Mentho-Lyptus Wednesday

The first real chapter, although still rather introductory.

The bag crinkled as I picked it up and I trailed my thumb over the white lettering. "Halls - Fights cough, soothes sore throats, cools nasal passages." Cherry flavored relief. This would be my life support to get me through today; strep throat isn't any fun.

 

The throat drop dissolved in my mouth as I ran a comb through my hair. "Dare I look in the mirror?" I thought to myself. A cringe crept over me at the thought of how I must look and I decided to take a quick peek. Haggard didn't even begin to describe my appearance.

 

My eyes were bloodshot and glazed over, the way little sleep and illness made people look. I had absolutely no color in my cheeks -- as if I was not pale enough already -- and the exhaustion was evident in my expression. I appeared weak, as though moving in the slightest would leave me hospitalized.

 

I had fallen asleep on the keyboard the previous night and awoke two hours later with a half written term paper due in as little as five hours. That added on to my swollen throat spelled disaster and I was sure my body would soon start rebelling.

 

A sigh escaped my lips and I shut my eyes, rubbing at my temples. I didn't want to move. Or speak. Or think. All of which I had to do very soon. I swallowed deep, wincing as intense pain shot through my throat. "Soothes sore throats," my a*s.

 

I continued getting ready to brave the day and before emerging from my room, double checked to make sure I'd gotten everything. Pants, shirt, shoes? Yep. Wallet, phone? Yes. Math book, English term paper? Uh huh.

 

Closing the door to my room, I gazed across the hallway which was scattered with clothes. "Clarissa..." The three-year-old came prancing from her bedroom just as I thought her name. A grin was spread across her small face and she was wearing an outfit she had apparently picked out herself.

 

"Steffy, look at my shirt!" Her tone was excited and she gave a spin as she modeled it for me. Seeing as how she'd dressed herself, it was, of course, inside out.

 

"Cute, Clari." I gave a small laugh and started to walk down hall, attempting to dodge the clothing. Thirty-three pounds was quickly added to my left leg when I went to walk. She had wrapped her arms and feet around me and refused to let me go. I looked down at her and smiled. "I'll be home again in a few hours. Will you let me go?" All I got was a defiant shake of the head and she tightened her grip.

 

I lifted my leg, trying to walk again, and she let out a delighted squeal. "... You know what you've forced me to do...?" I reached down and started tickling her. Fairly soon she lost her grip and curled into a giggling ball amongst the laundry. Taking advantage of this freedom, I raced down the stairs and out the door without stopping to say goodbye to my mom.

 

The sky was overcast this day, which isn't abnormal for Oregon in October so it shouldn't have been a surprise. Somehow, though, the day felt different in a way that I can't really explain. Being me, I shrugged whatever odd vibe I was getting off and made my way to the bus stop.

 

It was oddly crowded this day. Normally there was only one other person at the stop across the street from my house, Rosa, but this day there were four. I didn't recognize any of them so I hid inside the hood of my hoodie and crossed my arms across my chest.

 

"Ma'am, do you need this bus?" I glanced down the road before looking at who spoke to me. No bus was in sight yet which confused me. When I looked towards the voice, my confusion was apparently evident as I stared into the caramel-colored eyes of the man who spoke to me. He blinked a few times and looked down the road at the bus which was just now rounding the corner. "The 60, I mean. Do you need to catch the 60...?"

 

I gave a small nod and lowered my stare to the sidewalk, kicking lightly at the orange leaves which littered the ground. The bus screeched to a halt and I walked to the opened doors of the city bus. The people waiting at the stop all stepped to the side and let me by before following me on. The back of the bus was where I always sat. The engine was in the back, so it was always warmer than the rest of the bus.

 

As I sat down, I gave a casual survey of the people boarding with me. The caramel-eyed man was fairly tall, sandy blond hair drifted down to his shoulders in slight waves. He smiled at me as I looked at him and I then shifted my gaze to the others as he took a seat near the front of the bus. The next two were female and they looked like sisters: both had burgundy hair about down to their shoulders and brown eyes, the only difference was that one had her hair in soft ringlet curls and was slightly taller than the other. The last to board was a man, shorter than the first and with jet black hair that was cut short and gray eyes. He gave me a cold glare before taking a seat next to the first man.

