakfast, there isn't a lot in my stomach to come up so it doesn't take long.

"Are you okay?" Axton asks, looking worried. He and Addy are seated on my bed, Saber is standing beside them. They are probably going to try to stage another school intervention.

"I'm okay. Thank you for asking." I give Axton a small smile and try not to act too comfortable around him for his sake. If Addy thought that we might be friends it's hard to tell what kind of hell she would put him through. Which sucks because I do consider Axton a friend. I get up from the floor with help from Saber. I swish some water from my sink around in my mouth and brush my teeth again. Addy says nothing the whole time but rolls her eye at me and glares. I hear the front door open and my best friend and savior call out my name.

"Everything okay up there?" Miya yells out.

"Yeah! On my way!" I call back as I nonchalantly walk past the group in my room before they can try to stop me. I don't turn back around to see if they're trying to follow as I race Miya out to her car and get in. Within minutes, we're gone and off to school.

"Thanks for saving me. I thought they were going to try to make me stay home again."

"Did you get sick again? That's unusual. Are you sure you shouldn't stay?"

"It is more frequent, but I'm sure it's nothing serious." I try to reassure her. "I can't stay home all day. It's awful there. I'm either by myself or my dad is there just ignoring me and making me feel worse."

When we pull into the school parking lot, Julien is there waiting on us.

"Do you want to do more training?" He asks me before I can even step out of the car. I look over to the field where a couple of drenched wolves are already training in the pouring rain. They practice no matter the weather since wolves don't get sick thanks to their incredible healing. Most wolves anyway. Admittedly there is still a chance when I meet my wolf tomorrow that I can heal as they can. However, knowing what happened to my mother doesn't give me or anyone else much hope of that.

"I would love to," I admit to Julien. He's a great trainer and sparring buddy. He reinforces what I do right and tells me anything I do wrong.

"But," Miya cuts in for me. "Without wolf super healing, she shouldn't be out in this rain."

"Oh, yeah." Julien looks down, obviously feeling guilty about forgetting Miya and I don't have wolves yet. "I'm sorry."

"Plus she got sick again this morning," Miya adds.

"Again? Are you sure you're okay?" Julien's expression twists into worry.

"Yeah, just a little exhausted," I admit. I haven't been able to keep any food in me, so my energy is running low. "You can go train, though," I tell Julien. "We'll go to class and we can go to Mussy's together after." Julien nods in agreement. He walks with us to where our class is before heading back out onto the field. Once we get into the class, my savior Miya hands me a granola bar to get me through the day.

"Let's go eat," I tell Miya after I feel like I've done enough school for the day. We go grab Julien off the field and head to Mussy's for lunch. Because of the rain, Mussy's is more crowded than usual. "I want a burger and strawberry shake," I tell Miya before she makes her way through the crowd to order. I'm so hungry I can't wait for food.

"What are you doing for your birthday tomorrow?" Miya asks once she's found her way back to the table. This time, she doesn't have food with her. I have to wait.

"Going to school with you," I say as I lay my head on the table.

"Tomorrow is your birthday?" Julien asks with a bright smile. I nod in reply.

"You are not going to school on your birthday." Miya sighs at me. "Julien and I can skip a day. We'll come to hang out."

"That's probably not a good idea. I'll meet you guys out though." I say dejectedly. Miya knows every aspect of my life, but I didn't want Julien in my house tomorrow if I could help it.

Miya stands up suddenly, which springs me to sit up. She makes her way through the crowd and returns with trays of food. I look at her excitedly as she puts food in front of me. "Thank goddess!" I exclaim as I dig into my fries. A moment later, I'm hit by a familiar feeling. A feeling that has me up and running through the crowd and into the bathroom of Mussy's.

"Shit." I hear Miya say as she follows behind me. I find an empty stall and my french fries fall into the toilet. I didn't even get to my burger. Miya crams herself into the stall with me and holds my hair back for me. I hear a few screams as Julien follows behind us. When he doesn't leave, the other girls do. Julien pushes his way through the girls leaving, not even noticing the scowls they give him, and sits beside the toilet to face me. He takes my hand in his and squeezes it. I give him a small smile. "Celia—" Miya begins. Her words trail off, not even knowing what to say.

