9. Their Talk

Three occupants of room number 157 got out of bed when they saw the clock showing 7 p.m. They hurried into the school lobby and gathered at a circular table with the two other occupants of one of the dormitory's exclusive rooms. While waiting for the study group members to complete, they discussed other things. The member they were waiting for was Alice.

When they sit down, they immediately get a topic of conversation that calls for them don't remember to do their assignments. If Hoover hadn't spilled her drink on the notebook because of her movement, they wouldn't have remembered their main purpose together at that time.

"Hey, does Alice know we're doing errands here?" asked Clarence, annoyed after realizing that Alice was thirty minutes late.

"She said she has affairs with several teachers, especially the homeroom teacher." tell Jessy. "I trying to chat with her."

"What affairs? Why is it taking so long?"

"Ah, about the medicine, right?" said Hoover, wiping the table.

"I wasn't told. But from your story, it might be true."

"I wonder what they're talking about in the room. Should we eavesdrop?" Hoover stand up and pull Jessy with her to do what she said.

"You asked the wrong person. You should have asked Clarence." said Christie.

Clarence shook her head. "I'm sleepy, won't to mess around. Let's finish our tasks without Alice!"

"Wait for her. Give her some time. I'm sure she'll show up soon."

"We're too kind, it's her second chance and she's still late? Imagine if there wasn't extra time from the teacher. She wouldn't have gotten a grade. Do you still want to give her time?" said Clarence.

"Fifteen minutes." Suddenly Britney speak. "Fifteen minutes or we'll get her out of the group."

"Okay." Jessie agreed.

Meanwhile Clarence leaned back in her chair in annoyance. He glance at the clock. "Then she'll have to do a lot more than us."

"I've already distributed the materials. Don't worry." said Britney.

Christie lean forward. "Actually, whats wrong with her?" She look at Hoover. "What medicine do you mean?"

Hoover joined the body forward. Invited everyone else to join except for Britney. She stays focused on the cell phone.

Now the four people there form a circle.

"During the raid earlier, she was caught carrying a lot of medicine. When asked if she consumes all of them, she just kept quiet and looked down."

"Wow, really? That must be eye-catching. If only I was in the same class as you guys." Clarence's response.

"Terrifying." said Christie.

Jessy thought. "Maybe she brought it with her just in case. You know she keeps a lot of medicine on her shelf. When someone is needed, she has almost all the medicine."

Hoover thought for a moment. "Yeah, this is still suspicious. She also never said why she collects medicine so much. When we asked, she just kept quiet and that could strengthen the possibility." She said confidently that Alice had taken the medicines that had been brought.

***

The homeroom teacher sighed. The only way to maintain his patience was to end the conversation with Alice.

Waiting for an answer and still not as expected, Alice was invited to leave the room.

During being asked by the homeroom teacher, Alice did not answer the question properly. Often she was silent and lie until the homeroom teacher stop the meeting.

Alice immediately run downstairs to the school lobby after realizing that she was already late from the appointed time. If she doesn't do the group assignments then she can't join the group anymore and her grades will be blank because the deadline is tomorrow.

Descending the stairs, she saw five of his friends gathered and looking serious talk something. She is sure they were discussing assignments.

Arriving at the end of the stairs she almost fell because she tripped over a shoelace. She squat down, tied her untied shoelaces and then walk slowly over to her study group friends.

Dimly sh began to hear the voices of her friends, especially Hoover's. However, when she clearly heard Jessy's words, 'she keeps a lot of medicine on her shelf', she stopped in her tracks and had a bad feeling.

Wondering if what she was thinking is right, she step carefully over to them and hid to hear the conversation.

"Yeah, this is still suspicious. She also never said why she collects medicine so much. When we asked, she just kept quiet and that could strengthen the possibility."

Hearing that words convinced Alice even more of what she was thinking. They're talking about herself.

Christie snap her fingers. "Agree. How about next time, we ask this? I wonder what the reason is."

"I think she's just on standby." said Jessy still confident.

"The school provides School Health Unit. If she is sick, she can go there, right? Why keep her medicines alone? It's better for her to buy clothes." After saying that, Clarence chuckled.