 

I let my thoughts wander through the bus ride to the station, thinking on nothing in particular. When the bus arrived, I avoided the street kids that hung out downtown and went straight to the bus that would take me to the college.

 

As usual, there was only standing room. This bus was always the most crowded. I reached into my pocket and pulled out another cough drop before the bus pulled away from the station. Again, I let my mind wander. I hated buses.

 

The bus neared the college and I realized that it had started to rain. Wonderful. Again, not surprising for Oregon. Weather here is always unpredictable. I waited in line to get off the bus, watching the people in the rain. It was evident who was raised here and who wasn't. The ones who had spent most of their lives here seemed to barely even notice the downpour whilst the ones who apparently were not so used to this sort of unexpected weatherly behavior darted for shelter.

 

After I was off of the bus, I adjusted my hood and zipped up my hoodie, shoving my hands into the pockets. I didn't intend on hurrying off to class, the rain didn't honestly bother me. This sore throat, however, was another story.

 

I lounged outside the writing portable for about five minutes before heading inside. It seemed so stuffy in these portables, I had never liked them. To me it always felt like I was trapped in a soup can. Class seemed to take longer than it normally did. Two hours of a lecture on how to write a three part thesis statement didn't hold my attention well and focusing on merely staying awake made it worse. I caught myself drifting to sleep several times.

 

Finally, I couldn't take it any longer so I set my paper on the chair next to the door -- this was where he had us pile our homeworks after discussion -- and ducked quietly out of the room.

 

My stomach grumbled as I walked past the center building. My body was craving food of some sort, exciting. Down the stairs and into the cafeteria I went. I made my way around the corner toward where the vending machines were and there stood the four people from the bus stop earlier this morning. All their eyes fell on me, for some reason they looked rather amused and I felt like I had interrupted some discussion they had been having.

 

"Heh..." A nervous response of mine, barely audible. I looked to the floor and walked closer to the machine, fumbling around in my back pocket for my wallet. When I managed to retrieve it, I glanced back up. Again they had moved away from my destination and I felt their eyes still upon me.

 

I fed a dollar to the machine, pressed the buttons "A4" and waited for the bag of Doritos to fall from it's slot. Grabbing the bag hurriedly, I backtracked my steps around the corner with my eyes pointed to the ground again.

 

All of a sudden I felt like I'd ran into a brick wall and lost my balance, starting to fall backwards. Cold arms quickly caught me and I looked up into the dazzling blue eyes of the man I had ran into. He gazed over my face until meeting my eyes with his stare. "Are you okay, miss?"

 

I felt like an idiot as any intelligible answer I could have said turned to mush. His eyes were captivating and I was lost in them. As I tried to answer, I said the brilliant response of "Mmmh... Guh... Um... Heh." and felt the blood quicken in my veins at my embarrassment.

 

The smile he gave me was award winning and I felt my pulse quicken even more. "I will take that as a yes. Apologies for not watching where I was going more carefully."

 

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to regain my composure. His hands slid off of me and I had to make a conscious effort to get my legs to support the rest of me again. When my eyes opened again the four from around the vending machine were walking towards the door. The man, however, was still studying me cautiously, looking for any physical damage he might have caused me.

 

"Xak, come on." One of the red haired girls waved for him to hurry up and tapped her foot impatiently at the door, giving me a look that seemed deadly and territorial.

 

"I'm coming." My mind swooned with his words. His voice was like cream and it lingered on my ears. He flashed me another smile before turning to them and disappearing out the door and into the rain. I looked down to the bag of chips I had just bought. The hunger escaped my mind completely, as did everything else when I looked into his eyes. I leaned against the wall next to me and rubbed at my temples. Hm, such captivating blue eyes...

Author's Note

I will add more, just give it some time. Also... Re-reading it for the billionth time... I feel like it needs more of the main character's commentary? I'm not sure. Heh... I'll ponder it some more.

Reviews

[WayOath]

"Soothes sore throats," my a*s.

its soothes your a*s...no jk

Wow...i was gonna comment more on what was written but this vaccum just turned on and I couldn't get away from it... it like, pulled me in and I was reading line after line paragraph after paragraph and then I was at the end where there was the perfect line about his eyes. I have to say, of all the zach's i know i have never seen the x one but its purely amazing. Way to go...I need more im dying here.

Love, XWayOathX