"I'm fine," I tell her as I feel tears fall down my cheeks. "I'm okay," I say again, trying to convince myself also. Julien's face is full of fear. I wish he didn't have to be part of this. Maybe it would be better for him if he never became my friend. I quickly dismiss the thoughts from my head. It's his choice, just as it was Miya's. I look into the eyes of my dear friends pleadingly. "My brothers can not know about this," I tell them.

"Celia—" Miya tries to argue.

"Please, Miya," I look at her with the tears still falling down my face. She nods in silent agreement, and Julien copies shortly after.

The ride home is eerily quiet. I watch the trees go by with my forehead pressed against the cold glass. Julien didn't accept the ride home and instead took his way. Probably too disturbed to be close to me for now. I have that effect on people sometimes.

"Will you stay with me?" I ask Miya when she pulls into my driveway.

"Of course," Miya says gently. I take a minute before getting out of the car. Miya waits with me. I take a deep breath and strengthen my mind for the interactions to come. I have to be strong in front of my brothers so they don't have another reason to worry. Also because I'm not ready to have that conversation with them. I count down from five to prepare myself. When I open the door, Miya follows me.

"Hey!" Skye calls out as Miya and I enter the house. I give them a small smile and take another deep breath.

"Hi," I say sheepishly. "Is it okay if Miya stays over?" I ask even though I already invited her and I doubt she'll leave if they say no.

"I don't see a problem with it," Saber answers from the kitchen.

"I doubt Dad will even know she's here," Skye replies. "Join us in the basement, guys," Skye demands with arms full of sodas. Saber follows him with his arms full of sodas. Miya and I follow them. When we enter the room, Skye and Saber restock the mini fridge while Axton and Addy are making themselves at home snuggling on the sofa. Now I have to deal with Addy too. I see Miya tense up at the sight of Addy.

"Hi, guys," Axton says to us with a big smile. Addy scowls at him for noticing our existence.

"Hi," I reply, not daring to even speak his name from my mouth.

"Hi, Axton," Miya answers with his name and a cute smile. Miya and I take a seat on a few chairs next to the sofa. Saber and Skye plop themselves down across from us on the short part of the sofa.

"So, how are you, Celia?" Addy asks. "I mean after—" she cuts off to imitate me puking.

"I'm fine now," I tell her with a smile. "This morning was—"

"Oh, not from this morning." Addy cuts me off and I swear I see a glint in her eyes and she smirks at me. I should have known better than to sit in the same room as her and Axton. But here we are. "I'm talking about just a while ago at Mussy's."

Saber and Skye look at me at the same time. Their expressions are unreadable. Disappointment? Sadness? Fear? "Cel?" Saber says my name with his full of raw emotion. Before I can say anything to them, Miya jumps to her feet. She looks ready to jump the gap between herself and Addy. Even with Addy having a wolf and Miya not, I'm not convinced Addy would win.

"Miya!" I yell before my friend could do anything that would get her in trouble. As much as I wanted Addy hurt, it wouldn't change anything. I let Addy win this round. I, of course, knew that was the only reason she would do this. She has nothing to gain by telling the boys about me getting sick again. Nothing except my pain and a reaction from Miya. I could feel more tears pouring down my face. One look at me and I saw Miya's resolve change. "Let's just go." I plead with her. Miya nods and helps me to my feet. Skye and Saber get up to try to follow us to the door.

"Don't even think about it!" Miya yells at them. "Just leave us alone right now!" They both stop in their tracks. As much as I love them and I don't want to hurt them, I can't give them the answers they want. I don't have answers and I wasn't ready to think about the questions they had. I am just as afraid as they are. Miya leads me to my bedroom and lays me down. She lays down next to me, rubbing my arms comfortingly until I fall asleep.