Alex insisted I stay home the next day, and while I would usually take him up on the offer of a day off, I felt like I needed to be at school. I was still feeling weird, I couldn't quite place my finger on my symptoms. I was a bit faint, almost felt like some kind of haze.

I'd washed my hair and tried to bring some colour to my still pale cheeks, but nothing made much of a difference so I accepted the fact that I'd look half dead for the rest of the day. Worse things have happened.

I kept getting weird flashbacks to the day before. I couldn't place together everything that happened, it seemed so hazy. My mind kept drifting back to that guy. Would he be at school again today? I wondered if he was a criminal, a student, a teacher, an angry member of the community... What could possibly be his deal?

Walking into school that morning was a completely new experience. While the day before I'd been ignored, today I was met by a lot of stares. Some were friendly, smiles and greetings, but most were just bewilderment. Looks like the student body had finally caught on to the fact that yes, I was a new student.

I was walking down the corridor towards my first class when I was suddenly flanked by two girls, one on each side.

"Danielle, we thought we'd introduce ourselves. I'm Jessica," the one on my left said, her voice confident and sure of herself.

"And I'm Harriette." The other finished.

These were exactly the kind of girls I avoided like the plague at my old school. You could just tell that they were the ones you did not want to get on the wrong side of, the girls who could mess you up with one perfectly manicured nail.

"Uh, hi. I'm Danielle." I replied, slowing down slightly in confusion.

They looked at each other and laughed. "Of course you are, silly. How are you settling in?"

I looked at them, still confused. It sounded like they were being genuinely nice to me, but I still held a certain level of mistrust.

"Pretty okay, thanks."

Jessica placed a hand on my arm. "You're so cute. I bet all the guys are after you. Any you fancy?" She giggled, looking at Harriette like she knew a secret.

"Um, I don't-" I stuttered.

"Hey, lay off will you?" Kimi stepped in front of us, glaring at the two girls.

Their smiled dropped and were replaced with sneers. That was more like it.

"Were we talking to you, China?" Harriette scoffed.

Kimi rolled her eyes. "Wow, a racially motivated, extremely creative nickname. How clever."

Jessica and Harriette looked at each other. "Whatever. Danni, you should totally come with us, we're skipping first."

I looked at Kimi desperately. "Go soak yourselves in hydrogen peroxide. C'mon Danni," she took my arm and pulled me away.

"Thank you so much," I exhaled. "I do not have the energy for that today."

Kimi dropped my arm and shrugged. "You kind of look like shit, it's the least I can do."

I laughed, my chest hurting from last night. "Yeah, weird bug thing."

Kimi rolled her eyes. "Hope it's not contagious."

That seemed to be the extent of her morning conversation, which was fine with me. I managed to suffer through my first two classes, but my the time break came, I was feeling less that okay.

I excused myself from the table and went into the empty corridor, taking deep breaths to try to stop shaking. A light sweat was breaking out all over my body, and I groaned. Not again.

Slumping against a locker, I tried to get my breathing under control and pulled out my phone to call Alex. Before I could do anything, footsteps approached and the beautiful girl from yesterday was standing in front of me.

Feeling too sick to do or say anything, I just looked at her. Her face was full of concern, with a hint of excitement, confusion and, reassuringly, the confidence I'd seen the day before.

"Danielle? My name is Estelle. How are you holding up?"

I swallowed, starting to feel dizzy. "Um, not so great. Is there...is there a n-nurse here?"

She looked around the empty hall and took a step closer to me. Gently picking up my right hand, she turned it over and smiled almost proudly.

"Poor thing," she whispered to herself. "Do you want some water?"

My legs couldn't hold me any longer, and I slumped down to the ground. Estelle followed me, kneeling beside me. Black spots appeared at my vision and the room was spinning.

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number, and just before I passed out I hear her say, "Levi, I think you need to come to the school. Now."