Snakes in my hair? It’s more likely than you think. - Chapter 2：It's Been A Long Day

It hurts.

It hurts a lot.

This headache just won’t go away!

Although, staying up past midnight definitely is not helping. She just can’t sleep yet because she’s way too stressed out.

But what exactly is stressing Juno out?

Oh, just everything.

But for now, it’s her upcoming exams. She’s been trying to study for over 3 hours and nothing is clicking. She lies back down on her bed hoping her headache clears up and tries to not scream.

She has to do good. Otherwise, she shudders at the thought. She can’t fail no matter how much she wants to.

Suddenly, a familiar voice speaks up, “Here.”

Juno didn’t notice her roommate get up and is startled, “Aah! Eve? You’re awake?”

“Yeah, it’s hard to sleep when you keep making noise.”

“S-sorry!”

“Take this, it should help.” Juno sees that she’s holding out medicine for her.

“Thank you…”

“You should really see someone about those migraines you keep getting. It’s getting annoying. I can’t stand hearing you cry and whine, while I’m trying to sleep.”

“Ah.”

Eve goes back to her bed across the room and bids her goodnight. She has been her roommate for over 4 years now and they’re not really close. It’s not that she’s a bad person or anything! She just hardly talks to Juno or really anyone, she keeps to herself. But times like these, it makes her happy to have her as a roommate.

Eve can be a reliable friend.

Or sort of friend.

Deep down though, Juno wishes she could see her old friends again. It’s just not the same with her living so far from them. With those thoughts in her head she decides to give up on studying and finally go to asleep.

–

The next morning, Juno wakes up slowly. Not really sure when the pain faded and she passed out. She reaches for her phone to check the time and almost dies.

It’s 8:49.

SHE’S LATE FOR CLASS!

She shakes her head and wipes her tears. Crying won’t help her.

//Going to the nurse and finding an excuse is the only thing that might save me!//

She gets dressed quickly. Luckily as she makes her way from her dormroom to the nurse’s office no one tries to stop her. Aspar Hill Boarding School is as pretentious and strict, as it sounds. They have hall monitors scoping the hallways to make sure people like herself aren’t skipping and where they’re supposed to be. It’s very annoying.

When she gets there she knocks on the door. No one says anything but she lets herself in anyways. She lies on one of the empty beds and waits.

The radio happens to be on and Juno recognizes the song. It’s Joy Coy! She likes some of her songs and this new one ‘I’m going to adopt a snail’ doesn’t disappoint!

It takes a few minutes but then the nurse arrives.

He looks surprised to see her. He puts down his coffee and asks her, “Juno, what’s up? What’s wrong this time?”

“Ah. Well you see…”

He raises his eyebrow, “There is something wrong right? You’re not here for an excuse to get out of class… right?”

He saw right through her!

“Well, um. I did have another bad headache last night and was unable to fall asleep early sso…”

“You woke up late? Late for first period.”

“Aha.”

“Did you take medicine? Does your head still hurt?”

“Yes! And no.”

“Juno. If this keeps up, we night have to look into it more. It could be serious. These migraines have been going on for a while.”

“Ack! Well I don’t think it’s serious. It’s probably just stresss!!! I mean I think they started a year ago but they haven’t really been ssuper painful or anything…”

“Hm. I can’t judge your pain since I’m not you but please tell me if it gets worse. For now I’ll give you some more pain medicine, in case it comes back.”

“Thank you Nurse Pures!”

“Anytime. I’ll give you a note since first period isn’t over yet. Well it’s almost over but you should still talk to your teacher. Also, I’m guessing you haven’t had breakfast?”

“No…”

He goes into his office and comes out with the medicine, a bottle of orange juice and a granola bar.

“Here ya go.”

“Ah. Thank you so much!”

“Anytime. Once you’re done eating you can leave. Have a good day, Juno.”

“You too!”

He goes back into his office. Juno sighs in relief and eats her ‘food’. Then after she’s done, she puts away the medicine in her bag and heads out.

She only has about 5 minutes left. Luckily, her class isn’t too far from here. If she’s careful and fast, she can probably get there in time.

So that’s what she does.

Or tries to.

Perhaps, she was too careless or too fast because she ends up running into someone or more like running over.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

Oh no. It’s…

A cute girl!

