The rest of the day was uneventful, and I was more than happy when the final bell rang. It was only the first day of the year and I had been given more homework than my last school had given all year. Mr Daniels was right when he said they do things differently around here...

Walking towards the exit to the school, I pulled out my phone to text Alex. I'd missed two calls from Milly and seven texts from a few of my other friends, so I paused briefly just outside the carpark to read them.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a few shouts of protest. My head snapped up to the commotion, and I felt as if the air had been dragged out of my lungs.

For a millisecond I locked eyes with this, this boy. Man? He certainly looked too old to be called a boy. I was held captive within this millisecond, and had taken a step forward before I snapped out of it.

The guy was looking in my direction, with a look of pain and confusion on his face. Normal time came rushing back to me. The guy took two steps forward, violently pushing a group of students aside.

What the hell? I looked around in confusion, and the whole carpark had seemed to freeze. Suddenly, just as the guy looked like he was about to burst into some kind of psychotic fit, the student body seemed to regain action.

Two guys placed themselves firmly in front of the other guy, who was breathing so heavy his whole body was shaking. They were talking to him, but he wasn't listening. He kept trying to push past them.

Should we be worried? I looked around for a teacher or something, but no one was there.

He looked like he was going to full on rage and destroy the two people barricading him from moving towards the school. Maybe he was mad about a grade or something... Teacher piss him off?

"Shit," I heard a girl exclaim. I spun around, and she quickly averted her eyes from me. Why had she been staring at me? I wasn't the one having a breakdown in the parking lot.

Wait, that was the girl from before, the one on the phone. She looked towards the scene getting more and more aggressive by the second, then back at me.

"Shit," she shook her head, and ran over to the impending fight. What the hell?! There was no way she would be able to stop them. Maybe he was her ex or something.

There were loud yells as the guy managed to push past the others and was heading towards the school. The students in the parking lot made way for him, and I instinctively took a few steps back.

Doing the most stupid thing possible, the phone-girl stepped into his path.

He yelled something at her, and she grabbed his top pulling his face down to her level. She spoke to him a tone so quiet that I couldn't quite hear what she said, but it was enough to calm him down. Or at least, stop his death-march towards the school.

The guy took one last look towards the school, took a deep breath and turned around. He threw himself into the backseat of the car, and the girl slid in beside him. The two other guys who were restraining him looked around, said something to a few students standing around, got in the front of the car and drove off.

Okay. This school was officially insane.

A car horn honked, causing me to jump. I snapped out of whatever trance I was in, and turned to see Alex pull up.

"Woah, you good there Danni?" Alex yelled from the car window. Swallowing, I nodded.

I realised I'd dropped my phone, and now my screen was cracked. Fantastic. Picking it up, I hurried over and got in Alex's car.

"What's wrong, you look like you saw a ghost," Alex said, looking at me with concern.

My heart was racing for some reason. "I... I'm okay. I think."

He reached out and placed a hand on my forehead "Shit, Danni. You're burning up."

I swallowed. "Let's just go home."

As soon as we got back to Alex's house, I ran a cold bath and sat in it, shaking, for about an hour. I wrapped myself in a towel and went to my room, where Alex was waiting.

"How are you feeling now?"

"A bit better. It just came on suddenly. I was feeling fine a few hours ago." I shivered.

He sighed. "I think I should take you to the doctor."

I shook my head. "No, honestly, I'm fine. Probably just something I ate."

He didn't look convinced. "Let me at least get my friend around to check you out. She's a medic around here, still in training. She just lives on the street."

"Will it stop you worrying?"

He nodded, smiled and left the room.

I put on a pair of loose cotton shorts and a singlet and got into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

I woke with a start, my eyes flying open and my heart racing. Checking my phone, I realised it was 4am. Shit, I'd slept for 12 hours. I was also basically dying of thirst.

Stretching, I realised my fever had stopped, so that was good at least. I still felt like shit, but the shivering/burning up leaving improved things slightly.

Walking into the kitchen, I found Alex sitting at the table with a girl who couldn't be more than 25. They both looked up at me with alternating concerned and kind faces.

"Danni, I thought you'd gone into a coma or something," Alex scoffed, trying to make a joke.

"I didn't realise I was so tired," I croaked.

"This is Amanda, the medic I was telling you about."

She smiled at me. "Nice to meet you. Mind if I take a look?" I nodded and she led me to the sofa.

"Not feeling so good?" She asked softly, taking a few instruments out of a bag.

I swallowed. "Not looking that great either," I tried to joke. I'd caught a glimpse of myself in the bedroom mirror, I was pale, sunken eyes, cracked lips and basically looked like crap.

"Yeah you've definitely had prettier days," Alex teased, passing me a glass of water.

Amanda listened to my heart and lungs, took my temperature, tapped my knees and did all the usual doctor things. "Anything strange happen today?"

I widened my eyes. "The entire day was strange. The kids here are so...guarded."

She laughed. "They certainly take school seriously. How about this afternoon? Anything at all scary?"

I pursed my lips. "Well, I did start to feel sick right after school. It was weird, it was like my lungs deflated and I went into shock or something. I felt like I was in a trance. Does that sound dumb?"

Her eyes went serious for a moment, then she smiled reassuringly. "Could be a panic attack. Could be a 24 hour bug. Nothing to worry about long term though."

She looked at me for a moment. "Mind if I take a look at your arms and legs, just to check for any bruising?"

"Uh sure." Weird thing to want to see, but I wasn't the doctor.

She gently lifted my arms turning them over and looking closely. "I really don't feel any pain in them."

She stopped suddenly, brushing her fingers over my right wrist. "Ow," I winced, feeling a painful stinging from her touch.

"Have you always had this?"

I looked down, to see an angry red mark on my inner wrist, a small circle encompassed by a semicircle.

"No... what is it?"

She looked into my eyes, then at Alex, and back down at the mark. "Sometimes uh fevers result in rashes. Or maybe you scratched it on something. Again, nothing to worry about. Although it may scar permanently."

Okay, now her medical advice seemed dubious. But then again, what else could have caused such a weird pattern to appear on my wrist. I touched it and didn't feel anything. I suddenly felt very self conscious, and turned my hand over, hiding it.

"Uh, thank you for coming and staying. Sorry for falling asleep on you."

She smiled at me kindly. "It's no problem at all. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around soon."