20. Zia's POV - Miracle

20. Zia's POV - Miracle
Zia

With a strong sneeze that almost threw me off the bed, I woke up.

I rarely ever caught a cold, but when I did, my body became my enemy. In the past three years, I had done my possible best to avoid falling sick, because I knew my family would leave me to die—but here I was, trembling with the worst headache of my life as I wrestled with both my mind and my body to get out of bed.

Another sneeze the moment my feet got planted on the cold floor and my eyes started to water.

I was a werewolf, but I had the worst immune system.

When others would go for a run in the woods to enjoy the thrill of having rain on their fur, I didn’t dare to, because for one, I couldn’t transform.

My whole body ached, but I did my very best to get ready for school. I knew from experience that trying to stay back at home only ever brings more inconvenience.

I wore an old pop socks and it was the only extra clothing material that I had to defend me from the cold.

Downstairs, my stepfamily were already having breakfast, and I was about to sidestep the whole kitchen even though my throat hurt and I would kill to get some warm water, when Celine’s mom called me back.

“And where do you think you are going?” her voice had a vitality I was jealous of.

Oh how I missed being healthy.

“School,” I croaked, walking closer since my escape plan just got foiled.

I’ll try to do whatever chore she had for me without complaining then…

“Come on,” she said with a smile? As she pointed towards something on the table.

My eyes ached, but I squeezed them even more in confusion.

Why does it look like she’s trying to be kind to me?

“I’m not really hungry, I…”

“Oh come on,” she said as she pointed to something by her side. My bag and my shoe.

“How did you plan on going to school without these?” she asked, and I was dumbstruck with confusion. After all the fuss, after everything that happened yesterday, why were they suddenly acting like this?

My eyes glanced at Celine’s feet and anger bubbled through me.

“Alpha Terri came over to drop this yesterday night, but you were fast asleep,” her mom continued to say. Of course that was the only explanation. And also the only solution I had.

One, the shoe I found was horrible, torn in several places and many centimeters less than my size. I cleaned it up still and stitched the tears, but it only made it smaller.

So this brought me a sense of calm—at least one problem was solved.

“Thank you. Did Terri ask of me?” I asked with a sense of relief as I went for the bag, forcing myself not to look at the peach shoe on. Tyler bought those for me!

My heart however felt heavy with a mix of guilt and fear and anger.

Why didn’t he come up for me after what happened? Was he mad at me? I should be the one angry after finding out what he was trying to do.

“Oh, he did. You see, when you were sleeping, he…” Celine started to speak when her mom interrupted.

“Why don’t you hurry up and eat your breakfast. Celine will give you a ride to school,” her mom said and we both gasped.

Celine frowned, and I watched as they interacted fiercely with their eyes before they both came to a compromise. Celine returned to her breakfast while her mom offered me a smile.

One that unsettled me even though it was meant to be kind. I wanted to ask about what transpired, but I knew I would only have their bottled-up aggression transferred to me, so I walked up to where my plate was set.

Celine was having oats and dried fruits while the table was set with last night’s leftovers for me. Oh, I was grateful. At least I had some food to fuel my weak body for the day.

With a plump, I sat down and started to eat.

“Hurry up,” Celine called as she carried her plates to the sink. Weird. “Let me give you a ride,” she said. My plan to take out of my life and only savings for a ride this morning was put on hold and I couldn’t be more grateful.

“I’m done,” I jumped to my feet, my lips curving upwards in gratitude—but I hated it. I hated how I was so easy to please, how I lacked pride time and time again.

I also carried my plate to the sink, did a quick wash, and hurried after her.

“Hey, sit at the front. I’m not your fucking driver,” she rolled her eyes and I did the same before strapping the seatbelt.

She complained under her breath about how my fat was enough to cut the belt as the ride started.

I contemplated going to the clinic to get more sleep or thugging it through class…

“You can get down here,” I felt a rude tap on my shoulder. “Geez, you’re burning up,” she hissed with inspiration.

“But we are still far from school,” I wanted to cry when I saw which bus stop we were at. I would need to walk another 25 minutes before I got to school. Who knows, I might just pass out in the middle of the road.

“Of course. Now do you expect the both of us to get out of my car?” she rolled her eyes and threw her head back in laughter. “Come on, that’s ridiculous. Now get out.” Her eyes were set, and I had no further argument.

She had managed to be suspiciously kind this morning and I wasn’t in the mood to unravel her any further.

I took one last glance at her feet, hating how pretty they looked in my shoes, before getting out.

The moment she zoomed off, I realized just how little strength I had.

The sun was out and hot and I would have been grateful if it didn’t make me feel dizzy.

I grabbed a pole before sitting at the bus stop.

I rested my head on my palm as my consciousness slipped away.

How I hated being sick.

I needed a miracle.