She’s Kylie Rhys. She’s cute, short and very fluffy. Also, she’s a hall monitor. Oops.

Her words get stuck in her throat and she can’t say anything!

“Hello? Oh you have a note,” she takes it from Juno’s hand and reads it, “Oh, you’re coming from the nurse’s office. I see. Wait a second, you’re in one of my classes right? Juno?”

//Say something Juno! Don’t just stand there frozen in embarrassment!//

“Yess! So um can you let me go, cutie. I MEAN KYLIE!” Juno wishes the ground would swallow her whole so she could die.

Why is she like this?

Kylie looks confused but smiles nonetheless, “Ah. I get it. You’re trying to sweet talk me so I’ll let you go.”

//No! No! I’m just a mess!//

“And… it worked. Only just this once okay?” she hands her back the note, “If you walk fast now you’ll probably make it back before the bell rings. Just be careful this time. See you around, Juno.” She gives her a wink and heads off in the opposite direction.

Juno is momentarily stunned.

It worked? How in the world? But she has no time to dwell on it as she speed walks to her math class.

And by the time she gets there, class had already ended. Though since she’s already here, she might as well explain herself. She tries to ignore the stares of some of her classmates as she walks inside.

The classroom is already mostly empty. Her teacher, Mr. Thompson, sits on his desk sorting through paperwork. He looks slightly stressed. If that’s not a mood.

“Um… Mr. Thompson can I-”

He looks up and frowns, “How nice of you to show up just as class ended, Juno.”

“I-I’m sso sssorry! Really, I didn’t want to miss class. I just wasn’t feeling well…” she trails off not being able to meet his eyes. She shakily hands him her note.

He takes it and reads it over. He doesn’t even try to hide his sigh.

“Um…”

“Listen Juno, I’m really tired. You’re usually a good kid so I’ll let this go, especially since you have a legitimate excuse.” He sorts through his papers and finds some worksheets, “Do this. Give it to me tomorrow and I won’t mark it late. Also read chapter 16.”

“Y-yes! Of course!”

“Ok good. Remember to not be late on Friday because that’s when we have the test. Now get going, I’m sure you don’t want to be late for your next class.”

“Right. Th-thank you so much!”

He gives her a nod and goes back to his work.

Juno sighs in relief. That went a lot better than she thought it would.

Her next classes go by smoothly if not boring. She mentally cries at all the work she has to get done later. But at least she has a few things to look forward to today. One is track practice and second is a package from her sister!

It’s time for lunch.

For such a prestigious and rich school, you’d think the food would be good. Unfortunately, Juno doesn’t find it that good. It’s either way over the top or very bland. She just gets her usual chicken salad and a lemonade.

She notices Eve sitting by herself.

Wait a second. Why is Eve here? She usually doesn’t eat food at the cafeteria, she well… Juno doesn’t actually know where she goes. Regardless, Juno’s good conscious won’t let her sit alone.

“Hi Eve! Mind if I sit here?”

She looks up from staring at her food with a blank expression, “You can do whatever you want.”

“Hahaha. Okay then!”

Eve goes back to staring at her food and ignoring her presence.

She feels awkward. Juno isn’t the best at making conversation and Eve doesn’t even try! So she just sits there and tries to eat her lunch. She scrolls through her phone to pass the time, nothing really interesting pops up until she gets a notification.

[Your package will arrive later today.]

She tries to hide her excitement and wonders what kind of goodies her sister sent this time.

“Why do you look so happy?” Eve suddenly asks.

Guess she didn’t do such a good job.

“Oh it’s nothing really. I’m just looking forward to a package from my sister.”

“I see.”

“If she sends me treaties I can share them with you?”

“That’s not necessary.”

Juno isn’t really surprised to be turned down, she always is. But she has to ask, otherwise she would feel rude. Besides isn’t it the thought that counts? She’s trying so hard to be nice! She just wants to be friends dammit.

“I’m sorry.”

Juno wasn’t expecting that, ”Huh?”

“For not waking you up this morning. I’m sorry,” she turns her head away, trying to hide her face.

“Oh, that. Well don’t worry about it too much, okay? Everything turned out fine.”

“You’re not… mad?”

“Nah! It’s my fault anyways, you probably have your own things to worry about.”

