Page 112 of The Wrong Play

My eyelids felt heavy, weighted down like they had been glued shut. Each time I tried to lift them, they fluttered back closed, my body refusing to cooperate, betraying me in the way it always did when I needed it most. It felt as if a lead blanket had been draped over me, pressing me into the mattress, siphoning away whatever energy I might have had left.

Every inch of me ached. A dull, relentless throb radiated through my limbs…through my bones. My head pounded in time with my heartbeat, and my muscles burned like I had been running in my sleep. But I hadn’t been. I hadn’t doneanything, and yet my body still felt like it was punishing me.

I let out a quiet groan and forced my eyes open, only for my vision to swim.

The weak morning light barely slipped through the gap in my curtains, but even that was too much, stabbing through my skull like a blade. The sharp, searing pain in my temples made me wince, my entire body curling inward instinctively.

No.

Not today.

I couldn’t afford this today.

I sucked in a shaky breath, pressing the heels of my palms into my eyes as if I could somehow will the exhaustion away, but it didn’t work. It never worked.

I had already missed too many classes.

I was already so far behind.

Ihadto get up.

Swallowing hard, I blinked at the ceiling, trying to ignore the way my throat felt tight, like something was lodged there.

I could do this.

Ihadto do this.

Slowly, I forced myself to roll onto my side, bracing my hands against the mattress before pushing myself upright.

Pain shot through my back and down my spine, and the moment my feet hit the floor, nausea slammed into me like a freight train.

I sucked in a breath and bit down hard on my lip, trying to steady myself, but the room tilted.

I swayed, my knees buckling, and barely managed to catch myself against the nightstand.

My fingers dug into the wood as I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

Just get ready.Just push through it.

I let go of the nightstand and shuffled toward the bathroom, every step feeling like I was dragging myself through wetcement. By the time I reached the sink, my hands were trembling, my breath coming too fast, too shallow.

Still, I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water onto my face, hoping it would help, hoping it woulddosomething.

It didn’t. Everything still feltwrong.Like my body had simply given up on me.

With shaking fingers, I grabbed my toothbrush, but the second I tried to lift it to my mouth, my arm barely made it halfway before it gave out.

The toothbrush slipped from my grasp, clattering into the sink.

I stared at it, my throat tightening, a lump forming that I couldn’t swallow past. Tears burned the backs of my eyes.

This wasn’tfair.Ihatedthis.

I hated that no matter how hard I fought, no matter how much I pushed myself, my body still failed me.

Iwantedto go to class. Iwantedto be normal.

Grinding my teeth, I forced my body to move, snatching the toothbrush with a grip so tight my knuckles turned white. I wasn’t going to let this stop me.

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