Perfect Promise

Noah

I woke up early the next morning. I started to get ready for the exciting day ahead. I picked an outfit, brushed my teeth, and took a brief moment to check my phone. A brief moment, of course, turned into me sitting on the floor of the grand room scrolling through my social media feed for nearly twenty minutes.

For the most part, I saw funny posts that I chose to repost onto my own feed. Just as I was about to pull myself out of the blackhole that is social media, I came across a post from Charlie. Without a second thought, I stayed online a little bit longer to read it.

“#sick” was all the post said.

I frowned. I then picked myself up off the ground and headed straight to her room. She had left the door open, which I was thankful for. Although, when I entered the room, I couldn’t see Charlie anywhere. At least, that was until I noticed a lump underneath the blankets the size of her body move slightly.

“Charlie, is that you?” I asked as I approached the lump.

Blankets fell off the bed to reveal my friend. I could tell just from looking at her that she was sweating. She likely had a fever. I sat down beside her as she coughed.

"Charlie, what happened? You were totally fine yesterday."

"I don't know. I just woke up feeling really hot and my head and throat are killing me," she whispered.

I put the back of my hand to her clammy forehead. She definitely had a fever.

"Okay, first things first. No talking until further notice. We don't want your throat to get worse. I'll go get you some Tylenol or something for your headache and fever. Stay here for now," I ordered.

She gave me a weak smile, so I smiled back at her. Seeing my best friend so sick made my stomach wrench. It practically made me feel as sick as she was. It felt disproportionate to the situation. I knew she would be fine in a few days at most, but I couldn’t stand to see her suffer. Before I felt worse, I got up and left Charlie's room.

“Noah,” Rudy stopped me outside the bedroom door, “What’s wrong with Charlie? I saw her post.”

“She has a fever, but don’t worry, she should be better by your date tonight.”

“I hope so,” he muttered to himself as he turned away.

Rudy turned back around, remembering that I still didn’t know the way around the mansion. He led me to the dining room, Where Erys and Maia were making eggs and bacon for breakfast. Amber was sitting at the table, groggily checking her phone. I knew without a doubt Jordan was still sleeping. Rudy explained the situation to everyone in the room. Instead of asking questions, like I could tell they all wanted to, Erys rushed to the cabinet and handed me a bottle of Tylenol while Maia gave me two plates of food, one for Charlie and one for myself.

When I got to Charlie’s room, she was asleep. Everything about her seemed so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake her, so I put her food and the bottle of Tylenol on the bedside table. I ate my food quickly and left as Rudy came in the room.

Music was blaring from Jordan’s room down the hall. I leaned on her open door to see her having a dance party by herself. When she noticed me, she dragged me into the room and had me dance with her. I stealthily turned down the music so it wouldn’t bother Charlie, but kept it loud enough so Jordan wouldn’t notice.

Jordan suggested we go on a shopping trip after dancing for half an hour. I suggested we get Amber and Maia involved, so we made our way back to the dining room. We made it there successfully. Amber and Maia laughed as we arrived, saying they had the same idea we did. The only issue was we had no idea how to get there.

Luckily, Erys was also in the room. He offered to drive us to the mall. We quickly got ready to leave and went to the mall, which thankfully wasn’t too far from the mansion. Once we arrived, Maia and Amber went looking for shoes, while Jordan and I went on a hunt for a cute outfit for my date with Gavyn later that evening.

We found the perfect outfit: a pair of diamond-studded blue jeans with a simple red top and a black leather jacket. We joined up with Amber and Maia to find a pair of black open-toe heels that had laced up at the ankle.

Erys joined us in the food court. He was surrounded by fans, asking for his picture. When they noticed us, they bombarded us as well. We took pictures with them while we got to know them.

Yet the whole time, all I could think about was Charlie. I hoped she was okay.