Author (10) - Alex's POV

"I'm glad your friendship is very strong," A teacher looked at Luke and me.

Walking into the classroom, everyone avoided looking at our faces. When I took a glance at Sienna, her nose started to bleed, quickly pulling out some handkerchiefs to place against her nose. Trying to offer her a few of mine when the bleeding was getting worse, she pulled the handkerchiefs out of my hand without turning her head. With her hand touching mine, her neck flushed into bright red.

I wondered if she was sick, thinking it would be better for her to go to the infirmary today. Looking at the teacher if she noticed, she looked away from me. Turning my head to the person behind me, his cheeks heavily blushed into pink. Was there a flu spreading to everyone here? Whenever someone met my glance, they would begin fanning their face while their body flushed into the shades of red.

"I need a handkerchief!" One of my classmates elbowed Miliana.

"I already ran out of mine," she had her handkerchiefs stuffed into her nose.

"We'll be ending this class a bit early today," the teacher coughed before quickly running out of the classroom.

"Are you fine?" Luke offered him one of his handkerchiefs.

"I am," his nosebleed got worse.

"You guys should go to the infirmary," the next teacher walked in.

"We'll go," Sienna raised her hand.

This was how only Luke and I were left in the classroom. But even the teacher wasn't looking too good, coughing in the middle of his sentences. He dropped his pen on the ground several of times while missing to address some of the parts on the board. Although he was trying his best, he stumbled on his words sometimes, the lesson not making much sense anymore. Why was everyone getting so sick all of the sudden?

"You should end the lesson early today," Luke suggested to the teacher.

"I apologize," the teacher ran out of the classroom.

I awkwardly shifted in my seat as the same scene repeated over and over again for every one of our teachers walking into the classroom. Cancelling the study session with Sienna, I got the chance to rest with Luke until the last teacher of the day walked into the room. Luke looked a bit worried for Rika, thinking she would easily catch the cold everyone was suffering from. With her frail body, a light cold could quickly transition into a life-threatening fever.

He used the spare time to message Cillian with some tips in taking care of Rika. Walking out of the classroom, everyone who ran into us was suffering from more nosebleeds. Bloodied handkerchiefs filled the trash cans while everyone tried to help each other out in walking to their next location. I frowned when some people fainted in front of us.

"Lisa, you have to wake up!" Her friend lightly tapped her cheeks.

"I can't," she groaned.

"Maybe today is the day I die," she flopped back onto the ground.

"You can't faint here! I can't carry you James," Another person pulled his friend up.

"I'm trying," he looked lethargic.

"Will, help me carry him to the infirmary!" His friend yelled to the people who walked past him.

"The infirmary is already full!" He shouted back.

All of the people I watched struggled to get up on their own. Even their friends quickly got affected, attracting more people who tried to help them out. The courtyard was filled with people who became unconscious with blood all over their shirts. The infirmary has never been full before. Only Rika visited the empty infirmary like it was her second bedroom.

"I'm going to go visit Rika," Luke looked at more people fainting around us.

Knocking on Cillian's dorm room, we waited for him to open the door. I was surprised when he also had some handkerchiefs stuffed into his nose. He appeared like he had a burning fever as he struggled to properly breathe when he opened his mouth. If he was that sick, it was likely that Rika's condition would be much worse than him. Luke walked into the room, finding that Rika was sleeping on her bed.

When she heard us walking towards her, she blinked to soon rub her eyes. Yawning before stretching her arms, she looked annoyed as to why we were here. Unlike everyone around us, she appeared perfectly healthy. Luke took her temperature, placing his hand against her forehead. He sighed in relief when there wasn't anything wrong with her.

"Why are you here?" She groaned.

"I want you to take some antibiotics," Luke pulled out a bottle of medicine.

"No way!" Rika turned her head to refuse.

"It's because Cillian's too weak," she pushed the bottle back to him.

"Rika is right, it's because I'm too weak," Cillian struggled to walk to his bed.

"Rika won't get affected by these things," he shot us an apologetic glance before fainting on his bed.

"He's right. My immune system is strong," Rika glared at us to leave.

"Just one sip Rika," Luke kept on pushing the bottle towards her.

"We'll leave after you take one sip," he tried to convince her.

"You can stay if you want, but I'm going back to sleep," Rika pulled her blankets.

"It's just one sip Rika," I couldn't continue to watch my cousin asking her to take the antibiotic anymore.