Bianca spent all day hidden under her bed's covers, unmoving. She hadn't gotten up for anything: not for classes, and not even to take her meals or her pills. She just wasn't in the mood, feeling tired of everything.
One of her roommates, Sabrina, was the first to notice.
"Shouldn't we do something?" She muttered to her other roommate, Nicole.
"It's not our problem, just ignore her".
And they both proceeded to ignore Bianca, even though Sabrina felt a tinge of worry.
The next day was the same, Sabrina worried a bit more.
"Isn't she dead?"
"Don't be ridiculous!".
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Nicole went to open it. One of the teachers was there.
"Good afternoon, girls. Can I talk to Bianca Hersey? She's missed two days of classes already".
Sabrina pointed nervously at the bulky figure hidden under the covers, and the teacher walked irritably towards it. What a waste of a good scholarship for such a lazy student, was his first thought.
Well, his irritation didn't last too long when he realized the girl wasn't asleep, but unconscious.
"What's wrong with you both!? She's been unmoving for two days and you did nothing!?" The teacher yelled at the girls while carrying Bianca towards the infirmary.
"I'm sorry!" Sabrina apologized, walking fast beside him "If I had known...".
Nicole also went hurriedly behind them, scared of getting in trouble.
The next days passed in a blur, Bianca being moved to a hospital then brought back to her room. She really didn't care where she was or who accompanied her, and not even when her grandmother was talking frantically at the phone she reacted. She only retained some words from her psychiatrist, who was assigned to her since coming to this hellhole, and whom she didn't trust a bit.
"The girl can't be left alone anymore".
When Bianca woke up, she was in the individual bed (what?). Looked around and saw nobody, but before she could celebrate, someone came in. Her roommate, Sabrina.
"I'll call your friend" Was the only thing she said before exiting again.
Bianca didn't want to talk nor see anyone. And she didn't have any friends.
Not too long after, Dereck came in. If it was another day she would've been confused about his presence on the girl's dormitory area (which was strictly forbidden), especially in broad daylight, but now she didn't care.
"Feel better?" He asked her.
She only nodded.
"I'd leave you alone, but that would be worse. That's what teachers said".
Her face was stiff as a board, and her eyes felt heavy. She probably looked like crap also.
"I just want you to know that, if you ever feel bad, don't stay quiet. Say something, I'll always try to help you".
She was going to blurt a generic 'thanks' until she processed his words and almost panicked. He talked as if he knew what was happening to her, and that was scary.
"You know something? The teachers told you something about my health?" She hurriedly asked.
"They only talked about low sugar levels? but I could guess other things. For example, you never asked anyone's help, and teachers don't want to leave you alone, so..."
Bianca only stared at him.
"You have a disease. A serious, chronical one".
Well, technically he wasn't wrong. Bianca almost sighed in relief, her depression thankfully was still a secret. The other students would be cruel about it if they knew.
"Yes" She stated.
"Can I ask which one?"
"No"
"Is it fatal?".
Her first thought was 'yes', but at seeing Dereck´s increased worry, she chose to say 'not really'. A tiny part of her was touched by his feelings: he cares.
"How did you know I was sick?".
The boy then told her he suspected something was wrong when she missed classes two days in a row, and alerted the homeroom teacher. Since then, all news about the girl´s current health state was reported to him, being assumed that both were close friends and he deserved to know.
"I was also given permission to visit this room at any daytime, seeing that your roommates aren´t trustworthy" Dereck said, muttering the last part.
They deserved a worse punishment than what they received, the boy thought.
"What time is it?"
"Like... four, four-thirty?"
"Day?"
"17th".
Damn. Only four days passed. She knew she was going to feel terrible for at least a month, she knew from experience. If given a wish, Bianca would choose to have total dominance over her mood and emotions, but now she was like a puppet being controlled by some stranger; a messy and irrational one.
"I just want to say sorry in advance" She humorlessly said.
"For what?"
"I know I´ll keep struggling with this illness for like, a month, and I´m not going to be a good person to be around. So, if you want to stay away from me I´ll understand".
Dereck stood there silently, digesting her words. Finally, he spoke:
"We´ll see. I´ll try to understand you".
The following days weren´t easier either. There was an uncomfortable air surrounding the room, Sabrina always looking away from Bianca guiltily and Nicole just plain staring at her spitefully. Also, rumors about the girl kept spreading, from her being 'anorexic' to 'attempted suicide'.
Her classmates were practically laughing on her face, while she quietly sat on her desk.
"You think she really tried to kill herself?"
"Why not? She´s had enough reasons to: loner, weak, pathetic".
"Yeah, a friend from another class saw when Mr. Finn was panicked carrying her and she seemed dead".
"I say this is just her looking for attention".
"Have some respect! She´s seriously ill!"
Dereck blurted the last comment as he came in, annoyed at listening so much nonsense. Meanwhile, Bianca wanted to strangle him to death for being so indiscrete.
"Excuse me!? Who asked you!?"
"And who told you to talk so much crap when you don´t know a thing?" Was his reply.
"You don´t know a thing either!"
"Yes, I do. I´m helping her, so I know she´s sick".
Why can´t Dereck die right now?
Bianca stood up, took her bag and was about to leave the classroom, ignoring the confused looks from her classmates, until Mrs. Mila got in her way.
"Miss Hersey, go take your seat" She ordered her.
She didn´t have to look at her classmates to know another stupid rumor was about to be spread. And she wasn´t going to deal with this bullsh*t right now.
"Bianca Hersey, come back!".
She took a step outside the classroom.
"You´ll be in serious trouble, you hear me!?".
She went away. And from there, people started to believe she had a serious fatal disease.