Page 84 of To Love or to Lose
“We’ll see,” I respond. “It depends whether or not I get in.”
Genevieve scoffs. “You know you’re going to get in.”
“Did you apply?” I ask.
She laughs. “Jameson, if you’re going to college in England, there is one thing you should know for sure:I am not following you.”
There it is, the snap of the wire, the point where the seesaw hits the ground. Her hatred comes back in full swing at the drop of a hat.
Her eyes pierce mine as I tell her, “I would expect nothing less, Genova.” The hurt is clear in my voice.
141 days until graduation
I’m woken up by the sound of Winnie coughing, and the rustling on the sheets on her side of the bed as she gets up and heads to the bathroom.I get up and walk toward the bathroom door when I hear her retching.
She wasn’t this sick last night, or else I wouldn’t have slept next to her.
Even now, the sound of her vomiting through the door makes me want to request a new room and a can of disinfectant spray.
Logan came back to the hotel yesterday before Eloise, Jameson, and me to keep Winnie company and see if she needed anything. He only left once I got back.
She seemed to be feeling better by that time, and when we went to sleep, she hadn’t taken any type of medication.
“Winnie?” I ask, knocking on the door. “Are you okay?”
She doesn’t answer, but the sound of the toilet flushing soon after is confirmation enough that she is extremely sick.
“Logan’s sick too.” I hear her say through the door as the sink turns on. “I got him sick.”
“He came over here knowing you weren’t feeling well. Him catching whatever you have was the risk he took.”
The bathroom door opens, and Winnie’s pale and fragile body is slumped against the door frame. She looks worse than I’ve ever seen her.
All she’s wearing is thin, cotton shorts with a matching tank top. They’re white with little pink flowers covering them. Even with as little clothing as she’s wearing, there’s still a sheen of sweat covering her skin.
“Evie, you shouldn’t be around me,” she says, her voice rough “You hate being sick.”
“What do you expect me to do? Leave you here by yourself?” I ask, pressing the back of my hand to her forehead to feel for a temperature.
She’s burning up. “I should check on Logan,” she tells me, trying to walk toward the door.
“No, no, no,” I say, gripping her by the shoulders and redirecting her toward the bed. “Stay here, I’ll go check on him.”
Right then, there’s a knock on the hotel door. “Gen! Winnie!”
That’s Logan, and he sounds about as miserable as Winnie does.
I open the door, letting him in. “We’re quarantining,” Logan tells me. “Winnie and I are going to stay here, while you and Jameson will stay in the other room.”
A laugh bursts from my throat. “You’re kidding, right?”
Jameson and I sharing a hotel room?Hilarious.
“Do I look like I’m in the mood to be joking right now?” Logan motions down to his body.He’s shirtless, only wearing plaid pajama pants, and yet he’s still sweating—just like Winnie is.
“We’ll discuss this later.” I lead him into the room, laying him down on my side of the bed, next to Winnie.
“Well, don’t you just look lovely.” He smirks as he rolls over to look at Winnie.
