C12 Living With It

The 3 hours suggested by Miss. Florida was almost near and per her words, the drugs were finally neutralizing and letting go of their effect on their victim. Phidelia winced at the irritating arguing voices that hit her eardrums when she became conscious of herself. She drowsily opened her eyes, slowly turning her head in the direction of the voices only to see Rowan and Claire.

She smiled, slowly shrugging up. Meanwhile, the two were so engulfed in their disagreement that they didn't even notice her sitting up. When she had finally managed her way up, she folded her arms on her chest, watching and tilting her head with slight giggles as she watched the two disagree on things.

"Woah–" She chuckled, finally drawing their attention. "You two look like a couple you know." She teased, making them glance disgustingly at each other.

"Oh, please Delia." Rowan scoffed, gliding over to her side. "Who is she by the way?" He threw a scornful glare at Claire who in turn, crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Don't be rude Rowan." Phidelia slightly hit his hand, gesturing Claire over. "This is Claire, the girl I helped at the canteen the other time. Remember?"

"Of course." He scoffed, settling beside Phidelia. "Who wouldn't? He mumbled, staring mockingly at Claire who in turn, scoffed, rolling her eyes in the process.

"Such an annoying personality you've got there," she grumbled. Rowan was about to retaliate when Phidelia snapped in with a deadpan look. "Enough guys, knock it off already." she sighed, glancing at their faces. Within a twinkle of an eye, her serious look slowly turned into a smile, "You guys look cute together." she chuckled and they both sighed, slowly shaking their heads.

"This is so you Delia," commented Rowan.

At that instant, Miss Florida walked in on them with a smile on her face; putting her hand in the pocket of her white coat as she took her stand beside the bed. "How are you feeling now?"

"Much better, thank you."

"That's good." she smiled, taking a look at her foot. "Guess you can walk properly now." she lifted her eyes to Phidelia. The swollen foot had trimmed down and it looked perfectly fine. You wouldn't know it was the same swollen foot if nobody told you. Phidelia twisted her foot a little, being conscious of herself if she might feel any pain but it was just okay. She smiled, "I think so. Thanks so much, Miss Florida."

"You're welcome." she stood upright, pocketing her hands once again with it being her habit. "You should be more careful when walking. You might probably lose a leg if you should trip twice like this." she joked and they all giggled.

"We will take our leave now Miss Florida," Rowan uttered, jolting up on his feet as he helped Phidelia up.

"See you guys around then."

"Sure." They nodded and sauntered towards the door. Florida stared at them with their witty chatter and jokes as they walked out of the door. She sighed, slightly shaking her head, and shuffled over to her desk.

*****

Phidelia, Claire, and Rowan glided into the busy corridors bustling with witty chatters of teenagers finding their way to wherever their destination might be. "So what happened to your foot?" Claire questioned as they rounded the corner of the corridor that leads to the canteen. "You were perfectly okay when we separated this morning."

"Well, I..." she stuttered, thinking of what to say as she knew well that lie wasn't going to work on Claire as they both came to school together. Changing the lie she made earlier to Rowan will also leave him suspicious of her. She wished she could change the topic but then how? It would sound unnatural if she had just raised a different topic from nowhere. "I..." she fumbled about to make an excuse but then Rowan suddenly stopped his tracks, bringing them also to a halt.

"Hey wait." he snapped in, staring quizzically at them. "How come you girls came together? There is no way Phidelia can come with the bus. And to think of it, you two have different routes to your house."

Claire chuckled at his surprised look. "Just met her stranded on the streets. Can we go now? I'm starving." She strolled off, taking the lead. Rowan scoffed, shaking his head. "Where did you even find this your friend Delia?" He muttered and trod after her.

Phidelia hived a sigh of relief, "That was close." she grumbled to herself. "You guys should wait for me," she called after them and rushed off.

After about 5 mins, they got to the canteen. They were about to walk over to the counter to order their meals when someone called Rowan. They turned and it was Lily.

"Mrs. Martinson wants to see the class president," she uttered as she neared them. "Anyway, how is your leg now Delia?"

"I'm feeling better now," Phidelia replied.

"Okay, I will take my leave now." she smiled and sauntered off. Rowan glanced at Claire and Phidelia and sighed. "You girls should go ahead. I will be back soon." He stroked Phidelia's arm and hurried off.

"Okay, let's go," said Claire, sauntering towards the counter while Phidelia stared worriedly at Rowan as he glided out of the door, rounding the corner to Mrs. Martinson's office. Claire was almost at the counter when she noticed that Phidelia wasn't following her. She turned and saw her standing and staring into space. "Delia?" she called, gesturing her over.

She smiled and rushed off to join her. "What were you doing there?" she queried as they joined the queue and Phidelia smiled, leaving the question unanswered. After a few seconds, it finally got to their turn to order.

"What are you ordering?" Claire queried as Phidelia handed her money to the staff.

"Sandwich with coke please," she ordered and the lady got on it.

"Is that even healthy?" Claire questioned Phidelia hastily before ordering hers. "Can I have my usual Omelet?" she smiled at the staff and she went to get it for her. After a few seconds, they handed their tray to them. They chorused their "Thanks." and headed off to find a place to sit. They sent their eyes lurking around and saw an empty seat in the third row on their far right.

"Over there, let's go," Phidelia uttered with a grin.

Just as they took a step, someone intentionally crossed their path which caught them off guard; making Phidelia lose her balance, and her tray fell off her hands, creating a mess on the person's shoes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." she gaped. Claire and Phidelia both lifted their eyes to the victim to apologize but then their eyes flew wide open with the sight that met their eyes.

"Oh my God Tina." Both Bella and Roxy gasped, covering their mouth with their hands. Tina glared at Phidelia and snickered. "Hey, did you lose your eyes or something you stupid weakling? She glanced at her shoes. "Disgusting." she retorted, being a frenzy. "Get it off," she shouted, causing a scene. Everybody stared confusingly at them, murmuring among themselves.

Phidelia instinctively cringed, "Ah, sorry." she hastily turned to the next table beside her and took a tissue to clean it but then Tina hit it from her hand.

"Lick it off," she commanded. Both Phidelia and Claire exchanged horrified looks and Tina, scoffed. "What happened? Didn't you say you will take her place?" she glanced at Claire. "Or maybe you changed your mind." she queried and without a warning, grabbed a fistful of Claire's hair.

"Argh!" Claire let out a painful cry as Tina dragged her by the hair to her side, still holding onto it. Phidelia could no longer stand watching her friend getting hurt. "Okay, I will do it." she finally exuded, staring at Claire who looked aghast at her.