Page 19 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

Knowing that Maw Maw wouldn’t stop until I got ready for school, I muttered under my breath and pulled the plug. Then froze when I caught a glimpse of my reflection from the corner of my eye.

Shit.

Leaning in closer to the mirror, I inspected the deep purple bruise on the side of my face.

I was so busy trying to wash my skin clean that I hadn’t seen it before. Which just proved my lack of situational awareness, because this was bad. And not something I could pass off as an accident. It was obvious that I’d been struck by someone. There were two or three points where I could see the outline of fingers.

“Fantastic.” I sighed.

One more thing to add to the perfect morning.

One thing was for sure, I couldn’t let Maw Maw see this, let alone go to school. I could attempt to hide it, but my make-up skills were nowhere near good enough. The one time I could use Memphis’s tutorial, and I had no way to contact him. Figures. What the hell was I going to do?

“Hurry up.” Maw Maw called. “I have to help Betty-Sue at the doctors and don’t have time for your games.”

Betty-Sue was Sault Saint Marie’s hypochondriac. Every week she had some new strange disease that was going to take her life. And Maw Maw was her worst enabler, which contradicted everything I’d experienced.

Last month I had a killer migraine and still had to go to church. Yet Betty-Sue’s supposed brain parasite required immediate attention. My headache may have been self-induced from the alcohol I drank the night before, but that was beside the point.

Hold on…

The doctors? Now, there was something I could possibly work with. Let’s just hope my acting skills had improved since the last time I tried to fake being sick.

“Novalee.” Maw Maw warned.

“Coming, Maw Maw.” I paused to gag. “Let me just…” I coughed and let out a fake wretch. “Splash some water on my face.”

It seemed as if my acting skills had indeed improved. At least that was what I assumed when she asked, “are you okay?”

Of course there was always the chance that she was testing me. Maw Maw was this weird contradiction of gullible and intelligent. Some of the excuses she’d fallen for were not at all plausible. Then there were times when everything I said made perfect sense, and she’d still question me. Maybe it was one of those pick your battle scenarios? I was an exhausting child.

“Yeah,” I groaned out, trying to play on her concern. “I think I had some bad fish or something.”

Holding my breath, I anxiously waited for her response. This was the moment of truth. Would she fall for it, or would I get another boomerang shoe to the back of the head? School was a hard line for Maw Maw. There were only two reasons she would let me miss it. Both of which involved death or near death experiences.

“You don’t sound good.” I could hear her press her ear to the door. “Do you have a temperature?”

Okay, another symptom it is. “I think so. I’m sweating a lot, and I’m kind of cold.”

I hoped that wasn’t taking things too far. I didn’t want to get dragged to the doctor with Betty-Sue. But just in case, I added in a couple coughs and gags. Better safe than sorry.

“Hmm.” Maw Maw hummed. “Maybe you should go back to bed?”

Letting out the breath I was holding, I muttered, “okay, Maw Maw.”

Phew.

“You aren’t going to miss any exams, are you?”

That question I knew was a test.

“Not unless there’s a pop quiz I don’t know about.” When she didn’t respond right away, I added, “I do have a project due on Friday, so maybe I should go.”

“No, you stay here. I’ll have Memphis collect your schoolwork.”

“Okay.” I said trying not to reveal how pleased I was with myself.

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