Alice look down. What Clarence said was true. She should have using the money to buy clothes or other things she'd always want, not medicine that made her look down on.

"Why? I think the clothes are fine. What do you mean the clothes are quite embarrassing?" Hoover asked.

As residents of the exclusive room, Christie and Clarence look at each other for a moment. They laugh at each other.

"No, forget it." Clarence said. "Continue your story."

Alice put her ear closer, hoping that her classmate wouldn't continue the story about the incident earlier.

"Well, that's in a nutshell. The medicine is in the jacket pocket. When Mr. Darren picks it up, byurrrr! Everything falls and scatters. Those who see it are automatically shocked."

"She fought back when Mr. Darren took her jacket." interrupted Britney, turning off the cellphone. "Hoover, maybe you played a part in it."

"I?" Hoover pointed to herself and then laugh confusedly. "What do you mean I played a role?"

"If you don't leave your belongings, maybe Mr. Darren will pass after seeing the contents of the bag all right."

"What's that? You brought more makeup, didn't you?" asked Christie.

"Hehe, luckily all are safe."

"Just a moment. I'm curious about something." Clarence lowered her voice but could still hear Alice behind the wall.

"If Alice had kept those medicine and taken them, that would mean something was up with her."

"I think she has a disease, or she is sick." said Britney.

"But she seems normal." said Jessie.

"I agree with Britney." Hoover was getting more and more excited about the topic. "Just so you know, Alice is weird sometimes."

Behind the wall there, Alice closed her eyes. It felt like ending her hearing there but the other side wanted to continue because she was curious about their conversation about herself.

"Weird? You mean?"

"I don't know if you can feel what I mean or not because I'm the only one experiencing it." Hoover look more serious than ever.

"I've often seen that she has bruises on h herody. Every time I look, there's definitely one. Now she has two bruises on her left calf. You can check later."

"What I'm trying to say is, when I asked h her about it she must have fidgeted and dodge. In fact, overreacted."

Hoover turned to Jessy and Britney. "You've been witnesses to this, haven't you?"

"I've seen him nosebleed a few times too."

"So my conclusion, she has an unhealthy body. All the medicine she has must play a role in strengthening her physique."

"Interesting. I wonder what happens if she doesn't take the medicine." Clarence smiled slyly.

Christie tap her on the shoulder. "What do you mean?!"

The one who was slapped just smirked.

"Don't. Even if she does depend on medicine, we shouldn't tease her." forbid Jessy.

"Oh my gosh, don't take it seriously. I was just kidding."

"I have an idea." Britney speak.

The four people there turned to look at her.

"To find out the answer, we'll ask her later. If she seems dishonest, we'll do something with her medicine."

Alice's hands clenched into fists. She bit her lower lip. Her eyes move to keep the tears from flowing from them.

"Isn't that outrageous? What's your plan? Should we do that to get her to open her lips?" Jessy argued.

Slowly, Alice smile.

Hoover turned to face Jessy. "Now, be honest! You must be annoyed by her quiet nature? When we joked, she is often silent or just laughing, not joining our jokes. When we tease her, she stays silent and it's not fun.

Clarence nodded. "She's boring."

"I don't think it makes a difference whether she's around or not." added Christie.

Jessy is silent.

"Most importantly, she often want to be alone. We didn't excommunicate her, did we?" said Britney making Alice feel tight.

"That's right. Instead of taking the initiative to join, she's always aloof. Even when we've asked her to join, she often refuses. It makes me lazy."

"She hasn't adapted well."

"It's been quite a while. We're roommates after all, why can't she open up?" Hoover's tone rose higher, indicating that her emotions were rising.

Jessie thought for a moment. "Well, that's true. At least she often starts the conversation comfortably."

Alice's smile faded. Jessy who has been defending her since earlier, now start to join talking about her.

Won't to hear any further, Alice took a peek and quickly left where she had been standing. She run to the toilet to vent her frustration through tears. Sje look at her left calf. As Hoover said, there are two bruises there. The colors were very vivid and she only realized when she heard Hoover say it.