Eve regains her blank expression as she says, “You’re too nice, Juno. That will be your downfall.”

Geez. Although, she’s already used to her cryptic and harsh words.

“I wanted you to keep resting. Health is more important over grades.”

Oh. OH.

Eve was trying to be nice. Juno is actually a bit touched.

“Thank you for worrying but I’m fine really!”

Eve looks skeptical but doesn’t say anything. Instead she gets up and walks away.

“W-wait! What about your lunch?”

“You can have it.”

Juno sighs. Did Eve really come here just to apologize to her? They don’t share any classes so that’s why probably but honestly she could have waited till they went back to their dorm!

//She worries about my health but why won’t she worry about her own health!? Please eat your food!//

Why is she like this?

Her last few classes seem to drag on, she almost fell asleep in one. Until finally all her classes are over does she feel something again.

Track practice goes normal enough at first, she does her thing and tries to make conversation with some of her teammates. But her coach notices that she’s been looking more tired as of late and speaks to her privately.

“Hey Juno make sure you’re not pushing yourself.”

“I’m fine Coach Summerfield. No need to worry!”

“I’m grateful for you being here, you are without a doubt one of the fastest runners in the school, but it means nothing if you’re going to get hurt. In the end, this is just a sport. So value your health, more.”

“I am…”

“Hm. Take it easy today okay? And head back early.”

“But-”

“But nothing.”

After track practice, she quickly takes a shower and changes back into her pain uniform. At this point she wants nothing more than to go back to bed and take a long nap. Maybe scream a little bit into her pillow as she avoids doing work. But she remembers that she has to go to the mailroom. Her package should be here by now.

It takes a while but when she’s finally in the mailroom she’s fortunate to find that her package is already here! She can’t wait to see what’s inside, although she already has a good idea.

She doesn’t waste time opening it once she’s back at her dorm.

What she finds is mostly treats. All sorts of candies and some silly souvenirs. A jellyfish keychain and a shark plush.

But there’s no letter or card.

That’s weird.

Mila always writes Juno a card. It’s special because she usually writes her some kind of heartfelt message with some cute doodles. Sometimes the card is enchanted with Mila’s brief memory of somewhere she’s been. She’s not seeing her but instead she’s right there, next to her, experiencing what she is, living what she is, for a brief moment. Juno won’t say it anymore but she still misses her so much. Mila left home a long time ago…

It’s not like she hasn’t seen her over the years but it’s just not the same. Juno always looked up to her, she still does! Mila is so brave and always goes for what she wants. She stood her ground against everyone. Against their parents! She’s proved them wrong.

Juno always wished she was more like her. Maybe then she wouldn’t be stuck in this school. Maybe then she wouldn’t be so…

Anyways!

It’s weird she didn’t send something personal. She’s always strived to keep their connection regardless of distance.

//Maybe I’m just overthinking.//

Juno decides to send her a text.

Mila ????????

Juno [6:45] : Hey thanks for the gifts! I just got them ????

She replies back a few minutes later. That’s kinda odd. Lately, Mila has hardly texted her because she’s been busy with her new acting role.

Mila [6:53] : That’s nice. Don’t eat all the candy.

Juno [6:54] : I won’t ????

Juno [6:55] : btw is there a reason you didn’t send a letter?

Mila [6:59] : Just busy.

Juno [7:00] : it’s okay just don’t overwork yourself. Omgg I can’t wait to visit you over break and see you perform!

Mila [7:09] : about that.

Mila [7:09] : …

Juno [7:10] : ??? What

Mila [7:11] : You can’t come over, just stay home.

Juno [7:12] : WHY?

Juno [7:12] : hello???

Mila [7:16] : It’s just not a good time for you to come here. Stay home.

Juno [7:20]: thats not a good explanation.

Juno [7:21] : Seriously!!!

Juno [7:21] : This is so unfair I hardly ever see you

Juno [7:22] : Was it Mother? Did she say something???

Juno [7:23] : Was it both of them??

Juno [7:25] : Is it something else? comeon just tell me what it is

Juno [7:31] : Hello?

Juno [7:35] : Answer me!!!!

Juno [7:37] : I’m worried and I look stupid thanks Mila

Juno [7:41] : This isn’t over!!!! ????????????

She lies down on her bed and screams into her pillow.

It’s been a long day.